Paleo Eats - Days 5 to 8

I've played with Paleo Style Chow for several years now, but have never fully dedicated myself to eating 100% , even 80% since I like my beer and booze ...

BUT ... I've got some serious inflammation issues going on and now that I'm hitting 51 (and 3 months!), I notice other things going on ... weight gain, fluffy stuff in the mid section, not sleeping as well, borderline personality disorder (completely irrational behavior and then happy happy minutes later!) and NOW ... digestive issues. Ugh. Really?? TMI, I'm sure, BUT I really want to give this a try and see if it really is all that and more, you know?

So here you have it .. my Paleo Eats Journal ... Days 5 to 8 ...

Friday was, well Friday, Day 5:

Breakfast - green apple and coffee ... because lunch was going to be out

Lunch - chicken salad at a great little cafe down the street from the office with a few glasses of lemon water ... delicious

Dinner - snacky dinner for all but me. I had half of an avocado some nuts and raisins and ... 2 vodka drinks which led to cheese and crackers. Oops.

Notes:  I knew it was going to be an off day from the minute I opened my eyes. I thought I was prepared for the evening but was not. 

Saturday - Day 6

Breakfast - bacon, eggs and diced cucumber

Lunch - ham rolled up and dipped in some grain/dairy free dressing

Dinner - chicken thighs ... along with 2 gluten free beers AND 2 margaritas from scratch. Ugh. 

Notes:  I knew that the booze was going to be a problem and it's proven true.

Sunday - Day 7 

Breakfast - eggs, bacon and diced cucumbers

Lunch - small plate of fresh tomatoes, cheddar cheese and nacho chips ... 

Dinner - pretty much skipped dinner. Did have a few chocolate covered dried fruits and LOTS of water ... 

Notes: Uhm, not that I was hung over but certainly didn't have any desire to eat a lot. I did menu plan and a little food prep was done, but nothing like I had planned

Monday - Day 8

Breakfast - scrambled eggs, apple/chicken sausage and diced cucumbers

Lunch- tuna salad with avocado and diced tomatoe lettuce cups

Dinner - balsamic chicken breast, sauteed green beans and a cucumber/tomato salad

Notes: Good to be back on track and feel good about it! I actually walked away, several times, from these little cream cheese muffins that a vendor dropped off at the office. Everyone else was inhaling them and I flat out said NO THANK YOU ... which got me a few cheers as some of the boys know that I'm trying to stay focused ;-)

I am honestly excited to see what tomorrow brings with my plans!

Day 4 Paleo Eats

I've played with Paleo Style Chow for several years now, but have never fully dedicated myself to eating 100% , even 80% since I like my beer and booze ...

BUT ... I've got some serious inflammation issues going on and now that I'm hitting 51 (and 3 months!), I notice other things going on ... weight gain, fluffy stuff in the mid section, not sleeping as well, borderline personality disorder (completely irrational behavior and then happy happy minutes later!) and NOW ... digestive issues. Ugh. Really?? TMI, I'm sure, BUT I really want to give this a try and see if it really is all that and more, you know?

So here you have it .. my Paleo Eats Journal ... Day 4 ...

Breakfast - 4 slices of bacon, 3 eggs scrambled AND the green beans. I'm really enjoying the green beans and need to get more from Costco!

Lunch - out of chicken! Ended up throwing a few (5) slices of ham in snapware container, added some shredded cabbage and then took a small container of the dairy free, ranch free dressing to use for dipping.

This is NOT what I really had but a stock pic I have from before! There was nothing glamorous about this lunch today.

Dinner - Tacos per one of the kids request. I skipped the cheese but could not say NO to the tortilla chips and guacamole OR the 2 beers.

Thoughts for the day - hmmm...again, no where near enough water today. AND I should know my triggers (salty, crunchy stuff). I am seriously wonder (after 4 whole days!) if dehydration is what makes me crave an ice cold beer? I should really be showing way more restraint in that area. Maybe I should change the topic to "Transitioning to Paleo"?  Lunch? Highly unsatisfying today. BUT I said no to the candy bowl!

Day 3 Paleo Eats

I've played with Paleo Style Chow for several years now, but have never fully dedicated myself to eating 100% , even 80% since I like my beer and booze ...

BUT ... I've got some serious inflammation issues going on and now that I'm hitting 51 (and 3 months!), I notice other things going on ... weight gain, fluffy stuff in the mid section, not sleeping as well, borderline personality disorder (completely irrational behavior and then happy happy minutes later!) and NOW ... digestive issues. Ugh. Really?? TMI, I'm sure, BUT I really want to give this a try and see if it really is all that and more, you know?

