We’re back! Yeah, I know it’s been over two months since our last podcast, but we think you’ll really dig this hour-long episode packed with juicy details about my favorite Hawaiian-inspired summer dish, our exciting new Ready or Not! cookbook, volunteering with the family at the food bank, and my favorite green powder: Matcha! Download the episode and take us along with you on your next road trip, mountain hike, or traffic-packed slog to work!

For complete show notes, links, and recommendations, go to our podcast archive and read all about Episode 19.

Please visit our sponsor, Thrive Market—if you’re a new user, you can get 25% off your entire purchase and free shipping on your order!

At long last, our whole family is back with Season 2 of our podcast!

Did you miss us? It’s been over a year(!) since we last released an episode of our podcast—and one of our voices now is unrecognizable! But we’ll try to make it up to you with this catch-up episode that’s crammed wall-to-wall with all our totally reasonable excuses for being radio silent.

In this episode, we go over the trials and tribulations of developing a new recipe, Wonton Meatballs. Who knew that a seemingly innocuous ingredient would cause me so much agita? Also, we talk about everything that went down between episodes of our podcast—namely, our brand-spankin’ new cookbook, a wall calendar, a complete blog revamp, and moving to another state. Last but not least, I share two crushes of the week!

For complete show notes, links, and recommendations, go to our podcast archive and read all about Episode 18.

Please visit our sponsor, Thrive Market—if you’re a new user, you can get 25% off your entire purchase and free shipping on your order!

Did you miss the sound of our voices? We’re sorry that it’s been more than a month(!) since we last release an episode of our podcast—it’s been a bit crazy around these parts. But we’ll try to make up for our tardiness by presenting an extra-long episode that’s packed with juicy details about our bucket-list trip to Vietnam. Sound good?

This episode is all about a whirlwind trip that Henry and I took to Vietnam together with a small group of awesome chefs and food writers. We traveled to Saigon and Phú Quốc Island to learn firsthand about Vietnamese cuisine and to visit the home of Red Boat Fish Sauce, where we got an up-close look at how my favorite fish sauce is made. We’ll also talk about our year-end crushes, tips for pantry prep in the New Year, and fill you in on the newest update to our Webby Award winning app.

So if you’re sick of the cold and ready to be transported to Vietnam for a spell, stick with us for a very special Viet-nomtastic episode!

For complete show notes, links, and recommendations, go to our podcast archive and read about Episode 17.

Please visit our sponsor, Thrive Market, for 2 months free membership and 20% off your first order!

We’re ba-aack! In this episode, our family chats about our favorite autumn produce, my time as a headmaster at Camp Nerd Fitness, our crushes of the week, and we answer a reader’s question about how to handle snack time at a non-Paleo preschool.

For complete show notes, links, and recommendations, go to our podcast archive and read about Episode 16. That’s right—no need to take note, my fellow nerds!

Please visit our sponsor, Thrive Market, for 2 months free membership and 20% off your first order!

Have you missed listening to our voices? At long last, we’ve got another podcast episode for you!  In this episode, we’re departing from our usual format. Rather than sharing our crushes of the week or what we ate, this episode is all about YOU. Or more specifically, it’s all about answering your burning questions. Recently, on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, I put out a call for questions from listeners of this podcast, and the floodgates opened.

Given the volume of questions, we did two things:

• We focused mostly on the food, cooking, and family questions. I got a ton of questions about health and weight loss, but despite my nutrition background, I’m not a medical expert by any means. And besides, the focus of my blog, podcast, and book is Paleo cooking rather than Paleo science.

• We answer these questions in rapid fire succession, ’cause to be honest, we don’t have time or patience for a three-hour episode. Instead, we’re going to tackle 20 questions for today, in rapid-fire speed.

Ready for a whirlwind Q and A session? Here we go!

For complete show notes, links, and recommendations, go to our podcast archive and read about Episode 15.

Please visit our sponsor, Thrive Market, for 2 months free membership and 20% off your first order!

I’m an adventurous cook in my own kitchen, and I know my way around all the wacky gadgets I stockpile to make cooking easier—from electric pressure cookers to sous vide water ovens and even my handy-dandy blowtorch.

But strangely enough, the one cooking method that’s always struck fear in my heart is grilling food over coals. There was always something intimidating about making a fire and cooking outdoors—something that felt uncontrolled and wild. Whenever we grilled, it was always Henry’s job to do it.

Well, that was the case until I spent the weekend at a women’s only meat camp at Belcampo Farm. Yes, you heard that right: MEAT. CAMP.

What is this magical retreat I speak of? Well, listen in as I tell you all about the stuff I learned: including how to build my own fire, butcher small animals, and grill like a champ. ’Cause really: what’s more Paleo than throwing raw meat on an open flame? Plus, we chat about potatoes, soffritto, cancer risk of grilled meat, and packed lunches!

For complete show notes, links, and recommendations, go to our podcast archive and read about Episode 14.

Please visit our sponsor, Thrive Market, for 2 months free membership and 20% off your first order!

Natural disasters can strike at any time, so don’t just cross your fingers and bury your head in the sand. Of course, we should all hope for the best, but we also need to prepare for the worst—I’m talking about fires, floods, earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes—even Lil-O’s dreaded H.F.O.Z.s (a.k.a. House Full of Zombies)!

If the point of Paleo is to optimize health, we’re not doing ourselves any favors if we’re caught in an emergency without food, water, and basic tools for survival. To be perfectly blunt, you can’t thrive if you’re not alive. So listen up as we teach you how to put together a Paleo-friendly emergency preparedness kit. Also, you won’t want to miss our rundown of our recent trip up to Portland for Chef Gregory Gourdet’s super-insane 40th birthday party!

For complete show notes, links, and recommendations, go to our podcast archive and read about Episode 13.

Please visit our sponsor, Thrive Market, for 2 months free membership and 20% off your first order!

Is the term “Paleo dessert” an oxymoron? Are grain-free sweets the devil? Or are they a healthy bridge that helps people transition to a whole foods lifestyle? In this episode, we’ll dive head-first into this controversial subject, and decide together whether we should all just stuff our faces with grain-free cake!

For complete show notes, links, and recommendations, go to our podcast archive and read about Episode 12.

Please visit our sponsor, Thrive Market, for 2 months free membership and 20% off your first order!

I love big butts and I cannot lie. Specifically, I love pork butts—also known as pork butt roast, Boston shoulder, or Boston Butt. Why is this my favorite cut of pork? ‘Cause it’s inexpensive, flavorful, super versatile, and tough to mess up. Besides: despite its name, it’s not the part of the animal you’re thinking of. Ready to learn more about butts? Then listen in as I list the many ways butts reign supreme!

If I have to pick a favorite cut of meat to cook at home, I will always choose a big pork butt roast. In the main course of this podcast, we’ll chat about why I love this cut, how it got its wacky, butt-tastic name, how to find it, and how to cook it. Also, Henry will share his favorite eats from his business trip to Dublin, Ireland and the kiddos chat about their crushes of the week!

For complete show notes, links, and recommendations, go to our podcast archive and read about Episode 11.

Please visit our sponsor, Thrive Market, for 2 months free membership and 20% off your first order!

Stocking up your kitchen for the very first time? Or maybe you’re just sick and tired of your cruddy old culinary tools, like that plastic spatula with that melted front edge. It’s time to level up! Having the right cooking implements on hand can mean the difference between having dinner ready in a flash and being frustrated and defeated in the kitchen. In this episode we’ll tell you all about our favorite tools. And don’t worry—we won’t recommend anything crazy expensive, or any one-trick ponies that’ll clutter your countertops. We won’t even suggest any items that require electricity. Listen in and we’ll let you know which kitchen tools we can’t live without!

For complete show notes, links, and recommendations, go to our podcast archive and read about Episode 10.

Please visit our sponsor, Thrive Market, for 2 months free membership and 20% off your first order!

Episode 9: The Perfect Steak

A great way to impress a dinner guest—or treat the dad in your life for Father’s Day!—is with a perfectly cooked steak. Still, a high quality steak can be expensive to purchase, so the last thing you’ll want to do is mess it up during the cooking process. But don’t worry: I’ll teach you how to cook the perfect steak! I’ll go over the best cuts to buy and the foolproof cooking methods you’ll need to know to sear your beef the right way. Ready to tackle the perfect steak?

Show Notes & Links for Episode 9:

What We Ate:

We just spent a week in Maui, and savored tons of tasty bites while chilling out on vacation. Our family heads to Maui about once a year ’cause we were suckered into buying a timeshare many moons ago, when my resolve was weakened by an mind-altering affliction called pregnancy. (But to be honest, we haven’t regretted it!)

As usual, we visited our favorite restaurants and hunted for new culinary finds while we were on the island, but my favorite bite of the week was on our final morning on Maui, when we cut up a sweet, aromatic, shockingly yellow organic pineapple that I’d plucked straight from the fields at Kumu Farms the day before.

On this episode of our podcast, Henry and I chat about our Maui eats, and share details about our fantastic farm-to-face dinner at The Mill House, a new restaurant located right in the middle of the same plantation where I harvested my ripe, sunshine-yellow pineapple. Chef Jeff Scheer makes it a point to source virtually all of his ingredients straight from the organic farms on-site. Henry’s favorite dish of the night was the umami-packed Dashi Cioppino, and I can’t forget the Lilokoi Posset, a chilled dessert made with thickened cream flavored with tangy passionfruit, or the grilled Mahi Mahi with corn puree, blue oyster mushrooms, and piperade. (Okay, okay—calm down. Corn may not be Paleo, but I will always make an exception for organic local corn grown just a few feet from the kitchen.)

