How to throw a bachelor party… For the love of God start planning it before you start drinking.

How to throw a bachelor party… For the love of God start planning it before you start drinking.

So I just recently got engaged. On top of pondering my own perfect bachelor party, I have been in charge of 2 bachelor parties, both of which went without a hitch... Both figuratively and literally… No one got drunkenly, “Hangover movie” married on either Bachelor party. But I learned some lessons that can be passed on to future Bachelor parties for efficiency.

1   1.) Put someone in charge. Pick someone who is organized, straight forward and who is up for the task; this may or may not be the Best Man. If you are staying local and the best man is from out of state, he most likely isn’t as familiar with the locations, directions, trends or local night life as someone else in the bachelor party. Make sure the person in charge is not scared to make a decision or take charge because odds are the group leader will most likely be the final voice on most decisions.

     2.) Ask what the groom wants and make a plan. Give the groom the chance to at least design the cornerstone of the weekend, and then make a plan to fill in the rest. If the Groom wants a relaxed golfing weekend, set up the weekend around golf with a few nights out. Likewise if the Groom wants a crazy, end all be all party… Grab some blow-up dolls, a few strippers, a case of penicillin and go to town. At the end of the day, letting the groom build the cornerstone of his last hoorah will allow him to get what he wants out of the party while the rest of his friends use it as an excuse to act like wild, adolescent assholes away from their significant others.

     3.) Give the group a voice. Create a Facebook page, an e-mail feed or a group text message feed. My choice would be a Facebook page; almost everyone has it and you can make it private, e-mails could get sent to spam and no one wants their phone going off every 5 seconds at work. The only downfall to a Facebook page are those “I’m too cool for Facebook” people that you have to contact separately to keep them in the loop… If there are too many of those, the other 2 routes may be better. Use the groups to communicate, vote and make decisions so that you can get some sort of itinerary set up. You can also ask the group for any hook-ups in the area; someone who can get in to a club for free, discounted drinks, discounted rooms or car rentals… you never know who in the group knows until you ask.

     4.) Get a payment app. Everyone paying up front is awesome, but something always pops up that the group needs to pay for and people always “need to go to the bank” because they didn’t bring enough cash. Use an app like Venmo or Chase quick pay and make sure everyone has it set up before the trip. Venmo is great because people can write descriptions of the payment to keep everything organized and remember who paid (i.e. dinner, hotel room or strippers). The worst thing in the world is being the person collecting money because you put everything on your card and people “forgetting” to pay you.

    5.)  Have a good time. Sounds easy enough right? Just make sure people are comfortable with what’s going on. This trip is all about the groom, so if he doesn't feel comfortable getting a lap dance, find a “no touch” strip club or sit away from the stage and enjoy the view… the rest of the heathen friends will be sure to spend all of their money on the back room delights if they choose to. Make sure to casually mention your with a bachelor party to the server or bartender (don't be all in your face with it, night life people hate that) and you may score a round of shots or get some good insight on where to go.

Plan the trip according to the group’s specs and you’ll be sure to have a good time. Keep the pictures to a minimum (don't agree to delete them at the end, that shit never happens) and for God’s sake don’t check in to places on social media… You’re just asking for a pre-wedding break-up.

How flossing can help you live past 100 and being sick for a Bachelor party.

Staying healthy isn't easy. I just read an article from longevity expert Dr. Sanjay Gupta that said flossing your teeth can reduce inflammation which in turn helps reduce inflammation throughout the body… which in turn helps lower the risk of heart disease. He said flossing every day could help you live past 100. So of course I went out and bought a case of floss from Costco. He also mentioned that he doesn't floss “as much as he would like to”. Hypocrite…

So I’m currently sick. I went to the doctor, which I never do, but I can’t be sick right now. I usually allow my body to fight off the sickness, it helps strengthen your immune system and I am not a fan of antibiotics as your body can become immune to them with over use… Our country is way too quick to pop a synthetic pill in order to “feel better” instead of giving your body what it needs to help fight off sickness with its natural antibodies. Anyways, I digressed, back to the reason I can’t be sick right now… So I have a bachelor party in 4 days… It’s not my bachelor party, but that doesn't make it any less important not to be sick. You only get a few reasons to go on a trip with your boys, act like complete idiots, drink incessantly, smoke cigars and play golf multiple days in a row (unless you have a wonderful fiancé like I do… She reads my blog)… and a bachelor party is one of those ways.

So when my doctor prescribed the medication, she mentioned I have to take it for 10 days straight. I know you can’t drink while on antibiotics, so naturally I tried to negotiate with her. My offer for doubling the RX for 5 days didn’t really go over well with her… Something about hurting my liver or something, I don’t know I wasn’t really listening to her and she was obviously under the impression that my liver was still fully functioning… I didn’t have my 2006 Beer Olympics Gold Medal there to try and explain my drinking habits. She wasn’t having it either way.

When I went to the pharmacy I asked to speak to the pharmacist; I spoke to him about my situation. I feel as though this should be a more common question, right? As he starred at me with his disapproving eyes, he explained to me that this particular antibiotic does not counteract with alcohol but is processed in the liver, so excess alcohol wouldn’t make me vomit but it wouldn’t be the best thing in the world for my liver. So my adolescent brain naturally only heard one thing and I needed clarification… “So if I throw up it’s because of the amount of alcohol I consumed and not the medication, correct”?

On the ride home after I was asked to leave the pharmacy, I could only think of one thing… How much I hated flossing and how I just invested $37 in floss at Costco.

Why Crossfit is ruining the world and how it’s causing CANCER!

STOP! Before you throw a fully plated prowler at me or pelt me with weighted med balls, I am a Crossfitter and believe in a majority of what Crossfit stands for. But while you are here, you might as well read the article and understand what got you here, and why internet trolls are taking over social media.

I read an article on Facebook today that somehow connected drinking coffee to cancer… On my way to work I noticed that somehow I subconsciously walked by the coffee maker that I use every morning and didn’t turn it on. I ate the same breakfast this morning that I eat every morning with my coffee, but this time I didn’t notice that I didn’t have any coffee to drink. It didn't hit me that I didn’t have my coffee with me this morning until I was walking into work and realized that I not only didn’t I have my coffee but I forgot my lunch box, water bottle and protein shaker bottle; this morning was awful to say the least.

I read a different article a few weeks back explaining how some of the most common beers are so terribly bad for you that they should be banned from the shelves… Now I second guess myself every time I order a beer.

While my reactions to those stories are wildly true, it hit me that what we read on social media sites, blog pages and the random website from the darkness of the inter-web have such a huge impact on our psyche… If we let it. The new rage in Social Media advertising is what I like to call “Propaganda Marketing”. It is when a blog page, website or an internet troll posts an outlandish picture, video caption or blog title (i.e. my title about Crossfit causing cancer) glamourizing something to the point where you have to click on the link to see it (Have you ever seen one of those titles that say something like “This goat didn’t eat for days, then THIS happened…” yea, I clicked on that too). It is a cheap way to get hits on websites, videos and blogs but it often leaves more questions than answers.

With the amount of information now a days at our finger tips, it’s hard to distinguish between the truth, the half-truths and the outlandish lies… Because it’s on the internet so it must be true, right? The easiest way to make a buck on the internet these days are to discredit something trendy and popular. The one to guarantee the quickest response? Crossfit. Hands down Crossfit has changed the landscape of the fitness industry, mostly because of the cult like following it produces; if you’re going to fight Crossfit, you’re going to have to fight it’s fan based that has pledged their allegiance to the fast pace, chalky world of Crossfit.

At the end of the day, do your research. If a blog is siting sources from a major publication or a scientific study, then go check the source before you put faith in it (if they don’t site any sources, chances are they are opinion based and can most likely be full of half-truths and outright lies). Whatever you do, DO NOT repost something you don’t agree with or find holes in… you are then just feeding into their ploy and sending people directly to their site for more hits, more traffic and more money for them. The best thing you can do is just ignore them.

Now, for my opinion on the health and fitness world. … there, now that I got that out of the way. Any health professional or dietitian would be hard pressed to disagree with the thought that we should be consuming whole foods like organic vegetables and fruits (mostly in a raw state), organic meats, fats from nuts and oils as well as complex carbs. We should also stay away from processed foods, GMO’s and excessive amounts of sugars. Of course everything in life should be had in moderation and good judgment. As far as exercise is concerned, do whatever makes you happy as long as you are moving and active. If you want to do Crossfit, DO YOUR RESEARCH and find a place that you feel comfortable with and that has a coaching staff that is competent and focuses on form. If you want to join a big box gym, DO YOUR RESEARCH and find a place you feel comfortable with and that has a staff and certified personal trainers that are willing to help with basic exercise information (do NOT let them talk you into some sort of personal training contract that you don’t feel comfortable with, they are there to help not sell you something, even though most of their intentions are the other way around). If you have no idea what you are doing, DO YOUR RESEARCH and find a good personal trainer to help you with the ins and outs of working out and program design. If you want the ultimate workout and live in the Tampa, FL area go check out Core5 Studio (www.core5studio.com) for a comprehensive fitness program.

At the end of the day, do what works for you, but with all of this great information at our finger tips, there is plenty of tools to help you weed through the garbage and get what you need!

As Always; Peace, Love and Fitness!

I should really become a Paleo chef...

I tell myself that I should be a chef after every meal I cook... But its really easy when your working with fresh, flavorful, organic(mostly) meats, veggies and condiments. I've concocted a few more recipes... and most of them were derived from my own head or some stuff thrown together that actually worked! As I read back on this, I must warn you again... I am very easy to please when it comes to food. I enjoy most every food, flavor and texture... So when I say I should be a chef, I could probably only be a chef for myself... which I am... soooo... I guess its congrats to me on my new career!..... A chef for one... myself... Boy I have a lonely job... Luckily I have Jill to eat with me... Anyways, I'm done rambling, here is some food ideas!

I love salt and vinegar chips... and miss them dearly, they are my most favorite comfort food. I have found many recipes for baked kale chips, but I decided to try my own twist, and they came out good... I must warn you though, I love vinegar, but for those of you who don't as much, be careful how much you add. This is also the recipe for regular Kale chips if you don't add the additional salt and vinegar. :)

Salt and vinegar (kale) chips:

   INGREDIENTS:
One bundle of fresh kale
2 tbl spoons coconut oil melted
1 tbl spoon of lemon juice
sea salt
pepper
vinegar

   HOW TO MAKE:
Pre-heat oven to 
Wash Kale and pat dry with paper towel
cut Kale stems off
cut Kale leaves off stalk veins into chip size pieces
pour oil over kale leaves in a mixing bowl and massage oil into kale
add lemon juice, sea salt and pepper to taste
spread Kale in one level on a cookie sheet
bake in oven for 35 mins, after 12 mins toss them and make sure they aren't burning
Let stand for 2-3 minutes (if you can leave them alone that long)
place desired amount of chips in a mixing bowl and add vinegar (and more salt if desired) to taste.

We tried another recipe for Paleo pasta and meat sauce... This time with zucchini noodles... Jill did the honors. I actually liked this recipe better than the spaghetti squash we made on the previous blog because the veggies here didn't add a sweetness and flavor change that the spaghetti squash did.

Jill Boo Boo's Paleo spaghetti and meat sauce:

   INGREDIENTS:
2 large zucchini's
1 large squash
diced onions (about a 1/4 cup)
1 minced garlic clove
olive oil
sea salt and pepper
1 pound ground turkey (or organic/grass fed ground beef)
1 jar Paleo friendly spaghetti sauce (or make your own!)

   HOW TO MAKE:
Brown and season your ground meat to taste (we add the onions here to flavor the turkey, but you can add to the zucchini/squash mix if you'd like). Drain meat.
Add spaghetti sauce and set on simmer to let the flavors mix while you make the spaghetti.
Peel the zucchini's and squash
Cut the vegetables into long thin (spaghetti like) pieces.
Set saute pan (we used a wok) to med high and add the oil.
Saute your veggies for a couple minutes to warm them up and release some of the juices
 Add spaghetti to sauce and your all done!

While I was trying to find something to eat for lunch, I came up with this really easy and very delicious concoction. I made it on a whim, but the flavors were very well defined and meshed well together! I will call it Garlic Onion flaxseed mustard pepper chicken... I call it that because that name contains most of the ingredients... So I don't have to think. Your welcome.

Keith's GOFMPC:

   INGREDIENTS:
2 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
olive oil
2 tbls of minced garlic (I cheated and used pre-minced garlic in olive oil)
1/4 chopped onions
1/2 red pepper cut thinly 
Dijon mustard
flaxseed
favorite spices (I just used some off my spice rack including Italian seasoning, some fajita seasoning I had and a touch of cayenne pepper seasoning... just have to be careful because some of these are loaded with salt. Next time I will go fresh spice, but this was a spur of the moment lunch!)

   How to make:
set your saute pan to med high
put in enough oil to coat the pan
when the pan is hot add the garlic, peppers and onions... let them saute and release some flavor (about 3-4 minutes)
add chicken, then add enough dijon mustard to liberally coat the chicken (my mustard is in a squeeze bottle so I just kind of drizzled enough on to cover it). The mustard will thin out as it get hot and coat the chicken nicely.
saute until chicken is cooked through, then turn stove to med-low
add a touch more Dijon mustard and sprinkle on some flaxseed (enough to cover the top of the chicken).
toss ingredients together and let them simmer for about 2 more minutes.

Now eat the crap out of it! It makes enough for two servings with the ingredients I put up above.

Soooo, Jill and I are enjoying trying the new recipes and we will continue to play around with ones we find online and make some up ourselves! As always, we will let you know how they come out!

I miss bread... But its getting easier...

So I spent about 98% of my day working on Paleo recipes... Research, shopping, prepping and cooking... So I'm just going to dive in because I'm freaking stoked about how things came out!

Let me predicate by saying I'm no chef, but I love cooking and more importantly eating, and I'm DEFINITELY no baker! But I follow directions pretty well and love to try what I cook... So without further adieu:

I went to find Almond flour as most of the bread and muffin recipes call for it, but its stupid expensive(like $14 for a small package)... So I decided to try my hand at making it, so I bought Publix almonds, 2 cans at 10.5 oz each for a total of around $8.50... I have a food processor at home and all the references I looked at said just to "Blanch" the almonds to get the skin off and just throw them in the food processor... Sounds easy, right? Ha! I can make anything hard. So here's how its supposed to go:

Blanch the almonds, which is as simple as boiling water, pouring the water over the almonds and let let sit for 1 minute, draining them and then rinsing them... and the skin should "Just fall off"... I WISH!... The skin didn't loosen at all for me, so I repeated the process... Worked this time, but I had to pop the skin off of each freakin almond... I'm sure there is an easier/better way, but that was my life today... for an hour... non stop. Anyway, after that I threw them in the oven at the lowest possible temp to dry, threw them in the food processor and BOOM, you have almond flour.

So now I wanted to make what we missed the most... something like bread... So I made blueberry muffins. Recipe below... and the are flippin delicious!

