Kelly Trepp, Author

This is going to be a quick post, but I'm going to write it from atop my soap box. **ahem** Can everybody hear me down there? Okay, good... Despite the fact that I've been living the Paleo lifestyle for just under a year now, I still get all the questions of why, and the accusations of being on a diet. First of all, I'm proud of my hard work and find it insulting to be told I am on a diet. Child please!  Second, why wouldn't I live a lifestyle that makes me feel great, perform better, and improve my blood work? I suppose better than answering their questions, I could pose the same question to them: Why do you eat the way you do? Why do you eat processed foods high in sodium and preservatives? Why do you eat genetically modified organisms (GMOs)? Why do you drink liquid filled with high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and calories? Why do you poison your body on a regular basis and inch closer towards modern, degenerative diseases which have been linked to your di...

Okay folks, here it is. The moment you've all been waiting for... ...it's recipe time! Over the weekend I was experimenting with some new flavors. I have been trying to eat less red meat and more chicken and seafood to keep my triglycerides under control (I've determined red meat, egg yolks, and stress are the culprit of my higher-than-I-would-like triglycerides). But when you're accustomed to eating bacon every day, chicken is boring. There. I said it. Live chickens would be much more fun, but I still haven't gotten hubby on board with letting me have a chicken coop in the backyard. Not sure how the neighbors or the HOA would feel about that either... but I digress... I promise it tastes better than it looks. Sweet Potato Linguine Topped with Grilled Chicken Smothered in Sage and Mushroom Sauce (A working title) Serves 4, or 2 with leftovers for lunch Ingredients: 1 large Sweet Potato (or 2 medium), cleaned and peeled 4 tbsp organic Butter...

A Fish Fry is a meal which typically consists of a battered or breaded fish, french fries, coleslaw, hush puppies and dessert. Seeing as how I haven't tried any paleo hush puppy recipes yet (although now I'm determined to find one), my Sunday Fish Fry consisted of only the fish and fries with a side of sugar snap peas! Aw, snap! The Fried Fish recipe is fairly similar to my fried chicken recipe , but with a few tweaks. Fried Fish Serves 4 Ingredients: 1 pound cold water, wild caught fish (In this instance, I used Flounder) 1.5 cups of Blanched Almond Flour 2 tbsp Ground Lemon Pepper 2 tsp Paprika 2 tsp Parsley Flakes 1 tsp Garlic Powder 1 tsp Cayenne Pepper 1 tsp Iodized Sea Salt 1 Egg Coconut Oil for frying Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk the egg in a separate bowl. Melt coconut oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan). Dip the fish fillet in the egg, coating the fish. Lay the fish in...

It can be difficult to prepare meals during the week. I get that. Working full time, going to the gym daily, and trying to eat cleanly is something you have to be dedicated to and make time for ( yes, make time for; I'm sure you can find it somewhere ), but it doesn't have to be a chore. What follows is a recipe that I have modified to make an easy meal that can be quickly whipped together during the week (with ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen) with enough leftovers to take to lunch the next day: cabbage "lo mein" prepared two ways. Shrimp Lo Mein Cabbage "Lo Mein" - 2 Ways Ingredients: 4 Tsp Toasted Sesame Oil 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic 1 Tbsp Minced Ginger 2 lbs Chicken, Cubed (Or Shrimp) 2 Cups Broccoli (Or Sugar Snap Peas) 1/4 Cup Celery, Chopped 1/2 Cup Mushrooms, Sliced 2 Cups Shredded Cabbage 1/3 Cup Green Onion, Chopped 1/4 Cup Coconut Aminos Variations: Chicken Lo Mein This recipe has been adapted from  Make it...

In the age of lightning-fast internet, social media, and 24-hour news networks, it's easy to get the story wrong. The infamous quote, "Be the change you wish to see in the world," has been attributed to Gandhi, time and again. But a New York Time's article tells us his words have been slightly tampered with. The closest quote follows:   If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ... We need not wait to see what others do. It is no secret that my husband and I have gone through substantial personal change and growth within the last year. I completed a half-marathon before kicking the running habit in favor of a new CrossFit bandwagon, which hubby gladly jumped on board, and we completely changed our diets in favor of a Paleolithic lifestyle for a 30-day challenge which has managed to stick around for the last six months. We've seen ph...

Alright. I've come out of hiding. By request. And by force. Lately, I've been hearing a lot of the question, "so what CAN you eat?!" Um... seriously? ANYTHING I WANT! ...but prepared differently. I said it. My hubby and I eat all the same foods those "regular" people eat, only we eat it grass-fed, free of antibiotics and growth hormones, and gluten/dairy free. Simple enough, right? Here are a couple simple recipes to prove how easy it is to create a comfort meal that won't cause you to feel completely guilty after you eat it. Fried Chicken - Paleo Style The Colonel's got nothing on this recipe! Ingredients: 1 cup Almond Flour Iodized Sea Salt Dried Parsley Garlic Powder Paprika Cayenne Pepper Ground Mustard Salt and Black Pepper Coconut Oil (For Pan Frying) 1 Egg 2 lbs of Cage-free, Grass-fed Chicken Breasts (sliced thin) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put a dollop of coconut oil in a frying pan on the stove at mediu...

Oh the deliciousness! I have an obsession with scallops. They're kind of my go-to seafood. They're super simple to cook, and quick too. You really cannot go wrong ordering them at a seafood restaurant because, really, how can you mess them up?! (Provided they're wild caught, of course) I don't have a picture of this recipe because it was way too delicious to let stand on the plate for a photo, but I guarantee you they look as delicious as they taste. Curried Scallop Kebabs 2 lbs Sea Scallops (Wild Caught) 1 Zucchini (sliced in 1/4-1/2 inch thick rounds) 1 Yellow Squash (sliced in 1/4-1/2 inch thick rounds) Dozen Grape Tomatoes (or more) 2 tsp Curry Powder 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger 1/2 tsp Ground Cumin 2 tbsp Olive Oil Skewer all the ingredients and brush with olive oil. Mix all the spices in a small bowl and sprinkle over the skewers. Grill those beauties until cooked (about 5 minutes per scallop side)! I let my scallops char up a little bit for some ex...

I think the reason I enjoy cooking on the weekends so much more than during the week is twofold: On the weekends, I have the focus and assistance of my favorite sous-chef, the hubster . He makes cooking complex meals a breeze, if he can keep up. I have so much more time on the weekends to focus on every aspect of the meal and I don't feel rushed to get it done. All in all, weekend cooking is just more enjoyable and less stressful. I get to experiment and discover new recipes. I find it therapeutic to have an involved baking or cooking session after a hard week at work, or in the gym. Hopefully that will all change since I started my new job this week. More on that later... It all starts with breakfast... Saturday's breakfast before heading to the gym needs to be filling, full of fiber, but nothing that will sit heavy in our stomachs while we motivate our butts to get in gear. Enter my new favorite item on our breakfast menu, my super special smoothie. Nom Nom Smoo...

Happy Summer Solstice! Today the sun will be at the highest point in the sky, we will experience the longest sunshine-filled day of the year, and we enter into the summer season. When it comes to cooking, there's no better way to represent summer than by grilling. Oh, how colorful! Grilling is one of the easiest ways to create a simple, summer supper -- Paleo style! So grab your skewers, any number of (organic) vegetables, and your cage-free chicken, and let's get grilling. These particular chicken kebabs feature onion, green and red bell peppers, squash, mushrooms and pineapple. Once the veggies are on the skewers, brush them with olive oil and sprinkle your spices. I use a blend of cumin, pepper and sea salt. We marinate our meats in homemade marinades to avoid any preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, or any other additives we find not delightful. These chicken breasts were marinated in freshly squeezed lime juice, garlic, and cilantro. Leave the s...

And like a phoenix, I rise from the ashes... or something like that. This blog is more similarly aligned with "Not Dead Fred" from Monty Python's Spamalot . If you're still around, thank you for not removing me from your blog roll during my extended absence from writing. It has been a busy month for me, and there are a lot of changes in my life. Mostly for the better, as far as I can see. I told you mid-May about my husband and I embarking on a paleolithic adventure . The 30-Day Paleo Challenge has ended at our gym, and proven to be much easier than we originally thought it would be. I did not win the challenge officially among the contestants in the gym (I got a little crazy at a wedding towards the end of the challenge and gave up my running for third), but both my husband and I consider ourselves winners in that we have discovered this new, amazing and healthy lifestyle of living. Shh... he's taking a nap because he is sleepy from eating wheat. Neve...

So I am obsessed with food. No surprise there. It nourishes the body. It comforts you when you feel low. It gives you the fuel you need to get through a long run or a tough workout. Food. Is. Awesome. As such, I figured I would show you a little of what I have been eating this week, the second week of the Paleo challenge, with a few recipes sprinkled in. Please remember, I am not a photographer. But I hope these photos make your mouth water anyway. I started my week with these beauties: Dairy Free Almond Flour Pancakes (with blueberries) Photo Credit to The Urban Poser These pancakes freeze and reheat later in the week marvelously, so prepare generous portions! Sunday evening's dinner left me with leftovers to reheat for lunch. Hubby prepared the stuffed peppers from the book Paleo Comfort Foods. Photo Credit to Paleo Comfort Foods I also sampled a crust-less quiche from the same book. Feel free to get creative with the vegetables you include. C...

So for a while, when I was planning our weekly meals, Wednesday became known as "Slow Cooker Wednesday" in our house. Since living a Paleo lifestyle is kind of a full time job and takes oober amounts of food prep (at least for me anyhow), I decided to bring Slow Cooker Wednesday back, Paleo style! Holy delicious pork loin! I don't have a picture because, well, I ate it already. My plate anyway. (The food that was on it, not the plate itself) And it's not amazingly attractive in the slow cooker itself. So, just, I don't know... use your imagination! I found the original recipe here . Sounds yummy, right? Too bad I really, really, really, was not in the mood for more tomato based foods. The meatballs we had earlier this week were delicious, but I did not want that acidity three days in a row. P.S. Those meatballs have some heat to them! Hubby made them earlier this week and I questioned his ability to follow the recipe, but apparently it really ca...

Monday starts the new challenge of kickin' it old school. 2 million years-ish old school to be more exact descriptive. I'm talking about the 30 day Paleo Challenge that just began at my CrossFit gym . "What is paleo," you might be wondering. The word Paleo is short for Paleolithic, as in the paleolithic era .Think cavemen. The Paleo diet is more than just a fad diet (it has to be, it's been around for more than 2 million years). It's a way of living. Man, as he has evolved today, has survived for millions of years ( I know, I know, I'm repeating myself, but seriously if it's been around this long it can't be bad ) on a diet of food items that can be hunted or gathered. Basically, if you can kill it, pick it off a tree or pick it up out of the ground, you can eat it. The video below does a pretty good job of describing what foods are Paleo friendly. Another part of the Paleo diet is exercise. Cavemen didn't run 26.2 miles a day ...