Author - Dee

…it’s when your clothes start getting too big!  My jeans are pretty much unwearable.  I feel like a little kid in them!  I LOVE IT!

Okay friends, if you find the right formula and it works for you, then stick with it.

So dinner…I made a “cream” of mushroom soup tonight, the “creaminess” was from avocados and water mashed up in the food processor.  It had red peppers, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and basil.  It was delicious!  I paired it with some steamed broccoli, zucchini, and onions; sauteed in sesame oil, sesame seeds, and coconut aminos.  I was feeling a little under the weather today, so I didn’t want to make something that took hours.  The soup and veggies took about an hour or so, maybe even less time than that.  Tomorrow, I was thinking fish for dinner, or maybe chicken?  I’ll do my research in the A.M. and see what I find.  Haven’t had fish in awhile…feeling adventurous!

“Skip the diet.  Just eat healthy.” 

-Unknown-

I have been craving sweet and sour chicken from the Chinese restaurant for weeks, so today, I set out to find a Paleo version of it!  The recipe, Paleo Sweet and Sour Chicken, seemed promising, so I set forth on a mission to create it!  I stopped at the grocery store and grabbed all the ingredients, and needed to pick up extra stuff to make Paleo ketchup.  As a side, I decided on kale with avocado salad.  I’ve only had kale steamed, so I was excited to see how it was in a salad!

It took me almost 2 hours to make the entire meal, start to finish.  There is more than enough for leftovers for the next day or two.  I was completely shocked when it tasted exactly like my favorite meal from the Chinese restaurant that I have been wanting so badly since I changed to Paleo.  Alas, I have an almost exact replica to what I used to eat at least once a week, sometimes more.  I am so incredibly excited about making this meal in the future, and fairly often.  Looking forward to have my leftovers for breakfast and lunch tomorrow!  Oh, the little things in life.

So the kale and avocado salad was super tasty, and really easy to put together.  I honestly didn’t have high expectations for it, but I must say, I was pleasantly surprised.  It was just kale with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, grape tomatoes, onions, and avocado.  I drizzled a little balsamic on it, too.  Yum!  Kale is such a tasty leaf to have in a salad, who knew?  (definitely not me)  I will certainly be using kale more often.

Now, I’m going to enjoy some hot ginger tea, and call it a night.

“You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.-

Chili is definitely one of the “lazy” meals.  I need to go food shopping tomorrow, but for tonight, I had a pound of chop meat…albeit, frozen…but still there for the taking.  So I popped it in the microwave to defrost for a few minutes, heated up my pot, and threw it in.  I cut up a sweet potato, an onion, garlic, and a few spices.  I threw them all in and let them simmer.  As a side, I steamed some broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, and carrots; tossed them with a bit of olive oil, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and some cumin. After they were coated, I put them in a tray and put them in the oven for 25 minutes to bake.  It made for a pretty good meal.  Lots of yummy veggies!

I’m about to make my shopping list for tomorrow.  I think I’m going to try some new things.  I also think I may make a huge pot of veggies too, this way I have them for a couple days instead of just 2 or 3.  I tend to look for recipes online, but lately I’ve been venturing out of the box and trying my own things.  When I come up with some good recipes I will gladly post them for all to see.

“Small changes can make a BIG difference.”

-Unknown-

Dinner was chicken nuggets with buffalo sauce…yummo!  I made a salad with balsamic vinegar, steamed broccoli, and sweet potato fries.  🙂  Even had some leftover for breakfast today!!  I also cut up and cooked two chicken breasts and put some spices on them.  I’ll put the chicken in some lettuce wraps and eat it for lunch today.  I’m not sure what I want to do with dinner yet.

I’m still upset with myself for eating that ice cream (that wasn’t even worth it), but I don’t consider it a setback.  Just moving on from it.  I’m pretty sure that any kind of food or meal you can think of, there’s a Paleo recipe for it!  You really won’t miss much about the diet you had before.  Just the cooking is very time consuming, but well worth it.

I found some hot ginger tea, helps with digestion, and is very delicious.  I picked it up at Trader Joe’s, I definitely recommend it.

“Everyday is a new beginning, take a deep breath and start again.” 

-Unknown-

I made Paleo chocolate peanut butter ice cream last night and it was awesome!  I didn’t have much but I definitely enjoyed it.  Went to Target and bought an ice cream maker.  Found this recipe online and used it, Paleo Peanut Butter Chocolate Ice Cream.  If anyone else tries it, let me know how it comes out. For dinner I made some Paleo pizza with jalepenos, tomatoes, “cheese”, and olives.  You can do so much with that Paleo pizza!  I definitely need to make some buffalo chicken pizza!

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon at Fenway.  Unfortunately, my Yankees lost to the Red Sox, but that’s okay.  Two victims of the Boston bombing, a woman who had lost both of her legs and her daughter who almost bled to death, were there to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.  It was a really nice moment, so I felt like the Red Sox won for them!

They allow you to bring in an unopened bottle of water, but I’m not sure what their policy is on outside food.  I think at Yankee Stadium you can bring in outside food if it’s in a clear bag.  Don’t quote me on that.  When I got there I was starting to get a little hungry.  I decided to get an Italian sausage sandwich with peppers and onions (probably not the best Paleo option); I threw out the bun.  I was proud of myself.  When I was leaving the stadium I did see a very small gluten free stand but I didn’t get anything.  Wish I had seen that earlier!

I collect the ice cream helmets you get from baseball games, and the last time I went to Fenway I wasn’t able to get a normal Boston helmet because it was the 100 year anniversary.  I figured I could reward myself with ice cream so that I could get my Boston helmet…let me tell you, it wasn’t even worth the reward.  You’d think that since I haven’t had dairy or sugar that it would be amazing, but it wasn’t.  Some “reward” that was.  Paleo food is so much more tasty and flavorful, and I’m not even just saying that.  You make food with real ingredients, as opposed to processed “flavorings” and such.  This is just an observation.

I’m still believing that “rewards” and “cheats” when you’re Paleo aren’t even worth it.  Maybe real pizza would be, but I really enjoy Paleo pizza.  The way I’m living now is working, so why compromise it.

“NOTHING will taste as good as feeling FIT feels.”

-Stephen Luke Fitness-

I am spending the night in Boston for the Yankees/Red Sox game tomorrow.  Needless to say it took about an hour and a half to find a place with food as close to Paleo as possible.  Finally found Henrietta’s Table in The Charles Hotel.  They had gluten free options, as well as meals with grass fed beef and free range chicken…BINGO!  Got the sirloin, medium rare, with veggies; also, got a watermelon salad for an appetizer!  I have made it before and I was so excited to see it on the menu.  It’s arugula, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper, watermelon, and goat cheese (not Paleo, and shouldn’t really be consumed your first 30 days).  I don’t eat any cheeses anymore, but I make an exception for a little bit of goat cheese crumbles on top of the watermelon salad.  Good option if you’re going to a barbecue to make and bring for everyone to enjoy.  At least you’ll have something you can eat.  I recommend that for any party you go to, actually.  If you are super strict Paleo, and worried that someone won’t have anything for you to eat, then make a Paleo dish and bring it to share!  🙂  And remember…it’s so good, you won’t believe it’s Paleo!

If you’re willing to put in the work with this lifestyle change, then it will work for you.  Got on a scale today and down 19lbs.  I am so proud of myself and so incredibly thankful for the support of my friends!

“I’m not telling you it’s going to be easy,

I’m telling you it’s going to be worth it.”

-Unknown-

Can anyone relate to this…

First off, I didn’t get much sleep last night, but I think the mango may be bogging me out a little today.  I haven’t had fruit or sugars really in the last month.  Today I feel tired, but my sinuses are bothering me and I’m actually feeling hungry.  I’m not sure if the sugar is throwing me off or not, but I’m pretty sure that the mango is the issue.  It’s the only thing that’s different that I added over the last few days. I’ll see how I feel later.  Looks like pork chops for lunch!!

It’s amazing how I can see the difference now with what I put in my body.  It’s all a learning experience.  If anyone has any insight on this, please feel free to share!

“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.”

-La Rouchef0ucauld-

Today I was a Paleo cooking machine!  I ended up making mango chicken and green beans with almond butter sauce for dinner.  Boy, oh boy.  It was delicious!  Took awhile to cook the chicken and mango, but well worth it.  I have enough for lunch tomorrow, too!  I also cooked up 6 pork chops.  I had recipes for some really good spice mixes in my Paleo book.  I did 3 with spicy cinnamon and 3 with a smokey type flavoring.  I’ll probably have one for lunch tomorrow, or maybe a quick snack at some point.  Then, I can just freeze 2 or 3 to have whenever.  🙂  I love cooking now!  The house smelled awesome, too!

Made a quick stop at Trader Joe’s for some coconut milk yogurt…makes for a good snack, or a quick breakfast.  I was never even a fan of yogurt, but this stuff is good. It’s somewhere between regular yogurt and greek yogurt.  Coconut milk (in a can) is actually good for coffee.  I like it better than almond milk.  You can find it in the grocery store, and it’s inexpensive.  I also grabbed some anchovies so I can make some Paleo Caesar dressing…or attempt to at least.  haha

I noticed that a lot of the recipes call for hot pepper; I read that the spiciness helps speed up your metabolism…I’m all for it!  Although, my poor Mom says some of the stuff is way too hot (but she eats it anyway…).

Paleo has been an adjustment, but I’m certainly enjoying every minute of it so far!

“Want it?  Work for it.”

-Unknown-

Tonight for dinner I made mussels with a Paleo marinara sauce, and a salad with lots of veggies, for a side.  There were a few attempts at dressings, a few epic fails, and then ended up with a creamy avocado dressing.  It was prettttty good!

I found myself sitting at the table today saying, “Man, this stuff is too good to be Paleo.”  I’ve been a fan of almost every single meal and side dish I’ve made since I started.  Most of it has been stuff that I would have never imagined even trying!  I have a few food allergies, but so far that hasn’t seemed to get in the way.

I’m not a big fan of olive oil and unfortunately some of the stuff calls for a lot of it, like dressings, or the Paleo mayo (which I hate).  So, I try to find a lot of different alternatives to using the olive oil in such large quantities.  I found an alternative for the mayo at Whole Foods.  I can’t remember what it’s called at the moment, but it has all natural ingredients, no soy, no gluten, no canola oil, and no dairy.  It does have a few more grams of sugar than I would like to have, but the small amount I use every once in awhile, won’t stress me out that much.  I love that spices are your best friends if you’re Paleo-riffic!  🙂

By the way, if you find a meal that you really like that is Paleo (besides the Paleo pizza and thin mint cookies), don’t be afraid to eat it often.  Some stuff should be eaten in moderation and not as often as we’d like…ahem-pizza and cookies-ahem…but it’s healthier than a lot of the other stuff we could be eating.

I thought that I’d want to have a cheat meal at this point, but I really don’t.  I’ve thought about it and pizza or tuna on a sub would probably be my go-to, but I really don’t even mind not “rewarding” myself with that stuff.  I’ve learned to love the new Paleo versions of some of my favorite meals.  That’s actually one of the things I think I enjoy most about this so far.

Next adventure, Paleo Ice Cream!

“Most people have no idea how good their body is designed to feel.”

-Kevin Trudeau-