POTG Test Kitchen

Have you tried our Lemon Dill Avocado Sauce? Well, if you’ve tried our salmon burgers you have! Did you know that we sell it on its own and that it is an incredibly versatile sauce? Chef Ann Lotterhos has created some simple recipes to show just how easy it is to incorporate our Lemon Dill Avocado Sauce as an ingredient into your favorite dishes.

Perfect for the catch of the day however prepared; on the grill, poached or in the oven this sauce will enhance any fish. It goes great with chicken too; i bet it would be amazing on as a dipping sauce for chicken hot off the grill, or as a wing sauce. Simply cook your wings then toss with the sauce for a delectabley different wing experience.  I loved it in the shrimp salad that we made and the potato salad? Absolutely delicious! Check out the recipes below.

Click below to order some Lemon Dill Avocado Sauce to give these great recipes a try! Or come up with your own and let us know about it!

Danish Meatballs In AIP No-Curry Sauce with Cauliflower Rice

by Anja Kristiansen | @primal_dane

INGREDIENTS (serves 4-6)

Meatballs:

1/2 lbs ground lean pork

1/2 lbs ground lean veal

2/3 cup coconut milk

1 finely chopped shallot

5 tbsp cassava flour

1 tsp white pepper

1-2 tsp sea salt

1 clove minced garlic (optional)

Water and beef stock

No-Curry sauce:

3 cups of water from the meatballs, add beef stock if needed

1 tbsp avocado oil

1/2 finely chopped shallot

1/2 tbsp garlic

1/2 tbsp turmeric powder

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp granulated ginger

Pinch of ground clove

5 tbsp arrowroot starch

Canned coconut cream to thicken (optional)

Riced cauliflower

Cut a cauliflower head into chunks removing the stalk and place in a food processor or blender and pulse til coarsely granulated to rice-size. Place in pan, add water and steam for 3-5 minutes. Alternatively, you can use riced cauliflower from your grocery store. 

Directions

Mix everything but the cassava flour and coconut milk together. Add the coconut milk and flour with the mix bit by bit. Boil approximately 6 cups of beef stock or mix of water together.

When the stock is boiling dip a large tablespoon in the water, then form a ball out of the meatball mixture using the spoon and the palm of your hand. Carefully place the meatball in the boiling water. Repeat till you have used up all the meatball dough. Lower heat and simmer under lit for about 5-10 minutes.

Remove from water OR pour about 3 cups of water through a sieve from the meatball pot into another into a bowl to use for the AIP No-Curry Sauce. Remove meatballs from heat and set aside. Reserve the sieved water for the sauce.

In a pot, melt avocado oil and add scallion to till browned. About a minute. Do not let the oil burn. Reduce heat and add all the spices while stirring. Add arrowroot starch and stuff till combined. Pour in the sieved water from the meatball pot a little bit at a time. Stop pouring at desired thickness. (Optionally you can add a bit of coconut cream.) Reduce heat and let simmer for a few minutes. Taste with salt and pepper if necessary.

Serve meatballs over the riced cauliflower. Pour with sauce liberally, and enjoy!

The holidays can be a difficult time while living on the Autoimmune Protocol. Especially if you have to strictly follow it. Chef Ann came up with some delicous cocktail alternatives, or “Mocktails” that we hope will help to make you a part of celebrations. Our AIP Mocktails are simple recipes yet packed with flavor. If you are beyond the elemination phase of the AIP and have reintroduced alcohol, we have made suggestions for you as well.

AIP Sangria Mocktail

If you have added alcohol into your AIP, replace half the juices with your favorite red or white wine. Either way, this is a delicious drink that can be enjoyed anytime. Brunch anyone?

3 cups white grape juice, no sugar added

2 cups cranberry juice, unsweetened

½ cup honey

16 oz sparkling water

1/4 cup blueberries

1 Granny Smith apple

1/2 lemon

1/2 orange

1/2 cup strawberries

Cut up the fruit and add it to a pitcher

To the fruit, add the juices, honey and seltzer water

Refrigerate for at least two hours before serving. This will allow the flavors to all come together and make your sangria even better.

AIP Kombucha Mojito

1 bottle sparkling Ginger Kombucha (or your favorite flavor Kombucha)

Crushed Ice

Few sprigs of mint leaves (3 – 5 leaves per glass)

1-2 limes

Juice half a lime into 2 empty rocks glasses. Then, add the lime half and 2 – 3 mint leaves to the glass. Using the end of a wooden spoon or muddler, muddle the lime, lime juice and mint leaves. Add half the ice and muddle/mix a bit more.

Add the remaining ice to your glasses. Top each glass with half a bottle of Sparkling Ginger Kombucha.

AIP Watermelon Mojito

I think this Watermelon Mojito was my favorite. It has such a refreshing flavor and my first thought was basking in the sun poolside with my mocktail in hand. If you can tolerate it, a little rum would be delicious!

3 cups watermelon diced

2 limes juiced

1 1/2 tsp coconut sugar

18 fresh mint leaves

1 cup sparkling water

In a blender, combine watermelon, lime juice, and coconut sugar.

