We’ve got a brand new CaveTalk for you featuring the one and only Juli Bauer. Many of you know her as the mastermind behind the mouthwatering blog PaleOMG! I had the pleasure of catching up with Juli a few weeks ago and chatting about her site & her new cookbook OMG that’s Paleo? Enjoy!
LIVEtheFIT: For those of folks out there who are unfamiliar with you, can you tell us a little about yourself and how you came to discover Paleo?
Juli Bauer: My name is Juli Bauer, I run the website paleomg.com which is a Paleo recipe website. I am a CrossFitter and CrossFit coach for a living. I found out about Paleo a while back when I first started college because Loren Cordain was a professor of mine. But it was until about 3 years ago when I started CrossFit and the Paleo diet was recommended.
LTF: You are the face behind the incredibly popular PaleOMG blog, how did you get started in cooking and blogging?
JB: Once I started Paleo I had absolutely no clue how to cook, so I started looking at other blogs and making their recipes regularly. I began to see some big body changes and felt about a million times better, so I started writing for my gyms nutrition blog then finally branched off and created my own website, posting stories of my life and new recipes that I had created. This all began about 2 years ago and has grown as more people become familiar with Paleo.
LTF: Not only do the recipes on your site look delicious, they taste delicious as well! What are some of your favorites and how do you come up with all of the recipes?
JB: I get this question all the time and I’m not sure how I come up with recipes. Something it’s based off of some kind of gluten filled food out there that I want, so I make it Paleo-friendly, or something I tried in a restaurant, or even something I see in a magazine. I try to take popular recipes and make them Paleoish. Sometimes is based solely off of what I have in my fridge. Some of my favorite recipes include my banana bread french toast, my bacon wrapped filet mignon with roasted grapes, and my savory sweet potato meatloaf.
LTF: Speaking of recipes, you are releasing your very first book, OMG, that’s Paleo? this April, what can we expect for your book that isn’t already on your site? Got any tricks up your sleeves?
JB: My cookbook will include 30 new, never before seen recipes. I tried to include more snack ideas in the cookbook as well as more entrees. I tend to sometimes go overboard with dessert recipes because I have so much fun creating those, so I took a step back and tried to put more “healthy” meals into the mix.
LTF: Lastly, what would you tell someone who is thinking about trying Paleo and doesn’t know where to begin? And what are you top 5 food staples you would recommend to them?
JB: Baby steps. I didn’t just go full on Paleo in one day. It was a step by step process. First I cut out beans. Then I cut out 1 piece of bread from my sandwich, then the second. Then I cut out oats, then dairy. And this was over months and months. Once I went full Paleo I found what foods worked for me and what didn’t. Now I still have some foods such as corn products on occasion because they don’t mess with my stomach. I just recommend people to not view Paleo as this life altering, upsetting thing. It’s more of a process of finding out what foods work for you and what don’t. It’s a very enlightening thing, actually. The more I try different foods, the more I figure out things about my body that I did not know the day before. As for top food staples, that changing regularly for me. If anything, be sure to always keep some kind of meat and veggies in the fridge AND freezer at all times. What I’m into right now includes: ground beef, Brussels sprouts, coconut butter, spinach, and avocado. Can’t go wrong with any of those.
Check out previous editions of CaveTalk here!
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