Sweet Potato Fries

It looks like sweet potatoes are kind of borderline Paleo...acceptable enough, but maybe in very limited quantities. Well, I needed something to take to potluck (I'm packing up my own lunch to take so I'm not tempted by crap food) and these sounded perfect and easy!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Line a cookie sheet with foil and spray it with olive oil spray
Slice the potatoes up thin
Lay single layer on foil
Spritz with olive oil spray
Sprinkle with Tony Chacheres cajun seasoning and garlic salt
Bake about 10 minutes
Remove from oven, flip the slices over
Spritz with olive oil again and add more seasoning
Bake for another 10 minutes or until crispy
Enjoy!!

Day 4

I'm feeling decent today. Did some good research at lunch, so I have a better idea of some foods I can eat. Plus figuring out kind of in what order to eat them to have days of feeling great all day.

For breakfast this morning, I grabbed the last baggie of the omelette muffins and topped em with salsa at work, plus about 3/4th of a banana. Midmorning today I had some almonds and unsweetened applesauce. Lunch today was pretty simple. I made a big salad of romaine (cause I had it...) and tomatoes, with Zesty Italian Light (not Paleo), topped with solid white albacore tuna, and a side of a cup of dark chocolate Almond Milk...YUM! My afternoon snack was raisins.

Dinner deserves it's own paragraph. I got to thinkin today about how I am seriously going to burn out on Spring Mix salad and tomatoes. So I KNOW I need to add in more veggies, and I decided to start with the mighty bell pepper. I've honestly NEVER tried a bell pepper. Don't laugh, it's true. I guess I'd always thought of them as a PEPPER, so spicy. But a friend convinced me that they aren't at all. I've also never been to Sprouts before, until tonite. I'd been told it was the best place to get veggies, so D and I hit it up after I picked him up. And WOW! I'm impressed. Got meat, veggies, some fruit, almond milk, etc. And really didn't spend much. I branched out a bit more (though haven't cooked them yet) and got spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes, etc.

Back to the bell pepper...YUM! D and I polished off half of a red one with our salad tonite...lol I made italian chicken (chicken breast sauteed in a skillet with some zesty italian light dressing), plus a spring mix salad with tomato and sticks of red bell pepper and light ranch. It was delicious, and while it doesn't sound like much, this really does open new worlds to me! So it may sound silly to some, but I'm excited. And finally, this evening, I had a thin slice of provolone (dairy, I know), an apple, and some 100% juice.

Day 3

Today I tried eating out. I really didn't want grilled chicken as I know I'll be making that a lot at home, and I don't wanna burn out on this, so we went to a place where I could get something else.

Well, first of all, I had a banana and omelette muffins topped with salsa for breakfast. Then some almonds midmorning. At lunch, I met some friends at a little bakery cafe near work. I got a roast beef sandwich with cheddar cheese (took the bread off, so just dairy), plus a small salad with light ranch, and an apple. The roast beef there was SO flavorful, that I could probably make that truly Paleo next time if I wanted to with no cheese. I don't know that I'll WANT to...lol but we'll see. This afternoon was some raisins and another handful of almonds. Dinner tonite was another test. We ended up at Spring Creek BBQ with my aunt. I had a child's portion of beef brisket with a touch of sauce (not Paleo), plus green beans and half an ear of corn on the cob, plus some pickle slices. Corn isn't TRULY Paleo, but it's borderline, so acceptable enough in limited quantities, same with green beans as they are legumes. But it was either that or salad. I also brought in a banana for D and I to split. I totally avoided the bread there which is AWESOME. This evening, I had a cheese stick (dairy).

Today I felt better than I did last night, and it was nice not have to go back to work all sluggish from a ton of carbs. So yay for that. Now to remember that when I'm at the worst of my cravings!!! lol

Day Two

Today was an off day as my little man is sick so I had to stay home. It was pretty tough, considering we had to go get my son some antibiotics (he has strep), and on the way home, I kept thinking we needed to stop somewhere for food. But...I kept reminding myself that there WAS food at home. Over and over and over...reminding myself...lol

I think for now, I'm going to consider it a perfect day if I can steer clear of all bread/grain/pasta. Again today, I did add in some dairy and a bit of sugar, and I'm content with that. Once I get used to this, I'll tighten it up more.

