Author Archive
When everyone else in the office is running out for fast food or ordering sandwiches, it can be hard to imagine keeping up with your Paleo lifestyle at work. We’re here to help! Here are some tips to keep you going from morning to dusk, the Paleo way:
Start with a hearty breakfast.
Banana Paleo Pancakes with Paleo Pancake Mix from Evolve Paleo Pantry
If you arrive to work hungry, there may be more of a chance you’ll give in to that group pizza order at 11:00, or sneak a trip to the vending machine. It’s so important to start your day with a protein-rich breakfast. Have a few extra minutes before hitting the road? Whip up some scrambled eggs and veggies or Paleo pancakes (you can order Paleo Pancake Mix online here). Need something quick? Throw some Paleo Cereal in a bowel with almond milk and chow down!
Make yourself a mini Paleo smorgasboard.
Assemble a quick variety of ready-to-eat Pale-friendly foods like salami, sliced meats, a hard-boiled egg, avocado, cucumber, and tomatoes. This grouping provides lots of various textures and tastes to keep your lunch interesting!
Chipotle Stuffed Sweet Potato by Evolve Paleo Chef in Kansas City
Put that microwave to work.
Do you know that you can microwave a sweet potato in three minutes? Just poke some holes in the spud with a fork, wrap it in a paper towel, and tell Frank in Accounting to be patience while he waits to zap his Lean Cuisine. Top the potato with last night’s leftover chicken and veggies and you’ll have a power-packed lunch to get you through the afternoon!
Create a mini pantry.
Grab a few cans of tuna or salmon, and a jar of capers or olives, and store them in a desk drawer or- even better- in the staff kitchen cabinets. Whip up a quick salad the night before and bring it to work along with a hard-boiled egg. Top the salad with your pantry item, and it’s like eating a fancy lunch in a French Bistro…without the travel fees!
Treat yourself to an afternoon snack.
A work-friendly snack: Paleo Balls from Evolve Paleo Pantry
Don’t most people have a goody drawer at work? We sure do! Keep on hand nuts, dried fruit, and of course Paleo Balls from Evolve Paleo Pantry. These little snacks are like chewy granola bars…but completely Paleo! There are so many delicious flavors to choose from; even your non-Paleo coworkers will be hanging around your desk to try them out. Go for the Double Chocolate for a dark, creamy, decadent flavor. Or try the Key Lime for a lighter, fruitier taste.
Ignore snide remarks.
We know it can be annoying or hurtful to hear comments from coworkers who don’t understand your Paleo lifestyle. Just know you are doing what’s BEST for your body. There is a huge Paleo community out there, ready to support you! Be sure to follow us on Facebook to get the latest Paleo news, recipes and promotions on Paleo products. If you have questions about getting started with Paleo, the health benefits of a gluten-, dairy- and sugar-free diet, or just want to reach out to a new Paleo friend, don’t hesitate to contact us!
Photo by 316 Crossfit in Wichita
Those who are dedicated to Crossfit strive for a lean, muscular physique. Those who adhere to a Paleo lifestyle consume foods that give them the best advantage to be lean and muscular. The chefs at Evolve Paleo can’t think of a better match out there, besides peanut butter and jelly (on Paleo bread, of course!). The two lifestyles are so complementary that most CrossFitters begin the Paleo diet after they hear about it in their CrossFit classes. If you’re doing CrossFit, you’re pushing your body to its limits, burning through countless calories per workout. You need to supply, or resupply, your body with the fuel it needs to keep up with the vigorous workouts. The Paleo diet is the perfect complement to the Crossfit lifestyle, since it emphasizes high protein and fiber consumption and forbids dairy and refined sugars that hinder weight loss and slow down workouts.
Seared Strip Loin from Evolve Paleo Chef
CrossFit advocates workouts that focus on using the body and basic weights, or everyday objects, like tires, to gain muscle. It develops skills that are universally beneficial, and avoids specialty machines that are in many gyms. You can do CrossFit by yourself, guided by exercises online, or you can search your local area for CrossFit classes or gyms. Those who have adopted a true Paleo lifestyle, which includes CrossFit, have noticed fat loss all over their bodies, benefits to their immune system, and love that they’re always feeling full (source).
A CrossFit-friendly snack: Paleo Balls from Evolve Paleo Pantry
The Paleo diet does not require followers to count calories, as it’s mostly about the quality of the food, not the quantity. Many find out that they are also much more energized and can make their CrossFit workouts longer and more intense.
Photo by 316 Crossfit in Wichita
The full CrossFit and Paleo lifestyles take a lot of time and self-discipline to get started. No one expects you to make the transition overnight! It begins with taking a look at what you’re putting into your body and making conscious decisions to to replace that pasta on your plate with broccoli, or to pass on dessert at meals. To begin your transition into the Paleo diet, or to continue with the lifestyle, visit Evolve Paleo Chef’s online pantry, and get our delicious Paleo products shipped right to your home!
What about Alcohol? Can I drink and be Paleo?
I do enjoy drinking. And after all, who doesn’t? Nobody wants to be the buzz kill at a party (assuming you party.) But is it really Paleo? Is red wine 80% Paleo? Is tequila legal? Lets look into this.
“You should drink enough to enhance your sex life, but not enough to impact performance.” -ROBB WOLF
If drinking is defining you or your evening, then it probably is too much. Drinking should enhance your evening, not bring it down.
Lets start by saying that everyone is different and part of Paleo is knowing what works for you and LISTENING to your body. Some people handle alcohol better than others just like some people handle dairy better than others. But if you are going to drink, here are some guidelines:
1. Drink only moderately
2. Drink earlier in the evening
3. Avoid Mixers, drink it straight.
4. Go for red wine or clear liquids.
5. Eat a high protein meal after drinking.
There is some alcohols that are better than others. Below are some items that we recommend in this order.
1. Dry Red Wine
This has less sugar than white wine or other alcohols. Another bonus with red? Resveratrol - that super antioxidant, able to combat cancer and reduce signs of aging, among other feats.Go for richer, higher quality reds, and seek out organic if you can.
2.Wood Aged Spirits
While red wine has carbohydrates, clear alcohols that are not flavored are ZERO carbohydrates. Even better is Bourbon, Whiskey, and Tequila, are all ZERO carbohydrates and have antioxidant properties because they are aged in wood barrels. Just drink straight up.
3. Don’t like you alcohol straight?
Blend it with berries. Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, lemon and lime. Don’t forget fruit has alot of sugar. You are destroying your zero carbohydrate drink with fruit. Add ice for a smoothie/slushy.
4. Other Clear Alcohols.
Clear Gin, Clear Rum, Vodka. While still low card (or zero) these do not offer any other good properties. Once again, straight is the best.
5. White Wine/Light Beer
Both have few carbohydrates and both offer minimal antioxidants.
6. Cider Beer
7. Regular Beer
8. Dark Beer
These viewpoints are expressed by both Robb Wolfe and Mark Sisson. I cannot claim to have half the knowledge of these guys. You can check out more at www.marksdailyapple. and www.robbwolfe.com.
What are Nitrates and Should I be Scared of Them?
Nitrates seem to have developed a bad rap in past years. We should be avoiding them at all cost right? Well… not necessarily. Not all nitrates are created equally…
Did you know that there are more nitrates naturally occurring in vegetables? That’s right! Nitrates are the product of the nitrogen cycle. The nitrogen cycle is that found in water, plants and animals. ALL living things.
Once Nitrates are introduced to our saliva they are converted to Nitrites. Of the Nitrates, 25% are converted to salivary Nitrites, 20% dietary Nitrites and the rest is excreted in the urine within 5 hours. Nitrates have a half-life of 5 minutes after being consumed. Thus, a majority of Nitrites within the body come from Saliva.
Our ancestors originally used small amounts of nitrates to cure their meats. Then, to produce high yields of these cured meats, faster and cheaper ways were discovered. This includes curing them with sodium nitrate, “liquid smoke” and MSG. Some are even machine pressed into uniform shape before packaging! Can you say YUCK!? These sloppy ways of curing meat created a bad rap, and rightfully so. Recently, you can find so-called “natural” ways of curing meats by means of celery salt. However, 40-90% of celery salt is converted into a nitrate during the curing process. So is this really a “healthier” way to cure meat?
Many sources also say that Nitric Oxide (NO) is beneficial for the cardiovascular system in that is decreases blood pressure and can lead to the prevention of clots within the arteries. NO deficiencies have been detected in many chronic diseases. So why are we trying to avoid them at all cost?
If you really want to avoid nitrites, you would have to stop eating entirely. You would have to say no to veggies, and you would definitely have to stop swallowing your saliva!
We get this question a lot. We use several different kinds of noodles at Evolve and the one we get the most is “What are sweet potato noodles?”
Sweet Potato noodles are a variety of cellephane noodles. Some other varieties that you may have seen are called mung bean noodles, glass noodles and vermicelli.
But what are they made of?
Sweet potato noodles are made from Sweet Potato Starch and Water.
What is the nutritional values?
Where can I find these to cook at home?
You can find these at most Asian markets.
Why aren’t they orange like normal sweet potatoes?
To make sweet potato noodles they are only using the starch and water. There are also two different colors of sweet potatoes, white and orange. The orange ones are most common here in the US. But that is not always the case in the East.
There is alot of to do about bacon and Paleo. Some non-paleo people seem to think that is all you eat on the Paleo diet. We have shirts about bacon, we buy it in bulk and make everything from meatballs to tacos and ice cream exclusively from bacon. But is it Paleo?
I have two thoughts about bacon.
(1) It is delicious.
(2) No. Bacon really hearkens
back to a blog post that I will do later. If you look at the ingredients, are each of the ingredients
Paleo? No. Would Paleolithic people have eaten bacon? Yes, if it was around. Was it around in the Paleolithic era. No
Bacon traces its earliest roots to the Roman time when the word “Petaso” was used to describe a food item was pork and it was boiled with figs and eaten with a pepper sauce.
The way we see bacon was first seen in the 15th century when peasants would eat a version of it because it was cheap. Generally it was just cured at that point. Then in the 1770’s the first bacon manufacturing plants was opened in Wiltshire, England.
It wasn’t until the 1920’ts that Oscar Meyer started producing and selling sliced prepackaged bacon as we know it now. So bacon does not go back as far as the Paleolithic era, nor does coconut four, coconut oil, or cashew butter.
So what makes coconut oil distinctly Paleo and bacon gets a cold shoulder? Neither were around in the Paleolithic era.
One of the goals of Paleo is to stabilize the glucose level in the body. If you look at bacon it has the ingredients of (and these vary depending on what package you read) Pork belly, sugar, celery salt) It also could include celery juice, coconut sugar, and various spices. The the key word is SUGAR. Sugar is sugar no matter how you look at it. I can make bacon with no sugar and reduce down dates and bacon in date sugar. There is no difference in the sugar content, but one is Paleo and one isint? Fig bacon doesn’t sound very good.
So my answer is that (1) Bacon is delicious, which leads me to conclude that for me, bacon is Paleo. I eat sugar in my fruit, in my coffee, on my pancakes in the form of maple and in Paleo balls in the form of honey. I can make bacon with any of these sweeteners and get the same sugar content.
The Paleo lifestyle is more than watching labels, it is watching what I am eating. If I eat nothing but bacon, I should not expect great results, but bacon is not what I am living on, just as I am not exclusively living on honey.
Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am a cheapskate. If I had my way (which I rarely get) and have the time, we would buy nothing. Before culinary school, I was an avid coupon clipper, I would wash my own car in the drive and I even made my own laundry detergent. I still do not wear jeans that cost over $25, I buy my t-shirts in 5-packs and can squeeze a penny until it cries. I’ll save money on anything, except food. I love food, and for good food, I would pay almost anything.
This is the major reason I love the holidays! It starts with Thanksgiving (Halloween is not a holiday, there is no food involved), followed by Christmas, then the new year and in my world it wraps up with my birthday (yesterday) and this little thing called “KC Restaurant Week”. If you are not familiar with restaurant week, it is my favorite two things in the whole wide world, great food and a BARGAIN! Jason and I are going out every meal period of the week (lunch and dinner) and eating. These are a few of my favorite things.
Needless to say, when we wrap up Restaurant Week, I need a plan to get back to reality. This year, Evolve has teamed up with Pilates 1901 to take part in their 21-day sugar detox followed by 9 more weeks of 100% Paleo. I am so excited to go on this journey and have help doing it. The program offers classes (some taught by me), grocery store tour, and all the support you need to eliminate ALL sugar (including fruit) from your diet.
If you have never done a strict sugar cleanse you should try it. It is harder than Army Basic training, but way more rewarding. If you are having a hard time getting weight off, or you want to look and feel better than you ever have, ridding yourself of sugar will do it.
This was not meant to be an advertisement, but I am really excited about this. The staff at Evolve love supporting events held within our community whether it be a food challenge, a Crossfit competition or a local charity. We just like being involved.
If you have any questions, or want to sign up to do this with me, feel free to email me at [email protected]. You have until the end of this week to get started with us.
Live Paleo!
Chef Caleb
Caleb Summers is the Founder and Chef Owner of Evolve Paleo Chef. His objective is to be the one stop for all things Paleo in the Kansas City area. When he isn’t busy trying to be a leader in the Paleo Lifestyle world, he likes to convince people to try things like Paleo or Sugar Detox because after all “You can do anything for 21 days!”.
Jan 19
Cavegirl Reboot
Anyone who knows anything about my health and wellness philosophies knows that I am a big 
believer in moderation. I’ve lost over 60 pounds by being pretty much fanatical about moderation (wrap your head around that one, kids), largely because I don’t believe in dieting - I believe in lifestyle change. Although I do the Paleo thing, I’m not super strict - I shoot for eating 80-90% Paleo. I am simply not going to spend the time seeking grass-fed, antibiotic-free, organic meat that has been blessed by the Pope. I also am not giving up good cheese - I don’t mind giving up bad cheese or mediocre cheese, but I am a firm believer that life without cheddar so sharp that it can beat you up and take your lunch money is not worth living. Yep, I’m an 80/20 kind of girl.
Except when I’m not, which is far too often lately.
Last Saturday, I stepped on the scale after 4 days in Minneapolis, which made 17 days out of a period of 23 days that I was gone, and saw weights that I hadn’t seen since 2012. The combination of air travel,dehydration, too much work, poor sleep, less working out, and what I’d guess to be about 60/40 track record of eating well took a huge toll.
That afternoon, after I’d recovered a bit from looking at the scale, I went to Evolve to meet with Caleb about some marketing stuff. He told me about a program called T School that Pilates 1901 is starting up later this month. T School is 12 weeks long, and consists of 21 days of complete sugar detox, followed by your choice of 3 clean eating meal plans - two of which are Paleo derivatives. Caleb told me he had signed up, and that Evolve would be doing some activities to support the program. Even though I’m not typically a fan of participating in programs like this, I’d never tried a sugar detox before. It simultaneously frightened and intrigued me, so I took some info home to read.
While reviewing the program, I learned that one of the recommendations is giving up anything with “Diet” in the name, which means my Diet Coke has to go. I immediately messaged Caleb to tell him that this was my biggest concern. Caleb may be cute and friendly, but he also does not mess around AT ALL. He told me, more than once, that the Sugar Detox part was only 21 days and that I should be able to do anything for 21 days. The message was clear.
So, I’m doing it. I signed myself up for the program, and 21 days of Sugar Detox starts on Monday, 1/27. But knowing my weakness, I am starting NOW on the Diet Coke issue. I had my last caffeinated Diet Coke this morning, and I am switching to decaf Diet Coke this week to try to get off the caffeine merry-go-round, and will ditch the decaf when the challenge starts - along with all the other natural and artificial sweeteners in my life. I’ll be writing about this from time to time on the Evolve blog and my blog, sincerelydianablog.com, and probably will spend some time whining about caffeine withdrawal headaches on Facebook. But if Caleb believes I can do anything for 21 days, then I should believe it to!
Live Paleo - and sugar free, too!
Diana
Diana Alt is Marketing Director and Cavegirl In Chief for Evolve Paleo Chef. When she is not trying to detox from Diet Cola, she works as an Account Manager for a local marketing services firm and does marketing consulting for small businesses in the KC area.
Another year has come and gone and a lot of people are asking us what we think 2014 will hold. 2013 was such a great year and we want to build on our successes and learn from the numerous mistakes that we made. I want to share with you some of the plans for this next year; I want you to be as excited about these as I am, after all, none of this would be possible without you.
A few weeks ago, I had a man come in to pick up his order. He had just moved from Boston and he was eating Paleo up there. As we got to talking he was commenting how Boston, with as large as it is, does not have a Paleo service, such as Evolve. And here Kansas City has multiple services - who would have expected that?
