Everyday Paleo, Day 7

I say "free-ta-ta" you say "Frit-at-ah"-- Frittata For All, it's what was for breakfast this morning! How can you go wrong with bacon, bell pepper, and green onion as a base? Throw down some scrambled egg mixture with pepper and oregano, broil it, and bam! *Emeril-izing* Frittata for All. Even Grace ate it. The recipe says it serves 6, but I made 8 slices. So, in my head, that's 8 servings. I had 2 slices with the blow your head off hot sauce I made for huevos rancheros yesterday. Way yummy!

Lunch was leftover lasagna. The whole 9 x 13 dish is gone now. Andy took 1/2 of the 1/2 that was left to work for lunch, and I had the other 1/2. We were both pining away for it at dinner, wishing there was more.

Dinner was, uh... interesting. In a green eggs & ham kinda way. Garden Meatballs, made with sweet potato, zucchini, ground beef, ground turkey, and some other stuff. Today also called for baked green beans. Alas, there was no recipe for baked green beans in the book! So I had to go hunt down an online recipe. I found one by Emeril and BAM! Hubby was in love. So easy. Green beans, EVOO, tarragon, garlic salt, lemon pepper-- BAM, BAM, BAM! *giggle*

The meatball recipe says that it makes 25 meatballs. My batch made 40. FORTY! 40 REALLY. BIG. HONKIN. MEATBALLS! Sarah, did I do something wrong? It was also kinda oozy after it came out of the oven. I discovered that I like my meatballs on the crispier side. All the veggies made it kinda soggy. I had a plate of 9 meatballs, but really had to muscle my way through the last 2.

Tomorrow we will have a little weigh in to see if week 1 has affected anything in that area.

Everyday Paleo, Day 6

Everyday Paleo, Day 6, AKA KETCHUP DAY!

Y'know those huevos rancheros I was supposed to have on Saturday? We're having them today cuz I don't have the fixins for the colorful hash in Sarah's book. How many points do I have in the unpreparedness box now? I'm also craving bacon & fat, so I'm having a side of that as well. Here's my morning nom noms:

Sarah, are you sure you're not supposed to seed the jalapeno BEFORE throwing it in the food processor? Irregardless, my cold thanks you! My tongue on the other hand...

The ranchero sauce is made with tomatillos, jalapeno, cilantro, garlic, lime juice, and sea salt. I had never worked with tomatillos before. Look how pretty they are!

THEY WERE STICKY!
I cooked them & the jalepeno in some leftover bacon grease. Yes, we save & freeze our bacon grease. EVERYONE SHOULD SAVE THIS DELICIOUS TREASURE!
I didn't have cilantro, so I used silver thyme from my back porch garden. I tasted the sauce after I had combined it, and it about blew my head off. I immediately grabbed the HWC from the fridge, to help quell the fire. The sauce was not so bad over the eggs & avocado, but still pretty macho! Let's just say my sinuses are clear without the use of vicks.

Lunch is shrimp tacos. WAHOO! I love me some shrimp.

Can you guess what dinner is using these pictures?

Did you guess yet? Dinner is "Hasta La Vista, Pasta Lasagna". Very excited to try this one. Andy has been saying he's been missing lasagna. I don't really care for lasagna (I think it's the ricotta), so this should be fun to try.

Tell me that doesn't look like regular la-zag-knee! Andy loved it. I loved it. Half the 9 x 13 pan is GONE. Since we are a Primal family, and not strictly Paleo, I took the liberty of adding parmesan on top & broiling it. I think it sealed the deal.

Lastly...
Y'know how I complain about not losing weight & my legs are too big? Yeah, yeah, I know. I have come to the conclusion that my body, keeping in line with my ultimate weirdness, is taking fat from weird places... like my KNEES. I am starting to get a really nice cut in my thigh & calf. Kinda proud. Cover your eyes if you're not into cellulite and massive, muscley thunder thighs.

I guess those crazy, 6+ mile walks are paying off!

Everyday Paleo, Day 5

Today is Fast Sunday-- the slowest Sunday of each month. I took Ma to the airport this morning. Settling into the fast now. Looking forward to Everyday Paleo "Rockin Moroccan Chicken" for dinner.
Today's breakfast of blueberry pancakes will have to wait a day or two.
Did I mention my sinus funk has turned into a cold? Grace has been very sweet today giving me hugs & kisses. I just hope she doesn't catch it. Have been giving her Bolthouse Farms C-Boost Juice to help keep her immune system strong. On Wednesday, we're going to start going to her new preschool for reading time. Very excited to have this opportunity over the summer. She already recognizes letters in the alphabet, and can even read a couple words.
I'm super eager to get over this gambu so I can bust out the tanning oil & be active again.

Rockin Moroccan Chicken:

It was different, but tasty. Grace was fussy at the dinner table (no nap, since church is during her nap time). I let her lay on the couch to watch Beauty & The Beast while we ate, figuring she'd come back over when she was hungry enough. When I checked on her, I found this:

Sweet little angel!

Needless to say, she's gone to bed early.

Everyday Paleo, Day 4

So this morning is huevos rancheros... only I have no ha-la-pen-o (jalapeno). Yay for my continued unpreparedness. Y'd'think by now I'd have all the groceries for week 1. Nope.
I told Andy my dilemma, but he just now left. It's almost lunch time! I'll be having huevos rancheros another day.
Tomorrow is Fast Sunday... Lunch is leftovers, but breakfast is pancakes *smacks lips*. I REALLY want to try it, but it's also going to have to wait.
I was so hungry this morning, I broke down and had 1/2 cup Fage Total. Eagerly awaiting lunch now.

Lunch is a nice spinach salad.

Dinner is an adventurous beef & curry stew. Which Ma hated (she's completely stone faced despite my offering to make or go get her ANYTHING she wants).

The stew called for thai curry paste. Who keeps this around on a regular basis? I hunted down a recipe online and made mine from scratch. Proud to say I had 99% of the ingredients it called for! Here's the recipe for the curry paste I used: http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaicurrypasterecipes/r/redpaste.htm.
Also proud of myself for cutting off the majority of the fat from the beef we're using in the stew. I did throw the fat into the pot, but at least it's not attached to the meat. I think it's a step forward for me.

The snack of the day is sunny deviled eggs. I kinda feel like it was a fail. Not the recipe! Me. I couldn't get the yolk to be fluffy.

Hope you had a more successful cooking day than I did.

Everyday Paleo, Day 3

So you may have, no doubt by now, seen the new government "food pyramid". If you haven't, here it is:

But I think this way is better:

More on that here:
http://www.fitbomb.com/2011/06/its-not-that-hard.html

Anyway, on with the Everyday Paleo adventure!

Breakfast today is leftover egg cupcakes. YUM! I scarfed them down with salsa (which is funny, cuz tomorrow I'm having Huevos Rancheros for breakfast).

Lunch is avocado tuna boats. Yet another opportunity to warm up to avocados! Tutuuuuu tuna boats! (get it? tutu-- toot toot. Ahaha! I make a funny).

The recipe involves making your own mayonnaise. Many of the recipes are for multiple servings, but I'm just cooking for me & Grace during the day. Proud to say I MADE MY OWN MAYO! And it is goooood. I put the rest away in the fridge. I even added some whey from my Fage Total to help it keep longer. I'm tellin' ya, this is the way mayo is meant to taste.

However, I must confess I left the celery in the recipe out of my tuna. I HATE CELERY! It has to be cooked to super mush, so I don't notice it, in order for it to be edible to me. I can kind of tolerate it in an ants on a log mode, but it has to be absolutely slathered with nut butter, which kinda defeats the purpose of celery, right?


Dinner is Pecan-Crusted Chicken with Fancy Pear Salad (I added golden raisins for garnish).

Ma refuses to eat it. I'm keeping my mouth shut, and allowing her to prepare her food the way she likes. She also bought corn on the cob. Meh. She's convinced I'm very Paleo-Hitler as far as FORCING my husband to eat the same way I do. She makes me out to be a total tyrant & that my husband is afraid of me. I told him that and he just shrugged. He knows he can eat the way he wants, but he chooses to support me in this lifestyle. I think all he cares about is that he comes home to a hot dinner ;)
Grace, on the other hand, is pretty happy and VERY healthy thanks to Primal. Last night was the first time she has been sick in 6 months. Hubby said just before he left for work she was congested, and threw up a little. Can't blame her. I have a sinus infection & sore throat. Did I mention my mom brought a cold with her when she came last Saturday? lol

