Raisin Nut Crunch Cereal

Here is my cereal prior to going into the oven. It smells delicious now!

Paleo Diet: Day 1

It’s here!!! I was so excited to get started this morning but was also a little nervous to say good bye to all my comfort foods. Thankfully, everything went smoothly. We had bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast. David was very happy since his favorite food is bacon. I don’t think I will be able to eat bacon and eggs for every breakfast as I prefer a sweeter breakfast most of the time. I’ve found a couple interesting Paleo cereals and granola’s though. Here is the one I chose and I bought all the ingredients for it this morning! I’m going to make it this evening so it is ready for tomorrow.

This morning my friend, Jen, came over to watch D while I went out and did all my shopping. Jen is huge blessing and has such a servant’s heart. She is a nursing student and whenever she has a break from school she always offers to watch the children of the mom’s in our community group so we can have some alone time. When she asked if she could watch D one day this week I jumped on it! I was able to go to Trader Joes, Whole Foods, and Kroger babyfree!

Trader Joes was amazing this morning. It was not crowded at all so I had a much better experience this time around. I knew I was going to have to spend a lot of money this first week since I needed to stock my pantry with items we do not have, like nuts and grain-free flours. I was pleasantly surprised at the wonderful selection and great prices on nuts at Trader Joes. I was able to buy all my vegetables, nuts, coconut milk, and canned goods for only $49.00! I was ecstatic.

Thankfully Whole Foods, aka Whole Paycheck, is only a hop, skip, and a jump from Trader Joes. What I love about Whole Foods is their bulk section. I bought pumpkin seeds, coconut, sea salt, and figs in the exact quantities that I needed and at much lower prices. Unfortunately, I could only find one brand of coconut flour, almond flour, and arrowroot at Whole Foods and they were all expensive for only a small amount. I went ahead and bought them because I needed them now but if we stick with this diet after the 30 days I will definitely be buying my grain-free items online. I also bought coconut oil, garlic, and sweet potatoes at Whole Foods. My bill came to $49.00. Haha, yes the exact same as Trader Joes!

Finally, I went to Kroger for all my meat. I just can’t pay Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s prices on meat. One day we may be able to swing it but for now it is Kroger. Lucky for us we have a nice Kroger not far from our house and they offer free- range chicken and Laura’s beef products. I needed a whole lot of meat today and I also bought D a box of clementines because he LOVES them. My Kroger total came to $50.00. I was sad that it wasn’t $49.00, lol. So this week I spent $200 on groceries. On Monday I spent $45 at Costco where I bought honey, 3 lbs of almonds, enough chicken stock to last 6 months, and a month’s worth of bacon. (nitrate free of course!) All and all I am happy with how much I have spent. I knew I would spend more the first week and my goal for the next 3 is $100 a week. Eating healthy is not cheap but I think we need to spend more money on better food because it really is preventative medicine.

Some of the items I bought today.

When I got home from grocery shopping it was around 1:00 and I was starting to feel hungry. Usually I am counting down the minutes to lunch by 11:30 a.m so this was a huge improvement. I haven’t made my grain-free bread yet so my lunch was a little thrown together at the last minute. I had a turkey dog, some almonds, and a clementine. I’m feeling pretty satisfied so hopefully I can make it to dinner without craving an unhealthy snack!

My lunch on day 1

Week One Menu

Hearty Beef Stew with Paleo Biscuits

Steak and Roasted Squash

Chicken, Broccoli, and “Rice” Casserole

Sweet Potato Sausage Soup and The Perfect Paleo Biscuits

Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

I’m excited week one is here and so far it is off to a smooth start!

-e

30 Days of Paleo

My life has needed many changes lately and one of the major changes I need to make is in how I eat. When I was a young girl I played many sports and spent my days outside running around and exploring the woods surrounding my parents home. In high school I played soccer and fast-pitch softball. In college I spent more time playing ultimate Frisbee than studying. When I got married in 2007 all of that physical activity came to a screeching halt. I started working full time as an elementary school teaching assistant and when I came home from work I made high calorie/high carb dinners. I ate huge portions too, unconsiously matching the portion sizes of my new husband. My weight quickly went up 40lbs.

