Lola...Paleo Einstein?

Lolas Journey:Einstein  Is reported to have kept several sets of the same outfit in his closet so that he could simply grab an outfit without having to think about what he wanted to wear.  I am approaching Paleo the same way.  So far, I am happy eating the same things as it keeps me from thinking about the food too much right now.  I am trying to switch gears from food being "entertainment" to food being a "nutritional necessity".  Making food less of an "event" and learning what "comfortably full" and "satisfied" feels like.

I am in the swing of my Paleo adventure.  I have tightened my belt a notch (sometimes 2 depending on the day !!!!)   The scale has not reflected too much of a change but I FEEL a difference:  Less tired, less logy, less mood swings, less bloating..MORE FOCUSED.  

I have been doing Paleo about 80-20% minimum... 100% on a good day.

Typical day consists of:

Breakfast:  Hot soup.  Yup. You heard me right. :) Italian Wedding soup MINUS the pasta or Beef and Tomato Soup (both with copious amounts of garlic and red pepper )

Lunch:  Poached chicken, lettuce, artichoke hearts (sometimes a bit of feta cheese in there)... with olive oil/red wine vinegar and pepper.

Dinner:  turkey sausage with broccoli and mushrooms (and garlic) OR Turkey burger salad with melted feta (theres that crazy feta again!), -your basic turkey burger cut up on a plate with lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pickles and thousand islands dressing.  Yesterday I ate out at Red Robin and chose the Avo-Cobb-O salad !  I usually get the southwestern chicken but it has corn and black beans so I bypassed it for something else.  I did indulge in 2 mozzarella sticks and a handful of sweet potato fries. :)

I have been eating fresh fruit salad as well:  watermelon, mango, strawberry, kiwi and some  pineapple.  I readily admit Ive been eating too much of this. (my son is enjoying this as well !) Ive also been eating some vinegar based coleslaw after work before dinner time. (again..my son is diving in and enjoying this instead of cookies after school !)

Eating the soup in the morning gives me something warm to start my day with and I can make a huge pot of soup that lasts me the week.  No thinking in the morning.  My son has also started eating soup in the morning before school which beats eating cereal and milk ! YEY !!!!

Times I have veered:  Movies...I ordered popcorn...a big ass popcorn.   Ive had some chocolate Belvita or Apple Cinnamon Belvita in the evening.   Still enjoying coffee in the morning with flavored creamer and I have not given up diet soda yet....YET. (thats a tough one!)  I usually drink one during lunch at work.

Im not drinking enough water either.  Need to work on that.

New for this week:  I started taking fish oil capsules to combat aches and pains from work.

The adventure continues!!!!!

Recipe for Dinner: Salmon and Slaw

Tonight I was home late because I'd gone grocery shopping after work. My lunch and p.m. snack were but a faint memory. I was tired, foot sore, and cranky.

And hungry.

But I did not want to make dinner.

People tell me that part of the problem with sticking to a Paleo-esque diet is all the prepping and cooking, and planning, and shopping...

Honey, I did South Beach when it first came out, and followed the memu in the first edition of the book for the first month before I felt confident enough to mix it up on my own. And I was cooking for 2 other people in the house who were also doing the diet - so I know from prep time. And cooking, and shopping, etc. ad Nauseum.

But it seriously, doesn't have to be a big-assed deal. Take tonight, for instance, I didn't want to cook, so I made the quickest thing I could thing of.

I made Salmon Filets and Broccoli Slaw.

Isn't this a beautiful dinner?

S
It really does taste as good as it looks, too. I know, because DaHubster is behind me making yummy sounds as I type this.

The salmon filets were cooked my favorite way - half pan seared, half poached. That sounds complicated, but all you do is get a skillet really hot, with a tiny bit of oil. Then put the filets in the pan flesh side down, cooking for two minutes. Flip the filets over, pour in chicken stock halfway up the side of the filet, cover, turn the heat as low as it will go, and let it finish cooking about 4-5 minutes. I threw some green onions in there before covering, too.

Easy, right? And it took all of 10 minutes.

The slaw took maybe 10 minutes as well, and here it is:

• Buy per-shredded Broccoli slaw from the store, and if you are so inclined (as I was), an additional bag of shredded carrots. I only used a handful of the carrots, btw.
• Slice up 1 or 2 green onions
• Mix in a bowl.

Dressing for slaw:

• 2 parts Red Wine Vinegar (or lemon juice if you don't use vinegars)
• 1.5 parts good olive oil
• about 1 teaspoon brown mustard (for emulsification)
• about 1/4 teaspoon honey (to cut the acidity)
• Spices to your liking. I used salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and oregano

Put into a jar with a lid and shake. Then lightly coat your slaw.

Viola!

Now, as far as vinegar not being Paleo, well...that's your determination to make. I use it, and I don't think there's too much a problem with it. It's technically not "of the time frame" but I haven't heard any overtly negative reactions bodily too it, so I'm not really worried about it.But if you do not want to use vinegar, lemon juice is a very good substitute.

So really, it was 15 to 20 minutes of prepping and cook time. And I have to tell you, I am not feeling so cranky anymore, now that I've eaten that.

Enjoy.