Thursday, June 23, 2011

Even My Dog Knows Quality

Just wanted to share a funny anecdote from this morning. On my morning run with the dog, the garbage collectors had left quite a mess. This led to one distracted puppy. Just as I finished, I saw her stray off to a particularly interesting pile of debris. She snatched something in her mouth. Now, my little pup is notorious for scarfing down stolen food with the quickness. She has stolen half a roast off the counter in the time it took me to turn my back and fill a glass of water.

So, I expected whatever she grabbed to be in her belly before I even had a chance to try to take it from her. However, the quality of food in my house must have spoiled her. I will feed my dog scraps on occasion as a training tool. She loves the traditional food that drives dogs crazy like chicken,pork and of course pieces of steak. But she also likes her veggies. She'll eat carrots, and nuts, and she LOVES bananas, maybe even more than the meat. We even spend a little more to buy her quality dog foods. So, I look down at her and I see a hotdog poking out of her mouth and she has this puzzled look on her face like "WTF is this? It smells like it should be food, but it isn't." I reached down to take it from her and she gave no complaint. Now, to be fair to hotdogs, this was no Hebrew National or premium brand all beef hotdog. This was clearly the remnants of a last minute BBQ supplied by the Walmart special. But still, I'm proud of my little pup for making quality choices even when opportunity presents itself. So, if my little mutt is smart enough to make these kind of choices, shouldn't you?


Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Paleo Gourmet

Hey cave dwellers,

I know it's been a while since I posted on my culinary endeavors. I have been trying to hone my skills in the kitchen and have been learning a lot over the past few months. I've found some great resources and have tried a bunch of really good recipes that I look forward to sharing. Quick update on my status personally. After returning from Afghanistan, I celebrated a little too hard and shot up to 195lbs and close to 20% body fat. My blood profiles were a mess and I felt like crap in general. In January I decided that I needed to get back on the paleo horse. In, 3 months of very casual and not strict at all paleo eating, I cut 18lbs and I'm down to just over 10% BF. My cholesterol dropped 30pts and I feel great.

So, while I love to cook and experiment in the kitchen and on the grill, I am also stupid busy and don't always have the time to plan ahead. In steps Paleo Brands. They sell a series of frozen dinners, jerky, and paleo friendly snacks. For when I'm running out the door in the AM and didn't have time to get a lunch together the night before, this is the perfect solution. All the meals are gluten/ trans fat/ other garbage free. As an added bonus, they are cheaper than what I'd spend on a meal at a fast food place. I ordered their Paleo Gourmet Sampler Pack to get an idea of what they have to offer. The meals look quite good, but I wasn't convinced just yet. I mean, if you look at the pictures of most tv dinners, the ads looks wholesome and delicious, but the results taste like old tire. Well, I had my first meal today. The Fish Patties were definitely a keeper. It consisted of 3 fish patties, a mix of vegetables, and spaghetti squash. I took a pic of the box. Should have shared one of the meal itself, but it was gone too fast. This definitely met expectations and if the rest of the meals are as good, I will be going this route again.