Day 7 - 30 Day Paleo Challenge - A First Job, Cute Toes, and a New Recipe

Woot!  The conclusion of our first week of the 30 Day Paleo Challenge...it seems silly to admit it, but I just wasn't sure any of us were going to make it this far.  Valiant has thrown in the towel, but Buttercup is chugging right along...sticking to it, despite some missteps.  Me?  I'm actually doing really well. Didn't manage to get enough sleep (although that might have something to do with the fact that we stayed up til almost 2:00 a.m.).  As for eating, I wondered how I'd recover from our deviation for Cinco de Mayo and I am pleased to report I had strict adherence today.

Cheerful Box Boy!

Did I mention that Valiant is now among the gainfully employed?  Yes, it is true.  His hard work (and great appearance) paid off and in one week he was offered two jobs.  He took the job that got the ball rolling first, but would have been happy with either of them. 

He has already worked a few shifts and can hardly wait for that first paycheck.  What is he doing?  Well, he's a "courtesy clerk" (box boy!) at a local grocery store.  The most amusing part?  He has to wear a tie.  That just cracks me up. 

A first job...what an exciting thing.  Do you remember yours?  After babysitting and housework, mine was McDonald's.

I ask him to pose for a picture before work today.  He even granted me a boon and gave me a small smile.  The things his mother asks of him...




Summer toes!

While the boy was at work, the girl and I headed off for some girl time:  pedicures!  Flip flops in hand, we headed out.  (Do you remember when flip flops were thongs and thong didn't reference lingerie?  Man, I'm old!)
I confess that I didn't really need polished toes as much as I "needed" to sit in the massage chair and soak my feet.  Don't you love those massage chairs?  Buttercup told me we needed one at home.  Being a good mother, I told her she should ask her father.  Poor man.

Anyway, she went with neon orange and flowers.  Aren't they cute?  Can you tell we are desperate for summer to get here?   These are definitely "summer" toes.


Finally, dinner tonight was a new one for me and it was a screaming success!  This one came from The Primal Blueprint Quick & Easy Meals and lived up to the description.  It was a recipe for Pork Chops and Shredded Brussel Sprouts which was fabulously simple. 



A little deviation:  I added bacon to our brussel sprouts.

The best part?  After a day of being sure they were going to hate it, the kids told me it was fabulous.  Sadly, they didn't stop there and went on at length about how surprised they were that I fed them something edible.  Still, the praise was sincere, so I'm keeping it!

Day 7 was a good one...can you tell?

Days 5 & 6 - The 30-Day Paleo Challenge

Happy Cinco De Mayo!!  We're already concluding Day 6 of our 30 Day Paleo Challenge...can't believe we've made it through six days already! 

Day 5 turned out to be a fabulous one.   I got up early (for me!) and hit the road.  I spent five hours (including 2 hours of driving) getting my hair done by my oh-so-talented friend.  Not trying to hide my gray, but I do appreciate getting it blended in a little bit!

Look at this fabulous hair...it looks like Mother Nature painted it, doesn't it?

Doesn't she do a fabulous job?  The gray is still there, but didn't she do a wonderful job blending it in?  She is so worth driving for.



Dutch Oven Chicken, adapted from The Primal Blueprint Cookbook

Didn't hit the gym...I was still so sore from the workout the day before.  Still I made some wonderful Dutch Oven Chicken for dinner...it turned out fabulously. 

All in all, I think Day 6 was a productive and successful Paleo Challenge day.

On to Day 6 - Cinco De Mayo!!  I finally had a good night's sleep and got my point for sleepingWe stayed Paleo all day, until dinner.  Then, like much of the country, we headed out to our local Mexican restaurant and enthusiastically celebrated Mexican Independence Day!  Nope, not a Paleo meal...but that is okay, because I'd planned for a cheat meal and was strict for the day leading up to our meal.  My points for the day won't be good, but this is life, isn't it?

This is what it looked like after I initially blended together the egg, the lemon
juice, the first batch of oil, the salt, and the mustard powder.

Oh, and I made homemade olive oil mayonnaise!  Even better, it turned out well!  I'm so excited...I got the recipe from The Clothes Make the Girl.  Who knew you could make mayonnaise from scratch so easily!

This is after I drizzled in the one cup of oil!  It emulsified properly...woot!

