Paleo, Eleven Weeks

Wowzers! I'm going on 3 months already. I cannot wait for next Tuesday, which will be my 12 week date. Why, you ask? Because I have only been weighing myself once a month (and doing measurements then, too) and that is my "weigh day". I use to hate weigh day, but now I love it! I have noticed some extreme bagginess in my pants recently--in fact I cleaned a bunch of stuff out of my closet this past weekend because it was too big. So, I can't wait to see what the scale says about this whole baggy clothes problem. :-) 

I am really pleased to share some progress this past week. Actually, I call them small victories instead of progress. And they both involve my children. The first one is that this morning Kera (my youngest) ate four fried eggs for breakfast. Yes, four. Why is this a victory you ask? Several reasons....she's never really liked eggs before. She always had to have them scrambled with cheese because she didn't like the yolk part, and even then she would always choose an english muffin over the eggs. Well I stopped buying english muffins, as you know, and she's had to change her perspective on breakfast. We've done a lot of fruit smoothies and she loves breakfast meats like bacon and sausage, but it wasn't until the other day that she had this egg breakthrough. I was cooking a couple eggs for Lindsay and Kera mentioned that they smelled good and asked for one. So I threw one in the pan, inadvertently breaking the yolk. Well, I cooked it long enough so that the yolk wasn't runny and she gobbled it right up and asked for another. Which I promptly fried for her.  So that's how I make them for her, if I break the yolk and let it cook all the way through, top it with some salt, she loves it. This makes breakfast so much easier for me because it gives another option and I'm usually cooking up eggs anyways. I am excited to think her taste buds might be changing a little and in a very good way!!

We hat pot roast on Tuesday, cooked in the crock pot. I got the recipe here. It was good except I realized I don't really like turnips. Oh well.

I made up a lunch recipe that I've been having lately. I found some chicken apple sausages at Costco which are wonderfully tasty. I slice a couple up, fry it up in some coconut oil or bacon grease, then throw in some shredded cabbage and let it cook til the cabbage is softened. Top it with a little mustard and it's so yummy. Even Erik liked it!

My other victory involves both kids. I've been trying really hard lately to involve them more in the whole kitchen/cooking process. Asking them for their favorite foods (of the new things we've been eating) and getting their input on every new recipe. If they don't like it, why would I cook it again? That's like banging my head against the wall and it's not fun.

I do my meal planning on Sundays, and this last one I had an inspiration. Well, I admit it wasn't entirely my sole idea, I probably got most of it from my newest cookbook and inspiration:

Everyday Paleo (the book!) by Sarah Fragoso

I ordered this way back at the beginning of my paleo journey and finally got it last week. I've already fallen in love with several of her recipes and I really appreciated all her tips and advice about getting your kids on board with this new way of eating. If you are even considering "going paleo" or are already and need some fresh ideas, I highly recommend her book! So, on Sunday, I asked both the girls to go through the book and pick a new recipe to try for a dinner the next week. I told them they could plan the whole dinner menu including main dish, veggie and dessert and then that they would help me cook it on that night. They both were all over it and didn't have any problems picking only paleo options for all of it.

Lindsay's night was last night and she chose the Everyday Paleo Pizza recipe from the book. Of course she did, it has the word "pizza" in it. LOL!

She chopped all the veggies for the top of the pizza. As well as some fruit for her own creation recipe "fruit salad".

She helped me stir and prep the "crust".

She was a great assistant. We also tried our hand at homemade Caesar dressing, because it's her favorite kind and I'm trying to get away from the store bought kind.

The verdict? 

The meal was wonderful!! The pizza was very tasty and we had no leftovers. The girls loved the fruit salad (its basically fruit with vanilla yogurt on it) and the dressing was not too bad.

the last lonely piece that Lindsay gobbled up. 

Yum!

dressing

Oh how could I forget dessert? For dessert, Lindsay chose to make "Apple Blossoms" out of the Everyday Paleo cookbook as well. 

They were a hit, too.

I really enjoyed planning and preparing the meal with Lindsay--she even helped with dishes afterwards! I can't wait to see how Kera's night turns out. I think it will be really helpful to them in this transition to include them in as much of the food arena as possible so I'm sure this whole "cooking night" will continue on. :-)