dani - Ancestral Nutrition

Blog December 23, 2013

How To Stay Healthy On Vacation

At the end of the month Scott and I are heading to Roatan, Honduras. I am beyond excited and thought I would share some tips I use to stay healthy while on vacation. Come Prepared I recently wrote a post on all of my travel essentials. Make sure to bring your non-toxic bug spray and suncreen. The first year I really traveled, we went to Panama and I neglected to bring my own bug spray and sun screen. We needed bug spray, I mean it was a necessity. We ended up buying the spray that contains DEET, as well as regular old toxic sunscreen. When people think of staying healthy on vacation, they often forget that what is applied to the skin is absorbed by the skin and can be a huge source of toxins. Come prepared! Call Ahead We are staying at an awesome little beach resort right on the…

Blog December 18, 2013

Holiday Gift Guide For Ladies

If your wife/sister/mom/girlfriend/grandma/whatever is anything like me, she likes to cook, she likes things that are pretty and smell good and she likes products that are not full of complete crap (chemicals, toxins, parabens, etc). A lot of people don’t realize how toxic products that are marketed to women are. Makeup, lotion skincare, even wine! So I’m here to teach you about some awesome, healthy and beautiful gifts for all of the ladies in your life. The BEST smelling candle. Not only is it non-toxic, it purifies the air! I am in love with 100% Pure products. They’re sustainable, organic and non-toxic. This lotion is amazingly moisturing and smells awesome. There are several differnet scents. This enzyme peel is gentle and effective, so it’s perfect for all skin types. It exfoiates AND brightens skin. Win win! Most makeup brands are loaded with chemicals, toxins and hormone disruptors. Jane Iredale is…

Blog December 13, 2013

An Open Letter To Jay-Z On Plant Based Diets

This is an open letter to one of my favorite artists, Jay-Z. I grew up listening to Jay-Z and can rap every word to Vol. 2…Hard Knock Life. I read this article in Rolling Stone about Jay-Z adopting a vegan diet until Christmas. And I get it. I’ve been there and done that. Like a lot of people, we’re led to believe that a plant based diet is healthier, it’s better for the environment, it’s SPIRITUAL. Except…it’s not and it isn’t. No one tells you that a vegan diet eliminates necessary fats and vitamins. No one tells you that grain and legume production is destroying American (and Brazilian) farmland. No one tells you that it’s more spiritual to buy local, organic animals that were raised on a nearby farm with love and sunshine; to know where your food comes from and develop a relationship with it. I don’t know about you,…

Blog December 12, 2013

The Best Fudgy Paleo Brownies

I have a confession: I like vanilla more than chocolate. I know, I’m one of those rare unicorns, because my friends and boyfriend constantly remind me how superior chocolate is over vanilla. I get it, chocolate is delicious. I really, really like it. But I’d take a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting over chocolate any day. Except for today. Because I made some seriously delicious brownies. And they’re paleo brownies, to boot. I’m not a fan of most brownie recipes because they just taste like boring old chocolate cake to me. “Why would I eat this, when I could be eating vanilla cake?” I wonder. But gooey, dense, dark chocolate brownies are a different ballpark. These are definitely more dense than the average brownie, and that’s exactly why I like them. It’s almost a cross between fudge and brownie, and I am really into that combo. Plus, like all of my…

Blog December 11, 2013

Spicy Mexican Shrimp

Simple food is the best food. There’s a Mexican restaurant in my neighborhood that’s really good. They are authentic, make most of their food from scratch, and are therefore a bit pricey. I always order their spicy Mexican shrimp, which burns my face off because it’s made with a habanero, but I don’t even care. I decided to recreate the recipe at home. There aren’t many ingredients, it took me actually less than 20 minutes to make the meal, and honestly I think my version was better due to the amount of butter I added. God I love butter. Spicy Mexican Shrimp This easy spicy Mexican shrimp tastes just like the fancy shrimp dish you can order at Mexican restaurants but is way cheaper and healthier made at home! Serve with rice or cauliflower rice. 3 tbsp butter2 cups wild shrimp1 onion (sliced)1-2 jalapenos (I of course used two,…

Blog December 10, 2013

Spicy Mixed Greens With Bacon

Listen, I know everyone loves to love. But I’ll be honest. I don’t like kale. The only way I could stomach kale was in my juices, covered up with a lot of carrots and lemon. Scott doesn’t even like kale (and refers to it as lizard foreskin…appetizing, right?). But I should actually say I never liked kale until last night, when I added bacon and garlic and jalapenos to it. I actually bought a giant bag or organic mixed greens that consisted of kale, collard and turnip greens from Trader Joe’s. The bag was surprisingly cheap, and now I plan on getting it during every trip to Trader J’s. Spicy Mixed Greens with Bacon These bacon fried spicy mixed greens are an easy side dish packed with vitamins! The bacon lends a wonderful smoky flavor to the greens! 2 pieces pastured bacon (chopped)2 cups mixed greens (roughly chopped)1-2 garlic…

Blog December 9, 2013

Spicy Cilantro Shrimp

I love Trader J’s. We don’t often go because there is only one in the entire city and I usually stick to my local organic market, but we went last Saturday and I was in heaven. If you are strapped for cash and generally want to save money while still eating organic, go to Trader Joe’s! We got a ton of stuff, including wine and food for guests for $100. If I had stuck to my grocery list, I would’ve spent even less than that. How does this have anything to do with shrimp? I was walking through the frozen section and spotted some really affordable and WILD shrimp. I never buy farmed, so I immediately threw it in my cart. That’s how this baby was born. Spicy Cilantro Shrimp This easy spicy Mexican-inspired sauteed shrimp with butter, jalapenos and cilantro is an easy healthy low carb dinner or lunch option…

Blog December 8, 2013

Poached Eggs Over Spicy Mexican Hash

Sometimes my best dishes are born from no recipe, no plan, and going into the kitchen just knowing it’s 11am and I haven’t eaten yet and I’m freaking starving. Everything in my fridge looked amazing (went grocery shopping yesterday) including the cranberry sauce that’s still in there from Thanksgiving. “Should I just eat the cranberry sauce by the spoonful?” I wondered. But then I had some leftover hash browns. And I had bacon. And I really like spicy foods. And I had a jalapeño. This sucker was being born. Mexican food is my favorite, so I decided to use those flavors. Coupled with the yolk porn you see above and below, it was pretty awesome. Poached Eggs over Mexican Hash Perfect soft poached eggs on a slightly spicy potato hash! Add a Mexican touch by throwing in some Jalapenos, onions and tomatoes. 1/2 cup potatoes (sliced or diced (I used…

Blog December 4, 2013

Travel Essentials

Yes, those are my beautiful feet in the above photo. It was taken on a little island off the coast of Mexico with no cars, called Holbox Island last year. At the end of the month Scott and I are going to Roatan (if you’ve ever been, make sure to comment below!). I’m beyond excited and thought I’d share some of my travel essentials because let’s be honest, I’m not going to eat 100% clean on this trip. Why would I? It’s vacation! That being said, I don’t eat terribly on vacation either. It’s easy for me to eat well when we travel because we both only ever want to go to the beach, so there is always fresh seafood, simply prepared. I could pretty much live off of grilled fish, vegetables and rice (and for the most part, do while I’m on vaca). But I also get down to…

Blog December 3, 2013

10 Ways To Spruce Up Your December

Go check out some holiday lights. Every year Scott and I go to nearby Annapolis to have an amazing dinner near the water, then to check out the boats. Local boat owners string lights on the boats, decorate like crazy and really go all out. My favorite boat every year is the A Christmas Story boat; complete with big, lit up leg lamp lights. We also live by the National Zoo so we usually walk over to their light display, aptly named Zoo Lights. Most towns have light displays, just check out your local newspaper or Google it. Even if you’re just cruising around your hood and looking at people’s holiday lights, it’s tough to NOT be in the holiday spirit. Volunteer! I plan on volunteering with the elderly this season. Consider how many elderly people are in nursing homes with either no family left, or just family that doesn’t…