Dinner, Food, Lunch, News, Recipes, Sauces

The Naked Factor is just a bonus… And a recipe (of course)!

img_9239Admittedly, I started eating paleo because I was tired of looking at my not so attractive nakedness in the mirror and I secretly and desperately wanted to be that hot mom in a bikini…..  Of course I was blind to the trillion other little health issues that plagued me; writing them off as normal.  I was blind to what eating paleo really had in store for me, and blind to the the fact that a paleo lifestyle would slowly but surely open my eyes to so many important life experiences that I would have missed out on otherwise.

Fast forward three years and I now realize that eating paleo has changed way more then just my physical appearance.  Eating paleo has taught me the importance of knowing where my food comes from, it has brought me closer to my family because we now make cooking and eating together a priority, I have a better relationship with my husband because I feel good about myself and have lost the insecurities that used to shamefully plague me, I feel more connected to our planet and realize the responsibilities that we all have to live sustainably, most importantly I know how much more I have to learn about life, wellness, fitness and health as living a paleo lifestyle continues to bring the most amazing, smart, and fascinating people into my life to teach me.  I am more humble, focused, and relaxed and I simply enjoy life more because focusing on eating healthy has made me lose focus of other unhealthy habits that used to hold me back.

And yes, I am proud to be a mom of three who can rock that bikini…  BUT – the look better naked factor is just a bonus…

Here’s a recipe for Chimichurri sauce that we poured over roast chicken and paired with pureed turnips.  This sauce would make an old shoe taste good – so go wild!  Today I’m going to cook some thinly sliced sirloin over cubed butternut squash, topped with the Chimichurri sauce on low in my slow cooker for 6 hours.  I’ll let you know how it turns out!

Chimichurri Sauce

½ red onion

4 garlic cloves

1 ½ cups chopped cilantro

1 cup chopped parsley

juice from 1 lime

¾ cup olive oil

1 tsp sea salt

black pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a food processor and process on low until the mixture is almost smooth but still a bit chunky.  Serve on everything!!

Pureed Turnips

4 turnips

3 tbsp organic butter

Quarter the turnips and cook in a pressure cooker for 8 minutes.  Toss the cooked turnips in a food processor along with the butter and puree until smooth and creamy.

Enjoy!!

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Sarah Fragoso

Sarah Fragoso is an international best selling author of 6 books, co-owner of the Chico, CA based gym JS Strength and Conditioning, and founder of the Everyday Paleo franchise. Sarah is the co-host of the popular Sarah and Dr. Brooke Show podcast and she also conducts workshops and retreats on the subjects of nutrition, lifestyle and fitness.

Her message is from the heart and she carries a genuine desire to help other families looking for guidance. These attributes have contributed to her successes and provide the drive to keep the discoveries coming.

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23 Comments

  1. Cromulent says:

    So no bikini shot? 😉

  2. Just wanted to say that you’re awesome and thank you so much for sharing your life and wonderful recipes. I am just barely getting going on Paleo eating. I made the wonderful “Quick Fix” shrimp, sausage, coconut dish last night and it was amazing. I’m a horrible cook and so going Paleo AND learning to cook is hard. You make it fun and easy and delicious. Thank you and best of luck to you and all that you do.

  3. Michael H says:

    Ha, great article. I recently turned Paleo because I race bicycles and was tired of getting sick during the winter months. I read “Paleo Diet for Athletes” and realized I was eating foods that weren’t nutritionally sound and lacked the necessary protein amounts; therefore my body was cannibalizing my immune system instead. I’m also starting to see other benefits: less inflammation being one and also the naked factor. 🙂

    I love the website and how you “keep it real” for the rest of us. Keep up the great work. BTW, trying your Butter Chicken recipe tonight!

  4. Jill says:

    Sharing a few stories how Everyday Paleo has inspired our family. I am a mom of two teenage boys, a wife, we all CrossFit (boys included), we work full time, and our boys play multiple sports. We are “busy” and keeping my family organized and educated along the way has been a little bit easier thanks to the inspiration Everyday Paleo, Robb Wolf blogs and podcast. I am looking forward to your book too. I feel like you have done the dirty work, digging the ditch and planting your seeds, and this is how our seed has sprouted and flourished.
    My husband and I work together, I cook our breakfast, lunch and dinner so many people in our office see how we eat and as you are well aware we have heard all the comments too. Ya’ know the CF, Paleo bubble we live in. It amazes us how someone can walk in to a kitchen at work full of people with a 12 inch sub from subway, a BIG bag of chips and 32oz of soda throw it on the table and proceed to walk over to the vending machine pop some quarters in it hit A5 and out drops the snickers for dessert. No one has anything to say. What really? But a home cooked paleo meal gets people talkin… so today I decided to change things up a bit, why cook at home. Today, I cooked at work and I decided to see what sort of seeds I could plant… I chopped all my veggies at home, I brought everything with me and I went in the kitchen while people were opening cans of soup, raviolis, taking frozen lunches out of the freezer, warming up the BIGEST bowls pasta in the microwave, tearing off fresh chunks of bread ( I do love bread) and my husband and I kept on cooking our lunch watching what others were preparing for lunch and listening to comments. We had a few walk by say “what is that”, “you two”, or “do you know how much FAT coconut milk has”,( I made Italian sausage, shrimp, veggie quick meal) all comments we normally hear..But today they watched us cook. We cooked our lunch in less than ten minutes, our lunch was cooked and we were sitting down eating. The aroma of fresh veggies and meat filled the kitchen, so when new faces walked in they could smell our lunch- you don’t smell chips, soda, and snickers…we listened today and we didn’t hear comments about the sandwich, soda, pasta, raviolis but we did get a comment on the coconut milk. My husband left some on the stove so the on-lookers could see what was in the pan. Soon enough, we had people asking if they could try some or one looking at their frozen lunch saying I wish I had time to cook like that. (Quick glance exchanged with my husband) what is time… TEN MINUTES… really ten minutes is not long. I guess the best part of cooking in the kitchen today was planting the seed, and when I got back to my desk I had a “sprout” an email asking for the recipe, and link to your website was sent.

    On more of a series note; planting the seed with my teenagers. I have printed a lot of the recipes on this blog and organized a cookbook binder that is kept in my kitchen. I have it organized by category so my family can flip through the Everyday Paleo cook-book and choose meals they enjoy the most. I create a meal plan weekly, and then I post it on a whiteboard in our kitchen. I post our meal plan for a few reasons; mainly, I don’t have to hear “what is for dinner” a constant from my older son, it reduces any argument of why can’t we go out for pizza or why can’t we just run in and get Chinese food (not everyone is paleo in my house but if they want something else I don’t make it, or buy it) It helps organize my grocery list so I know what I need to buy. I also post our weekly meal plan because I have teenagers. I often walk in to a house full of boys and feeding a bunch of football player’s meat and veggies can leave my fridge empty; what are leftovers? (I love the crockpot nights and they abundance of food) One of my favorite things about sharing this lifestyle with others is creating recipes that people have never tried or thought about combining. Everyday Paleo has helped double my spice cabinet, my vegetable intake and coconut oil and creating savory meals while I share them with those I love planting seeds along the way.. As my kids will say “we aren’t a pantry family”; our pantry is bare, but our fridge has bowls of veggies and meat in it and my mom spice rack is full.Thank you, for your hard work, digging the ditches, taking the time to help others plant the seed, we have sprouted.

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi Jill!
      Thank you so much, your post made me cry, I feel very blessed right at this moment and I hope you know that stories like yours and all the awesome comments I receive are my inspiration to keep this thing going!! Eating paleo has drastically changed my life for the better and to see that happening with other families as well is truly amazing… : ) Thank you!!!

  5. Sarah,

    Great recipe once again, I’m going to make this on thanksgiving ( Canadian thanksgiving). I’m going to make coconut shrimp tommorow also, I like to season it with ginger root and garlic however. I also wanted to say I rely on your blog for all my lunches etc.. The only food options on campus are either wrapped in bread, include rice or noodles or have 1500 mg of sodium.

    I try to tell people about paleo and crossfit, I get a few strange looks however haha.

    Anyways thanks again!

  6. Hey Cromulent! I considered posting a bkini shot – but it is a family blog after all!! ; )

  7. Matthew says:

    If you do not own a pressure cooker how long would you have to boil the turnips? Thanks in advance.

    Matt

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi Matthew! You will need to cut the turnips into cubes first and boil them for 25-30 minutes. Make sure you boil them long enough because other wise they will be kind of bitter… Good luck!

  8. Amy Twombly says:

    Hi. Thank you so much for your blog. I’m a mom of 4 yr old twin boys and in the midst of getting CrossFit certified. I also am a Financial Advisor by day:)

    I kept thinking – I don’t have the time to Paleo – and my family definitely can’t do it. You proved me wrong. I have been eating Paleo for only a month now and feel great. I slowly integrate some of your recipes. LOVE the nutty cookies.

    What could I substitute for parsley? I do not like parsley.

    Thanks for the inspiration! Keep on blogging!!!!

