I truly enjoy traveling and cooking while we travel. When we use Airbnb I often choose a place to stay that also has a kitchen. That way I can cook our meals, if we can’t find a Paleo restaurant in town.
Although, most of the time, when we don’t feel like navigating the menu of a new restaurant for Paleo recipes, I know I can find anything I need at the local grocery store and that’s when we wind up eating in.
When we were in California in January for Chris Kresser’s book launch we drove down the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) from Berkeley to Redondo Beach and we stayed in a cute little Airbnb that was right on the beach. By the way I highly recommend you take the drive down Highway 1 from San Francisco thru Malibu. The drive is absolutely breathtaking so be sure not to rush it. Leave with plenty of time and prepare to stop at as many look outs as you can. Pack yourself a Paleo picnic and you can use sunset as your natural backdrop.
When we arrived at our Airbnb, the kitchen was stocked with great spices and ingredients which our host offered for us me to use.
We stopped in Redondo Beach at the perfect time too because Michelle Tam from Nom Nom Paleo was doing a book talk for the launch of her new cookbook Food for Humans around the same time.
Paleo Cooking in Redondo Beach
After visiting the local California grocery stores and admiring the local options that were available, I left with some local grassfed ground beef. We also hit up the Redondo Beach farmers market and I couldn’t believe all the organic options that were available…and in January, no less!
One night Jeff setup shop in the living room, with a beach view, to work and I went to the kitchen to whip up dinner. The result was this ground beef and brussels sprouts stir-fry-esque dish. I served it with a side of baked acorn squash.
While I was cooking our host came home from work and hadn’t eaten so I was happy I had enough to serve the three of us with enough for seconds!
The Not-Your-Kitchen Challenge
Cooking in someone else’s kitchen can be a challenge because you don’t know what you’ll find. You may not be familiar with the layout and have to open every drawer and cabinet to find what you need but I never look at it that way.
I think it’s exciting to see what people stock in their pantry, seasonings, cabinets, what type of dishes they own, what pans they keep and what equipment they use regularly. It satisfies my curiosity to see how other people live and what other people perceive as necessities.
When cooking it usually boils down to a simple formula of A + B = C
A = properly raised, ethically sourced local ingredients
B = kitchen appliances, utensils, spices, seasonings, method of cooking
C = delicious home cooked Paleo meal!
How To Serve
If you whip together this ground beef recipe you may find yourself with plenty of leftovers. You can repurpose the finished meal by putting an egg on top and serving for breakfast. Warming up and serving alongside a salad for lunch or eating just as it is with raw or cooked vegetables for dinner. Either way you slice it, I hope you enjoy it! :)
