Week Two Menu

Pre-Week Prep

• Paleo hamburger buns (by Thursday)
• Bread-replacement Paleo items are notoriously not like bread.  These buns are no exception. We used these, but I probably wouldn't make the effort again.  They serve only to give the impression of eating a burger with your hands.  There is no added flavor or texture.
• Clarified butter, if needed
• Make sure you go into each week with at least 12 oz (1.5 cups) of clarified butter
• Make BBQ sauce (by Thursday)
• If you made this last week, you'll have plenty left.  Or you may want to look into PaleoChef sauces, especially the Peach BBQ.

Sunday

• Restaurant Style Steak
• We LOVE this steak.  We will never grill steak again.  Make sure to use a cast iron skillet and follow her cooking instructions precisely, substituting clarified butter for standard butter.  We skip the herb butter and just sprinkle garlic powder on the steak, along with black pepper and kosher salt.  Use either filets or good strip steaks.
•  Garlic Asparagus
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Clean and trim 1/2 lb - 1 lb of asparagus.  Place in large Ziploc bag.  Add 1 - 2 T of olive oil, 2 cloves of minced garlic.  Shake bag until coated, place on a foil-lined cookie sheet.  Bake for 16 - 18 minutes, or until done to your taste.

Monday

• Chili Cilantro Lime Chicken 
• REQUIRES PREP WORK STARTING THE DAY BEFORE / CROCKPOT RECIPE
• This should be placed in it's marinade the night before and placed in a crockpot the morning of.  We followed her tip of placing the chicken and marinade in a crockpot liner, then in a gallon Ziploc bag.  The next morning, you just have to put the crockpot liner with the chicken ready to go into the crockpot and turn on.  While we still think that most things that come out of a crockpot are dry, this recipe was really tasty and provided a good amount of left over cooked chicken for use in lunches.
• Roasted carrots and broccoli
• Scroll down about 2 screens for the carrot recipe.  I started off with the carrots per the recipe, but then added broccoli (since not all in our house will eat cooked carrots).  Don't do this.  Steam the broccoli separately.  Sweet honey carrots are yummy.  Sweet honey broccoli is weird.

Tuesday

• Pineapple Jerk Steak
• What?  You don't have a sous vide machine?  Yeah, neither do we.  I simply marinated the steak (we did NY strips) in the sauce for a bit, then cooked it in a skillet.  When the meat is done, add the pineapple until heated through.  We skipped the onion, bacon and jalapeno completely.  The sauce was delish.  We only wish we would have grilled the pineapple separately to get a good char, but it was still really good in the sauce.
• Sweet Potato Rounds
• Scroll to the 2nd recipe on the page.  We ended up cooking these a bit longer than shown in the recipe to get a bit more color.  Pretty yummy and pretty easy way to cook up some sweet potatoes!

Wednesday

• Nut and Herb Chicken
• Yes, this was in our previous week's menu.  But we liked it a lot, the leftovers were tasty and it was easy enough to include in this week's too.  We used pecans and the poultry fresh herb mix (rosemary, sage, thyme).  We also cut/pounded the cutlets to about 3/4" thickness.
• Butter Steamed Broccoli and Carrots
• Melt about 1/4 cup clarified butter in large saute pan over medium heat.  Add 1 cup of carrots and cover.  Steam for 5 minutes, shaking pan occasionally to prevent burning. Add 2 cups of broccoli and continue to steam and shake for another 10 minutes. Add more butter if veggies aren't done to your liking but starting to burn.  Serve.  Have a salt shaker on hand, since clarified butter doesn't contain salt.

Thursday

• Garlic Burger with BBQ Sauce
• Mix 1 lb of ground beef with 2 T Worcester sauce, 1 T garlic powder and 1/2 T kosher salt.  Form into patties and grill.  Serve with Paleo bun (or wrapped in butter lettuce) and BBQ sauce.
• Sweet potato chips and avocado
• We just had sweet potato chips out of the bag (Terra Sweets and Beets).  If you find a different brand, check the ingredients.  Make sure there is no flour and that the oil used is Paleo friendly. 

A Kid-sized Version

Friday

• Beef with Broccoli
• This turned out really good.  Next time, I will add some canned water chestnuts with the broccoli.  We served it with baked spaghetti squash (eaten only by some in the house), but you can also pair with Cauliflower rice.
• Baked Spaghetti Squash 
•  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Halve squash lengthwise and scoop out seeds.  Place cut side down in a baking dish, prick skin all over with a fork.  Bake for 30 - 40 minutes or until tender. Shred and separate the squash pulp into strands into bowl and serve.

Paleo Breakfasts

While I don't plan out each breakfast like I do for dinner, I do make sure to have a lot of options on hand for the morning.  However, like most Paleo-eaters, eggs feature heavily in our breakfasts.  The key is to find variety by having fresh fruits, veggies and breakfast meats on hand.  Paleo muffins, breads and jellies can also help liven things up.  We also tend to have larger breakfasts in our house, meaning we can go a bit lighter on lunch.

Due to certain picky factors, we do make breakfasts according to our own tastes (although we do try to share the same pans).  One person may want scrambled eggs, sausage and pineapple every day of the week, while another wants a frittata, avocado and mango.  Addie will either hop onto one of our meals, or have whole Greek yogurt with honey and/or fruit.  Since she's Paleo + dairy, she gets a bit more variety.

A couple of tips when it comes to preparing for a week of Paleo breakfasts:

1. Have a LOT of eggs on hand.  We buy 6 dozen per week.
2. Have a variety of fresh fruits and veggies on hand.  Small packages of a lot of vegetables are better than large packages of just a few.  We generally buy mushrooms, spinach, cherry tomatoes, a salad mix plus the veggies required for dinner from the grocery store and fresh fruit and avocados from Costco.
3. Read the ingredients label on bacon and sausage. Many include sugar.
4. Do your baking on the weekend.
5. The first time you make bacon, make the whole package.  Refrigerate or freeze the leftovers and pop into the microwave for 15 seconds to reheat.  This makes having bacon a lot more accessible.  In my opinion, the easiest way to do this is to cover a cookie sheet in heavy duty tin foil (the kind that will extend around the sides of the cookie sheet without needing to overlap with another sheet of foil) and lay out the bacon side by side.  Put in a cold oven, then set to 400 degrees.  Cook for 17 - 19 minutes, depending on your preferred level of doneness.  You may want to rotate the sheet midway through if your oven cooks unevenly like mine does.  Pull out and set bacon aside on paper towels and consider saving the grease to cook with later.

Here are some samples of our more variable breakfasts.

 Sauteed mushroom omelet with avocado and bacon

 

Paleo Banana Bread (I used this recipe, but didn't include the almond topping)

with fruit and a drizzle of honey

Note: we have yet to find the perfect banana bread. We've tried this one as well.  Both seem dry and very dense and nether toast well. But both are tasty - they just don't emulate real banana bread as much as we'd like. We'll keep looking and I'll do a banana bread-centric post one day.

 

Sauteed mushrooms and tomato omelet with berries

 

Addie's Valentines breakfast: a fried egg and toasted Paleo bread 

(or rather, sauteed in butter) with Paleo strawberry jelly

Note: Again, we aren't totally satisfied with the bread that we've made, but we're getting closer.  Moisture, texture and weight are the main issues when cooking without flour.  However, most breads seem to taste better when lathered in jelly.

 

 Mushroom omelets are a fav!  Plus bacon and fruit.

Paleo Pancakes topped with fresh berries and whipped coconut milk

Contrary to the other bread-like recipes, this one is a winner.  We won't be looking for any other versions of pancakes since this version is so simple and so good.

Bacon, mushroom and tomato scramble with toasted Paleo bread (version 2), jelly and fruit

 Spinach frittata with toasted Paleo bread, jelly and bacon 

 Mushroom and tomato frittata with bacon and mango

Week One Menu

Finally - I'm getting to the good stuff.  At least, what I think is good.  Weekly menus and recipes.  I'll include not only what we ate for dinner each day, but also what we thought of it and any tweaks made to the posted recipes.  Additionally, there is some prep work that I would wholeheartedly recommend be done the weekend prior.

As you'll notice, I only plan for 6 days a week.  There is guaranteed to be one night that no one is really hungry or everyone just wants to snack or we go out to dinner or eat a really late lunch.  If none of those things happen, we will just have a left-over night.  Generally, that happens to us on Saturday. 

