Thanksgiving Paleo/Primal Stuffing

          I am not one to brag but when it comes to stuffing, I make the best.  Before going Paleo/Primal my stuffing was loaded with cornbread and wild rice.  With a little experimentation, I came up with a stuffing that is completely Paleo/Primal/Gluten & Grain free.  If you are looking for a new stuffing recipe, you are in luck.  Below is the recipe for my Paleo/Primal stuffing.



Ingredients

4 lbs. of country sausage. (brown it before adding to the mix)
2 heads of cauliflower ( diced then roasted in an oven at 400F till toasted )
1 whole white onion (diced).
1 cup of celery (chopped).
1 cup of slivered almonds (toasted).
1cup of crushed pecans (toasted).
1 small Granny Smith apple (diced).
1 can of water chess nuts (diced).
1/2 cup dried blueberries.
2 eggs (beaten).
½ cup melted butter or coconut oil.
1 cup chicken stock (to be used for added moisture if needed).
1 tsp. each of oregano, basil, sage and rosemary.
1 Tbsp. of dried parsley.
3 cloves of chopped fresh garlic

Directions

-Brown the sausage, then add to it the onions, garlic and celery.
- In a BIG bowl, add the diced, roasted cauliflower.  Then add the sausage, onions, garlic, spices, nuts, water chess nuts, apple.
- To the mix, add the butter and eggs to moisten.   - Add the dried blueberries last.
-Mix it all up by hand.
- There will be enough to stuff an 18-20lb bird and there will be enough left over to fill a casserole dish.  With the left over stuffing in the casserole dish, if needed, add chicken stock to keep it moist while it bakes in the oven, cover the dish with foil before putting in the oven.
- When your turkey is done, the stuffing is done.  The stuffing in the casserole dish need only cook for 1 to 1.5 hours at 350.

ENJOY!

Paleo Lifestyle Resources

    I have always been a fan of lower carbohydrate-higher protein based diets.  The Atkins'/Ketogenic diet was my first venture away from the traditional high carb/low fat that is to this day still pushed by the food industry and traditional medicine.  Early in my chiropractic career, I found that my patients responded better to the higher protein/lower carbohydrate diets.  Not just from a obesity standpoint  but also from a chronic disease standpoint; patients with heart disease, diabetes and auto immune conditions greatly improved if not resolved their conditions all together.
   About three years ago, I was exposed to the Paleo Diet; originally developed by Loren Cordain, PhD.   I found his ground breaking book, The Paleo Diet to be a nice change of pace to the Atkins' diet.  Many of my patients felt too deprived while on Atkins'/Ketogenic.  Since that time, I recommend the Paleo Diet, a.k.a. Paleo Lifestyle to all of my patients.
    In my office, I routinely tell my patients to check out website after website about the Paleo Lifestyle. To avoid confusion and repeating myself, I decided to create a list of all the websites/resources for my patients that I routinely recommend.  These sites offer a wealth of information regarding the dos and don't s, the science behind Paleo and thousands of wonderful recipes to try. 

     ENJOY!

     Books: The Paleo Diet (L. Cordain) thepaleodiet.com
                 Life Without Bread (Allan & Lutz).
                 Neanderthin (R. Audette)
                 The Paleo Solution (R. Wolf) robbwolf.com

     Education:  Weston A. Price Foundation. westonprice.org
                       glutenfreesociety.org
                       glutenfreeworks.com
                       paleoparents.com
                       blog.bellatrixnutrition.com
                       liftbigeatbig.com
                       crossfit.com

     Great Paleo Websites:  fastpaleo.com    *My favorite for Paleo recipes.*
                                        marksdailyapple.com
                                        paleobread.com
                                        everydaypaleo.com
                                        paleomagonline.com
                                        theclothesmakethegirl.com
                                        health-bent.com
                                        paleodietlifestyle.com
                                        thepaleosecret.com
                                        carbzero.com
                                        chowstalker.com

     Sugar Substitute:  Just Like Sugar, justlikesugarinc.com   All natural, no calorie, no carb sweetener.

Getting Back on the Crossfit Horse

    We are all human, every once in a while life can throw us a curve ball to where we either fall off or jump off the proverbial horse.  Which in this case equates to missing or avoiding our Crossfit workouts (Yes this certainly applies to different workout systems, but since Crossfit is my main focus, I reserve the right to use it).  Perhaps its a personal or family emergency or an injury related or unrelated to Crossfit.  For whatever the reason before you know it, weeks have gone by and your physical gains as well as your emotional state (which you worked so hard for) have deteriorated. 

    I myself am not immune to such an occurrence.  Unfortunately, I end up kicking myself when I do get back to training as I am once again forced to get retrieve my gains from what I lost from time off.  I can tell you right now, it is much easier to stay with your momentum whether you train three, four or five times a week with Crossfit.  From an emotional or mental standpoint, staying on task with your workout is even more imperative as one goes through emotional upheavals in one's life.  Without emotional stability or clarity, we often times fail to make the appropriate choices and decisions that are best for ourselves as well as our family. 

    From a physical standpoint, I have learned that if you are healing from an injury, instead of remaining stationary for weeks on end, train around your injured area.  Granted, I understand if one is recovering from major surgery, one might have to take a certain amount of time to recover before your doctor clears you for resuming your training.  But, for most sprain/strain/tear injuries, modify your workout.  Train around the injury, lighten your load and avoid routines and positions that negatively impact your injury.  But whatever you do, don't stop working out.  It can be a bugger to get your momentum flowing again.

    It is often said, the hardest part of working out is just getting there.  Once you are there its all down hill.  And when you're finished with your workout, we all know how good we feel both physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Bottom line, if we want to be at our best to help our family in times of need and if we want to recover from an injury at the quickest possible pace, don't stop your workout, you may think you are helping you or your family in the long run but, if we don't take care of our needs first and foremost, then we won't be at our best when someone needs our help.  When this happens, we not only end up cheating friends and family not having you at your best, we also end up cheating ourselves for not being at our best.

Supplements for Post-Workout Muscle Soreness

Whether you are new to CrossFit or been around the block a few times, muscle pain and soreness are part of the CrossFit lifestyle. Stretching and rolling out sore muscles will definitely aid in recovery. From a nutritional standpoint there are specific supplements you can take to keep the inflammatory process in check. My top three favorite nutritional supplements are: Omega 3's (essential fatty acids), L-Arginine and good old fashioned water.

With Omega 3's, the optimal therapeutic dose is 2700mg a day of EPA and DHA. To get this level, go for the liquid brands. One or two teaspoons a day is much easier than 6 to 10 horse pills a day. And make sure your omega 3's are from Norway to ensure the lowest levels of heavy metals.

l-Arginine not only improves muscle recovery time and soreness. It also aids in total cardiovascular support, energy production and nitric oxide production. Optimal dosage, 5000mg a day. Two of my favorite brands are L-arginine plus and L-arginine complete.

Water is often our most neglected basic essential for optimal health. Strive for 25oz. per 50lbs. of body weight. So if you are 150lbs., your recommended amount is 75oz. of water a day. Also for every 8oz. of coffee or tea you ingest per day, that is an additional 8oz. of water you must add to your regiment. Most of your early morning muscle stiffness can be alleviated by drinking 16oz. of water before you head off to do your WOD.

Hope this helps.

Enjoy.

Dr. Corey