Finals!

Attention all weight loss division paleo challengers!!

Don’t forget to weigh-in with one of the coaches before the end of the week. If you are not in the box, email me your weight.

Also, make sure you get in any scored workouts from the challenge you missed, and send me your food logs from the challenge. The sooner you all do this, the sooner we’ll be able to get prizes to the winners!

Thanks, and have a great Thanksgiving break!

A Paleo Thanksgiving

Most of us will be going to visit or hosting friends and family to celebrate Thanksgiving.  It’s a day centered on many food traditions.  For most people this will also be a cheat, treat, variety or whatever term you’ve chosen to describe a good carb binder.  At the same time, if you are bringing a dish and want to show off your new diet here are some links to some good recipes to give a try to.

A couple of entire menus can be found at:

Everyday Paleo

http://everydaypaleo.com/2010/11/15/thanksgiving-recipes-and-everyday-paleo-pumpkin-pie-cooking-demo/#more-584

Rob Wolf

http://robbwolf.com/2010/11/20/the-paleo-table-grain-free-dressing-stuffin-recipe-plus-a-thanksgiving-links/

Appetizers

Deviled Eggs, err, Fat Guacamole Devils…

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/fat-guacamole-devils/

Multiple options - BTB Fitness

http://www.btbfitness.com/nutrition-and-performance/2010/11/11/thanksgiving-is-just-around-the-cornerpart-one-appetizers.html

Soup

Pumpkin Sausage Soup – This is outstanding, Jess modified it from some recipe she found and knocked it out of the park. 

http://jessicaotte.blogspot.com/2010/11/pumpkin-soup.html#comments

Stuffing

You might see this as the hardest obstacle, but aside from the bread or rice component of most stuffing recipes, they're pretty easy to modify.  Rather than simply removing the bread, which actually works pretty well with most sausage stuffing’s, you can swap out the bread or rice for cauliflower, yes cauliflower!  Here’s how:

Preheat your oven to 450 and roughly chop the cauliflower and throw them in the food processor in batches until it is about the consistency of rice.  Place on a baking sheet and toss with butter and some salt and pepper and roast for about 25 minutes until golden.  You’ll want to check in on them once or twice and give them a little shake, just make sure they’re not getting burnt.

There are also a couple of options in the Everyday Paleo and Robb Wolf menus above.

Mashed Potatoes

Cauliflower Puree – This is a pretty basic recipe, but feel free to add all of your typical mashed potato seasonings, garlic powder, onion powder, horseradish, etc.  As noted, watch how much liquid you use, you don’t want this to get too soupy or you’ll be running out for another head of cauliflower.

http://www.pragmaticpaleo.com/2010/03/24/cauliflower-puree/

Deserts

I admit, on my treat days deserts are always included.  I now just try and keep it gluten free, I’ve found I don’t feel as wrecked the next day.  There are reasons not to use almond flour on a regular basis, due to the oxidation of the unsaturated fats when heated, but for a one time thing and to show off your baking abilities, here are some good choices:

Apple Cinnamon Tart

http://cosmopolitanprimalgirl.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/primal-apple-cinnamon-tart/

Paleo Pumpkin Pie – Actually it’s their whole menu, which includes a stuffing recipe.  The pie is all the way at the bottom and includes a video.

http://everydaypaleo.com/2010/11/15/thanksgiving-recipes-and-everyday-paleo-pumpkin-pie-cooking-demo/#more-584

Team Standings

I've had a couple people ask me about standings on the workouts. I'm still waiting on a few people to finish the two workouts so far to finish them. They'll be up as soon as I get all the data.

So, make sure you get your Paleo Challenge workouts done as soon as you can!