Anyway... Sarah has snacks listed daily, but I'm not really a big snacker. Yesterday I gave "bugs in a boat" (think ants on a log, only with golden raisins & almond butter) to Grace, which she happily munched up for lunch.
Today's snack is leftover steak skewers & macadamia nuts (aka-- CRACK-A-DAMIAS. Seriously, I can't keep nuts in the house. I go nuts. It's not pretty). Oh, and leftover steak skewers?
WHAT LEFT OVERS?! o_O

Everyday Paleo, Day 2

The agenda today calls for leftovers, only I didn't make the egg muffins until last night, so they're still kinda fresh. Can't wait to hit them up with some salsa for egg muffins ala ranchero! Recipe calls for 1 doz eggs, bell peppers, green onion, baby spinach, and bacon. It made 24 "muffins". Talk about a great, easy, and quick grab-and-take breakfast.

Lunch is leftover turkey & slaw from dinner last night. I also made the sun dried tomato dressing to put on it. Very tasty.

Dinner is steak skewers with cauliflower fried rice. I think this one will be the winner today. We've made the skewers before and they were decadent! The cauliflower rice might be trickier... not sure I have cauliflower, LOL. Let's hope so!

We DID have cauliflower, and I DID make the cauliflower fried rice. It was yummy, but I didn't think to take a picture.

P.S. Must offer apology to Sarah for straying from the path tonight. My Mom (who is visiting this week) said she'd get some ice cream from the store. I told her that I could make her some and it would have less of an impact on her blood sugar. She said "That's okay, I'll just get the sugar free stuff." To which I sort of launched into a Wicked Witch of the West melting tone, BEGGING her to let me just TRY to appease her palette. I couldn't stop thinking about all the chemicals and crap in the stuff at the store, when mine is only made of coconut milk, vanilla, eggs, and a little stevia, AND SO GOOD!
She came home with strawberries... and bananas. I guess she's going to have a little faith.
I told her if she wants to move in with us that she's going to have to eat TONS healthier, and take better care of herself. She put up an argument, and said that she was happy she's already outlived her parents. Insert self *Head-desk* here.
She's my mom. I want her to live forever. Even when we butt heads. She, like most of the world, can't understand why critter, EVOO, and no grains is healthier than chips & pepsi.

RE ON ICE CREAM: Ma was a great sport and tried my ice cream. She thought it was vile. Hey at least I tried & she tried.

Everyday Paleo, Day 1

A lesson in unpreparedness. I wake up, fully intending to make an Everyday Paleo breakfast (and lunch), and don't have some of the main ingredients. I also have sinus funk. I wonder if head desking will help. *Head desk* *Head desk* *Head desk*. Nope.
Stay tuned as I figure out what to do.

Back on track for now, I think.
Went to Sunflower Market. They didn't have the Coleman Bacon I wanted, so got Hickory Farms instead at the same price. Also couldn't find golden raisins or pecans, so I went to Target for that. My lunch was fantastic. We'll get to that in a sec. Breakfast was a lost cause, but I'll prepare it tonight since Day 2 includes leftovers.

For breakfast I had hemp seed porridge (NOT part of Everyday Paleo). Face it. When you wake up feeling crappy, y'just want some hot comfort food. This "no-oatmeal" did the trick.
Here's the recipe:
http://eatthecookie.wordpress.com/2011/05/13/hemp-seed-porridge/

I put a little shredded coconut on top of mine. It was awesome.

For lunch I had the Everyday Paleo Salmon Salad... only I had tuna cuz I don't like salmon, LOL. It was fantastic, too. I am slowly warming up to avocados. They have to be super squishy for me to tolerate, though.
Mixed baby greens, red bell pepper roasted with coconut oil, tuna fish, avocado, some slivered almonds, apple cider vinegar, EVOO, all deliciousness.

Dinner on Day 1 is supposed to be Spice Rub Slow Cooked Chicken. It calls for a 6 lb chicken. That was expensive. The 10 lb turkey on the other hand was not. So, yeah, we're having turkey. Also fixing the "Kids Love Cabbage Slaw" slaw. I HATE coleslaw... so if this is delicious, it's a winner, winner, turkey dinner to me!

The coleslaw was tasty, IMO

Today's cals: 2400

Footnotes:
GROCERY BILL FOR DAYS 1-5: About $80
STARTING WEIGHT FOR EVERYDAY PALEO ADVENTURE: 178
WAIST: 30"
THIGH: 19"
HIP: 38"
NECK: 12"