The Paleo Honeymoon

Switching over to paleo was not a gradual thing for our family. Levi and I spent our last non-paleo date night cramming as much PF Changs into our mouths before heading to Whole Foods to start our Whole30/Paleo journey well stocked. Afterwards we cleaned our kitchen out. We threw away the healthy Cheerios, Triscuts, Greek yogurt, skim milk cheese, whole wheat bread, low carb tortillas, oatmeal, whole wheat pasta, high fructose corn syrup free ketchup, olive oil mayo, low sodium turkey bacon, turkey franks, soy sauce, flavored coffee (oh the flavored coffee...that one still kind of hurts) and even boxed almond milk...you know, all those things that you are proud to put on the conveyor belt at Wal-Mart.

The first few days we were a paleo honeymoon.It was fun and new. Levi was home because of the holidays so we enjoyed making huge messes in the kitchen trying to figure out how to make cauliflower rice and took turns doing the dishes after all these elaborate meals. Then Levi went back to work, school started, I kind of went back to work, and the honeymoon was definitely over. We learned some hard lessons very quickly.

Lesson 1: Don't talk to Levi if he doesn't have an IV drip of caffeine and sugar while at work. Don't look at him, breath near him or think about him. Fortunately this moodiness only lasted four incredibly long days and we all survived. But then there was the issue of what was he going to drink? He was getting sick of just water so we started to experiment. I sent him a few different types of unsweetened tea to work. Never before did he like tea, sweetened or unsweetened but all of a sudden it was his new best friend.

I know coffee isn't black-listed on paleo. Levi just refuses to drink it without cream and sugar. I on the other hand will suck on coffee grinds if I have to. Whatever it takes to get the caffeine. Fortunately that hasn't been necessary. I found that Green Mountain Coffee makes a clean, no added flavors K-cup called Nantucket Blend that is actually really good black. You can find it at Wal-Mart, Brookshires, I've even seen it at Staples.

Another drink we keep around is a pitcher of water with lemon and lime slices. The kids don't get juice any more so this has been a great option instead of just water. Thursday I am going to pick up some carbonated water and try adding different fruit to it for a more soda-like drink. I'll keep you posted on that outcome.

Lesson 2: The world will be a safer place if you just pack your lunch. Undoubtedly you will get busy at work and a coworker will order a pizza and offer you some of its cheesy carby goodness. This will then cause your eyeballs to start sweating and your toes to curl as you consider all the different ways you can kill him, inhale the entire pizza and destroy all evidence This feeling is a lot more subtle if you already have food in your belly.

We have learned to be creative with packing lunches. Leftovers are always good options for Levi's lunch because he can heat them up at work. I keep a list of cold lunch ideas for those times I look in the fridge and feel like we have nothing for the next day.

Sugar free turkey rollups

Meatballs

Carrots

Cucumber slices

Celery Sticks

Black Olives

Boiled Eggs

Chicken Salad

Tuna Salad

Cold soups

Apple slices

Pecans, pistachios, almonds, pumpkin seeds, macadamia nuts

Coconut flakes

Cherry tomatoes

Guacamole

Fried plantain slices

Baked or fried sweet potato slices

Sunbutter

Apple sauce

Bananas

Berries

Sugar free ham

Chopped salad

Dried fruit

Lesson 3: When you cook lots of meals you clean lots of dishes. Initially we were careless with how many dishes we used but now we are figuring out ways to keep the dishwasher from running nonstop. The large mixing bowls get rinsed immediately after use. We do our best to use our giant iron skillet for everything and it gets washed immediatley too. We cover cookie sheets or roasting pans with foil to keep the pan from getting yucky. But in the end there are just always going to be dishes. It is a fact that has to just be accepted I'm afraid. Eh...it's not the worst thing in the world. Turn on a Chris Kresser podcast and learn something while you are filling up your dishwasher.

Now for the latest successful recipe that only used one bowl and one cutting board. Love quick clean up!

We made some yummy sliders minus the bun the other other day. I saw a recipe for Krefta Kabobs from She cooks...he cleans and kind of made it my own. The recipe called for a Moroccan spice mixture called Ras-El-Hanout. I didn't have this exact mixture on hand but I looked up a recipe for it and I just mixed the spices I did have. These were great and will be repeated. Here is what I did:

Ingredients:
2 lbs grass-fed 75% lean ground beef
Large onion chopped small
1 Large egg, lightly beaten
4 tsp minced garlic (We really LOVE garlic so you might want to scale back to 2 tsp...totally up to you!)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cardamom (I bought this for another recipe that apparently I never made because it was unopened in my pantry. This spice is amazing! Why isn't it in more recipes? It smells so good I wanted to wear it...maybe I will.)
1/2 cinnamon
1/4 nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 coriander powder
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ginger

1. Add all ingredients to a large bowl. Get your kids in the kitchen with you and let them go to town squishing and mixing with their cute little hands.

2. Form into small slider sized patties.

2. Stick in fridge for about 20 minutes to help them keep their shape.

3. Throw patties on the grill or even bake in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes. I might be the only person in the world still using a George Foreman Grill but it was cold outside and I feel more confident in my grilling skills when it doesn't require fire. When I try to grill outside it is either undercooked or burnt to a crisp. I plan to tackle the art of grilling this summer. Stay posted.

4. Serve your bunless sliders with a mixture of 1 part homeade mayo/2 parts dijon mustard. Add your favorite veggies to fill the rest of your plate. These were great cold packed in lunches the next day too.

Soapbox moment: Use a fruit and veggie wash people. Water is not enough. I sell the one pictured at the shop but you can find fruit and veggie wash at any grocery store.

We roasted Brussels sprouts, zucchini, and apples tossed with coconut oil, salt and pepper. Yummm. I'm not really sure why Brussels sprouts get such a bad rap. They are one of our family's favs and the kids do a happy dance when they know they are being served. Yeah...they are wierd. But they are mine and they are healthy. That makes me happy.