Bringing Home the Bacon

In my last job I was sent to Ireland four times working on a historical research project. While there, we got to know quite a bit about the food - we'd always rent cottages and bring back groceries from TESCO. The most common meat staple there is cured pork loin, known as boiling bacon. This always came in giant slabs weighing a couple of pounds. You won't find this in American grocery stores or even in Irish restaurants, but thanks to Tommy Moloney's online store out of Queens we can get four pound portions of something that is just like our Irish product. Since there are just the two of us, we always cut this in half and freeze the rest. You cook it just like you would corned beef and cabbage, and it's done in 90 minutes. Sheer heaven. We take the leftovers and make them into breadless Reuben non-sandwiches. There are different syles, but the real thing looks like this:

I Discovered Paleo!

Donna here. Yes its true, I discovered paleo...of course I didn't name it paleo or much of anything, because I thought it was just my whacky new way of eating. I should explain. Last February I had a partial thyroidectomy for a large nodule caused by childhood irradiation. When your throat is cut, you feel very restricted, foodwise. What made me want to gag was bread, cereal, pasta, and anything of substance, which was interesting because I always had at least one, if not two bowls of cereal daily. At first I ate applesauce, puddings, popsicles, and anything soft. As I grew stronger and hungrier, I graduated to pureed stews of meat and vegetables. At the time I had been almost vegetarian with whole grains and muffins as my "health foods." But a weird thing started happening. The more stew I ate, the more weight I lost. Not only that, but I wasn't taking my usual ration of prilosec and tums. I knew I wasn't doing Atkins (the idea of which always disgusted me ) because I wasn't eating dairy or fatty meats and cheeses. It wasn't until I was perusing a thyroid website that I learned that the foods I was eating were "paleo" and that there was a whole story behind it! I'm glad that so many people are eating the way that makes ME most comfortable-I love raw crunchy veggies, fruits and berries, and nuts. I had to get used to eating more meats, but thats coming along well too. And to not have to worry about my weight and still lose, eating what makes me happy...whats wrong with that!

The Right Stuff

A few weeks ago we were in a fall kind of mood at the grocery store and added a 6 pound turkey to our cart. Yesterday, we decided to cook it in the evening. What to do about stuffing? Before I got on the plan I loved the stuffing more than the turkey, but it is almost entirely bread. Fortunately, when I went to Google and tried "Paleo turkey stuffing" I get several useful recipes. The main ingredients tended to be vegetables such as cauliflower, mushrooms and onion. One of them called for bacon and sausage, so we went along with that. At the end, we had something that was a hit with both of us. I should have taken a picture, but I was too busy eating. Bring on Thanksgiving and a crustless pumpkin pie!

Meeting other paleo folk

For months I have been subscribed to an online meetup group for paleo eaters in New York. The group is large and very active, but the first few meetups also involved physical fitness, so we held back for something more age appropriate. Saturday we got that chance when group leader John Durant hosted us at his rooftop apartment in the upper east side. Seemingly the only guests over age 35 we were out of breath when we arrived at the walkup apartment. The reason for the party was a book launch for a book called the Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf. Since we got there early, we were able to spend 10 minutes or so chatting with Wolf who was articulate and very knowledgeable. Anything we'd experienced such as the elimination of snoring was something he already knew about. He has also seen others with my biggest problem - losing pant sizes but not much weight. He said that bone density and muscle can compensate for the lost waistline - some people even gain a few pounds.

What I hadn't realized was that Durant has become a legendary figure in Paleo since the night he went on Colbert and shut down all efforts on the part of the comedian to turn this into a joke. He managed to get his entire point across that night. We had to get back home to Long Island so we missed a brief talk by Wolf, but we're now diving into the book, which we can highly recommend already.

When I'm 64

Last week I had that birthday made famous by the Beatles. Part of my modification with caveyness is that once a year I can have birthday cake, so I set out to find the best on the island. That turns out to be Sweet Karma in East Meadow. We told them we wanted a Beatles theme to it, and you could see the baker's eyes light up as he thought of the possibilities. A week later we picked it up, and it was fantastic. Otherwise we were having people over and wanted to make things as paleo as possible. We had tamales flown in from Texas, and I suppose that is beyond the plan, but I don't care. Our biggest accomodation to our guests was to make hamburgers and hot dogs with buns. My son went out and bought chips, but otherwise we had an excellent and in-plan offering of beef piziolla, zucchini casserole, spinach salad and broccoli salad. It certainly made our guests happy because the last one left after 11 - well past my bedtime.

What We Like/What We Miss

Hey-Donna here. We are doing our first dual blog and we want to list what we miss as we get more paleo, and why we are happier with our new lifestyle.
First, what i miss...comfort food breakfasts...toasted english muffins dripping with marmalade or Terry's fabulous scratch pancakes.
Now what i'm glad to see go...prilosec, nexium, and tums...counting calories and oh, roughly 20 pounds.

Terry here. Number one with a bullet is macaroni and cheese. Close second is spaghetti. Then I miss pancakes - I made the best. Fourth is Fritos - especially covered in Helluva Good clam dip (which you can only buy in Connecticut). Finally, it would be bagels, although I miss them a lot less than I thought I would. On the good side, I'd say that my use of Rolaids has gone down about 95%, and, strangest of all, I have not had a snoring episode since I went on the plan, according to one who knows.

Make your momma proud

My wife insisted that I call my mother in Arizona and let her know that I had gone down a pants size. Mom had been lecturing me about my size for more than a few years, so that call made her day. Now she has taken to lecturing my little brother because he is headed in the opposite direction. It's not telling tales out of school to mention that my brother and I are not extremely close, so this would not be designed to improve that, but being thinner is the best revenge. Since she refuses to go online, I will need to send a picture of the New Me to her nearest Walgreen's for processing. For your viewing pleasure, here is a picture of the Old Me and the new me. Not hard to figure out which is which.

Cavey/Not Cavey

Hi, Donna here! I've been encouraging my husband to write the entries, but he has indicated that it is now my turn, and so I shall address "The Art of the Open Meal." Since I discovered this new way of eating because of my thyroid operation, I was very surprised that it had a name and many followers. If you are a strict "by the Paleo Diet Book" caveman, your diet would consist wholly of meats (non-wheat fed), vegetables, fruits, berries nuts, and seeds. This is almost impossible to follow, and I don't really think many people actually do. However, built into the diet is the fudge factor called "Open Meal" which gets you off the hook sometimes. We incorporate open mealatude several ways, i.e. a little pita bread to hold salad and salsa. But while we are not really cave people, we try to be as "cavey" as we can, especially in avoiding processed foods. Here is an example of a raw fish meal that is perfectly cavey. And here is an example of (eek) a breaded fish meal, that is decidedly uncavey. We ate and enjoyed them both!

That Magic Number

Baseball fans and Douglas Adams fans are both aware of the magical properties of the number 42. In Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a supercomputer is used to answer the question "What is the meaning of life, the universe and everything?" The answer was 42. Then the computer had to spend a few million years answering the further question: "What is the question?"
Baseball fans will recognize 42 as the number of Jackie Robinson. Just before this number was retired for all of baseball, it was picked up by a skinny young relief pitcher in the Bronx - Mariano Rivera. If you are both a baseball fan and a hitchiker fan (like me), the number 42 automatically gives you the shivers.

What does this have to do with the Paleo Diet? For years I have been wearing size 44 pants. Over this weekend I went shopping at Penney's and got two pair of size 42 pants. This number speaks volumes about the effectiveness of this plan. I'll look forward to 40, but hate to leave 42.

Him: Week 12 Her:Week 26: Virtual sandwiches

What is a sandwich without bread? Delicious! So far, we've made hamburgers, hot dogs, BLTs and Reubens without a bun or bread. It turns out that this doesn't affect the taste at all because bread doesn't really taste like anything. We're looking at the calendar and anticipating Fall, so we can get back to making stews and soups. There is a much greater range of food choices for fall. Now, if we can just dream up a suitable substitute for spaghetti (the only banned food that I really miss).

Him: Week 10 Her: Week 24

Last weekend, we went to the city to see fireworks at a friend's high rise apartment on the West Side. It turned out that 9th Avenue and 25th Street was a fantastic viewing spot, as long as you also happened to be on the 19th floor. The day before the party, we asked what we could bring. She told us - a dessert. We did a double take because we don't eat desserts, but quickly remembered our lifeline. The specialty of the house is a blackberry and blueberry compote, made with minimal sugar. These used to have a light crust, but now we do them without. Donna had the further idea to make a strawberry topping to be added after generous doses of whipped cream - Red White and Blue! This turned out to be a huge hit at the gathering, and the dish came back nearly empty.
Last night, we went to Outback when Donna picked me up at the train station. Most of the choices here are in the zone, but when the waiter came by with bread and butter, we had to tell him to save it for someone who could eat bread. He may have served other paleo types, because he came back later and proposed a substitute serving of celery and two kinds of dip - very impressive. Donna was especially impressed with their tomato dip. Meantime, I'm trimming down just a little bit every day. However, on my birthday next month, I'm eating cake. It's in the plan as an "Open Meal," meaning that you make special exemptions now and then.

Here is the berry recipe:

Ingredients:

Two pints each of blackberries and blueberries

Two tablespoons butter

One tablespoon flour

Three tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 375

Mix all ingredients in an oven safe bowl. Bake for 40 minutes.

Strawberry topping

One quart strawberries

Cover with orange juice and confectioner's sugar to taste.

Refrigerate for at least 3 hours

Capitol Punishment

We just came back from a conference in Washington DC - three intense days of library conference, while basking in record heat. This was my first conference on the Paleo plan, so it would be interesting how I could navigate the endless free breakfasts, lunches and parties put on by various vendors. WE had decided in advance that we would stick to plan for the most part, but try the Wolfgang Puck desserts at the Saturday night party. It wasn't terribly hard to stay on track because most parties have an array of vegetables and dip, fruits and meat skewers - all on the plan. The worst was one breakfast that served French toast with bacon and sausage - we ate the bacon and sausage. The previous breakfast was continental, but fortunately, it came with a fruit salad. The Saturday night party had no food beyond desserts, so we had to take the Metro to Dupont Circle and find a surprisingly good diner.

HIM: week 7, Her: week 22

It's been a challenging week for paleo eaters. On my Tuesday lunch, I headed to Duane Park, a Cajun/French restaurant only two blocks from my office. Had duck confit and calimari salad - both delicious. The hard part came when we went to a ball game Friday night in Staten Island. Our tickets said "Unlimited refreshments." Not quite - we stood in line for nearly an hour and then were told that we could get exactly one item and a bottled water. I ended up with a dry cheeseburger - took off the top bun and discarded half of the bottom. Dreadful. On a happier note, the family took me to brunch Father's day at Captain Bill's in Bay Shore. Many paleo choices - sausage, prime rib, salads, lox, roast lamb and poached eggs. At the end, I had some fruit from the dessert table. Left feeling pleasantly full. Afterwards, we posed for this picture (above) to show the week 7 progress, compared to the picture at left, taken 2 months ago.

Him:Week 6 Her:week 21

In February, my wife Donna underwent surgery to remove her right thyroid. She had been warned that this would lead to some sort of severe weight gain, so she was prepared for the worst. As she spent weeks recovering from surgery, there were some foods she could not eat because her throat was too constricted - any bread or pasta was out. She found fruits, vegetables and meats easier to swallow. As the weeks went by, something strange and unexpected happened - she started trimming down. She was eating more than ever of the foods she could handle, but going down two dress sizes. Reading the thyroid forums, she found that she had stumbled on something that had a name - the Paleo Diet. Six weeks ago, Donna sent me an article with the details of this plan (See The Article). I read it while eating a bagel with a generous dose of butter.



I finished the bagel, and immediately went on the plan. So far, I have not seen any dramatic weight loss, but I feel better. I have a healthy appetite at meal time, but don't feel like I'm starving myself. I'd had a problem in my left hip that had been troubling me for many months, and it went away on day one. I'm looking forward to seeing what the summer holds in store. See also Wheat Addiction To be continued.