Wednesday, September 25, 2013

MMMMM .... Donuts!

Many of you who know me, know that I like to cook. Most of the food, snacks and treats I make are Paleo, or as close to it as possible. And many of you who know me well enough and are around me often have the luck of eating, tasting and trying some of the things I make.

One of the things I make quite often are Paleo Donuts.


This little "hobby" came about last year while on the Christmas in Salem house tours with one of my fellow Paleo eating Crossfit friends in Salem, MA.

We had gone to the Topsfield Fair several weeks earlier and had Apple Cider donuts. As we were walking through some of the houses they had something baking in the oven, or mulling spices on the stove to make the houses smell nice and we both said "Apple Cider donuts would be awesome right now, I wish they were Paleo," and you could see the light bulb pop above both our heads.

We both grabbed our iPhone's and searched for Paleo Apple Cider Donuts and found the same website and recipe that started it all.

The site was paleospirit.com and the recipe was relatively simple. The next day I went out and bought my $20 Babycakes Donut Maker from Bed Bath & Beyond and I was off and running. 

I made a couple batches that night, which consisted of about 20 donuts, and shared them with some people the next day and they were a hit.
Paleo Apple Cider Donuts

I continued to make more as the weeks followed and brought them to my gym, Crossfit Wicked, and people were devouring them.

When the Crossfit Open began, which is an international competition that allows anyone to compete for a shot to be in the Crossfit Games, I started making batches of donuts on Saturday night to bring to the gym on Sunday. Over the course of 5 weeks I made close to 250 donuts. Not one of those donuts went un-eaten, I assure you!

Over the next few months I began trying different donut recipes and any time someone would see a paleo donut recipe, they would pass it along to me. I would make them, tweak the recipe if necessary and let other people try them. 

Over the last 10 months I have made close to 1,000 donuts. So, there is that.

Not surprisingly, people like donuts. It's a $10 Billion industry. But obviously, (or not so obvious to some) donuts aren't really, shall we say, nutritious.
Somoa (Caramel Delight) Paleo Donuts

However, eliminating the processed grains and sugars and making donuts and treats made with real fruit, raw honey, nuts and other natural ingredients is something people at my gym and in the paleo community always look for, more nutritious options. So, it got me thinking, and I decided to start a little side project with the poking and prodding of many of my friends. 

The Crooked Lair Bake Shop - Paleo Donuts and Treats.

I'm starting with the members of Crossfit Wicked to see how fulfilling orders in a timely fashion will happen and what quantities I can handle. I'm trying not to over-promise and under-produce right out of the gate. But, hopefully in the near future I can start accepting orders from outside my immediate community. (I don't even want to think about if shipping is even possible right now)

I'm very excited about this and I can't wait for other people to try my donuts and a few other special paleo treats. 

More to come soon...

Paleo Chocolate Cupcake Donuts
Paleo Pumpkin Spice Donuts









Monday, September 9, 2013

Getting Older, Getting Stronger, Getting Better

I haven't posted any blogs in a while and I have no excuse. So, let's just chalk that one up to a thing called Summer.

Now that summer is over and it's back-to-school time, I've been settling back onto the Paleo wagon. Lets face it, the wheels fell off of the wagon this summer and it was basically up on a hydraulic lift in pieces for 3 or 4 months. It's now time to get back after it.
Izzy and Aidan heading
back to school


With the weather cooling down and the Fall Crossfit competition season heating up at all of the local boxes, I figured it was time to get back to a good food routine. Start cooking more, trying out new snacks, treats and recipes to add to my Paleo repetoire and so far, it's been pretty damn awesome.

One of the most difficult things with the Paleo lifestyle is trying to fend off boredom. Meat and veggies and eggs and nuts can get pretty boring. But, with all of the recipe sites out there and your friendly smartphone, there is no excuse for not trying new things. (Sorry about all the negatives in one sentence... think positive).

Spices are your friend. Remember that, and say it with me..."Spices are your friend". 

Spices can make or break any meal. But most of the time, they kick a bland everyday meal into something amazing.

Recently, I bought a rack of babyback ribs from Trader Joe's to cook on the grill at a party. I season almost every meat on the grill with salt, pepper and garlic. However, I was feeling a little spicy myself, so I got a little creative and added paprika and cinnamon. 

Cinnamon is becoming my "everything" spice. I put it in my coffee, on ice cream (paleo of course), and use it on several other meats and meals. It is definitely a super-spice. Check out some of the health benefits of cinnamon here. 

The other spice I really like is Paprika. I'm not really one for "hot" food, but paprika gives a mild, warm kick to your food. Combined with the cinnamon it makes for a really sweet combination.


Grilled babyback Ribs with sautéed Sugar Snap Peas
If you're having ribs on the grill, of course you need some sort of sauce. There are so many great barbecue sauces out there, but of course, I didn't have any in the house. So, I made one up with what we had. A simple sauce from ketchup, steak sauce, pure maple syrup, salt and pepper. Of course there are some crappy ketchups out there. Make sure you get an organic or all-natural ketchup either made with organic cane sugar or regular sugar instead of any High-Fructose Corn Syrup. Skip anything with HFCS in it. 

The sauce was surprisingly good, and caramelized on the ribs as they browned at the end. Really good stuff and it's difficult to not feel satisfied after a meal like this.


I have been trying some great new breakfast recipes as well that I'll share in another blog post soon along with the ever popular Paleo Donuts.

Since getting back to paleo, and eliminating any grains, dairy, I have definitely seen the lean me coming back. I've also noticed my strength picking up a notch as well, hitting a couple PRs at Crossift Wicked over the last few weeks (Squat Clean - 195#, Snatch - 155#).

However, what I have also noticed is there are things that I haven't been working on regularly that I really need to focus on, like the one most Crossfitters loath... running.

I used to "like" running. Meaning, it wasn't difficult and I could do it relatively effortlessly. As I've gotten a little older (into the Masters Division) I have noticed that running is taking much more effort. Especially combined in a WOD. My cardio gas tank is definitely not as large or forgiving as it used to be. 

What this means to me is work! I need to work on this. It's becoming a goat, and I don't like it. I'm not saying I want to bust out a World Class marathon time. I just don't want to be dragging my feet on a 400m run. I want an easy, steady pace and I know the only way I'll get there is to work on it. Just like everything else, I need to put the work in. I didn't get my PR's by staring at the bar. And I sure as hell am not going to get better at running by talking about it. Time to put the supplemental work into the UN-fun things as well. 

It's pretty crazy to think this way, but as I'm getting older, I'm definitely getting stronger, which a few years ago I didn't even consider being possible. But, I also need to get better. Not just in the gym, but in life too. My kids deserve it, I deserve it, and my family and friends deserve it. The only way that's going to happen is putting in the work. The work may not be fun. It may not be easy. But one thing is for sure, I'm worth it.