I've given up on "paleo" baking. I think it might help some people cross over, but I think it can also act as a slippery slope back the other way, if you still want breadlike things.

The simpler I keep it usually the happier I am. I've done some pastry and pizza crust replacements with paleo friendly ingredients, but the result is usually a resounding, "Meh?" Those same pizza toppings are just as good or better made into a wilted salad, tossed into a bowl of cooked ground beef or mixed into a fritatta.

Baking takes a lot of work, and more often than not with alternative flour recipes tastes a bit like cardboard. Waffles and crepes turn out okay, but they are just carriers for lots of whipped cream and berries, so it is okay if they taste like cardboard. Really, I'm just as happy with a bowl cream and berries, so I've come to the conclusion the effort isn't worth it for me. Coconut macaroons are the only paleo friendly cookie I've ever truly enjoyed, but the really tasty ones are too sweet to be healthy for me.

I never got to the complicated cooking part. I'd rather cook quick, good food and eat it than slave in a kitchen (despite the fact that I like to cook). Given the fabulous flavor of a properly prepared steak or roast, I see no reason for complexity: all I need is grass fed butter, a pan, and some Celtic sea salt and I'm ready.

I do both. Down and dirty quick and tasty. Slow-mo braise that takes half a day. Taking an existing recipe and turning it Paleo. My oven or my broiler is pretty much on every day. I love to experiment and know my food is already good, so for me it's fun to try new things and see what else I can do :)

My wife's motto is "simplify and add butter". We rarely do anything more complicated than cooking meat in fat and having a salad. There are enough choices that it never gets old.

I don't like to make fancy things for myself. Most of my meals consist of steaming some veggies and dumping some dead animal on it. Seriously, I eat like, 90% of my meals out of bowls. My fella has simple tastes, too, and likes things like meatloaf with mashed potatoes, stuffed peppers, shepherd's pie, baked chicken and oven fries. To me, meals are a necessity and I guess I don't have too much fun with them despite churning out reasonably delicious food with basic ingredients. (Hint: sriracha makes everything better.)

However, I LOVE baking. It goes back to my childhood, and memories in my kitchen with my mum and the subsequent praise that would follow for a delicious dessert. I can't shake the nostalgia, so I don't try. I think going into the kitchen with a plan but no clue how to execute it is exhilarating, and I feel somewhat like a mad scientist with my weights and measures, stirring and mixing and tasting and hoping it turns out. I use mostly coconut flour to keep it grain-free, or almond butter for the occasional cookie or brownie, but sometimes I pull out the white rice flour and tapioca starch for something different for my partner.

I don't always eat what I make, and almost always find a willing recipient for my kitchen experiments, but it's not necessarily about the finished product (other than the thrill of victory when it turns out!) but the way to recreate a comforting sensation as well as amuse myself and stave off boredom while satisfying an urge to create something. :)

Sometimes I bake not-quite-delicious "candy cigarettes" for my kid and me. The hige majority of the time I pan-fry some meat in fat and pop it on a plate next to- or on top of a veg. Or crock pot stew, or hard boiled eggs, lots of scrambles, etc. Ambitious cooking for me is making a sauce to throw over kelp pasta.

I love foodways, food history, food politics, and reading cook books. But I am not an inspired or good cook.

I sometimes like to get fancy in the kitchen, but fancy doesn't have to mean complicated. It may take a lot of work, but I don't fuss around with trying to replicate non-paleo food all that much. I love a really fancy several-course meal...

I occasionally make easy "Paleo Cookies" for my boyfriend who has hard-core "junk-food" cravings. But they aren't at all complicated. I personally love making flavorful foods, wine sauces, glazes using granulated honey, things of that nature, but I've always enjoyed inventive cooking. Paleo has just given me a whole new avenue to explore with my recipes.

For me complicated recipes are fun, maybe it's just because I have a lot of time on my hands. I LOVE cooking!!

I do both. My mainstay is protein veggie salad for lunch and protein veggie roasted for dinner but I sometimes feel the need to be creative and/or to nurture myself with something a bit more. I think candy cigarettes can be problematic for some at times but for me using them judiciously has proven a good strategy. I watch carefully for feelings of boredom or dissatisfaction with my usual food choices and make sure to treat myself with on-plan options to keep me feeling happy and satisfied. I don't eat out much because of the poor food quality so making something special for myself allow me to feel like I'm having a special meal without having to worry about what's in it that's gonna kill me, lol.

Right now I am making a lot of raw veggie wraps which allow me to eat a sandwich or taco-type food item and that makes me pretty happy. I make a lot of veggie/nut crackers and keep them in the freezer if I get some crazy need to munch on something and raw veggies just won't cut it. I keep things like lasagna (with chicken/turkey slices for noodles) and cheese and egg pizza crust in the freezer for emergencies. I try to minimize the sweet-tasting items as that does seem a bit of a slippery slope for me. I have a hard time with controlling my intake of those. I do keep all the "fixins" around should I feel the need for a cookie-cakey type thing and have the car keys in my hand ready to go hit the store for some gluten-free cookies.

I tried a couple of recipes, but they weren't that good, so now I stick to the simplest things possible. That usually involves cooking meat and vegetables, and using the leftover stock to make soup.

I mostly cook meat and eggs. Compliment with Butter, cheese or cream and some veggies. Sometimes some fruit. Nothing special but I am working on it and hope to make some really tasty stuff soon.

Sometimes I really like puttering around in the kitchen, and end up cooking/baking more just for the fun of it. Sometimes I don't.

I make something that uses a recipe about 3 nights a week, with Slab of Meat of some sort for the other nights. That doesn't necessarily mean something terribly complicated (though occasionally it does). Just more involve than rubbing spices on meat and cooking. Breakfast is almost always bacon and eggs (occasionally sausage and eggs, very rarely something else entirely), and lunch is leftovers, omelets, or something similarly quick and easy.

Baking mainly happens on special occasions, but sometimes I just get in the mood to bake stuff, so I do. I probably will next week, as I plan to try making homemade coconut flour and seeing if it works. I make smoothies/popsicles/ice cream (same thing, different form) on a regular basis.

All simple foods here, meat, fats, minimal carbs nothing fancy there is no need for complex. I just do not see the need to create a 'paleo' version of SAD foods, ie paleo pancakes, muffins, pizza crusts, etc. The way I eat is quick, simple and nutritious. The most complex I get is preparing my home made kombucha, sauerkraut or fermented salsa.

stick with simple ;)

stick with simple ;)