Walk vs. Hike

I've been walking. Not running. Just walking.

A few weeks ago my knee reminded me why regular running hasn't worked for me in a long time. Just when I get back in a groove, some nagging part of my body shuts me down.

So....walking.

I like to move, but move quickly. It takes patience to walk. Even the dog leans forward, pulling (though he's trained not too), straining to pick up the pace. He looks back at me. Why aren't we jogging his face asks. "I can't," I say out loud to him and the pavement and the trees and anyone who will listen. He and I are both happier when we take to the trails and the mountains. There it's okay to slow down. He is off leash and so am I. My mind doesn't race on the trail. It's distracted by the landscape and sounds. It has a job to do. Watch out for rocks, snakes, bears. My brain is simultaneously soothed and stimulated in the woods. It might just be the best form of therapy.

This morning we walked. While the car was being worked on we hoofed it to a nearby neighborhood around a small lake and walked three miles. The exercise felt good, the fresh air felt good, the chill that has finally hit our mornings felt good. But being on pavement, walking past houses, listening for traffic...none of that calmed me. I came away from our walk even more wound up than when I started. Which means its settled. I can no longer walk. I'll just have to hike.

Smoky Smoked Salmon

Breakfast is my favorite meal. I love to put together mouthwatering and sometimes unusual combinations for my everyday breakfasts. And they always include eggs. Breakfast is not breakfast without eggs. If you ask me.

My family has fallen out of love with salmon fillets, so off the dinner rotation menu they went. But me? I still love salmon and am always including it in my breakfast. Smoked salmon is my go to because it keeps beautifully and is ready to go right out of the package. Now I'm pretty sure this is sacrilegious, but one day I decided I wanted my salmon warm, so I threw it in the pan next to the eggs that were happily frying themselves in coconut oil. I only let it set about 45 seconds to a minute per side and then plated it.

Bam.

My tastebuds were blown away. Just that tiny amount of direct heat from a cast iron pan elevated regular old smoked salmon to new levels. Saltier. Smokier. More salmony. Now, if I am including salmon on my breakfast plate it always goes into the pan first.

Primal Hippie Eats & Workouts

A week's worth of totally non-Paleo foods did a number on me. I stepped on the scale when we returned from vacation and nearly cried. I've done my best to stick to strick Paleo this week. The sugar cravings hit pretty bad yesterday and today. I ate some dried fruit and a Larabar even though I know I should have starved those sugar cravings right out.

But workouts have been terrific. I finally conceded that my Vibram Toe Shoes had bit the dust. I've been a devotee of them for three years now. There is no telling how many miles I ran in those bright pink and orange five fingered shoes. Rather than buy a new pair right now (because I'm trying this thing called not spending as much money) I pulled out my like new pair of Brooks Pure and did my workout in them today. My feet felt much heavier than normal but I'm sure I will get used to them again.

Today's workout was especially nice because the weather was gorgeous and I got to do the whole thing in my backyard. Have a peek at my playground...

I've got a tire for flipping, a slackline for core, nice soft grass for planks, a trampoline for fun, and I drag my kettlebells out when needed.

I use the closest log for log jumps and presses.

It's pretty much my favorite place to work out. There is a very steep hill where I can do repeat hill runs.

This morning I started with a 1 mile run on the treadmill and then did 2 rounds of:  
5 log jumps
10 inclined pushups on the log
15 squats with a 20lb kettlebell
5 hill sprints
2 min. plank

In My Coffee

This is sad.

I'm starting to believe that dairy and I are incompatible.

Waaaaaaaaaa!

I discovered this during my last attempt at a Whole30. I made it 11 days. Go me! Not.

Anyways...

I would wake up in the morning with a flat belly (well as flat as my belly could get) and upon having my first cup of delicious caffeinated manna with a splash of raw cream I would blow up like that girl from Willy Wonka. "You're turning violet, Violet!"

I should have known considering that when I cleaned up my diet four years ago, ice cream began to give me fits. Meaning it sent me to the bathroom within minutes of consuming it.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not at the point where I will turn down a delicious piece of Brie or a slice of gluten free pizza topped with three different artisan cheeses.

But for the most part, I'm avoiding dairy.

That means coconut milk in my coffee, almond milk in my smoothies, and leaving the cheese off of most of my meals.

I think I'll survive.

Hello!

It's been close to a year and I think its time to revive this little blog.

No I didn't quit blogging all together.

My main blog is The Tiny Farm Co. & Academy where I write about homeschooling, tiny farming, soap making, food, and family. I've truly neglected this space. Mostly because I began to neglect myself. I never made it thru that Whole30. I've been on the wrong side of primal eating for the better part of a year now. Trying to stay true but slipping more often than not.

It's all gonna change.

We say that a lot, but since January I've been getting in my workouts regularly and have dropped 20 pounds. My eating still tends to include some grains like quinoa and rice and corn but otherwise its pretty primal. I took a hiatus from alcohol during the entire month of January and its helped me drink in moderation since then.

I have some big plans and changes coming this Summer and Fall that I absolutely have to be in tip top shape for. I'm planning my last attempt at a Whole30 at the end of August. Our business is sponsoring a 5K over July 4th and I am the race director. I'll be having surgery in September. Oh and hitting the beach in August as well!

Lots going on! Lots of things I need to be properly fueled for. I'm ready.

Friday

Early morning chicken chores are just a day to day norm around here. Keeping chickens gives the kids their very own very important responsibilities. It also enables us to know where our breakfast comes from and to take responsibility for that as well.

 

These beauties are the product of happy healthy well cared for hens. We treat them well and in turn they feed us well. Eggs are a very large part of our diet around here.

 

It was a very happy day when these new books arrived. I've already made three things from Against all Grain. We have a portion of a pig coming in a month and I plan on putting Beyond Bacon to work then.

 

 

One of my very favorite things is butternut squash soup. I am particularly fond of the recipe in Practical Paleo. I had someone give me two big beautiful butternuts and I used one to make this batch. I love pairing this soup with a steak that has been grilled to perfection. The flavors compliment each other so well.

 

And in keeping with my love of orange veggies, I made some spectacular sweet potato hash. Aren't vegetables pretty?


I am sorry to admit that I didn't succeed with my Whole30. I'm not going to make excuses. I'm not going to beat myself up. I did not completely fall off the Primal wagon. But I haven't been super strict Whole30 either. When I feel like the time is right, I will give it another go.

Back From Vacation!

 In my last post I talked about staying on track while on the road. Warren and I had the chance to exercise that when we took an overnight trip to Oklahoma City.

But first...my eats from the day before. I started the day off with some scrambled eggs, guacamole, and market sausage. This is a picture of my plate after I devoured half of it and remembered to take a picture. Appetizing...I know.

 

I was pretty busy packing and cleaning so I gulped half a Naked Green Machine and gave the other half to Warren. I also flipped through this book looking for new ideas.

 

 

The chocolate chip cookie recipe from Against All Grain's website kept popping up on my radar. I decided to give it a try. Chocolate chip cookies is definitely a treat my family has been missing.

 

Whoa! We were not disappointed. This was the best grain free treat I have ever tried. Amazing. In fact the kids are bugging me right this minute to make some more.

 

Dinner that evening was a collaborative effort. Warren had brought home about 8 ribeye steaks that were about to go out of date and we had cooked them in the dutch oven low and slow. He made a Paleo gravy after looking up how to achieve the proper thickness. Add in some sautéed veggies and dinner!

 

The next morning....roadtrip! I packed a cooler with a ton of primal snacks so we wouldn't have to eat out too much. Leftover sausage, apple slices, brie, Larabars, Applegate Farms turkey slices, string cheese, guacamole, pistachios, wine, coconut water, and kombucha. We had breakfast on the road.

 

About lunch time it was time for a stop. We came across choc brewery in Krebs, OK. This is a their bar room.

 

My homebrewing husband is always in heaven when we make a brewery stop.

 

I totally broke my beer fast. It was worth it.

It's good to get away with the love of your life.

 

And this band was the whole reason for the trip. We had 4th row tickets. Insanely amazing!

 

The next morning we had lunch at Kitchen 324 in downtown OKC. The building was gorgeous but I was not impressed by the food. At all.

 

 

And back to reality and home cooking! This morning I seared some pork chops and had mine with scrambled eggs, apple slices, and brie. I'm trying to get all my favorite cheeses eaten up before I start my first Whole30 on August 1st.

Dinner was part of a T-bone with steamed broccoli, nearly burnt sweet potatoes, and sour cream steak sauce. The potatoes were good despite me forgetting about them. The past few days I've been going down to only two meals a day. I'm just not hungry around lunchtime. Probably because I often don't eat breakfast until 10am or so. I am truly interested in intermittent fasting and I think I could probably do it but I'm not sure if I should be eating more at my two meals or not. Any suggestions?

Eats Day 6 & Fall Garden Hopes

I have really noticed a major increase in energy over the past day or so. I put it to good use with a 3.5 mile run at 7 am, followed by working at our business for about 4 hours (our monthly organic delivery came!), did some major major grocery restocking, came home and proceeded to build a raised bed in the backyard.

We have lived in our home about 5 years and have had variable luck with gardening. One year we had more squash, zucchini, tomatoes, and jalapenos than we knew what to do with. This year, everything I planted was killed by a late frost, and everything I replanted became so overgrown with weeds that I gave up. Before I went on vacation I noticed a few squash plants holding on but by the time I got back they had succumbed to the heat.

I have been dreaming of a collection of raised beds for some time now and yesterday I got out the tools and scraps of wood from our shop and got to work. Hopefully I can get some stuff in the ground to have a small fall crop. Turnips, and kale, maybe acorn or butternut squash.

A few of my hens were hanging around watching me build the raised bed.
Chickens are actually really sweet.



Tired and glad I was able to construct a box without my husbands help, also very glad I didn't lose a finger to the saw.
Or break my wrist with the drill.



 

 

After the run, I was starved but had to rush to open the store. My sweet husband made us a big Sunday breakfast and called me to come home and eat. We live very close to our business so I was able to run right over and enjoy having someone else cook for a change. Funny thing was, he made Paleo pancakes and instead of using coconut flour he used shredded unsweetened coconut. They tasted fine but the consistency was off. He kept commenting on how they weren't cooking right and then I noticed what he had used. It was comical but he was very adamant about how I should start labeling my mason jars better since we have coconut in 7 different forms in our house. Shredded, flaked, fresh, flour, water, milk, and oil....all coconut!

 

Breakfast was still delicious. I topped my pancakes with a bit of organic blueberry jam and a splash of maple syrup.

 

 

 



For lunch I had some Wild Planet sardines in marinara sauce, with pickled asparagus, and a nectarine.

After this amazing lunch I pulled the dutch oven out of the well....the oven. It had been hard at work braising some ribeyes. Benefit of having a grocery store....lots of meat to eat!

I shredded it and nibbled on a little and then put it away for dinner later. I had a spoon full of Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut butter and a bottle of GT's Kombucha. I fixed dinner for the family but skipped it myself. I just wasn't hungry. Energy and not feeling hungry all the time? Well, its pretty awesome I have to say.

Giant platter of meat. Yum! We now have emergency protein for days.

Day 5 Eats

I posted some pictures on the Before & After page for those of you interested in that sort of thing. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't impatient to get some after pictures up there but we all know these things take time! Day by day, choice by choice, bite by bite.

And I do like my bites!

One of my very favorite breakfasts is a chorizo egg scramble with avocado on the side. Chorizo makes my heart sing!

The best flavor of Larabar hands down had to suffice for lunch today. We installed new space age cash registers at our store and I was pulling my hair out trying to use them. I was glad I didn't give into the stress and pig out on junk which is what the old me would have done.

 

 

I ran home for a hot minute and pan fried some onion, peppers, and shoulder steak. Topped it off with sour cream and guac and lime juice. Avocados two times today?!?!?!

 

 

And then I fell face first into a bar of chocolate.

 



I really shouldn't have done that.

Eats Day 2 & Some Nature Thrown In For Good Measure

 

Living in Arkansas we tend to take it for granted the natural beauty that surrounds us. But not the Primal Hippie family! We ventured down to our local river, the Cossatot, yesterday. In the native Indian language in our area Cossatot means "Skullcrusher". Its a quite popular place with kayakers when the water is up.

It never fails, every time we head to a favorite swimming spot we end up picking up trash. Pack it in pack it out people! It wasn't just the Gatorade bottle. It was three snack wrappers, bottle caps, and cigarettes I stuffed in there.

No one needs to be messing with the beauty of a place like this.


And on to the days eats!

Breakfast! Leftover steak from the night before. One egg fried in coconut oil. Really wanted another egg but the hens were not obliging this morning.

Lunch was a bit of a repeat from yesterday. Primal cereal. Yummy!

No picture of dinner. We had guests and I got so wound up in entertaining that I forgot to snap a picture of dinner. It was grilled ribeye steak, leftover kuri squash, bacon jalapeno poppers, and a bit of mashed potatoes.

No workout yesterday. I busted out a few mock pull-up's because I've got that goal remember? And the hike down to the river was nice, so I got some moving done. Just move right?

Day 1 Eats

Today started off rainy. My very favorite kind of day. I spent the better part of an hour drinking coffee and blogging on the back porch.

In just a short time I had to prepare breakfast. This morning it was bacon with over easy fried eggs. Try putting your eggs on top of fresh baby greens. So so so good! A little trick I learned while on vacation.

 

 

Lunch was two of these leftover chicken legs. See the begging Primal Aussie?

With a little bit of primal cereal. Just some nuts topped with fresh sliced bananas, coconut flakes, and half and half.

 

 

Dinner was round steak with roasted kuri squash. Simple, easy, filling.

 

(Not shown the super yummy dark chocolate I consumed this afternoon, still battling the sugar monster round these parts!)

Workout for the day was 30 minutes of Polly Yoga. I needed it after the strenuousness of yesterdays at home crossfit workout. Stretching is oh so good!