We’re kicking off new series called Paleo Journeys, in which we interview bloggers, authors, medial practitioners, fitness gurus and those with amazing, life-changing stories about their health and well being journey. As well as talking about their own paleo/primal/holistic lifestyle experience, our guests will share their favourite ingredients, cooking tips and fun facts. The aim of these interviews is to inspire, educate and motivate you to create your own, optimal paleo journey. We’re very excited to have Scott Gooding as our first guest.
A little bit about Scott Gooding before we get started
Scott is an advocate for health and fitness and promotes the path towards optimal health. An exercise specialist of 9 years with a background in exercise science, Scott has run a successful personal training and bootcamp business in Sydney’s Bondi since 2005. Scott recently appeared on the popular cooking show – My Kitchen Rules with friend Luke Hines as “The Healthy Chefs” and promoted healthy cooking to families across Australia. More recently Scott has published two books “Clean Living” – a healthy lifestyle book and Clean Living The Cookbook – paleo inspired recipes. Two more books have been written for the Clean Living series and will be out late 2014. Scott has been the resident foodie on the Live Well series on channel 7 and is an advocate for the Paleo lifestyle and brand ambassador for Nature’s Way Superfoods. Scott continues to share his message about health and aims to positively influence what people eat and how we move on a day to day basis.
Let’s find out more about Scott’s paleo journey!
How did you discover the paleo/primal diet and lifestyle?
Around 14 years ago I was living in a vegetarian household so my choice to eat meat came under scrutiny from myself more so than from my flatmates. I had been reading around the subject of nutrition and the concept of eating right for your blood type which was popular around that time. After being tested and discovering I was blood type-O which is labelled the “hunter-gatherer” or “caveman” it became clear to me then, as it does now, that we should be eating foods that our ancestors did.
From My Kitchen Rules to your own cookbooks – you’re quite a foodie. Where does that passion come from and how did you learn to cook?
The passion stems from being aa healthy as I can be and being a role model to my son. The only way you can be 100% confident what’s in your food is to cook it yourself so that’s exactly what I’ve done for years. I grew up in the UK where my folks ran pubs in and around London, the food-focused pubs and my mum was an absolute gun in the kitchen but it was my dad who would sit with his head in cookbooks creating ideas for the menu. I guess growing up in that setting has rubbed off.
Do you have a favourite British dish? Well, there’s a few to choose from…..my memory of British food is Liver and Bacon, cockles, samphire, scotch eggs and black pudding. My mum made the best steak and kidney pie!
When it comes to food, what does your typical day’s menu look like?
I start the day with a bowl of banana and tahini with seeds, bee pollen, buckwheat and coconut oil. I’ll then have eggs for a second breakfast and usually the previous nights leftovers for lunch. Dinner is often mince (lamb, beef, veal or roo) simply because it’s quick, affordable and versatile. I’ll snack on olives, pâté, nuts or broccoli.
What would you say your favourite treat or indulgence is?
I don’t really have a treat to be honest, as boring as that sounds, there isn’t anything I sneak in when no one is around.
What are the top 10 foods/ingredients we are most likely to find in your grocery basket?
Smoked salmon, mince, garlic, ghee, broccoli, liver pâté, coconut oil, eggs, chilli and tahini
What are you must have gadgets and utensils for a healthy kitchen?
I have to say that my Vitamix gets a pretty good workout – great for nut butters, ice cream and smoothies. I also have a pressure cooker which I love….perfect for cold winter nights.
What’s the best well being tip you’ve ever been given?
Get plenty of sleep.
- 1 cup cacao butter
- 6-7 tbs cacao powder
- 1 tbs chia seeds
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tbs maple syrup
- ¼ cup toasted shredded coconut
- 1 tbs buckwheat kernels (optional for crunch)
- Place a heat resistant bowl over a pan ⅓ full of water. Bring the water to a gentle simmer. Place the cacao butter in the bowl and once melted add the cacao powder, vanilla, buckwheat, maple syrup and gently stir for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Put a fry pan on a high heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add the coconut. Toss until lightly toasted. Add the coconut to the chocolate mixture. Pour into moulds or ice cube moulds.
- Chill for 1 hour. Enjoy x
The chocolate recipe misses out any instructions for the chia seeds even though they’re in the ingredients list…?
Just add them in and mix through with other ingredients.
Thank u! :-)