New User, but been on Paleo a while.

[WeaselWoman]

My name's Ashley.

I have a pretty bad wheat/gluten intolerance that for years, made me suffer from server asthma that even so much as doing simple tasks left me having a nebulizer near me at all times. Feeding the pets = breathing treatment. Walking to the other side of the house = breathing treatment. Sleeping was a hassle because I'd need a neb treatment 4-5 times a night.  I spent most time at home because going down town was a stressing experience. Then though, I wasn't fully aware of my diet. I avoided just bready foods but a lot of what I ate that had gluten wasn't downright bread. That's where my issues lied. As a result of gluten damage, I also lost my gallbladder and for a time, lost vision in my right eye (during the time when my gallbladder was rendered useless).

It was during a bad asthma attack I had while cleaning the ferret room that made me research into paleo. I've been on it for awhile now and my asthma is very controllable and I use a neb 1-2 times a day and it's getting easier as time goes by. I can now hike and travel again, enjoy hunting and trapping again and actually leave into town without anxiety.

I eat a mixture of cooked and raw meat simply because my family is very squeamish and think raw meat will land me with tapeworms and rabies. I have to eat my raw meat out of sight and my cooked while with my family. I hope to take in a lot more raw meat and get more education on the matter here.

[nummi]

That which you eat raw eat raw; that which you cook, instead dry first and then eat, no cooking that way. They shouldn't be squeamish about dried meat as fish are dried all the time without anyone nagging about it, and dried meat is delicious.
It's winter here (where I am), cold outside, so the heating makes the air inside dry and under the ceiling warmer than down below. I have on a shelf, on a grate-like thingy (originally came with a microwave), pieces of meat just sitting on it. They dry fast, a whole day and they look shriveled up and dark dark brown, closing to black, and taste really good. If I could I'd make a photo of it, the view is that good.

[Projectile Vomit]

Welcome to the forum, hope you can find some good strategies and inspiration here.

Your screen name makes me think of a visitor I hosted in my house last winter: a female short-tailed weasel. She first showed up around the end of December 2012, and I saw her a few times each week through about April. In the photo below she has her white winter coat, but towards April she started getting brown stripes and blotches as she transitioned back to her summer brown color. Although she was always at least a little nervous around me, towards the end of her stay she was willing to take deer fat from my hand. She was a wonderful houseguest, got rid of most of the mice that lived in our walls. The wood pile is in a cubby in our wall near our wood stove.

[eveheart]

Welcome! I am originally a self-diagnosed gluten-intolerant person, and I have avoided gluten and sugar for over 30 years with good consistency. Three years ago, I started RPD, and that has made a huge difference in my overall health, which had been declining on a typical American cooked diet.

I encourage you to find a baseline of how well you can feel on all raw... drying meat is a good way to sneak in uncooked foods because it looks like you're eating deli meat... and then deciding how much "cheating" you can tolerate in social situations. In all these three years, it's come down to my daughter telling me how well my health is when I am 100% raw, and you can help family attitudes by pointing how things like way less use of your nebulizer, more energy, etc.

It takes a while for the gut to heal, so give yourself the best, uninterrupted healing time possible. Best wishes!

[WeaselWoman]

Eric, that Least Weasel is adorable! Weasels and their relatives are my favourite animals. The closest I have to weasels is their cousins, ferrets.  I have 3 ferrets and they eat raw paleo too! Livers, hearts, raw chicken, mice etc lol.

So I don't need a dehydrator to make this dried meat? Can someone give me instructions to do this drying method. I'd like to try it. And would those "beef stirfry" strips be good for this?

[eveheart]

Most commercial dehydrators are too hot, unless you get a very expensive one, OR make your own. Here are instructions: http://www.rawpaleodiet.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/JerkyDrierInstructions.pdf.

I have bought 100% grass-fed beef from the rump, like eye of round, London broil, rump roast, and sliced it thin, put it on stainless steel barbecue skewers, and dried it in the homemade dryer from that link. The whole set-up cost me about $13 dollars two years ago. The instructions are very easy. Completely dry beef is only necessary for certain types of packaging/storage. You can taste the meat at several-hour intervals to find a stage you like. You can set up a dryer like this in the garage or anywhere, if that helps you with family matters. There might be some beef-juice drippage, so put a cookie sheet, aluminum foil, or something else underneath the whole contraption to make clean-up easy.

Your family might object to refrigerator aging and drying, but that is what I prefer. I like beef aged anywhere from one week to three months... by then, I've eaten it all up. The longer aging makes a very dry, unseasoned, jerky-like beef. After a few weeks, the beef gets about the same consistency as prosciutto, so it doesn't really gross people out - at work, I tell the curious that I'm eating sashimi (even when it's raw beef), beef prosciutto, or anything that will ease their minds and repel comments.

On a small, experimental scale, you can put a steak or two on a plate in the fridge, turn it daily, and slice off pieces to see how you like it at different stages of dryness. If it makes your family feel better, you can put a plate on top, too, so it looks like you are just avoiding plastic packaging. Air circulation is vital to this type of drying process, so that's why you need to turn the meat if it's on a plate.

Remember to use ONLY  100%  grassfed beef (or lamb) when you eat raw. This is your only protection against the bad bacteria that appears in corn-fed or corn-finished feedlot animals.

Have fun!

[blake]

Hi Ashley, just wanted to make a couple comments that could help. I eat raw primarily, but sometimes if I eat cooked food it just simply helps to have as little of it as I can. Seems like the smaller the portion the easier it is on my body to take care of. Also, it helps to eat Raw vegetables or salad after eating cooked meat. It's my understanding that cooked meat has a tendency to take longer to digest and can get stuck while it sits there putrefying in the intestines. Therefore, you can push it through with some veggies after you eat it. In my experience I find that I feel better the next day if I do this. Hope that helps!

[WeaselWoman]

I am defiantly going to try that dehydrator. I should be able to make it tomorrow hopefully
Thanks for all the information and help too, guys.