 | Real Life Paleo by Stacy and Matt from the Paleo Parents takes a practical approach to going Paleo, with three simple steps that anyone can follow and understand. It takes the guess-work out of the paleo diet and breaks it down to a very easy to follow method. The concept is this: "Swap, Remove, Heal".
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 Yes you read that correctly... Dairy-Free Ice Cream! In this cookbook, Kelly Brozyna gives you 75 recipes that are free of dairy, gluten, grains, soy, and refined sugar. If you are like me and dairy just doesn't agree with you, but you still love ice cream, then Dairy-Free Ice Cream is the perfect cookbook for you! Most store-bought ice creams contain refined sugars, oils, soy, preservatives, and other unhealthy ingredients. The Dairy-Free Ice Cream cookbook shows you how to make healthy and delicious desserts that you and your whole family can enjoy.In addition to amazing ice cream recipes, Kelly has included tips for making the perfect ice cream, a history of dairy-free ice cream, as well as recipes for yogurt pops, sorbets, ice cream sandwiches and fun topping ideas! When I flipped through this book, I was immediately drawn to one AMAZING recipe...  I can't believe it has taken me this long to write a review about my beloved Pork Clouds! Thank goodness I didn't forget, because you NEED these in your life. I have been munching on these for quite a while now and it's quite possible I have become a Pork Cloud addict. I have made chicharones/fried pork skins at home a few times and even though they are delicious they are very time consuming. When I found these I was excited but skeptical... could they possibly be as good as homemade? Yes, yes they can. Since starting a paleo lifestyle, it is very rare that I ever want or need a snack, but when I do these are what I reach for. They are the perfect blend of salty and crunchy, and best of all they are made with all natural ingredients and have zero grams of total carbs per serving! You get the same satisfaction of pretzels or popcorn but in a delicious cloud of crispy pork goodness. Click "Read More" below to see how these snacks scored in my review!  Arsy Vartanian has done it again! As if her last book, Paleo Slow Cooker, was not enough, now she has this fantastic new book out: The Paleo Foodie Cookbook: 120 Food Lover's Recipes for Healthy, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free and Delicious Meals. And if you are a paleo foodie like I am, then this is a must- have book for your paleo cookbook collection. These are just a few of the amazing recipes you will find in this book:
 The other day I decided to try out the "self-cleaning" option on my oven. Believe it or not, I have always scrubbed the oven myself and I never really paid attention to that little button before. It sounded great to me...an oven that cleans itself? Score! Well about 15 minutes later my eyes were burning and watering and I was coughing like crazy. The next day I woke up and I had a full blown cold. Oven cleaning FAIL. I did a little research and found out that the self-cleaning option on ovens can be very toxic and dangerous, which of course made sense after I read more about what "self-cleaning" really meant (it wasn't like the oven-style equivalent of a car wash that I envisioned). Self cleaning means your oven heats up to an extremely high temperature, which does indeed burn off any crud that might be stuck inside, but the carbon monoxide from the burning items, along with the fumes from the oven lining is sitting in the air in your house! This is especially bad for kids, elderly, people who have asthma or small pets. OK really that is just bad for EVERYONE. Since my dream of having a self-cleaning oven was gone (and house... a self cleaning house would be nice), I decided to try out the KitchenStone Cleaning Blocks. They claimed to be chemical free and had great reviews online. Check out the info below for how these little stones rated!  I can't believe it has taken me this long to write a review about this book! I blame life. And laundry....lots of laundry. I have to admit I am a little biased because I have had a culinary crush on Michelle Tam since I started out on a Paleo lifestyle. I love her wit, her cartoons, her food, her writing (I could go on and on), and she has always been one of my favorite paleo bloggers. I even had a chance to meet her at her book signing when she toured San Diego. I was terrified that she would be stuck up or creepy or just odd (like some bloggers tend to be), but she was just as awesome as I had imagined! It was such a pleasure to get to talk to her and to listen to her answer questions from the crowd. I tried to play it cool and not geek out and act like a crazed fan when I met her (hopefully she didn't notice the goofy grin on my face). OK, back to the book!  I get asked ALL THE TIME about how to start off on the Paleo lifestyle and how to organize your life to accommodate this new way of living. It can be so intimidating wondering what you should or shouldn't eat and trying to understand what is off limits. "The 30 Day Guide to Paleo Cooking" by Hayley Mason and Bill Staley guides you step-by-step through your first 30 days of the paleo lifestyle. This book covers everything you need to know to get a basic understanding of the paleo diet and not feel overwhelmed in the process. The book starts out by covering what to eat and drink and what you should avoid. It also covers the commonly asked questions that you will encounter as you start out on a paleo journey. Again, it keeps it simple and makes everything easy to understand.  The Mr. Coffee BVMC-EL1 Cafe Latte maker is a great machine is you want to make paleo friendly latte's at home. You can use your favorite non-dairy milks and sweeteners to make delicious latte's. You can even toss in some cacao powder and raw honey to make a cafe mocha. The only difference between this machine and the more traditional latte machine is this one froths the milk with a small whisk, while most other latte machine's use steam to create the foam. The machine allows you to adjust the amount of coffee and milk to your liking, and it only takes a couple tries to find the right balance that works for you. You can make one drink or two drinks at a time. It heats the milk to just the right drinking temperature, so it's not scalding hot right out of the pot. You can also add additional heat for froth by switching it to heat/froth mode. Another plus is that the machine will automatically shut off so that the milk does not burn. The machine more than makes up for it's price within a few weeks (much cheaper than buying $5 store-made lattes). The machine itself is very easy to use and comes with a great "quick-start" guide that makes the machine easy to set up and use right away. There is also a frappe version if you prefer your coffee drinks cold and blended! All in all this is a great way to make paleo friendly latte's at home, and for a fraction of the price that you would pay at a coffee shop.  I have owned quite a few small or personal sized blenders before, and none were quite spectacular, so needless to say I was quite skeptical about the Oster My Blend Blender. But to my surprise, it is quite a great gadget! The base of the blender is only 6.5" high, so that makes it easy to store. The top of the blender is a dishwasher-safe 20-ounce BPA-free plastic sport bottle that you can use to grab and go after you blend your mixture. You can even buy additional sport bottles if you have multiple people in your house that want to make a drink to-go. The 250-watt motor is strong enough to break apart ice or frozen fruit quickly and easily. I have made many different types of smoothies so far, including my favorite: 1 banana, 1/2 cup crushed ice, 1 large scoop of almond butter, and a large splash of almond milk. This is a great way to make a quick and easy portable breakfast or a post workout smoothie in just a few minutes. Two thumbs up!  The Euro Cuisine YM80 Yogurt Maker is a great tool for making paleo friendly yogurt at home. I really missed yogurt since going paleo, and everything I saw at the store, even coconut milk yogurt, had a bunch of additives, so I went without. The YM80 Yogurt Maker comes with 7 glass jars and lids that allow you to make a variety of different flavors of yogurt at one time. I love this machine because it allows me to enjoy yogurt without having to worry about what other additives or preservatives are in my food. I can add whatever fresh ingredients I want and experiment with flavors. And the price is great for such a useful tool.  The TAP Pummel Ball is a great item to own if you want to do your own home workouts or if you want to supplement your workouts between going to the gym. The ball comes in a variety of weights and there are many different at-home exercises that you can do with it. This ball has no bounce or rebound, so you don't have to worry about it flying off the wall or slamming into your face when you do certain exercises. The ball also has a soft rubber shell which allows you to get a very firm grip. It is small enough that it doesn't take up much space and it can withstand quite a bit of abuse (I have given it quite a beating after bad days at work). I definitely recommend this product!  The TAP Pummel Ball can be used for a variety of exercises, but I most frequently use it for ball slams. To perform the ball slam, you lift the ball up high overhead, making sure to keep your body posture straight, and then slam the ball down onto the ground by bending down into a squat position and throwing the ball straight down. You then pick the ball back up and repeat.
Another option is to hold the ball in a squatting position, then push up into a standing position while tossing the ball straight up overhead, and then catching it. as you come back down to a squatting position. I started off with a 10 lb. ball when first beginning and then moved up to more weight from there.  The Misto Olive Oil Sprayer claims to holds any liquid oil, vinegar, juice, etc. and can be used for a variety of purposes. Now that I live a Paleo lifestyle, I don't use store-bought cooking sprays anymore because they are filled with chemicals and non-paleo oils, so this seemed like the perfect alternative. I have heard mixed reviews about the Misto, so I decided to try it out and see for myself. Once you learn the correct way to use it (only fill it halfway and do not over-pump), you may fall in love with it just like I did. Check out the details below to see the good, the bad, and how it stacked up in the kitchen!  Eat Drink Paleo is a beautiful cookbook with amazing recipes, personal stories, and great tips for home-cooks seeking better health through delicious food. The author, Irena Macri, takes a realistic approach to a paleo lifestyle and her recipes showcase real food and natural ingredients. She even includes a section on treats and …dare I say it …..a few alcoholic beverages! As she says in her book, her 80/20 philosophy screams “Cooking is Fun”!
The book features over 100 recipes free from grains, gluten, or processed sugar, all of which are sure to appeal to a variety of palates. Each recipe is easy to follow, and she includes beautiful photos and a description of her dishes. Beyond just recipes, Irena provides important information on the paleo basics (what foods are in and what to avoid), as well as what kitchen essentials you should have on hand to make your paleo lifestyle successful. A small sample of some of my favorite recipes from Eat Drink Paleo are:
Is your mouth watering yet? I know mine is! Irena’s amazing recipes will inspire you to get cooking and try new things you may not have tried before, regardless of whether you follow a paleo lifestyle or not. Eat Drink Paleo is a must-have for any kitchen!  The RSVP Stoneware Grease Keeper was one of those items I didn't even know I needed until I saw it, but it was love at first sight.
When you follow a paleo diet, you wind up using a lot of animal fats to cook with, and for me that includes bacon fat. Since I am already cooking bacon, it is a great way to get double the value by saving the fat to cook with. I used to just pour the bacon fat into a bowl each time I cooked it, but it would inevitably tip over at some point, and my precious bacon fat would turn into a huge mess spread across my counter. Hence why I love this gadget and it has made my paleo cooking so much easier! I recommend the grease keeper for a number of reasons. It is a perfect size for the amount of cooking I do for my family (it holds up to 6 cups), and it looks nice one either a counter or in your fridge. It also has the strainer on the top which helps eliminate any burnt pieces from being mixed in with the fat, which was something I always hated before. It is easy to clean and the price is very reasonable. But, most importantly, it has a lid on top and is stable, so I don't have the problem of it tipping over like I did with my previous storage options. So the bottom line is, this grease keeper is a keeper (ha!) and it is a must-have for any paleo lifestyle!  When I first saw the Amco Rub Away Bar I thought...what the heck is that? It claimed to be a bar that you would "remove any odors from your hands" and "be great for use after working with onions, fish or garlic". Well, I happen to HATE smelling like any of those 3 things all day, and no matter how many times I wash my hands I usually still smell like fish or garlic all day, so I figured for such a cheap price, I might as well give it a try.
Well let me just tell you... IT WORKS. And if you are like me you will probably want to know how it works. Smelly foods like garlic contain sulfur molecules (sulfur is a smelly little fellow), and when you handle those foods the molecules attach themselves to your hands. Now you are stuck with the stinky smell that has decided to hang out with you all day. When you touch stainless steel, the sulfur molecules on your hands transfer over to the stainless steel, therefore the smell transfers along with it. Some people say "just rub your hands on your stainless steel sink"... but do you really want to transfer stinky smells to your sink?!? I would much rather have this little handy little bar! The bottom line is, this product works! No more stinky smelling hands all day! This is a great item to have around for any kitchen and would also make a great inexpensive gift for any avid cook. Thank you rub away bar!  This review is for one of my all-time FAVORITE gadgets, The Paderno World Cuisine Spiral Vegetable Slicer. You can use this tool to turn many fruit or vegetable in delicious and healthy noodles. It is a great way to give your family a gluten-free "pasta" option. My favorite vegetables are zucchini and sweet potato (and making them into noodles is the only way that I can get my kids to eat either vegetable). I also enjoy using it on eggplant, carrots, cucumbers and apples.
The slicer comes with 3 noodle blade options:
Here are a few tips to make sure that your spiral slicer works at it's best: Make sure to choose vegetables that are at least 3/4" in diameter and are fairly straight. If you do use a crooked vegetable, cut it into sections so that you will get even noodles. Some of the produce will get stuck in the blade as you make your noodles. Use a fork or thin knife to clear out the remnants in between slicing each vegetable. I hope you enjoy this sprial slicer as much as I do!  I am sorry it has taken me so long to write a review for this book, but I wanted to read through every page and to be able to absorb all of the content. I can now say that the book and I are best buddies, and I am qualified to tell you about how awesome it is, and why it is so much more than just a cookbook. Let me start off my saying that Beyond Bacon is beautiful. Even if you bought it just to put on your coffee table, it would still be well worth the price and would be an excellent conversation piece. But buying it just for looks would be a shame, because the content of the book is incredible. It is a book that anyone can enjoy and learn from, not just individuals that follow a paleo lifestyle. There are so many good things I could say about the book, but I will try to keep it brief so you can get to ordering it instead of reading my ramblings. Here are some highlights from the book: I am often asked what my favorite paleo products are, or which brands I prefer to use over others. I decided to write a post about just that subject, because I have a few brands that I prefer over all others, and they truly make a difference in my cooking and baking. A really big difference! Below is Part 1 of my favorite brands and products that I believe to be an essential part of my paleo lifestyle, and that I just can't live without!
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