Apparently all good bloggers have weekly columns they are known for: Monday Motivations, Fashion Fridays, Weird Wednesdays, Throwback Thursday, and you get the idea. If I am going to hold my own in this arena, I figured I need to have my own weekly columns.

Today, I proudly present the very first Friday Favorites post from Our Paleo Family.

If you’ve looked at my resources and ingredients page, you know what most of my favorites are, but I wanted to take this opportunity to highlight some of my very, very favorites, how I use them and why I love them so.

Without further ado, my first five Friday Favorites (in no particular order):

1. Bacon – Do I really need to elaborate on this one? Of course, I do. We could talk for years about the virtues of bacon. I have been on a quest for the very best of the “healthy” bacons and I feel confident that Pederson’s sugar free bacon, found at Whole Foods, tastes the absolute best. Yes, there are others that are nitrate/nitrite free, from animals raised humanely and without hormones and antibiotics, but Pederson’s tastes the very best. Pete’s Paleo Bacon is very good as well, but you have to mail order it and it’s a little more expensive. You can’t go wrong with either brand. Lately, I’ve been buying 365 brand (Whole Food’s house brand) of uncured center cut, but it doesn’t have enough flavor, in my opinion. When I can splurge, I’ll go back to Pederson’s, specifically the one labeled Paleo. Of course, bacon is not just good for breakfast. A few slices fried up and broken into pieces make an amazing addition to salads, baked potatoes, cereal (just seeing if you’re paying attention). You get the idea though. 

If you buy good quality bacon without all the chemicals and hormones, you can save the fat that renders out when cooking and use that to cook vegetables, meats, scrambled eggs, etc. It adds just a little bit of amazing bacon flavor. Use it as the fat in salad dressings too. So yummy! And it’s already paid for. Don’t throw away that precious, healthy fat.

2. Avocados – Avocados bring so much to the table. They are full of healthy fats, fiber, folic acid, iron, magnesium, potassium, B vitamins and vitamin C. They add amazing creaminess to anything you put them on or in. If you love schmering cream cheese or butter on your (gluten free) toast, try avocado instead. If you like just a little cheese on your salad to add a creamy component, add avocado instead. Do I even need to mention guacamole?

3. Plantains –  Seriously, plantains are so versatile. Do not be afraid of them. Yes, they are related to bananas, but as long as you use them while they’re at least a little green, they don’t taste like bananas. I am talking like a banana hater, which I pretty much am. I eat them on occasion, but they are not my favorite. You will not find bananas in a future Friday Favorites post, that’s for sure. Back to plantains, you can blend them with eggs and flavorings to make amazing pancakes and waffles. You can smoosh them and fry them into crispy, crunchy potato chip alternatives. You can even make those chips really big and use them as bread/buns for your burger or sandwich.

You can go all out and make my AIP burger buns with your ripe plantains. But my favorite way to eat these little beauties is in chip form, fried up in coconut oil. You’ll never need a potato chip again as long as you have some of these to look forward to.

 

4. Mini Food Processor – My poor Cuisinart Mini Chopper has seen better days. I’ve dropped the plastic bowl so many times it has lots of jagged edges and just a whisper of a handle, but it still works great. I use this guy almost every single day. Chop nuts, make chicken salad, egg salad, tuna salad, blend up a smoothie, make mayonnaise, finely chop garlic and onions or any vegetable really, whip up some pesto with all that basil in your garden. Seriously, I use it all the time. If you don’t have one, it’s a great investment at around $35.

5. Saucony Triumph ISO 2, my wonderful new tennis shoes. I’ve talked about my difficult feet before, the old surgeries and the new arthritis. It’s chronic pain and it stinks. Especially for this shoe lover. I have given away the shoes I can’t wear anymore. There’s no reason to have them in my closet taunting me. But I do have to wear shoes. I mean, I really have to wear shoes. Going barefoot is not an option. My feet need lots of support. I find myself wearing tennis shoes more and more often because they are just the most comfortable. And I have to wear big, old orthotics and you can’t put those in a high heel or sandal. I over-supinate, which means my feet tend to roll outward. Most people over-pronate or roll inward. The shoe industry makes lots of shoes for over-pronators, but they don’t make any specifically for supinators. I would buy a lot if they did. They are missing out on an opportunity here. Again, I digress. If you have this same problem, I have found the perfect shoe! There’s space for my orthotics, room for my to toes wiggle, lots of cushioning and support at the back of my foot to give the stability I need.

I know this has nothing to do with food, but these shoes are one of my new favorite things and I figured there have to be other people with this same problem who could benefit from a recommendation.

So there you go, the first ever Our Paleo Family Friday Favorites. To see more of my favorite things, check out my resources and ingredients page. 

Next week, you’ll get What We Ate Wednesday where I’ll show you what our meals consisted of for the week. We all get in a rut sometimes and it can be helpful to see what other people are putting on the table. Plus, isn’t it just fun to spy into other people’s kitchens every once in a while? 😉