Salami, Ranch, and Beer oh my! page

[Hux]

Hi all, kind of a lurker here, but wanted to ask a few quick questions.

I can't cook my lunch where I work, so for a long time I struggled to find a good portable, primal lunch. I finally settled on cured Italian meats. I figured they're all protein and fat with some preservatives added in, so I figured they were pretty primal, expecially since I avoid the ones that have added corn syrup or unpronounceable scientific names. Am I right or are they secretly terrible?


I've been trying to force myself to eat more vegetables lately, since I've long hated most of them. But I find that I can actually get most of them down with a little ranch dressing. Now, it contains soybean oil, so I think it's hardly primal, but I use so little of it. Probably about 2 tablespoons. Is that really bad or worth it to get the vitamins from the veggies? And if it is bad, is there a primal version I could make?

Finally, what's up with beer? Since it's grain based I'd given it up for the past couple months, but bought some for a Christmas party I held. I had one and found that I kind of missed it. Is it ok to bring it back into my diet or should I keep it an infrequent treat.

Anyway, thanks for the help everyone

[peril]

Only you can decide what is OK for you. PB is a blueprint. You fill in the details. How strict you are depends on your goals - trying to heal a life threatening disease, trying to avoid one, want to be ripped, want to smell good, want to look good, ... Figure out which are for you and customise your diet and lifestyle accordingly

[RichMahogany]

My opinions: 1. Eat the meats. 2. A couple tablespoons of mostly soybean oil is a couple tablespoons too many 3. If you're going to include OCCASIONAL grains, at least include them in a soaked, sprouted, fermented form, like beer.

[dirk41]

Deli meats sound like a good idea if you can't cook. I wouldn't worry too much about the preservatives. As for the ranch dressing, I believe you could make a paleo version, but you could easily slide it into your 20%. Same goes for beer, as long as you aren't have it every day or something.

[canio6]

Ranch dressing recipe: Creamy Ranch Dressing | Mark's Daily Apple

as for the rest...I am not opposed to quality lunch meats, though perhaps switch it up with some decent canned fish and hard boiled eggs. Also, I drink the occasional beer - occasional being once a month or so not every weekend downing a six pack.

[ChocoTaco369]

My opinions: 1. Eat the meats. 2. A couple tablespoons of mostly soybean oil is a couple tablespoons too many 3. If you're going to include OCCASIONAL grains, at least include them in a soaked, sprouted, fermented form, like beer.

This. I'd rather not eat any vegetables than consume soybean oil. There's no biological need to eat vegetables, and most of the nutrients can't be absorbed anyway because they're bound in insoluble fiber. They look far better on paper than they really are (similar to the protein content of beans and nuts that vegetarians rely on...it looks great until you realize you can't digest half of it). You can do just fine eating meat, eggs, potatoes and fruit with less vegetables. Of course, all things considered, vegetables are still phenomenal sources of nutrition per calorie so if you can fit them in by all means do so, but there's no need to eat massive bowls of salad every day if you hate it. Especially if you have to coat it in bottled dressing to make it edible. Just focus on eating real food.

Or, get extra creative and just make your own homemade salad dressing! This is a perfectly Primal recipe. Just purchase regular sour cream instead of the low-fat variety if that phrase bothers you.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/no-mayo...anch-dressing/

My personal favorite dressing to make is caesar dressing. This is the classic recipe, and yes, it's fantastic. I add red wine vinegar to mine because I like the bite, but you're essentially transforming it into a vinaigrette. That's your call. It's also a good way to sneak anchovies into your diet

http://www.food.com/recipe/classic-c...ressing-259463

[ssn679doc]

More meat is good.... sausage is GREAT! If you make them yourself then you can control what goes in them. Some of the additives are there for a reason, depending on the type of sausage. Some sausage makers add stuff, like water, to increase the weight and increase their profit but in some cases it is because of the process used to make the sausage (ie hot dogs and bologna). The bottom line is that you have to do what works for you. Experiment. Enjoy. If it doesn't work, OK, lesson learned and move on.

Ranch dressing... hate it, but thats my tongue talking...

beer- how bad can it be? It's a FERMENTED FOOD! OK, thats just a bit of sarcasm, but it's true, it is fermented. the grain is sprouted before it is "roasted" which changes the starches in the grain. The sugars are washed out, heated, yeast is added, and viola ethanol is produced.... Again, it is yours to experiment with... a steady diet of beer? Ask your liver and your head how they feel the next morning, and you will probably have a good idea what the real answer is.

[banananutmuffin]

I've been experimenting with Ranch recipes, actually. Look around for "dry mix ranch" and you'll find lots of recipes for ranch spice mixes... basically homemade versions of the dry Ranch mix powder in a packet. Then you can mix it with whatever you want, depending on what you want to make. Coconut milk and paleo mayo can make it a dressing, for example. Or if you eat dairy, mix it with some sour cream for dip. I like the dry mix because it's versatile, I can keep it in my pantry for whenever I need it, and I can make as much dressing as I need without having to do a big ol' batch at once.

BTW, I also mix in some thawed/drained frozen chopped spinach with my ranch dip for a little extra veggie boost.