Hi, I'm new...

[Sally S.]

and I can't figure out how to post pictures...

Anyway, a little about me, and I'll make this as brief as possible.  I have been following the Weston A. Price diet/lifestyle for about 3 years now.  Before that, I was raised as an ovo/lacto vegetarian on a farm with fresh veggies, citrus/nut trees, 'yard bird' eggs and fresh (raw) milk, switched to vegan in my 20's--stayed confused for a while-10 years or so with soy "fake products", then went back to my ovo/lacto vegetarian ways of my upbringing, discovered WAP via a traditional nutrition course back in 2009, THEN switched to Paleo (non raw version) b/c my sickly daughter's clinical dietitian recommended it for her cronic 'internal inflammation'...we all made the switch last September and never felt better.  (NO GRAINS, GLUTEN, LEGUMES OR DAIRY AND NO SOY OR NITRATES ETC.)  I stumbled on 'raw paleo' today via facebook b/c we were discussing the new plate version of the food pyramid. 

I have to admit I was grossed out at first...raw, room temp meat?    ewww!  However, I prefer my red meat almost rare and I can woof down raw oysters, steak tartare and sashimi like nobody's business...so I don't know why I had that reaction.   I even put my own chicken's and duck's raw (pastured) egg yolks in my smoothies.  After a whole day of thinking about it, it doesn't seem half bad and it makes perfect sense.

[Sally S.]

I have 5 acres in the forest of pacific northwest, I raise most of my veggies during the summer using permaculture methods, I raise the occasional piggy, have horses for work and pleasure...all rescued from bad situations, 3 sheep for mowing, fertilization, dairy (chickens and pig love it) and wool, chickens and ducks, livestock guardian dogs (rescued st. bernard mixes), a cat and a 14 year old daughter...trying to be as self sufficient as possible.  Not quite off grid, but I don't rely on electricity/gas much.  I hand built my own outdoor kitchen that uses only yard waste or forest discards for energy, I have a solar clothes dryer and 5 rain collecting systems, one being a pond the size of 1/8 of an acre.

[Sally S.]

(By the way, I was born in WI, (USA) and was moved down to south TX when I was 5.  That is where we had the citrus/nut trees...I just recently moved up here to the pacific n.w, Puget Sound area.)

Wild foraging has been part of my life since I can remember.  Wild asparagus, and raspberries in WI; pecans, black walnuts, loquats and 'dewberries' in TX; huckleberries, salal berries, rhubarb, chanterelle mushrooms and fennel up here in the p.n.w.

[goodsamaritan]

Glad to have you on board.
How did you find out about raw paleo diet forum?

[Sally S.]

Someone on facebook mentioned that they were on the raw paleo "diet".   (I hate to call this a diet, b/c that makes it seem temporary.  Instead I'll call it a lifestyle. lol)  He wasn't someone I knew, but we were both responding to a facebook page's post on the gov.'s new plate style of food pyramid.  Yesterday was the very first time I heard of "raw paleo", paleo, yes, but never raw.  I did some googling and found this forum.

Anyhoo, thanks for the welcome.

[Amris]

Welcome!

I had the same reaction, lol. But I was surprised to find that, for example, liver actually smells and tastes much better raw... although my mind still rebels quite strongly. 

I'm not fully raw yet, but I'm eating more raw every day. I'm still alive *checks self* and in one piece. 

Sounds like you have a downright awesome set up! Good job! *high fives*

[Ioanna]

welcome, and glad you're here!

so you're not a fan of raw dairy? 

sounds like you have a great lifestyle!

[Sally S.]

Thanks everyone for the welcome!

As of Jan. 2011 we eliminated raw dairy products.  (My sheep are heritage dairy sheep, purchased specifically to have as our own raw dairy source.  Their milk is supposed to be very easy to digest.)  My daughter has had 14+ bouts of pneumonia throughout her life, had surgery in Sept. 2010 to drain her chest cavity due to the last severe pneumonia.  Her heart stopped for 10 minutes, they saved her thank goodness...and did such a fantastic job of CPR that she didn't suffer permanent brain damage.  She did have a brain insult, however.  Now, 7 months later, she is almost 100% recovered.  ANYWAY...her clinical dietitian and pulmonogist strongly suggested we switch her to a paleo diet back in Jan.  So no dairy since then.  (I am a fan but we are playing is safe for a while.  I thought about selling my tiny flock, but I can't bring myself to do it yet.)

The cause of her pneumonias... (and they just figured this out --not bashing her current doctors/surgeons up here.  I am bashing the ones in TX who just stamped her with asthma and asthma related pneumonia and gave her all kinds of inhaled sterroids.  Guess what??  She never had asthma!!!) ...the cause was 1.) an enlarged/inflammed lingual tonsil which blocked her airway and 2.) a paralyzed vocal cord...probably due to heart surgery she had when she was 4, they had to put a scope down her throat.

(edit to add: she was silently aspirating food and drinks.)

[Sally S.]

Off to the butcher (we have one that sells wild and grassfed meats), I'm making steak tartare tonight!  (I ate my first raw yolk this afternoon, still warm from the hen. lol Not bad!)

[Sally S.]

They didn't have strip steak today, so no steak tartare...that is ok, they had fresh pacific raw oysters and bright orange/pink wild caught sockeye salmon fillet.

We ate the oysters as is, fresh shucked.  The salmon I made into sashmi with wasabi and coconut amino acids, (non-soy soy sauce).  I was very surprised that the salmon was so good b/c I normally don't enjoy salmon unless it is alderwood smoked.  I probably could have eaten it without the wasabi and amino acids, but I was sorta craving the sushi experience.

I also picked up some grass fed eye of round for jerky and a leg of lamb steak...for tomorrow.  Anyone eat leg of lamb raw? Does it taste lamb-y?  (I don't really like lamb cooked.)  I've got an order for grassfed organ meats and marrow. 

I have a whole freezer full of my very own pastured piggy, "Benson".  Can or do you eat raw pork/lard?  (I dewormed him (naturally) daily by feeding him with raw pumpkin seeds, garlic and charcoal from the fire pit.)

One last question, I am noticing that most of you avoid veggies.  Is there a link that may explain this?  I'm not arguing, I'm just coming from a 'cooked' paleo diet mentality that allowed lots of cooked and raw veggies.  (Plus, due to my upbringing, I sorta eat more veggies than anything else, except when my apple and pear orchard produces in the fall.)

[Sally S.]

Welcome!

I had the same reaction, lol. But I was surprised to find that, for example, liver actually smells and tastes much better raw... although my mind still rebels quite strongly. 

I'm not fully raw yet, but I'm eating more raw every day. I'm still alive *checks self* and in one piece. 

Sounds like you have a downright awesome set up! Good job! *high fives*

High five back to ya!  I just finished your introduction as well.  I think if I stay with the raw stuff I'm used to eating occasionally I can ease myself into this.

[Ioanna]

i think it just depends on your source for the lamb.  i have had lamb that was so delicious, and then some that i didn't really care for (taste reminded me of goat cheese for some reason).  but i hope your leg of lamb falls in the delicious category  

[Sally S.]

Me too.   

[eveheart]

Anyone eat leg of lamb raw? Does it taste lamb-y?  (I don't really like lamb cooked.)

Hiya, Sally, welcome. I eat lamb and goat a lot, including lamb liver. My preferred cuts are loin, sirloin, and rib chops. In part, my preference for these two meats is practical - small butcher shops here carry whole goat and lamb and cut it to order, whereas big ol' beef is always processed somewhere else, so it's hard to get exactly what I want.