Yes, the protein works

So, the jury's in. More protein is better (for me, at least).

I noticed a lot more hunger, cravings, and blood sugar swings when I ate less protein this past week.

But what about beans, you say?

Oy. I don't know if it was the TVP or the beans or the combo of beans + cheese but...suffice it to say, I was embarrassingly stinky yesterday. I tried some chili from a great local vegetarian place (The Quiet Storm in Bloomfield-Garfield), and the result was, well, horrific, at least for my husband and children. :)

So, flesh it is. Local, grass fed, dark meat whenever possible. I actually ate some dark meat chicken for the first time this weekend and liked it! Boy, have things changed. I used to think meat just tasted like blood. Now I am enjoying it a lot more.

We are getting half a pig from a local farmer this weekend. I will be looking for suggestions on how to cook the tenderloin, a pork roast, spare ribs, and the ham (saved for Easter/Spring Equinox, of course!). The rest is bacon, kielbassa, and loose sausage.

I do not know much about cooking meat, much less cooking hunks of pork. Bacon, I'm a pro! But something like a tenderloin is scary.

Also, does anyone have a good recipe for creamed spinach?

Nutritional typing

I regularly browse Dr. Mercola's newsletter, and I've been interested in nutritional typing for a while. I didn't want to pay for the book (sorry Dr. Mercola!), but I recently noticed that he had an online test for free!

Not surprisingly, I tested as a Protein Type - which means lots of meat, a few select low-carb vegetables, generous amounts of healthy fats and nuts, little to no fruit or sugars, always gluten-free, and with very few other grains.

Problem.

I don't like meat.

Ok, that's not true, entirely. I like SALTY, SEASONED, SMOKED meat. Bacon. Sausage. Kosher hot dogs. Venison burgers with liquid smoke.

Steak? Blecch. Chicken breasts? Dry. Dark meat? Slimy. I can't stand gristle and boingy parts. I hate the skin, I hate the chunks of fat, I hate the blood. In fact, I would be a vegetarian, if it didn't make me feel so crappy! Seafood is allowed, but I'm a little wary of seafood - between mercury, PCB's, overfishing, farmed salmon being genetically altered to eat CORN and then fed colored pellets to make their flesh pink... I just can't handle it.

I have also been interested in the Weston Price diet for a while, with the emphasis on raw dairy and grass-fed meats. Dr. Mercola is a fan of the Weston Price diet, especially for Protein Types. I'll be reading up on menu options and coming up with some interesting ideas, I'm sure!

Tonight we had scrambled eggs, thick-cut (SALTY!) bacon from the farmer's market that looked and tasted more like a ham steak, and fresh green beans with almonds and butter. I had 2 eggs, 2 slices of bacon, and a bowl full of beans, and I feel fuller and more satisfied than if I'd had a huge bowl of GF pasta (my other favorite). Maybe there's something to this.

So the question is, what kind of meals can I make out of limited amts of veggies, and mostly proteins and fats? Things like spinach, asparagus, cauliflower, mushrooms (yuck), green beans, avocado, cabbage. And I just ordered half a pig from the farmer at the market, so I'm sure I will have some good pastured meat to use pretty soon.

I'm interested in using coconut oil (It works great in cake frostings instead of crisco!) and eating more nuts. And perhaps using zucchini for noodles in a pesto.