Paleo / Primal Shortcuts: Knowing Your Strengths, While Learning from Others

When I first dove into the primal lifestyle last June, I put lots of pressure on myself to tackle the whole spectrum of paleo eating styles right away: acquiring lots of high quality fats, baking paleo goodies, sourcing higher quality foods, and so on. I guess that I thought that it was an all-or-nothing venture! But soon I learned that it was folly to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

For me, going from zero to sixty like that was exhausting - I wasn't managing very well. Then it dawned on me: There's a whole community of likeminded folks on the Internet just overflowing with solid nutritional information and recipes.

Why would I try to become a paleo baking expert overnight? I sure wasn't a baking expert before jumping into primal life, so I knew that I could end up burning up a lot of time and somewhat more expensive specialty ingredients (coconut flour, nut butters, etc.) in a quest to perfect a baked creation of my own.

Meanwhile, there were so many great blogs with scrumptious primal / paleo-friendly baked goods that my family and guests could enjoy, that it suddenly made sense to get a feel for primal / paleo baking by making some of these recipes for a while, first. To throw just a few examples out there (and there are so many more!):

This my slice of Bill's Chiffon Pumpkin Pie, via
The Food Lovers' Primal Palate,
which I chose to contribute to our family's
feast last Thanksgiving. Yum!

• The Food Lovers' Primal Palate (see their recipe list linked here for a whole list of desserts) - Dark Chocolate Coconut Cake is my go-to for a dessert that nonprimal / nonpaleo company has thoroughly enjoyed at our place in the past!
  
  
• Life As A Plate - I have been dying to try out her Irish Cream Gluten-Free Pear Crisp for Two, once I acquire some Bailey's.
  
  
• What I Crave - her most recent creation that caught my eye was Chocolate Chunk Hazlenut Biscotti.
  
  
• Joyful Abode - which has the deliciously simple-looking Almond Flour Shortbread, and of course her Grain-Free Granola Bars, which we have made before at our house and LOVED.
  
  
• Eat the Cookie - which has the coconut-flour- and almond-flour-based grain-free Honey Graham Crackers and a special-occasion-worthy Lemon Tart.
  
  
• And of course...DessertStalker! This recently-debuted recipe-aggregator site features a selection of real-food desserts from around the web - with picture previews. You're sure to find inspiration there!

Deciding to try these recipes has been lots of fun - and guess what? While baking these recipes has taught me lots about the natures of different ingredients and their combinations, letting others' wisdom and experience "write" a delicious dessert menu has freed me up to spend more of my time and resources experimenting in areas where I'm more comfortable - sauces and reductions, roasts, grilling marinades, soups, smoothies, ice cream, etc. I call this a win-win!

Have you decided to "apprentice" yourself by trying out recipes or tutorials from other wise and experienced real-food folks? What sites and writers have you enjoyed and sought to help learn more about areas where you're not so experienced or comfortable?