Lesser Evil Paleo Puffs “No Cheese” Cheesiness

The puffs are made with cassava flour, tapioca starch and sweet potato powder. Cassava is also known as yuca and is a tuber similar to yam and potatoes. They are crunchy with a great cheesy flavor and a surprisingly sweet aftertaste from the sweet potato and coconut. The sweetness blends well with the Himalayan salt.  They are organic, non-GMO, certified Paleo, grain free, gluten free and vegan. The only allergen warning listed is coconuts.

Meat Pies

Beetnik Organic Shepherd’s Pie with Grass Fed Beef

This brand is an award- winning family business in Texas. The Shepherd’s Pie is made with grass fed beef, carrots and kale with whipped potatoes on top, and the crushed red peppers give it a slight kick. Although I felt it needed more salt, it contains 290mg, it is good for those who are on a low sodium diet and it’s easy enough to add salt. This is a great comfort food. The grass-fed beef is raised without hormones or antibiotics, but the meal does contain fish (anchovy).

Grandcestors Cottage Pie

The cottage pie contains grass fed beef, veggies and is topped with white sweet potato. It’s also part of the Whole30 diet in which you eat natural foods like meat, fruits and vegetables. However, for 30 days you do not consume added sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. The cottage pie is free of grains, milk, soy and legumes, but does contain coconut oil (tree nut).

The difference between Shepherd’s Pie and Cottage Pie is that Shepherd’s Pie usually contains lamb (because a shepherd looks after sheep) and Cottage Pie contains beef.  They also have mashed potatoes on top. Both Beetnik and Grancestors contain grass fed beef so technically they are cottage pies. They are hearty meals and very similar products although Grancestors is more tender and juicy.

Primal Kitchen

Primal Kitchen Alfredo Sauce

The sauce is tangy, cheesy and rich. It’s made with garlic, lemon, cashews and avocado oil.  It has a great alfredo flavor and is the perfect accompaniment to any pasta. The sauce is also soy free.

Primal Kitchen Vodka Sauce

This is a nice tomato-based sauce. It’s not sour or tangy and you don’t taste the vodka. It’s made with avocado oil, tomato, cashews and organic vodka. And it’s also soy free.

Primal Kitchen Chicken Pesto

This frozen meal is made with delicious chicken pesto. Veggie “rice” made with cauliflower has the texture and appearance of rice so you’ll think you’re eating carbs. It also has broccoli and yellow zucchini. The meal contains no gluten, dairy, grains or soy. It’s also low carb at 10 grams (5 net carbs) and also suitable for the Whole 30 diet.

Primal Kitchen Avocado Ranch Dressing

The dressing tastes more like a vinaigrette than traditional Ranch salad dressing. In fact, the bottle says dressing and marinade. The main ingredients are avocado oil, apple cider vinegar, and eggs. It is gluten, dairy, soy and sugar free. It’s also Keto, Paleo and Whole 30.

BakeGood Paleo Flour

The flour is a blend of almond, arrowroot, coconut and tapioca. It replaces flour cup for cup in recipes.

I made the blueberry muffin recipe listed on the back of the package. The recipe calls for blueberries, one egg, milk, coconut oil, vanilla extract, baking powder and erythritol. I was surprised by the milk, which is not Paleo friendly, but I used cashew milk instead. Paleo diets do not use sugar, but instead sweeteners such as erythritol, stevia, Monk fruit, molasses and maple. You can probably replace any of these sweeteners for the erythritol. The muffins have the texture of an apple crumble. However, they do not crumble, but hold up well. The muffins have a great taste and just enough sweetness from the blueberries.  They’re good spread with vegan butter too.

Base Culture Keto Bread, Original

Made with almond flour, flaxseed and arrowroot, this keto bread tastes like light rye. It’s moist and great for sandwiches. One slice has 8 grams of carbs and 4 grams of fiber, so it is 4 net carbs. The term “net carbs” refers to carbs that are absorbed by the body. Fiber is not absorbed, so you subtract it from the total number of carbs. The keto bread is also 100% Paleo, grain free, dairy free and soy free.

Pancakes

Bob’s Red Mill Paleo Pancake & Waffle Mix

The flour is a blend of almond, arrowroot and coconut flours. You’ll need egg, water and coconut oil, but I used canola oil without problems. I was surprised at how smooth the mix was and at how fluffy the pancakes came out.  It can pass for regular pancakes.

Birch Benders Banana Paleo Pancake & Waffle Mix

The flour is a blend of cassava starch, almond flour, coconut flour, bananas and eggs. The pancakes are thin, like a crepe, and very mushy. The inside remained soft and never looked completely cooked even though they turned dark brown on the outside. I’ll pass and enjoy their frozen waffles and pancake a la cup instead.

