New Series Coming This Week: The Real Food Advent Calendar, a Healthier Alternative

I'm super excited!!  A few weeks ago, I bought a "fill your own" advent calendar at IKEA, and starting tomorrow, December 1, I am going have a daily post through Christmas on the calendar's compartments' contents.

Advent is a special season built on anticipation - for Christians it's when we remember how long the world waited for our Savior, as we (in microcosm) now eagerly await the celebration of his birth. I loved advent calendars as a kid -- doing the countdown to Christmas was that much more special having a calendar to watch and a little daily treat (usually chocolate) to enjoy.

These days, advent calendars can be found in a wide range of prices and qualities - some can be had at a dollar store, while others can be purchased from high end chocolatiers, and feature very high quality chocolate.

As for us and our IKEA special, I enjoyed both the idea of knowing exactly what ingredients went into the treats and the ability to add a something more than just chocolate to those cute compartments - a little toy or ornament, perhaps, that my oldest could enjoy finding. It allowed me to customize the calendar exactly for my 4 year old's attention span and interest levels. In our house, we'll read a bit of scripture while opening our daily countdown drawer as well, which I hope adds to our sense of anticipation as we celebrate Christ's arrival as Emmanuel - "God with us".

Some strategies for this project:

• I'll be using minimuffin cup liners to separate the treat from the toy inside each compartment. (Mine are silicone but disposable would work equally well.)
  
  
• I'll be using the dollar store and the dollar section at Target for toy resources. (This project is also another great reason to surf the Target dollar section's seasonal stuff just after a holiday expires to get little fun items for pennies on the dollar.)
  
  
• Lest you think I've already completely filled the calendar's compartments, nope! I'm only about three days out right now. My plan is to go in 3-4 day chunks of filling the drawers, which will hopefully be a doable pace. Maybe next year I'll have the benefit of experience on this and be more ahead of the game. ;-)
  
  
• The treats will be varied in their real food content. Some might include dairy, or nuts, or eggs - and some small amounts of sugar in the form of high quality dark chocolate. The treats will all be gluten-free, however. If your household doesn't eat one or more of those ingredients and you're still hoping to fill an advent calendar of your own, then feel free to adapt or come up with treats that are better suited to your family's dietary restrictions instead!

To see all of my Real Food Advent Calendar 2011 posts, click here.

Are you and your family doing advent calendars this year? How do you celebrate the countdown to Christmas?

Lunchbox #145

Today, my preschooler's lunch featured (clockwise):

• Sliced mini peppers
• Shredded grassfed beef roast
• Mustard, for dipping
• A boiled egg
• Two Clementines
• A coconut manna cup - I melted dark chocolate into the bottom of a silicone muffin cup, added a few chunks of coconut manna and a walnut, and toped with chocolate again before allowing it to set in the freezer

~

80% Off Today! $10 Buys a $50 Credit for Natural and Organic Goods at Abe's Market!

Plum District has a GREAT deal today for Abe's Market, which is a natural goods online store. $25 buys you $50 worth of credit at Abe's Market - and online store of natural and organic gifts, foods, and other products. But, you can use the code SUNDAY40 today (code CYBER40 also works through 11/29) to get 40% off the cost of your voucher - making the voucher just $15. If you're a first time Plum District customer, you'll also get another $5 credit in Plum Dollars just for signing up - so you could get a $50 Abe's Market voucher for just $10! That's an incredible bargain!

You can get a good deal on PaleoKrunch this way - because Abe's sells PaleoKrunch in cereal (2 tubs/pack) and granola bar format. PaleoKrunch is a granola-type cereal, but without grains, refined sugar, or any industrial oils. In fact, the ingredients are as follows:

Almond meal, shredded coconut, raw sunflower seeds, raw pumpkin seeds, almond slivers, coconut oil, honey, vanilla extract

Yum!! This looks like the perfect item to have on hand for holiday road trips, slipping into a stocking, or topping your special Christmas morning treats.

Here's some other Abe's products I've ordered in the past and really loved:

• Wisey's long sleeved bib - with removable velcro sleeves! It is a smooth wipeable material and can be washed in the dishwasher. I love it.
  
• Clementine Art rock crayons. These vibrant all natural pebble shaped crayons are just charming.
  
• Great Marsh Skincare products. All natural and a steal with the voucher! I've enjoyed the lavender honey hard lotion and the ginger lemongrass lip balm (sold in 2-packs). I've already packed some of the lip balm in my daughter's preschool teachers' Christmas gift (will blog about this very soon).

There's also a gluten free foods section; just be sure to read ingredient lists carefully as some gluten free stuff is still loaded with sugar, or less desirable ingredients such as agave nectar, canola, and soybean oil.

This is a great way to stock up on some natural and organic gifts or stocking stuffers at super deep discount.

What would you use your  80% off Abe's Market voucher to buy?

