Let’s talk about nuts. It’s about time since I told you a while ago I would explain why I took them out of my diet. I’m an assh*le. Good spot to put an asterisk huh?
Anywho, nuts. So I cut out nuts lately. If you’ve read my blog before, you know I’m super down for nuts. Like, love nuts. Almond butter sings to me. I make homemade nut butters to calm my nerves. Or make me smile. BUT, my body doesn’t really like nuts. As I’ve talked about in past posts, my body has changed drastically within the last year. Along with how my body reacts to different foods. You see, when I first started eating almond butter, I lost a balls ton of weight and had a crap ton of energy. Now, when I eat almond butter, I’m bloated like nobody’s business, I don’t feel very good and I almost feel fatigued or weighed down. I wasn’t sure if nuts were the main culprit so I just decided to cut them out completely to test out the theory. I’ve also been told by many people that cutting out nuts can help with acne. Well, it’s been almost 3 weeks without nuts and feel awesome. I don’t feel like I’ve lost any weight nor do I feel like my skin looks better, but I’ve had compliments from a couple people saying I look leaner and my skin looks better. I think they are liars, but whatever. Laura cut out nuts with me and she says the same thing, she feels better and her body is working better. To say the least, our digestive tracts are working awesome. You’re welcome Laura, I’m sure you appreciate me telling the world wide web that.
I’ve still had a random nut tastes here and there. Making some nut butter for my crush last week and making sure it didn’t taste like crap was one of the times. He’s real good lookin. Then yesterday, I filmed some cooking videos with my wonderful friends Ian and Patrick from Again Faster, in hopes of making it onto the CrossFit Journal, fingers crossed!! But I cooked up some of my favorite paleo desserts and still didn’t even eat much of them. I didn’t even crave them that much. Very impressive for me because they were my favorite desserts. Ian even said my Sticky Apple Bars were the best thing he’s ever eaten. Badass. So I just left the rest of the desserts in the fridge for Rj of CrossFit Deco…since it was his kitchen. Thank you Rj, we would have literally died of suffocation or heat exhaustion in my little dink of a kitchen space.
So here is what I think about nuts. I’m not against them, I’m really not. I think they are great for some people. And almond butter was one of the things that helped me eat paleo in the first place. But I honestly do think I have an allergy to nuts. I don’t think my body processes them very well. Hopefully this f*cking acne clears up soon and nuts were the whole reason behind having adolescent zits. Fingers crossed twice!!
So since I just bashed nuts, I made a recipe with them today. Sorry no nut people, but it had to be done for this recipe. Somethings gotta give. I just wanted to say that. But I do give you guys TWO different options for this dip. A paleo-fied version and a cheese version. I eat cheese once in a while because it’s delicious and I don’t feel like poo poo after I eat it, so I thought I’d make a second dip version for you people out there that still eat dairy. Paleo purists, stop hatin’.
OH, omg I almost forgot to tell you…my buddy Jon will be providing you all with a wonderful celebrity guest post on Friday! Jon is pretty cool. He’s funny. And has abs that go for days. You will not find any lovey dovey sh*t on his post. Jon doesn’t love me. He loves CrossFit. And paleo. So he’s gonna get science-y on us. How cool is that? He’s going to talk about post workout nutrition. And make you all understand why you eat healthy. I don’t get that stuff. Nor care. Thank you Jon.
4th of July Spinach and Artichoke Dip (two ways!)
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 minutes
- Yield: 2-4 1x
Ingredients
Version 1 (no cheese)
- 2 (14oz) cans artichoke hearts (mine were in brine), chopped
- 16oz frozen spinach
- 1 cup cashews, roasted and unsalted
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Version 2 (with cheese)
- all of the ingredients above
- 2 ounces goat cheese at room temperature
Instructions
For Version 1:
- Add frozen spinach and artichokes to large saucepan over medium heat and sprinkle with just a bit of salt.
- While your spinach thaws and artichokes warm up, pull out your handy dandy food processor.
- Place cashews in food processor and turn on. Grind until your cashews become a flour then begin to pour in your olive oil until you get a creamy consistency. Kind of like a super creamy cashew butter.
