Day 1

Day one… Today we went shopping when it was like 95 degrees during the kids’ nap time (and they weren’t sleeping) for things like curtain rods that I didn’t really want to spend money on… Oh and today was the day that we weren’t going to go through a drive thru coffee to make the process a bit more bearable… Whoopie! But i was determined not to crack, seeing as it took me three days anyways to get a day 1, So we struggled on, stopped two stores short of ourvgoal and went home. Now we are happier, and I didn’t eat anything not paleo. Yay hooray!

Meal one:
Banana
Coffee with almond milk
3 fried eggs

Snack:
Almonds

Lunch:
Applegate chicken hot dogs
Grape tomatoes
Sweet potatoes ( roasted this morning, then sliced and reheated in ghee with salt and cinnamon)
Blackberries

Snack:
A vanilla cloud drink

Dinner:
Grilled Mahi Mahi
Broccoli with garlic, cumin, salt, pepper, olive oil, and ghee

Sweet potato banana pancakes

Somehow it has to the point where my 2 year old is a picky eater… Sigh… However, if it looks like a pancake he will eat it. I have been making pancakes with banana, egg, and almond meal. But then I decided it was time to start sneaking in veggies. I went with a naturally sweet veggie to start with and it was a hit.

Here’s Isaiah scarfing down his pancakes. He was a big fan.

Sweet Potato Banana Pancakes

Mash together:
– 2 ripe bananas
– 1 mediumish sweet potato, cooked and peeled

Mix in:
– 4 eggs
– 1 cup almond meal
– 1 tsp vanilla
– 1 tbsp cinnamon

Heat in a pan some clarified butter and coconut oil.

I used a quarter measuring cup to plop out the batter. Then I sprinkled pecans on top for good measure when they were in the pan. Make sure they are pretty sturdy before trying to flip them… Often I’ll try to distract myself momentarily so I don’t get too impatient. If they get a little toasty, that’s ok… That’s just added caramelized banana flavor… Yum!

Enjoy your paleo pancakes! We sure did!

Breakfast of Champions

Just eat… Just eat what sounds good. Get out of the breakfast food, lunch food, and dinner food bubbles. One of the biggest things I have learned since eating paleo. Especially since not many “breakfast foods” are paleo.

This morning my husband was in charge of breakfast this morning. He thought strawberry spinach salad sounded good, so that’s what we had. And it was tasty.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

– olive oil
– 1/4 c sweet onion
– 5 strips bacon, chopped
– 1/4 c balsamic vinegar, we used raspberry but you could use a different flavor or plain
– 2 tbsp agave nectar
– strawberries
– eggs
– spinach

In a sauté pan, put about 1-2 tbsps olive oil.

When hot, add onion and bacon. When the bacon is cooked, add vinegar and agave. Then take it off the heat.

Throw spinach in a bowl, and put sliced strawberries on top. The dressing goes on top of that.

Then to go with our theory that iff you put eggs on it, it must be breakfast… Or something, David poached some eggs and put them on top. Yum! Like I said, breakfast of champions… At least paleo champions!

Chicken and broccoli

Chicken and broccoli… That’s what I had in my fridge for dinner. I hadn’t been to the store yet this week. Not going to lie… I was not terribly excited about dinner. So I just started throwing things together and it turned out pretty spectacular if I do say myself. As with all things I throw together the measurements are not exactly precise… But that’s just when you Know you’re really cooking. Ha!

So I know that said it tastes good…didn’t necessarily say it was pretty. This is actually a picture of dinner reheated later that night when my husband ate dinner. Food is always prettier fresh.

Teriyaki Chicken

2 lbs chicken tenders

Marinate the chicken in:
– 1/3 c olive oil
– 1/4 c coconut aminos
– 1/2 – 1 tsp each: garlic, onion, ginger powders and salt
– 1 tbsp agave nectar

Let sit for about an hour. Get a sauté pan piping hot over med high heat. Cook chicken for 5-10 min per side. You don’t want to over cook them. You do want them to be done, so watch them.

Herby Broccoli

Cut the florets of broccoli off, rinse them in a strainer, and throw them Ina sauté pan with a lid. After a few minutes add a generous amount of olive oil. I then sprinkled herbs de Provence, salt, white pepper, and a little bit of Cajun seasonings. It took me two rounds of seasoning to get it to taste good to me. Then I cooked it until it was a bit toasty and it was sooooo good.

And that is one way to switch up chicken and broccoli blahs to chicken and broccoli wows!

Vanilla Cloud Drink

Sometimes when you are eating paleo, you get tired of water… Like real tired of water. Normally I’m okay with it all the time but sometimes you just want something creamy, yummy, and sweet. I tried this 8 dollar drink at whole foods… A bottled drink of yumminess. I know… I can’t believe I splurged for it as well, however, I did figure out that it was super tasty and recreatable. The recipe isn’t super specific and doesn’t even look super appealing in the picture but trust me, it is amazing.

Vanilla Cloud…my way

(Once again rough measurements )

3 parts unsweetened almond milk
1 part coconut milk
A couple shakes of cinnamon
One shake of nutmeg
A long squirt of agave or honey
About a teaspoon of vanilla extract

Mix and put over ice… If you are a latte lover you can switch out the coconut milk for strong coffee or espresso.

Enjoy! I bet you could blend it as well for a frozen one… Or even switch out the cinnamon and nutmeg for cocoa powder…

Baby Steps… Day 2

Well, we officially made it to day 2 of our whole30. It’s really easy to retry day 1 but after that you’re committed. Breakfast was Italian beef and two fried eggs. The Italian seasonings make it taste like sausage. It is very hard to find sausage without sugar snuck in, so we make our own.

Italian Beef and Veggies

– 1/2 lb ground beef
– 1 and1/2cups mushroom, I used baby portabellas
– 2 cups fresh spinach
-1/2 sweet onion
– 3/4 cup or so, steam sautéed green cabbage (leftover from weekly cook up)
– garlic powder, Italian seasoning, marjoram, salt, and pepper

Cook all up in a pan, put two fried eggs on top, I like mine runny.

We took the family grocery shopping after breakfast. Lots of fruits, veggies, and meat. Grabbed two larabars to make it through the last store. My husband made a fabulous lunch when we got home. We had pan fried ahi tuna steaks with fruit salsa on top and sautéed snap peas.

Ahi Tuna w/ Fruit Salsa

Mix chili powder, salt, and powdered ginger. Pat on to both sides of tuna. Heat a pan with coconut oil. When piping hot, put in the tuna. Cook to your liking, it will not take long. A bit rare in the idle is how we prefer it.

On top mix together:
– a cup of pineapple diced
– one mango diced
– a red pepper diced
– juice of one lime
– salt

So tasty! I wish I had gotten a picture of this one. We ate it too fast! Grocery shopping made us vey hungry, and while my husband makes good food… It might have taken forever! Lol! Nt complaining though. I love eating a meal I didn’t cook.

This evening I went to a baby shower. Social settings are the hardest when it comes to eating paleo. The main dish was chicken Alfredo pasta casserole. Smelled so good… So. I Ate fruit salad and lettuce with tomatoes on top. But I feel good still! Need to keep remember that is the reason we Are doing this…. Day 2 success!

Resolution to start again… Day 1 take two

Ready….set….go! We are trying day 1 of our whole30 again. We had a lot of treats the last couple of days and the negative effects just aren’t worth it. So, here we go again. Breakfast this morning was leftover spaghetti sauce (or stew since it was so chunky) with two fried eggs on top. Really good and mixed up breakfast a bit which is nice.

While my husband was at work, not resisting the temptation of a breakfast burrito, Isaiah and I had chicken thighs, carrots, and blueberries for lunch. Every week I bake off a pan of chicken thighs for whatever we might need them for. Sometimes they get thrown in curry, or stir fry, or sometimes we just eat them plain with veggies. The prep work has been what makes eating this way doable. Today I put ginger, garlic, turmeric, salt, and pepper on the chicken. Isaiah liked it a lot! He would start singing when he ate it. Lol.

Dinner was more leftovers. Carrots, spaghetti sauce, and pineapple. But i did manage to control the desire to eat burritos and quesadillas for dinner instead…yay personal victory! Tomorrow we will finish grocery shopping for the week!

Flashback!!

Oh mylanta! I was sitting here reading some sweet paleo blogs only to hear a song reminiscent of my past… 98 degrees is on the Today show… What? Weird…. And Isaiah starting singing along… And by singing along, I mean sing-babbling. What a funny way to start my day! The delicious way I started my day was with bacon, pineapple, and butternut squash. I roasted the butternut squash a few days ago with the spaghetti squash. I figure that if the oven is going, put in as much as possible to have food for the week. So I reheated it today with clarified butter, cinnamon, salt, and a little bit of nutmeg.

Yummy!

Spaghetti with meat sauce

It’s the end of my day one of my second whole30 attempt only to decide that it really wasn’t day one… If only I didn’t have such a love of lattes…and almond poppy seed bread. But while there were some minor set backs, I am just happy that it was day one…no one wants to start over again on day 14 or whatever.

While some food choices were not superb, every meal I ate was whole30 approved. And even more exciting news, Veronica is almost sitting up on her own… They grow up so fast. Anyways dinner tonight was probably one of the most cliche meal swaps out there right now..that’s right I put my homemade spaghetti sauce over spaghetti squash instead of pasta. However, I think there are a few tips to make it just a little better.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

– Roasted spaghetti squash, roasted ahead of time
– garlic salt, salt and pepper to taste
– 2 tbsp clarified butter

Put above ingredients in sauté pan and reheat squash. If you don’t season your squash, it will not be as good. This will serve as your pasta.

Sauce

I raided my fridge to come up with the sauce. I have learned to be well prepared for whatever I want, thanks to the book Well Fed. so in my fridge was already cooked ground beef and onions, steam sautéed zucchini and red bell peppers, and I had cans or tomato in the cupboard. So, it ended up being, give or take…
– 2 pounds ground beef
– 1/2 onion chopped
– 1 cup red peppers chopped
– 1.5 cups zucchini
– 2 cans tomatoes
– Italian seasonings 2 tbsp or so
– garlic salt, salt, and pepper to taste

I let it stew for a while on the stove.

When it’s all cooked and hot, plate and serve. Congrats you have satisfied your Italian craving!