Hunter-Gatherer Diet Results

We survived!

We went without grains, sugar,

chemicals, preservatives, & monotrisurtablepshaekhra???

Today, I had ketchup on my hamburger.

Happy me.

Mr. LB gets a Blackberry-peach crisp

and homemade vanilla ice-cream.

(Never mind the bit that spilled on the counter.)

We did well at sticking to it.

It was most difficult when traveling or

attending any sort of event.

Everything served was either sugar

or preserved/processed.  Trying not

to be rude and still eat was a challenge.

I will preface this by saying that neither of us

is really 'over weight.'  

We could lose a couple pounds, but 

not more than 10-20 max.

Mr. LB lost 10-15 lbs. and actually had to

begin eating a little oatmeal in the mornings

after about 3 1/2 weeks.

He was loosing too much and

couldn't eat enough in a day to keep his energy up.

He did notice that his joints

were virtually painless even 

after a day of about 65 miles on a dirt-bike.

I lost about 8 lbs.  My energy was fine - 

or at least not drained.

He works a lot harder than I do.

What I noticed was that

I got tired of eating and not feeling

full or satisfied.

We will continue to move towards organic,

and unprocessed whenever possible.

As I become a better gardener and canner,

that might be easier:)

I have plenty to learn.

Mr. LB is going to continue to

keep grains to a minimum.

One of the things we missed most

was cheese - just regular chemical-laden cheddar (or colby-jack.)

Next, was just the completion of the dish-

like rice, pasta, or tortillas.

(Tacos without shells are really difficult to eat with your fingers.)

It's strange how we are trained to what the whole flavor is

or have preconceptions about a complete meal. 

We have been lucky in that our lettuce

is still going, cucumbers and tomatoes are coming on,

corn from friends, berries in the front yard,

and plums everywhere. 

It has been a worthy trial and

one that we will continue at times
and at other times just keep in mind as we eat

a taco with our hands:)

PS: I might make me lavender cookies before summer goes away.

Until next time,

Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

Hunter/Gatherer Diet & A Very Healthy Recipe

Mr. LB & I began a one month trial

being on only a basic hunter/gatherer diet.

Say what you will,

it's more difficult than you think.

We can eat all the meat, veggies, & fruits we want.

We can also have tea, coffee, & milk.

(except I'm allergic to milk so that ones out for me.)

We can also have a few things like

vinegar, sea salt, and a few cheeses.

This is not a no carbs diet, we can eat a spud,

nor a no sugars diet,we can eat apples.

It is just a diet that you would have

if you were to hunt or gather your food

(for the most part)

Hubby thought that the no grains,

white flour, & processed sugar

would be the tough part for me.
(I am Italian after all)

Oh no, the tough part is figuring out

what's for dinner.

This diet means no 'processed' foods & no chemicals!

(processing as in chemical processing)

Preservatives, artificial anything, coloring, etc.

I can't believe how many things have color preservatives 

in them - really???

Do we really need those?

Even apples have a FDA approved shellac.
We had a talk about it last night.
If we lived in the 1920-30's,
it wouldn't have been nearly the challenge.

Town for us is a bit 'rural.'

Finding something organic is almost impossible.

We have a farmers market which I have been attending.

Even they use chemical fertilizers.

Think back woods 'bigger is better.'

I figure at least it is fresh and unprocessed.

After 3 days, I told him

I was ready to say 

mixed salads for a month.

Mr. LB wasn't too keen on that idea.

He works hard and eats a lot.

His issue is getting enough calories to keep him going.

I will keep you posted.

We do have a garden,
but it's not quite producing yet.
This is the first garden in about 3 years,
so we don't have a store of home canned foods
to work off of.
Nearly everything canned has preservatives
of some fashion.
I almost leaped for joy
when I found organic kidney beans.
We had chili for dinner last night.

I will share a little 'recipe'

that I have used in lunches

rather than sandwiches.

The Mr. LB Roll-up

 6 leaves of lettuce (good sized leaf lettuce)

1/2 avocado (cut lengthwise then into 6 slices)

fresh real cheese (it's a soft goat's milk cheese)

6 onion slivers (I cut a lg. onion like a pie & use crescents)

6 slices or strips of meat of your choice.
Pepper - optional

Lay out dry lettuce leaves.  
If you have a thin slice of meat,

lay one slice on each leaf.  
If you have strips, lay it in the middle.

Next add a little cheese along each strip of meat, or

down the middle of each slice of meat.

Now add a slice of avocado, onion & pepper.

Begin rolling from the end of the lettuce that was closest to the stem.  
I just stack them in a container,

but you could put a tooth-pick through 
each one.

Makes 6
(Mr. LB tried cutting the avocados a little different this time - they were a little harder to roll up, but still tasted the same:)
Enjoy

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches