Paleo Cookbook For Dummies (30 page)

Chapter 5

Stocking Your Cave Kitchen

In This Chapter

Giving your kitchen a Paleo overhaul

Restocking your kitchen to become Paleo smart

Identifying essential Paleo-approved cooking methods

The most important thing you can do to make living Paleo stick is to get your fanny in the kitchen. Cooking Paleo meals probably isn't as hard or as time consuming as you may think, so don't let this misconception get in the way of your success. I can completely relate to the time issue. I have kids, I work full time, and I'm an author to boot, so I know from experience that after you learn a couple of quick dishes, you can use them as the foundation of completely different meals with just a few small tweaks.

Before you get into the kitchen, though, you have to get your kitchen into Paleo shape. Whether you're an experienced cook or just finding your way around the kitchen, in this chapter you can find advice on how to equip your kitchen with the tools you need and utilize the best Paleo-friendly cooking methods to keep you and your family well nourished.

Clearing Your Kitchen of Non-Paleo Goods

Your commitment to living Paleo begins with changing your eating habits, so it's time to create an environment for success: the Paleo kitchen.

I have patients all the time asking for a detox to cleanse their bodies so they work more efficiently. Well, think of creating a Paleo-smart kitchen in the same way: You're cleansing your kitchen so it works more efficiently for you and your family. It may be a little uncomfortable at first, but when you're on the other side, you'll have an uncluttered food life and love how you feel.

Look at your calendar and pick a day to give your kitchen a Paleo cleanout. If you wait too long, you'll lose your momentum, so plan time soon. And actually mark it in your calendar because when you schedule something, it becomes real. Otherwise, it's just a thought.

When you first walk in your kitchen to make the Paleo transformation, take a long, hard look. Now visualize your kitchen filled with Paleo-approved foods that provide you and your family with deep nutrition. Foods that help you lose weight, boost immunity, and fight aging. Take a moment to experience how that feels in your body. Then put on some music you love and get yourself into a happy state.

I've watched people make the Paleo conversion many times, and keeping food “just in case” is a red flag. This book is filled with strategies for success, and keeping non-Paleo foods hanging around while you're trying to make the switch isn't a good strategy.

Cleansing the pantry

Open those pantry doors and just do it! As the late motivational speaker Zig Ziglar said, if you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting. Well, you're not going to be getting what you've been getting anymore. If you've been tired, battled certain health conditions, or struggled with your weight or you just want to look and feel your best, here's where you start.

Grab a trash bag and a box. The trash bag is obvious; the box is so that you set aside unopened foods to donate to your local food bank or shelter. Some people in your community are striving for calories, and you can help them by sending over a care package of your unopened non-Paleo foods.

Check the labels on your pantry items as you sort them to confirm whether they're keepable, but just a fair warning that you'll have to give most the heave-ho.

Say goodbye to the following:

Foods with flour, including breads, pasta, crackers, chips, and cookies.

Breakfast cereals, including granola and oatmeal.

Foods with grains and whole grains, including wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt, corn, and quinoa.

Refined processed fats, such as margarine; vegetable shortening; and canola (rapeseed), soybean, grapeseed, sunflower, safflower, corn, vegetable, and peanut oils.

Foods with hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, including cookies, snack foods, and buttery spreads such as Earth Balance.