This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for supporting Primal Kitchen at no additional cost to you!

Today, STACK ($15 Buys a $50 EcoMom.com Voucher) WITH ($40 off $100) Purchase to Get $100 of Merchandise for $25!

*** Edited to add: Looks like the deal is getting even HOTTER! Ecomom's got a special running through Monday, $20 off a $50 purchase and $40 off a $100 purchase! Ecomom's Twitter feed says that this promo IS stackable with other promos, so you could theoretically buy the voucher for $15, put $100 worth of stuff in your cart, getting the total down to $60 (still above $50, so free shipping) and then redeem your $50 voucher - meaning you paid $25 for $100 worth of stuff! That's unbelievable! I haven't run this transaction through since it looks like EcoMom's servers are overwhelmed at the moment (they're working on it according to this tweet), but this is all the more reason to pick up one of these vouchers for SUPER cheap!

***

Today only, you can get a $50 EcoMom.com voucher on Plum District for just $15. And better yet, there are two active codes I've read about today that can allow this deal to happen: ENJOY10 (for $10, good today only, so use this one first) and CYBER40 (for 40% off, good through 11/29).

While food and diapers are not eligible for the ecomom.com promo, there are plenty of natural living items that you can snag for a deep discount this way, like:

• A wide selection of baby carriers and wrap carriers (great baby shower gift, especially if with this deal you're getting it $35 cheaper! -- or, for an inexpensive "backup" carrier for your car or your spouse's car)
• Natural wooden toys (a classic under-the-tree Christmas gift)
• Nontoxic nail polishes (both in colors/sets for grownups and kids)
• Natural and organic toiletries, cosmetics, and baby bath sets (also a good shower gift!)

Ecomom.com also offers free shipping on $50+ orders. I bought one voucher with this in mind: When I decide on a gift for someone at or just over $50, it will have cost only $15 with this voucher deal. In fact, I'm already eyeing some Piggy Paint water based nontoxic nail polishes as a fun stocking stuffer for my girls. :o)

What at ecomom.com appeals to you?

On a Paleo Lifestyle as a Gift to Your Loved Ones

Happy Thanksgiving! Of course, paleo foodie that I am, I couldn't resist taking a shot of a loaded plate with my Droid. (You stay classy, Primal Kitchen.)

I am deeply grateful for the paleo, primal, and Crossfit communities - especially that they are so vibrant in our virtual world. :) Though it's been so thrilling to finally run into some traditional food folks in the flesh in the last couple of months, I know that there is no way I would have made progress or learned as much as I have without the collective wisdom and shared tips of fellow paleo people all around the world - and that includes my readers. THANK YOU for sharing your stories, tips, and recipes and for offering up support! I hope that your Thanksgiving holiday weekend offers lots of warm and memorable moments with your loved ones.

And...speaking of Thanksgiving holiday weekend, I'll wager that a few of you might be braving the crowds today for Black Friday deals. Bravo for you, I say! But even better, if you've stopped relying on sugar, grains, and industrial oils in your diet - if you've "gone paleo" - you are giving your loved ones a better gift than any you could have picked up at the big box store, even if you were first in line camped out with a tent and power generator.

As you know, I am the mother of two daughters, aged (almost) 2 and 4. While I know that (despite my wishes) I can't protect them from everything, I know that I can do my best to protect them from a lot of unnecessary ills. If I make it a priority for us to eat foods that our bodies are meant to use as fuel, and I ensure that my girls get lots of fresh air activity outdoors, I've gone a long way to protect them from:

• Childhood obesity. If kids' day-to-day menus are chock-full of nutrient dense foods (and inherently lower carb than standard industrial diets), their metabolisms will operate as intended and won't degrade over time.
  
• Inactivity. Fueling kids with quality food gives them the long-lasting energy needed to support lots of healthy playtime, climbing, running, and anything else their little bodies wish to tackle! Meanwhile, overdoses of sugar and other less desirable ingredients (especially from processed foods as a dietary staple) only serve to deplete energy and offer up a blood sugar roller coaster.
  
• Childhood disease. There's still a lot we're learning about cancer, diabetes, and other illnesses that shouldn't be a part of any kid's life - but it's certainly becoming clear that wholesome nutrient dense diets partnered with outdoor play and healthy Vitamin D stores result in healthier populations on the whole.

As an adult, "going paleo" has a similar set of benefits! If you've been waffling or thinking about "going paleo", I urge you to consider giving it a 30 day try! You'll be amazed by the difference in how you feel (even short term), and even more by the long-term benefits reaped.

When you and your kids are eating the food you're designed to eat - and getting sunshine, fresh air, and exercise, you'll live longer and have more energy to do the things you love, and the "best you" is a gift that keeps giving!

Going paleo is one of the greatest gifts that you can give your loved ones - especially in the legacy it leaves your kids!

