Wait WHAT?! Juli doesn’t eat completely paleo all the time?! What a fake. What a liar. What a cheat. I hate her.
Don’t worry, I feel the same way.
But here’s the thing, I’m not paleo 100% of the time. Because frankly, that’s not how I can live my life. That’s not as happy of a life to me. Especially if I’m not competing. I like doing fun things, and most fun things to me include food. So I wanted to share some of the foods that I have found eatable within my dietary restrictions.
So get this. I don’t deal with grains very well. I seem to deal with corn just fine. I can eat a little bit of cheese, but too much makes me break out. Sugar makes me break out. Nuts make me break out. Boo. Beans and rice make me chunky. Annnnnnd alcohol makes me giggle.
So let’s go over some of the food and drinks that I decide to put in my body when strict paleo food just won’t make the cut.
- Corn tortilla chips. If I go to Mexican restaurants, I will almost have some chips. Not the whole basket, but some. Because they are delicious.
- Arepas. Do you know what an arepa is? If you don’t, you need to figure out where to get one in your city and love life with them in your life. It’s a corn pita stuffed with meat and plantains. It’s ridiculous. I hunt down the Quiero Arepas food truck in Denver on Twitter to find out how often I can get my hands are one of those beauties.
- Pupusas. Ok, so I didn’t know what these little babies were until one day, while hungover sipping on a homemade bloody mary at The Hornet, did I notice them on the menu. And when Laura ordered it, I snacked off her plate multiple times. They’re awesome. It’s like eating an eggs benedict, when the english muffin gets all wet. Ew, gross word choice. But for real. And THEN, Laura and I found pupusas in the gluten free section. Awesome, just awesome.
- Pizza. Who doesn’t miss pizza when they go paleo? Well, I do. So I tend to order gluten free pizzas at some restaurants when I’m out on the town. BUT I’ve found that some pizzas don’t love my insides. So recently, Laura and I found this pizza brand that we absolutely love, and you can find it at Whole Foods. Sometimes we top it with sausage and arugula.
- Taza Chocolate. I’m obsessed with this stuff. Thank god it’s out of my price range or I would buy it all the time. It’s HANDS DOWN my favorite kind of chocolate. No seriously, I dream about this stuff. It kind of tastes like it has coffee grounds in it, which I dig. I like coffee that stays in my teeth for later. Don’t act like I’m gross. You know that sounds wonderful.
- Alcohol. Ok let’s get to alcohol. My favorite wine is Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc. I love ciders. I love mimosas and I newly love bloody marys. But when I go out to bars, I just stick with vodka sodas or shots of vodka.
That’s about it. Or at least all I can think of. You should share in the comments what you like to eat when you don’t eat completely paleo. Because everyone likes sharing.
I also love pupusas. Have you tried to make your own with Maseca? It is so easy and you can make your own fillings! After my 30 day “challenge” I want to start eating them again about 1/month… Right before I started paleo I bought a bag of it… it is lonely.
I was just introduced to Choffy. Not coffee, but ground cocoa beans check it out.
I always love how genuine you are, but this post is especially awesome. It is so important for people to see personal balance and to identify how they can create balance in their world. As always, love everything about this blog! 🙂
Oh wow, I feel human now and that I shouldn’t be so hard on my self when I don’t go Plaeo!
Pizza is on my list, as well as fizzy sour sweets lol like fizzy laces or something.
Ahhh Taza chocolate! The factory is down the street from my house! They’re such an awesome, local company that its so great to see them mentioned on a blog from another part of the country!
I was just reading this and thought about you.
http://theprimalparent.com/2012/03/31/ibs-depression-skin-fructose-malabsorption/
I know youre always trying to tweak your diet to fix some issues. Have you heard of fructose malabsorption before?
first off THANK YOU for this post. i’m relatively new to all this and find the extremists scary as f*ck. Robb Wolf just had some great entries around carbs which i foudn really interesting and i heard him talk about cider in a podcast which i love. WE ALL NEED TO RELAX! ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT USE ALL CAPS!!
anyway, i follow a weird mix of primal/paleo (almost no honey/maple syrup, some dairy (cream in coffee, kefir, homemade yoghurt, parmesan and other hard cheeses on occasion), occasional wine (although i’ve been booze free this month until last night when i had some whiskey – trying to cut down on what was almost a nightly 1-2 glass red wine habit). so i’ve already got some “cheats” as part of my normal diet.
i LOVE corn on the cob and refuse to give that up although i wait for it to be in season. i also love sourdough bread and i used to make an amazing thin crust pizza but i think i changed my gut flora cause i just can’t take it anymore.
sugar is another crutch but i think i got that out of my system…but mainly i like me salty starchy goodness.
i’m planning a trip to Kauai and so far my research has been alllllll around food…rum distillery, taro chip factory, wild boar and corn on cob by side of the road, farmer’s markets. i will do my best to stay on my “path” but i am telling you right now…pina coladas and mai tais WILL happen!!!
Oh heck, even depending on which Paleo guide you follow, they say 85% Paleo and 15% not is a good balance for most of us poor fools.
And I totally agree with you on that pizza and alcohol thing. If I cannot have pizza or tequila ever again we will have problems.
I’m so with ya girl….I just moved from Denver a few months ago, and damn I wished I would’ve met you then! I work at the paleo food cart in portland now…but I am definetely happier when i allow a little flexibility now and again…especially a good beer from Great Divide!! If you are ever missing pupusas and don’t want to go the non-paleo corny route, I make a paleo version that has mashed plantains and coconut flour in the dough!! It’s on my blog…http://risingmoonnutrition.blogspot.com/2012/12/primal-pulled-pork-plantain-pupusasor.html
Hope you like em…you’re great 🙂
Hi Juli! So glad to see that you love Against the Grain pizza crusts! They’re an awesome local company for us here in VT. I also highly recommend their gluten free baguettes. They are frozen, and can be thawed and re-frozen without losing their wonderful texture. I thaw one in the microwave for 30 seconds, hack of a chunk, split it and run it under the broiler for a minute. SO GOOD. And I can mop up all the tasty goodness in the bottom of my bowl. Yumyumyummm…and you rock, by the way! Thanks so much for your fun blog!