Muddle mint leaves into the bottom of each glass. Evenly pour watermelon mixture into each cup. Add ice and top with sparkling water. Stir to combine.

AIP Gulf Coast Sunrise Mocktail

This mocktail will have you humming that old Eagles song. The strawberry syrup replaces grenadine and in my opinion makes for an even better drink. The strawberry syrup will settle to the bottom of the glass creating the layered sunrise effect with the sparkling orange. If you have added spirits back into your diet, go ahead and add your favorite tequila!

For the strawberry syrup:

1 lb. Strawberries, washed and hulled

¼ cup honey

¼ cup Water

1 T. Lime juice

Strawberry Syrup

For the Syrup

Puree the strawberries.

Place this pulp, honey, water and lime juice in a deep saucepan and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or till syrup thickens and coats a spoon dipped in it. You will have roughly 1 cup of syrup.

Cool this syrup and keep in the refrigerator until needed.

For the Drink:

8 oz fresh squeezed Orange Juice

12 oz sparkling water

6 T. Strawberry syrup

3 sprigs Rosemary

3 wedges fresh Lime (to garnish)

To make a drink, fill a tall glass with crushed ice. Then add the mixture of orange juice and sparkling water. Drizzle 1-2 tbsp of strawberry syrup on top and wait for it to sink to the bottom. Gently nudge the ice around with a straw or spoon to guide the syrup down. Tuck a sprig of fresh rosemary in the drink and garnish with a wedge of lime. Of course if you have added alcohol to your AIP lifestyle, a good tequila would be a perfect addition.

AIP Pina Colada Mocktail

This is a nice, clean and simple recipe. The coconut milk makes it so rich and creamy you will enjoy this AIP Pina Colada anytime. Of course if you are able, a little dark rum would be delicious!

2 cups crushed unsweetened pineapple

1 14 oz can Coconut milk

1/4 cup honey

4 cups Ice

4 slices fresh pineapple

Place all ingredients in a blender and puree until smooth.  Pour into 4 glasses and garnish with sliced fresh pineapple.

Growing up in Southern California Mexican food was a staple. During the holidays you would see lots of tamales. Smal markets would sell their special recipes of masa that people would line up to buy and make tamales at home. One of my favorite traditions that people would do is have tamale potluck parties during the holidays. Everyone would bring a favorite dish, like a regular potluck, but the party host would have all the makings for tamales and everyone would gather and learn how to assemble them. Then all guests would go home with a bag of tamales.  Now since we are Paleo on the Go we couldnt use the traditional corn masa so Chef Ann made a plantain “masa”. Full disclosure; we did use corn husks to wrap the tamale. My research was pretty split as far as being allowed on the AIP. We all agreed that they added a slight corn flavor. If you follow the Autoimmune Protocol strictly, use banana leaves to wrap your tortillas. It actually might be better because we did have an issue with the plantain masa sticking to the corn husk, so maybe it wouldnt with the banana leaves. Give it a try!

For the filling we used a recipe for Mojo Pork in an Instant Pot from a previous recipe posted here on our blog. You can get that recipe here Mojo Pork

My name is Dave Rohde and I am the CEO and Founder of Paleo On The Go. You might also see David Rohde. I’ve been using that more lately. More appropriate for a fancy CEO? Totally kidding. I guess I have to decide and keep it consistent. The tough decisions in life, huh?

Instead of starting from the beginning, I’ll start with right now. I joke about the tough decisions in life, which the list does not include choosing a name. Running a business can be extremely rewarding, but it can be insanely stressful. Those of us in the Primal/Paleo/AIP community know that health and well being aren’t just about eating healthy food. It’s your entire lifestyle; which includes sleep, work-life balance, stress management, and more. Owning a business can directly conflict with that. Can both things actually be done?

Some of you know, and some of you don’t know some of the details of how and why 2017 and the first half of 2018 was beyond a challenge for Paleo On The Go. I started working on Paleo On The Go in late 2011, incorporated the business at the beginning of 2012, and have had ups and downs all along the way, building and managing the business almost all from cash flow. We had a few small investments, which were essential. But it takes an incredible amount of time, work, and capital to start and operate a business that fully prepares full meals for a very specific diet that you believe in, consists of ingredients that are very expensive and hard to find for commercial purposes (You can’t just pick a distributor and order for a weekly delivery), and that you are unwilling to compromise on no matter the circumstance. The ups and downs I speak of weren’t from ups and downs in revenue. We have had very strong and consistent growth for almost seven years. Seven years….wow! The challenges were multi-faceted, but had a lot to do with that growth; with innovating, changing, improving, being the best we could be, building teams, adding value beyond just our finished and shipped products. I made a lot of great decisions, but of course, made some poor or premature decisions as well. It was a fight, but it was a labor of love.

You don’t build out your ideal facility with some saved up money from cash flow. You need a lot of expensive equipment set up properly by coordinating contractors with different specialties (but only after getting the work permitted). This takes a lot of capital and is only a very small part of just this one piece of the business. We have to fully cook meals using professional chefs and cooks, follow very strict regulation to properly cool, package, and freeze that food, and then we have to ship out orders expeditiously in high-quality coolers and dry ice, and lastly hope that our shipping carrier gets there before the food thaws. Our shipping carrier does a great job, but there are mistakes and there is bad weather that nobody can do anything about. Of course, there are 10,000 other moving parts that can make your head spin. And which, I could easily write 10,000 more words about. But I fear that I’ve already said too much.

But this write-up is about me, and Paleo On The Go has been on my mind for almost every waking hour for seven years now. The challenges, the wins, the losses, the countless hours can’t really be separated from ‘me’. They shaped me. Currently, I feel so great about where POTG is at and where we are going. I’m excited about so many things that we have coming up for our current and future customers and fans. But this doesn’t take away all of the stress. It is just a different form of stress. Don’t get me wrong, I’d 100% take where I’m at right now, over July 19th of 2017 through October 20th of 2017, where we had gotten behind on a few really important things, made some less than great decisions, and had some toxic people around. This was a time where I vowed to fight to the greatest detriment to my health if it meant saving Paleo On The Go, our employees, and our customers. I even did a Go Fund Me page, to appeal to people that care about us and were able to financial help. I didn’t have backup money. Although embarrassed as I’ve ever been, I did a video to plead for help. The campaign was very successful and was integral to our survival. I was also emotional moved beyond words by the support, both financial and/or kind words. I’m still touched by the experience and I know I always will be. So all of the things I’ve mentioned so far affected greatly and shaped me. They affected my health and my life path. However, they still don’t define me.

Many of you have read notices and updates from me, about the company. You’ve seen the plea for help. You’ve seen commitments to improve something. You’ve heard about my health challenges and how that lead me to the idea of creating a business to serve others in the same metaphorical boat as me. I’ve dealt with crappy health conditions since I was a kid. I have autoimmune diseases. I was diagnosed with Eosinophilic Esophagitis. I can relate to our customers very much. I can empathize with their health struggles, improvements, food needs, food consequences, triumphs, etc. These things made and still make a huge impact on every business decision I make. Sometimes good intentions led to a decision that we weren’t ready for and ended up hurting us. It was always about quality and giving people that needed our help, the best possible solution or product. It just took a long long time to find a balance.

 So again, I touched on business instead of fun activities I like to do. Like I said before; although everything I’ve talked about was a huge part of my life, it doesn’t define who I really am as a person. It does, however, have a lasting impact. Wounds of any kind need time to heal. I agree that this is an intense summary of me and my experience of with running POTG, but I really didn’t mean it to be negative! There is much work to do, but so much of my team and my hard work is really paying off! I’m really excited about 2019. Paleo On The Go has so much great stuff planned. One goal of mine is learning to choose the most important things to focus on and execute on those, delegating certain things, and better structuring my day.

 Other goals include working on creating a better work-life balance. It wasn’t all terrible. I think a still need to find hobbies and other fun activities. I’m working on that. I also need to make more of an effort to talk with family, which seems to get more and more spread out. I think this will get easier when I get some energy back. But I’ve made a lot of progress even through the darkest of work times. I have to thank my girlfriend Katie. She has been such a positive influence. Sometimes Paleo On The Go stories can be too much for her (haha), but she is always there for me. She is full of energy and a true extrovert. We have a lot of fun together, and we laugh a lot. We live in St. Petersburg, FL and get to enjoy some pretty awesome weather. We play in a bocce league, which is very fun. We happened upon a open-house one night, tried it, and decided to give it a shot. Four seasons later and we still look forward to every game. We recently bought a couple of kayaks about six weeks ago and we’ve already gone kayaking several times. I still haven’t forced myself to try paddle boarding, but I hear good things. I’m on the fence haha. Thankfully we both enjoy a good mix of going out and staying in a watching shows and movies.

A little about me: I grew up in Crystal Lake, Illinois. I moved to Marietta, Georgia the summer before entering my junior year of high school. I stayed in Georgia until moving down to Tampa Bay, Florida in 2012 to start POTG. I love to work out, but I usually have to modify my workouts due to health limitations. Growing up, the three things I loved the most were rollerblading, baseball (I played baseball in college), and playing the drum set. I’m just getting back into the drums. I definitely want to make more time to practice and get good enough to find a band and play gigs at a beach bar or something. I also bought a piano, spent about two months practicing, before temporarily quitting. I will definitely get back to it. I’m no handyman, but I’ve been attempting to take on some more projects lately. I picked up a couple tools at the store. I hope to be able to use more of them haha.

So those are a couple things that are starting to balance my life out a little bit. It’s nice to find simple joy in things. With a renewed energy, I’d really like to have a successful year in 2019 in every way. I consider Paleo On The Go a major success, no matter what happens, simply because of the tens of thousands of people that we’ve been able to help. I will be very mindful of my own stress and mental state while continuing to give POTG all I’ve got…just maybe not so much when I’m trying to sleep. It’s been a pleasure sharing this information from you. I greatly appreciate everyone in the Paleo On The Go family. I wish you a wonderful and happy holiday season and an amazing new year.