As I was searching around in the deep freeze, I came across an unsuspecting slab of Brisket that was just screaming to be removed from it’s frigid demise.  So I rescued it, let it thaw to remove the unwanted icy crystals and then lovingly warmed it up in our crock pot for one of the most delicious meat dishes I’ve made in a long while.

One of the things I love most about New Mexico is the abundance of Green Chile.  It’s not just reserved for the typical Mexican fare either.  National chain fast food joints even put it on their burgers.  We just love it.  So some New Mexican Green Chile only added to the all naturally smoked, Nitrite free bacon that I got at Keller’s, our local market.

The Brisket came from a lovingly raised Piedmontese cow in the lush pastures of Northern Utah’s Piedmont Ranches.  There is a big difference between Piedmontese beef verses other breeds.  Of course, I always recommend 100% grass fed, never “finished” on grain.  Piedmont Ranches never gives their cows any hormones, anti-biotics or grains.  They are 100% Naturally raised, the way God intended.

So here’s my recipe for slow cooked, Bacon Green Chile Brisket:

• 1 Brisket-about 2 pounds
• ½ pound of thick sliced Natural Bacon
• 1 onion
• 10 cloves (ish) of garlic-about 1 Tablespoon minced
• ¾ Cup of 505 Green Chile
• Sea Salt
• Black Pepper

Start by chopping the raw bacon into about ¼ inch pieces.  Lay it out evenly in the bottom of your slow cooker.  Chop the onion and lay it on top of the bacon pieces.  With a sharp knife, slice a grid into the top of the brisket.  This allows you to work the green chile and garlic into the meat for better flavor absorption.  Then place the brisket with the green chile and garlic on top of the bacon/onions.  Grind some natural sea salt and pepper onto the top of the brisket.

Turn the crock pot on high and cook for at least 3 hours but it’s more tender if it slow cooks for at least 5 hours.  I haven’t tried this dish cooking it longer than 5 hours but I’m guessing it would be just fine.

We served this with Cauliflower Fried Rice and Bacon, Brussel Sprouts for a pretty tasty meal.

I’d love to hear your comments below after you’ve tried this recipe of Bacon Green Chile Brisket.

I say kind of because in a sense, you really aren’t eating it. More accurately you are “ingesting” it. This is perfect for the person who has that mental block about eating liver or they don’t like the taste.

The other good reason to eat liver this way is because you are ingesting it in a healthier state, raw. Now before you really turn up your nose and think I have really whacked out and you just stop reading or disregard everything else I write, there are some really good reasons to get liver raw. Here’s a link to a good article written by Art De Vany where he discusses glutamate.

So if you are still reading, you obviously are at least a little interested in discovering one of the best ways to eat liver…raw. I can’t take the credit for this though. I’m pretty sure the first time I learned about this was on a podcast I listened to with Chris Kresser.

Here are the directions on how to eat liver in it’s healthiest state, raw.

Rub some coconut oil in the bottom of a glass dish. The coconut oil will just make it easier to take it out of the pan. Then get a piece or two of grass fed liver and lay it in the bottom and put it into the freezer. After about a half hour or so, it should be hard enough to cut easily but not too hard. Using a spatula, take it out of the dish and lay it on a cutting board. Cut it into small pieces that are about the size of a pill. You have to work kind of quickly with this because it thaws quickly. After you cut them into pieces, then lay them back into the glass dish so that they are not touching. If some of them touch and freeze together, you may just need re-cut them. After they are frozen solid in individual pieces, then transfer them to a baggie or container and keep them in your freezer.

Now you can just swallow a dozen or so of these frozen little pieces every day and feel really good about this superior quality little multi-vitamin.

Feel free to share your comments below on this or your favorite ways to eat liver.

So if you too want to be a healthy happy nut, try making this Gourmet Meat dish. At least that’s what we call it in our home.

It all started one day when I finally got the nerve to eat liver. I’d eaten liver numerous times as a child but not since I’d been an adult. So I was home with only my 2 youngest children, Aaron and Avery. They were 3 and 4 at the time. Being a smart dad I know that words are everything. I told them all morning that for lunch we were going to have something called “gourmet meat” and that they were going to absolutely love it. They were so excited. They helped me cut up the onions and cook it and by the time I served it they were pretty excited to eat it. In fact, when their teenage siblings got home just as we were sitting down to eat they both ran to the door and exclaimed happily that “Dad made gourmet meat.” My teenagers were not as excited about it but they have mostly learned to enjoy it…or at least eat it.

So here’s how to make liver that your kids will love…or gourmet meat.

You’ll Need

• 1 pound of grass fed liver (Buffalo liver has a milder flavor)
• Several slices of thick bacon
• 2 onions
• Coconut oil
• Garlic or onion powder
• Sea Salt

Cut the raw bacon into ¼ inch or so pieces. Set aside. Cut the onions in strips. Set aside.

I use 2 different frying pans to make this liver dish but you may be able to get by with one if you cook a smaller quantity. Begin cooking the bacon pieces stirring frequently for about a minute or so then add the onions. Sometimes I will add extra coconut oil just to make sure I’m getting plenty of healthy fat. The goal is to have the bacon cooked just right but not overcooked by the time the onions are done. Let them cook until they are done and serve on top of the liver.

On a plate or other flat surface, lay out the strips of liver and then sprinkle with garlic or onion powder, or both, and some Sea Salt. To cook the liver, let the other frying pan get hot for a couple of minutes on medium heat. When the pan is hot enough, add a tablespoon or so of coconut oil then gently lay the liver strips in the pan. As soon as the strips of liver lift from the bottom of the pan then turn them over. If they are sticking to the bottom of the pan they are not quite ready to turn yet. Don’t cook them very long on the 2nd side. I like to eat my meat medium rare. You can cook the liver rare if you want but if you cook it well done then it will not be as tender. Overcooking liver tends to make it “rubbery.” Don’t be afraid to use too much coconut oil. Again, it’s a very healthy fat.

Serve the liver warm, topped with the bacon and onions with or without a side dish. Without a side dish, this will feed approximately 2-4 people. It will feed more if you have guests that are not as excited about getting their daily multi-vitamins and minerals.

Please leave your comments below with your favorite liver story.

When you know how to make liver correctly, it tastes good enough to eat regularly. I hope you enjoy this “Gourmet Meat.”

The first step is to look at “vitamins” through a lens that is different than the typical American that eats a CRAP diet. Ask yourself this question: Did my ancestors take or need this vitamin. Now we could get into a big discussion about nutrient depleted soils and such but my intent with this article is not to discuss what is already evident to both of us.

The question is can I do something closer to what our ancestors did to get the necessary nutrients that my genetics require. The answer to that is yes. And this is why I do not take a multi-vitamin on a regular basis.

So what did our ancestors do that I can do? Eat the foods that they ate. One example is something that we call “Gourmet Meat” in our family. The name comes from when I originally introduced it to my kids to make it seem like something special, which it is. You may know it as liver.

There are other organ meats that are packed with nutrients as well but let me share a little about my favorite multi-vitamin. It’s the easiest to obtain and that may make it the best.

Liver is an excellent source of important vitamins. It’s loaded with B vitamins, being a particularly good source of vitamin B12, a compound needed for red blood cell production and for maintaining a healthy immune system. The B vitamins also have cardiovascular benefits and are important for energy producing reactions in the body that keep the body functioning at peak capacity without fatigue. What about other vitamins? Four ounces of calf’s liver has seven times the recommended daily requirement for vitamin A, a vitamin that’s critical for healthy vision and immune function. It also provides a good dose of vitamin C, an antioxidant vitamin important for maintaining healthy skin and connective tissue. It’s tough to find a food that’s a better source of these all important vitamins. Calf’s liver really does provide a powerful array of life sustaining vitamins, all in a single food.

In terms of minerals, calf’s liver is rich in selenium, zinc, and iron. Selenium is a trace mineral involved in the production of key enzymes, particularly ones related to thyroid function. Both selenium and zinc are important for fertility, especially zinc in males. Zinc is also necessary for good immune function. Getting adequate iron is important for pre-menopausal women.
Other great news about liver: At Keller’s, our local Natural Market where we buy some of our grass fed meats, liver is about the least expensive meat you can get at about $2 per pound.

I eat this “Gourmet Meat” dish for breakfast at least once a week.

So if you want the best multi-vitamin, just add some quality grass fed liver to your diet a couple times a week.

It reminded my wife of a soup made with octopus that we had when we are on vacation in Mexico.

Creamy Tomato Coconut Chicken Soup

You’ll Need

• 2-3 chicken thigh, cut into approximately 1 inch squares
• Coconut oil
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced, white and green parts separated
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• Sea salt to taste
• 1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes
• 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 13.5 oz can coconut milk
• 1/2 lime

What to Do:

In a medium pot, put some coconut oil in the pan and brown the pieces of chicken. Be careful not to crowd the meat so that they brown properly. Once all of the chicken is browned put it aside in a dish to hold for later.

Then in the same pan sauté the peppers until slightly soft. About four minutes. Add white scallions, 1/4 cup cilantro, red pepper flakes and garlic. Cook one minute. Feel free to add more coconut oil if needed.

Add tomatoes, coconut milk, cooked chicken and salt to taste. Cover and simmer on low about 10 minutes to let the flavors blend together.

To serve, spoon into the serving bowls and top with green scallions and cilantro freshly squeezed lime and enjoy.

This is a great dish to let you get a good portion of amazing medium chain fatty acids from all of the Coconut milk.

For the shrimp variation of this you would simply skipped the chicken step and you one and a quarter pounds of jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined. You would not precook the shrimp though. Wait until after you have simmered the mixture for 10 minutes then add the shrimp and cook for just five minutes more.

If you have any interest to attend one of Jan’s cooking classes live, just send us an email to let us know you’re interested. Another alternative is to watch one of our classes we did.

After you tried this Creamy Tomato Coconut Soup we would love for you to share your comments below and share this on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest.

Her health challenges began as a teenager. She was “caught up” in the typical teenager life, not really understanding that what she was eating was creating considerable damage for her future female health.

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a condition in which a woman has an imbalance of female sex hormones. This may lead to menstrual cycle changes, cysts in the ovaries, trouble getting pregnant, and other health changes.

Stefani began eating a Paleo diet early in 2010. As a woman who has battled disordered eating, attended Overeaters Anonymous meetings, been a “sugar addict,” practiced vegetarianism for four years, and been diagnosed with the hormone disorder Polycystic ovary syndrome, eating Paleo has been a truly transformative experience for her. She has found that womanhood and her health are evolving journeys. As she continues to experiment and find what foods and lifestyles work best for her, she shares these experiences with her followers. She strongly dislikes the American society’s food norms. She hates that meat is manly and that women are left to cosmos and chocolates.

Women (and sometimes men) starve themselves for the sake of ideals. Her heart breaks at the stories she reads over and over again about food restriction and deprivation. The ways in which conventional thinking about food, about gender, about evolutionary psychology and just about everything else has wreaked havoc on so many lives.

I recently had the opportunity to visit with Stefani about her story and how she overcame Polycystic ovary syndrome and how she is dedicated to helping others know how they can take back control in their life and heal themselves.

Listen to this interview and be inspired. Feel free to forward this on to someone you know and share it on facebook and twitter. You may just be the person that could help someone else overcome PCOS. Thank you Stefani Ruper.

Sunday afternoon after church is a time when my kids ask me if they can make a treat for us. They all love to cook and sometimes they want to cook something … well let’s just say less than Paleo.

However, being the Caveman Family that we are, when you can have something Paleo that tastes good and satisfies the sweet tooth, it’s so much better than indulging in something less healthy.

So recently when they were asking me the question, “Daddy, can we make you a treat?” I decided to let them try a new twist on this Paleo favorite, Bacon Wrapped Dates by adding the next best thing to bacon, Paleo Chocolate. You can get my recipe to make your own Paleo chocolate here.

If you’ve been paleo for any length of time you will know that these will cause an insulin response and are not considered low carb. However, if you are allowing yourself some carbs then these are the absolute best.

Here’s how you make this amazing treat.

You’ll Need:

• Dates
• Bacon
• Paleo chocolate

What to Do:

1. Depending on the size of the dates, I cut them in half or quarter. If they are too big they are too sweet and well…just not as good. Feel free to experiment with what you like. Then cut the strips of bacon in half. A half of a piece of bacon is enough to wrap around the date and more. Put them on a cookie sheet pan and bake them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. I usually turn them over after about 8 minutes. Cook them just until the bacon is done but not too crispy.
2. This is the toughest part: After you take them out of the oven resist the urge to eat them warm…mmm, they are so good. Instead put them in the freezer just long enough to get them cool so that you can dip them or pipe warm melted Paleo chocolate onto them as we did in this picture.

This is the best part: Eat them up and enjoy the moment.

This is the worst part: You didn’t make enough of them. Better make some more.

If you like this twist to one of the greatest Paleo favorites, Bacon Wrapped Dates, write your comments below and share this page on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

I then will ask them a very important question that you may also use as a standard reply: “Where did you read that and may I have a copy.”

In my opinion, people, including medical doctors, should be able to substantiate their claims. It’s very clear that the research that was used to “claim” that eating fat or a high cholesterol diet was poor research. There are plenty of good books that have been written about this but one of my favorites is Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes.

But let’s get back to the idiot statement: eat more fat to lose weight. There has also been a lot written about this topic but I want to direct you to a case study of a friend of mine, Jimmy Moore. In fact, you may have listened to an interview I did with him not too long ago. In the interview he discussed his “experiment” that he had started several months ago.

What’s really cool about his experiment is that he has documented everything very well on his blog. You should go check it out.

Here’s the crux of it: He has been eating more fat to lose weight. Not only has he been losing weight but he is losing body fat and his lean muscle is increasing. He also has more energy and is having noticeably improved performance in his work outs.

So the question is: How much fat should you eat?

My friend Jimmy has been eating a diet consisting of 85% fat, 12% protein and just 3% carbohydrate. Yeah I know…that’s a whole lot of fat.

Also, You will notice on Jimmy’s blog that his blood lipid panel has also improved, contrary to the flawed science of the past.

Should you do this? I don’t know and I encourage you to educate yourself about the physiology and the bio-chemistry of this before you try it. That’s what I’m in the process of doing right now and that’s why I wanted to share it with you. It’s pretty intriguing isn’t it?

Here’s an important key to remember: This is definitely right in the face of the conventional “wisdom” that has been in the nutrition world for the last 60 years. Our country is more obese than they ever have been. Has our physiology changed that much in 60 years or is the information that we’ve based our lifestyle on been wrong for the last 60 years?

FYI…Just if you’re not sure, our physiology hasn’t changed.

You really can eat more fat to lose weight. I’d love for you to share your experience, research or your opinions in the comments below.

Perhaps an obstacle you’ve had may be similar to this email I received:

The hardest part for me is that I am surrounded by non paleo eaters!! It’s hard but I try my very best because I love not being hungry and I love NOT thinking about food all the time. When I cook for my hubby I just leave the potatoes and biscuits off my plate!! I look forward to your advice. Thanks so much. Lana

This is definitely a challenge. Let me help you and Lana overcome the challenge of eating paleo in a modern world, filled with non-paleo eaters. You may also want to head on over to see what Alison has to say about this over at Paleo/NonPaleo.

When I first went Paleo, I let my wife know what I was going to do and because of our great relationship, she supported me the best she could without fully understanding. Often though, I was left to do just what Lana talks about, leave out the biscuits and potatoes. I too would be left hungry.

What changed it for us was when my wife read Robb Wolf’s book, The Paleo Solution. We were on vacation at the time and she was so excited to get home and clean out our pantry because she felt that it would really help our whole family to go paleo.

So is the Paleo diet too hard to follow? Yes, until you fully understand the principles and those living with you also are as committed as you are.

I was blessed. My wife quickly became “converted” once she read it for herself.

If that can’t happen for you, here’s another suggestion.

Strategically cook most or all of the meals and don’t tell your family that you are feeding them “paleo.” Most of the time a non-paleo eater will feel deprived only if is perceived as non-paleo. Try out some new recipes for muffins, biscuits or other Paleo breads. Breads are typically the foods that make it so hard for a non-paleo eater.

Another simple thing to do is make sure you are getting plenty of healthy fat in your meals. Add things like bacon (and all the leftover grease) or coconut oil to your recipes. This will help you be satiated and not hungry. Minimizing the carbs will help a bunch too.

There are great resources on the internet with amazing paleo recipes that will not leave the non-paleo eater feeling deprived.

So is the Paleo diet too hard to follow? It can be but with perseverance and commitment, it doesn’t have to be.

A few months ago I had the privilege of attending the 2012 Ancestral Health Symposium in Boston. It was a wonderful experience and a wealth of knowledge was gained. I was also able to meet many of the people in person that I had previously only visited with over skype or email. In addition to that I was able to foster many new great friendships.

The biggest challenge I had was not being able to see ALL the presentations. I am so grateful for the organization of the Ancestral Health Symposium for video recording every presentation. They promised they would be available for all of us to view and for us to be able to share with those who could not attend. What a blessing.

So far, they have uploaded 4 of the many videos that will follow:
Dr. Lynda Frassetto, MD—Paleolithic Diets and Diabetes Control: How do we Think it Works
Georgia Ede, MD—Little Shop of Horrors? The risks and benefits of eating plants
Chris Masterjohn, Ph.D—Oxidative Stress and Carbohydrate Intolerance: An ancestral perspective
Maelan Fontes, MS, PhD—Food and Western Disease Beyond Nutrients: Antinutrients

Of all of these presentations, I was only able to see one of them. Chris Masterjohn is an incredibly insightful and scientific human being. In fact, his was one of the presentations that I was looking forward to watching on video.

I can’t say anything about the other presentations but would love to hear your comments about them at the bottom of this page.

I am Passionate about Paleo. I’ve seen it change the lives of hundreds of people personally and thousands of stories of people I have never met. I love it not only because of the miracles that happen in people’s lives but for how congruent it is with the principles of Chiropractic and honoring our innate intelligence.

If Paleo has changed your life, please share these videos with a friend on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. And when you leave a comment below, it helps the search engines find us so that we can help more people. For that…I thank you.

So, I hope you enjoy these videos from the 2012 Ancestral Health Symposium. Stay tuned for more.