Ok so...breakfast today was a banana. After the hospital visit, I had two scrambled eggs, two slices of turkey sausage (I'm saving the leftover omelette muffins for work the next two mornings), and a spring mix salad. For an afternoon snack, I had some unsweetened apple sauce. Dinner was a big salad with tomato, and a slice of cheese. This evening, I had some more diluted juice. I have a feeling that salad is going to be a MAJOR item on the menu for the next few weeks as I navigate this!!

On a side note, I have had a nasty headache this evening. It feels like a caffeine headache and I wonder if its due to carb withdrawal. It's interesting though, to see how my body reacts to this new diet.

Day One down

So today was day one. I was woefully unprepared since I just decided this last night. So, my stop on the way to work, was to Smoothie King. I got a Caribbean Way (strawberry, banana, papaya) smoothie with NO sweetener (can't have sugar), and an immune booster. I also grabbed a little package of turkey jerky and dried apples to munch on til lunch.

At lunchtime I went to the store and it was HARD! EVERYthing I usually eat is carbs or dairy or sugar laden. But I ended up ok. I originally was going to add in skim milk, but I ended up getting dark chocolate almond milk. It's SOOO good and creamy! The rest of what I got was salad stuff, fruits (bananas, raisins, no sugar applesauce), tuna, sliced turkey, and almonds. However, I did veer from True Paleo, by getting single serving broccoli and cheese cups (dairy), and Zesty Italian Light dressing (sugar). But I'm ok with that. It's minimal.

For dinner, I hit up the store again before getting D. I needed eggs, veggies for the house, more salad stuff, different meats. And ended up cooking for dinner. I had come across a recipe for omelette muffins that looked really good. (See below) I didn't make them True Paleo again as I did add a dash of milk. But otherwise they are paleo. We also had roasted asparagus with some (NonPaleo) ranch dressing to dip in. I figure at least we ate it...lol And I had some 100% juice cranberry juice this evening, but diluted with water as its pretty strong...lol



To fill up 9 muffin cups, I used 4 eggs, 2 turkey sausage pattys crumbled, about 1/2 cup of crumbled frozen spinach, and a dash of milk. Scramble it all together and then pour into greased muffin cups. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until firm. I topped them with salsa. Yummy!!

So day one is down, and I think I stuck within the 80% compliance. I need to keep finding super easy recipes!

On a side note, I did weigh in today, and it was NOT pretty :( I've gained back almost all the weight I had previously lost. I won't be weighing again til the end of this though.

Let's see how long this lasts

I've been hearing about the Paleo diet a lot lately, and my trainer sent me info on it with info about it supposedly helping with the none too kind Aunt Flo. Well, I decided to give it a try, at least for 30 days, which will put me to the day before Thanksgiving (yes, that was on purpose). My motivation is...well, to GET some motivation. And I figure if I go hardcore for awhile, it will be easier to stick with it. Maybe this will give me some much needed energy that I've been lacking for awhile. I definitely feel sluggish all the time with my high fat, high carb diet and I can NOT get out of it!

So the basics of the Paleo (aka Caveman) diet. I can have oils (no transfats), lean meats, nuts, seafood (yuck), fresh fruits and veggies, and eggs. No sugar, no carbs, no fun.

HOWEVER...I'm allowing two additions. Hence, the Not So Paleo name. I will be allowed Zesty Italian Light dressing, esp if I'ma be eating lots of veggies...and iced tea. Mama needs her caffeine!! lol I won't be having sweet tea though. Just my usual morning glass of iced tea with sweet n low. I'm ok with that much artificialness.

Let's see how this goes! I can't say I'll be perfect at this. A) I so rarely cook, that this will take some adjustment. B) We're used to lots of fast food. Yeah, I'm not gonna be perfect but I'm aiming for 80% compliance.