Back on track

So, we had a weird couple of weeks.  Went out to eat a bunch and tried to stay on track at home, but things don't always go quite like we plan them.  This week we are back on schedule, I have a menu and shopping list already made up so I don't have to even think about what to make everyday, just look at the menu and go for it.  This week we are all in town as well, with Todd being out of town over the weekend while I was at work, I kind of fell off the wagon and ate some really horrible food.  Honestly I can feel it slightly in my gut when we go off course.  Not as bad as some of the blogs and comments I've read, I mean I don't feel like I'm dying or anything.  But, things are not exactly perfect in the gut region either.  So, back to the plan.  Eating healthy nutritious food.  B is doing really well, getting super excited about the weight/inches he is losing.  He can feel it in his clothes and he's loving it.  T and I are having a slower change overall, but I can feel the difference in the way my shirts are fitting and my watch at work which was pretty tight for a while is looser, along with my rings.  I can remove my wedding ring at will, which for a while I would have needed a ring cutter. :-(.  Now I could take it off if I wanted, which I don't ;-), and when my hands get a bit cold it spins around my finger just by the weight of the setting.  I love that feeling because it means this eating plan is actually working.  I wasn't expecting overnight magic results and I'm definitely not getting that.  But, I am losing a bit of weight, noticeable in my clothing and by the reading on the scale!  YAY!  Well off to school and then grocery shopping.  Fun times all around!  Have a good one!

Beef kabobs

We had beef kabobs the other night. They were very good and there was enough for the boys to take theft overs for lunch. Here's a photo 

Then we had Fujiyama for dinner last night. Early Valentines dinner since I'm back to working this weekend. It was amazing!  Best fried rice on the planet ;-). 

So now we are back to the plan. Trying out some fish tacos tonight. I'm not a huge fan if fish so hopefully they are yummy!  I even took the time to make some paleo wraps, they were supposed to be thin like tortillas but the turned out more like a gordita shell. Again I'm hoping they taste ok!  Wish us good luck!

Pork Chops!

So, I made some delicious pork chops last night.  I kind of used this recipe:  Mustard Grilled Pork Chops With Basil-Apricot relish.  I made a couple small changes.  First as it's February in Washington, I was unable to find apricots, so I settled for some nectarines.  Instead of buying raspberry vinaigrette (mostly because I forgot to put it on my list, ha) I used some apple cider vinegar. I also passed on the optional cardamom.  The biggest changes was instead of slathering the meat with mustard just before grilling, I whipped up some honey mustard sauce and marinaded the meat for a few hours.  Add a nice salad and some mixed veggies and it was a wholly delicious and satisfying meal.  B did not appreciate the relish, but T and I both thought it was a nice change up. 

B and I also made some dessert when he got home from school.  I'm a sweet freak, so I'm trying to find some good Paleo choices.  So far, they all seem to fall a bit flat.  Mostly because without all the sugar, everything is tasting a bit bland.  This was ok, not something that I'll ever be craving though.  Raw No-Bake Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownie. 

Update

So, we had the Ham and Egg Breakfast Bowls for breakfast this morning.  They were, ok.  Not amazing, but not horrible either.  I think if I do that recipe again, I would beat the eggs and add some extra seasonings.  I did make them yesterday and froze then reheated them today, so the yolks of the eggs got a bit dried out.  But it filled our tummy's.  B ate them without complaint, so I call that a win for now!

Dinner last night was Bacon Wrapped Chicken Strips.  Again, they were ok.  I didn't have a big enough rack to do the entire recipe (I doubled it to have leftovers for lunches today) so I did 2 batches.  I may have gotten a little impatient on the first batch, because the bacon was overdone in spots and underdone in others.  I feel like the chicken should have been marinated, as it was rather bland unless you could get a bite of bacon in with the chicken.

Another recipe that I tried yesterday was Apple Cinnamon Muffins.  They are rather bland.  I used paper muffin cups and maybe that's why they just fall apart.  Altogether not a great one.  I probably won't be re-using this recipe. :-(

1st day pictures

This is my trunk after going to the store today.  Now this is enough for 3 people for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Snacks for 5-7 days.  Oh and a new pair of shoes for work, and dog food.  Everybody needs to eat right?

Part of what I'm calling my Hippy Health Food haul.

And the rest of the haul.  That's a lot of food!

And this is the result of the very first Paleo recipe I've tried: Ham and Egg Breakfast Cups.  The only change I made was to add the green onions and a smidgen of cheese on top of the eggs before I cooked the.  They look delicious and I can't wait to try them for breakfast tomorrow!

Starting out

So, today we begin our Paleo-ish journey.  T, S and B are setting off on a new adventure/lifestyle change.  Up to this point we've been eating...well...horribly would probably describe it best.  Lots of pasta, breads, refined sugars, soda and overall crap food, and our bodies certainly show it.  I was kind of looking into the idea of starting a Paleo diet, but without T on board, I knew I would never be able to stick with it.  Come on, I have a full time job, go to school, full time mom, housekeeper, chauffeur, cook, doggie mom and any other job that comes my way.  There was no way that I would be able to cook meals for me AND meals for the boys and stick with it long term.  So I sort of put it on the back shelf and continued on.  Then, out of the blue T asks me if I would be interested in looking into a Paleo or Atkins style low carb diet.  So while I was contemplating getting healthier, so was the husband!  Score!  So we did a little more research, combed Pinterest for some recipes and today we are beginning our Journey.   

There are some things however that we are going to continue with, hence the Paleo-ish part of this plan.  We are going to continue to eat a little bit of cheese.  And I'm not going to be a psycho stickler, driving to 12 different stores for groceries...I don't like shopping that much!  So, if I can't find sugar free bbq sauce, then regular old bbq sauce will work just fine.  And occasionally we're going to have REAL pasta, because we like pasta damnit.  Also, not going to say we can't ever go out to dinner.  Sometimes this mom needs a darn break, so Fujiyama's is still in the scope of possibility.

One frustrating thing about eating fresher foods and more produce....the grocery bill goes up.  Another thing I'm not going to be a stickler about is freaking out about eating only organics.  I WILL try to get the best, healthiest versions of  the foods we need, but I refuse to break the bank doing so.  We also don't have a lot of options in TC for getting decent priced organics, or grass fed products.  I shop at Winco, because the quality is good and the prices are where I like them.  I supplement with Fred Meyer, Yokes, Alberston's and Safeway when I need things Winco doesn't offer.  If we had something like a Trader Joe's that catered to those looking for organic or less processed foods, I would try shopping there (I don't know what their prices are like).  

So as T, B and I make our way down this lifestyle change (sounds so much better than diet, right?), I'll keep this bloggy thingy going and add some pictures and links to the recipes or the recipes themselves, with any notes on changes I may make.  Try to enjoy our attempt at the Paleo-ish journey!