Memorial Day Weekend - Part One

Today we cooked out with some of the kids.  Andrew and his girlfriend, Aly, came over to help us chow down!

One way I feed many is by watching meat sales, butcher specials, etc.  Several weeks ago I found this wonderful large turkey breast on sale for $8!! I snagged that and threw it in the freezer.  I'd been waiting for a time we could grill it because I knew it would be fabulous on the grill.  Today was the day!!

I had everyone busy helping me in the kitchen today.  Truly a family affair!  These are some of my favorite moments as a mom.  I'm thankful I have a large kitchen (though I wish it was bigger) and we can all be in there together.  Besides grilled turkey, we also had a veggie try, fruit salad, roasted fresh green beans, creamy cucumbers (see Mother's Day post) and salad.  Just in case, and for leftovers, I threw some turkey burgers on the grill as well.

Here are the boys helping prep food:

Ethan snapping green beans.

Justin scooping cantaloupe seeds. 

Dawson making watermelon balls.

Matthew cutting cucumbers.

I made Magic Mushroom Powder, courtesy of Nom-Nom Paleo and used it to season the turkey before grilling.  This made the crispy outside devine!!

Turkey breast with Magic Mushroom Powder.

Yumm-o!!

Andrew cutting our bird!

A wonderfully delicious meal for all!!

More travel escapades...good friends, good food.

I've been pretty vocal about how much my life has improved since adopting a Paleolithic lifestyle.  My overall health is probably better now than it has been most of my adult life.  You can go back and read some of my personal health struggles in previous blog posts.  I truly never imagined that I could live a life free of chronic pain and fatigue. My friends and family are happy for me too.  They are also seeing changes in my children, which means whatever I'm doing is working, so keep doing it!!

I truly don't understand how friends or family members could not support something that so positively effects someone.  But I read about it all the time, "I can't go to my in-laws because everything they eat is junk, and loaded with grains."  "I can't go to the company picnic because no one understands how I eat and they think I'm a freak."  Really??  Why can't people be more supportive??  I'm not saying everyone should move mountains for one persons lifestyle, but no one should be labeled a freak. And would we say that about someone who was anaphylactic to say, peanuts?  I guess my point is, support for positive changes in someone's life should be supported and encouraged, rather than belittled and berated.

I'm super-duper thankful to my friends and family who have supported the changes in my life.  I knew it would be hard to travel, eat away from home, have meals prepared by others and be semi-reliant on whatever food was available.  I talked with our gracious hosts and my mother before our travels and discussed how we eat now, and hoped this could be somewhat accommodated, but we would eat whatever they felt comfortable serving us. I was assured by both parties that it would be no problem.  Of course you don't always know what to expect.

I should have known that the people who love me and love my kids would make sure that our needs were met abundantly!!!

Sharon, our wonderful hostess, made sure that we had eggs, bacon, sausage, and fruit for every breakfast.  My kids, who are no strangers to helping me prepare food, jumped right in and helped her everyday with breakfast and meal prep.  It is overwhelming to go from cooking for two people, to cooking for 8, but Sharon flew through it with ease!!  The other meals we ate with them were deliciously "paleo" as well!!  Ribs and chicken on the grill.  Veggies.  Fruits.  And even a batch of my chunky monkey muffins!!!  Yum!!

Since we were in KC for James' graduation, we had two events surrounding food for the weekend.  One was James' open house, the other a large family meal with our extended family.  Mom provided veggie trays, fruit trays, pickle trays and deli sandwich trays, along with the usual party fare of cake and ice cream.  I was able to remove rolls from sandwiches and eat to my heart's content from the various trays.  For our large meal, she had more trays as well as a large ham, salad and green beans.  I do believe there was another non-paleo dish and rolls.  And of course cake and ice cream.  Another meal success!!

There was never a question if I, or my children, would be hungry, or have reactions to a bunch of grain laden food.  My kids did overdo their 20% of cake and ice cream....but they are kids.  I enjoyed a small piece of cake, no icing and no ice cream.  I still live life.  I still enjoy celebrations.  I take my 80/20 very seriously. I eat about 98% most of the time, so I allow myself to splurge every once in awhile.  And this was the time to do it!!

I will say that all my meals stayed on track over the course of those four days.  I did have some alcohol over the weekend, and gas station coffee twice.  When we got back home, we also went out for pizza and I ate regular pizza with my family.  I'm glad to say that with the amount of healing my body (gut) has done over the past three months, I did not have any adverse reactions. I did gain 2 lbs, but that was gone again within a few days of being home.  This truly says a lot about my health and where I'm at compared to a few short months ago!  I don't intend on having splurges very often, as my goal is to maintain this good health, but it is refreshing to know that they 80/20 rule can apply to me.

Thank you again to our wonderful hosts, The Wilson's, and my mom and John, for all their efforts in feeding our family healthy delicious foods over those four days!!!

Traveling Paleo Style

Traveling with kids is never easy.  Traveling with five kids, most people would rather eat glass.  But I'm pretty much an expert at traveling with many kids.  I've flown on airplanes, post 9/11, with 7 children, including a baby.  I've traveled to Florida and back, by automobile, with 6 boys.  I cannot tell you the countless other road trips my kids have taken.  This is our 2nd trip to Kansas City since November.

As you can see by my profile, one of my children lives in KS with my mom.  Last weekend he graduated from high school.  Proud Mama (and Grandma) moment!!  I would not miss it for anything!  So glad we were able to go and spend a couple days with him.  Besides Mike and I and James' four brothers, we also brought James' best friend from home with us.  Five kids under 17 in a vehicle for 8 hours, there and back.

I typically try to pack our lunches, drinks and snacks for trips.  This prevents spending gobs of dough at gas stations, fast food joints and vending machines.  It also means less junk.  This was important before, but our travel fare did include junk foods, cookies, etc.  This trip meant more prep on my part.  Instead of going to the store and buying cookies, chips and snack cakes; I went to the store for fruit, nuts and veggies.

I made a double batch of chunky monkey muffins.  I also made two batches of paleo crunch, one nut-free.  In the cooler, I packed water bottles, and the boys' traditional lunch grub: Boar's Head meat, cheese and lettuce.  This would be our travel lunch.  I also packed a variety of nuts, apples, pears, bananas, cucumbers, and baby carrots.  I grabbed some of our boxed snacks that we use for lunches, fruit leather, raisins, etc.

We had plenty of things to snack on and a good lunch to keep everyone on track.  Some other things you could pack are: jerky, celery and nut butter, pre-made salads, broccoli, cauliflower, blueberries, strawberries, pineapple. Just about any fruit cut up, any veggies you can cut up and eat raw.  You could also bring cooked chicken breasts or pork chops or sliders.  Any meat that you can eat cold.

A lot of people would be overwhelmed with this task but it didn't really phase me.  I did make a small grocery store run for fresh fruit.  But other than that, everything was in reach in my kitchen.  Prepping veggies ahead of time and storing in Lock 'n Lock containers helps a lot.  Keeping foods we use a lot stocked in the kitchen also helps.

We survived our four day trip.  We had plenty of food and snacks. Everyone was happy!!

More to come on the rest of our travels and our wonderful hosts!!

Mother's Day 2014

Today we spent the day with my sister, Carol, and her family.  My dear sister is one of the people who hounded me about changing my diet.  Our genes lend us to more autoimmune issues than either of us care to admit.  We both have Raynaud's, we both suffer from migraines, we both have seen specialists for other autoimmune issues.  She has been a big supporter of me converting my whole family to a paleo diet.

It was so nice to be able to plan our whole meal today with no worries.  We had a wide variety of food, and not one child complained!!  We did laugh later that there was no fruit!  How did we miss fruit?!?!  Oh well, it didn't matter, we ate well for sure!!  I even ate avocado!!  

Today's menu included BBQ chicken on the grill, with my homemade paleo friendly BBQ sauce; jicama potato salad with bacon; creamy cucumbers; carrots with dressing and sesame seeds; roasted butternut squash; deviled eggs; and a mixed lettuce salad with all the trimmings.  Oh and I brought leftover chunky monkey muffins, which everyone always loves.  Maybe that was our fruit!

Christian helped make the deviled eggs.  He is not adept at peeling them yet, but he'll get there!

Creamy Cucumbers

2 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced

1 small onion, thinly sliced

2/3 cup fresh parsley leaves (I used dried because that's what I had)

In another bowl, mix: 

1/4 cup mayo (there are many paleo mayo recipes out there but this is my 20% as I tolerate it and I failed horribly at making my own.)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Toss over cucumbers, salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe adapted from the book Well Fed.

Jicama Potato Salad

This takes prep.  24 hours of prep.  But it's not hard.  You need two medium jicama, about the size of your two fists.  Diced into 1" cubes.  You can peel it if you want but I don't.  Place cubes into a crock pot and cover with water 2" over the top of the jicama.  Add 1 tsp salt.  Cook on high 12-24 hours.

Drain and pat dry.  These can be kept in the refrigerator until ready to use.

In a bowl, mix together:

4 strips of bacon, 1/4" pcs fried (you can use leftover bacon from breakfast like I did, or cut up the bacon into pieces and quick pan fry it.)

4 hard boiled eggs, diced

1 stalk of celery, diced

1/2 medium red or yellow onion, diced

1 TBS dried chives (I used fresh)

3/4 tsp. dried mustard

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Add the jicama and mix well.

Add 3/4 cup mayo (see above for my mayo disclaimer)

Chill for about 20-30 minutes.

This recipe was also found in Well Fed.

My personal notes on this...I used 5 strips of bacon and next time, I will use more.  I also like mustard, so I may increase the dried mustard a bit.  But everything blended really well together and was yum!  Jicama does not taste "exactly" like potatoes, but it is a great substitute.  If you find that you do well with white potatoes, use them!  I do eat them on occasion, but I prefer to save those for a rare treat.  This I could make once a week all summer!

Need a coffee pick me up??

I love coffee.  Ok, that's an understatement, but you don't really want my true coffee feelings broadcast all over the web.

Since removing refined sugar from my daily life, though, coffee has been harder and harder for me to drink.  I admit it.  I doctor my coffee up.  Sugar, cream, sometimes flavorings.  Mocha, caramel, I'm not prejudice.  But now...coffee makes me sad.  :(  I have yet to find anything that compares to refined sugar and bottled, flavored creamer for my coffee.  I'm thankful that the paleo lifestyle gives me TONS of energy and I wake up refreshed and ready to take on the day, otherwise, well, me and that sugar bowl would still be good friends!

I've made at least three homemade creamers.  I've used coconut cream, coconut milk and almond milk.  I've used maple syrup and honey.  None are good enough.  I did resort to just putting chocolate coconut milk in my coffee and that was ok.

In my never-ending search for the perfect paleo coffee, I found this recipe and just had to try it!  I enjoyed it a lot.  I'm sure the banana helped give it the sweet kick it needed.  I will make this throughout the summer.  The recipe says it is one serving, but it couldn't finish it quick enough, so you might be able to split it with someone.  Or not!!!

 

Banana Mocha Shake from Paleo Spirit

1 frozen banana, sliced

1/2 c ice cubes

1/2 c strong coffee

2 TBS cocoa powder

1 TBS honey

1 TBS coconut butter

Small splash vanilla

Blend in blender until smooth.  Enjoy! 

The link will give you directions on how to make coffee ice cubes.

If you don't want to make this, but enjoy cold coffee, you might try this.  I'm a fan and have a few stashed in my fridge.  Just an FYI, they do contain sugar.

Chunky Monkey Muffins....my kids' favorite treat!!

Today was Jessica's birthday, so I made the whole family's favorite treat....Chunky Monkey Muffins!!!!

Mine aren't as "chunky" as they could be because I don't add walnuts to them due to our kiddos with tree nut allergies.  I haven't found anyone yet who isn't a fan of these.  Today I made a double batch!!

Chunky Monkey Muffins

1/2 c. Coconut flour

1/2 c. Tapioca flour (or you can sub Arrowroot, I've done both)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 c. Butter, melter (if you are dairy free, you can sub palm shortening)

1/2 c. Coconut sugar 

1 cup bananas, mashed

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

1/2 c. Enjoy Life mini chips

1/2 c. Walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350*.  Line muffin cups with liners.

Sift together coconut, tapioca and baking soda.  

In food processor, mash your banana.  Add butter, sugar, vanilla, eggs and blend well. 

Add the flour mixture to you wet ingredients, mix well.

Fold in chips and walnuts, if desired.

Pour into muffin cups.  I use a Pampered Chef cookie scoop for mine. 

Bake for about 20 minutes, until puffed up and golden brown.  

Flourless Muffins

Recently, on a paleo Facebook page, a gal posted pics of her baking day.  She had these nice, large, golden, muffins.  I was jealous.  Sure, my chunky monkey muffins are amazing. And my honey muffins taste like pound cake.  But I really want muffins that puff up and crack on the top.

She gladly shared her recipe with the group.  I just had to make them right away!!

I made two different kinds.  One per her instructions and another nut free.  I love the way they turned out, but they didn't give me the taste I had hoped for.  The one per her instructions were better than the nut free version.  I will definitely make them again, but I might have to alter the nut free version.

Basic Flourless Muffins

1 c. Almond Butter (you can sub other nut butters, for nut free, I used sun butter)

2 eggs

2 TBS raw honey

1-2 bananas (I used one)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp baking soda

Mix all ingredients in a food processor. Fold in dried fruit, nuts or carob nibs. 

Spoon into muffin cups.

Bake 375* for 15-25minutes

I used chopped almonds and dried cranberries in the ones with almond butter.  I put cacao nibs in the ones with sun butter.  Good but need some tweaking.