Oh, and if your going to try it yourself, all the recipes talk about how the trick is to "drizzle" the olive oil oh-so-slowly to get the mixture to emulsify properly and I was scared to death that I'd ruin it.  I decided to put the olive oil in a squeeze bottle, so that I couldn't inadvertently pour the oil in tpo fast and ruin my mayonnaise.



The plastic bottle was the key to "drizzling" properly...

 It worked beautifully...

And Day 6 of the 30 Day Paleo Challenge concluded with a double feature:

Where the Boys Are for Buttercup,

followed by Blade Runner for Valiant.

I wonder if I'll convince him to read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?...only time will tell.

Almond Butter & Apples - This is my new favorite snack!

I told you here that our family has gone "primal", as in attempting to follow the guidelines of  The Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson.  While it is still a work in progress (sourcing good meats, etc.) and keeping the kids consistent, we've made huge strides and experienced the benefits we'd hoped for.  We are leaner, fitter, and happier.  Who knew it would be this easy?

Anyway, one of the things I quickly discovered when we began this journey was that none of the snacks I used to eat such as popcorn, tortilla chips, cookies, etc., are primal.   Neither is peanut butter (no legumes).   I had no interest in coming up with "grain-free" versions of our old favorites because I figured we needed to truly change the way we were eating and set about retraining our tastebuds to taste real food again.  It hasn't always been easy, but I have to say I did get lucky with some of the things I attempt. 

For example, this has become my favorite snack.  Apple slices with home-made almond butter.  It is so good.   I would never have guessed, but my friend A brought over some almond butter for me to try and, after initially turning up my nose, I tried it and I was hooked.  I decided I could make it myself and I was right. 

Even better?  Making it was actually easy.

I simply grind up raw almonds, add a pinch of salt, and keep going until I have the desired consistency and I'm done.  Grinding the almonds releases their natural oils and, as they warm up, they become more smooth and the consistency becomes more creamy.  Once completed,  I store the almond butter in a container in my refrigerator.

Primal snack-time goodness.  What more could a woman ask?

This is Primal...

Saturday, I made my first-ever roasted chicken.  People have been trying to tell me for years that roasted chicken was not beyond me, but I've really never believed them.  Now I am a believer!   Not only was it super easy, it was definitely "primal".  Got the recipe/technique from The Primal Blueprint Cookbook.  The kids said it was the best ever roasted-chicken they've ever had.  Even the leftovers were moist!  (I thought it was darned good, but I think I was a little too timid with the seasoning.)

Dutch-Oven Herb Roasted Chicken
(adapted from The Primal Blueprint Cookbook)

Ingredients

1 Whole Roasting Chicken (washed and dried, with the cavity emptied of the goodies like the neck!)
1 Tablespoon "good" fat (poultry fat, ghee, olive oil, or non-hydrogenated lard) (I used ghee)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
4-6 cloves of garlic (I used garlic powder--probably 2 teaspoons- we like garlic)
1 teaspoon salt (the recipe called for "coarse sea salt", I had coarse Kosher salt)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried basil (I added this...wanted mine to be herb-y)

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 250 F.
2) Using a dutch oven (or oven-safe roasting pan with a lid), melt fat on stove over medium heat.
3) Salt and pepper the chicken and then place breast-side down into the dutch-ove/roasting pan.  Add in onions, garlic, and basil.  Let cook uncovered for 8 minutes.
4)  Turn chicken and cook for additional 8 minutes.
5)  Remove from stove, add lid, and put the chicken in the oven.
6)  Cook from 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours (depending upon the size of your chicken...4 lbs take 1 1/2 hour, bigger takes longer)...my Costco chicken took 2 hours.
7)  Remove from oven and let sit for 20 minutes.  Serve with wonderful vegetables and enjoy.

That's it.  Roasted chicken (not breaded chicken) is primal, as long as you use good fats to brown it before putting it into the oven.

Told you it was easy.

Did I mention it was fabulous, too?

So, why didn't I blog abou this sooner?

Honestly?  I was skeptical...I wasn't sure we could keep it up...I wasn't sure we could recover from Superman's 3 week leave filled his favorites from life BP (Before Primal) as well as a lot of festive eating.  Amazingly, we did.  The results we'd gotten before Superman came home made it possible for me to put on a bathing suit in the middle of March with very view qualms.  Returning to our Primal way of eating as soon as we got back from vacation helped us quickly bounce back to our pre-vacation status.  Since then, we've just continued to make progress.