4 years and 1 pregnancy later I have allowed myself to stay 40lbs overweight. Many of my current friends have never known me to look different. They are kind and tell me I look great but inside I know and remember what great felt like. I felt great for 22 year and I want that feeling back! I’m tired of feeling slow, sluggish, incredibly uncomfortable in my clothes, and embarrassed of myself in pictures. We also, Lord willing, want to have more children and I desire to be in much better shape for those pregnancies than I was for my first.

In August 2011, one year post baby, we joined the Y as a family. I have gone to the Y almost 5 days a week for 16 weeks now and have not lost a pound. I can feel that my muscles have gotten more toned but the fat stays put. This tells me that my eating is the problem. I love to workout but I also love to eat and all that eating is keeping me from losing weight. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be able to change for the better. Why don’t I seem to have the discipline it takes to do this?!?

Enter the Paleo diet. Along with loving to eat I also love learning about food in general. I like to read articles, blogs, and books about natural and organic food. I try to buy my family mostly organic foods and we have a garden in the spring and summer. We also enjoy frequenting local farmer’s markets. All that to say, eating organic foods does not help one to lose weight. In the last month I have been researching the Paleo diet, which I learned about through David’s cousins. They have been doing it successfully for 6 months or so now. As a Christian I do not adhere to the evolution side of the Paleo diet but I do believe that our bodies were never meant to process many of the grains and dairy products we put into them.

The Paleo diet at its simplest is eating meat, veggies, fruit, and nuts. If I want to eat bread I have to make it with coconut flour or almond flour instead of wheat flour. I have spent the last month researching living Paleo. I have gathered recipes and tips from blogs and Pinterest. My friend Michelle, who is allergic to gluten and dairy, has graciously answered my many questions regarding ingredients such as ghee, agave nectar, and coconut milk. She even let me tag along with her to Costco yesterday so I could check out all their organic items and see if I wanted a membership for my family. I am grateful for a friend like her! My dear husband, David, has lovingly volunteered to join me in this 30 day Paleo challenge, all though he is sad to leave behind his friends, bread and Basmati rice. Finally, I cleaned out my pantry. Yay!!

All and all I feel very organized in starting this diet. I think being organized is going to give me a higher chance at success! I am grateful to the Lord for giving me this body to occupy during my time here on earth. It is time for me to start taking care it! Starting Thursday, I will be blogging about going Paleo for the next 30 days. I will share with you what we are eating and how we are feeling. I am excited to get started! Join me in making 2012 a healthy year!

David and I pre-Paleo 30 day challenge.

-e

Little Wild Man

David enjoyed throwing tissue paper around tonight at his great papaw’s house. I think he likes opening gifts better than playing with them!

Since May

It has been 5 months since I’ve posted a blog. Part of me has missed it and part of me hasn’t. Lately though I have been reading the blogs of various friends and so I decided I wanted to give it another shot. I stopped blogging because I felt I had nothing fruitful to say or interesting for that matter. I was in my 7th, 8th, and 9th month of pregnancy which took place in June, July, and August. Due to the heat and my achey back I mostly sat around reading library books and who would want to read about that? August 21st marked a huge change in my life with the birth of my first born son (much more on this later).

Now that things have calmed down a little with the baby, I’m looking forward to updating everyone on life as new momma and other less mundane things. That’ll have to wait for Monday though. For now, goodnight!

E

Salmon with Herb-Almond Crust

I love salmon and this is a favorite recipe when preparing it. It even comes with a side, so this really is a complete meal!!

