-- By Camille Leblanc-Bazinet
Caribbean Seafood Stew
2 lbs of raw seafood (I used 1 lb of wild caught shrimp and 1 lb of mahi mahi pieces, both from Trader Joe’s)
1 yellow onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons cumin
1 bunch cilantro
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 can coconut milk
1 tbsp coconut oil
Sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Dice up the stems of the cilantro bunch and set aside. In a large soup pot saute the onions in the coconut oil. When the onions start to turn brown, add the garlic and the cilantro stems and saute for another 2-3 onions. Add the tomatoes, cumin, salt and pepper, mix well and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Add the seafood and cook for another 3-5 minutes or until the seafood is done. Serve with the cilantro leaves on top as a garnish.
Chicken Chili Soup
3 cups chicken breast, cooked and chopped (I used leftover grilled chicken breast)
1 onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno or Fresno pepper, seeds removed and finely diced
2 – 4 oz cans of diced green chilis
4 cups chicken broth
2 tbsps olive oil
2 tsps ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Black pepper to taste
Fresh cilantro, diced
Avocado, diced
In a large soup pan, sauté the onion, garlic, and jalapeno together in the olive oil until the onions are tender. Add the canned green chilis, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper and black pepper. Stir together and add the chicken broth. Bring to a boil, turn down to medium low, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the chicken and cook for another 5 minutes. Serve with fresh cilantro and avocado.
Warning: This soup is SPICY! : )
I’m on break (again) from school, hanging out at home in the QC (Queen City = Charlotte, NC) and I have a lot of time on my hands. Instead of studying (nasty!), I’ve been indulging in some pleasure reading – Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf! And as I’m reading through the Paleo Solution, Robb describes in one of his chapters some key exercise movements/elements necessary to maintain a healthy “caveman” lifestyle that goes along with the Paleo diet. Here is a quick summary of the chapter for you:
It is in our DNA/genetic makeup to be fit, strong, healthy and to exercise! Much of our problems with disease and other medical setbacks is a result of our increasing sedentary lifestyle which thus disrupts our genetic potential to be strong and healthy. Robb suggests a certain “Paleolithic Fitness” that entails several components to mimic as much as possible those of our ancestral, caveman fitness and lifestyle.
The first component is Strength. Strength is the ability to exert force and is one of the main components to do just about anything (from something as simple as walking to lifting heavy weights). Power is next. Power is the ability to not only use strength but use strength quickly. Flexibility or a full range of motion is necessary for stronger and safer joints and muscles. Endurance and stamina are used interchangeably. Stamina relates to local muscular work while endurance is the ability of the heart and lungs to carry oxygen throughout the body. These components are necessary to maintain strength and power while reaching higher cardiovascular levels. Interval workouts are encouraged to maintain good and better cardiovascular fitness but at a fraction of the time that people spend running for hours.
So lets put this all together. The Paleo Fitness components are strength, power, flexibility, endurance and stamina executed in intervals. Does this look like a certain exercise (or Cult haha) to you??? CrossFit!!! Robb even mentions a workout that involves 20 seconds of work, with 10 seconds rest, repeated eight times….
Basically, I’m getting to something that we already know….the Paleo diet AND CrossFit are the perfect match to maintain a healthy lifestyle, look HOT and just KICK ASS. You all are doing the right thing and I’m thankful to have friends like you to keep me motivated! So keep it up friends. You’re HOT and we all know it : ) Miss you guys! See you next week!
The photo to the right was taken at an adorable little shop in Galena, Illinois this past weekend. I thought it was hilarious and just had to share with my fellow Paleo Pals. 
If you do not get enough sleep, you will:
1. Completely cock-block your fat loss.
2. Get fat, sick and diabetic.
3. Get old and wrinkled before your time.
When I was reading The Paleo Solution by Rob Wolfe, this really captured my attention. I don’t want to be fat, sick and have wrinkles! Because I am such a night owl, I constantly struggle with not getting enough sleep. Usually, the hardest part of my day is just getting out of bed. Before I read about the benefits of getting enough sleep, I didn’t know what an impact it can have on my health. For instance, it causes insulin resistance which causes fat storage around the waistline. So basically, it adds muffin to the muffin top. Also, your immune is compromised, you can be forgetful, moody and your protein collagen (what is responsible for youthful skin) is destabilized. We all work so hard to eat well (Paleo) and to work our bums off at each CF class. Not getting the right amount of sleep can actually negatively impact all that hard work we are doing. Now on to a couple of benefits of getting enough sleep: you will recover faster from exercise, better memory, less inflammation and you will be less grumpy in the am (or maybe the grumpy part is just me.)
Everyone should be getting 8+ hours of sleep. A good indication that you are getting enough sleep is that you wakeup with out the aid of an alarm clock. If you are not doing this, here are some tips:
Since I have started to get more sleep and blacked out my room, I really have noticed a difference. I don’t crave candy and salty food as much throughout the day. Also, I used to be able to take a quick nap at almost any time of the day. Now, I can’t nap. I don’t need to. And my coworkers don’t annoy me nearly as much in the am now. Ha! I hope they never see this.
* Straight from The Paleo Solution about why you should blackout your room. The porphyrin proteins that make up your red blood cells register light and carry this info of light exposure to your brain. This info blocks a very important antioxidant hormone/neurotransmitter called melatonin. This process is at the heart of your problem with cortisol.
