Caveman Recipes: Beef Jerky

mmmm Beef jerky...

So you bought a dehydrator and you're bored of drying fruit in it.  What else is a dehydrator good for?  Beef Jerky!

If you're like me, you need to snack a lot even on the Paleo diet.  Some days nuts and fruits just didn't cut it, I needed something fulfilling.  That's when the idea hit me, I'll just go and buy a lot of beef jerky.  Well if you've checked the prices, beef jerky is not cheap, but the ingredients and the effort used to make it is.  That's when I made up my mind, I was going to make it myself for way less than I could buy at the store.

Caveman Recipes: “Guacamole En Masse”

If you’re like me, you probably put guacamole on everything. One problem I ran into when I first started living a Paleo / Primal Lifestyle was the cost of the food. I tried taking the organic / grass fed beef route but by the time I left the store I was completely broke. Every shopping trip would be $100.00 plus and I did around 3 shopping trips a week. After analyzing my receipts I noticed a lot of money was going into these $7.00 tubs of guacamole that I would consume every 3 days.  After a while I developed my own recipe for creating a week’s full of delicious guacamole for less than the price of a tub ($7.00) from whole foods. This recipe takes under 5 minutes to produce a week’s supply of guacamole.

Dehydrator: The Ultimate Maker of Paleo Snacks

If you are a full time professional like many of us out there who are attempting to live a Paleo/Primal lifestyle, chances are a good portion of the day you're feeling hungry, especially at work.  Under the Paleo/Primal diet, it seems counter productive to go to the vending machine with all its starchy and sugary goodness poison.  This was my biggest problem when I first started Paleo/Primal; I was hungry way too often.

Never fear, the Paleo/Primal diet still allows munching on snacks, they're just a little different than the snacks we're used to.  Almonds and walnuts are terrific Paleo/Primal snacks. They are packed with protein and also contain great nutritional value too.  However eating nuts all the time just gets old. What if you're sick of feeling like a squirrel and are in the mood for something new?

 

Cue the Dehydrator...

Oster Dehydrator

Tada!

It's a really simple piece of equiment.  It is comprised of just a heater with a fan and trays.  You could probably make one out of box fan pretty easily (but that's for another post). By owning one of these bad boys you can easily whip up a variety of snacks limited only by your imagination.

Check out this easy recipe to make delicious apple chips:

Caveman Recipes: A Week's Supply of Cheap Organic Salsa


This organic (yes cheap and organic can go together sometimes) salsa recipe is my bread and butter. When I first started eating Paleo/Primal I didn't know how to fit carbs into my breakfast. Without all of that toast and cereal, my breakfast would look like a giant hunk of meat. I came across some all natural salsa at whole foods and decided to add that to my breakfast for carbs. After the first week I figured out pretty quickly that going through a jar of salsa a day from Whole Foods was going to be too expensive. I needed something cheaper. This recipe gives you a weeks supply of ORGANIC salsa for under 4 bucks.

After months of refining here is the quickest salsa recipe that can be massed produced by any caveman/cavewoman.

Ingredients:
(1) Large Onion Diced


(1) x Can of Diced Tomatoes (I like to use Trader Joe's Organic No Salt Added Diced Tomatoes In Tomato Juice. These run for $1.89 for a huge can )


(1) Jar of your favorite Paleo/Primal approved salsa (Check the ingredients, Make sure it is all natural and Paleo/Primal Friendly. I like to use Trader Joe's Organic Roasted Salsa. These run for $2.19

Optional Ingredients:
If you love garlic like I do, crush 3-5 cloves and set aside

How to make the salsa:
1) Open the Can of diced tomatoes and strain the tomato juice so only large tomato chunks are left.
2) Dump the diced tomatoes and salsa into a large tupperware.
3) Throw in the diced onions and stir
4) Optionally, throw in the garlic and mix it into the mixture


Congratulations! In less than 10 minutes you have made a delicious valuable carb source for the whole week. The salsa tastes best after a night of sitting in the fridge (all of the chemicals have to mix). Use it liberally... and use it on anything... See below for example of liberal application.

That is the glorious Caveman's Scramble. It is a little too advanced for now so join us next time to learn how to make a week's supply of Paleo/Primal guacamole for under 4 bucks.

A Caveman's Secrets To Fulfilling Cravings On A Budget: How I Do Sushi

Sushi With A Twist: Beef Sushi

*image courtesy of Mark's Daily Apple

Mark Sisson over at Mark's Daily Apple blogged today about how Paleo/Primal people should do sushi. He goes into detail on why the rice is not needed and even a substitute for fish if you don't like fish. Read how to make Paleo/Primal sushi with a twist.

Personally, I have always been a die hard sushi fan. The two foods in the world that I will always have unlimited cravings for are hot wings and sushi. There just really isn't anything that can compare to grabbing raw fish with your bare hands and throwing them in your mouth. Mark's sushi with a twist is a good idea for a snack or for somebody who doesn't really like fish but I need something a lot more powerful to fulfill my cravings. When I first went Paleo/Primal I did not understand how much food it would actually take me to get full. Because I wasn't hording down loads of empty carbs I would need to get my calorie intake from a higher amount of meat, fat, and veggies. I would have a sushi craving, go eat sushi at a restaurant, and either walk out completely broke or unsatisfied (if not both). Overtime I came up with this find to save my wallet:

I found a couple local Japanese markets that carry high quality sashimi grade fish (check yelp if you're in a big city). You can literally get a whole filet of fish for the price you would pay for 1-2 pieces at a restaurant. I usually go to a market by my house called Mitsuwa. They have a wide variety of fish including Blue Fin Toro which goes for $100+ a pound at your local sushi restaurant (about 20 bucks for 1-2 pieces at a high end sushi place such as Sasabune in Los Angeles). At Mitsuwa you can get a whole slab of Blue Fin Toro for 10-15 bucks. When you buy the whole slab you can ask the market to cut it for you. They usually have some form of a sushi chef there because somebody has to make the fresh hand rolls that they sell.

My last meal (pictured below) cost me about $15 bucks and I was completely sushi'd out. Theres nothing worse than walking out of a sushi restaurant hungrier than you were when you walking in. After I ate this meal I was done for the week with sushi.

 

In order from left to right: Hamachi (yellowtail), Magaro (Tuna), and Uni (Sea Urchin)

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