This post also appears on the collaborative blog Highbrow Paleo.

Stocking Stuffer Idea: 3 Green & Black's Organic Chocolate Bars, Shipped, for Only $4.99

Here's yet another of the myriad ways you could use the limited time $10 off ANY Vitacost.com purchase coupon that's out right now.

If you're looking for a nice stocking stuffer surprise, you can add three very large (5.5 oz.) bars of Green & Black's organic chocolate (my favorite brand!), to your Vitacost.com cart, which would total $9.57. The $10 off any purchase coupon will cover this total, so you'll pay just $4.99 as the shipping fee for the 3 bars of chocolate - which amounts to about $1.66/bar, extremely cheap for this normally-retails-around-$4 super delicious chocolate.

In fact, if you're planning way ahead, you could send these chocolate bars to another household (say, your brother and his family across the country?) and instruct the recipient to label them as being from you before they slip them into their stockings.

OR, consider $1.66 a very cheap price for a high quality chocolate to include in a Christmas gift basket for teachers and others who support you and your family throughout the year.

What deal have you decided to catch using your $10 off any coupon on at Vitacost.com?

Lunchbox #144

Today, my preschooler's lunch featured (clockwise):

• Sliced cucumbers and cherry tomatoes, dressed in olive oil
• Sliced grassfed steak
• Fresh blueberries
• Dark chocolate with almonds
• Fresh snow peas

~

Primal Kitchen Shirt Shop Open - Free Shipping and Freebie Deals Thanksgiving Week

I have had so much fun recently creating a few Primal Kitchen tees! I've now opened the Primal Kitchen Spreadshirt shop. It's a great week to have a shop's grand opening at Spreadshirt, because there are several Thanksgiving deals going on right now (as far as I know, they cannot be stacked, so you should pick the coupon code that gives you the greatest discount):

• Through November 24, code XMAS5FOR4 gets you five shirts for the price of four!
  
• Through November 24, code BUY3SHIP gets you free shipping on three shirts!
  
• Through December 1, code SPREADJOY gets you free shipping on two shirts!
  
• One more bonus way to save: If you go to ebates and search for "spreadshirt" in the ebates upper right hand corner search box, you can click through the ebates spreadshirt link in order to get 10% cash back on your purchase! Once the ebates link takes you to spreadshirt.com then type and enter "primalkitchen.spreadshirt.com" into newly-opened spreadshirt.com address bar. 10% is rather generous - you'd net a few bucks cash back even if you bought just a couple of shirts.

There are three shirt designs currently cut loose on the Primal Kitchen spreadshirt shop (see both collages here for examples of all):

• The Primal Kitchen Classic design, featuring a lunchbox overflowing with real food (no dairy, even, for you old school paleos), and a kettlebell on the side reading, "Primal Kitchen" in the wacky trademark font.
  
• The Primal Kitchen Steak design, showcasing the finer things in life: veggies, garlic, and a juicy grassfed steak just begging to be devoured.
  
• The "Nuts About Wallballs!" design, showing a squirrel tossing a 20 oz. acorn above a 10 inch line.

There are designs available for kids, women, and men, ranging from classic tees to v-necks to long sleeved to sweatshirts and ringer tees. Check the shop out and browse the wide variety of styles and colors!

You can also check out the spreadshirt designs of fellow paleo bloggers The Food Lovers' Primal Palate, Nom Nom Paleo, the Paleo Parents, Balanced Bites, and Cave Girl Cafe  - you can buy any combinations of shirts from any of our shops when using the above listed discount codes. (Feel free to add a comment linking to the spreadshirt stores of any other paleo bloggers! I've undoubtedly missed one or more.)

If there's a particular not-currently-existing combination of shirt style and the three above designs that you'd like to see in the Primal Kitchen shop, please feel free to tweet me or leave a comment - I'll do my best to make it happen!

Same Lunch, Different Eaters

Here's a lunch that we had at home last week. My 4.5 year old has become kind of resistant to cold greens of all kinds, but I'm OK with that, since she still watches me sometimes eat huge salads, and she'll still happily eat spinach or kale as part of a warm dish.

The above lunch demonstrates how you can create two distinct lunches without changing your actual game plan a whole lot. The only material difference is - her lunch has a cut up white potato, while mine has a pile of greens. I had my kitchen shears at the ready for much of the prep, and to each of our bowls I added:

• Sliced red and yellow pepper
• Sliced carrots
• Sliced grassfed steak
• Pistachios (mine, for the salad)
• Sliced baby zucchini (mine, for the salad)
• Homemade avocado ranch, drizzled on my salad, but in the littlest compartment for my daughter to dip her veggies

Have you turned your massive salad into a more tactile kid friendly lunch before? How'd you do it?

