Local Gems - Sacramento Food Co-op

I LOVE the Sacramento Food Co-op! I feel like I am not only supporting my own health by shopping there (whenever I can), but also that I am helping support a local community business focused on providing healthy and sustainable foods and products for those living in their community. The Co-op begain in 1973 as a food purchasing group. They expanded a couple of times over the years, and now have a store conveniently located in downtown Sacramento. Their purpose:

"To be a trusted source of natural foods and products, and a reliable resource for consumer information."

They have a great selection of natural, organic and grass-fed foods and products. Which is great! They also have a bulk herb section and an essential oils section which supplies most all of the essential oils for any projects on my blog.

BUT, probably my favorite thing about the co-op is all the great classes they offer.  From gardening, to fermenting, to growing your own foods, the co-op, partnering with other great places like Soil Born Farms, offers classes and reasonable rates.  If you are an owner at the co-op, which is like being a member or different ;), you get a discount on most all classes as well.

"2001 marked the year that we first opened the doors to our Co-op Community Learning Center, adjacent to the Sacramento store and home to cooking classes, health seminars and a variety of owner meetings and special events. We are committed to serving our Co-op owners and supporting our community through consumer education, owner meetings and events, outreach activities and charitable programs and projects."

I highly recommend checking them out if you haven't already! :)

Fast Breakfast Mini Quiche

I am a fairly lazy person, and I love my sleep.  Eating paleo every morning can be time consuming if you don't plan ahead. Personally, I like to grab my food and go, so I was told about making these mini quiches using a muffin tin and they are great, easy, and quick to both make and take!

Now remember that we raise our own chickens for eggs and meat, so I am at least aware of where my eggs come from.  Most paleo folks will go on about the virtues of grass fed this or that, and all organic whatever's, but with 6 kids, I just simply couldn't afford all that.  Since they are moving on, and we will soon only have 2 living at home permanently, I may start paying more attention, but as it sits, I will leave the quality of the ingredients and where to procure them, up to you. :)

Generally I make my mini quiches with some type of meat such as bacon or sausage (I have used ham if there were leftovers, but that isn't my favorite), eggs, and then whatever veggies I have on hand that go well with eggs.


Here are the basic ingredients and directions:

• 12 eggs
• 8 Sausage Links (8 oz) (or equivalent breakfast meat of choice)
• 2 cups diced veggies
• for these I have used one or a combo of:: bell peppers, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, onions, and celery
• Coconut oil spray

Preheat oven to 350. Fully cook sausage according to package directions or preferred method and then cut into bite-sized pieces. Mix eggs with wisk or blender and then mix in diced vegetables. Spoon egg/veggie mixture into greased muffin pan and then (because I am anal) portion out equal portions of sausage per muffin tin.
Bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or until cooked through.
Makes approx 12


Here is a list of other recipes for inspiration:
Breakfast on the Go Sausage Egg Cups
Paleo Omelet Muffins
Savory Breakfast Muffins

Sugar Addiction

I LOVE sugary foods!!! Mostly ice cream... that is my kryptonite!

Sugar can be addicting... it increases dopamine levels in the brain similar to drugs like heroine. A study reported that “rats with intermittent access to food and a sugar solution can show both a constellation of behaviors and parallel brain changes that are characteristic of rats that voluntarily self-administer addictive drugs. In the aggregate, this is evidence that sugar can be addictive.”

Aside from saying that sugar can actually be addicting, it is the way sugar is consumed that can also be a factor in addiction.  Mostly that intermittent consumption (several times daily) plays a roll in sugars addictiveness.  They also showed that after periods of abstinence, the use of sugar increased after it was reintroduced, and that the longer the period of abstinence the greater the increase usage.  I found this part to be particularly pertinent to all those people who diet and then as soon as they reach their goal, they go right back to eating the way the used to, and not only gain back their weight but gain even more than they lost in the first place!

I know from personal experience that this feeling of wanting even MORE sugar once I cheat on my diet is very real.  I often binge on sugary foods after I haven't had them for a while.  When I completed my Whole30 the first time, I went back to eating poorly after my first slice of bread! I got up to eating ice cream (or shakes, etc) 2-3 time per day!!  I feel not only depressed about my poor eating habits, but I feel tired and just slightly ill on a continual basis from eating these bad foods. Also, when I feel hungry, I have such a drop on my sugar levels that I can't even think clearly, and I am so grouchy until I can get something to eat, that I want to chew someones arm off!

When I was on the Whole30 plan, I began to feel much better, and less hungry all the time.  I also didn't feel the same driving need for food when meal time rolled around.  Even my family noticed the difference in my mood and my behavior... when I WAS hungry I WASN'T chewing anyone's arm off. Caveman even commented about the difference. That alone was all the motivation I needed. I needed to find a way to live without processed sugars forever.  Like an alcoholic must forgot all booze, or as in my case again, a smoker can't have even one cigarette without spiraling back to a pack a day...

For those of you that don't know, Whole30 is a meal plan designed similarly to Paleo but even more restrictive.  It emphasizes protein, fat and fruits and vegetable consumption while eliminating white carbs such as sugar, white potatoes, and grains.  There are other food restrictions, but not much.  It claims to reset your sugar cravings, etc.  All I know is I felt better on it, but when my 30 days were up, I hadn't' really lost my sugar "addiction". So a few more months went by with me eating junk food before I decided that 30 days wasn't' going to be enough and I need to make a complete life change if I was going to stay healthy and happy.

I have since made a conscious decision to maintain a paleo lifestyle. I managed for about a month with great results in my energy and my mood-swings. I am now in a lull after my trip to Mexico at the end of May, but I know the only way to beat this thing is to get right back in.  Today is going to be a good day...


Some of my favorite Paleo Blogs:
PaleOMG
NomNom Paleo
Wellness Mama (Grain Free)