Three weeks already! Its getting easier as Katy and I are learning what is and what is not paleo (in the strict definition of no grains, legumes, dairy, or added sugar) and are starting to discover some foods and meals that we really like!
Sunday
Breakfast
Veggie Juice
Peaches
Coffee (black)
Lunch
Salad
Mixed Nuts
Dinner
Steak
Butternut Squash Fries
Salad
Butternut squash fries have definite potential. You just cut the squash into long (fry-esque) strips, and then coat it in a little olive oil and salt and then throw them in the oven.
Monday
Breakfast
Coffee (black)
Lunch
Avocado Egg Salad
Veggies
Apple
Dinner
Fish Sticks
Green Beans
Watermelon
The fish sticks were from the Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook and, like the butternut squash fries had definite potential, but needed a little work. It is really hard to cut a fish fillet into perfectly even strips so that they bake evenly! The fish part is cod cut into strips and then the cod is dipped in almond flour, eggs, and chopped nuts (pecans and walnuts) and baked. We also made homemade tartar sauce for the fish sticks! The Avocado Egg Salad was another pinterest find and was incredibly easy and pretty tasty! |
| Avocado Egg Salad and Veggies |
Tuesday
Coffee (black)
Lunch
Tuna Salad
Veggies
Blueberries
Dinner
Potluck Dinner
On Sunday we made egg muffins for the week, which is pretty much just eggs and veggies. They were okay, but they had a slimy texture and Katy decided that eating so many eggs wasn't exactly something she was in love with!
On Sunday we made egg muffins for the week, which is pretty much just eggs and veggies. They were okay, but they had a slimy texture and Katy decided that eating so many eggs wasn't exactly something she was in love with!
I am one of the co-presidents for The Nutrition Coalition at UNC, and so Tuesday we held our back to school pot luck dinner and decided to serve BBQ for all the students new to North Carolina! So, Katy and I stuck as closely to Paleo as we could by eating pulled pork (no bun) and lots of veggies that people had brought. Katy also made a baba ganoush (hummus with eggplant instead of chick peas) for the potluck.
Wednesday
Breakfast
Veggie/Fruit Smoothie
Coffee (black)
Lunch
Veggies
Mixed nuts w/ dried fruit
Dinner
Butternut Squash Soup
Salad
Peaches
Butternut Squash soup was the winner for the week....it was excellent, and, most importantly, made for great leftovers!
Thursday
Breakfast
Coffee (black)
Lunch
Leftover Soup
Veggies
Dinner
Crab Cakes
Sweet Potato Bites
Salad
Thursday was an interesting lesson in paleo. I got home late (around 7:45) and Katy was in the middle of cooking dinner. She was making her famous sweet potato bites (chop the sweet potato up into bite size pieces, toss with a little olive oil, rosemary, parsley, and garlic) and had just put them in the oven to bake for 40 minutes. The salad was mostly put together, and she was getting the salmon out to marinate. I took the dogs out for a walk and shortly after I left the house got a phone call from Katy. She was calling to inform me that the fish smelled rotten, but she wanted a second nose to confirm. So, I headed back to the house and sure enough the salmon did not smell like any kind of fish I would want to eat. We did not want to waste the food we had already prepared, and so at 8:00pm and with only half an hour until dinner I had to think of something I could quickly run and buy to replace the rotten salmon. This is when I realized how hard it is to eat paleo on the spur of the moment. I ended up grabbing some pre-made crab cakes from the seafood counter at Harris Teeter and called it a night, even though these crab cakes contained all sorts of non-paleo ingredients. I thought about a piece of steak or chicken, but I wanted something I could take home and have ready fast. I'm going to have to think about super fast paleo meals to have on reserve for the future.
Friday
Breakfast
Coffee (black)
Lunch
Almond Butter w/ celery
Veggies
Plum
Dinner:
Shrimp Skillet
Squash Casserole
Salad
We spent the weekend at Smith Mountain Lake with my family, who were wonderful at joining in on this paleo experiment. Katy and I cooked dinner for everyone Friday night, cooking out of the Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook. My Mom, being a good sport and going out of her way to serve us something paleo, made a paleo approved apricot and cherry cake with a fruit sorbet....very good!
On Saturday and Sunday morning we had delicious breakfasts...Saturday My Dad and twin brother, Seth, made veggie omelets with some home fries. On Sunday my Mom made paleo breakfast muffins, which we served with an assortment of fruit. For lunch we had brought along lots of veggies, baba ganoush, fruit, and mixed nuts....so other then a few cheats for dinner when we went to out Saturday night, it was a good weekend away!
Saturday night Katy and I made a blueberry crumble out of the next cookbook we are going to use, Practical Paleo, and it was delicious!
Thoughts:
We thought this week would be challenging because of spending the weekend away at the lake...however we made sure to plan ahead and pack plenty of stuff we could snack on, and it turned out to be fairly easy. However, we did (and will continue to) cheat on occasion, especially when my parents brought about 10 pounds of Monster cookies with them! We discovered some really good recipes this week of which we will certainly use again. Drinking our coffee black is getting easier, and while everyone else had ice cream with their blueberry crumble on Saturday night, we did not, and the crazy thing is, I didn't even miss it (except for maybe a little!).
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