30 Day Paleo Challenge - Week 4

Egg Salad Wraps

I'm on my final week of my paleo challenge and I feel amazing! It is great to be on track mentally and in the kitchen. We have refined the recipe selection so that our meals don't get too repetitive, but our usual ingredients can be put to good use. We always have a goal to eat healthy while keeping our wallets full of monies. :)

Our meal mainstays:

• Egg bake or scramble
• Tuna, turkey, or egg salad
• Meatloaf or meatballs - beef, turkey, chicken, or combo
• Marinated Slaw - any combination of cabbage, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, fresh herbs, and occassionally nuts and dried fruits
• Taco wraps - ground meat, homemade taco seasoning, greens for wrap
• Soups - carrot, pumpkin, pear, apple, or any combination of veggies and meat along with homemade stocks and seasonings.
• Chili 
• Stir Fry or curries
• Baked or grilled fish - right now we have plenty of salmon straight from Alaska. We also buy tilapia, tuna, flounder, or any other fish that's on sale.
• Smoothies - fruits, flax meal, and greens (primarily kale). We add primal fuel when weightlifting and working out. 
• Homemade pasta sauce and spaghetti squash. We will also try our hand at veggie noodles in the form of zucchini/yellow squash as well as onion, etc.
• Salads, salads, salads. Using dressing comprised of either oils and freshly squeezed citrus juices or my favorite Paleo Dressing.

Other meal items that are meant to be eaten only on occasion:

• Muffins. Using nut and coconut flours and honey or agave nectar for sweetener. Fruits can also be used as a sweetening agent. 
• Trail Mix
• Bacon, sausage
• Uncured, natural chicken hot dogs
• Dark chocolate
• Beans - usually in the form of hummus or additional protein in chilis or soups.
• Yogurts - probiotics

I certainly have other meal ideas and recipe adaptations I plan to test in my kitchen and with the husband. Our meal plans will continue to shift and improve. Now that we have a remodeled kitchen, it has only gotten easier for us to prepare a weeks worth of food together. (Before and after photos to come!!)

30 Day Paleo Challenge - Week 3

It's finally fall! Cooler weather and pumpkins. Yes, please.

I can't believe it is already October! It feels like we just began 2011 not too long ago. I am happy to see summer in the rear view mirror, though. The 100+ degree days really get old.

One of my favorite things about fall, besides the cooler weather, is winter squash! Acorn, butternut, and pumpkin are wonderful in soups or baked and eaten plain!

Now on to this week's food:

Over the weekend I made the best chicken salad I've ever eat...if I do say so myself! :)

I used a new mayonnaise I found at Market Street that's made from Omega 3 Flax Oil. I have made my own mayo before with some success. (Although I've also made my fair share of liquid, soupy-like batches where I was apparently far too impatient with the oil pouring!) While this mayo isn't 100% paleo, there are few ingredients in comparison to regular mayo that worry me with the main one being Sea Salt. The sodium levels are low and I use it for a bit of creaminess in a large batch of meat-based salad.

Chicken Salad - chicken thighs (diced), mayo, mustard, mustard seed, celery seed, dried cranberries

Also for the week, we made:
Pumpkin Cranberry "Muffins" w/almond and coconut flours. I used the canned pumpkin variety.
Tamarind chicken stir fry with breast tenders, onions, red and green peppers, and mushrooms
Tuna Salad w/hard boiled eggs

I plan to make a salmon dish with the wild-caught (by my father in law) alaskan Coho in my freezer! Even my cousin who doesn't like fish doesn't turn his nose up at that! (Even if he said it was just "ok" :P)

Day # 15 - Monday, October 3
Breakfast
Pumpkin Muffin
Chicken Salad

Lunch - Indian
Chicken Tikka Masala
Carrot Aloo Gobi

Workout
I have an ankle injury from being just plain clumsy. I do need to do some ankle strengthening, though!
I did a core- and arm-centric workout.

Warm-up on bench - 45lbsx5x2, 50.5lbsx5
Exercise - 5 Pullups (with 2 blue and 1 pink band), 20 situps (abmat), Bench 56lbsx5 for 3 rounds for time
Time - 6:59

Dinner
Smoothie - banana, avocado, mustard greens, frozen strawberries, flaxmeal, primal fuel
Spaghetti Squash w/homemade meat sauce

Day #16 - Tuesday, October 4
Breakfast
Pumpkin Muffin
Hard-boiled Egg
Few tablespoons Tuna salad

Lunch
Pork Tenderloin (previously mentioned, marinated and pressure cooked)
Minneola Tangelo

Dinner
TBD

Rest of Week 2 of Challenge - Round 2

A perfectly sweet watermelon is one of
my all-time favorite fruits!

Day #10 - Wednesday, September 28
Breakfast
Egg Bake
Banana

Lunch
Sushi - Mostly the riceless variety with cucumber wrap. I did have a roll with strawberry, crab, etc.

Dinner
Chicken uncured, no preservatives "hot dogs" w/lettuce wrap and tomatoes
Watermelon

Day #11 - Thursday, September 29
Breakfast
Egg Bake
Nectarine

Lunch
Chicken hot dog w/lettuce wrap and tomatoes
Banana

Dinner
Baked Salmon w/onions and peppers
I also cooked some pork tenderloin marinaded in natural orange juice, salsa, and ginger as well as chicken thighs. I sampled them both as part of dinner. Both cooked wonderfully in the pressure cooker!! Moist and tender. Mmmm
Watermelon
Larabar - cherry pie (dates, cherries, almonds)

Day #9 of Challenge - Round 2

Tuesday, September 27
Breakfast
Egg Bake

Lunch
Tuna salad w/lettuce wraps and salsa

Workout: 
Double under practice
Run 2.6 miles (To pet store and back), took about 30 min total including getting cat treats. :)

Dinner
Smoothie - banana, kale, frozen strawberries, primal fuel, flax seed meal
Chicken Hot dogs (not cured, etc) - wrapped in lettuce
Watermelon

Weekend #1 of Challenge - Round 2

This was one of my more successful weekends so far!
My favorite dish we made was a stir fry . I first cooked boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the pressure cooker. Then I stir fried onions, peppers, fresh green beans, red and green cabbage. We made a sauce out of (mostly) stock from the pressure cooker and tamarind concentrate. Delicious!

For the week we made:

• Tuna Salad - omega 3 flax mayo, lemon juice, hard boiled egg, spices
• Spaghetti Squash w/meat sauce 
• Baked Salmon
• Taco Egg bake - bacon, onion, pepper, homemade taco seasoning
• Plenty of fruits and veggies for snacking!

I still have a pork tenderloin and chicken thighs that need cooking. I plan to do that tonight or tomorrow! I will likely marinade the pork tenderloin prior to searing and baking it. 

Day #8, Monday, September 26

Breakfast

Scrambled Eggs

Turkey sausage patty

Lunch - Salad Bar

Giant salad - greens, tomato, jalapenos, grated beets, squash, carrot, chipotle dressing

Meatball soup

1/2 small sweet potato w/ bacon, chives and salsa

Dinner

Spaghetti Squash

Meat Sauce - beef, onion, pepper, spices, tomato sauce (no salt added)

Day #4 of Challenge - Round 2

Thursday, September 22
Breakfast
Sausage
Grapes
Banana

Lunch
Meatloaf w/hardcooked egg
Salad - greens, slaw, EVOO
Nectarine

Dinner - Event directly after work
Wraps - I had very little, and I removed the cheese. It was mostly turkey or ham.
1 mini cupcake

After I came home at 9pm I was still hungry, so I ate some tuna salad.

I think I'll suggest that they provide a veggie or fruit tray next time! It's relatively inexpensive to do yourself and not many people touch it. I'd be happy, though!

Day #3 of Challenge - Round 2

Tuna salad with nori wrap

Wednesday, September 21
Breakfast
Nectarine
Banana

Lunch
Meatloaf
2 Hard boiled eggs
Slaw

Workout - I practiced air squats with a dowel rod. I'm taking a step back to perfect my form and improve my flexibility before adding weight back. I also did press 45x5x3 and pullups with 2 blue bands and a pink band: 6,5,4 reps.

Dinner
Smoothie - banana, kale, frozen raspberries, flax seed meal, and primal fuel
Tuna Nori wrap
Slaw