We’ve all heard it time and time again, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!”  While some in the Primal community really champion skipping meals as part of a healthy routine, I’ve found I am much more productive throughout the morning and early afternoon when I’ve had a good breakfast before going to work, as I don’t have the occasional hunger reminders hinting at me that I hadn’t eaten since the night before. Now, before I go on here, let me point something out; Hunger when eating Primal is very different than SAD eating. When I get hungry now, I get the feeling “Huh, I feel like I could eat soon” but what I don’t get is the overwhelming need to eat, growling stomach, and loss of energy and focus. It is a remarkable difference, and probably one reason why eating Primal is so effective for weight loss.

Now to address a common misconception about Primal eating. Many people when asked about Paleo/Primal dieting picture the low-carb Atkins-style diet of almost nothing but meat meat meat… Incorrect! Primal eating is eating fruits, vegetables and meat, sourced from the cleanest and most natural sources possible while avoiding the common grains, sugars, processed junk, and frankenfoods everybody around us is shoveling down their gullets every day.  Admittedly its a tough act to follow; Eating at restaurants is often an exercise in frustration, and parties, work functions, holidays, and business trips are potential diet disasters if you’re trying to stay strict on your Primal intake.  Either you’re going to be the party pooper who refuses to eat the cake somebody slaved over for hours (standing in line at Costco to buy) or you know you’re going to feel awful later after eating junk.

Right now you’re probably saying to yourself, “Wow, this sounds difficult!” Yes and no. Eating Primal takes time and yes, you will need to cook for yourself.  It also tends to cost more at the grocery store as fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats (especially of the Organic variety) add up far more quickly than 20 packs of Mac & Cheese and jumbo boxes of corn flake cereal. If you eat out often though, you may find the extra grocery cost will be offset by eating out less, as Sarah and I found.

So where am I going with all of this? Well, this morning I was cooking a pretty standard breakfast for myself, one that I have enjoyed almost every day since starting my Whole30. It takes about 15 minutes including prep-time, it tastes great and its 100% paleo compliant.

Oh, one more thing before I get to the recipe. What you cook your food in is as important as the food itself. Vegetable and seed oils (Corn, Canola, Safflower, etc.) are bad bad bad bad bad! I personally use coconut oil or lard for my cooking needs. Coconut oil works very well, but it can add the wrong flavor to some foods. Lard is excellent for cooking, doesn’t leave a funny taste and doesn’t burn or blacken like olive oil or butter. We were all taught growing up that lard is bad and gross, but let’s think about this for a second; Do you eat bacon or ribs? If so, you’re eating lard! Lard is just rendered pork fat, and its clean and safe to use. I’ll be putting up a post soon which will go more into detail on how I cook and what I use to do it.

Pan Roasted Onion, Mushroom and Asparagus

I love this stuff!

Ingredients

• 3 – 5 stalks of Asparagus, chopped in 1.5 to 2 inch sections
• 1/2 of a yellow onion, diced
• 3 – 5 White or Baby Bella mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper

Directions

1. Melt 1 tbsp of lard in a frying pan over medium-high heat.
2. Add onions, mushrooms and asparagus.
3. Add all spices and stir.
4. Cook for for 7-10 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds or so.
5. Plate and serve immediately, best served with fried eggs as a side (or even scrambled directly in!)

5 minutes later, it was gone!