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I'm thinking those things that are meaty and delicious, but totally not paleo. The kind of thing your well-meaning friend brings you when you are sick.

I'm thinking like fried chicken (gluten-breading usually), Swedish meatballs (contain bread), or anything with gravy (usually contains flour). Any more?

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Love it... "faileo"! – stephthegeek Sep 17 2010 at 23:34
you should read Melissa's Faileo blog post. huntgatherlove.com/category/tags/faileo – Stephen-Aegis Sep 26 2010 at 15:24

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Meatloaf!

Chili.

Soups/sauces thickened with flour, corn starch, etc.

Asian foods are definitely one for that -- beef in a sweet teriyaki or soy sauce, meat that's been dusted and fried, oyster sauce, curry with green beans. I've almost ordered Chinese food several times until I really think about it and how much there is to work around and it gets exhausting :P So much could be paleo but the sugar or thickeners or vegetable oils ruins it. I wish there was an easier way to paleo-ify foods like that.. but it's not as easy as "hold the rice".

Reminds me of first describing paleo to a friend and talking about eating lots of vegetables.. "oh that doesn't sound too hard, I love vegetables! Peas, corn, green beans, sure!"

I was craving something comforting and mac-n-cheese-like the other day while we passed the hot food bar section in Whole Foods. I saw cauliflower au gratin, which seemed like at least a reasonably paleo substitution.. but even then I had to work around the crust of breadcrumbs on the top.

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There's canola oil all over the place in the hot bar and cold bar at Whole Foods. – Paul Sep 17 2010 at 23:53
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My meatloaf isn't faileo! Meat, egg, spices, cook, eat! – ScottMGS Sep 18 2010 at 16:25
Paul: hey it was better than the mac n cheese ;) Scott: of course, neither is mine, but traditional recipes are! – stephthegeek Sep 18 2010 at 17:48
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Yeah, even the olive bars in the supermarkets have the olives swimming in soybean & canola oil! How deceptive is that!! AAARRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!! – Gisela Oct 6 2010 at 16:30
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Lunch meat. They call it meat, but what is it really? Only the shadow knows! I came in contact with some of that mystery meat a few days ago. I can't believe I used to eat that stuff and even thought of it as actual meat! It's more like chicken flavored rubber.

Then there is the 'meat' that they serve at McDonald's. I don't know what that stuff is either, but even my dog will not eat it and she loves meat!

Another trend I have noticed at the paleo meetups, meat that was marinaded in some kind of weird store bought package of marinade sauce or powder containing all kinds of crap like MSG, high fructose corn syrup, etc. I ask out of curiosity what is in the marinade and the person who cooked it has no idea! Never even looked at the ingredients..

Plus someone brought corn chips to todays paleo meetup! FAIL! He got a bit of good natured ribbing for that one! ;-P

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Meat sticks and jerky and flavoured pork rinds!

Slim Jims, jack Links, Tillamook, et al and any pork rinds with flavoring (and some without!) are packed with sugar, soy, grains, and other scary crap! And everyone I know is like "You get to pig out on these, right? Cool!"

Uhm ... NO. Just no.

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Bingo! on the spiced pork rinds - yuck! I made some great salsa and guacamole the other day and could only find these. [sad face] – ScottMGS Sep 18 2010 at 16:28
I agree, however, I put mainstream jerky and rinds in the OK category because the additional junk comprises a very small portion of each serving. – Eric S Jan 6 2011 at 21:51
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Chinese restaurants are experts at producing faileos. You can get 101 different meat and vegetable dishes, but most of them are doused in vegetable oil.

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There's a place around here that actually advertises on their flyer that they use only vegetable oil. I'm glad they tell me beforehand! – Ahprahran Sep 18 2010 at 22:47
think thats bad? Here in brooklyn we got more than a few chinese joints that advertise how they specialize in "mock duck", err that'd be seitan. wheat gluten all the way. ugh. – ben61820 Sep 25 2010 at 22:43
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Spicy Pork Rinds are packed with MSG for whatever that's worth can't believe I used to give these a free pass in my Atkins days

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good spot on that one! i used to gobble them a bunch, too. Then, sharing them with someone who knew my anti-chemical stance one day, i was alerted to their MSG right in the ingredients that i had neglected to check. Put that to an end with the quickness. I have found MSG-free ones, though. Ingredients are only pork skin and salt. Still avoid them though just due to the factoryprocessed nature of them. – ben61820 Sep 25 2010 at 22:42

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