CSA Basket – May 15

Here is my CSA basket this week:

It contained:

Beets, Collard Greens, Black Kale, Avocado, Kohlrabi, Swiss Chard, Red Kale, Purple Kale, Red Turnip, Savoy Cabbage, Cucumbers, Carrots, Fuji Apples, Red Leaf Lettuce, Radishes, Grapefruits, Celery, Cauliflower and Zucchini, Romanesco Cauliflower, Green Beans and Snap Peas.

I switched out the beets and radishes for an extra kohlrabi, a cucumber, and an apple. Beck ate the apple on the way home from the farm.

I had trouble fitting it all into the refrigerator. I made some kale chips and collard/apple juice in the afternoon which I shared with my neighbor and made paleo zucchini bread in the evening. That barely put a dent in it. I better get cooking!

Paleo Picnic

Sliced turkey and ham, cucumber, snap peas, avocado, kale chips, fresh bread and butter pickles, and a fennel, orange and olive salad.

Enjoyed on a towel in the backyard with my husband as our son flitted around us.

Quick and Easy “Deviled” Eggs

So, I’m a mom. That means I have things to do, and not always a lot of time to do them. Like eating breakfast.

This is what I ate this morning. It took about a minute to make.

I simply cut a few hard boiled eggs in half, sprinkled them with some seasoned salt (plain sea salt and pepper will do just fine) and put a little dollop of mustard on top. Add some capers if you want to be all fancy.

See, quick and easy.

Trader Joes sells bags of cage free hard boiled eggs. I recently started buying them and have fallen in love. Peeling hard boiled eggs frustrates me to no end and I would rather put my energy elsewhere. Of course, you can make your own hard boiled eggs ahead of time and just keep them in the refrigerator.

I Did It!

Twenty-one days of strict low sugar paleo. No cupcakes, no pieces of chocolate, no chips, no fruit other than a few apples and some slightly underripe bananas. I had a few slips, namely the juice fiasco and some cashews in a smoothie, but overall I did pretty good.

How do I feel? Great. My energy levels and moods are more stable.

How do I look? Great. I didn’t loose any weight, but my tummy and thighs have thinned out.

Will I keep this up? No. I will continue to eat a mainly grain free diet for the foreseeable future and will limit legumes, refined sugars, modern seed oils and other processed foods. I will be incorporating fruit back into my diet. I also will be doing some paleo baking. I just won’t eat as much of it. (At least, I will try not to.)  I will definitely have chocolate again!

Will I do this again? Maybe. While I don’t think it is healthy to eat excessively most of the time and then go on a crash diet to make up for it, I think it is ok to eat relatively healthy most of the time, allowing for some treats, and then doing something like going off sugar for a few weeks to keep you in check.

So what did I eat on my last day of the challenge?

Breakfast was one egg scrambled with dandelion greens, onion, young garlic and kalamata olives topped with orange zest. I’ve discovered that the secret to the dandelion greens, at least for me, is to cook them in coconut oil.

For lunch I had two eggs, two chicken sausages, and sautéed greens.  One of the yolks broke while I was cooking it.  Boo!

In the afternoon my sister and I had a virtual tea party via text message. She had chamomile citrus tea with green apple, prosciutto, and raw almonds. I had rooibos chai with pistachios.

For dinner I made a salad with arugula, grated carrots and beet, a chicken patty, and guacamole. The beet was white in the inside with faint pink rings. Interesting.

This evening I had a homemade coconut yogurt that I didn’t take a picture of because it didn’t think I would actually eat it, but it turned out I did. I made it with just coconut milk and a probiotic in my yogurt maker. A bit of an experiment. It needs some tweaking, but I think it shows promise.

So that is it. Twenty one days, done.

Stay tuned . . .

No Tortilla Tuesday

We all woke up late this morning. I went to bed way too late last night, then woke up at some point and took forever to get back to sleep. The only reason we woke up was I have an alarm on my phone at 7:30 for my son. We need to be out the door at 8:15 for school. Of course, today was spring picture day.

My husband got our son in the shower while I got dressed and went into the kitchen to make breakfast for everyone and a snack for school. I went with a smoothie because everyone could drink it.

One can of Trader Joe’s light coconut milk, half a can of water, handful of macadamia nuts, a bunch of spinach, and one banana. Blend. Serves two grown ups and a six year old.

I also had some leftover cochinita pibil since I was going straight to the gym after dropping him off at school.

For lunch I had a big salad with various greens, a shredded carrot, and a can of sardines on top. Drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

After chasing my son around the neighborhood on his big wheeler I had half a green apple, almond butter and shredded coconut.

I made tacos for dinner with the leftover cochinita pibil. I just had mine plain since I didn’t have any big lettuce to wrap it with in leu of a tortilla. I also made guacamole and roasted cauliflower, broccoli and baby turnips.

Tomorrow is my last day of the sugar detox. Stay tuned.

Salad vs. Sandwich

I can’t believe I am almost done with 21 days without sugar and I am doing so well. I thought for sure I would be miserable. While I do miss baking, I haven’t had too many cravings and the ones I have had I’ve been able to get over without too much trouble. I feel good. My energy and moods have both been more stable. Everyone appreciates that. My husband has also appreciated the disappearance of my “puffy layer.” I haven’t really lost weight, but that was not a goal of mine anyway. Since easing myself into the paleo lifestyle over the past 6-9 months I’ve lost weight and now weight what I did in my early twenties. I just need to get to where I can exercise and firm things up and all will be good.

Breakfast today was two eggs scrambled with smoked salmon and half an avocado. It was really good.

My husband and I went to the good Vietnamese restaurant for lunch and I ordered pho with vegetables instead of noodles. It was quite good. I haven’t had broth for about a week, so I’m glad I had the soup.

In the late afternoon I had a snack of coconut flakes, hazelnuts and a cup of tea.

My husband and I went to a new market next door to the Vietnamese restaurant and I found “real” pickles – meaning they were fermented and not pasteurized. They were reasonably priced, so I snagged a jar. When it came time for dinner I wanted to use them and thought they would be good with the ham I had. But what else? Salad? Carrots?

Cuban sandwiches are good.

How about a Cuban sandwich without the bread? Perfect.

I heated the ham in my skillet and melted some Kerrygold cheddar on top. I put that on a bed of arugula and topped it with sliced pickle, avocado and spicy brown mustard. I had some cinnamon tossed carrots on the side. It was very filling and very good. Score.

Moving into the Neighbor’s House

Today was a fun day.

Breakfast was leftover Halupki casserole. No pic, looks the same as it did yesterday.

Beck and I went to the farmer’s market this morning. I got half a dozen chicken eggs and half a dozen duck eggs, goat cheese, various veggies, and a lemon sorbet for Beck. Then Beck got sucked into the almond stand. They guy gave him a sample of maple orange almonds. Guess who talked his mom into buying some. I also got some almonds roasted in olive oil and rosemary for myself. He was eating his almonds in the car on the way home and they smelled so good. I am definitely making some when I am eating sugar again!

For lunch I had an egg, some ham, and a salad with avocado.

Beck decided that he was eating all his meals at his friend’s house this weekend. We haven’t been able to do breakfast and dinner, but he brought his lunch over today. I went with him and we hung out for while. I had to literally pick him up and carry him away when it was time to go home.

For a mid afternoon snack I had done kale chips and two chicken breakfast sausages.

For dinner I made cochinita pubil, which is a pork dish from the Yucatan Peninsula. I ate it with roasted broccoli, boiled carrots tossed with coconut and olive oils and cinnamon, avocado, cilantro, and salsa. I had no idea that roasted broccoli was so good. I’ve never made it before tonight. Definitely something to repeat.

Lego Day

Day 17.

Breakfast this morning was, surprise, eggs and greens! Dandelion greens to be specific. I am still not loving their bitterness, but I got a bunch in my CSA basket, and they are good for you, so I’m eating them. I’ve decided that mixing them with scrambled eggs is the way to go though. You may notice that my egg whites are rather small. Yup, I’m still sharing them with a certain little boy who doesn’t like yolks. I also had two Applegate chicken and apple breakfast sausages. I thought they were good, but my pork loving son didn’t approve. Apparently, they “were crunchy.”  I think he didn’t like the casing.

I also made my husband and son a green smoothie out of cashews, water, orange juice, chard leaves, Amazing Grass, and a banana. They liked it.

Beck spent almost the entire day playing with Legos. He just inherited a little Lego motor that was my husband’s when he was a kid and he can hardly put it down. Legos and electricity, what could be better?

He did take a little break to go have lunch at the neighbors house. We brought our own lunches. He had watermelon and sausage (pork this time) and I had the last of the leftover lamb and root vegetables with some salad greens. I also snagged a few shrimp from the neighbors. Thanks guys, they were delicious!

For dinner I made the Halupki Casserole <a href=”Eat Like a Dinosaur: Recipe & Guidebook for Gluten-free Kids. I didn’t add the cauliflower though because I didn’t have any. I only put in half the cabbage because I thought it would be too much, but when I took it out of the oven I realized it wasn’t. I just shredded up some more cabbage and served it with the Halupki. It was good and I actually liked the contrast of the crunchy raw cabbage against the sauciness of the casserole.

After dinner I started some sauerkraut.  It should be done fermenting in a few days.  Yum.

Grown-up Fire Friday

I hope I am not boring you all with my food choices. Turns out I don’t make five star meals three times a day. Rather, I usually just look in the fridge to see what I can scrounge up. Sometimes that is more exciting than other times.

Breakfast today was sautéed greens with onion, kalamata olives and an egg to hold it all together. Yup, greens and eggs are a good breakfast.

I went to the gym after dropping Beck off at school and had a great session with my trainer.

My husband and I went to the taco truck that comes to the car wash down the hill from us for lunch. He got a burrito el pastor, I got two tacos el pastor and some pickled carrots and jalepeños. I didn’t eat the tortillas, just the filling. I also left behind the jalepeños. Sorry Mom.

I was going to make some greens to round out my meal when I got home, but I didn’t. Instead when I was hungry a few hours later I heated up a baked green apple with almond butter on top. I only ate a little though, just enough to fill me up. Beck ate the rest before he went to bed tonight.

I did make some greens about an hour after that. I tossed in a few marcona almonds to liven them up a bit.

We had hot dogs cooked on the fire again tonight. It is turning into our Friday routine. It’s a great way to unwind after the week. This time though it was just my husband and I. Beck got himself invited over to the neighbors house for dinner. He made up a plate of watermelon, baby carrots and a banana and took off. He came back later for “dessert” and got a hot dog and a scoop of baked beans. Crazy kid.

I had two servings of arugula, avocado and pine nut salad and two Applegate Organics beef hot dogs. No picture, sorry.

So that was my exciting day. How are you all doing?

Cheating with Cashews

Day 15. I’m doing pretty good. Not the most perfect day though.

For breakfast I had lamb, half an avocado and half a Persian cucumber.

When I got home from dropping my son of at school my husband asked me to make a mocha smoothie for him. That is one of my favorites and we don’t have it very often. I made a split second decision to have one too even though my plan was to avoid chocolate the entire three weeks. Chocolate is ok on the plan we are doing as long as it isn’t sweetened, but as it is a downfall of mine I wanted to take the opportunity to get it out of my system for a while.

I made the smoothie with a can of coconut milk, half a can of water, an handful of cashews, three scoops of chocolate Amazing Grass Superfood (which is unsweetened), a tablespoon or so of instant coffee, and a can of ice. I usually add honey or agave to it, but didn’t this time. I thought I would have to add some to my husband’s but it was perfect without any.

I guzzled half of it down before I thought to take a picture. Then I didn’t want to stop my enjoyment of it by fooling around with my phone to take said picture. So I just sat and enjoyed it.

Afterwards, I remembered that cashews were on the list of things I’m not supposed to eat because they are higher in carbs than other nuts. Oh well.

For lunch I had lamb and roasted carrots and acorn squash. I forgot to take a picture, but i have a feeling I’ll have another chance soon. The food that was supposed to be last night’s dinner will likely be many of my meals for the next few days.

Before ukulele class I had a piece of Kerrygold cheddar and a beef and pork stick.

For dinner my husband and I had an arugula, kale, and fennel frond salad with half a green apple and half an avocado between the two of us, with bacon on top.

Kale chips on the side.