Sarah Fragoso wears many hats. A mother of three active boys, she also works as a Norcal Strength & Conditioning trainer, co-hosts the Paleo Talk podcast and is the author of Everyday Paleo: Embracing a Natural Diet & Lifestyle to Increase Your Family’s Health, Fitness and Longevity. Her book is chock full of Paleo recipes that are not only nutrition and delicious but also creative, kid-friendly and easy to prepare. Everyday Paleo also features a thirty-day family meal plan, two weeks of school lunch ideas and advice for families on transitioning to a Paleo diet. Sarah answered some questions about Paleo eating, family-style.

A lot of times coaches are approached by parents wanting nutritional advice, but they don’t have kids themselves. What would you recommend they keep in mind?

I think one thing to keep in mind is that Paleo’s definitely not a blanket solution for every scenario. Some people have kids that are super picky, some people have kids that don’t care, some people have kids who will literally move out if you try to change their diet and don’t prepare what they are used to.

The first thing I’d recommend is that you tell them to first focus on themselves, to make the nutritional changes in their own lives first. I know for me starting out that if someone told me, “You need to change what you’re eating and also change everything your family is eating, all at once,” I would’ve jumped off the nearest bridge. When people already know they need to make changes because of their health, that’s already very stressful, and now if you tell them on top of that, that they’re also not doing what they need to for their children most parents will get very defensive. They’ll be scared, worried, they won’t be able to think of anything else but getting out of there. So I’d say you start by helping parents make changes in their own lives and not even bring up their children until they start feeling better. That’s what happened with me. Once I started feeling better and my mental clarity improved, I was able to look at the big picture. I started thinking, if I’m feeling so much better and seeing results, this would be good not just for me but for everyone. So I’d recommend a gentle transition and approach. I think many people don’t realize how personally parents might take it when you tell them that they may not be doing what’s best for their kids.

The biggest concern I’ve heard about Paleo eating from parents in particular is that it takes too much time, and it costs too much money.

Definitely it’s an adjustment for people. I completely understand the time thing. We’re all busy. Any family that lives in the 21st century is busy. It’s how we’ve set ourselves up to be. For me, yes I was busy; I had to prepare meals and couldn’t hit the drive-through on the way home. But it honestly took way more of my time to be unhealthy and sick and deal with the problems that come up with that than to buy a crockpot and put some meat and veggies in it in the morning. The time thing is an excuse to not change what we’re most comfortable doing. We do have our modern conveniences that we can use to make it happen; cutting out one to two hours of television on the weekend to go shopping to make sure we have easy-to-prepare food on hand that’s healthy, or spending the time it takes to put in pizza to cook ground beef and put it in lettuce does not take that much time.

As far as money, for us when we made the switch gradually over to Paleo, a lot of things we were spending money on went away. Mochas, smoothies for the kids, eating out happened less. That saves a ton of money just by not getting takeout every night. In the past we’d still would buy meat and vegetables, but also all the processed crap too and then we’d end up wasting a lot of food too because it would go bad. So for us just comparing what life looked like before, we’d save money by not eating out and not buying all the crazy sugar filled drinks and the soda and the processed foods.

I think another mistake is when people think they absolutely cannot eat this way unless everything they buy is 100% grassfed and organic. Sometimes it’s hard to find those types of foods. So then I ask, is it healthier to eat bagels and donuts all day or a lean cut of meat? And googling which vegetables are not organic but have the least amounts of pesticides. It’s definitely manageable, even on a budget.

There’s a big debate going on about whether or not kids need dairy. What’s your take on it?

I know for my family my kids do better when they don’t eat dairy. So I think it’s important for any family making any decision for their kids to really take a giant leap backwards and look and see how their kids are responding. If you eat dairy, it promotes growth, which we think is great with kids at first because we want them to grow, be healthy and strong. But airy also grows cells we don’t want to grow. There’s a history of cancer in my family, so that’s something I’m concerned about. One thing I’ve noticed with my children is if they do eat dairy, occasionally we’ll have ice cream or cheese every now and then (I never eat gluten, so if I’m going to kick my heels back I’m going to eat cheese), they all have a tummy ache afterwards. Even good high quality cheese from the lady who milks her own cows and makes her own cheese. Another thing about kids drinking a lot of milk is that they get really full and do not eat other foods that are higher in nutrients. Even little kids. Give them a sippy cup of milk and they may not want to eat the chicken and broccoli you’re having for lunch. It’s up to each family decide what’s best for the. I know my kids tend to be healthier without the dairy. Again, though, I’d so much rather see parents give their kids some raw dairy every now and then than the Pop tarts. I always go back to that. We have to make the best decisions for our families.

Has your diet evolved in any way from when you first started eating Paleo to now?

I think I’m definitely more relaxed about it, not as far as just eating whatever I want but I’m definitely not as stressed out about, say, putting a little honey in my tea once in a while. I definitely eat very clean still, but I think once your body and hormones start to regulate you’re more in tune with your body and its needs, you’re able to listen to what you need better than you used to. I don’t “eat Paleo” anymore, I just live and I just eat and most of it falls into the Paleo model. What’s changed is that I enjoy it now. When I started, it was a chore. It was so difficult, especially with the whole psychological component of giving up carbs and sugar. But now it’s just life.

What is your quickest meal or snack when you are pressed for time?

If I know I’m going to have a super crazy day, I’ll load up the crockpot in the morning. We have a big family so I’ll add a huge roast or a whole chicken. I’ll use a dry rub with a mix of spices, throw in an onion and some garlic and throw it in the crockpot. It’s so great to come home at the end of the day and have food ready. Then I might make some mashed sweet potatoes in the pressure cooker or a fast veggie to go with it. Or in the summer we’ll grill; we’ll have chicken breasts marinating and ready to go.

What are you eating for dinner tonight?

Usually on Tuesdays we have Taco Tuesday, so I make Paleo tacos, essentially. Tuesdays are my insane afternoons. I pick up my oldest son at 4, go to the CSA to pick up our vegetables, then I have to get my middle son to karate at 5:30, and my husband doesn’t get home until 8:00. So then we rush home and we have twenty minutes to make dinner before the kids hit the wall. So I cook ground beef with cumin and garlic and sometimes a little chili powder, stir in some green salsa and wrap that in lettuce leaves or make a taco salad. And then I’ll add avocado, tomato, cilantro or chopped up cabbage on top of that.

What are your favorite recipes in your cookbook?

I love the meatloaf, because it’s a family favorite. I like the breakfast pizza, and I really like the seafood jambalaya recipe.

Any ideas for your next project?

I’m looking at more recipes. There’s going to be a twist to the recipes; it’s going to be more focused. And there will definitely be a chapter about eating Paleo on a budget, especially for large families.

Find Sarah Fragoso on her website, and check out her book, Everyday Paleo.