Colorado Springs readers get tips for quick paleo-friendly meals from new cookbook | Lifestyle
Caroline Fausel, who lives in Denver, is a passionate foodie who loves to cook. In 2014, she started a blog, oliveyouwhole.com, to help others experience the life-changing benefits of following a paleo diet. Her blog expanded to include podcasts and now, with the recent publication of “Prep, Cook, Freeze: A Paleo Meal Planning Cookbook,” she can add “author” to her accomplishments.
The paleo diet is patterned after what human hunter- gatherers ate thousands of years ago and calls for whole, unprocessed foods (preferably grass-fed or organic) like meat, seafood, eggs, veggies, fruits, nuts, healthy fats and spices. Grains, legumes, and processed foods and ingredients — such as sugar, bread, certain vegetable oils, trans fats and artificial sweeteners — are to be avoided.
Fausel’s embrace of the paleo lifestyle came after the birth of her first child.
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“After several years of being vegetarian, we (she and her husband) decided to try the paleo lifestyle,” she said. “And we have never felt better.”
But paleo cooking involves more preparation with fresh ingredients, which equates to more time spent in the kitchen chopping, dicing and hovering over the stove. This can lead to weekday meals becoming a hassle.
“I heard over and over again from Olive You Whole readers that what they needed is for weeknight meals to be easier,” Fausel said. “A system. And that’s what has been done with this cookbook.”
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Over the years, Fausel has perfected a system for creating healthy, delicious, stress-free and mostly 15-minute weeknight meals.
“This method combines preparation, meal planning, batch cooking and freezer meals,” she said. Here’s an overview of the process:
• Shop using shopping lists furnished in the cookbook. There are two lists. One is used on prep day and the other lis for reheat night for meals that are frozen. It includes items like pasta to cook freshly or fresh pre-chopped or shredded veggies to prepare to complete the meals.
• Pick one day for meal prep using the cookbook’s step-by-step instructions. You will batch-cook and freeze a portion of some of the dishes for reheat night. Some of the dishes are stored in the refrigerator to quickly be ready for dinner. Fausel does prepping on the weekend.
• Each weeknight, choose from among the dinners in the refrigerator or freezer.
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The book includes 12 weeks of meals, with five entrees each week that serve four. For example, the first week — Fausel’s “favorite week” in the cookbook — includes her chicken tikka masala, which she said is “the top reader favorite recipe on the site.”
The rest of that week features Thai almond noodle bowls, chicken fettuccine alfredo (made dairy-free), sweet and sour Hawaiian meatballs, and teriyaki sloppy joes with Asian slaw.
In the book, she also recommends paleo diet-friendly brands for packaged ingredients. If you’d prefer not to use store-bought ingredients, the last chapter has recipes for making your own like sauces, dressings, seasonings and extras.
Cost of the book is $21.99 at amazon.com.
Contact the writer: 636-0271.
contact the writer: 636-0271.
