Tasty Ideas

Some semi-but-not-100%-healthy ideas for summer:

I want to make this coconut milk chocolate ice cream... seems so easy!

First I need an ice cream maker :)

What about these grain-free apple flax muffins?

Mmm, yummy fruit sorbet.

Magic sauce.  Sounds interesting.

My kids are so weird about meat.  Some days they avoid it, other days they eat it first thing of the meal.  It is hard to predict.  My 1 year old, who had been avoiding chicken, loved it in the meal I threw together last night.  Chicken, string beans, a little green onion, and seasonings (onion, garlic, salt, pepper) sauteed lightly in olive oil, and topped with cashews.  No soy sauce, because I am not a huge fan of the taste.  They even ate the nuts.  Wow.  Necessity is the mother of invention.  I think this was a good invention.

Menu Plan 5/16/11 and a Shopping List

Whew!  Back in town and getting organized for the week... Maybe things will be a little slower this week???  For dinner tonight, we had breakfast casserole (w/ spinach, no cheese) and I made some little pumpkin custard cupcakes things (not completely paleo with all the honey) using this pumpkin pie filling recipe.

I don't have a full menu planned, but here's what is down so far:

Breakfasts:

Banana Almond Pancakes

Coconut Milk Smoothies

Eggs and Fruit

Lunches:

BLT Salad with Chicken

Carrot-Apple Salad with Chicken

Waldorf Salad with Chicken

Dinners:

Monday - Pizza Chili (with leftover meat sauce from last week)

Tuesday - Taco Salad (might get adventurous and make some homemade salsa!)

Wednesday - Leftovers

Thursday - (unrolled) Cabbage Rolls (I have a bunch of frozen shredded cabbage.)

Friday - Leftovers

Weekend - TBD after an end-of-the-week shopping trip

A couple non-paleo things I am going to make this week:

Feta Dip (for a pot-luck party)

Chocolate Cupcakes (from a mix on sale, for my husband to take to work)

I ran to Price Chopper tonight to get some strawberries so we'd have some fruit for tomorrow.  Also got some bacon on sale, some green onion, and some dried sage.  Spent $8.

I hope to get to Aldi early this week.  Here's my list, since I will likely be a slacker on the photos:

salad mix (sale) - 4

grape tomatoes (sale) - 4

mushrooms (sale) - 2

bell peppers (sale) - 2 pkgs.

red onions

olives

avocados or guacamole

feta cheese

bread or pitas for dip

apples

carrots - 2 lbs.

celery

bananas - 2 pkgs.

eggs - 2 dozen

ground turkey - 2 lbs.

nuts

raisins

cinnamon

diced tomatoes - 2

tomato sauce - 2

tomato paste

large ziplock baggies

diapers

Should be about $55.

This post shared at Musings of a Housewife, with other gluten-free menus!

Tuesday Thoughts

It is Tuesday, right?  Life has been fluctuating between the extremes of frenetic and down- time, lately.  Heavy on the frenetic side.  I tend to prefer more of the predictable middle ground area, but at least there has been some down-time to keep me sane, although it has not been enough for me to keep all the plates in the air spinning at once... some have come crashing down and I've just swept the mess to the side, so to speak.

I just looked up the word frenetic to make sure I was using it properly.  I was.  It is a combination of frenzied and frantic, just like it sounds.

I made some paleo BBQ sauce tonight and poured the whole thing down the garbage disposal.  It was just awful, even after I added honey and molasses.  I won't link to the recipe, because I don't want to badmouth anyone's work.  I'm sure it is a really good recipe because it earned rave reviews from everyone else, not a single negative review.  I must have done something wrong.  So we mixed some homemade ketchup (that I keep on hand for the kids) and some mustard and ate that as sauce on our brisket, instead.

These Bible word clouds are cool.

It is several years old, but I just want to say that I like the movie Remember Me.  A lot.  I think I watched it initially because Robert was in it, but I ended up liking it for way more reasons than that.  You have to be in the mood for something emotional in order to appreciate it.

I am fighting the afternoon sugar addiction again.  I seriously cannot have any of it around or I am a goner.  Most of it revolves around chocolate.  I am doing well with meals, but have had few 100% paleo days since Easter due to those dang snacks.  I think I'm gonna have to re-commit to 100%, all or nothing.

My favorite (only) restaurant paleo meal during our 30 day challenge was a salad from Chipotle.  Lettuce, chicken (they gave me extra when I said no to beans), tomato salsa, and guacamole.  That's it.  And it was so good.  Just fyi, in case you care :)

Goodnight!

Ugh! and OUR Paleo Plan

Sooo, I didn't get a picture of my small Costco shopping trip this week.  Sorry! Just Aldi: $33.

We are on track for the grocery budget.  Good thing, because the rest of the budget is totally blown.  Ack!!  I told you spring was expensive around here!  Really.

I cannot believe that once again, Aldi has pineapples and strawberries for $.99.  And sweet potatoes for $.33 a lb.  And celery for $.69.  Aldi and Costco, Costco and Aldi.  Those are our stores lately.

My daughter and I just made and ate ants on a log :)

So.  My husband and I discussed it, and we really like eating the Paleo way.  As long as we can afford it, we are going to continue... with desserts permissible one day of the weekends (made paleo-friendly or at least wheat-free when possible).  When eating out or with friends and family, we will try to eat Paleo, but not to the extent of being a bother when we are house guests.  Unless of course it turns out to be really problematic for us when we do re-introduce grains, legumes, and pasteurized dairy - then of course we will not feel bad having to be stricter with our diets.  I have to say, right now, I am in no hurry to re-introduce them.  Let's keep on rollin'...

I have not been strict with the kids when we've been out of the house.  I let them choose non-paleo food when it is a treat - like a cookie from a friend, samples at Costco, a snack at church, or ice cream that was promised after a successful doctor's appointment, etc.  I have found that they get enough of junk food without me making or buying any!  I am starting to notice the sugar crash an hour later after my daughter eats a purely carb snack and am trying to discuss it with her... how that junky food did not make her feel any better...

I want this book.  I like her blog.  Her "required reading" posts are a great kick in the pants.

By the way, if you are wanting to try eating the Paleo way, and are worried about the expense, think about all the food items that you will not be buying... it really frees up a lot of money.  Shopping is simplified.  We are spending more, but not that much more... just about $100/month more than we were spending eating non-paleo.  We get a lot of benefits for that... The return on the investment is satisfying!

On a different note, I had this idea to do a bunch of links this week to projects that you can make reusing materials and items (in the spirit of Earth Day), but it is not going to happen, so maybe another time :)

Maybe I'll get my craft project done this weekend.  The one that has been sitting in the closet for more than a month...

Hope everyone has a good Easter weekend!

Paleo-Friendly Chicken Salad

I've made 2 really good chicken salads this week, if I may say so myself.  Bear with me, I don't use measurements here.

#1 Salad

broccoli slaw mix or shredded cabbage (I used both)

chopped chicken

cooked bacon, crumbled

toasted/roasted almonds, chopped (I use crispy almonds.)

raisins

some paleo olive oil mayo (recipe found here)

some apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (I used both)

raw honey? (only if needed)

#2 Salad

apples, chopped (tossed in lemon juice)

chopped chicken

diced celery

raisins

toasted/roasted almonds, chopped

paleo olive oil mayo

Shovel them in your mouth with a fork or spoon, whichever you prefer :)

The breakdown of how to make a good, paleo-friendly chicken salad is as follows.

• The obvious: chicken, seasoned if desired, cooked and chopped.

Then, add at least:

• 1 sweet item (dried fruit like raisins, cranberries, cherries, fresh red grapes, crushed pineapple, etc.)
• 1 crunchy item (apple, celery, nuts)
• 1 savory, salty-ish item (bacon, nuts, etc.)
• 1 neutral vegetable item (cabbage, broccoli slaw, celery, carrot?, etc.) 

That last one is optional, but helps stretch the salad.

• Stir in just enough paleo olive oil mayo to coat.

As you can see, some items can count in more than one category, so you don't always need 4 ingredients plus chicken and mayo.  For example, you can make a great salad with only chicken, grapes (sweet), nuts (crunchy + savory), and mayo.

Another way to stretch the salad (since we are not eating it by way of a sandwich here) would be to serve it over lettuce.

The combinations can be as unique as you wish.  Enjoy!

The only one in our house who won't eat these salads is my 20 month old, who doesn't like the crunchiness.  He prefers his chicken smothered in guacamole :)