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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Here’s another Paleo practice meal, this time with ground turkey and spaghetti squash.  Think you’ll miss pasta too much if you go Paleo?  If you’ve never tried spaghetti squash, now is the time!  This handy squash is easy to cook and gives you long thin strands just like spaghetti.  What else is so great about spaghetti squash?  Not only does it cut down on your calories if you swap it out for pasta, but it’s also super versatile.  Use it in Italian dishes, Asian noodle dishes, and even in place of potatoes! 

What you’ll need:

• 1 large Spaghetti Squash

• 1 batch of your own homemade spaghetti meat sauce (here’s a great recipe) 

-OR-

• 2 lbs ground meat mixed with your favorite jar of Paleo-friendly spaghetti sauce (we won’t tell!)

We used ground turkey in this since I was a little burned out on beef and pork for the week.

Roasting the Spaghetti Squash:
Carefully puncture the spaghetti squash several times with a small knife or skewer and place in a shallow baking dish.  Cook at 375ºF for an hour and 20 minutes, turning the squash over halfway through.  The skin should be tender when pierced with a knife.  When it’s cooled down, slice the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds.  You can then use a fork to scoop out the strands of squash.  Serve on a plate and top with spaghetti meat sauce.

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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• 1 1/4 lbs ground beef (grass-fed preferred)
• 8 oz mushrooms, pulsed until finely ground in food processor
• 2 eggs beaten
• 3 tbsp coconut flour
• ½ of batch of ketchup (recipe from Eating for Idiots)
• ½ onion, very finely diced in a food processor
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped cilantro
• 1 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp Coconut oil to grease loaf pan

Preheat the oven to 350ºF and grease the loaf pan.  Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl, using more or less coconut flour depending on consistency of the mixture.  It should be sticky and easy to form into a loaf pan.  Alternatively, form into a loaf in a glass dish.  After forming in the pan, take the remaining ketchup and spread over the top.  Cook for 1 hour.

• 1 large head of cauliflower
• 1 tbsp ghee (or grass-fed butter if preferred)
• 1 tbsp coconut milk
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (optional)

Start by washing and draining the cauliflower.  Cut the cauliflower into medium sized florets and steam them until tender, about 20 minutes.  Drain well and transfer to a blender or food processor.  Add all ingredients and blend well until smooth and creamy.

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: