What is the Difference Between Cage-Free and Free Range Eggs?

Know your egg labels! What exactly is the difference between cage-free and free-range eggs?

Well, honestly not much. These are just labeling terms that the food industry has been using to make their product seem superior to another. The best eggs you can buy are probably pasture raised eggs.

Eggs are a staple here in most people's homes today with approximately 250 eaten by the average American every year. The sad part for me is that I do not get to eat them that often. When I do, I have become a massive label reader. The problem is that labels are massively deceiving in what the say about how the chicken was raised.

This was a lesson that I had to relearn a few weeks ago. I have been buying organic “cage-free” and "free-range" eggs from whole foods for a couple of years, feeding them to Erin and the kids on a daily basis.  I knew that cage-free wasn't caged free, but I thought that free range was a great equivalent to pastured at a lower price point. 

Then I picked up some pasture...

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Paleo Reeces Cups

Back on Valentines Day, I posted a paleo fudge; I thought I would make a play on that by making a paleo Reece's Cup. I am not usually a huge fan of these paleo treats because sugar is sugar, but on special occasions are justifiable reasons to “cheat."

Well, yesterday Erin finally told her corporate job that she would be leaving to work full time in her own business. It was a massive weight off of her shoulders, and she was visibly calmer and more relaxed. I couldn’t have been prouder of her; she is finally living her dream.

If you want to check out her webpage and podcast, they are both incredible sources of information if you want to start or run your own business.

So, I felt we needed to celebrate last night. We made filets with haricot verts in creme fraiche, mustard and chives mixture. We had been debating if we could make a paleo Reece's cup from the fudge recipe, and I thought that this occasion deserved an attempt at them.

These were amazing. The only thing that I will chang...

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Slow Cooker Mango Curry Beef

This ended up being one of those great set it and forget it crock pot meals.  I started it on a Sunday morning when everything was going crazy with the kids, Erin and I running around with tons of errands and work to do that day.  I diced and sliced everything seared it off and turned on the pot and didn't think about it again till 5:30 when the kids were hungry.  That was incredible!   This was that simple of a meal.  The Mango Curry Beef had a great flavor.  It will work great on a weekday, just set it up before you go to work and it'll be ready when you get home! Hope you all enjoy this Mango Curry Beef.

  • 3.5 lb chuck roast 
  • 2 pounds of carrots chopped

  • 2 mangos Diced
  • 2 cans coconut milk
  • 3 tablespoons red curry powder or 1 jar of red curry paste
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric
  • 2 tablespoons salt
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  1. If using the curry powder, rub 1/2 of the roast the night before and refrigerate overnight. 
  2. Melt the coconut oil in a heavy bottomed skillet and sear the ro
  3. ...
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Paleo Blueberry Scone

Okay, so I have to admit blueberry scones are one of my non-paleo weaknesses. I have struggled with finding a paleo blueberry scone recipe that I like or even sounded somewhat appetizing. 

This was the first that sounded good, healthy and most importantly easy. I made these with run of the mill maple syrup, but I can’t wait to try these with the (literally) homemade syrup that Erin brought from Wisconsin the last time she was there. These Paleo blueberry scones might just become a morning staple around my house, especially on those crazy mornings that seem to be happening more often these days. They can be made at the beginning of the week and used as breakfast or snacks. Hope you enjoy these as much as I did.

  • 2 cups Cashews
  • 3/4 cup Arrowroot
  • 1/2 cup Flax Seed Meal
  • Pinch of Salt
  • 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
  • 1 1/2 cup Fresh Blueberries
  • 1/2 cup Coconut Oil
  • 3 tablespoons Maple Syrup
  • 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
  • 1 Egg
  1. Preheat oven to 375 F. 
  2. Line a 9” pie pan with pa
  3. ...
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Curried Short Ribs

 I love short ribs! These curried short ribs were amazing.  They are particularly surprising when you cook them low and slow.  This was an interesting combination of herbs and spices that I threw together one morning.  A patient of mine had made some lamb stock that added a great texture and a slight hint of lamb to the dish.  The fish sauce may have been a bit over

The fish sauce may have been a bit of umani overkill, but I liked it.  This was simple and straight forward, and it had a great mix of flavors and textures.  The best part about this meal and slow cookers, in general, is that they are set it and forget it, basically start it when you leave for work and pull it off when you walk in the door.  Hopefully, you find this one amazing, and it makes your meals a little easier.

