Yogurt is not my friend anymore

One of the many positive aspects of eating Primal is the mindfulness I now have when it comes to food. Because I am eating mostly whole foods with no added ingredients, I know what agrees with me, and I know what doesn't. I now realize that wheat hurts my tummy like nothing else. But over the last few days, I've seen there's a potential new member of the Forbidden Foods club, and it makes me pretty sad.

Dairy.

I love dairy. Milk is tasty. I like cheese, ice cream, half and half and yogurt. In fact, Greek yogurt has helped me bridge the gap in my transition from a Standard American Diet to my new way of eating. Most mornings, I've been enjoying a cup of whole-milk yogurt, some almonds, a handful of berries and a teeny drizzle of honey.

Warning: TMI ahead!

But I've noticed over the last few days that the yogurt, um, wants to make its exit pretty quickly. Any way it can.

Hey, I warned you!

So I think it's time to leave the yogurt to my hubby and my little boy, and time to stock up on more eggs. I'll see how I do with small amounts of cheese on top of an entree or over my scrambled eggs. And I'm really, REALLY hoping I don't have to give up ice cream anytime soon. I've only been eating it about once a month recently, so I think I can keep it in my diet for now.

Image via Nightingale Design London UK/Flickr

The cake is a lie

In my family, we have what we've come to call "birthday season". We celebrate six birthdays from this past weekend up to August 1, including mine and my husband's. Normally, this is lots of fun. It's a seemingly endless parade of presents, Mom's home cooking and nummy birthday cakes.

I loved birthday cakes. Emphasis on loved. Because now, after about a month of Primal living, birthday cakes have become heartless bitches who seduce me with their buttercream frosting roses and then rip my stomach to shreds.

Damn you, foul confectionery temptresses! I've become everything I hate!

Paleo on the Road

So we're back from our vacation, a 14-hour drive each way. When you're on the road that long, you need to eat. I packed a few things, but I didn't anticipate 1) not having enough or 2) getting bored with the same foods. I started with a few cans of raw almonds and mixed nuts. Yummy, but high in calories, and eating the same thing gets old. I never got to the kale chips because I didn't want to stink up the car. Here are some options I found at the gas stations we hit along the way. For the most options, stop at a "higher end" convenience store like Race Way, Sheetz, Wawa or 7 Eleven. These chains carry a wider variety of snacking choices.


Hard-boiled eggs
These usually come in a 2-pack. Not necessarily as tasty as homemade, but what is at a gas station?

Seeds and nuts
You can almost always find small packages of salted cashews and sunflower seeds. I managed to find a big bag of pumpkin seeds for less than $2 at one stop. They were something different, they're full of protein, fat and essential minerals, and the bag lasted me for most of my trip. It never hurts to look and see what's there. Always check the label and make sure there's no sugar or any artificial ingredients.

Beef Jerky
This will work in a pinch. It contains sugar and (usually) soy sauce, but if you've got to eat, you've got to eat. Read the labels first. Jack Link's, which was once my favorite brand, has a lot of no-no ingredients. Oberto is made without artificial ingredients. Use your best judgment.

Coffee
If you're driving this long, you're probably going to get tired. We used to grab cans of Red Bull or Rockstar, but I was much happier this trip with a nice cup of coffee and some whole milk. I still put a little sugar in it, but I am taking baby steps with this and cutting back gradually.


Fresh fruit and vegetables
Almost any better gas station will have apples, bananas and/or oranges available. In addition, I've also seen apple slices and baby carrots in the coolers.

Next time, I'm going to try to plan ahead and visit Amazon or a website like Paleo Food Mall and buy some stuff in advance. I didn't have that luxury on this trip, unfortunately.

Image via durhamskywriter/Flickr

Baked Kale Chips

So as we get ready to leave, we're trying to use up what's in our fridge. We're taking along some clementines, apples, pineapple chunks and mangoes. But last week, I bought a big bag of kale at BJ's ($1.99, can't beat that) for the purpose of making baked kale chips. I've seen several recipes for them, calling for varying oils and seasonings. I decided to stick to the basics.

I tried two different recipes:

Nom Nom Paleo's Baked Kale Chips

Smitten Kitchen's Baked Kale Chips

Kale, sea salt, avocado oil and extra virgin olive oil, ready to go.

I made my first batch with Nom Nom Paleo's recipe. They were good, but still pretty green-tasting and a little bitter. No way I could get The Boy to eat them. I told him they were green potato chips and he refused to touch it. He dropped it on the floor and pretended to have his stuffed dog eat it.

I made the second batch with olive oil. More flavor to the oil, so I figured tastier results.

Not so. I didn't realize the smoke point of olive oil is 325 degrees. I baked these chips at 350. I had a few finished chips and they tasted like Death's ass. That batch went in the trash.

I found this nifty reference on the smoke points of oils online. I think I'll have to keep this one bookmarked.

I looked at Smitten Kitchen's recipe and turned the oven down to 300 (whoops!) and tried again. This time, I salted one pan, and used a combination of salt and garlic powder on the other.

Verdict? Meh.The garlic powder made them taste better, but the long cooking time obliterated them. I managed to salvage 2 decent-sized pieces.

