Week 1 Review of "Paleo"

So, what does eating "Paleo" look like?

 And, do I feel any differently after eating this way for just seven days?

First off, let me say that this is actually pretty easy to do. Remove all the foods you normally eat in a day that you unwrap or take out of a package (i.e. processed things like crackers, bread, granola bars, etc), all the dairy and sugar and replace them with loads and loads of vegetables, a little more fruit and some healthy fats and yummy lean meats. I've continued to provide some bread, pasta, tortilla for my hubby and kiddos, but they've reaped the benefit of the increase in vegetables, too. The only complaint I have is that I'm getting rather tired of eating eggs for breakfast. I could eat any other protein+veggie/fruit+healthy fat, but I just can't quite get my head around sitting down to eat leftover beef or chicken for breakfast. I've been a pretty regular toast+peanut butter kinda gal for a while now, so that's probably my biggest hurdle.

Here's a look at what I'm eating now:

Slow cooked beef roast leftover from Monday over spinach with salsa and guacamole for lunch on Tuesday.

Provencal Stuffed Tomatoes (without the goat cheese) with Garlic Roasted Broccoli --Dinner on Tues

Wednesday Night I made SlowCooker Beef & Aujus Sandwiches. Everyone else got sandwiches, but I found that the meat dipped in the aujus was pretty good without the soggy bread around it. And a crisp green salad. Yum!

The girls like dipping the aujus sandwiches...

Yum!

A really cool thing about this new way of eating is that I've had to find new recipes. I have a few go-to ones that I normally cook that I probably could tweak to fit, but in the process of researching it, I found so many new ones that sounded so good, I had to try them. I think all of my recipes besides the Aujus night this week were new. One great blog I found is The CaveWomans Kitchen. There I wrote down a ton to try, including a great make ahead egg muffin recipe that has been great for mornings I don't have a ton of time to cook. Erik even likes them, which is great! I also made a wonderful shrimp recipe that I neglected to take pictures of, Lemon Basil Shrimp that I found at the CaveWomans Kitchen blog. It was wonderful and everyone loved it. She also had a recipe on there for easy mexi-style chicken breasts cooked in the crock pot all day. It was a perfect recipe for Sunday to be ready when we got home from church. Really easy and tasty, too.

Another place I found some great looking recipes was over at EverydayPaleo. She has a cookbook coming out and I seriously want it. Unfortunately it isn't available until May. She's still got lots of recipes on her blog, including a simple yet tasty dessert, "Chocolate Custard." I made this for dinner guests the other night and they and Erik and myself all loved it. It has coconut milk in it which I have decided is my new favorite food. 

Lunches have been mostly leftovers from previous nights' dinner, which is super easy. I've had quite a few salads but I can't complain when they are as colorful as this!

Here's one I made up to use up stuff in my frig: browned Italian pork sausage, added to partial jar of marinara sauce, threw in some artichoke hearts chopped up, chopped kalamata olives and a thawed container of frozen/chopped spinach. Served over spaghetti squash for me, fettuccine for the rest, paired with some sauteed asparagus. Supper is served. Everyone gave it high reviews except Kera who didn't like the sauce, but she never does. Hee hee. I can't wait to have the sauce & squash as leftovers.

So, how do I feel? I feel great actually. Well, today not so great but it has nothing to do with what I'm eating and everything to do with the time of month and the fact that almost everyone we know has had some horrible bug lately. *Crossing my fingers to not get sick*.

I don't miss sugar, although I did have a moment of silence the other day when the Girl Scout Cookies were delivered. (I put most of the boxes in the freezer so maybe in the future I can partake) I haven't been having any huge sugar cravings or energy crashes, although I've probably eaten more fruit than I should have for weight loss. But that doesn't bother me. My focus is on eating quality/real foods and if that means I have an apple at 4pm because I'm starving, then so be it. The fact that I'm eating an apple instead of crackers or a candy bar is the whole point. I've discovered that I don't miss my morning latte as much as I thought Iwould. I like the flavor of a strong americano with a splash of cream instead. (I'm probably not 100% sticking to the strictness of the Whole30 plan, but like I said before that's not really my goal, so yes I have some heavy cream in my coffee and yes I had some air popped popcorn with the family this weekend. I don't feel guilty and I didn't feel horrible afterwards. I think each person needs to figure out what works for them and don't get too hung up in "the rules.")  I am geared up for another week of healthy eating and trying out new recipes and really enjoying real food. Stay tuned for week 2! :-)