Birch Blenders Paleo Toaster Waffles

There are so many things to like about these waffles–they are Paleo, grain free, dairy free, gluten free, soy free, and have no trans-fat or added sugar. The waffles are tastier than I thought they would be and are low carb at 19 carbs for 2 waffles. They are made from coconut flour, cassava and tiger nut flour, which I had never heard of. Not technically a nut, it is a root vegetable that grows in Northern Africa and the Mediterranean.

Birch Blenders Pancake a la cup, Maple Syrup

The pancake mix is in a plastic container and you add water and microwave for 1 minute. The finished product smells intoxicating, like cake, and you eat it out of the cup. It has a moist and fluffy texture. It’s so tasty and low carb, I can have pancakes for breakfast every day.

Not Reviewed

Birch Blenders Keto Toaster Waffles – contains milk

Safe Harvest

Safe Harvest Dairy Free Wild Clam Chowder

When you taste this soup you would never guess dairy is replaced by coconut milk. The coconut is not sweet, but instead does a great job of mimicking the creaminess and thickness of the milk and cream used in chowders. It is made with sustainably sourced wild clams, potatoes, and cauliflower.

Safe Harvest Dairy Free Shrimp Bisque

Bisque is a shellfish-based soup and this one has a great shrimp taste. As with the wild clam chowder, coconut milk is used in place of milk/cream.  The bisque is made with wild, sustainably caught, cold-water shrimp.

Both soups are thick and rich and have delicious seafood flavors. They have no added sugar and are low in mercury. They are also Paleo and Whole30 approved.

BARS

Yes Bar, Black Sesame Sea Salt

The founder states “My son was born with so many food sensitivities, I was always having to say “no” to the foods he wanted to try. In frustration and out of love, I went to my kitchen and took out all the ingredients that I could say “yes” to, and made a snack that he could eat.”  The bars are more like soft cookies and are made with pumpkin and sunflower seeds, coconut, pecans, black and white sesame and sea salt. They are a great blend of sweet, salty and crunchy. The bars are free of gluten, dairy, GMOs, eggs and soy.

Yes Bar, Coffee ‘n Chocolate

This is a great blend of dark chocolate, maple, sea salt, nuts, and seeds. The dark chocolate taste is mild, the coffee taste is nonexistent, and the tart cherry flavor is more prominent.  Like the black sesame sea salt, it’s a great blend of sweet, salty and crunchy. Both bar labels boast that they contain half the sugar of an apple (9 grams).

Thunderbird Cashew Fig Carrot

The bar is Paleo and vegan. All the ingredients are natural: dates, figs, cashews, carrots and spices. It’s a convenient, on the go bar and has a great date and fig taste with no added sugar.

Hu Crackers, Pizza Flavor

Made with almond, cassava and coconut flours, this is a great tasting crispy cracker with 3 delicious flavors. The pizza flavor tastes and smells like cheesy pizza with herbs; the sea salt is perfectly salted; and everything contains sesame, chia, flax, and poppy seeds for a great crunch. My favorite flavor is pizza – no explanation needed. It’s perfect for those who miss eating crackers, but don’t want the carbs. And you gotta love their slogan, get back to human.

Wild Zora Lemon Chicken Soup

This flavorful soup is low carb because it contains no noodles. Instead, it contains veggies, 100% antibiotic free-range chicken, and spices. It’s more broth than soup. It comes in a pouch and you mix the ingredients with hot water in a cup. It’s also nut and soy free. And it’s AIP – Autoimmune Protocol Friendly, which aims to reduce inflammation, pain, and other symptoms caused by autoimmune diseases.

Conclusion

If you’re gluten and dairy free and want to go low carb, you should try the Paleo diet. While our ancestors did not eat cheese puffs, pancakes or shepherd’s pie, they did eat the foods used to make these Paleo delights- nuts, veggies, seeds, and meat. They ate the foods they found in nature.

Fun Food Fact

Actress Rebel Wilson has lost over 60 pounds and is said to be following the Mayr Method. The diet encourages chewing food at least 40-60 times, eliminating snacking, and reducing gluten and dairy.

Did You Know?

Other names for the Paleo diet include Paleolithic diet, Stone Age diet, hunter-gatherer diet and caveman diet.

The “evolutionary discordance hypothesis” states our genes haven’t changed in 10,000 years, but agriculture changed our diets too quickly for our bodies to evolve with it. Farming changed what people ate, introducing us to grains, dairy and legumes. The belief is that this is the contributing factor to the rise of diseases like obesity, diabetes, heart disease and cancer. The hypothesis argues that if we ate like our ancestors, we’d be healthier.

Quotes

“I see a lot of people use the Paleo diet as an excuse to eat bacon for every meal. That’s a bit much.” Chris Mohr

“Diet is a big thing. I am a firm believer in you are what you eat. I juice a lot. I try to stick to a Paleo Diet. At its core, I look at MS as inflammation, so I try to eliminate foods that cause inflammation: dairy, gluten, grains.” Jack Osbourne (son of Ozzy Osbourne, who was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis).