Category: Strategies

Reality Checks · Strategies

Falling off the Wagon Gracefully

paleosherry5 Comments

This weekend, E.J. and I had short vacation in Nacogdoches, TX where we went zip-lining, hiking, and shopping.  We also fell off the wagon a little bit, which is honestly bound to happen occasionally.  As tough as E.J. is on sticking to his plan, travel (especially for vacation) just requires a little leeway.  What’s interesting though is HOW we choose to go off the rails, now that we’ve been Paleo for over a year.

First, it is done with great care and consideration.  Neither of us mindlessly eats junk anymore. We think about each option and opportunity, and consciously choose when we’re going to eat something off-plan.  Here are a few of the things that go through my mind when I’m making that decision:

  • When was the last time I had this food?  Is there a Paleo analogue that I’ve enjoyed recently?  Am I likely to have the opportunity to have it again in the future?  Local delicacies and special occasions or holidays warrant some extra consideration too.  (i.e. when they buy you a cake for your birthday at work, you eat a small piece of cake.  Period.)
  • When was the last time I had something non-Paleo?  Today?  Last Week?  Last month?  When on vacation, I try not to be bad more than once a day, and even every other day if possible.
  • Am I willing to suffer the intestinal consequences of this choice?  At this point, every time I eat something off the plan, I end up with bloating at a minimum, and in many cases, severe abdominal pain, nausea, and/or gas.  Is the food I want to eat really worth it?

Generally, these internal questions guide me away from the common junk (chips & salsa, pasta, rice, bread, etc) and allow me to only step out of bounds when the occasion truly calls for it.  This weekend, we stayed at a bed and breakfast where the breakfast included biscuits and pancakes.  Was it worth it?  Yes, if for no other reason than because it pleased the grandmotherly lady that ran the place (though they really were delicious), but I certainly suffered for it afterward.  I was glad to be back on-plan today.  I just feel so much better when I stay the course.

Paleo Prep Shortcuts
Reality Checks · Strategies

Paleo Prep Shortcuts

paleosherry4 Comments

This weekend marks the beginning of the Fall busy season for E.J. and I.  We have some kind of activity or even scheduled every weekend from now through mid-December, which means it’s going to be tough to find time to do full-on meal prep Sundays.  For E.J and I, meal prepping weekends have been crucial to our success, so how do we find the time to squeeze in 3 or 4 dishes of cooking with all of the other weekend work?   Here are some of my meal prep shortcuts:

  • Instant Pot – If you haven’t yet jumped on the Instant Pot craze, you should definitely look into it.  I use mine every weekend, mostly for making quick vegetable sides (sweet potatoes, beets, etc), but I’ve also cooked a whole chicken and done some stews in it. In less than an hour – this one is a huge time saver and doesn’t use the oven or stove, so it’s great for multitasking.
  • Slow Cooker – If you’re going to be out all day (sporting events, fairs, band performances) the Crock Pot is the way to go.  Chili, pot roast, chicken, pulled pork, lasagna, etc. – this one is great for starting it in the morning (or load the insert the night before and put it in the fridge before starting the cook in the morning) and letting it do the work for you all day.
  • Electric Smoker – Like the slow cooker, low and slow 225 degree smoking is really easy and can be left going all day while you’re out and about.  Brisket, Ribs, and Pork shoulder all need more than 7 hours of smoking time, which is good for set and forget cooking.  Of course, it’s better if you can put a little more wood on it throughout the smoking process, but it still works even if it’s unattended.  Just make sure it’s nice an low heat for safety.
  • Frozen Meals – Sometimes there’s just no time to cook at all, and this is when it’s great to have some frozen meals ready to just thaw, heat and eat.  Soup, chili, sausage, fish, and shrimp are great for this approach, and are also a great way to add some variety in the middle of the week if some of your weekend prep meals are starting to bore you.
  • Ultimate Cheat: Buy it Cooked – this weekend we headed out to Luling, TX for an Intro to Hang Gliding class (it was a blast, I highly recommend it) and decided to just stay the night in San Antonio rather than drive back to Houston.  We knew it would likely be 5 or 6pm by the time we got home, and since we stayed the night, there wasn’t an opportunity to start something in a smoker or slow cooker.  So what’s a Paleo food prepper to do?  BBQ for the win!  Most of the BBQ houses that you buy from out in the country make and season their own meats and don’t put in all of the additives that you get in the grocery store.  Many times just a quick ask of their ingredients in sausage and rubs will tell you if they add sugar or not, and if not, you’re golden.  Make sure you have cash in hand for the best deal, but if you can buy 4-8 lbs of meat and then Instant Pot & oven roast some veggies to go with it, you’re good to go for your whole week.
4 Ways with Pulled Pork
Recipes · Strategies

