Sweet Potatoes, Apples and Pecans
3-4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks**
3-4 granny smith apples, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
1/2 c. chopped pecans
4 T. butter
2 T. honey
2 T. lemon juice
1 T. cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350. Arrange sweet potatoes and apples on the bottom of a large baking dish. Sprinkle pecans on top.
Melt butter in a small bowl, add honey, lemon juice and cinnamon. Stir to combine and our over the baking dish. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are fork-tender.
**The sweet potato chunks should be smaller than the apples because they take longer to cook.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Beef Stew
Beef Stew
2 lbs. top round steak, trimmed of visible fat and cut into 1/2"-1" cubes
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. salt
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. black pepper
dash allspice or cloves
1-2 bay leaves
4-5 cups water
1 c. burgundy (optional)
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
4-6 carrots, peeled and sliced
2-3 celery stalks, sliced
2-3 handfuls green beans, snapped into bite sized pieces
Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the beef, onion, garlic and spices and braise until beef is no longer pink. Add water (and wine if using), bring to a simmer and cook for 1.5 hours.
Add vegetables (you can substitute your favorite vegetables), cook for an additional 30-45 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Taste and adjust seasoning! I used to serve this with cornbread, but I haven't tried a Primal "cornbread" yet.
2 lbs. top round steak, trimmed of visible fat and cut into 1/2"-1" cubes
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T. salt
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. black pepper
dash allspice or cloves
1-2 bay leaves
4-5 cups water
1 c. burgundy (optional)
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
4-6 carrots, peeled and sliced
2-3 celery stalks, sliced
2-3 handfuls green beans, snapped into bite sized pieces
Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Add the beef, onion, garlic and spices and braise until beef is no longer pink. Add water (and wine if using), bring to a simmer and cook for 1.5 hours.
Add vegetables (you can substitute your favorite vegetables), cook for an additional 30-45 minutes until the vegetables are tender.
Taste and adjust seasoning! I used to serve this with cornbread, but I haven't tried a Primal "cornbread" yet.
Week 2 Day 1
Monday
I'm down 2 pounds from last Monday! Yay! On Friday, my husband played a very mean trick on me. I was weighing myself and he slipped in behind me to put his foot on the scale. I was barely awake and could not process how I suddenly got to 175 pounds. He, of course, was dying laughing, but I was pretty shaken up for a while.
I was not at all hungry when I woke up this morning, so I had a small cup of coffee and a cinnamon muffin. That's it - I didn't want anything else!
Mid-morning I had some strawberries and blackberries, but I was definitely ready for lunch when the time came.
Lunch was the last of the leftover fish (I usually don't do leftover fish, but it was just as good today as yesterday!) with some roasted zucchini/carrots and brussels sprouts with bacon. Delicious and just enough food for a meal!
But I was definitely hungry 2 hours later, so I had an apple with about 1 T. peanut butter. I know that PB is not exactly the best primal food I can eat, but we need to use up what we have . . . so I ate it. I did walk into the teachers lounge where there were loads of chips and candy leftover from this morning. Today is a testing day, so the school provides all kinds of goodies for us to eat. I was seriously looking at a bag of Sunchips, but I put it down and went to eat my apple. So, maybe my apple with PB wasn't the best choice I could make, but it was certainly better than Sunchips! :-)
Today was definitely harder to stay on track . . . After my snack I was doing pretty well, but a friend had some Starburst candies that looked pretty good to eat!! But I resisted! Whew!
Dinner was beef stew - with lots of vegetables. The recipe calls for just potatoes, onion and carrots, but I also added celery and green beans. Yum! This was my dad's favorite dinner that my mom made growing up. One day, while it was cooking, he snuck into the kitchen and poured a couple cups of burgundy into the pot without my mom's knowledge. When we were eating it that night, she commented that it was the best she's ever made it! Dad and I were cracking up!! :-)
I also made sweet potatoes and apples as a side dish for dinner. This is a dish that we usually eat at Thanksgiving, but I've altered it a bit to make it primal and so I can have a bit of sweetness when I'm craving it!
I finished off the night with 3 small squares of dark chocolate! But that was HARD - my husband won an ice cream cake yesterday - mint chocolate chip with chocolate cake - my favorite!! I struggled with whether or not I wanted to break my primal day by eating that cake or if I was going to stick to it!! Luckily, after a good dinner finished off with the sweet potatoes, I wasn't craving sweet. But I still had a bit of the munchies, so I settled with my dark chocolate and I was satisfied! Another crisis averted! Whew!
I'm down 2 pounds from last Monday! Yay! On Friday, my husband played a very mean trick on me. I was weighing myself and he slipped in behind me to put his foot on the scale. I was barely awake and could not process how I suddenly got to 175 pounds. He, of course, was dying laughing, but I was pretty shaken up for a while.
I was not at all hungry when I woke up this morning, so I had a small cup of coffee and a cinnamon muffin. That's it - I didn't want anything else!
Mid-morning I had some strawberries and blackberries, but I was definitely ready for lunch when the time came.
Lunch was the last of the leftover fish (I usually don't do leftover fish, but it was just as good today as yesterday!) with some roasted zucchini/carrots and brussels sprouts with bacon. Delicious and just enough food for a meal!
But I was definitely hungry 2 hours later, so I had an apple with about 1 T. peanut butter. I know that PB is not exactly the best primal food I can eat, but we need to use up what we have . . . so I ate it. I did walk into the teachers lounge where there were loads of chips and candy leftover from this morning. Today is a testing day, so the school provides all kinds of goodies for us to eat. I was seriously looking at a bag of Sunchips, but I put it down and went to eat my apple. So, maybe my apple with PB wasn't the best choice I could make, but it was certainly better than Sunchips! :-)
Today was definitely harder to stay on track . . . After my snack I was doing pretty well, but a friend had some Starburst candies that looked pretty good to eat!! But I resisted! Whew!
Dinner was beef stew - with lots of vegetables. The recipe calls for just potatoes, onion and carrots, but I also added celery and green beans. Yum! This was my dad's favorite dinner that my mom made growing up. One day, while it was cooking, he snuck into the kitchen and poured a couple cups of burgundy into the pot without my mom's knowledge. When we were eating it that night, she commented that it was the best she's ever made it! Dad and I were cracking up!! :-)
I also made sweet potatoes and apples as a side dish for dinner. This is a dish that we usually eat at Thanksgiving, but I've altered it a bit to make it primal and so I can have a bit of sweetness when I'm craving it!
I finished off the night with 3 small squares of dark chocolate! But that was HARD - my husband won an ice cream cake yesterday - mint chocolate chip with chocolate cake - my favorite!! I struggled with whether or not I wanted to break my primal day by eating that cake or if I was going to stick to it!! Luckily, after a good dinner finished off with the sweet potatoes, I wasn't craving sweet. But I still had a bit of the munchies, so I settled with my dark chocolate and I was satisfied! Another crisis averted! Whew!
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Roasted Carrots
Roasted Carrots
6-8 carrots, peeled and cut into sticks
2 T. butter
1 T. honey
1 T. lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 350.
Place carrots in a baking dish. Melt butter and mix with honey and lemon juice. Pour over carrots and roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the carrots are soft.
6-8 carrots, peeled and cut into sticks
2 T. butter
1 T. honey
1 T. lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 350.
Place carrots in a baking dish. Melt butter and mix with honey and lemon juice. Pour over carrots and roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes until the carrots are soft.
Week 1 Day 7
Sunday
I started the day with my coffee, a hard-boiled egg and a cinnamon muffin. Yum!
Lunch was the last quesadilla, the last of the broccoli/cauliflower and zucchini/carrots. Delicious!
I definitely felt better this afternoon eating good food. I hope to keep it up for life!
Dinner was delicious!! I made a delicious cod with roasted carrots and sauteed brussels sprouts. The recipe calls for mahi mahi and asparagus, but I substituted cod and brussels sprouts!! I kind of mutilate fish with I cook it because I'm never quite sure if it's cooked enough. I'm pretty good at making my food taste good, but I'm not always that good at making it look that good. :-) I didn't puree my almond sauce because I wanted to taste the slices of almond. Good choice because it was really very good. :-)
No exercise . . . I haven't really exercised much lately besides walking around the house and the grocery store. I'm seeing a new chiropractor for a pinched nerve in my hip and she's had me stop going to yoga for a couple weeks . . . and I can't wait to go back!!! My muscles have been itching for a deep stretch. I even woke up from my nap today with a charlie horse in my hamstring. Boo. Hopefully I can go back to yoga soon!
Recap of what I learned this week:
1. I bought too much food this week . . . but I think that was a good thing to do. I definitely over-bought fruit - I still have a bunch of pineapple, mangos, grapefruit, kiwi, apples and clementines left!
2. I can do this! It really wasn't that hard to stay grain free because I had so much good food available! It was definitely helpful to have a lot prepared so I could pack whatever I needed for the day.
3. Don't go to Central Market when I'm hungry - I went to buy stuff for the week, but right before dinnertime . . . and EVERYTHING was tempting me!! I especially love their tortillas, but I resisted the temptation and came home to fix my yummy dinner!
4. I love REAL FOOD!!
I started the day with my coffee, a hard-boiled egg and a cinnamon muffin. Yum!
Lunch was the last quesadilla, the last of the broccoli/cauliflower and zucchini/carrots. Delicious!
I definitely felt better this afternoon eating good food. I hope to keep it up for life!
Dinner was delicious!! I made a delicious cod with roasted carrots and sauteed brussels sprouts. The recipe calls for mahi mahi and asparagus, but I substituted cod and brussels sprouts!! I kind of mutilate fish with I cook it because I'm never quite sure if it's cooked enough. I'm pretty good at making my food taste good, but I'm not always that good at making it look that good. :-) I didn't puree my almond sauce because I wanted to taste the slices of almond. Good choice because it was really very good. :-)
I finished off the night with a small glass of white wine! Yum! All in all it was a very good day food-wise!
Recap of what I learned this week:
1. I bought too much food this week . . . but I think that was a good thing to do. I definitely over-bought fruit - I still have a bunch of pineapple, mangos, grapefruit, kiwi, apples and clementines left!
2. I can do this! It really wasn't that hard to stay grain free because I had so much good food available! It was definitely helpful to have a lot prepared so I could pack whatever I needed for the day.
3. Don't go to Central Market when I'm hungry - I went to buy stuff for the week, but right before dinnertime . . . and EVERYTHING was tempting me!! I especially love their tortillas, but I resisted the temptation and came home to fix my yummy dinner!
4. I love REAL FOOD!!
Week 1 Day 6
Saturday
Sleeping in, leisurely morning on the couch drinking coffee . . . perfect Saturday!
I made muffins today. I love quick breads - I'd rather have that than a loaf of crusty bread. So, when I found a recipe for these cinnamon muffins, I knew I had to try them! This is not something I will eat all the time because it does have more honey in it than I really need to eat, but it's wonderful for a treat!
While I was waiting for the muffins to bake, I had a cup of coffee and a small banana.
I was a little concerned that the recipe only made 9 muffins - but I really could have stretched it to 11-12 muffins because they overflowed the cups! Almond flour muffins don't loft like a wheat flour muffin! Oh well . . . they tasted really good and were VERY filling! Next time I might add a bit more butter in the filling, but still they were extremely satisfying!
Lunch was leftover chicken, broccoli/cauliflower and zucchini/carrots. Still good after 2 days, but I'm glad it's finished now! :-)
Brian wanted to go out to dinner, so we went to the Londoner and I had fish and chips. The fish was kind of bland even with malt vinegar on it, but the fries were yummy. But, after such a heavy and non-Primal meal, I felt awful. I hope to learn from my mistake last night and eat healthier even when we go out!!
Sleeping in, leisurely morning on the couch drinking coffee . . . perfect Saturday!
I made muffins today. I love quick breads - I'd rather have that than a loaf of crusty bread. So, when I found a recipe for these cinnamon muffins, I knew I had to try them! This is not something I will eat all the time because it does have more honey in it than I really need to eat, but it's wonderful for a treat!
Lunch was leftover chicken, broccoli/cauliflower and zucchini/carrots. Still good after 2 days, but I'm glad it's finished now! :-)
Brian wanted to go out to dinner, so we went to the Londoner and I had fish and chips. The fish was kind of bland even with malt vinegar on it, but the fries were yummy. But, after such a heavy and non-Primal meal, I felt awful. I hope to learn from my mistake last night and eat healthier even when we go out!!
Saturday, March 2, 2013
Week 1 Day 5
Friday
I LOVE GOOD FOOD!
I have been searching the internet for grain free recipes for about 10 minutes and I have at least 10 recipes to try. I can't wait! I love the taste of food in it's natural state - no chemicals or additives needed to make it stay fresh longer or taste better. I've never been one to enjoy processed foods - even when I was little. I guess I have to thank my mom for feeding me mostly real food from an early age. I remember that when I was about 6-7, Kid Cuisine tv dinners came out. I begged my mom to buy me one because it was food just for a kid, right? But I hated it! It was nasty processed food that just didn't taste good. So, thank you, Mom, for feeding me good stuff early so that I developed a taste for real food! :-)
So today for breakfast I drank my coffee and ate some fresh mango along with a strip of bacon and two fried eggs. I don't know exactly why, but those eggs were delicious! Maybe it's because I cooked the bacon first and then added the eggs to the pan in the leftover bacon grease. Whatever it was - it was yummy! :-)
And I really like the Trader Joe's Applewood Uncured Bacon. I was hesitant at first because I don't really like applewood smoked stuff, but I REALLY like this bacon! Allie even made some bacon and eggs for herself last night and she REALLY liked it too! I've tried other uncured bacon before and not really liked them - so I'm thrilled that I found one we both like! And I know Brian will eat almost anything so I don't have to worry about him even though he hasn't tried it yet!
Friday lunches are a special time in my department at school. We go out to eat as a group. One of the ladies is fasting from meat on Fridays during Lent and I'm grain-free so we decided to go to Panera Bread because it would have options for all of us to eat. I was very tempted to eat a panini because I really do love their bread, but instead I chose their creamy tomato soup (sans the croutons), a side salad and iced tea. I forgot to ask them to leave off the bread - so it stared at me throughout lunch, but I managed to avoid eating it! Yay! Maybe next time I'll ask them to substitute the bread for something else because I was still hungry after I finished lunch. When we got back to school, I filled up on the last of my guacamole and plantain chips, a hard boiled egg and a square of dark chocolate. Full!
And I'm satisfied with filling my body with yummy, real food. After eating good food like this, I don't even miss the grains!
I was definitely hungry for a snack - I think my stomach issues this week were more to do with the excitement of the referral instead of the food! Today it's much better. So for my snack I had a spinach salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar.
Dinner was totally non-Primal. I had to go to the airport tonight, so I was out during dinner-time. I had a pepperoni pizza from Campisi's with ranch dressing and a small Pepsi. It was so yummy! But, I noticed that I couldn't even eat the whole thing. I've never had a problem eating a whole Campisi's pizza, but I left about 1/4 of it and I was VERY full. Plus, I could only drink 1 cup full of the Pepsi! It was so sweet and I actually wanted water after I had had a cup of that. I'm part camel and drink a whole lot. Usually I can refill my cup 2-3 times in a meal because I'm so thirsty. But after 1 cup full of Pepsi, I just didn't want any more. So, even though this was a cheat meal, I'm pleased that my tastes and habits are changing!
On another note - Brian loved the frittata I had made earlier in the week! He polished off the last 3 slices today and told me that I have to make it again! It's so true that different people have different tastes! Ha!
I LOVE GOOD FOOD!
I have been searching the internet for grain free recipes for about 10 minutes and I have at least 10 recipes to try. I can't wait! I love the taste of food in it's natural state - no chemicals or additives needed to make it stay fresh longer or taste better. I've never been one to enjoy processed foods - even when I was little. I guess I have to thank my mom for feeding me mostly real food from an early age. I remember that when I was about 6-7, Kid Cuisine tv dinners came out. I begged my mom to buy me one because it was food just for a kid, right? But I hated it! It was nasty processed food that just didn't taste good. So, thank you, Mom, for feeding me good stuff early so that I developed a taste for real food! :-)
So today for breakfast I drank my coffee and ate some fresh mango along with a strip of bacon and two fried eggs. I don't know exactly why, but those eggs were delicious! Maybe it's because I cooked the bacon first and then added the eggs to the pan in the leftover bacon grease. Whatever it was - it was yummy! :-)
And I really like the Trader Joe's Applewood Uncured Bacon. I was hesitant at first because I don't really like applewood smoked stuff, but I REALLY like this bacon! Allie even made some bacon and eggs for herself last night and she REALLY liked it too! I've tried other uncured bacon before and not really liked them - so I'm thrilled that I found one we both like! And I know Brian will eat almost anything so I don't have to worry about him even though he hasn't tried it yet!
Friday lunches are a special time in my department at school. We go out to eat as a group. One of the ladies is fasting from meat on Fridays during Lent and I'm grain-free so we decided to go to Panera Bread because it would have options for all of us to eat. I was very tempted to eat a panini because I really do love their bread, but instead I chose their creamy tomato soup (sans the croutons), a side salad and iced tea. I forgot to ask them to leave off the bread - so it stared at me throughout lunch, but I managed to avoid eating it! Yay! Maybe next time I'll ask them to substitute the bread for something else because I was still hungry after I finished lunch. When we got back to school, I filled up on the last of my guacamole and plantain chips, a hard boiled egg and a square of dark chocolate. Full!
And I'm satisfied with filling my body with yummy, real food. After eating good food like this, I don't even miss the grains!
I was definitely hungry for a snack - I think my stomach issues this week were more to do with the excitement of the referral instead of the food! Today it's much better. So for my snack I had a spinach salad with olive oil and red wine vinegar.
Dinner was totally non-Primal. I had to go to the airport tonight, so I was out during dinner-time. I had a pepperoni pizza from Campisi's with ranch dressing and a small Pepsi. It was so yummy! But, I noticed that I couldn't even eat the whole thing. I've never had a problem eating a whole Campisi's pizza, but I left about 1/4 of it and I was VERY full. Plus, I could only drink 1 cup full of the Pepsi! It was so sweet and I actually wanted water after I had had a cup of that. I'm part camel and drink a whole lot. Usually I can refill my cup 2-3 times in a meal because I'm so thirsty. But after 1 cup full of Pepsi, I just didn't want any more. So, even though this was a cheat meal, I'm pleased that my tastes and habits are changing!
On another note - Brian loved the frittata I had made earlier in the week! He polished off the last 3 slices today and told me that I have to make it again! It's so true that different people have different tastes! Ha!
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