INGREDIENTS

    2 cups almond meal/flour
    1/2 tsp baking soda (soooo... I used baking powder... oops.. but they turned out great!)
    1/2 tsp salt
    2 eggs
    1/4 cup honey
    1/4 cup olive oil (used applesauce instead, great option!)
    2 tsp vanilla
    3/4 cup blueberries

INSTRUCTIONS

    Preheat oven to 350F
    Line a muffin tin with paper liners
    In a medium bowl mix together the almond meal, baking soda, and salt
    In a separate bowl mix together the eggs, honey, vanilla and oil
    Next combine the dry and wet mixtures, then add in your blueberries
    Fill your muffin tin with the batter and bake for 25 minutes

Preparation time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 25 minutes | Number of Servings: 6 muffins

They little freaking pieces of deliciousness came out moist, flavorful and freaking stupid good. They are packed full of protein, low in carbs and packed full of flavor... I do have to warn you tho, because its cooked with almond flour it is around 220 calories per muffin, but almost 170 of those are calories from fat... Which is paleo strong! ... I can't stress enough how good these things were...

Next, we love (by love, I mean I dream about them) these chicken wings from a local pizza chain and I found a recipe for them so we tried them last night... Holy little baby Jesus they were good... I don't want to write the name of the restaurant because our friends and us love going there and I would hate to get in trouble for posting this recipe, but lets just say the name of the place rhymes with Smanthony's Smoal Smire Smizza... Below is the recipe, they are essentially grilled rosemary chicken wings:

Ingredients

• 4 pounds chicken drumettes or wings or both
• ½ cup lemon juice (the juice of 3 large lemons)
• ¾ cup regular olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 4 springs fresh rosemary, stripped and roughly chopped
• ¾ tablespoon coarse Kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper

Instructions

1. Place the chicken drumettes in a gallon freezer zip lock bag.
2. In a large measuring cup, mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, oregano, rosemary, salt and pepper.
3. Pour the olive oil mixture over the chicken wings.
4. Push as much air out of the zip lock bag and seal.
5. Place the bag flat in a 13 x 9 pan (as a precaution incase it leaks)
6. Place in the refrigerator and marinate for 24 hours turning the bag every so often.
7. The next day, remove the chicken from the refrigerator and allow to sit out for 30 minutes.
8. Meanwhile, place a grill pan on the grill and preheat your grill to as hot as it gets. Mine got to about 450-500.
9. Drain the excess marinade from the chicken.
10. Place the chicken on the grill and cook for about 8 minutes per side or until the skin is crispy.

 I did mine in the oven on a broil pan. 450 degrees for 40 minutes and broil 2-3 minutes (or until brown and crispy) on each side. The restaurant also serves them with caramelized onions, so I made them and served them with the onions as well... I'm all about authenticity...

I got the 4lbs of chicken for Publix for around $6 and it made about 14 drumettes, plenty left over for lunch tomorrow! They are a great dinner and I may try them with chicken breast next time and may also leave them in the marinade for 48 hours next time. Just remember, if you decoded the name of the place and want to try the real thing, this meal is a very paleo friendly dining out option!

There are two great recipes to try! Jill Boo Boo has been a good sport with my cooking attempts and she loved both of these... At least that's what she has told me... I love her for that, and for waking me up every morning at 7am to work out... which is not fun... Next blog will have some more baked goods and more dinner options including Jill Boo Boo's zucchini Noodle spaghetti and meat sauce!

Paleo Weekend; Friends, a fire pit and animal carcasses

Our first weekend with our changing lifestyle and it was our first big test. Friday we went to a dinner party which could be an awkward situation seeing as how most people don't eat the way we eat. Luckily we were with a group of friends who are like minded so we had a little healthy eating/Paleo dinner party. Skirt steak, salmon and chicken skewers were on the menu with healthy sides like broccoli and Brussels sprouts. I did cheat and use some butter on my veggies... I had a couple squirts of "I can't believe its not Paleo(butter)" spray... As my friends and I liked to call it all night.

Beer is my other weakness. I love beer. Like in the way a fat kid loves cake or the way my friends love craps in Vegas. There are many gluten free options out there, but I haven't found one that pleases my pallet. So what I am willing to do for you guys out there, I'm only doing this for you and research purposes, is trying all of the gluten free beers I can and review them here for you at a later date. For now, I'll stick to red wine and vodka/soda (or vodka/water with lots of lemon) when I am in a social drinking setting and want to partake (obviously we are going to try and not drink alcohol as much as possible... God I sound like an alcoholic right now).

