Low Country Paleo

I first discovered mojo sauce at a Cuban restaurant in West Palm several weeks ago . . . and fell in love.  They served it as a dipping sauce with plantain chips.  Since then, I’ve made it and used it as salad dressing, a dipping sauce, to make dehydrated kale chips and as a quick meal-maker condiment – yummy garlic and olive oil goodness, with just a little acid, all in one.   I left my garlic chunky but you can also continue blending until yours is in smaller pieces, if you’d prefer. 

This is one recipe that Sam’s makes less expensive and easier. Both the olive oil and the garlic came from Sam’s:  the cold pressed extra virgin olive oil in the big 3L jug (under $12) and the pre-peeled garlic in a bag ($6 for 3 pounds).

Cuban Mojo Sauce

• 20 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 2 tbsp fresh cuban oregano leaves or cilantro 
• 1 tsp salt (or to taste) 

Blend all ingredients in the small bowl of a food processor or in a blender.   Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.  

Aren’t they pretty?  One of the first things I made in my nifty new dehydrator were these kale chips.   They were so good . . . and so pretty . . . I had to make them again, just so I could get the timing and measurements down for y’all.

I have a spare bottle for my smoothie maker that I use for savory stuff like this but a Magic Bullet would work, too.   Or a regular blender.  Just don’t try it in your food processor, even if it has the small bowl, because it won’t work.  Trust me on this.  I forgot between time 1 making these and time 2 and have extra stuff to clean to show for it.

Recipe: Dehydrator Kale Chips

My goal since going Paleo last year has been simple:  to eat as healthy as possible as often as possible.    And, honestly, the dietary changes haven’t been that hard.  I’ve been a serial dieter since before kindergarten.  Making some pretty simple and basic dietary changes – eliminating highly processed foods and grains (except for my once a month pizza) – brought with it an almost instant cure for my lifelong battle with insomnia , so there isn’t anything anyone could do or say that would get me to return to the government recommended food pyramid.    I’ve made other food related modifications since then: giving up artificial sweeteners (my Mom was giving me Tab before kindergarten), limiting my caffeine intake, switching to grassfed/pastured proteins, choosing organic/pesticide free local produce as often as possible, and avoiding GMOs.    But, for me, being Paleo has been all about the food.

Until now.

I am committed to making other changes  . . . some much harder for me than simply passing up the bread basket.   Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint was one of the first Paleo resources I discovered and I’ve found myself referring to it pretty frequently again.  Because I want more.  I feel amazing.  Seriously, amazing.  Better than I can ever remember feeling in my entire life.  But what if I can feel EVEN BETTER?

So, I am working on incorporating the other 9 elements in the Primal Blueprint, not just the one that is easiest for me.  :)  I actually do pretty well on many of them – long beach walks with the puppy cover several.   But one thing I don’t do is lift heavy things.   I thought about ordering some kettle bells. And then it occurred to me that we HAVE heavy things right there on the beach – huge logs of driftwood – and I’ve been walking right on by them.   So today, I stopped, picked one up, and dragged it.  Twice.  Once on the way out, once on the way back. Think Jean ValJean during the opening scene of the movie Les Miserables.  Only I’m not that skinny and there was no music in the background.  This log was too heavy for me to pick up and carry, but next time there may be a smaller log.  And  maybe after 100 times, this one won’t be too heavy.  :)

I just checked the Beetnik Foods Facebook page and see that there are still folks waiting for their Living Social Paleo deal.    Folks more patient than I am.

Here is how I resolved the issue:

1) I originally ordered two vouchers, redeemed one.   Living Social canceled the second and issued me a refund when I didn’t receive my order in a timely manner.  It was past their 7 day cancellation period but it was not a problem.

2) When I still hadn’t received my order after 3 weeks, despite being told by Beetnik foods THREE TIMES that it had shipped, I contacted Living Social about receiving a refund for my used voucher.  While they weren’t willing to refund it, I was giving a credit in deal bucks (which I am only using on local offers!).

3)  When I contacted Beetnik Foods to cancel my order and request a refund of my shipping charges, they informed me that my shipping charges had already been refunded a week earlier.  Turns out they actually had.    (They claim that they refunded shipping to all customers whose orders were delayed and that they sent an email informing of that fact.  Like the food, I never got that email, either.)

Good luck!