I've felt like I've been keeping a secret and couldn't seem to blog around that secret...the change has been that monumental.  So, now you know.   We use words like "primal" to describe our eating habits (even the kids) and we're comfortable with that.

Want some more information?   Okay, then, this is my take on it all.

What is the difference between "Primal" and "Paleo"?  Both ways of eating exclude grains and legumes and include meat, nuts, eggs, vegetables and fruit. At first blush, the difference is simply the inclusion vs. exclusion of dairy products (Primal Eating lets you eat limited dairy/Paleo eating says dairy is a no-no.)   To me, however, the different is much more fundamental.  Mark Sisson, the author of the Primal Blueprint, encourages a relaxed approach to eating (and to life)...figuring in "cheats" or non-primal eating as part of a modern lifestyle.  Perfection is not the goal of the Primal Blueprint.  As Mark puts it, "Many of the benefits of a strict and discipline "healthy" lifestyle can be compromised by a perfectionist mentality.  The forces of hectic daily life (cultural traditions, convenience, and fast pace) will divert you from your ideal often, and this is perfectly okay (just make smart adjustments!).  Strive for 100% with the understanding that your efforts will probably get you to 80%."  It is for this reason that I chose the Primal Blueprint instead of the Paleo Solution....but if you have intestinal issues (IBS, etc.) people have tremendous results with the more restrictive Paleo diet.  (Don't believe me?  Read the comments on Robb Wolf's blog...they are so encouraging!)  The Primal Blueprint just seemed more doable for me (and I didn't have any health problems I was trying to resolve).

The compromise reminds me that these are guidelines that I can work to fit into my life, but if some of them don't work, it will be okay.  For example, remember my friend who gleefully informed me she's lost 7 pounds?  She eats oatmeal for breakfast everyday - Monday thru Friday.  She's unwilling to give it up.  Still, in a month of primal eating with this compromise, she's lost 7 pounds!  That 7 pounds has encouraged her to keep going...the compromises she's made has kept this way of eating doable for her.

As for me?  I love, love, love Mexican food.   (No, really, I love it!) Unfortunately, refried beans are legumes, flour tortillas are made of grain, corn tortillas and tortilla chips are made of a different grain--you knew corn is a grain, right?  Truly, this is NOT primal.  Still, I won't give them up...I just won't.  My compromise?  I don't have them at home anymore (although I make amazing refried beans and homemade tortilla chips to die for).  When we go to our favorite Mexican restaurant, I eat whatever I want with no guilt...and it is good!  It hasn't undermined my results.  In fact, it has worked out to be the opposite because I don't feel deprived at all.  The kids like/miss other things...Buttercup is desperately wanting a Taco Ring, so next weekend, we'll be having a Taco Ring.   (I won't be eating the bread part, because I'm just not missing it.)  Valiant wants lasagna with pasta (not long strips of zucchini in their place, so we're getting "real" lasagna on the menu in the next few weeks.   Nothing is forbidden.

The basic idea is to eliminate grains, get your protein and good fats up and your carbs way down.  It is that simple.  No calorie counting, no real "rules".  This way of eating encourages eating vegetables, fruits, and nuts. Some people really get into figuring out macronutrients and micronutrients of everything they eat, but I don't.  I just make sure I have protein at every meal, good fats, nuts, and lots of vegetables and fruits. 

If you even begin to consider this way of eating, you'll face head on the realization that our typical American diet is grain based.  It can feel daunting to change that paradigm in your own home, especially with a spouse and/or kids who is/are reluctant to change the status quo.  In the next few days, I tell you how I began this way of eating and even more importantly, how I convinced my kids that this was a worthwhile experiment.  (Superman is theoretically on board, but the Mess Hall (DFAC) doesn't really offer much that isn't processed.)

For now, think about it...do you ever have a meal that doesn't have grains?

P.S.  I'm turning 48 this year and as I read through the comments on the blogs of both Mark Sisson and Robb Wolf the thing that struck me most about the people who'd tried this way of eating?  Even "oldsters" were having tremendous success...it is easy to get results on a 25-year old body, but to get results on a 55-year old body?  That is impressive.