I found a ton of Paleo friendly recipes for things I missed most and I'm going to try them this week including:
biscuits, bread, muffins, tortillas, etc. We were going to make a run at making them this weekend, but we had issues finding almond flour locally. We did do some more grocery shopping this weekend; we got our meats (mostly organic when we could find it) at a local superstore and reserved the fruits and veggies for the local farmers market.

Speaking of farmers markets, I love the one we have locally Check it out. It seems like every time we go there, no matter what we pile into our cart, we only spend $20... Obviously the produce you get from a farmers market is usually fresh and organic, but it also supports local farmers and growers. A word of advice, only buy what your going to use in the coming days because these foods aren't usually treated with the nasty toxic preservatives to help them keep longer. We usually purchase for a week out for most of the produce. This week we started our "spice garden" in the kitchen window sill with pre-grown Rosemary, its about 12 inches tall already and was only $1.99... Kidding me?!?! We've already used some in lunch and dinner!

Saturday we went over our friend's house to watch the first week of playoff football; another awkward situation as most football parties include buffalo wings dripping with blue cheese, chips, cheese dips and our weakness... Pizza. Luckily our group of friends choose a healthy lifestyle as well, but we didn't want to impose so we packed a lunch! We made lettuce wraps with chicken, avocado and homemade salad dressing, brought a couple pieces of fruit, veggies and some homemade granola. They also had some food made there; vegetarian chili, Mike's chicken concoction (chicken, potatoes and sauerkraut- delicious!) and chips and salsa... Seeing how were not eating corn or grain but love salsa, our friend Jenna found some carrot chips in her fridge and those worked out perfectly!

We will be stepping up our cooking skills this week, trying out some new recipes... were excited to bring you some new choices for you. Good luck this week, and look for a new blog soon!

Day 2... I want to crawl in a Cave.

Alarm clock went off at 6:15 this morning. Who's idea was this? We decided to do an early morning workout with our friend (and personal trainer) Drew and his girlfriend Ashleigh. I'm going to predicate this post by saying they are both in waaaayyyy better shape than I am. Needless to say I almost threw up/passed out/died... And while I made it through the workout, when I got home I stood at the bottom of the stairs for 20 minutes pondering how I was going to hoist myself up them. As you could probably predict, we somehow talked ourselves into doing a high intensity circuit workout on day 2... The Workout... Its a CrossFit style workout that we did in a normal gym with normal equipment... so no need for specialty items.

As far as our meal plan is concerned, we got a little more creative but still nothing too extreme; again we want to make it as simple as possible at the beginning.

Pre-workout: Since it was super early and we needed something in our stomachs we cheated a bit and used a brand name soy based protein powder. Could have been a ton worse, but we will be reviewing some Paleo friendly protein powders in the coming days.
Breakfast: Two eggs over easy (I cooked mine in left over bacon grease, I poured out the greases and just left the pan coated in it... Jill cooked hers in butter) with sea salt and pepper and 3 pieces of bacon.
Lunch: Basically same as yesterday... Spinach salad with carrots, green and orange peppers... But today we used tuna instead of turkey and added mushrooms. We also used our homemade salad dressing... and it was freaking awesome (recipe below).
Dinner: Spaghetti and meat sauce... with a Paleo twist. We used spaghetti squash for the "pasta" and our meat sauce was a Paleo friendly sauce (recipes are everywhere online) with ground turkey for the meat*. It was absolutely delicious! The spaghetti squash was sort of sweet but very close to the consistency of pasta. Next time we will try zucchini noodles, as friends said they love that as a pasta substitute as well.
Here is how we made it:

Take a medium spaghetti squash and cut it in half:

Scoop out the insides with a spoon:

Put one squash in upside down in a bowl with 1 inch of water, microwave for 7 minutes (repeat for next half)

Careful! Its flipping hot! Now, use a fork and scrape against the walls of the squash and take your bounty and put it in a bowl. When your finished with both squash, add your meat sauce and Bon Appetit!

*We use, and have always used, ground turkey for anything that calls for ground beef as it tastes almost identical and is much healthier. On that note, I learned this lesson a couple months back (thanks Ashleigh), there is ground turkey(usually 80/20 lean to fat ratio), lean ground turkey (93/7) and lean ground turkey breast (99/1)... For the most part we try and get the turkey breast, but at minimum get the lean ground turkey. Try it for tacos (Taco Tuesdays!), meat sauce, hamburgers or whatever else calls for ground beef.

We also made homemade salad dressing (Delicious!) and homemade granola.

Salad dressing: It is super simple and very tasty if you like balsamic vinaigrette.

• 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar;
• 1 crushed clove of garlic;
• 1 tsp dried oregano;(I think it would be better if fresh but we just used the ones from our spice rack to see if we would like it)
• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil;
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste;

Put ingredients into a a jar with a lid and shake well.

We've used quite a bit already in the 2 days we've had it. :) The above recipe makes almost a full salad dressing jar.

Granola:

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sliced almonds
• 1 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds, unsalted
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 2 tbsp raw honey
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup dried cranberries OR blueberries OR raisins (or combo)

**I don't like coconut so we didn't use it, and we also used a raw, unsalted mixed nut blend (No peanuts!) instead of just pecans. For the dried fruit we bought a organic mix of dried berries (no sugar or sugar substitutes) from Publix in the Greenwise section.

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Add nuts, seeds, and coconut to large mixing bowl. 
3. Melt coconut oil in microwavable dish, then mix in honey, maple syrup, cinnamon, and salt. Stir until consistency is even.
4. Pour onto nut mixture and toss to coat evenly. 
5. Spread thin on a baking sheet (parchment paper makes for easy clean up.)
6. Bake for ~20 minutes or until coconut browns, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.
7. Mix in dried fruit.
8. Allow it to fully cool before eating. Enjoy with plain Greek yogurt or milk (as you would with traditional cereal.) 

It was good, nothing too amazing, but good. The reviews I read on it says its a good substitute for cereal if used with almond milk or raw milk for all of you dairy users. I'm going to try that in the next couple of days... Because I looovveeee cereal! I also took a scoop and added some almond butter to it, rolled it into a ball and froze it... I think I will do that for the next batch we make as it was easier to grab and snack on (plus I freaking love almond butter). Either way, throw some granola in some Ziploc bags and they are a great snack( good for the sweet tooth too).

Nothing too crazy went on today. It was a Thursday so we didn't have to worry about the weekend bug biting us to cheat. I will say that we are still learning as we go; our good friend Jenna pointed out that butter is NOT Paleo... Something that we have been utilizing with all of our meals. I have read numerous articles, many from Paleo sites, stating that using butter with vegetables helps the absorption of nutrients of up to 75% better than eating them alone. So with that in mind we are going to continue to use butter for now as I research this more. We also decided to have a cheat meal (meal, not day) once a week to keep ourselves sane... $10 says that the meal will be pizza every week.

I noticed that I had a bit of a headache later in the day. Not sure if it had anything to do with my body detoxing, as I have read about the "Low Carb Flu" that some people experience on the Paleo diet. I will keep track of this and mention if it continues.

Now, to humble me a bit... Below are my starting measurements:
Weight: 188lbs This is the heaviest I've been, at 5'8 I've normally stayed around 170lbs
Calf:14.5"
Thigh: 22.5"
Waist: 36.5" I'm a slim guy and have always been in decent shape, but I've never been over 34" in my life.
Chest: 40 3/4"
Arm:14.5"
I will re-measure at least once a month and track my progress of here.

Roses: Jill- Dinner and the homemade salad dressing  Keith- Same

Thorns: Jill- Lack of options (we'll get better as we go)  Keith- Continuously hungry, lack of snacking.







Here are some interesting books I came across... I want to note that I have not read them nor have a review for them, but just wanted to give some more references for people looking for more! :)