- Once your spinach is completely thawed and it’s all good and warm, drain the excess water from your saucepan and add spinach and artichoke to a large bowl.
- Add your creamy cashews and seasons to the bowl and mix thoroughly.
- Serve with sweet potato chips or veggies!
For Version 2:
- Follow all steps above.
- Add goat cheese to your cashews and spinach and artichoke mixture. Mix well to combine.
- Serve with sweet potato chips or veggies!
I also have noticed that my body doesn’t like nuts very much… makes me so sad!
I never used to eat nuts, but paleo recipes had turned me around, and the past few months I have been eating heaping bowls full of nuts/seeds/berries for breakfast or dessert. Then I realized how bloated they made me feel. Blah.
So I have cut back, and feel much better. I will still use them for treats, or small parts of recipes, but will no longer indulge quite so much.
Also – for this recipe, does it matter if the cashews are roasted or raw?
I used roasted
I didn’t have cashews so I used walnuts, delicious! Thanks for sharing.
Definitely 5 stars but for dome reason my kindle wouldn’t check my stars.
Could you substitute almond/cashew/sun butter for making your own cashew butter concoction, or is the consistency different?
I’m not sure but its worth a try!
Dont feel bad about the fingernails, I am a florist, and my nails are always so brutal I consistently look like a dirt ball who doesnt shower. We are throwing a redneck theme Bday party for my hubby, I was thinking this would be a good appetizer, but this isnt really redneck food? I suppose the dirty fingernails and nascar clothes will make up for the food being too fancy 🙂
This dip is AMAZING!! I might have made it two days in a row, it’s that good!
Kelly and I just made version 2 last night…..yum!!!! PS….really bummed that you will not be joining Sergio this weekend
Have you ever heard of or looked into leaky gut syndrome? You might find that anything you eat a lot of will eventually give you allergy-like symptoms. You feel better once you stop eating it, your “gut” heals, and then you can have more. It’s a big reason that I try to rotate my foods often. I don’t want to screw around with having to “cut” things all the time. Just an idea! 🙂
Hi! I’ve only been paleo for a few months, but nuts are pretty much my main source of calories when I’m not sitting down to large slabs of meat. I would love to try cutting them b/c I’ve still got some of those exciting “IBS” symptoms. So my question is – how do you avoid hanger without almonds? What are your fav prot-packed snack ingredients? Also, any tips for breaking a pushup plateau? They’re my WODs’ weakest link. Thanks!!
My snacks are usually smaller meals, like some kind of protein and fat. But I’ll also eat a banana with sunbutter sometimes. And for pushups, the more you do, the better you’ll be at them. Promise you that.
Have you tried using coconut oil on your skin? I was hesitant to try it at first because I have super acne-prone skin, but I figured if it didn’t work, I’d just stop using it. I’m not a model or anything so a few extra zits wouldn’t be the be-all-end-all. I broke out at first (the oil drawing out toxins maybe?), but now about 2 months later my skin has never looked better. I also use Dr. Bronner’s tea tree oil castile soap, which also works wonders.
I have only just recently started following your blog so you may have already covered this….but do you eat dairy? I ask because I had terrible acne for a time up to my early twenties, was on topical antibiotics which cleared it up to some degree but it wasn’t until I cut out dairy that my skin cleared up. Completely. I am a redhead with super fair, sensitive skin and no more breakouts! I was able to tolerate goat and sheep dairy for a bit but eventually had to cut that out as well. Headaches and tummy upsets gone too.
Anywho, I am sure you have probably had a million people suggest ditching dairy (and perhaps you already have) but just thought I would pipe in. Just in case. Wish I had considered dietary changes back then but it was rarely even brought into the equation. Sure hadn’t heard of paleo when I was 16!
All the best!
Rarely. I sometimes do heavy cream in my coffee but mostly coconut milk is my go to at this point. Thanks for the tip though!! I’m trying everything at this point haha!
Made this for the Super Bowl, with goat cheese, and it was fantastic! As rich and yummy and indulgent as the “regular” dip would be. Thank you!