We’re halfway through our first week on the Paleo Diet and so far we’re going strong.  This morning we started the day with a fruit slaw – apple chunks, raisins, and shredded carrots with a pinch of cinnamon.  The was supposed to accompany a boiled egg, but we were both full after the slaw.  Jacob ended up having his egg in his salad for lunch and I didn’t eat it at all.  For lunch I had a leftover pork chop with roasted beets and didn’t quite make it to my salad.  Dinner was on the grill – halibut, asparagus, and zucchini with a small glass of white wine.  Delicious!

I’ve had several questions about choosing meals and what types of food to buy, so I thought I’d share a list that I found at Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations here.  This will show you everything you will need from kitchen gadgets and spices to meats and veggies.

And this is what we brought home from the store at the beginning of the week:

Meat and Seafood
rump roast
pork chops
ham (not so Paleo)
halibut
free-range chicken drumsticks
chicken breasts

Vegetables
lettuce
spinach
carrots
asparagus
beets
zucchini
cucumbers
mushrooms
bell pepper
parsley
celery
onions
garlic

Fruits
apples
pears
cherries
lemons
tomatoes
raisins

Nuts
sunflower seeds
cashews

Let me know if you have any more questions about stocking your pantry for Paleo and I’ll try to point you in the right direction! Just joining and want to take a look back at my 4 Week Paleo Challenge?  Look below for the links to all my Paleo posts:

Just joining and want to take a look back at my 4 Week Paleo Challenge?  Look below for the links to all my Paleo posts:

What a breeze today was!  With food, that is – it was not an easy day otherwise, but we had a great plan for all meals plus snacks.  This morning we started with Machaca Con Huevos–scrambled eggs with shredded beef and red bell pepper–topped with a dollop of salsa.  A mid morning snack of cherries held us over until lunch, which was leftover Pollo Asado over a nice green salad and a side of leftover fajita veggies.  Other snacks were celery sticks and cashew butter, banana bread muffins, and Larabars.  I did overload snack choices today and a couple didn’t get eaten, but they were all very healthy choices. We ended the night with a late dinner of pot roast, sautéed mushrooms and zucchini, and a green salad.  Breakfast, snacks, and lunches are planned and packed for tomorrow, so I’d say it was a very productive day!  Hope this gives you good ideas for Paleo meals if you’ve decided to try this out as well.  Goodnight and happy eating! Just joining and want to take a look back at my 4 Week Paleo Challenge?  Look below for the links to all my Paleo posts:

Today was our meal planning and grocery shopping day.  It’ll take us a week or two to really get on track with meal planning on Paleo.  Our meal plan for this week kept us mostly in the meat and produce sections of the store, which was just a little different from our normal routine.  We only went into the aisles to get tomato juice and we grabbed sunflower seeds and raisins from the bulk barrels.  With a cart full of meat (rump roast, pork chops, ham, halibut, free-range chicken pieces, and chicken breasts) and tons of fresh vegetables, we were expecting a hefty grocery bill.  We were surprised when it all rang up well under $100.  I’m confident I can get that back down to our usual (under) $80 a week with a little practice.

Loren Cordain’s The Paleo Diet recommends starting at Level I with the 85-15 rule.  This means 15% of the meals we eat will be Open Meals, or cheat meals.  If you’re following along, this is where some of the food you miss the most can be incorporated.  A piece of toast with breakfast or potatoes with dinner is considered okay with your Open Meal.

As soon as we got home from the store this afternoon, I grabbed my crock pot and started the roast that we’ll use for a couple of tomorrow’s meals.  Today’s dinner was Pollo Asado on the grill, fajita veggies, and a salad.  I’m not sure if it’s normal, but we tend to eat 1/3 meat and 2/3 vegetables during our meals.  We always make extra food at dinner to take for lunch the next day.  Packing lunches and snacks ahead of time should make it an easier morning.

This evening I made Paleo muffins with chocolate chips that came out really tasty!  I found a great recipe at Slim Palate for Banana Bread that I adapted a little.  Instead of almond flour, I used sunflower seed flour.  It’s easy to make and much cheaper than almond flour.  You just get some sunflower seeds and grind them in a food processor (see The Kitchn for good tips).  When the batter is ready, spoon into a muffin pan and bake at 350ºF for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from piercing the middle of a muffin.  Since this recipe uses baking soda, the sunflowers will react and you’ll find that the muffins have turned a little green.  This is normal and won’t change the taste.

I also made cashew Larabars to take for snacks this week.  100 Days of Real Food has a great recipe.  I used the cashew cookie recipe and left out the peanut butter.

It’s too early to tell, but I have a feeling this week won’t be as rough as we’re anticipating.  With lots of the prep work taken care of this weekend, making a few meals ahead of time plus snacks, I’m feeling prepared to take on this challenge!

Just joining and want to take a look back at my 4 Week Paleo Challenge?  Look below for the links to all my Paleo posts:

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