  • 2.5 lbs beef short ribs grass fed
  • 2 tbs. coconut oil
  • 3 tbs. tandoori curry
  • 1 tbs. Salt 1 cup lamb stock
  • 1 tbs. Red Curry Powder
  • 1 Star Anise
  • 3 tsp. Fish Sauce
  • 2 tsp. Cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. Cayenn
  • ...
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Friday Feast - Lamb Shoulder Steak and Beet Salad

I love lamb; it is one of the few proteins that almost have to be raised naturally. The flavor is amazing it has great fats. I only knew of lamb roasts, legs or racks of lamb to cook. I honestly was a bit shocked that such flavorful steaks could be cut out of the lamb shoulder. The lamb shoulder steak recipe turned out so well I am going to have to do a few more lamb recipes this summer on the grill. The beet recipe is one of our favorite recipes ever. We stumbled across this particular beet salad on one of our trips to Sonoma at the Dry Creek General Store. We got it for a picnic lunch, loved it so much that we went back every day we were in wine country to get this salad for lunch.

  • 3 lbs. Lamb Shoulder Steaks
  • 1 tbs. Oregano
  • 2 tbs. Basil
  • 2 tbs. Rosemary
  • 1 tbs. Garlic
  • 1 tbs. Tarragon
  • 1 tbs. Salt
  • 1 tbs. Pepper
  • ½ tbs. White Pepper
  • 1 cup Olive Oil
  • 2 lbs. Beets
  • 1 cup Feta Cheese
  • 2 tbs. distilled white vinegar
  • 2 tbs. chives
  1. Combine all the ingredients for t
  2. ...
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Are Green Drinks Healthy?

I get asked all of the time are my green drinks healthy? This is becoming one of the more frustrating questions that I get asked in the office.

People falsely believe that these drinks are healthy. The theory sounds great, run a bunch of the things that we do not eat enough of through a juicer and is supposed to be healthy for us.

A concentrated version of the things we do not want to eat and we do not have to actually chew or work to eat our food. Plus, it fits perfectly into a little cup that you can take with you.

All this sounds great for our modern fast moving lives. Sadly, there are several problems with these highly concentrated drinks.

First, there are way too many ingredients in these drinks. They tend to concentrate the vitamins and minerals from the fruits and vegetables.

This concentration leads to a problem, you will usually have to juice or blend significantly more than you would ever sit down and eat in order to feel like you have eaten anything. Because of this you...

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Paleo Honey Chicken

This is a really simple and great paleo honey chicken recipe that the whole family will love.  Just whip the main ingredients, pour it over your chicken and bake.

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 - 2 lbs boneless chicken breasts
  • 2 tbsp. melted butter
  • 3 tbsp. coconut aminos
  • 1 tsp. sesame oil
  • 5 tbsp. honey
  • 4 tbsp. minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Line an 8x8 inch pan with tin foil.  Be sure to only use an 8X8 because you don't want the mixture to be too thin.  You really want it baking around the chicken.  See the picture below on how to line the pan, so you're also capturing all the juices (and making clean-up way easier).

2. Whisk all of the ingredients, except the chicken together until mixed well.

3. Place the chicken on the tin foil, and pour the mixture over the chicken.

4. Bake the chicken, uncovered, for approximately 35-40 minutes, until cooked through.  If your chicken is browning too quic...

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Wagyu Coulotte and Grilled Asparagus

The coulotte is a phenomenal cut of meat that many people have never heard of or seen at their local grocery store. The culotte is the cap of the top sirloin. This is honestly one of the most versatile steaks there is to cook. The coulotte is great grilled, pan-fried or braised.

Some chefs recommend marinating, but in my opinion, it has excellent steak flavor. All you need to do is salt, pepper, and grill this amazingly flavorful cut of meat.

In today's, Friday feast we are going to use a culotte. I went to my friends over at Local Yocal to get the meat for our family. If you live in Dallas, you do need to make the trip up to McKinney for one of their Steak 101 classes.

The great thing about them is that they are hyper-local farm to consumer concept. The owners are also the ranchers of the grass-fed beef, and they carry All Natural Wagyu and Angus beef. While the Wagyu is not grass feed, it is raised as naturally as possible and not in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation or feedlo...

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Spinalis and Grilled Brussels Sprouts

Local Yocal is a fantastic butcher shop in McKinney Texas.  They have a great philosophy.  If you live in the Dallas area, you have to make a trip up to McKinney for a Steak 101 class. 

One of the cool things about any specialty butcher shop they can and serve some of the unique cuts of meat that you don’t normally get from your local supermarket. 

At Local Yocal you can pick up unusual cuts like the spinalis or the McKinney (Las Vegas) steak along with your usual favorite cuts. The spinalis muscle is the “cap” to the rib eye, and if you haven’t had it, you are missing out. 

This can also be called a Coulotte in France, but that isn’t correct. They are the same but from a different section of the cow.  In my opinion, the spinalis is more marbled and more tender than its calotte sister.

You probably don’t realize it, but you have had this cut, but it was part of the rib eye.  When you are looking at your typical ribeye, this is the part of the steak that is outside of the fat vein t...

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