What I Ate in June

What I Ate in June

0 Comments

Welcome back to my “What I Ate…” series. It’s June and the sun has been shining here in the UK. As a result we’ve been eating outside almost every night – especially since my husband installed a wood-fired outdoor oven recently!

Paleo Wood Fired Oven

 

I try to eat seasonally as much as I can, and also buy local produce from farm shops as often as possible. Here’s a list of what’s in season in the UK right now:

 

June’s Seasonal Produce

Asparagus, Aubergine, Beetroot, Blackcurrants, Broad Beans, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Cherries, Chicory, Chillies, Courgettes, Cucumber, Elderflowers, Gooseberries, Lettuce, Marrow, New Potatoes, Peas, Peppers, Radishes, Raspberries, Redcurrants, Rhubarb, Rocket, Runner Beans, Samphire, Sorrel, Spring Greens, Spring Onions, Strawberries, Summer Squash, Swiss Chard, Tayberries, Turnips, Watercress.

 

This month we have been eating lots of asparagus as our local farm grows it and sells it at the farm shop. One of my favourite ways to eat it is wrapped in Parma ham or pancetta, great for a light lunch or starter. The recipe below is from my ebook Paleo Recipes to Help you Lose Weight and Shape up Fast.

Paleo Recipes Chloe Archard

 

June’s Seasonal Recipe – Asparagus wrapped in Pancetta or Parma Ham

35327416806_54fa189db8_z

Serves 4

Ingredients:

  • 16 spears of fresh, new season British asparagus
  • 16 slices of quality pancetta or Parma ham (British air-dried hams, such as Woodalls, are also excellent. Alternatively, you could use very thinly sliced belly bacon, though this would require a little extra cooking time).
  • A little extra virgin olive oil
  • Sea salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper

 

Method:

  1. Either preheat a grill to its highest setting, or preheat the oven to 200°C/400F/Gas Mark 6.
  2. Taking the base of an asparagus spear between the thumb and forefinger, break at the point where the the tougher lower stem gives way to the more tender growth. Repeat this process for the rest of the asparagus, and then trim them all to the same length using a sharp knife.
  3. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, add a generous pinch of salt (this serves to fix the chlorophyll in the stems and retain their green vibrancy) and cook the trimmed asparagus for 2 minutes. Remove and refresh in cold/iced water to stop the cooking process.
  4. Dry the asparagus well and carefully wrap a piece of ham around each one, starting at the base and wrapping towards the top of the spear, leaving only the point of the spear unwrapped. Lay the wrapped spears on a baking tray, drizzle with a little olive oil and a turn of black pepper, and place under the grill/in the oven until the ham begins to crisp – 5 to 6 minutes under a grill, 8 to 10 minutes in an oven.
  5. Serve immediately.

 

We’ve also been eating lots of salads and this Coconut Coleslaw has been a staple recently. The recipe was given to me by a friend and it’s super tasty.

Paleo Coconut Coleslaw

 

Ingredients:

  • Quarter each of medium sized white cabbage and red cabbage
  • Equal quantity of grated carrots
  • Handful of sunflower seeds
  • Handful of pumpkin seeds
  • Large handful of desiccated coconut
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • Good pinch of sea salt – I like Sel de Guerande salt for the mineral content
    Sel de Guerande Salt
  • Large handfuls each of well chopped parsley, coriander and mint (or any combination)
  • Paleo mayonnaise to cover sparingly

 

The amounts are approximate as I make it up depending on how many it’s for. You just mix all the ingredients in a large bowl and can add more salt or lemon juice to taste.

 

June is obviously also strawberry season so we’ve also been eating lots – in smoothies, smoothie bowls, fruit salads etc.

Strawberries in June

 

Snacks

This month I have mostly been snacking on tiger nuts – great for gut health. Buy the peeled variety – you can get them on Amazon. Tiger nuts are not actually nuts, they are tubers. They are really high in prebiotic fibre, antioxidants and a good source of vitamins and minerals. These tiger nuts go really well in my Gut Health Trail Mix recipe.

Tiger Nuts Paleo Snacks

Paleo and Eating Out

Leon have just added a new Breakfast Box to their menu that’s pretty good if you are on the go and need something paleo. It has gluten-free sausages, bacon, mushrooms, avocado, egg and beans. You can ask to swap out the beans for an extra egg or avocado if you don’t eat pulses.

Leon Paleo Breakfast Box

Stewed Apples for Gut Health 

Some of you might have seen the recent episode of Doctor in the House with the lovely Rangan Chatterjee. Rangan had the family eating stewed apples to improve their gut health. I blogged about this recipe back in 2015 – it’s based on an original article entitled Is this a Perfect Functional Meal for Mucosal Tolerance?

Stewed Healing Apples

 

Freezing June Butter 

Every year in June and July I stock up on organic butter and freeze it to use in the winter. It can sometimes be difficult to know if the butter you are buying comes from grass-fed cows but at this time of year they will be.

Grass Fed Organic Butter UK

According to the Soil Association “By law, cows must be at pasture whenever conditions allow, over 200 days on average.” That means you can be almost 100% sure that organic cows will be out eating grass as this time of year and as a result the butter from these cows will be full of nutrients and you’ll be able to have lovely, grass fed butter throughout the winter months.

 

Organic Wine

We’ve talked over the last couple of months about organic wine, and why it might be sensible to choose organic wine over conventional wine. To that end, I’ve been trying a few organic red wines and have been on the look out for a reasonably priced organic red wine with no added suphites.

 

I was pleased to discover Sainsbury’s selling an organic Cabernet Sauvignon which is fairtrade and contains no added suphur – best of all it’s really reasonable at only £6.50.

Screen Shot 2017-06-27 at 13.00.54

Malbec and Pinot Noir are the two types of wine that are supposed to contain the highest amounts of resveratol. I don’t like Pinot Noir so I’ve been looking for an organic, sulphite-free Malbec but haven’t managed to find a reasonably priced one yet. If you know of one let me know in the comments below!

 

For special occasions I have ordered a couple of bottles of this Familia Cecchin Malbec from Buon Vino. According to their website “They are 100% organic in the vines and also use biodynamic practices in some areas. Ferments are with wild yeast and sulphur use is kept to the bare minimum if at all.” It’s £14.50 a bottle so a bit too pricey for everyday drinking but it sounds lovely.

cecchin-malbec

Supplements

I’ve mentioned before that I rotate the probiotics and prebiotics that I take. This month I have been taking Bimuno prebiotics.

 

Bimuno has a lot of science supporting it’s efficiency and was recently featured in the BBC programme “The Truth About Sleep”. It has been shown to increase the levels of beneficial bifidobacteria in some clinical trials.

Bimuno Prebiotic

Kids Cook Real Food

This month I discovered a brilliant online cookery course for kids. It’s called Kids Cook Real Food and my children (aged 5, 3 and 18 months) have been really enjoying it.

Screen Shot 2017-06-25 at 08.40.20

It’s an American course so you’ll need some cup measures but all the ingredients are easy to source in the UK and the lessons are really fun and so easy for children to follow.

 

Events

Chris KresserChris Kresser is in the UK on the 8th and 9th July. If you wanted to book a ticket to see him you can read more here. 

 

On Sunday 9th July he will be joined onstage by Dr. Rangan Chatterjee and Dr. Tamsin Lewis.

 

Books I’ve Read

Sleep Smarter BookThis month I read Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson. If you want to know all the ins and outs of why we need to optimise our sleep then you should definitely give this book a read. As a result of reading this I have started using Ease Magnesium spray to help me sleep and it’s brilliant. It doesn’t tingle like some other magnesium sprays do.

Ease Magnesium Spray

I am also part of the way through The Epigenetics Revolution by Nessa Carey, which is brilliant. Read it if you keep hearing about ‘methylation’ and want to understand more!

The Epigenetics Revolution

Podcasts

If you want to have your mind blown then listen to this podcast with Robb Wolf and Ryan Frisinger where they talk health restoration, genetics, and methylation.

 

Chris Kresser’s podcast on Cancer & Ketogenic Diets is also interesting.

Chris Kresser Podcast

 

New Dates for Paleo Cookery Courses 

Paleo Cookery Class

We have added some new dates for our paleo cookery classes:

  • Saturday 19th August 10am-4pm
  • Tuesday 19th September 10am-4pm
  • Saturday 14th October 2017: 10am – 4pm
  • Saturday 11th November 2017: 10am – 4pm
  • Saturday 13th January 2018: 10 – 4pm

 

Please email us – hello@paleo-britain.co.uk – if you would like to book a space.

 

Lucy and I have been working on getting the content from our 8 Week Life Makeover Course into an online format. Inside the online course there will be loads of content including weekly meal plans and delicious recipes to take you right through the course.

Screen Shot 2017-06-25 at 16.17.27

There are also lots of other resources such as our 28 Day Challenge to Better Sleep and our Chemical Free Home guide.

Screen Shot 2017-06-25 at 18.01.10

Screen Shot 2017-06-26 at 05.59.43

Keep an eye out for the release of this course if you are interested in optimising all areas of your health!

 

And finally…a rant…

Vegans keep posting on my instagram with comments like “animals are injected with vitamin B12 which is the only reason meat contains B12”.

 

B12 is actually synthesised by the bacteria in the guts of runimant animals and transported from their guts to their liver and then to the rest of the body. Some animals are supplemented with B12, but it is vegan propaganda to imply that the only reason meat is a source of B12 is that animals are being injected with B12.

 

Chris Kresser recently recorded a podcast on the dangers of B12 deficiency and how under-diagnosed it is: Why B12 Deficiency Is Significantly Underdiagnosed

 

If anyone you know is annoying you with comments about veganism being the healthiest diet or other such things – please direct them to my blog post The Vegan Myth. After they have read it maybe they will then be able to argue in a more educated way!

 

Further Reading

 

Disclaimer: Paleo Britain is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk. Buying through our affiliate links does not cost you anything but helps us keep this website up and running. Thank you!

All information provided within this blog post is for informational purposes only, and is not to be construed as medical advice or instruction. Please consult your GP or a qualified health professional on any matters regarding your health and wellbeing or on any opinions expressed within this blog post. The information provided in this blog post is believed to be accurate based on the best judgment of the author. However, you as the reader must be responsible for consulting with your own GP or other health professional on matters raised within. Paleo Britain will not accept responsibility for the actions or consequential results of any action taken by any reader.

The material in this blog post may include information, products or services by third parties. Third Party Materials comprise of the products and opinions expressed by their owners. As such, Paleo Britain does not assume responsibility or liability for any Third Party material or opinions. The publication of such Third Party Materials does not constitute our guarantee of any information, instruction, opinion, products or services contained within the Third Party Material. Publication of such Third Party Material is simply a recommendation and an expression of our own opinion of that material.