$10 Off Any Vitacost.com Coupon Buys Two 1 lb. Jars Sunbutter for $5.82, Shipped

The limited time Vitacost.com $10 off any purchase coupon is still available. One way that you can redeem this $10 coupon is to order two 16 oz. jars of Sunbutter - a nut-free paleo-friendly butter, for a total of only $5.82.

Here's how to score a great deal on this sunbutter:

• Go claim your $10 off any Vitacost purchase coupon. The coupon will be emailed to you.
• Optional step: In the meantime, head over to ebates.com and search for Vitacost. You'll get 4% cash back on your purchase when you click to Vitacost.com through the ebates vitacost store link.
• Search Vitacost for "Sunbutter". Select the 16 oz. jar for $5.41, and add two of the jars to your cart for a total of $10.82.
• Check out and use the $10 off any purchase source code that was emailed to you in the "Source Code" field during the checkout process.
• Your total will be $0.82 + $4.99 shipping + tax (if applicable, depending on your state). The grand total will be at or around $5.81. for both jars, shipped. (Compare - at its very cheapest Sunbutter runs $4.59/jar on Amazon, and that's when you're forced to buy a 6-pack, so this Vitacost transaction is quite a deal on sunbutter.)

Is Sunbutter a staple at your home? What else would you like to get with a $10 off any purchase coupon?


This post contains affiliate links to Vitacost Rewards and ebates. Shopping through these links results in Primal Kitchen receiving a referral bonus at no cost to you - thank you for supporting Primal Kitchen! :)

Coconut Oil Shipped for $4.99 with $10 Off Any Purchase Vitacost Coupon

I just learned that Vitacost also has coconut oil - many varieties in fact. There are several that are under $10, which means that you can use the $10 off any Vitacost purchase coupon that I first described in this post, leaving you to pay only the shipping of $4.99.

This includes my brand of choice (which I usually buy from Amazon), Nutiva. On Amazon, a 15 oz. tub of Nutiva is $7.24, but using the $10 coupon on Vitacost will get the same size shipped to you for $4.99 - a price that you'll be hard-pressed to beat. To learn how I ran my Vitacost deal (and to understand how you could do it similarly for any under-$10 coconut oil sold by Vitacost), see this post.

Lunchbox #143

Today, my preschooler's lunch featured (clockwise):

• Mini peppers stuffed with chili (there was 1 lb. of liver to 5 lb. of ground beef in this version)
• Medjool dates and pistachios
• Whole fat yoghurt topped with unsweetened chocolate shavings and sliced almonds

~

Lunchbox #142

Today, my preschooler's lunch featured (clockwise):

• Fresh pepper strips with homemade avocado ranch dip
• Strips of grassfed steak
• An apple
• Mascarpone with blueberries (frozen, they thawed in the lunch) and cacao nibs

~

$10 Off ANY Purchase Coupon At Vitacost = Ridiculously Cheap Coconut Oil Based 5000 IU Vitamin D3

At Vitacost there is currently a $10 coupon available, good on any purchase. The great news is that shipping is fairly cheap at $4.95, so if you need something that's close to $10, you'd get it for about half the price with this coupon.

I redeemed this $10 coupon to get two bottles of Country Life Vitamin D3 Softgels - a 200 ct., which is $5.39. Vitamin D3 supplementation is worth considering, especially if like me, you don't get as much sunshine during the wintertime as you'd like, and the coupon made two bottles ship to my door for just $5.77 - about two and a half bucks cheaper than just one bottle is going for on Amazon right now. Great deal!

Here's how to score a great deal on these Vitamin D3 softgels:

• Go claim your $10 off any Vitacost purchase coupon. The coupon will be emailed to you.
  
• In the meantime, head over to ebates.com and search for Vitacost. You'll get 4% cash back on your purchase when you click to Vitacost.com through the ebates vitacost store link.
  
• Search Vitacost for "Vitamin D3". Select the 200 count of the Country Life Vitamin D3 5000 IU softgels, and add two of the bottles priced $5.39 to your cart for a total of $10.78.
  
• Check out and use the $10 off any purchase source code that was emailed to you in the "Source Code" field during the checkout process.
  
• Your total will be $0.78 + $4.99 shipping + tax (if applicable, depending on your state). In my case the grand total was $5.77 for both bottles, shipped. (Just one bottle of the same on Amazon runs $8.29, by comparison!)

For more on Vitamin D3 supplementation check out this thread and related threads on PaleoHacks; it's worth noting that Nephropal's Billy recommends the Country Life brand because they are coconut oil medium chain triglyceride based.

Are you supplementing with Vitamin D this winter - or are there other supplements or health products you'd like to track down on Vitacost with your $10 off any purchase coupon?


This post contains affiliate links to Vitacost Rewards and ebates. Shopping through these links results in Primal Kitchen receiving a referral bonus at no cost to you - thank you for supporting Primal Kitchen! :)