Day 20: And 10 to Go!

It's hard to believe it is time to plan another menu for the week. 20 days have come and gone.

If you notice on many of the recipes we use coconut flour, coconut oil or coconut milk. There is also coconut water that even comes sweetened in different flavors like mango and chocolate. Not sure if coconut oil is Paleo or just Primal, but in my mind it doesn't really matter. Coconut had a bad reputation for awhile, but many of the experts are starting to come around and recognize some of the health benefits it can provide in moderation. I personally will use some coconut milk in my coffee and I really enjoy drinking coconut water.

A few links:
 Huffington post
 Livestrong.com
 Mark's Daily Apple
 Mark's Daily Apple (2)

Breakfast: Paleo Pancakes. The recipe is from the book Paleo Pals: Jimmy and the Carrot Rocket Ship by Sarah Fragoso. Alexis and my dad loved helping to make these yummy very kid friendly pancakes made with coconut flour, cinnamon, vanilla, eggs, coconut milk and even bananas. They were definitely a hit. Alexis and AJ helped mash the bananas and Alexis added most of the ingredients in the bowl and loved to mix it all up! Sometimes it is hard for me to let her help because it usually ends up more messy, but I know it is so important and she loves doing it. It is also a great way for us to bond. AJ was a little grumpy this morning so he wasn't as interested in helping as usual. I don't force it. It took a few tries to get the feel for how long they needed to be cooked, but once we did they were great!  I also had leftover turkey stir fry with them to get some extra protein.

Lunch: Canned salmon and a salad with some fresh beets. I also had a banana.

Dinner: Homemade bison burgers made from ground bison meat, garlic powder and a little oregano. We also had some steamed zucchini, a small salad and some sweet potato fries (sliced sweet potatoes cooked in the oven with a little olive oil and a little cinnamon). It was a very simple, yet easy dinner to finish off the week.

Day 15: Halfway There!

Can't believe today is the halfway mark of the challenge! So far it has been going really well. We have discovered some great recipes and really bonded as a family throughout the process.

Breakfast: Leftover egg muffins and a leftover tortilla

Snack: Lara Bar/apple slices

Lunch: Ginger Shrimp Sald (Everyday Paleo, 123). This was one meal that I thought was just OK. It called for arugula lettuce which I wasn't a huge fan of and the tast was a little bland. Scott seemed to enjoy it though. As Scott said "it's very earthy." The kids were also not big fans of this and we ended up making them a separate lunch. I know I said we usually don't do that and it is true. This was a special situation where I should have known they wouldn't like it when we made it.

Snack: Cashews/banana

Dinner: Perfect Pork Pot Roast (Everyday Paleo, 93). We invited Scott's parents over for dinner. They happened to have a pork roast and we had a recipe so we put it together and it was amazing. I was a little hesitant about the sauce at first but it really made the dish. It is a bit labor intensive to make as there were a lot of steps. It included a lot of veggies like carrots, and celery and onions that needed to be chopped as well. We paired the truly "perfect" pork chops with a salad that Scott's mom made and bacon-wrapped asparagus. Easiest recipe ever - just wrap bacon around asparagus and pop in the oven under the broiler. It hit the spot. The kids would have had several helpings of those if we would have let them. By the way, the kids loved the pork roast (especially the sauce)!

Dessert: For our dessert we used a recipe that one of our friends passed on to us for a banana "ice cream" called Banana Soft Serve. No I did not completely jump ship and go for the dairy. It was just bananas that were frozen and then food processed until they are light and fluffy. It really looked and tasted like ice cream. We also made a little chocolate sauce using agave nectar, organic raw cocoa powder and a little water to loosen it up. I cut up some fresh blueberries and strawberries to top it. Now I know this does not officially fit in with the Paleo challenge, but I did have some in moderation. We loved it, and the kids loved and you never would have been able to guess it wasn't ice cream. Tough on the food processor though. When we get our new and improved food processor and the challenge is over we will definitely try it again!

Day 13: Paleo Pals!

I am so excited! The author of the Everyday Paleo (the book I am using for most of my recipes) just came out with a kids book called Paleo Pals: Jimmy and the Carrot Rocket Ship.

Just got this book in the mail and have already read it to AJ and Alexis. It is such a cute story about super hero kids (Paleo Pals) who come to help a boy named Jimmy learn about eating healthy food. It talks a little about Paleo, but it mostly focuses on eating healthy, whole, unprocessed foods. It encourages kids to get in the kitchen with their parents to help make and take ownership of the food they are eating. It also contains some very kid friendly recipes. AJ loved it! It was a little long for Alexis. We have not transitioned the kids to Paleo yet, even at home. They do eat mostly Paleo dinners with us though. They eat what we serve. If they don't want it they don't have to eat it, but we are not going to make a special meal for them. We have been having dinner that way long before this Paleo Challenge started. I am hoping this book might help them to start learning more about the food they eat and how it affects their bodies. AJ has a 4 bite "no thank you" rule at his school that I just learned about. If he is served something at school that he doesn't want he has to take 4 bites ("no thank you bites") and then he can "move on." Cute idea that we will incorporate at home. We always tell him that just because he doesn't like something one day doesn't mean he won't like it the next.

Breakfast:  I started the morning with scrambled eggs with mushrooms and zucchini.

Snack: Apple Flowers (Everyday Paleo, 207): some almond butter, apple slices, blueberries, and cinnamon. It was a nice little snack that Alexis enjoyed. She especially liked the blueberries.

Lunch: Leftover lasagna (Paleo) from earlier this week and some steamed veggies (also left over from this week).

Snack: Half an avocado and a banana.

Dinner: Skillet Salmon with Baby Bok Choy (Everyday Paleo, 103) and a salad: This was an incredibly tasty meal. Alexis had 3 servings of it. We substituted kale for the bok choy because I forgot to put bok choy on the menu. It worked just fine. This recipe used fish sauce, which we had never tried before, honey, sesame oil, chives, chili oil, bok choy (or kale) and some cashews (on top). The flavors were just fabulous. I would have had a lot more but then we realized that fish sauce is loaded with sodium so I stuck to one serving. This is something we will probably try to make once a month. We most likely would have had it more if it had a little less salt (I am still watching my sodium intake). AJ took some "no thank you" bites and then moved on to several helpings of the salad. He is still insistent that he doesn't like salmon. Highly recommend this dish!

Dessert: Fresh mango

The Egg Experiment

Yesterday I woke up, got out of the house early and took the 2 little ones to my parents house for help making an egg cupcake recipe. This was my first attempt at a recipe in the book I am following and I needed a little help. I gathered up all the ingredients that we had at our house, dropped the kids off and ran to the grocery store to get the rest. I found the ingredients I thought I needed, got to the checkout stand and realized I left my wallet at home. Went home got the wallet, bought the food and went back to my parents and we started to prepare. What should have taken 15 minutes to prep took closer to an hour.

Some important things I learned:

1. I learned a blender does not chop vegetables nearly as well as a food processor even though there is a "chop" button (originally my parents didn't think they had a food processor but we found one).

2. I learned that I need to read the ingredients and how to prepare them very closely. Red and green peppers are not the same as "roasted red and green peppers" which I also learned come in a jar or need to be made prior to baking. We put them in the oven.

3. I learned how to cut peppers and that knives absolutely intimidate me.

4. Another great thing I learned is that we should include our kids more in the food prep. Alexis wanted to help break an egg and she put her hand in there and squeezed. After my initial surprise that it cracked sending both the egg and shell into the bowl, I fished the shell out and I let her do another one, which she loved. Originally I didn't want her to touch the eggs because of the raw yolk, and the messiness of it all, but we just washed her hands well and she was fine.

5. Lastly, I learned that I may need a lot of cooking help to get through this challenge. My skills are weak at best.

Overall, the egg cupcakes turned out just fine. We all had some for breakfast and I had enough to bring home for AJ and Scott. This Paleo challenge may turn out to be more of a family affair than I thought!