4 Ways with Pulled Pork

paleosherry2 Comments

When E.J. and went shopping last Sunday, we saw that pork shoulders were on a really good sale at Kroger, and were compelled to pick one up.  Smoked pulled pork is one of our favorite protein staples, but admittedly other than sandwiches (which we don’t really eat), I had a limited repertoire when it came to recipes that use pulled pork.

This week I made an effort to find new ways to used smoked pulled pork meat to keep it interesting.  Here are some of the great meals we made:

  • Pork stuffed sweet potatoes – I “baked” the sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot first, then split and topped them with pork, onions and Paleo-friendly BBQ Sauce.  This particular use is the easiest and is great for lunches too.
  • Pulled Pork & Apple Breakfast Casserole – OMG this stuff is amazing.  We liked it so much, I made a double-batch twice.   It’s sweet & smoky, and filling enough to tide you over all the way to lunch time.  It reheats beautifully too for a fast, hectic morning.
  • Pulled Pork BBQ Pizza – So, everyone has their favorite Paleo pizza crust recipe, but after trying many of them, I think Simple Mills pizza crust is the ticket.  It’s easy to throw together and makes a good, solid crust that tastes great and actually supports toppings well.  Our pizza was constructed with Whole30 BBQ Sauce, Pulled Pork, cooked bacon pieces, Sliced yellow onions, and cashew cheese  YUMM!!
  • Pulled Pork Nachos – We started with Sweet Potato chips, then topped with pork, homemade guacamole and leftover cashew cheese.  You have to eat it fast because the sweet potato chips get soggy pretty quick, but it was quite tasty

 

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Side-to-Side
Recipes · Strategies

Side-to-Side

paleosherryLeave a comment

I apologize, dear readers, for my 2 week absence… it’s been quite eventful.  I was finally promoted to the position at my company I’ve been vying for for the last few months.  While I’m ecstatic about the opportunity this position presents, the reality is that overtime is now the norm, and I find myself wondering where the days and weeks disappear to.  I’m so glad I have the Sunday cooking habit well ingrained, because it’s very handy to just come home after a long day and have a delicious, healthy meal ready to just heat and eat.

I have to admit, I didn’t quite make it to a Whole 30 this time… it was more like a Whole 20, but when someone orders a cake to celebrate your promotion, you don’t say no to it.  Plus our son’s birthday was a few days later, and I made our favorite Paleo chocolate cake… sigh, willpower crumbled.

But, I did manage to lose a few more pounds to where I can pretty much wear any Medium or size 10 off the rack, and as long as I can curb the sugar intake, I’m feeling pretty good about where I am.  A subject did come up this weekend, though, about one of the challenges of the Paleo lifestyle being the limitation of tasty side dishes to go with the copious amounts of protein that we enjoy.  I admit, the idea had crossed my mind as well.  As we move into the final month of our first year of healthier eating, I do see that we tend to eat a lot of the same side dishes every other week or so:

  • roasted asparagus
  • baked/roasted sweet potatoes
  • cauli-rice or roasted cauliflower
  • mashed cauliflower (potatoes sub)
  • zucchini noodles
  • grilled or roasted squash
  • sauteed mushrooms
  • instant pot beets
  • roasted Brussels sprouts
  • roasted or steamed broccoli

These are pretty easy recipes and don’t require a lot of prep or thought on my part, but it can get a bit boring when you’re eating the same things regularly

IMG_1838Here are some additional sides I’ve tried lately that may be a little more interesting:

I’m all for eating for health, but to me, food should never be boring!

Have you found any good side dish gems?  Please share!!

Reality Checks · Strategies

Whole 30 Revisited…

paleosherry2 Comments

After all of the parties and barbecues and fun times this summer, my poor body has been screaming at the amount of sugar I have allowed to creep back into my diet… granted most of it was honey or maple syrup, but even that can add up when it  becomes a regular thing.

To be fair, I have been incredibly stressed with the new job, and when I’m stressed, I have historically turned to junk food.  Fortunately my paleo diet had allowed me to have sugary treats when I felt I most needed them without gaining any weight on the scale, but a couple of weekends of drinking wine, and a couple more of eating sweet potato chips, cheeses, paleo fruit pie, and Paleo Strawberry Lemonade had left me feeling swollen, tired, plagued with some nasty facial acne, and a little bit out of control.  The scale said everything was fine, but my body told me it wasn’t.

When E.J. and I started our diet in September last year, I remember reading about people who would do 2nd and 3rd Whole 30’s or would schedule them annually like checkups, but given the misery I went through the first time, I couldn’t imagine ever wanting to do it again, much less regularly.  Well, here I am, just coming up on our 1 year anniversary (Sept 1), and I actually feel the need to do it again.

So after E.J’s birthday celebration, I went 1 day without sugar, then another… and I didn’t die.  In fact other than being a little more hungry since I wasn’t snacking, I felt way better. So, I told E.J. that second day that I was going to do another Whole 30, and that it was ok if he didn’t want to do it with me – but being E.J. of course he did.  So now we’re on day 6, and the acne has cleared up, my clothes fit better, my fingers don’t feel like sausages anymore, and I just feel normal again.

It’s absolutely amazing how much difference it makes when I eliminate my sugar intake…I can’t quite get my head around it, but I’ll let you know if I have any more insight as we go.

To support us this week, I tried some new recipes, and so far they’ve been really good:

  • Ancho Chile Mexican Meatballs – I did a double-batch of this recipe, and used a mix of pork and beef in the meatballs to give some extra flavor – this one is really yummy, and I will definitely make it again!
  • Buffalo Chicken Casserole – If you love buffalo wings, you will love this one.  I didn’t realize buffalo sauces like Frank’s are naturally Whole 30 compliant, but it is and it makes for some really flavorful dishes… especially when eaten with paleo ranch dressing.
  • Paleo Sausage Sweet Potato Frittata – Sugar-free chorizo makes everything awesome.  In this case, that plus caramelized onions makes for a flavorful lunch or breakfast option.

We also smoked a brisket, slow cooked some sweet potatoes, and Instant-Potted some beets for more options.

I guess the moral of the story for me is to simply listen to my body.  E.J. talks about it a lot on his blog, but I often stop hearing it when life’s stresses are getting to me.  If I’m going to maintain this lifestyle for the rest of my life then I need to learn how to listen, even when the going gets tough… maybe especially then.

Recipes · Strategies

Favorite Recipe Update

paleosherryLeave a comment

Today I went though our Favorite Recipes list, added a few items I had forgotten about and marked the ones that are Whole30 compliant (or have options to be compliant in the instructions).

Anything that has a “(W30)” after it should be legal on Whole30 provided it’s not one of your trigger foods or something that makes you yearn for the old days of full sugar & grains.

Let me know if I’ve missed something and need to adjust the indicators.  I’ll try to make sure I keep marking these as I add recipes to the list.

Catch-up Saturday
Recipes · Strategies

Catch-up Saturday

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Today was one of those Saturdays where we did nothing but run errands and catch up on IMG_1415things that we had been needing to get around to.  It was a highly productive day, but we spent an incredible amount of it sitting in traffic due to the nearby Iron Man festivities taking place all over town.

After hours of running around, E.J. and I decided to have some Paleo Pizza for dinner and settle in to some T.V. watching to catch up on one of our favorite shows, “Castle”, which will be having its final episode on Monday.  We’re sad to see it go, but it’s had a nice long run and I can’t wait to see what Nathan Fillion does next.

We’ve done pizza a couple of times since the paleo diet began, but we’ve never been super happy with the crust.  Typically I did a cauliflower or almond flour based crust, and it always ended up crumbly and never quite held the weight of the toppings the way I had hoped.  Tonight we tried this recipe from Primally Inspired, and had a MUCH better result. The crust was crispy but doughy, and honestly tasted and felt just like a regular thin crust pizza…. even if it was a little green from the avocado oil.  Brendon happened to be home for dinner and gave it 2 thumbs up also.  I think this will have to become my new standard.

IMG_1417.JPGI also had some leftover melted chocolate in the fridge that needed to be used, so I dropped in some of the natural no-sugar-added dried cherries we picked up at Pike Market in Seattle and made up a new chocolate “cluster” recipe with shredded coconut and tiny pecan pieces.  I can’t wait to try one later!

Purple Dress Progress Pics
Strategies · Victories

Purple Dress Progress Pics

paleosherry3 Comments

I first started trying on dresses when I hit size 16W back in October because I was so excited about being a size smaller.  Dresses never looked very good on me, and I was excited that I actually had a waist that was starting to curve in the right direction.

Purple also happens to be one of my favorite colors, so when I saw the dress in my size, I had to try it on.  Fast forward a few months, and I’ve tried on a lot of purple dresses.  This shows dresses at 16, 14 and the last one is me today in a size 10.  I lost the size 12 photo to a phone fiasco that involves a washing machine… don’t ask.  But needless to say, the I’ve been using the purple dresses as a yard stick for my weight loss since we started last September and I love seeing the difference my efforts are making.

I’m about 9 lbs from my original goal.  I think when I get there, I’ll have to actually buy a purple dress after I try it on and take that last photo.

 

Leftovers
Strategies

Leftovers

paleosherry1 Comment

I mentioned in my last post that we were living on leftovers last week, and some of that is still happening this week.  It’s easy to get bored with leftovers, especially when it’s just a bunch of meat, and this calls for a little creativity.  After all, the go-to strategy for leftovers is typically sandwiches, but with bread being banished from the diet, this gets a little more challenging.

First, keep in mind that the freezer is your friend.  When faced with a ton of leftover meats, be honest about how many meals you think you’ll be able to stand with it in the short term and put the rest in the freezer.  You never know when you’ll need something quick to thaw and eat on a day when you don’t have time to cook, and you’ll be grateful that it’s there to keep you from hitting a drive-through.

Then, start looking online for paleo recipes similar to the one you made or that use the meat as an ingredient.  Many times you can find casseroles, salads, and stuffings that use the meat and can help mix things up to avoid boredom.  We still had some pulled pork in the fridge that needed to be used up, so I found this gem on Paleo Leap over the weekend and adapted it for our dinner last night.  The result was fantastic, and we got to thoroughly enjoy another pulled pork meal without having to wait an hour to eat.

Incidentally, baked sweet potatoes are pretty quick if you let the microwave help the process.  All I did was poke holes in the potatoes with a fork (2 potatoes), put them in the microwave for about 15 minutes (the time it took for the oven to preheat), and then in the oven for another 20 while the asparagus roasted.  Voila!

Grab-and-Go
Recipes · Strategies

Grab-and-Go

paleosherryLeave a comment

It’s been an eventful week, though I haven’t been posting much since Easter because we were pretty much living on leftovers the whole time.  E.J. started a new job last week which has him commuting again, so now both of us need quick grab-and-go lunches that we can heat up easily at work.  I knew I wanted to make more of our favorite chili, but I also wanted to try some new ideas out that would be easily portable.

Since E.J. loved the lemon cake so much last week and it didn’t seem to impede his weightloss progress too much, I decided to try this Banana and Blueberry bread recipe from Little Green Spoon.

bananabread
Super moist banana & blueberry bread

The bread is moist and has a lovely texture without being overly sweet.  I used our local honey in it, and it’s really hard to eat just one slice… the only challenge I had was that the outside of the loaf got pretty dark while the inside was only barely cooked through, and I struggled to get it out of the pan having used just coconut spray.  In the future, I might dust it with a little coconut flour also to help it come out easier.

 

The other new recipe I tried this week was this Awesome Paleo Lasagna from Paleo Newbie.   E.J. was jonesing for some Italian food and wanted lasagna, which initially sounds like it would be really hard to do… no pasta & no ricotta – what’s a paleo chef to do?  Well, you saw I’ve already substituted zucchini or eggplant for noodles, so that’s not too hard, but if you look for ricotta substitutes online it looks like the answer is soaked cashews.  This is something I’ve seen in several other recipes, and I admit it just seemed weird.  How can blended up cashews taste anything like cheese?  But I have to admit, when you blend up the cashews in this recipe with the spices and spinach, you really do get something that tastes a lot like ricotta.IMG_1534

And when you layer that in with an amazing meat sauce (I used fresh herbs from my garden instead of the dried ones called for and it really does make it superb) you get a flavor that mirrors the real deal – all of the happy taste buds with none of the guilt.  Now that’s what I’m talking about!

I divided the pan up into individual containers and now E.J. and I have pre-packed lunches for the week.  Happy Cook Day!!