Use the Coronavirus Quarantine to Build a Better YOU! podcast

Never Let a Good Crisis go to Waste!  That is the quote that has been used by so many on the Left for bad ideas and policies, but we can also use it positively, in our favor as ancestral living people.  Most of us in what are called ‘non-essential’ jobs (as if any real work is ‘non-essential’, really) are now staying at home, only venturing forth for necessities.  

Although this is really painful for most of us (we are social beings after all), we can use this time in our favor!  Instead of just watching stupid binges of Netflix bad series, we can set ourselves real, life changing challenges.  Master cooking- it really is an essential life skill, especially in regards to your health.  

It’s just the right time of year to master grilling on a charcoal grill, and if you are like me, simply cooking outdoors will add a whole new realm of enjoyment in your life.  A Weber grill is wonderful, and all you really need in my opinion.  Fancier grills and smokers might impress your city and suburbanite status conscious sorts, but you can do anything you might want to do, simpler and easier, on the tried and tested Weber!

The one upgrade I would recommend would be getting your hands on a propane torch- not a little tiny baby one- but a big one that runs on a 20 pound propane tank.  If you live in the country, you probably already have one to burn stumps, start campfires, melt ice, and a thousand other things.  But if you don’t- get one!  They are cheap, Harbor Freight and Tool has a couple for really cheap, but the more expensive one, which is still under $30 I believe, is self lighting and that is a wonderful feature.  I use a welder’s sparker, which works fine; but if buying now get the self-lighting feature.

With this torch, you can start your charcoal in a matter of perhaps 1 minute or so, resulting in red hot coals!  Also, you can clean your grill with the flame- never brush then gunk off of your grate again.  

So, you start your fire in record time, so you can grill easily all year round, as I do in Wisconsin.  But in warmer weather, it becomes a pure pleasure- you sit outside in a lawn chair, next to your grill, monitoring the progress of your succulent meal leisurely as you enjoy the outdoors.  I often have my dutch oven going as well, roasting something on the side, putting coals beneath and on top of the oven.  You will be amazed at all the recipes that are out there for stews and such using a dutch oven.  And afterwards, you can burn off the residue with your torch- no scrubbing cast iron pots for you, my paleo friend!

Another thing you can master is cooking indoors, but that is not as much fun.  And next year, you can tap any maple trees you might have, and cook down some syrup- now, I just finished my sap boiling, and built a kind of cinder block rocket stove that really made the process a pleasure.  Another great outdoor hobby. (And maple syrup has more nutrients overall than any other sweetener, even honey)!

And don’t forget your exercise regimen!  If you exercise with body weight, virtual resistance, and isometrics along with calisthenics as I recommend in Perfectly Paleo Exercise, you know that I recommend doing these exercises in front of your TV, each morning early, along with extensive stretching on the floor.  But, usually twice per week, I also go into my dungeon- er, basement, and do heavier sorts of stuff.  Twice per week is perfect, any more is too much, and you only need about 30 minutes or so.  

I do pushups on my gymnastic rings for high reps, along with flies, pistol squats leaning back on the rings, along with pull-ups, dips, and isometric holds of those movements.  Also, I like really slow squats, perhaps thirty seconds for each rep, all the way up and down- very taxing!  And I finish up with Jefferson lifts, which are straight legged deadlifts on a platform, down low past my toes, and up again, for one set, very slowly.  A sure fire cure for any back pain in your life!

Also, if you like to write, or have always wanted to: go ahead and do it!  Write a book; I have written quite a few now, and it is a very satisfying process.  I have also narrated most of mine now, and that is also a wonderful adventure, and profitable as well.  If you need help, contact me, and I’ll give you a roadmap of how to do either one.

I also like music, and have created quite a bit since this quarantining has started- I have a youTube channel called Stay at Home Hymns for my church- check it out.

The point is that this time can be a treasure trove of wonderful time; time in which you can gradually explore and make yourself a better paleo person, with talents and skills that perhaps you never had before, or else just furthering those that you have had all along!  Time alone, without distractions, can be one of the greatest gifts of your life, if you just don’t waste it, but grab it with both hands and enjoy it!  

Just think: by Fall you can be a better person: and it’s all because of the Corona Virus…

Roast Duckling ala Weber Grill and Dutch Oven!

And, with Orange/Soy sauce/ Maple Syrup (grade B)/and Raw Honey for a glaze- YUM!

Ok, the idea here today was  to grill a duck, on the grill.  I always start out with my old Weber (from the 1970's and still going strong!) and some hardwood charcoal. (Don't use the petroleum by-products amalgam that is Kingsford or others of that ilk!)  

Then, I take my handy dandy propane torch, available at Menard's and other home improvement centers, and start my charcoal and then clean my grill, easy as can be!  Why anyone does it differently is beyond me- Red hot coals and a clean grill in a minute or so!

Just be sure to wear sunglasses or eye protecting lenses, and gloves... and leathers and a helmet and... just kidding!  It's really not that dangerous at all- just be careful.

Start with your natural, hardwood charcoal all to one side of your grill...

Then, take a cast iron, Dutch Oven (or you could use an aluminum roasting pan), and...

Put your duck inside!  

Take out the "innards" and grill in the oven along with the duck-

But save the liver- I saved mine, and plan to have it along with scrambled eggs and Hollandaise sauce tomorrow morning!

Here is Donald after about an hour or so:

Three hours or so later- Note gizzard at top- REALLY GOOD!

OK, 1/2 hour or so before removing, I whipped up my glaze- I took one peeled orange, soy sauce (don't ask how much- just "a bit"!), local raw honey (same!), and local grade B maple syrup, and whipped them up in the Vitamix blender- one more use for this wondrous appliance!

Then, I heated it up in a small saucepan for about 10 minutes on low, so it would thicken a bit...

While I made the sauce, I took the duck out of the dutch oven, and put it right on the grill, directly over the coals to "brown it up"!

Then, I brushed on the sauce, and flipped the bird, then brushed the other side with 

the delectable sauce! (The duck came with an "orange sauce" that, like most things from our modern "Food" industry was made from chemicals and corn syrup...

I tossed that.)

The taste of this meal was unreal!  I think duck will become my weekly treat and "vitamin supplement", since duck is very nutritious. (And, may I add, very filling- aside from my morning Paleo smoothie, this was all I had all day)!  It was more than enough!

Did I mention duck fat??

I was hoping there would be more, but this was rather a small duck...

Next one will be bigger- and FATTER!

I understand that duck fat is the tastiest fat of all!

I plan to make sweet potato fries with the above- STAY TUNED!!

And remember, if it quacks like a duck, and looks like a duck, well grab it: You are in luck!

J