When eating meat and seafood, I make an effort to honor the animal and eat as much of it as possible. This includes eating a variety of cuts of meat (bone in cuts included), organ meat (aka offal), and connective tissue (bone broths, oxtail, shanks, etc).
At first, I had to get used to eating things that werenโt so traditional like chicken breast, filet Mignon or pork tenderloin, but now I enjoy the โweirdโ cuts like venison shanks, bison ribs, chicken leg quarters and leg of lamb. I have fun shopping for cuts Iโve never had before and have learned to love the huge flavor variety the different cuts bring ๐คฉ
I also pay attention that the animals are raised and fed the way nature intended them to be:
Chicken, Turkey and other Poultry ๐ฆ ๐: always pasture raised, organic, non-GMO and ideally corn and soy free feed. Also, I never buy chicken that is โvegetarian fedโ, since chickens and turkeys are omnivores and need to forage on herbs, plants and bugs on pasture to develop a healthy nutrient profile. I really love to roast a whole bird (turkey, chicken, game birds and duck) but we also buy breasts (bone in is really yummy), wings, ground meat and leg quarters ๐
Cooks Venture and US Wellness Meats produces very high quality poultry meat that is pink in color which is an indication of nutrient density!
Check out my guide to poultry here
Beef and Bison ๐ฆฌ๐ฎ: always 100% grass fed and finished and pasture raised. We eat a variety of steaks (filets, sirloin, flank, tomahawk), ground meats, brisket, ribs (short ribs and baby back ribs), sausages (hotdogs, organ meats, and brats) and oxtail ๐ญ๐ฅฉ
My complete guide to beef/bison is found here
I like to buy my bison and beef from North Star Bison, US Wellness Meats and Certified Piedmontese. The latter carries a heirloom beef type that has double the amount of protein fibers, making it optimal for those who have the goal to build more lean mass.
We also like butcher box for their filet mignons and Hot Dogs!
Pork ๐ท: always heritage breed and pasture raised, fed with acorns of possible!
I have a whole guide to pork here !
We get our bacon from butcher box or US Wellness Meats.
We like prosciutto from La Quercia, they also have a collaboration with White Oak Pastures in Georgia and have some limited time edition spreads and deli meats.
Whole Foods Market also has a collaboration with Les Trois Petit Conchons where they have a pork pate product that is raised properly and without funky ingredients, and we think itโs quite tasty! Itโs a sneaky way to incorporate pork liver into your diet ๐
White Oak Pastures, US Wellness Meats and Butcher Box also have a wide selection of pork chops, tenderloins and ground pork which we like to use in a variety of recipes like Schnitzel or Mince Sauce.
Game Meat ๐ฆ: I have come to love wild game such as wild boar, venison, axis, elk, and south Texas Antelope and enjoy everything from ground meats, to tenderloins, rib chops and shanks. I get mine exclusively from Broken Arrow Ranch where the animals are truly living in the wild and shot the most humane way possible.
Preparing venison meat sounds scary but cuts like the tenderloin and ground meats work very similar to beef and pork. The ribs and shanks need a little bit more preparation since they are very lean and can easily become tough when cooked too long or too short.
I like my venison steaks medium rare since they are very lean and easily dry out! My all time favorite are axis shanks (osso bucco)
Lamb ๐: only 100% Grass fed and finished and pasture raised! I get mine from US Wellness meats and am a fan of loin chops, rib chops, shanks and ground lamb.
Since I am the only one in my family that really likes lamb I typically donโt buy larger roasts like leg or shoulder but those are super yummy and nourishing cuts as well and should be included when eating nose to tail!
We recently made leg of lamb steaks which were delicious ๐คค
My entire guide to lamb is found here
Rabbit ๐: always pastured and preferably wild! I get mine exclusively from White Oak Pastures where they are part of the regenerative agriculture protocol! They sell Whole already precut rabbits that typically come in 8 pieces. I then prepare the different cuts to my liking.
When you have a high quality, well raised piece of meat, I have noticed that you need very little spice to make it taste amazing. I usually only use ghee and flaked sea salt to season my meats.
Organ Meats: these parts of the animal are incredibly nutritious and offer a whole lot of bioavailable nutrients. Our ancestors actually went after the organ meats and bone marrow before they scrapped the muscle meat off of the bones.
When buying organs and organ products, it is critical to buy only high quality products where you are 100% sure that the animal was raised correctly. You can only benefit as much as the animal is healthy.
US Wellness Meats has a good selection of tasty organ meat sausages such as Braunschweiger (liver), Liverwurst (liver, heart and kidney), head-cheese (heart and tongue), as well as various organs that can be purchased to make your own dishes!
The premade sausages are ideal for those who want to experiment or try offal for the first time. I like the braunschweiger and the liverwurst and I heat them up in the pan and eat them with avocado or butter. You can also grind them up with butter and use them as a spread on grain free crackers or bread.
Many online butchers like US Wellness Meats also sell ground meat blends that include organs like heart, kidney and liver and are a good way to get your dose of offal in the form of a burger, chili, Bolognese Sauce or as meatballs ๐๐
I personally think that chicken and beef hearts are a good starter organ meat. Since the heart is a muscle, the texture is similar to that of muscle meats which makes it more familiar. Heart is full of CoQ10 which is very important for mitochondrial health ๐ช๐ป
Another popular way to eat chicken hearts is to grill them on a kabob and to serve with pesto or herb butter ๐ง๐ฑ
Other โstarterโ organs include chicken and beef livers which can be prepared easily by simply sautรฉing them with butter and onions in a pan. Itโs best enjoyed rare, and unlike heart it has a softer texture. Itโs very filling and I usually donโt eat more than 2-3 ounces at once! Another way to incorporate liver is by making your own liver pรขtรฉ ๐ฉ๐ปโ๐ณ
Bone Marrow is the ultimate super fat and can be made into a super yummy spread or enjoyed roasted in the oven over steak ๐ฅฉ!
It can be roasted and whipped with salt into a butter consistency and enjoyed with vegetables or these bread swaps.
I get my marrow bones from North Star Bison or US Wellness Meats and order them โcanoe styleโ meaning that they are split open so that they marrow can be easily scooped out. Sometimes when I make bone-in meat dishes, I like to crack open the bones and scoop out the marrow for a nutritious boost ๐ช๐ป
If you use my referral link you can save 10$ on your first order at Northstar Bison ๐
You can also make a nourishing bone broth by simmering marrow bones with apple cider vinegar, veggies, bay leaf and spices for a long period of time. This releases nutrients like calcium and amino acids out of the bone and lets the bone marrow release its precious fat and fat soluble nutrients ๐
There are also many recipes out there for sweetbreads, kidney, tongue and even testicles. The possibilities are endless and you can benefit from every type of organ!
Seafood ๐ฆ๐: I get my fresh fish and seafood exclusively from Vital Choice. We love their sockeye and king salmon filets as well as their mahi mahi, Nova lox, trout and ahi tuna steaks! Their products are sourced sustainability and from clean waters which is important when buying seafood! You should avoid farmed seafood at all costs, since fish their are kept in dirty pens and fed grains creating an unhealthy fat and protein profile. The only exception to that are some trout and salmon farms like Ora Salmon.
We avoid large fish like tuna, swordfish, sea bass and shark because they tend to accumulate a lot of toxins and heavy metals! The same goes with a lot of canned fish so we stick to brands like vital choice, safe catch or wild planet for canned fish in the SMASH (salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, herring) group which are typically low in toxins and full of healthy Omega 3s
Rainbow King Foods sells great high quality rainbow trout filets (both fresh and smoked). I love their product so much that I have been given a discount code CUREATED that you can use at checkout to save!
Other yummy options are lobster, mussels, clams, octopus/squid, oysters, crab and shrimp and itโs best to always grill them with the shell on so that the nutrients can come out and make the meat more nutritious! I get our lobster and octopus from Whole Foods, which carries Lukeโs Lobster in the frozen section ๐
You can also eat nose to tail by grilling a whole fish or buying non-filet cuts like cheeks or bellies. I also always eat the skin (I love it really crispy) and sometimes the eyes of a whole fish!
My whole seafood guide is here