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi Amy! For the chimichurri just use all cilantro if you don’t like parsley – it will still be great! So glad you are feeling great eating paleo and good for you for going for it!! Let me know if I can be of any help at all! : )

  9. Lindsay says:

    what if I don’t have a pressure cooker….how long would the turnips take in an oven on a cookie sheet rather than boiling?

    by the way….I LOVE YOUR BLOG it’s helped me stay paleo since I first started crossfitting back in March…thank you for all the great and yummy ideas.

    -Lindsay

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi Lindsay,
      Sorry it took me so long to reply – I have been slammed!! If i were going to bake turnips, I would put them in a dish I could cover and leave them whole and bake them for about 30-40 minutes at 350 – they will come right out of there skins and be really good… Let me know how it turns out!!

  10. Hi Sarah! What a great post! (Ditto to JILL!) My husband and I are strong, fit 45 year old CrossFitters who have been reading your blog in preparation for our transition from “almost-kinda-paleo” to the real deal, which began on Monday.

    After listening to Robb Wolf for a couple of years I knew upon reading his book that it was time for us to take the plunge and DO IT. Like you I’m motivated by a desire to look great naked AND we want to continue to age in strength and vitality. (Plus I would like to stop having sinusitis 24/7.)

    Thank you so much for being here! The online paleo community is incredibly generous and this blog is a particularly awesome resource. Brownies and cookies (and dairy like yogurt and cottage cheese) are my Achilles heel and I KNOW I’m going to be craving sweets SOON! 🙂

    A related issue we’ve also decided to take in hand is SLEEP. I know Robb discusses this but most of us still underestimate the role that sleep (quality and quantity) plays in our overall health and body composition. I was so fed up of waking up exhausted that now we turn off the TV at 9:30pm and sleep in pitch darkness for at least 8 hours. After just 3 nights I feel better already! I’m really hopeful that this change, along with CrossFitting, daily mobility work, and eating a strict paleo diet, will pay off in ways we cannot even imagine.

    Thanks again for being such an inspiration. Can’t wait for your book!!

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi Danielle,
      Thank you so much for your awesome comment and good for you on taking charge of your sleep -it’s the hardest part for me personally to get a handle on and I pay for it big time when I miss out on my much needed rest…. : )

  11. sarena says:

    I added your page to my blog favs! Oh and I love the pureed turnips. I subbed coconut butter

    1. Sarah says:

      Thanks Sarena!! : )

  12. Kelly A says:

    I’ve always wanted to make chimichurri and have cilantro and parsley in the fridge, so… thanks! I’m going to have it with rutabaga since they were on sale. mmm…

    These testimonies are SO inspirational. I’m just getting serious about this way of life and it’s great to hear these succeses stories. So motivational! What a great resource and I love hearing how you all deal with children and non paleo eaters in the home too, plus the meal planning. Basically, it’s all good! 🙂

    thanks, Kelly

  13. Stephanie says:

    Hi:)
    I just started eating Paleo although I have been researching it for a bit…getting through the hard science after having been raised on the whole ‘fat equals fat, bread is good (ok, bread IS good but not like that>...<, he LOVED this sauce as did my mom, dad and myself. My other kids were gone last night when I made it but this was a huge hit.
    Easy, flavorful…just sparkling.

    I am excited as two of my three crock pots are brimming with Pollo con Salsa Rojas and number three is full of chicken breasts for your Chicken Lettuce Wraps (for Tim's lunch this week)!

    YAY!

  14. Hi Sarah, thanks so much for all of your hard work and creativity. I’m trying to convert to paleo way of eating. I feel so much better after paleo meals but I have a hard time feeling full, especially in the morning. my workouts are light compared to crossfit, so i know i’m not burning that much. I’ve always been a person who is ravenous in the morning. i get up at 6am and am hungry. I even eat 4 eggs, avacado, chicken and I still feel hungry. I used to eat a breakfast sandwich with cheese. I don’t have time to eat the volume of food required in mornings to satiate me. Do you have any suggestions of how to combat insatiable morning hunger? Most people are hungriest latest in day but not me.

    1. Sarah says:

      Hi Lucy,
      I would try a couple of things. Make sure you are not eating too many carbs close to bed time (too much fruit, etc.), this often causes folks to wake up ravenous. Also, try eating more fat at breakfast and see how that works. Are you really lean?? Do you work out a lot?? Try adding in more avocado or other good fats and see if that doesn’t help. Let me know!

  15. I made this for dinner the other night, and my kids DEVOURED it! It was SO delicious! Thanks for everything you do, you’re an inspiration and I really enjoy reading your blog!

    cheers,
    Ashley

  16. ROCKY says:

    Sarah

    Well, I’m jumping in. This is day four without the cereals, milk products and bagels I normally eat. Already I am enjoying greeatly reduced gas.

    This is hard work at times. I’ve started swimming again. We’ll go at it for a month and see what happens.

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