Welcome to L&L! Plus a recipe: Not My Daddy’s Apple Crisp

Goodbye Paleo Paisan, Hello Laughter and Lemonade

Welcome to Laughter and Lemonade (the blog previously known as Paleo Paisan)!!  I’m sooo excited to have you here and to be making this transition!  Woop, woop!  Don’t worry, all of your favorite Paleo Paisan recipes are still here on the Laughter and Lemonade (L&L) site.  You can still even click a link you’ve saved or pinned on Pinterest like www.paleopaisan.com/make-your-own-almond-milk and it will take you automatically to www.laughterandlemonade.com/make-your-own-almond-milk.  Go Dan!! <— He’s my tech guy… oh, and my husband too.  Pretty much the brains that made this seamless transition from Paleo Paisan to L&L happen.  Yay, Dan.

TWO Big Announcements

Ready for another big announcement?? You know the new blog name, but now for announcement number two:

L&L contains a new VIDEO feature!  Dan, my Tech Guy, is also into all things video and audio, so I’m practicing being myself, being silly, and cooking WITH you so you can see that cooking isn’t just for professionals on TV or people you think are good cooks.  Cooking is for real people who also drop lemon seeds into their apple crisp filling, burn nuts on the stove, and spill green juices all over carpeted flooring.

Yes all of these things happen. Real life, people. Real life.  Stay tuned to laugh with me as I let go of the illusion of everything being “perfect”. ‘Cause it ain’t (as my Nana would say). Cooking is one of the best things you can do for your health, so let’s not add to it and glorify it into something scary or just for professionals.  Don’t believe me? Watch this video!

Head on over to the video page and look out for more videos coming soon to L&L.  The first of which is down below in this recipe post!  Also, be sure and leave a comment below with any recipe/ topic requests.

Why the change?

In case you missed it, about a month ago I announced in this post that I would be closing the chapter on “Paleo Paisan” (which was a blog focused on sharing paleo-friendly, gluten-free, mostly lactose-free recipes).  To get the full story on that, you can read that post here.  The gist of it is this: while eating a paleo diet may have a plethora of health benefits which are supported by numerous research studies, it is has not been found to be the 100%, conclusive, undisputed, best way for all humans to eat.  Additionally, it is a diet at its core, and I would prefer to not promote any one diet or way of eating.  While I still feel that a diet rich in mostly whole, real, nutritious foods is the way to go, I think it’s unrealistic to promote or expect myself or anyone else to follow any kind of restrictive diet.  Paleo or otherwise.

Laughter and Lemonade

Where did the new blog name come from?

“Laughter” comes from the fact that laughing is my number one favorite thing in life.  If you’re laughing, you’re likely making a memory, having fun, feeling joy, and not concerned with anything unimportant.  All of your energy and awareness is in that moment… right where it should be.

“Lemonade” comes from the idea of “turning lemons into lemonade” or the idea of having a positive attitude or outlook.  I’m an optimist.  Glass half-full.  This idea also accepts that negativity is part of life and it must be endured with compassion.  Life isn’t all-or-nothing or black-or-white; it’s both at the same time and it’s gray. (Particularly scarlet and gray if you’re from Columbus, Ohio like me, or a Buckeye fan.)

The name Laughter and Lemonade encompasses my perspective on life and nutrition.  Because nutrition is only one piece of the puzzle – overall health and wellness is more than what you eat; it’s how you move, your attitude, and your environment.  It’s your mind, body and soul.

Let Laughter and Lemonade be a space to share any and all things on health and happiness and the journey to find your own.  The main goals of the site are to

1. Make and share really delicious food.
2. Inspire you to cook. 

Also, I hope to

• Support you in finding the best way to eat FOR YOU.
• Encourage you to find eating habits that are maintainable in the long term.
• Offer a compassionate perspective on healthy eating that defines terms like balance and moderation so you can enjoy all foods.  (Food is supposed to be pleasurable after all!)

For more information about these goals, visit the About L&L page.

Onto the FOOD! 

‘Cause I know that’s really why you’re here, huh?

Insert drool.

I guess from recipe title you can infer that my dad makes apple crisp.  Yep, he does. Growing up in Ohio, it was a family tradition to head out to Lynd Fruit Farm every fall and pick apples as a fam.  We loved it.  Have you ever had apples right off the tree?? Do you think you don’t like golden delicious, red delicious, or granny smith apples?  It’s probably because they taste nothing in the store like they do right off the tree.

My favorite part of apple picking was getting to climb a tree or get on my dad’s shoulders and find a gold mine of gorgeous, big, un-touched apples high in a tree.

Following a day of picking, Dad would come home and make apple crisp.  It’s his one specialty.  Now, my dad is the household grill master, he makes some killer french toast, and he’s mastered making our simple household staple mac and cheese.  But other than that his cooking involves making a good sandwich, toast, cereal, the basics.  I don’t really know how him making this apple crisp tradition started but his is the bomb.

I didn’t have his recipe handy, so I decided to just make my own with some whole-food/ real-food ingredient version.  This is definitely traditionally a fall dish, but heck with it.  I was craving some apple-y, cinnamon-y goodness.  So here we are.

Check out the first L&L video!!

Welcome to Laughter and Lemonade.