My First Recipe Post!!!

My first recipe post and I couldn't be more excited. This recipe is quick, easy, and delicious! Definitely for the meat lover, but any of those following a more paleo style meal plan will agree that the more meat the better!


Jeff's Protein Packed Meatloaf
-1 pound grass fed beef
-1 pound organic pork sausage
-1 package organic bacon
-2 white onion, diced
-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-3 whole eggs, free range & local!
-1/4 cup fresh parsley
-1/3 cup organic raw shredded coconut
-2 tablespoons flax oil
-seasoning to taste ( I used a dash of sea salt, fresh ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, and cumin)


Pre-heat your oven to 400 and prep your bacon in a baking dish of your choice. I used a metal bread pan, but you can use anything really. I laid the bacon in overlapping strips, but it could be done in any number of different styles. Pick the one you like best and roll. To be fair you could skip the bacon bed, or simply dice that up and add it to the mix. I chose to wrap the meat in bacon to help lock in the flavor and keep it as moist as possible. Next combine all your ingredients in a large mixing bowl, making sure to incorporate them thoroughly. You could whisk the eggs in a separate bowl first but I like adding them in whole and working the mix with my hands. When you're ready move your mix into the baking dish and finish wrapping the bacon. Bake for 45 minutes and then let set. When cooled sufficiently plate and cut or just dig in. This took me approximately 10 minutes to prep everything, and then I just had to wait while it baked. Super easy and a great way to have some ready to go protein when needed. The other great part is you can mix and match ingredients however you like. You could use beef, turkey, chicken, pork, lamb, etc... for your meat choice, and add or subtract the other fillers. I made this tonight, and it was the bomb! The coconut adds a slight hint of sweetness and gets you some extra quality fat. Let me know what you all think out there, and feel free to send me some of your own recipe's that you think others would enjoy. Peace!





Getting ready for the oven...




Finished product. Mmm..Mmm..Good!!!

"Health Care"

I just finished reading an excellent article from the washington post regarding health care and electronic records. What struck me as important and disconcerting was that no mention was made of this savior like technology that will save the medical INDUSTRY billions of dollars a year. How can the government and tax payers invest and subsidize yet another program without even know the who, what, where, when, and how on all of this. A simple solution would be to get back to doctors working directly with patients toward a common goal...Getting Healthy! This was however a great article on the Washington way of doing business. The $787 billion emergency, can't do without, necessary at all cost "stimulus" will actually be using a large chunk for this far off in the distance god send to the medical world technology. Through the back door again we are finding more and more of these pet projects being thrown in so the bureaucrats can feel better about themselves and push an agenda. Don't be fooled here though, we've got huge conglomerates involved as well. Using old school business tactics to make it appear as they are really holding our best interest near to their hearts, while at the same time making an obscene amount of money from this paradigm shift in medical technology. I have no issues with a business being profitable and gaining market share, just don't try to convince me that this is secondary to solving REAL health issues. The following are some highlights from the article. Enjoy.

"Such an approach would rely on unprecedented data-mining into medical records and the practices of doctors, a kind of surveillance that also would enable insurers to cut costs by controlling more precisely the care that patients receive." -Can you say invasion of privacy? data-mining? This is scary talk, and not just for conspiracy theorists, but for anyone who believes in civil liberties and a right to privacy. What goes on between me and my doctor should stay between me and my doctor!! What do the insurance companies know about practicing medicine?

"Many groups have been involved in the push for health information technology, including physician groups. At the center of those efforts is the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society. Started a half-century ago, it represents 350 companies and about 20,000 members. Corporate members include government contractors such as Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, health-care technology giants such as McKesson, Ingenix and GE Healthcare, and drug industry leaders, including the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America...

"HIMSS has a very effective grass roots advocacy program that reaches all levels of government," Dave Roberts, a senior executive, said in the group's literature...

For a decade, the group has pressed Congress and other government officials to mandate and subsidize the adoption of health records technology." -So this professional society that is most adament about the change just happens to be made of companies and people that will benefit the most? Not that it's new or groundbreaking, but still should be noted. Look at the verb-age used here, "program that reaches all levels of government." That reads lobbyists and pay-offs at all levels of government to me. And then look at a classic washington maneuver at the end with mandating and subsidize, so they want to make everyone participate whether they like it or not and then tax the american people to pay for it. We do need serious change in the medical industry, but this is not it! Technology and practices that would be involved on this basis would make healthcare even more cold and inhumane than it already is. Can we please get back to human interaction and real caring about our fellow man? Money can still be made, and everyone would sleep better at night.

Thoughts and comments please.

Who care's about life?!?