Salmon with Herb-Almond Crust

2  salmon fillets

3  tbs. chopped almonds

2 tbs. butter softened

2 tbs. dry bread crumbs (very fine)

1 tbs. grated Parmesan cheese

2 tsp. fresh basil

1/2 tsp. shredded lemon peel

1 clove minced garlic

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1 recipe Lentils and Spinach (see below)

Prepare Lentils and Spinach if desired. While lentils cook, prepare fish. Rinse fish; pat dry. In a small bowl combine almonds, butter, bread crumbs, Parmesan, basil, lemon peel, garlic, and black pepper. Place fish on greased boiler pan. Spoon mixture on top of fillets, spread slightly. Bake fish at 450 for 4-6 minutes per 1/2 -inch thickness, or until fish flakes with fork. Serve on a bed of the Lentils and Spinach.

Lentils and Spinach

In a medium saucepan combine one can of chicken broth, 3/4 cups of lentils, washed and drained; 1/2 tsp. dried thyme, crushed; and a bay leaf. If desired add 1/4 cup chopped onion and carrot. Bring to boiling; reduce heat and cook, covered, 25 minutes or until tender. Add 2 cups coarsely chopped spinach and cover, cook 1 minute more until spinach wilts. Remove bay leaf, drain remaining liquid, and serve.

Enjoy!

-E

*recipe from Country Living magazine, no longer in publication.

Gingered Chicken Wraps

This is a recipe I have been meaning to share for quite some time. David and I both love it and so do many of our friends that I have past it along to. It is simple, quick, and healthy.

Gingered Chicken Wraps

6   8-10 inch whole wheat tortillas

12  oz. skinless boneless chicken breast strips for stir-frying

1/2  tsp. garlic salt

1  tbs. olive oil

1  orange (or any color you have on hand) bell pepper

4  cups shredded broccoli slaw (found near the cole slaw mix)

1 medium red onion, sliced thin

1 tsp. grated gingerroot (do not use the spice!)

fresh cilantro

1 recipe peanut sauce (see below)

Wrap tortillas in foil and heat in oven at 350 for 10 minutes. Coat chicken with garlic salt and ground black pepper. In a large skillet cook and stir chicken in oil over medium-high heat for 2-3 minutes until no longer pink. Remove from skillet; keep warm. Add pepper, onion, slaw, and gingerroot to skillet. Cook and stir 2-3 minutes until crisp and tender. Spread on a tortilla with peanut sauce.

Peanut Sauce (this really makes the meal)

In a saucepan combine 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter, 3 tbs. sugar, 3 tbs. soy sauce, 3 tbs. water, 2 tbs. olive oil, and 1 tsp. minced garlic. Heat until sugar is dissolved, stirring frequently.

Enjoy!

-E

Pizza Adventure

Today seems like a good blogging day. I’m making bread today so I can’t do much except hang out at home and wait for it to rise and rise some more. The weather is also cloudy and chilly, again. Anyway, it’s the perfect day to blog! I’ve been wanting to put up a few of my favorite recipes and recipes make for easy blog posts.

Last night I decided to make homemade pizza. I figured making the dough would be a cinch since I make bread often and it’s pretty much the same process.  So I found a recipe and got started. I dissolved the yeast in some warm water and waited for it to become alive. Then I added my salt, oil, and sweet. This recipe also had me add apple cider vinegar to make the dough nice and pliable, which it did. I mixed these ingredients  around and began adding flour. As I started to knead the dough I noticed that it felt very heavy and dense, usually the dough feels more light and airy. I shrugged off my concerns and put my newly kneaded ball of dough in a bowl to rise. Only it didn’t.

After one hour I went to check on the dough and it looked exactly the same. Not good. I left it another hour and still no results. By this time David was home and it was time to put the pizza in the oven. We decided to give it a try anyway. I rolled the dough out and we slathered on some sauce, fresh mozzarella, and basil from our garden. I put the pizza in the oven for 20 minutes and hoped that something good would happen, or just something.

After 20 minutes I pulled it out and it looked pretty much the same but the crust had turned a golden brown so that was good. We each took a slice and tried a bite. Holy cow it was good! I mean the pizza could have stood on it’s own and when you held up your slice it stood straight out and didn’t even waver, but it was crispy, dense, and yummy. I don’t know if I’ll ever get the same results again but I liked the unrisen pizza just fine. So if you make your own pizza dough sometime, have no fear if it doesn’t rise! Here’s a close up of our pizza from last night.

Cheesy Goodness

Backyard Fun

David and I have been enjoying this beautiful April weather by spending time in our backyard. Last weekend we fixed up the landscaping and bought a charcoal grill! We’ve already used it twice. I love grilling fresh veggies and a juicy steak!  We also planted 7 types of herbs in pots, but I’m not sure of how they’ll do. We planted: basil, chamomile, cilantro, chives, parsley, oregano, and rosemary. Here’s a picture of our backyard from last night. Isn’t the golden evening sunlight pretty?

Next on the list: planting flowers in the window box, hanging baskets, and pots on the front porch and planting our vegetable garden! We’re still trying to decide what to grow. In the meantime, does anyone know of some shade- loving annuals I could plant in my hanging baskets? They hardly get any sun at all and all I can seem to find are sun-loving annuals.

-E

Spring is Springing and I Feel Like Singing!

I don’t think I have even been so ready to get rid of winter as I was this year. After 19 weeks of pregnancy nausea and laying on the couch cooped up inside I could not wait to get outside and feel the sun! Boy, am I looking forward to the rest of April The weather here has been beautiful and I just looked at the 10 day forecast which is filled with upper 70s temps and plenty of sunshine. Woohoo! On top of the beautiful weather I just booked David and I a room in Gatlinburg, TN for the end of April. We’ll be staying in a hotel that I’ve never stayed in before but it received good reviews, plus we’ll have a balcony over a mountain stream. Ahhh bliss!

A view of our hotel

Also, the Louisville Zoo’s Zoo Poopy Doo is this weekend and the next two following weekends. The zoo will fill a small truck bed with their own homemade mulch for only $25. This will definitely be enough mulch for our small yard. I’m ready to get all of our landscaping looking better and weed free. The zoo will also fill a garbage can with compost for only $10. This is super exciting because compost is expensive and every good garden need some nutrient rich compost! David and I make our own compost in our back yard and we actually had enough to fill our entire garden this year, but we want to get some more to add to the clay soil we have in our landscaping. Clay soil =

Finally a baby update! Last week we found that we’re having a boy!! Momma’s intuition told me we were having a boy so I wasn’t very surprised. Right now I’m trying to not get to overwhelmed by all the baby paraphernalia that is out there and that the world thinks you need. This past weekend my mom and I went to look at nursery furniture and other accessories  and we were amazed at how big everything was! It seemed a bit excessive and we have such a small house that I only want to get what we need. Advice anyone?

As far as my health goes, momma and baby seem to be doing well. We saw our little guy moving all around during our 20 week ultrasound and he even gave us a high-five! As a result we got a great picture of his hand It was wonderful to see him so active because I have hardly felt him at all. The doc informed me that I have an anterior placenta, or my placenta is in the front. This is completely normal as the placenta can be located in the front, on top, or behind the baby. Since mine is in the front though the baby’s movements will be muffled and harder to feel. The doctor described it as though there is a pillow between me and the baby and baby is punching and kicking the pillow instead of me. Though I was a bit sad to hear this news I was a million times relieved since I was beginning to wonder why I wasn’t feeling the baby move very much.

Other then the location of my placenta I am beginning to feel much better. I have not thrown up in 2 weeks and my nausea hardly even comes around these days! My belly is certainly growing though! It’s fun but I am beginning to get slightly uncomfortable. I sure hope you’ll are enjoying Spring and your pregnancies, if you are pregnant, which I know many of you are!

-E