This treat ends up with a similar consistency to french fries, but is a tad sweeter, and has greater health benefits than the potato (which, arguably, has none).

Heat 1 tbsp bacon fat in skillet over medium heat (you could use coconut oil, but why would you?).

Let’s have a conversation about the meaning of “pinch,” an important word in the title of this blog.

Originally, Tyler and I started this blog as a restaurant review, to answer the question “how can you eat primal on the go, no matter what food establishment you end up in?”  Then we started eating out less frequently, and this blog morphed into a recipe- and experience-sharing blog.

Today, we begin a full year of testing the pinch to its fullest.  Tyler has just purchased a house, and will be managing the mortgage payment on his own, while I have returned to grad school and will be living on a student budget, with a strong commitment to living within my means.  Continue reading →

Next time you get two back-to-back batches of beets in your CSA, try this!

This is a mish mash of a creamy beet soup recipe, and traditional borscht. The color of the soup is an amazingly bright magenta – photography cannot do it justice.  The beets make this a very sweet soup, which is why I recommend serving it with spicy sausage and sour cream (or Greek yogurt) to cut through the sweetness.  It would also be refreshing served chilled!

Continue reading →

Guess who just put a bottle of home made kombucha in the fridge? This girl.

I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was trying again. I wanted it to be a surprise. Also, I didn’t want a third (fourth?) failure to be public.

I’m using a continuous brew method, where you extract the kombucha one bottle at a time, then add sweetened tea (I’m keeping a big batch in the fridge) to the container each time. That way, the kombucha is always within 3-ish days of readiness, and there is always some in the fridge!

Ideally, I’d have a nice ceramic water jug with a dependable spout (see failure #2) – but you have no idea how difficult it is to find an affordable one, even in Southern California, even in the Summer! So instead I’m using a food-grade plastic gallon-sized bucket from Smart and Final. It’s not ideal, for sure, but it got me started. Like training wheels, or inexpensive baseball cleats – you start with the cheap stuff until you decide you love the sport enough to invest.

This batch is definitely on the sweet side, (because I’m impatient), but I figure I’ll experiment to get it just the way I like it – also, Tyler and I will probably need to work our tastebuds up to the strong stuff.

I put one classic pop bottle full in the fridge, and there is some on ice in the glass right next to me. Delicious!

Lunch today was simple, even though it seemed gourmet.

Continue reading →

These fish tacos were amazing, and only took about ten minutes to prepare. We found that this amount of cabbage was very filling, so you might want to trim down some of the excess, but the excess definitely helped to maintain the wrapability of the taco.  The carrots add a bit of sweetness and crunch, and the fresh pico de gallo makes the whole dish a refreshing summer dish! Continue reading →

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the super long delay in posts!  Life got big the past few months, with the school musical, the two biggest trips I take with my students, spring break (including a trip to Boston and a trip to Portland, OR), and the decision to go back to school full time all occurring within 6 weeks.  All intertwined with Tyler’s busy schedule and traveling back and forth to his family’s home in San Diego county – it was a lot, but we’ve survived! Continue reading →

Last night was our second official paleo potluck meetup, and it was great!  This one was hosted by Nathan (thanks, Nathan!) and we had some of the same faces as last time, as well as some friendly new faces.  Thanks to everyone who made it out!

Now, let’s talk about the good stuff: food.  There was an organic chicken and cauliflower rice dish, a cheeseless cobb salad, yummy garlic green beans with tomatoes, my broccoli salad, and for dessert, frozen blueberries with a dash of cream.  The cream froze, so the dish was like ice cream.  I imagine you could easily do this with coconut milk too.  Yum!  Also, Fred shared a link to a kahlua pork recipe on the meetup page, so be sure to check that out.

I made a broccoli salad.  I had been planning to make coleslaw, but I had six heads of broccoli from my CSA (three weeks of broccoli that we just weren’t getting through), so I did this instead, and it was very tasty.  I made it in a rush, and didn’t make time to take pictures along the way, and the only picture I did take was after everyone at the potluck had their first serving.  But trust me, it tastes better than the picture indicates!

Broccoli Salad

florets of 6 small heads of broccoli, cut into bite sized pieces

1/2 red onion, diced

1 lb. bacon

chopped pecans (or almonds)

for the dressing:

1 cup home made mayo

2 tbsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp coconut sugar or other sweetener (optional)

1. Cook the bacon.  I prefer to broil mine in the oven.  You know how you like yours.  Let it cool, then crumble or chop into smallish pieces.

2. Mix the broccoli, onion, nuts and bacon together.

3. In a small bowl, combine mayo, vinegar and sweetener.  Whisk together until well combined. 

4. Toss the broccoli (and other chunky stuff) with the dressing until well coated.  Chill until served.

This made a huge amount of broccoli salad that fed 7 adults and some small children, with leftovers.  You could easily adjust this recipe to one head of broccoli for two people, use half the dressing, and however much bacon and onion you want.

Enjoy!

We have several friends who are committing to trying Paleo in the month of February, and Tyler and I are going to do a personal Paleo challenge during the month as well, out of solidarity, curiosity, and sense of obligation to remaining true to ourselves.  Would you care to join us?  There’s no prize or anything, but I’ll be sending periodic emails to participants to offer encouragement, moral support, checking in, and general happy-life-ness.

email primalinapinch[at]gmail.com to join us!