So I went BACK to avocado oil and 350 degrees and tried garlic and salt again.

Good! A little nutty, kinda veggie and salty with a hint of garlic. I am going to play around with seasonings in future batches but I like these a lot.

Mistakes were made: fast food and Paleo

I really have been very happy since changing my diet to Paleo. I wake up feeling refreshed, I get to eat lots of tasty bacon and stuff fried in butter, and I've lost 3 pounds in a week. Wonderful!

But I decided today was a good day to "cheat", and man, was I wrong.

Let me give you a little back story: I used to teach special education. When I moved from Florida to North Carolina, I was lucky to be paired up with Roberta. Roberta was my teacher's assistant for 2 1/2 years, from the day I started at my new school to the day I left. She calls me "daughter" and I call her "mom". She is very special to me.

Naturally, when Roberta's birthday rolled around, I decided to visit her at work. I asked her what she'd like for lunch, and she said Showmars. For those of you who don't live in the greater Charlotte area, Showmars is a local chain of Greek diners, and it is really, really good. I jumped at the chance to have a gyro with some tzaziki sauce. 

Mmm, gyros... *insert Homer Simpson salivating noise*

I restrained myself and I had water (instead of their excellent sweet tea) and ordered a fruit cup on the side. I planned to take the meat and veggies off the pita, but when we sat down for lunch, it just looked too good the way it was. I ate it all up, every bite, and I really enjoyed it.

But then about an hour later, I was driving home and my stomach started to hurt. Then I went inside and when I picked up my little boy, I started to get that gross almost-sick-to-my-stomach sensation. Now I'm sitting in the recliner and writing this, waiting for the stomach pain to go away. On top of that, I'm tired, much more tired than I normally am this time of day. Lesson learned. Time to stay away from bread and avoid eating junk. I think you have to slip up once or twice to see how much better you feel on Paleo.

Tomorrow we're going on our vacation. We're driving 8 hours tomorrow and 8 more the next day, then doing that again in a week and a half. I don't know what we're going to eat while we're on the road. And while I love my in-laws very dearly, they're vegetarians, and finding something for us all to eat while we stay with them is going to be pretty interesting. I'm also afraid that my favorite foods from home (Skyline Chili! Jaxson's Ice Cream!) are not going to go down too well and it bums me out. Time to start looking at fast food allergen info to see what we can eat.

Did you know Chick-fil-A only has three gluten-free entrees? This is going to be difficult.

First world problems and temptation

I was going to write a nice post tonight about how I love how much weight I've already lost and how great I feel and how much energy I have now. All of that is true, but this afternoon went to hell in a handbasket and I had my first real desire to quit.

Between the Terrible Twos, a surprise dirty diaper at the bookstore that required a trip home, an hour in the sixth circle of Hell (better known as a kid's hair salon), a trip to the store where I came home empty-handed, rush hour traffic and finding my not-quite-right next door neighbor had mowed 1/3rd of my front lawn, I was done. I was ready to call up Papa John's and have a nice greasy pizza and some ice cream, too.

Luckily, my husband came home a few minutes later. He took the ground beef I'd thawed out and made some yummy hamburger patties, sauteed the spinach in the grease, and nuked a sweet potato for us to share. Crisis averted. I feel better now.

I was waiting for this to happen, and now I have to figure out some fallback measures for when I'm tired, cranky and stressed out. I have seen some Paleo freezer menus on Saving Dinner that look appealing, but I don't have the money to shell out for the download right now. It might be worth it if it helps keep me from running screaming into a Cici's Pizza and falling face-first into the cheese danish dessert pizza the next time I have a crappy afternoon.

January 1st

Okay, so today is the day that EVERYONE is going hard on their resolutions and getting their butts back in the gym, eating Special K for breakfast and organizing their sock drawers. I am not exempt. I started out my day by pouring myself a nice big bowl of Quaker Oatmeal Squares. After counting calories on and off for the last several years, I get all excited over having permission from the Nutrition Facts to eat AN ENTIRE CUP of cereal. *woo hoo* I even had a BANANA! I am doing good.

I was a good girl and ate my breakfast without reading the paper or checking Facebook so my brain would register that I was eating, as the whole mindful eating theory goes. But because I have a 2-year-old, I have to pause every 15 seconds to tell him to stop making a mess with his cereal, to stop bugging the dog, to leave Daddy alone because he has a headache, and no, he can't have a sip of my coffee. Gah, I seriously cringe when I think of what that kid could do with some caffeine in him. It would not be pretty.

After an hour, I was hungry again. Dang. I ate my leftover scallion chicken and fried rice. Dang again.

And then after doing last night's dishes (we had friends over for New Year's Eve), I shined my sink. It's exactly what it sounds like. This is a FlyLady thing, which I know is kinda cryptic and weird if you don't follow her, and I will explain more about it later. But long story short, you are supposed to take a towel or dishcloth or whatever and shine your sink. Simple. Mine has more of a dull sheen today, but whatever.


This is not my sink. It is a shining (ha ha!) example of how it should be. Maybe later. (image MNicoleM/flickr)

Husband and I have to throw out our holiday candy tonight so we can get serious about the healthier eating. He is at Wendy's right now getting a Frosty for both of us. This does not bode well.