One day I was posting on my Facebook page about Gelatine Lollies and posted a recipe so people could make them at home, and then I wrote something like "...and if you can't be bothered to make them I will make you some and deliver them tomorrow!" and I sold five bags!
That got me thinking how much prep work is involved when you make everything you consume from scratch, there aren't many paleo food options available in the shops yet and people have busy lives with proper jobs!
I started to wonder if I was actually in the minority when it comes to people who love spending a good chunk of every day in the kitchen. From speaking to friends during my primal chats I realised there is a lot of good intention, but life can get in the way and that's when they "fell off the wagon" and ended up feeling crap physically and mentally. In between prepping all of the amazing paleo food there was a void of quick to grab and to turn to daily staples.
$15 for a loaf of bread???!!!
Now, you'll notice that a loaf of my dense bread is expensive at $15 compared to $3.50 of wheaten shiteness, that's basically because grains are so cheap, my foods are made of wholefood, organic and locally sourced where possible and that costs more. But trust me when I say, you'll feel a million dollars after eating this way than your old way!
Real food is the corner stone of paleo eating and consists of variations of veggies, meat, good fats, eggs, nuts, seeds and some fruit. I wanted to come up with a line of foods that ticked the convenience box, but were Paleo and good enough to be consumed regularly. I wanted to replace the staples we have grown up on such as bread, milk, cookies, fizzy drinks and lollies so that people had something to turn to, to fill the void. Here is what I came up with...
Paleo Bread grain free, dairy free, gluten free, Paleo, sugar free *contains nuts and eggs
When I first changed my diet, I ditched bread altogether as it contained gluten and wheat which I believed was wreaking havoc on my gut. I also felt bread was filling a place where more nutrient dense food could be. But I missed bread! Even though I didn't want to return to our four-loaves-of- Helgas-a-week bread days I did still want something to slather butter on, pop my poached eggs on or spread with avocado for a quick nutritious lunch. I needed a bread like staple in my life that wasn't going to rock the paleo boat, that meant it needed to be grain free, dairy free, sugar free and gluten free. I love the Paleo Bread and the Fruit Bread for breakfasts in a hurry or as a nice lunch when you can't be bothered prepping a salad and chomping down on loads of meat and veg. Don't expect this bread to perform like your old bread did, it's rubbish for sandwiches and only tastes good toasted, it bread in inverted commas but I can honestly say that I prefer this bread over any bread I've eaten in the past.
Paleo Bread contains: Zucchini, Almond Meal, Arrowroot flour, eggs, Himalayan sea salt, bicarb of soda and apple cider vinegar. I have a recipe on my blog for this and you can make it yourself for around $8 loaf if you bought the ingredients in bulk, or you can buy it from me for $15. I have a maximum of twelve loaves available weekly.
Fruit Toast Paleo, grain free, dairy free, gluten free *contains nuts
I have always loved fruit toast or raisin toast, or spiced apple crumble, or ginger biscuits or not to sweet savoury loaves to have with a cuppa. This Fruit Toast satisfies all of those cravings and with only two tablespoons of coconut/rapadura sugar per entire loaf it's not too sweet either. It's lovely for breakfast toasted with butter and home made nut butter on, or jam or as a snack any time of the day.
Fruit Toast contains: Almond Meal, Arrowroot flour, filtered water, lemon juice, Himalayan sea salt, coconut or rapadura sugar, coconut oil, chopped nuts, raisins, goji berries, sunflower seeds or sesame seeds, blend of mixed spices, baking powder, chia seeds. You can make yourself for around $9 a loaf buying ingredients in bulk of have me make it and bring it to your house for $15.
Paleo Cookies with Chocolate Chips Paleo, gluten free, grain free *contains butter, choc chips are not paleo, contains nuts
My husband needs a weekly supply of cookies made otherwise he will buy all sorted of hideous commercial crap from the shop. I tweaked this family favourite to be Paleo. My kids also love this cookies, they have been brought up on cup cakes, sweet treats and things like Tiny Teddies when I couldn't be bothered and so I am happy subbing those crap gluten filled, sugar filled chemical shit storms with these wholesome and low sugar biscuits. Please note the choc chips are just from the store so not Paleo at all or sometimes I use chopped up Lindt chocolate, I'm not to worried about a few choc chips in the diet....80/20 right?
Choc Chip Cookies contain: Organic butter, coconut/rapadura sugar, vanilla essence, arrowroot flour, almond meal, desiccated coconut, choc chips and sometimes coconut flour if the mix is too wet. You can make these yourself for around fifty cents a biscuit or have me bake them for $10 for a half dozen.
Activated Nut Milk dairy free, Paleo *contains nuts duh
I wasn'g going to give up coffee either thanks very much even though I knew the half a litre of skimmed pasteurised non organic dairy component of my Skinny Flat White was doing me no favours. After an initial switch to soy (argh) I trained myself to like nut milk. It took me about three coffees of nearly being in tears as it was so bitter and horrid to now loving it and when I taste a dairy coffee it tastes off! So I've included a Nut Milk in my range. It's a variation of whatever I am liking (or have in) at the time and can include, almonds, sunflower seeds, or cashews. The nuts are activated (soaked) before being blitzed and passed through a nut milk bag. Although it's not that expensive to make at around $1.65 if you have the nuts in your pantry it's more of the process...soaking, blitzing, passing through a nut milk bag.
Nut Milk contains: mixture of almonds, cashews or sunflower seeds, teaspoon of unprocessed honey, olive or macadamia oil, Himalayan sea salt.
Grass Fed Bone Broth
I have added bone broth to my menu as I feel it is one of the major contributors to my gut healing. Having a cup a day of this healing soothing tasty broth is the best medicine I have had. If you are reading this I'd say you already know the benefits of bone broths but if not check out my blog on Gelatine, link above. Again, with a bag of bones at $5 accompanied with some veggies, masses of garlic and herbs it only costs about $8 to make four litres of broth. However it's the process....soaking the cartilidgey bones in apple cider vinegar while you roast the meaty bones, add water and veg and cook for about 9 hours, the smell of bones wafting around your house (I like to make it when I'm out!), cooling it in the fridge so you can remove the layer of fat, fishing the bones out, straining it. It's labour intensive I tell you and not for the faint hearted! I can make this for you for $5 for a 300-400ml cup.
Bone Broth contains: grass fed biodynamic animal bones, filtered rain water, onion, carrot, celery, herbs, garlic, salt and pepper.
Gelatine Lollies
If you are sold on the benefits of broth but can't get around to including it in your diet then have no fear....lollies are here! This is also an easy peasy way to get the benefits of gelatine into our kids, mine won't touch broth but have about four of these a day. Each lolly contains about half a teaspoon of concentrated powdered gelatine. I make them fun by adding some natural flavourings like lemon, orange and strawberry and add colour with concentrated black current, carrot, safflower or spirulina. Don't let the word lollies put you off, these things are medicine! I keep mine in the fridge. They come in cute shapes like ducks, stars, hearts and fish and cost only $5 for ten pieces. They cost about 20c a lolly to make yourself.
Gelatine Lollies contain: Great Lakes Grass Fed Gelatine, Lemon Juice, coconut or rapadura sugar (about three tablespoons per 40 lollies) natural flavourings and colourings.
Kombucha
Kombucha is my substitution suggestion for your Red Bull problem! I am crazy about fizzy drinks and drank enough Coca Cola and Pepsi Max to sink a ship (shudders, diet too, cringe). Kombucha is basically fermented tea, have you heard about how great probiotics are? Well this drink is full of them. Although a lot of sugar goes into the preparation of the Kombucha the Scoby (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) feeds on the sugar resulting in a low sugar refreshing drink -winning. If that wasn't enough Kombucha is packed with B vitamins, enzymes as well as probiotics which can improve digestion, aid with weight loss, increase energy, cleanse and detoxify, support the immune system, reduce joint pain and prevent cancer - wow! For more about the benefits on Kombucha click here. You can buy a 330ml bottle from me for $3, I make a Berry and Citrus one. Once you have the Scoby Kombucha is cheap to make, it's just the process....and the fermentation period of up to four weeks can be a drag too.
Kombucha contains: Filtered, boiled rain water, tea, organic raw sugar, Scoby.
So there you go, my solution to making Paleo a little bit more accessible to all of you hard working busy people out there. I deliver three times a week to central Denmark WA. You can order by messaging me below here or by checking my Facebook Page.
Thanks for listening, have I missed anything out? What would you like to see available for delivery?
