In about a years time, I will be be undergoing  surgery that will require a totally liquid diet for 2-3 weeks, followed by a blended diet for another 3-4 weeks

After the surgery I plan to eat mainly fat and protein.  I'd love to have root veggie soups but as you can't brush your teeth while banded together after the op so I want to keep carbs to an absolute minimum
Green veggies (broccoli and spinach) can be made easily into soup
Mineral will come from bone broth
Fat I plan on getting from drinking yoghurt, cream, olive oil, egg yolk and coconut cream (I will allow more than usual dairy during this time as I am not going to drink liquid lard)
Protein is the tricky part.  Most people eat ensure and protein shakes but that's not an option for me.  I've absolutely loathed every protein shake that I've tried with the exception of this 'isopure' protein drink that is clear and like juice but it's so processed, artificial, flavoured etc.  I also don't want to consume large amounts of whey protein I am thinking I will have to blend up powdered egg protein in some kind of drink.  Raw egg white I would not like to eat when I'm in delicate post-surgery position

Obviously it will be ages until I have the surgery (I have to have a year of braces first to undo the orthodontic work that I got as a kid instead of getting sugery then... ) but in the meantime, any thoughts are appreciated


PS - I am getting BSSO surgery of the lower jaw and maybe a rotational le fort of the upper jaw, if anyone was wondering

So this article is actual about plague, iron and genetics, but the mention of the paleo diet in the middle (on page 2) caught my eye.  Taking into account the fact that The Atlantic is pretty liberal, it's still always nice to a see a balanced, neutral-bordering on positive opinion of the diet in a major publication.  Apart from describing paleos as "hipsters"...(I guess one can't have everything!)

http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/01/the-iron-in-our-blood-that-keeps-and-kills-us/266936/2/

I am quite hesitant to post  this recipe as it isn't strict paleo as it contains both nightshades and seeds, and the seed in particular (sesame) is quite high in O6 and phytic acid - so not an everyday dish and possibly best saved for a day when you're also having oily fish.  However it is a good option if you're doing a dinner party/bring food to someone elses dinner party and want a dip to have with your crudités that doesn't have dairy, HFCS or other nasties in it.
Second part of the disclaimer is that I travel about the Middle East a lot and having just come home I have a moutabal craving.
Sesame is the oldest oil seed and despite the O6, it also has quite a lot of vitamin E and some nice antioxidants.  It's also one of the major oils used in the famous clinique yellow moisturiser, which I have a lot of love for as often it's the only thing I can put on my face that doesnt result in an extreme burning sensation.
 
About Moutabal -
Baba Ganoush or Moutabal is served all over the Middle East from Libya to Lebanon to Oman; I believe it is levantine in origin.  The dish below is always called 'Moutabal' in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon, while in those countries Baba Ganoush refers to an aubergine salad with onions, peppers and herbs.  However in some parts of the middle east and other parts of the world what is described as Baba Ganoush is actually moutabal - although with the proliferation of Lebanese restaurants all over the gulf this is becoming less common I believe.  However in the UK, it's usually called Baba Ganoush.

The essential step in making of Moutabal is the charring of the aubergine skin which produces the characteristic smoked flavour

Ingredients
2 large aubergines
juice of half a lemon
salt
1 or 2(small) cloves of garlic
EV olive oil
2-3 tblsp of tahini (sesame seed paste, only ingredient should be sesame seeds)
red pepper (paprika is OK in a pince)
pomegranate seeds

Method
1) There are 3 methods for cooking the aubergine in order of preference
- slice in half lengthways and barbecue til the skins are black
or
- slice in half lengthways then slice each half into 4-5 strips.  Flame grill very close to the flame until the skins are nice and black, turn, lower the grillpan, and finish the flesh
or
- slice as above and cook in a very hot over until the skins are black
2) removed and stand to cool a little, meanwhile -
grate the garlic into a bowl.  Do NOT use more than 2 small cloves.  Add the tahini, salt and a glug of EVOO
3) peel the skin off the aubergine slices - this should be easy.  Run the slices under cold water to cool and squeeze out excess water
4) Add to the bowl and then mash with a fork or use a hand held blender
5) stir in the lemon juice
6) arrange prettily on a plate and garnish with the red pepper powder, pomegranate seeds and generous amount of olive oil
7) I eat on its own or with veg crudités, although it's supposed to be eaten with arabic flatbread or pitta bread

What, you didn't I meant those almond-flour thingies did you??

(sorry for dirty plates...!)

I don't think I've mentioned it on the boards before, and perhaps now is not really the most auspicious time, but I'm actually half Iranian.  I haven't posted many (or any!) Iranian recipes because they tend to require specialist ingredients that not everyone has but the below is quite easy.  A lot of traditional Persian foods involve chickpeas, lentils or wheat, which are obviously out for us but the stews are usually very easy to make paleo if they aren't already

Sidenote on Persian food -
similar to Tunisian, Moroccan, Turkish, Iraqi
main meats: chicken, lamb, fish
use of fruit with meat characteristic
sour cherries, sour golden plums, figs, dates pomegranate, lemons, oranges, limes, rose water, saffron, olives, honey, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, turmeric, cumin, quince, aubergine, parsley, coriander, mint, rocket, almonds, pistachios and walnuts all commonly used ingredients


Khoresh-e esfenaj-o alu (Stew with spinach and sour golden plums)
This stew has the sweet-sour taste that is characteristic of persian cooking

Ingredients
500g chicken - two drumsticks and two thighs, with skin
OR
400-550g stewing lamb (weight depends on how much bone is in the lamb.  I recommend using lamb with some bone in for richness)
1 large or 2 small yellow onion, chopped
2 small or 1 large died lime (will need to find specialist grocery)
10 sour golden plums (dried) (do not use regular prunes) 
the juice and grated zest of 1 orange
juice of 1/2 a lemon or lime
200g young fresh spinach (or frozen, but make sure to use whole leaves not chopped)
salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon mixed spice (cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, cumin)
some fat (Tallow if stewing lamb, if using chicken then lard probably best although obviously would never be used traditionally.  Ghee, chicken, goose or duck fat all are fine as well)

Method
In a heavy casserole, sweat the onions in a little fat.  Continue cooking until lightly browned
In a frying pan, heat some fat and brown the meat over high heat till well browned
Add the meat to the casserole and cover with water
Add the dried limes, orange and lemon juice, spices
Cover and simmer very gently - on hob or in oven.  Stir occasionally
Total cooking time for chicken - 2-3 hours, lamb 3-4 hours, mutton 4-5 hours.
1 hr 30 mins before end of cooking time, remove lid to allow liquid to reduce
1 hr before end, remove bones from stew mix.  Add spinach and prunes and continue to simmer, covered/uncovered according to water level.  Stew should be served thick and not with the usual saffron rice!

Greetings, all!

I've been paleo for more than a year now and love it.  My eczema is much improved and my weight is lower and stable.  I eat very low carb (30g, or 10% of calories), high fat paleo.

However, as I've mentioned before, I stopped menstruating after about 2-3 months on the paleo diet, and I suspect that my oestrogen is low.  I've been reading around the internet a bit and suspect the reason may be hyopthyroidism caused by low-carb dieting, from either a)failure of the liver to convert T3 to T4 or b) low leptin levels.

So, I think I need to increase the carbs   This annoys me somewhat as I find unless I'm VLC I get hungry all the time, and I hate being hungry!  I'm also paranoid that eating more carbs will make me gain the weight that I put so much effort into loosing!

does anyone have any insight into
a) how much carbs to add, and how much fat to remove
b) what kind of carbs to add - paleo starch from roots or tubers to take the pressure off my poor liver which is normally pretty occupied in the act gluconeogenesis, or paleo sugars from fruit to spike insulin a bit and raise leptin levels?

thanks
CCG

Last night, I had 2 spare eggs, a can of coconut milk, insomnia and an extreme craving for creamy desserty things...so I decided to do a little food science.  Usually I don't hold with 'paleo' desserts as they invariably contain a lot of nut flour/honey/agave nectar which IMO makes them unpaleo.  However these 2 contain minimal or no sugar, and no nut flours

EXPERIMENT 1
paleo 'creme brulee'/ custard

I *love* creme brulee and pre-paleo I used to make it all the time.  Here I attempt to make a dairy-free version

INGREDIENTS
2 egg yolks
drop honey (literally)
vanilla
pinch arrowroot
1/4 teaspoon ghee
200ml coconut milk
some grated creamed coconut
nutmeg

Note - coconut cream is required rather than coconut milk, so I grated creamed coconut into the coconut milk, added a bit of ghee, then boiled it til it reduced by 1/3.  Alternatively, you can allow the can of coconut milk to separate into coconut water and coconut cream, skim the cream off and use that.

METHOD
1) beat eggs with the drop of honey and arrowroot til thick.
2) heat up coconut cream til it boils, add the vanilla and nutmeg then remove from the heat. 
3) Add the hot cream to the egg, gradually, stirring vigorously
4) pour mixture back into saucepan and heat til it thickens - 1-2 mins
5) remove from heat, transfer to fridge to set overnight

RESULTS
I ate 1/4 of the mixture while it was warm and it was yummy and custardy.  The rest went into the fridge but alas in the morning was not set like a normal creme brulee....it was just thick, cold custard.  I whacked it in the freezer and will use it as an icecream base when I have more coconut cream


EXPERIMENT 2 - RASPBERRY MOUSSE

INGREDIENTS
2 egg whites
pinch salt
raspberries, pureed - say 50-75g
coconut cream OR coconut milk+grated creamed coconut

METHOD
1) take the whites out of the fridge and allow to warm to RT
2) use a very CLEAN and DRY bowl and whisk - make sure both are grease free.  The larger the bowl the better!
3) whisk the whites til they are foamy, add a couple of drops of lemon juice then continue to whisk til soft peaks form
4) Puree the raspberries
5) Whip the coconut cream.  This is the hard part.  If you only have coconut milk, whip it with an electric whisk and periodically remove the foam from the top.  The milk will get more and more watery as you do this.  You will be left with a pile of foam, let this stand for 5 minutes or so and then drain away the water that comes out of the bottom
6) stir pureed raspberries into the whipped coconut cream, then fold the egg whites into the mixture.  Refrigerate.

RESULTS
passable - although after 2 hrs in the fridge it had separated slightly and I had to drain water out of the bottom - maybe because I used frozen raspberries?  I think that a less-watery stronger-flavoured fruit than raspberries would be better, like lemon (mainly zest and only a little flesh) as this recipe does not seem to like water.

Anyway, the good thing about mousse is it's volume-to-calorie ratio.  Coconut-based mousse sadly does not have the creamy smoothness of actual cream-based mousse though


UPDATE - mousse separates on standing in fridge.  Avoid and try the custard instead!