Easy Homemade Paleo Mayo

I know, it's been awhile since I've posted anything.  Our computer hard drive crashed and it's taken me awhile to get back up and running.  The Paleo/Primal diet is still going great and Paul and I just started a 30 day challenge with our Brilliant Life Chiropractic community on Monday.  We will all be super strict for the next 30 days - eating only meats (including seafood, poultry and game meats), eggs, vegetables, healthy fats (coconut milk/oil, olive oil, avocado oil, etc.), nuts, seeds and fruit in moderation.  I've found that having home made mayo around really helps for making creamy salad dressings, using as a veggie or artichoke dip, or for even just dipping leftover chicken in!  My first couple of attempts honestly didn't go too well.  One was super runny and the other just didn't ever emulsify.  But after playing around with it for awhile, trying out different ingredients and ratios, I've created my "Easy Homemade Paleo Mayo" using one of my favorite kitchen tools, the food processor.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 Large Egg (Preferably local, fresh and pastured)

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

1/2 tsp Salt

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

1 C Light Olive Oil

Directions:

Place egg, mustard, salt and lemon juice in food processor fitted with metal blade.  Blend about 30 seconds until well combined.  Stop to scrape down sides of bowl if needed.  Keep motor running and add oil drop by drop using the "drizzle hole" in the lid (if you're like me and always wondered why your lid had a hole in it...now you know!).  Stop blending once all oil has dripped out and is combined in the mixture.  

Voila!  Homemade mayo that is better for you and tastes so much fresher than anything you will buy in the store.  If you don't eat it all right away, the mayonnaise can be transferred to a covered container and stored in the fridge for about 5-7 days.  

Additional Tips:

Your final product is much more likely to be successful if the egg and lemon juice are at room temperature.  I recommend leaving both out for at least 3-4 hours before proceeding with the recipe.  You can substitute apple cider vinegar for the lemon juice if you are all out of lemon or just want to try something different, but I personally prefer the flavor of lemon juice.  If you use extra virgin olive oil, your mayo will have a very strong olive flavor, especially if made in a food processor.  If it's all you have, I have heard that making it with a whisk helps to keep the flavor more subtle.  My first ever batch was made with extra virgin oil as I didn't know any better and I ended up throwing it out.  I wish I could find an Organic "light tasting" olive oil, but haven't had luck with that one yet.  Mayo can also be made in a food processor without a hole in the top, a blender, or with a whisk by hand (as mentioned above) but you have to be really careful to add the oil slowly, drop by drop, especially at first to make sure an emulsion forms. 

Enjoy and let me know how it goes for you!  

Going Primal!

It's been an interesting week of eating with Paul and I experimenting with eating a "Primal" diet - or close to one at least.  After reading bits and pieces about the principles behind primal/Paleo/caveman nutrition over the last couple of years, it was when Paul became interested from his Crossfit circles that we both finally dove in head first and did some serious reading and research to see what it was all about.  And the principles behind it made enough sense that we decided we had to at least give it a try! For those not familiar with the recommended dietary guidelines, that means eating mostly a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables along with pastured, wild caught and/or naturally raised meat products.  Also eggs, nuts and seeds, and sometimes raw dairy (everyone has their own opinion on that one!) . Sounds good so far, right? The hard part is that the list of allowed foods pretty much stops there. Grains, beans, other legumes and sugars of all kinds are on the off limits list.

I can imagine what you might be thinking. What kind of crazy diet plan is that? Why in the world would someone want to avoid eating whole grains and legumes? Aren't they the healthiest foods out there? But the more I read, the more I think what they say makes sense. Genetically, our bodies have not adapted to eating grains. Most of us have probably heard about how common gluten intolerance is now and how much better these people feel on a gluten free diet. The truth is, all humans would feel and function better without gluten. But it doesn't stop there. Other grains, even beloved brown rice, also have anti-nutrients in them that make it very hard for us to digest. Traditionally when humans first started planting and eating grains, they were always soaked, sprouted and/or fermented to make them edible and easier for us to digest. Over time, most have stopped these practices, but continue to eat grains. The Paleo/primal diet advocates say this has contributed to a whole host of sicknesses and disease. Auto-immune disorders, diabetes, obesity, etc. 

So you'll likely hear more from me about this in future posts. I'm planning to figure things out over the next few weeks, then commit to 30 days of a 100% Paleo diet (dairy free too) in September. Anyone wanna join me??