Day 13: Recipes and the joy of Paleo

Breakfast
Salty Lemonade. Eventually I will try something else for breakfast, but I love this kick this gives to my morning.

Snack
Yet another Paleo Candy Bar from Paleo Plan.

Lunch
Leftover Chicken and Dumplings.

(photo credit: Pragmatic Paleo)

Dinner

A throw together:

• Chicken breast covered in Old Bay Seasoning
• Layer on bacon
• Layer on sweet potatoes
• Layer on carrots
• Sprinkle with sea salt and cinnamon
• Bake in Corningware on 350 for 35 minutes

Served with grilled spinach.

Food used to consume my life. I thought about it all the time: What am I craving? What can I eat? When can I eat again? Can I have seconds? How big is the portion? Will there be a dessert opportunity? Now, food is a constant state of being sated. Since I started Paleo, my energy doesn't deviate, my stomach never growls. When sometimes forget that I haven't eaten in several hours. I can be too distracted to notice hunger. This is a new experience for me, and an entirely pleasant one. For example, right now, dinner is still cooking. I haven't eaten in almost 8 hours, I am able to identify that I'm hungry, but I'm not scouring the kitchen, I'm not pre-eating.

Fascinated. Thrilled. I love Paleo.

Day 11: Grocery stores and recipes

Breakfast
Salty Lemonade.
Coffee

Lunch
Chipotle salad - lettuce, double steak, medium salsa and pico
Apple juice

Snack
Paleo Candy Bar from Paleo Plan

Dinner
Steak and chicken fajitas. By fajitas I mean thinly sliced meat tossed with onions and bell peppers and spicy seasoning.

At my local grocery store, the produce and the meat department are right next to each other on the east side of the store. I could arrange my shopping trips so that I only have to venture into the rest of the store once a month to buy household items and my collection of roasted nuts. This is a very strange adventure I've embarked on, ya'll.

I was the Kraft Mac 'n Cheese Mom. Yes, it always had mixed veggies and grilled chicken, but I was starch-as-the-staple like so many other single Mom's. I thought there was no way I could find the time to "do Paleo," but as it turns out, Paleo is easy. It's meat and veggies in a pan; it's salads and smoothies; it's apple slices and almond butter; it's Holy Grale Juice and Salty Lemonade.

This whole "Paleo thing" is really awesome.

Day 8: Back on the plan and enjoying it

Breakfast

Jolene's Good Morning Juice
1 bunch green kale
6 carrots
6 apples
1/2 head celery
2 pears

Serves 2.5 people.

Snack
Bacon Wrapped Dates from Paleo Plan.

The perfect blend of salty and sweet, this delightful treat will be a repeat in my house. Easy to make and an epic level of deliciousness. A++ grade in my house!

Lunch
Sweet Tomatoes for lunch today. Easy to stay within the Paleo guidelines when it's an open salad bar. Yes, it was hard to stay away from the other offerings (foccacia and blueberry muffins, two of my favorites), but the salad I made really hit the spot. The disastrous experience with stepping back into grains from the night before was fresh in my mind, so staying away was a little easier than it might have been previously.

Snack
Envy Apple

Dinner
Just Plain Chili from Paleo Plan

This is exactly as advertised: It's chili. I used ground Angus beef and I was very liberal with the spices. I like my chili with kick and this chili is mild. Served over Paleo Cornbread from Kelly at A Girl Worth Saving.

A recipe so nice we tried it twice! We don't have butter in my house (dairy-free, ya'll), but it's good drizzled with raw honey.