Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Temptations

Temptation lurks around every corner when you are doing the Paleo diet. I’ve realized that no matter where we are soda and bread are everywhere. They are strategically placed throughout the store to get you to buy it. This weekend at the Royals game I totally would have ate the bun on my dog if it hadn’t fallen apart and I did scarf down the Fritos like a mad man even though I don't ever recall enjoying them. I still avoided soda though. In fact the last soda I had was on Easter but I’ll admit I want to have one when I see it on a billboard, sign or when someone else is drinking one.


I did okay on Sunday which was Gena’s birthday. We like the way one of our friends expressed how he does Paleo/Primal and that is by the 80/20 rule. This means that 80% of the time you eat Paleo and 20% of the time you let things slide. I’m only saying this because on Sunday I used the 20% for the hash browns at breakfast, the tortillas for fajitas at dinner and the Italian birthday cake.

Here is one of the testomonials that really spoke to me. Maybe it will speak to you the same way if you are experiencing Crohns too.
http://robbwolf.com/2013/02/11/healing-chrohns-disease-feel-absolutely-normal-time-10-years/

We made some pretty good recipes this weekend that were super easy and tasted really good. The below are two of my favorites. T-4 days until I can tell you how our first brew of kombucha taste!

Chicken and Kale Soup
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 (14-oz) cans organic chicken broth
1 cup white wine
1 large onion, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 bay leaf
1 bunch kale, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt
and pepper. Add chicken to skillet; cook 3 minutes per side or until browned. Transfer to a
5- to 7-quart slow cooker. Stir in broth, wine, onion, garlic and bay leaf. Cover and cook on
low heat 5 hours. Stir in kale and parsley. Cook an additional 1 hour. Shred chicken with 2 forks
before serving.

We even experimented with making our first Paleo cracker and they were good too!

Almond Flax Crackers

1 cup almond meal (or almond flour)
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed meal
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine almond and flaxseed meals in a medium bowl. Stir in
oil, eggs, baking powder and salt until well blended. Roll dough into an 8 x 10-inch rectangle on a large baking sheet lightly sprinkle with almond meal. Use a knife to score dough into 12 equal crackers, marking the surface of the dough without cutting through completely. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until slightly browned. Cool on baking sheet 5 to 10 minutes or until crisp. Break into crackers.



Whole Grain Dijon Salmon

6 (6-oz) salmon fillets
2 tablespoons whole grain or regular Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Preheat broiler. Brush salmon with mustard.Place on a baking sheet rubbed with oil.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Broil 6 to 8 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.


Quick Sauteed Swiss Chard

2 bunches Swiss chard, cleaned and trimmed
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Coarsely chop chard into 1-inch pieces. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add garlic and chard to pan. Saute 5 minutes or just until chard wilts. Stir in salt and pepper.


Even Lydia liked these. One thing that I can say is that we are learning about new veggies and enjoying it. It is good to cook in abundance with meals while doing Paleo so you always have leftovers. An easy way to trip up is if you need something quick but don’t have anything on hand. I’ve learned this from experiences that we’ve had. It’s a lot easier to through a pizza in the oven than cook. To combat this we’ve stalked up on dried fruit, nuts and jerky for snacks.

Gena and I went and saw 42 last night. It was phenomenal. I highly recommend it even to those who are not fans of baseball. My one and only slip-up was the popcorn at the movie theatre. Typically I can’t digest it and it gives me problems but I haven’t experienced that yet so it makes me believe that the diet is working and healing my gut! This has me excited!

As far as my health, I am feeling better with more energy. My fatigue is not as much now and am able to stay up later than 9:30 which I’m sure Gena enjoys!

Alex

“Most people will not reach their potential without somebody else believing in them. Is there someone you can encourage today?” ~ Joel Osteen





No comments: