Tag: smoothies

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Refreshing summer beverage
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Refreshing Beverages Anyone?

With summer being in full swing, who doesn’t feel the need to drink more water or other refreshing beverages during the day? Of course, clean, pure water is the best Primal beverage you can pick. But suppose you want a bit more variety. There are many acceptable options you can choose from that are not full of sugar, stimulants, thickening agents, or other artificial or detrimental ingredients.

Beverages Okay to Consume

  • Preferably filtered water; you can add cucumber slices, mint, or lemon wedges to it – so refreshing on a hot summer day! Avoid any waters that have flavoring, coloring, or sweetening. Steer clear of Vitamin water and other “enhanced” waters.
  • Sparkling water such as Perrier, San Pelegrino, or La Croix, with a squeeze of lime or lemon if you’d like. 
  • Homemade green juices, shakes, and smoothies (without any high-sugar fruits). As mentioned in a previous post, smoothies can be very simple by blending together just 2 or 3 ingredients of your choice. For example, you can have some coconut milk with frozen berries. Another idea is blending ice, cucumber, avocado, and tomato. There are tons of possibilities here! 
  • Tea, brewed at home. In general, black tea has the most caffeine, followed by green tea and then white. Herbal teas are yet another option. Avoid sweetened or flavored iced teas. As Mark Sisson specifies, “Homemade drinks are truly Primal.”
  • Coffee, in reasonable amounts. Steer clear of sugary or artificially sweetened coffee drinks.

On a Final Note

For a homemade sports drink, keep in mind that what really matters are the electrolytes sodium, chloride, and potassium. You will find sodium and chloride in basic table salt. You can get potassium from various foods like yogurt, broccoli, avocados, bananas, and spinach. Also, knowing that an average-sized lemon offers a nice amount of potassium, you can squeeze some lemon and add a teaspoon of table salt to your water for a simple “Primal” sports drink. Alternatively, there are brands like LMNT that can provide the needed electrolytes.

What is your favorite summer beverage?

Until next time!

References

Hyman, Mark. Food : What the Heck Should I Eat?. Little Brown & Co, Feb. 2018, pp. 251–52.

Sisson, Mark. “Soda Alternatives – Healthy Drinks.10 Ways to Quench a Primal Thirst.” Mark’s Daily Apple, 30 Sept. 2009,  Updated on March 27, 2014. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/soda-alternatives/. Accessed 4 July 2022.

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No Recipe Needed

Have you ever tried cooking without a recipe? If you want a simple primal meal or snack, just putting a few ingredients together is all you have to do. Once your kitchen has the basic paleo/keto non-perishables, getting in-season vegetables and a few cuts of well-sourced meat is all you’ll need. These simple meals can be such a help at times!

How to Cook Without a Recipe

The following meal/snack ideas are mentioned in the Primal Blueprint Quick & Easy Meals, by Mark Sisson and Jennifer Meier:

  • A big salad: just mix together some green leafy vegetables with a few other pre-cut vegetables and a protein of your choice (a dinner leftover, a couple of hard-boiled eggs, a can of sardines, or a handful of nuts, for example). Add your favorite primal-friendly dressing (homemade or not).
  • Stuffed avocados: cut an avocado in half, remove the pit, and put a mashed hard-boiled egg in the center of it. Feel free to drizzle some bacon bits on top.
  • Nut butter, homemade or in a jar, is a great dip for veggies and fruits (also mentioned in my article, 12 “On-the-go” Healthy Snack Options).
  • Lettuce wrap: on a Romaine lettuce leaf, add bits of leftover meat, cut-up tomato, and avocado, for instance, with some mayonnaise. Fold the leaf over the filling tightly.
  • Omelet or frittata: add to the beaten eggs any leftover you have on hand, meat and/or vegetables, and cook in the pan.
  • Coconut soup: bring to a boil some chicken stock and coconut milk (about the same amount of each). Add to the mixture some spinach and shrimps. Cook gently 2-3 minutes.
  • Smoothies: these can be very simple too by blending together 2 or 3 ingredients of your choice. For example, you can have some coconut milk with frozen berries. Another idea is blending ice, cucumber, avocado, and tomato. There are tons of possibilities here!

In Summary

Simple primal meals and snacks take no time to put together. With a little bit of imagination, you can have delicious meals done in just a few minutes. This is one way to tap into your creativity as well. There are many delicious primal recipes to choose from, but it is also nice to know that you can eat primal even when you are in a big rush. One less thing to stress about!

Until next time!

Reference

Sisson, Mark, and Jennifer Meier. Primal Blueprint Quick & Easy Meals : Delicious, Primal-Approved Meals You Can Make in under 30 Minutes. Oxnard, Primal Blueprint Publishing, 2018, pp. xx–xxi.

You can also find me on Instagram.