Thank you for those thoughts! I think Paleo is really a term that doesn't quite have an agreed upon definition. Many people are very strict- and you are right for a 30 day elimination and strict paleo diet some of these things would not work. To be quite honest with you for someone brand new to paleo and for their first 30 days I wouldn't even suggest a lot of freezer meals. I think that first 30 days is a complete shift in someone attitude towards food. Going from "easy" and "fast" to actually putting thought into what you are eating and why. If it is your first time trying a 30 day challenge I would suggest cooking your meals fresh and experiencing the new ingredients you are working with without throwing them all in a crock pot and forgetting about it until dinner. This was made for me to prepare for my baby coming and in a definition of paleo I have adopted for the long term- not just for 30 days. I have found the strictness was too much personally for me and that healthy alternatives to homemade sauces was one shortcut I choose to take. I can add a disclaimer saying not all of these are strict paleo- but I encourage people to find that on their own and make their own changes to make to work for whatever definition of paleo they have chosen to adhere to. Thanks again for the comment!

I have to agree with Kimberly. The title of this post is quite deceiving. I found this link through Pinterest (where I saw someone had pinned it) and got excited because I've always wanted to eat much, much, healthier (cutting out as much processed foods as possible) and have never tried Paleo before. I figured this blog post would give me the nudge I needed to get myself started. But when I started reading through the first recipe of "7 Paleo Freezer Meals for the Slow Cooker" I was like, "Wait a minute, I don't think that ingredient is considered Paleo" and "I don't think this ingredient is considered Paleo either." You responded to Kimberly saying you don't think Paleo is a term that has an agreed upon definition. When I Googled "Paleo" it says: noun - a diet based on the types of foods presumed to have been eaten by early humans, consisting chiefly of meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit, and excluding dairy or grain products and processed food. When people hear the word Paleo, that's what they think of. They don't think "it's someone's interpretation of their own way to eat Paleo." So when I saw this post I was expecting full out Paleo meals (which I'm assuming lots of other people would too). I think the title of the blog post needs to be changed since they are not all true Paleo meals or should mention something about being "Modified Paleo meals." I would think there would have been some kind of disclaimer in the blog post saying you don't follow a strict Paleo diet, because when reading it, it sounds like you do (saying you're making a Paleo dinner implies everything the definition above says). I also tried to look for some disclaimer saying you don't follow a strict Paleo diet somewhere on your blog (the sidebar, a tab at the top of the page, etc.) and found nothing (so maybe you have it in another blog post? I haven't read through anything else you've written). I agree, I'd totally adopt a non-strict form of Paleo for myself, but this post and the title of it make it truly seem like these are considered Paleo meals, when certain ingredients in some of them are not. That was disappointing.

Ok... now that I posted my comment, it re-loaded your page for me and I was able to see your tabs at the top of your page. I did read through the "What is Paleo?" and it sounds like (according to what you wrote) you eat full out Paleo, no disclaimers about "...the strictness was too much personally for me and that healthy alternatives to homemade sauces was one shortcut I choose to take. I can add a disclaimer saying not all of these are strict paleo..." I'm not sure what the rest of your blog posts are like, but I think this one should definitely have a disclaimer in there somewhere.

Thank you for your feedback! The two ingredients here that are not considered Paleo are the BBQ sauce and the maple syrup. You can easily switch honey for the maple syrup or not use it at all- and for the BBQ sauce I state I use the trader Joes brand but there are plenty of Paleo bbq sauces out there that can be used instead. Making your own homemade BBQ sauce is your best bet because you can control the ingredients. I was in Whole Foods the other day and there was a whole section of Paleo approved condiments that are made with minimal ingredients.

Honestly- I would change the name but 95% of this post and the recipes are strict Paleo. And the other 5% there are easy changes to make 100% Paleo. The fact is these are vegetable, meat and fruit dishes with very few added ingredients.

I hope that this did not deter you from starting a Paleo lifestyle. Because I will be very honest- that kick you need to start a strict 30 day challenge will come HAVE to from within not from a post you find. YOU have to WANT to do Paleo. You have to prepare yourself. You have to definitely not start with frozen crock pot meals and instead start with fresh ingredients and recipes. I have a lot of fresh recipes on my blog that are 100% strict Paleo. It is not easy out there in the world to complete a Paleo challenge or to start a healthy lifestyle. There is temptation everywhere. Our old eating habits are just that- habits. And habits take a lot of hard work to kick. It takes a serious commitment to change the way we look and think about food. I cannot express how much eating healthy and creating a healthy life for yourself will change your life. I know that even though I am not currently eating Paleo (I fall on and off the wagon) that doing that first challenge completely altered the way in which I think about food.

I have been posting on this blog on and off for years and my habits have changed from the beginning to now due to a lot of reasons. I like to think of my blog as a place where people can expect my full honesty about what I am eating and where I am in this journey to better health I have embarked on.

I would hate to put a disclaimer on here that I do not think is necessary and deter people from finding some great recipes they can use and easily tweak. Or just avoid the two recipes out of 7 that have "questionable ingredients".

Eating Paleo and beginning a healthy lifestyle is all about personal responsibility. Taking responsibility for preparing your food. Taking responsibility and planning your meals. Sucking it up when you want a cupcake and eating an apple instead. So I encourage people to see this post for what it is. If you disagree then change the ingredients you disagree with. If you want to eat healthier in this processed world we live in- then changing a BBQ sauce ingredient will be the easiest obstacle you will overcome.

Great response, Aubrey. I agree! :) Especially the parts about substituting ingredients and doing one's own research.

And for the record, I'm Paleo-ish...with a now-and-then side of pepper jack cheese, s'mores, too much loaded coffee, Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce, Taco Bell Mexican Pizzas, Trader Joe's Cookie Butter, Gigi's Cupcakes...etc.etc.... yup...I've got issues. ;)

BUT that's just it - I'm also work in progress...as are we all!

I'm in agreement with the other comments about this being paleoish...not fully paleo and misleading. I have done the whole thirty and I have done paleoish. I remember when I first when fully paleo being really frustrated by misleading post, such as yours, as I was going through the process of learning what paleo is and is not. When someone advertise something as paleo even if MOST of it is but not all of it that is misleading. To continue with my search.