So here you have it .. my Paleo Eats Journal ... Day 3 ...

Breakfast - 3 eggs, scrambled, 4 pieces of bacon AND green beans. Yum. 

Lunch - last piece of the leftover chicken with green beans and a little bit of Tessamae's Lemon Garlic Dressing. Need to try a recipe to make the dressing

Mid Day Snack - seriously, not hungry but I did have a few pistachios and raisins.

Dinner - got home at 9pm. Had a beer. Wasn't hungry. Should have skipped the beer but I was 'thirsty'. Really dumb as it ended a good day, bad.

End of day thoughts - no candy today! Didn't even really think about it. I'm hoping the few raisins I ate curbed any subconscious cravings. Seriously did NOT drink enough water today. Had a bottle sitting on my desk and didn't even drink half of it. Probably why I craved the beer when I came home.  

Day Two Paleo Eats

I've played with Paleo Style Chow for several years now, but have never fully dedicated myself to eating 100% , even 80% since I like my beer and booze ...

BUT ... I've got some serious inflammation issues going on and now that I'm hitting 51 (and 3 months!), I notice other things going on ... weight gain, fluffy stuff in the mid section, not sleeping as well, borderline personality disorder (completely irrational behavior and then happy happy minutes later!) and NOW ... digestive issues. Ugh. Really?? TMI, I'm sure, BUT I really want to give this a try and see if it really is all that and more, you know?

So here you have it .. my Paleo Eats Journal ... Day 2 ...

Breakfast - I woke up tired as hell at 6am ... Hubby was flying out so I forced myself up ... coffee was first up with a light sugar and half and half. Sauteed an apple & chicken sausage with some sauteed green beans for breakfast. Low on eggs so will need to get some this evening. The green beans at breakfast were pretty tasty and I was wishing for more!

Lunch - leftover chicken breast (again) and more sauteed green beans.

Mid Afternoon - banana and apple. Oh. And 2 pieces of chocolate. WTF

Dinner - got home late and was starving. Reheated the last leftover pork chop and sautéed the rest of the green beans (which made a lot) which were delicious. Unfortunately, one of the kids made pizza and I ate a small piece. Doesn't matter that it was small, what matters is that saying NO to food is just not normal for me.

End of Day Thoughts: Laziness is going to be a problem. I didn't feel like doing anything this evening and was glad to have leftovers still although the kids were hoping for tacos this evening.  I really enjoyed the green beans sauteed in a little ghee, dehydrated onions and a little bit of the oil from the seasoned oil my girlfriend gave us a few weeks ago. Sad that I ate a piece of pizza that was sitting there after I ate MY dinner.

Notes: I must have overextended my hip or something while walking last night as my hip and upper thigh aches. Really.  I also realized that I didn't have a whole lot of veggies yesterday. Poor planning on my part and because of the boil water alert (this is day 3 of same) I didn't get around to cleaning the romaine lettuce ... wish I had thought of the green beans earlier!

Exercise: Uhm, if you count walking forever in the mall then ok, there was 'some' activity. 

Day One Paleo Eats

I've played with Paleo Style Chow for several years now, but have never fully dedicated myself to eating 100% , even 80% since I like my beer and booze ...

BUT ... I've got some serious inflammation issues going on and now that I'm hitting 51 (and 3 months!), I notice other things going on ... weight gain, fluffy stuff in the mid section, not sleeping as well, borderline personality disorder (completely irrational behavior and then happy happy minutes later!) and NOW ... digestive issues. Ugh. Really?? TMI, I'm sure, BUT I really want to give this a try and see if it really is all that and more, you know?

So here you have it .. my Paleo Eats Journal ... Day 1 ...

Breakfast - 1 scoop of pea protein and 8 oz of almond milk. I use this almond milk which is cleaner than most and the pea protein powder is gluten/soy/dairy/grain free ...even states "paleo approved" on the back. I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of protein powder and the last chug had me gagging a little ::shudder:: may have to go the smoothie route with this in the future. I also had a small banana and a pink lady apple which was super juicy and yummy!  I did have my 2 cups of coffee with very minimal sugar and half and half. Tomorrow is another day to try and kick either the sugar or the dairy in the coffee.

Lunch - Balsamic marinated chicken leftover from the other night. Also tossed in a half avocado. Wished I had prepped my salad sooner as we are under a boil water alert and I didn't feel like wasting bottled water to clean my romaine lettuce. Chugged 12 ounces of water.

Mid day - for whatever reason, I grabbed a few Hershey Nuggets from the candy bowl in the front office and ate them without even thinking. Crap!

Dinner - leftover boneless pork chops that were marinated in mojo and cooked Sunday night. Ate the other half of the avocado and used some grain free, dairy free ranch dressing for dipping sauce. Drank almost 32 ounces of water.

End of the day thoughts - not so hard to do ... Days 1 and 2 are typically easiest when you are making food changes. The best thing to do is focus on what you CAN eat, not what you can't....positive thoughts all around!  Amazing though what habit snacking is ... those 2 little pieces of candy were not even "thought out" but just picked up and eaten.  Same with the beer from the garage fridge when I get home from work. So easy to just open the fridge and crack open a beer to relax.

Note: I have a problem with drinking enough water through out the day. I make a concientious effort to drink it but most times, a glass will sit there and not be touched. When I get really thirsty I realize THEN that I'm dehydrated!  This 'could' be part of the issue I have with being constipated and bloated also?

Exercise - did a 3 mile walk. Would have put more in but half way through it started to rain and I was worried about the iPhone 6 getting really wet so I turned around. It was a decent walk, -considering it's been quite a while since I've logged 3 miles.

Salt & Vinegar Chicken Wings

Each one of these pouches has 4 whole wings, you will need to split them in to drumettes and flats for 8 pieces total per package.

It's easy. Really easy.

a little too charred for my taste but still yummy ... I'm taking control of the cooking next time!

3 to 3 1/2 pounds chicken wings. It's easier and cheaper to buy the whole wing and split them yourself
mellow seasoning of choice ... I used Hubbys mixture of salt, pepper and garlic powder that he keeps in a shaker bottle
4 tbs white vinegar
2 tsp table salt

See here for how to split your wings into drumettes and flats ... I thought I would do a totally separate post since its pictures of ALL raw chicken, you know?

Dump your wings in a large bowl and lightly sprinkle the seasoning of choice over the top. Toss to coat all the wings. Remember, you don't want to over season these with salt at this point (see the name of the wings: SALT and Vinegar Wings).

You can either bake these or grill them. We opted to grill them that night. I suggest indirect heat as they WILL flare up and you WILL char them in a heartbeat. If you opt to bake them, just lay them out on a baking tray lined with parchment paper so they don't stick. Bake or grill to desired doneness, making sure you flip half way through cooking time. Hubby likes his super done (no slime inside by the bones). Ahem, there were a 'few' flareups and neither one of us was quick enough to move the pan and spritz the fire with water. Take my word, do not grill over direct heat!

While wings are cooking, grab another large bowl (or just clean the one you just used) and add 4 tbs of white vinegar and 2 tsp salt to the bowl. Whisk to mix well and set aside.

Once wings are cooked, toss them in the bowl with the vinegar and salt and toss to coat well. Serve up ...

These are pretty damn tasty and so want to stock up on wings again asap so we can enjoy these more often! Go ahead and give them a try, let me know what you think?

Ranch Dressing

Seriously, this is the BEST ranch dressing I've had yet that is dairy/grain/sugar free ... you gotta give it a shot!

Easy? Yes. If you have an immersion blender (you know, those stick things?) ... this recipe does not require heavy whisking, a blender or food processor. And before you ask, I have NO idea how it would work with one of those options, I've only made it with the immersion blender. Don't have one? Do yourself a favor, grab your 20% off coupon from Bed Bath & Beyond and go pick one up for $15 ... you will be glad you did after you make this recipe!!  Promise!

1 egg, room temperature
1 cup light olive oil
1 tbs lemon juice
2 tbs red wine vinegar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp onion powder
1/2 can of coconut milk
2 tbs of dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried dill

I had picked up a couple of these boxes of coconut milk a few months ago to try with some other recipes I have and really like the ease of only using a half of a box ... just a slight issue though when you put in the fridge as you have to squeeze it out when it becomes solid ... just a heads up.
Grab yourself a quart size large mouth canning jar or any other jar that has a wide opening (wide enough for stick to go in).

Drop in all ingredients as listed.

Insert stick blender all the way to bottom of jar and turn on, leaving the blender on the bottom of jar.

Once it starts to incorporate go ahead and move around the blender til every thing is incorporated and fluffy.

I was afraid that I might go over the top on this batch but whew, it was close but stayed pretty contained!

Taste and if necessary, add additional seasoning.

You can modify this recipe to become a creamy italian dressing ... omit the parsley and dill and add 2 tbs of italian seasoning instead ... pretty tasty too!

I promise, you will not taste the coconut milk ... and I promise that this will become your number one dipping sauce and salad dressing ...