This year, we want to spread the Evolve love. It is our goal to move to new markets and open Evolve. We are slated to finish opening Wichita, Northwest Arkansas, and Tulsa, Oklahoma - and we are researching new markets all time to see where Evolve can make a splash.
It is also our goal to start a new company called Evolve Pantry. A lot of the food from Evolve is just that - food. There is nothing inherently special about it other than it’s really good and it’s Paleo. But some of the pantry items we have created are VERY special and unique in the market. We will start shipping these across the country this next year.
In the next few weeks, you will start to see some aesthetic changes at the catering center in Kansas City. We have some new furniture, coolers, art, and retail stations coming. We want to be THE place for Paleo in Kansas City. When we started Evolve, our goal was to be the place that you could go to get everything you to live the Paleo life for a whole week.This is why we have breakfast, soups, salads, and snacks. We want eating Paleo to be as easy as possible and this is our next step. When we finish this effort, you will be able to walk in 7 days a week to our place and get food, Paleo balls, trail mix, supplements, books, t-shirts and other non-Evolve items to help you stay Paleo all in one place. We will truly be a one-stop Paleo shop.
One of my goals this year is to write a Paleo cookbook. There are a lot of these out there, but I feel I have something to add to the collection. Recipes that are tested, that are accurate and recipes that take Paleo cooking to the next level. Check in with me throughout the year, a cookbook is a major undertaking!
And finally, there is something to be said for small businesses. Knowing your customers on a one-on-one basis and I feel we have not done a great job at that this year. We are going to make strides to get back to that. Hopefully you will be seeing more correspondence, more effort on our part to make you feel as if you are important, because to be honest, you are!
Have a happy new year, and if there is anything we can do to make your year better, do not hesitate to ask. Thanks again!
Live Paleo!
Caleb Summers
Owner
Evolve Paleo Chef
Have you picked up your Evolve meals before and thought to yourself, “Who ARE these two crazy people working the
front desk?” Well, when it’s not Chef Caleb and Jason, it’s me, Megan and my husband Preston. We have been working for Evolve since April 2013, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves - our Paleo story starts before that. Before we started to work for Evolve, we were two healthy individuals, but we worked too much and did not have time to cook. Well, let me be completely honest…. we did not have the time, but we also hate to cook, which led us to unhealthy food choices.
It seemed the more unhealthy food choices we made, the worse we felt. Imagine that, right? As Chef Caleb, Jason, Preston and I started to become good friends, we couldn’t help but want to understand, what the heck is Paleo anyway?
Man, did that question open the flood gates or what?!? But it was the best flood gate that could have been opened for us. I am a milk girl, my husband is a milk and Oreos guy. Little did we realize what an impact those choices made on our bodies. One night, during a trip to St. Louis, Chef Caleb challenged us to a 20 day Paleo challenge. I was a little skeptical at first, I won’t lie, but Caleb said, “What do you have to lose? If you hate it after 20 days, you can stop.”
The first week was rough. I CRAVED milk, pasta, and bread. But you know what, the cravings decreased and I quickly realized that those things I craved the most made me feel bloated and gassy and all of those things woman hate to admit really happen to them. As our second week concluded, we felt comfortable with what worked for us. I found a schedule that worked for my body and my busy life. If it wasn’t for the key lime Paleo Balls I might not have made it…WOW. they are delicious! The third week came and went and by that time I was hooked.
I was hooked on the Paleo way of life, but I was even more hooked on Evolve. After those 20 days, we felt better, looked better and had more time to do the things we love to do. Today, my husband and I live by the 80/20 rule. For us, it works. Sometimes though, it may be more like 50/50, but that’s okay, everyone has to find what works for them. Feeling the best I had felt in a long time, I decided that wanted to share my experiences with others. That’s when we joined the Evolve Team. Chef Caleb and Jason have made such an impact on our lives and we want to continue to make that impact with others whether they are looking to eat healthier, lose some weight, or eat great food that meets dietary restrictions. We have truly enjoyed sharing our stories, answering questions, and expanding Evolve Paleo to the community and look forward to continuing this work in the new year.
Megan and Preston Steele are responsible for managing the front office on Sunday evenings at Evolve. They are responsible for making sure our pickup customers feel welcome and leave happy. They are also in charge of keeping Caleb and Jason in line, which is arguably the most difficult part of their job.
