Eating Paleo in the Spring

For us in the midwest it's been a heck of a winter!  Many of us have been stuck in doors with much lower than normal temps while learning new terms like Polar Vortex more than once this winter.  For us, school was cancelled so many times that instead of having make up days, our  school system opted to extend the day for an hour.

Spring is more than welcome in this house.  The boys play outside even in the winter.  Now that the weather has started to break you can drive by my house on any given night and my kids will be outside with friends playing in the back yard.  We love our neighborhood and all the active kids in it.  My boys LOVE playing baseball.  Teams have been picked and practices scheduled so we will be cheering on the boys soon!

Today while I was working Mr. borrowed a tiller from a friend and extended our garden.  Last year we only had a small raised bed that worked but I have bigger plans for this year.  I love getting the garden planted and ready for lots of veggies.  Mr. is good about taking over once I've lost my interest in pulling weeds and picking flowers.

This years expanded garden

Lasts Years Mini Garden

For us paleo folks that live in cold weather climate, this is our time to start buying produce while it's "in" season.  This list isn't all inclusive but here are my favorite spring harvest items that I am looking forward to the most:

Asparagus:  Try cooking it on the grill with a little olive oil and sea salt.  Try cooking it in the oven with olive oil and sea salt.  Wrap three spears with bacon and bake in the oven.  We love asparagus in this house.  Last year a friend gave me some fresh from their garden.  Fresh asparagus from the garden changed my life.  I can not wait to get more this year!

Artichokes:  Try grilling these tasty spring treats on your grill.  This beautiful spring vegetable is one of Mr.'s favorites!

Arugula: Arugula is a spicy bitter green that is great for salads.  Before emeals I didn't purchase arugula very often.  There are a lot of meals that include Arugula and it's really good paired with tomatoes, pine nuts, and avocado.

Lemons:  Lemons are not a citrus that we grow in the midwest.  It's good to know

Leeks:  To my knowledge I had never had Leeks before having them in a Paleo Emeals recipe.  I really do like them.  They have a very mild onion flavor.  We roast ours with Sweet Potatoes which is so yummy!

Mint:  Mint has made a new entrance into our lives in the last couple of months.  We've used it when having salads or as a compliment to snow peas.  Pre paleo I was a huge fan of mint chocolate chip ice cream.  I look forward to finding other ways to use mint.

Morels:  Tis the Season for these beautiful wonderfully delicious creatures.  Mr. is headed out this weekend to hunt some of these to bring home.  I'm hoping he hits the jackpot!

Radishes:  I am sad to say that I am not a huge fan of these spring vegetables.  I do wish I loved radishes.  I've tried to like them but just haven't been successful yet.  For radish lovers however...spring is your season!  You can have my share.

Strawberries:  Strawberries on the other hand will be eaten in plenty at my house this year.  I can't wait until they start ripening around here.

Sweet Onions:  Since beginning Paleo we have noticed we eat a ton of onions.  Wonderful to know that they are "in season" during the spring.

If you live in a warm climate with fresh foods year round consider yourself lucky.  I've visited your areas and seen your Farmer's Markets.  I am uber jealous!  To the rest of us...we're going to bring in this spring like it's nobodies business!