That is the feeling that I get when speaking with most people. Why should I eat organic food? It's not really any different, is it? Why wouldn't I keep eating grains, that's what the FDA recommends? Why should I exercise? It's tough and I'll miss american idol. This isn't too far off from what I hear a lot of the time when speaking with people about their health. Most Americans truly feel that health isn't important, or can take a back seat to everything else. The truth of the matter is, if you don't start eating right and moving you will not live to regret it! If we as a people can get out of the mindset that there is a quick fix or some pill that is the panacea for all health problems we'll be much better off. If you don't have your health you can't enjoy everything else that you have put on top of your priority list. Take a step back and think about your life if you had diabetes, cancer, chronic inflammation, heart disease, etc... and then decide how important your health is to you. Don't wait until it's too late to make a step towards a healthy lifestyle. Thoughts, comments, or questions are welcome.

Get Some Sun!!

I've known for awhile now that vitamin D is important for overall health and longevity. Most physicians recommend taking around 800 I.U. per day in lieu of sun exposure. When the sun is out I try to get at least 10 minutes or more of exposure to up my levels. Vitamin D is very helpful in the body for a number of things, but is mainly known for it's help in maintaining our organ systems. But it turns out that it's even more important than we thought. Check out this article I found on sciencedaily.com for more info. The study discussed was on ill patients in a hospital setting, but I think this could be applied to anyone feeling a bit sick. This part of the article really stood out to me, "When the team correlated the Vitamin D levels with a disease severity score, there was a direct correspondence between sickness and Vitamin D deficiency. In other words, the sicker someone was, the lower the levels of Vitamin D. Out of the 42 patients studied, there were 3 deaths. The 3 patients who died all had the lowest level of Vitamin D in the cohort." Thoughts?

The Body is Stupid?

That's what I feel like many scientists think when I read stories like THIS. These researchers are working hard to block normal functions in the body all in the name of health. So called "bad" cholesterol is once again taking center stage. LDL and HDL are both lipoproteins in the body, one being low density and the other high density. They both transport fatty acids and distribute them throughout the body, and both contain cholesterol. HDL is said to pick up cholesterol hanging out in arteries and transport them back to the liver for use or excretion. What's interesting is that LDL can become HDL, and vice versa, within the body. What burns me up is that most folks out there don't realize that both are just transporters for what THEY put in their body. Nevermind how much shit you eat, we've got to get rid of that nasty LDL inside. How do we do that? By putting more crap your body isn't meant to handle back in. This is mainly done in the form of statin drugs which have been shown to be quite hazardous for one's health as well. Statin is a "blocker" drug as well that inhibits natural functions in the body. This is absurd! The current medical INDUSTRY is out of control. They never look at real health and what is at the root of people's problems, but instead treat symptoms in the form of drugs, drugs, and more drugs. I'm sure that some of you have heard stories about people on an outrageous amounts of prescription drugs that suddenly get much better after stopping the intake of so much medication. Groundbreaking!!! Why not take a long hard look in the mirror and quit fooling ourselves. The human body is extremely complex and performs functions far beyond our grasp, so why not let it do it's job? My thinking is, if it decides to release a certain protein or hormone then isn't it doing that for a specific reason? Why try to stop that? When will people realize that putting more foreign substances into your body is just not healthy? It's like telling someone who just got shot that you need to shoot another bullet in there wound to rid your body of the other bullet. Stop trying to fool your body and pick up a fucking book!

Oh Soy!

Soy is flat out bad for you people. It can cause any number of problems in us, but not many people know. I urge you to check out this SITE for in depth information. This is especially important for people with kids, DO NOT FEED YOUR KIDS SOY FORMULA. Thoughts?

Passion

Today's blog is about goal setting. Why do we have goals and how do we achieve them? I've recently set some new goals for myself and have begun the process of working toward them. This may entail me going back to school for another degree, or hitting the streets and getting my hustle on. Either way I know this is what I was meant to do. My goal has a lot to do with my passion in life and how I want to give back and help others. Many times before I would set small little superficial goals involving my vanity, or some kind of monetary triviality. In the end, what does a certain amount of money or percentage of body fat really bring you? Too often we set goals that don't sit high up on our value scale. Why would you try to achieve something that doesn't even matter to you. If you value love very highly, then why put it to the side as you try to hit a certain number in your 401k for retirement? Re-evaluation and a look deep inside should tell you what you value, and this is what you must work toward. If our current economic crisis has taught us anything it's that our lives are actually quite short and should not be wasted. I wish you all the luck in the world with whatever it is you are working towards, and I hope that it is something that you will truly value for a lifetime! Be well my friends.