• To peek at some of my Maui eats, check out my Instagram feed and the hashtag I used to organize my island photos, #NomNomMaui. Want to check out the neon yellow pineapple that I picked myself? Check out this pic—and this one, too.
• If you happen to find yourself on Maui, get yourself over to Maui Tropical Plantation so you can visit Kumu Farms, fly across a zipline, and dine at The Mill House. (Preferably in that order.) The official Grand Opening of the restaurant is July 3, 2015, but Chef Jeff Scheer and his team already have their ducks in a row, and are serving diners now, during The Mill House’s soft launch. By the way, not only is Jeff the Chef (I’m a poet and didn’t even know it!) Maui’s Chef of the Year for 2015, I think he also looks strikingly like Bradley Cooper.
• And for those of you clucking with disapproval because you spy some beans or corn in my photos from Maui, listen up: when I’m on vacation, I don’t eat 100% Paleo. You can learn more about how I travel while Paleo in Episode 7 of our podcast, but in short, it’s not much of a vacation if I’m freaking out over everything I’m eating. After all, stress management is an important part of health and happiness, too—right?

Main Course:

In this episode, Henry and I focus on how to select and cook the perfect steak. This premium cut isn’t an everyday food; steak is an indulgence both because of the expense and the sheer primal joy that we derive from enjoying a seared, juicy cut of properly aged meat. The animal sacrificed its life so we could thrive, so it’s important that we take the care to cook it the right way. Unlike other cheaper cuts of meat (like brisket, short ribs, or oxtail) that are super forgiving with low and slow cooking methods, a premium steak really needs to be cooked properly to be delicious. We discuss the importance of sourcing 100% grass fed beef, where to buy it, and how to cook it—no matter if your method of choice is grilling, pan-searing, oven-roasting, or sous vide cooking.

• Does the thought of cooking and eating meat make you gag? Then go check out Podcast Episode 4: Viva Las Veggies!
• My favorite cut of steak is rib eye and my go-to cooking method is written up with step-by-step pictures in a blog post entitled, How To Make The Perfect Steak. (Really imaginative title, am I right?)
• My two favorite tomes devoted to meat cookery are The Cook’s Illustrated Meat Book and Bruce Aidells’s The Great Meat Cookbook (affiliate links).
• J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, who writes The Food Lab column and is the managing culinary director over at Serious Eats, posted three comprehensive steak posts that every serious home cook should read: The Food Lab’s Definitive Guide to Grilled Steak, The Food Lab’s Complete Guide to Pan-Seared Steak, and The Food Lab’s Complete Guide to Sous-Vide Steak.
• If you’re a visual learner, Bruce Aidells, a.k.a. America’s Meat Guru, has an online course on Craftsy that’s all about cooking the perfect steak.
• By the way, the myth that grass fed steaks doesn’t taste as good as grain-fed steaks has been debunked. Don’t believe me? Check out these blind taste test results from America’s Test Kitchen and The Great Steak Debate.
• Find a local rancher near you by checking out Eat Wild’s website. In the San Francisco Bay Area, you can buy high quality cuts of meat at Belcampo Meat Co., Brandon Natural Beef, Marin Sun Farms, and Good Eggs. You can also have meat shipped to you from US Wellness Meats (affiliate link), TX Bar Organics, and Tendergrass Farms.
• My best farmer friend, Diana Rodgers, points out that pound-for pound, grass fed beef is cheaper and far more nutrient dense than a Snickers bar in this enlightening post.

Crush of the Week:

The kids talk about how Snuba, a hybrid of scuba and snorkeling, trumps eating shave ice and watching television. By strapping on some Snuba gear and exploring the reef just off the beach near our place on Maui, the four of us were able to get up close and personal with sea turtles, eels, and tons of exotic fish. The boys have already requested another Snuba session on our next visit to the island.

Question of the Week:

 Sarah, one of our listeners, asked me this question via email:

I’m new to Paleo and the Whole30 (1 week)…so far so good.  Since we cook with so much raw meat, I would appreciate if you would do a refresher course on food handling safety (for my husband because he does most of the cooking.) 

In my opinion, the only thing worse than overcooking an expensive piece of meat is to get sick from it.

When it comes to handling raw meat, keep these basic food safety tips in mind:

1. Avoid cross contamination!  Use a special cutting board and knife for your raw meat, and don’t use those same tools to cut veggies for a raw salad. I set aside a small ramekin to hold salt and pepper that I use to season my raw meat, ’cause if you just pour salt out of a container, your meat-juice-covered hands will muck up the box and spread the stuff around. Also, don’t place your cooked steak back on the same plate you used to marinated raw meat, and don’t reuse the marinade if you just soaked some uncooked meat in it. If you want to reserve some marinade, do so BEFORE you put raw meat in it.
2. Know where your meat comes from and the likelihood that safe handling practices were used in raising the meat.
3. It goes without saying, but I’m going to say it anyway: after handling raw meat, wash your hands with soap and water, people. Don’t just wipe your grody paws on a kitchen rag like they do on TV.  Also, wash all the stuff that touches raw meat with hot, soapy water.

Now if I haven’t completely grossed you out: go forth and make a steak!