The Paleo Pact

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Asian Nut Sauce

You might remember me mentioning before that I was looking for some type of nut sauce to pair with spring rolls, that’s where the post on Cashew Butter came from. The prefered sauce normally is a peanut sauce, however that’s not Paleo so I needed to get a little creative. The following recipe is a great example of how you can take a recipe you already know and with a slight change you have something completely different!

Ingredients

3 ounces cashew butter
1 tbsp coconut aminos

Recipe

Combine cashew butter and coconut aminos thoroughly.

It’ so simple! This goes to show you that you don’t have to spend a ton of time to come up with something new. Get a little creative this week and try spicing up the recipes you already know how to make. You’ll be amazed at your wonderful creations!

Have fun creating new recipes!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Cashew Butter

I came up with this lovely concoction when I was attempting to make a peanut style sauce for spring rolls. It requires an extra step or two more than what is normal for our recipes but it’s well worth it. This is a delicious cashew butter that you can use on almost anything, even if you just pair it with an apple.

INGREDIENTS

1 ½ cups cashews
2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
¼ cup apple cider vinegar (the vinegar provides a slightly fruity flavor to the butter, feel free to substitute with water if you prefer)
3 tbsp honey
½ tsp salt

RECIPE

In a food processor blend cashews until you have little granules.
Bring a medium sauce pan to low heat, combine coconut oil, vinegar, honey and salt.
Add processed cashews to liquid mixture and stir until well combined.
If you would like a smoother consistency pour back into processor and blend until you reach desired consistency.

This cashew butter recipe is simple to make. It has a sweet taste and can be used as a topping for several of the baked good recipes we feature. It can also be paired with fruit to provide a filling snack.

Enjoy!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Eat The Rainbow

You may have heard the term “Eat The Rainbow” recently. It’s picking up steam in a big way throughout the health industry. It’s meaning is pretty simple, you’re supposed to eat as many colored foods as possible during each meal.

Here’s an example of what “Eating The Rainbow” might look like:

Red- Tomatoes
Orange- Sweet Potato
Yellow- Yellow Squash
Green- Spinach
Blue- Blueberries
Indigo/Violet- Eggplant

Don’t get worried! I know that looks like a ton of food. The point isn’t to overeat, or to eat too much in the attempt to consume all the colors of the rainbow. The point is that you try to incorporate as many colors as possible into your meals. You also want to change up the types of foods that are a specific color. For example, you wouldn’t always want to eat sweet potatoes to get your “orange” in, you could try carrots or an actual orange.

The reason “Eating The Rainbow” has become popular is because nutrient (i.e. minerals and vitamins) composition and levels can lead to foods being a particular color. Foods that are a strong color are said to have more of particular nutrients. So the theory behind “Eating The Rainbow” is that if you eat various colored foods, you’ll gain a more diverse group of nutrients in your diet.

Here’s to “Eating The Rainbow”!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Honey-Ginger Acorn Squash

This is a perfect side-dish. It’s packed with flavor and it does a great job of filling you up. I used acorn squash for this but you could easily swap it out for your favorite type of squash. In my pre-paleo life I’d been accustomed to acorn squash being packed with butter and brown sugar. While this is slightly reminiscent because there is a small amount of honey, it’s going to be much healthier for you.

INGREDIENTS

1 acorn squash, gutted and cut in half
2 tbsp avocado oil
salt
3 cups fresh baby spinach
1 tsp ginger, grated(fresh)
1 tbsp honey

RECIPE

Pre-heat the oven to 375°F.
Place squash halves open side up on baking sheet.
Brush with 1 tbsp avocado oil and sprinkle with salt, bake for 30 minutes. (or until you can poke a fork through the squash easily)
While squash is cooking, bring 1 tbsp avocado oil to medium heat in a sauté pan.
Add spinach and ginger, stir until wilted then remove from heat.
Remove squash from oven, brush with honey.
Stuff with spinach mixture and cook for 10 more minutes.
Remove and let cool, then enjoy!

I have this dish with the Orange-Ginger Tilapia Fillet recipe. It’s a great complement and it makes a wonderful meal!

Enjoy!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Tropical Holiday Salsa!

This recipe is to celebrate my vacation in the islands! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It may be snowing and below zero where you are now but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a little something tropical.

INGREDIENTS

1 mango, peeled & diced
1/4 red onion, diced
2 tbsp cilantro, diced
1 avocado, peeled & diced
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp honey
2 – 3 limes, juiced
1/2 tsp salt

RECIPE

In a bowl combine mango, red onion, cilantro and avocado.
In a small bowl whisk together apple cider vinegar, honey, lime juice and salt.
Add liquid to bowl and stir.
Serve when ready.

This festive salsa is a great topping for fish or it can be enjoyed as a side. I hope this recipe brings you day dreams of the islands or makes you think about taking your own vacation. Vacation is good for the soul, just like this salsa is good for your body!

Happy Holidays!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Dealing With Criticism

It’s the holidays which means we’re spending a ton of time with family and friends. Unfortunately, sometimes the people we spend the most time with can be the most critical and the topic of lifestyle is generally fair game. When your friends and family find out that you’re following a paleo lifestyle, you may run into a few critics and probably a load of questions. Here are a few of our recommendations on how to handle both.

Handling Criticism and Questions

Knowing your stuff- if you’ve committed to the paleo lifestyle it’s probably because you understand the impact of clean eating and eating like our ancestors on your body. Brushing up on a few facts of why certain foods, foods not included on paleo; are bad will allow you to make your case. While I’d like to say you can’t argue with science, I know that’s not true. At the minimum it will make you appear to others that you know what you’re talking about, because you do.

Answer questions- remember most people may not know anything about paleo. Try to answer all questions without judging, you may think someone is making fun of you when in reality they simply don’t know.

It’s not that big of a deal- when it comes down to it the best way to end a critics criticism is to act like it’s not a big deal. If someone won’t let it go just ignore the topic.

Ask your own question– ask others what they’re doing to get healthy this coming new year. It’s an easy and simple way to change the conversation.

These are a few tactics to handle criticism and questions. For more examples of how to handle criticism and to hear some of the questions we received take a look at the “FAQ” section in our best selling book PALEO Cleanse.

Happy Holidays!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Holiday Mint Cookies

These peppermint cookies are amazing and a perfect treat for the holidays! If you need to bring a treat to a holiday party consider these your go-to. You can also top these with Paleo frosting to make them more festive!

Ingredients

1/2 cup grass-fed butter
1/2 cup coconut palm sugar
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 1⁄4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
3 tbsp. water
3 oz. Peppermint Tea, brewed
1/4 cup raw agave nectar (you can substitute for honey, we use agave for allergy reasons)
Arrowroot flour as a non-stick base for rolling

Recipe

Pre-heat the oven to 325° F.
Place foil or parchment paper sheets over your baking sheet. This will prevent your cookies from sticking.
Combine the tapioca flour, coconut flour, baking soda and sea salt in a small bowl.
In a food processor (or using a large bowl and an electric hand mixer) beat the butter and sugar for approximately 2 minutes, or until fluffy.(keep your butter in the fridge until you’re ready to blend, cold butter makes the cookies easier to cut)
Brew 3 oz. of Peppermint Tea.
Add the dry ingredients, water, agave and tea to the butter and sugar mixture and beat until well combined.
Lightly dust arrowroot flour on a clean counter.
Using a rolling-pin, roll the cookie dough until 1/4 inch thick and then cut out your cookies using a cookie cutter. (If the dough is too soft place it back in the fridge until it hardens slightly.)
Place the cookies on your lined baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Giving these cookies enough time to cool is critical, if you serve them warm they tend to be a little crumbly. For more fantastic cookies take a look at our Giveaways page to see how you can get your free copy of Quick & Fantastic Paleo Cookies.

Enjoy!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

Cucumber Asian Salad

This salad is delicious and packed full of fiber. If you like pickled foods you’ll enjoy this a lot. I add this as a side for chicken dishes, but it’s also great for anything flavored with coconut aminos.

INGREDIENTS

2 – 3 large cucumbers, thinly sliced(you can use your food processor, they generally come with attachments to thinly slice)
1/2 bag shredded carrots (roughly 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water
2 limes, juiced
3 – 4 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt

RECIPE

It a Tupperware container add cucumbers and carrots.
In a small bowl whisk together vinegar, water, lime juice, honey and salt.
Add liquid mixture to Tupperware.
Close Tupperware and shake to mix.
Place in fridge over night.

You can play with the portions here, some individuals like it more “vinegary” so they could add more vinegar to achieve this flavor. The great thing about this recipe is that you can make it work for you, it just takes a little adjustment to get everything going.

Enjoy!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!

How To Stay On Track This Holiday Season

Trying to maintain any type of healthy lifestyles during the holidays can be challenging. Things are constantly coming up, you’re going to parties with non-paleo foods and you have little time to get anything done. We have you covered this holiday season, the following is a list of tips that will help keep you on track during the holidays.

Tips To Stay On Track

Prepare ahead of time- The more you can prepare in advance the better. Try cooking and freezing your meals for the week or make sure you’re loaded up on healthy snacks. If you know you’re going to a party, think about bringing a Paleo side dish or appetizer, that way you know there will at least be one option for you there.

Cheat days- Sometimes you’re going to have non-paleo friendly meals. It’s human and that’s ok. To help minimize how often you cheat during the holiday season try to plan your cheat days ahead of time and limit them when possible.

Stay hydrated- We’re so busy some days that we forget to drink water. Often times when you’re thirsty your brain will get mixed signals and think it’s hungry, staying hydrated will help to prevent these mixed signals.

Simplify– The easier you make things for yourself the more likely you’ll succeed at it. Don’t get crazy with your meals during the holidays. Keeping it simple like a piece of protein and a side of steamed veggies will keep you from wasting time or getting off track.

Don’t stress out- Stress for most people is the number one factor for eating poorly. Try to keep from stressing out, maybe take a walk or a few deep breaths when you feel the pressure.

Restart- Sometimes no matter what you do you get off track. If you get off track, acknowledge that it happened and try to figure out what caused it. Then get back on track(restart), PALEO Cleanse is a great tool to help you get back on track after the holiday ride.

Don’t worry, you’ve got this under control. Here’s to a happier and healthier holiday season!

Melissa Van Dover

PALEO Cleanse made the Amazon Best Seller list!