Pre-week prep

• Make clarified butter (needed by Sunday)
• Get used to making this.  You'll probably make a batch every 2 weeks or so.  We do 2 lbs at a time and end up with about 26 - 28 oz of melted butter.  We store most in the fridge and leave one jar on the counter, just as we did with regular butter.
• Make ketchup (by Friday)
• This recipe is a bit acidy for us, but we haven't tried any others.  Limit the apple cider vinegar to taste and consider adding more sweetener if you're looking for that store-bought taste.
• Make BBQ sauce (by Friday)
• Pretty good, even considering the base is the homemade ketchup.  This will probably require purchase of ingredients you don't have on hand, but buy them anyway.  They are good staples for a Paleo kitchen.  (I keep finding uses for liquid smoke.)

Sunday

• Restaurant Style Filet Mignon
• We LOVE this steak.  We will never grill steak again.  Make sure to use a cast iron skillet and follow her cooking instructions precisely, substituting clarified butter for standard butter.  We skip the herb butter and just sprinkle garlic powder on the steak, along with black pepper and kosher salt.   Use either filets or good strip steaks.
• Butter steamed broccoli
• Melt about 1/4 cup clarified butter in large saute pan over medium heat.  Add 3 cups of broccoli and cover.  Steam for 12 - 15 minutes, shaking pan occasionally to prevent burning.  Add more butter if broccoli isn't done to your liking but starting to burn.  Serve.  Have a salt shaker on hand, since clarified butter doesn't contain salt.  A similar method can be used for many types of veggies.

Monday

• Honey Garlic Chicken
• The recipe is for wings, but we adapted it to chicken breasts.  Also, we cooked on the stovetop.  If you do this, don't leave them on the skillet for too long or too high heat as the marinade is likely to burn.  I'm sure the grill would have added the extra oomph that we felt was missing from our version.
• Sweet potato hashbrowns
• These take longer to crisp up that you would expect.  Start these way before the chicken, especially if you only have one waffle iron (who has more than one?).  You might find yourself continuing to cook these throughout the meal.  We also tried taking half of our shredded potatoes and cooking in a saute pan, but they didn't get nearly as crispy as the waffle iron version.

Tuesday

• Pulled Pork (crockpot)
• Pretty good.  Admittedly, we are a family that likes our sweet pork, and this is just your straight-ahead, regularly spiced pork.  We'll continue to look for a Paleo replacement to Cafe Rio pork.
• Pureed plantains
• This was the first time I've made anything with plantains.  While it was good in taste, the texture was a little gummy.  We would have preferred the plantains just fried, which would have saved us the cleaning of the food processor.
• This broke 2 rules of ours: 'no cooked fruit' and 'tastes of cinnamon', so as a replacement, have a side salad and/or some steamed veggies.  

Wednesday

• Pancakes for dinner!
• Surprisingly good for being Paleo and easier to make than traditional pancakes.  They taste like banana nut bread.  Serve with Grade B Maple syrup or chilled canned coconut milk and a dash of cinnamon.
• Fresh fruit

Thursday

• Crispy Herb Nut Chicken
• We used pecans and the poultry fresh herb mix (rosemary, sage, thyme).  We also cut/pounded the cutlets to about 3/4" thickness.  This was definitely a winner and will make a regular appearance.
• Roasted Cauliflower
• Simple, easy prep of cauliflower.  End result is certainly crunchier than steamed.  Recommend adding more garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste after roasting.

Friday

• "Breaded" Chicken Nuggets 
• Based off the coconut chicken nugget recipe here, but because of a certain aversion to coconut, we just used the almond meal as a coating.  We made them perfectly round, but I would recommend flattening them slightly (similar to the picture in the recipe) to better cook them in the oil.  Also, we should have used ground turkey - this was too much chicken in one week.
• Sweet Potato Fries
• Peel and cut 2 sweet potatoes into fry-size spears.  Place in gallon size Ziploc bag with 2 T olive oil, 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp salt.  Shake till coated.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, turning once. These don't get as crispy as the flour-coated version.  Baking longer will generally only burn the fries.  Please let me know if you have come across a crispy version.
•  Serve with ketchup and bbq sauce

How We Eat

Before I launch into the main resources I was hoping to share (weekly menus, recipes, etc.), I wanted to take some time to preface the type of resources you will find here.

We aren't purporting to be the model family for Paleo.  We may eat too much fruit or honey or clarified butter in one sitting than you think is appropriate.  Our focus isn't currently on how much of what type food, but simply on eating the RIGHT foods.  If you fall into the next level, where you are also concerned about the protein/carb/fat balance and meal proportions, we applaud you.  But we just aren't you.

If I were to re-start this blog completely, and focus 100% on Paleo, I would call it "Picky Paleo".  Unfortunately, that name is taken by several other blogs that are no longer being updated.  The reason being that we, as a unit, are a family of picky eaters.  To wit, all dinner recipes and meal plans to follow will either exclude the following items or include some sort of substitute:

1. Seafood (Including shrimp.  Why do people always ask "even shrimp?")
2. Most pork products, including bacon. Exceptions include sausage and shredded pork.
3. Coconut and coconut products (Although, I may sneak some coconut oil, flour and milk into recipes where I know a stronger flavor will prevail.  Don't tell.)
4. Cooked vegetables that aren't broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus or sweet potatoes.
5. Raw tomatoes, mushrooms, celery... in fact any raw veggie except baby carrots or sugar snap peas
6. Cooked fruit, except pineapple
7. Anything overtly tasting of honey
8. Anything overtly tasting of cinnamon
9. Plain avocado (Guacamole is ok!)
10. Hot and spicy things

Seems limiting, right?  Well, the upshot is that we probably cover the distastes of the general population, so chances are you could copy our weekly menus exactly and never offend a single taste bud in your house.  Of course, if you'd like to branch out, I've listed all of our Paleo recipe sources on the right.

A couple of notes: there will certainly be breakfasts, lunches, treats and baked goods featured on this site that will include some of the above.  But the main courses that everyone in the family is expected to at least try will exclude the above items. 

Also, most of the recipes we use are not mine, so I will be directing you off-site in those instances.  Please let me know if you come across a broken link.

If we can do it, you can too!  Let's go!

Step two: The Fridge

Shortly after cleaning out the pantry (like a few minutes later), we tackled the fridge.  Admittedly, by this time, my resolve was weakened.  The beer was allowed to stay.  Hey, I'm not that cruel!  Also, as noted before, our daughter is Paleo + dairy, so you'll still see milk, cheese and some yogurt remaining.

Yes, there are 6 dozen eggs in this fridge.  We literally eat that many EVERY WEEK.  Currently, we hard-boil about 2 dozen, but we will probably start doing 3 dozen.  I generally use 1 dozen of them on the weekend for various baked goods.  The rest is all for breakfast.

Various mustards, homemade and Paleochef condiments, almond milk, lemon juice and (my favorite) heavy whipping cream sit in the door.  Please ignore the ranch dressing in the back.  That's not really there.  It's an illusion.  (I told you about my resolve!)

Step one: The Pantry

The first thing we did when we decided to go Paleo was throw away everything in our house that wasn't within our new guidelines.  Well, actually, the first thing we did was have one last week of awful, carb-packed food, including several nights of boxed mac and cheese.  Then we felt crappy and had even more motivation to clean out the pantry.

Oh how I wish I had before pictures!  Well, I kind of do.  Here is our pantry taken just after I re-organized it to look pretty about a year ago.  But of course, it's not what's on the outside, but the inside that matters.  Here, it's packed full - white and wheat flour, white and brown sugars, rice, cereal, pasta, cookies, crackers, brownie mixes and packaged foods.

 

Now here's the after:

Cooking items include olive, coconut, sesame and walnut oil, balsamic, apple cider and white vinegar, coconut aminos (replaces soy sauce), cooking wine, honey and grade B maple syrup.  Please note: I realize that Paleo espouses the use of raw honey.  Since that costs about 2 - 3x the amount of processed honey and we use honey constantly, we haven't made that change yet.  Maybe once Mike is a doctor...

There are still opportunities to bake in Paleo!  But you'll definitely need almond meal, almond flour, coconut flour, possibly coconut sugar (or palm or date sugar), salt, cocoa, baking soda, almond butter and coconut milk.

 

And of course the requisite raw nuts and non-refridgerated fruits and veggies.

Yep, I've blown it

I know, I've lost your trust.  I don't deserve it.  But I'm going to start fresh here, and hope this sticks a bit.

If you know me, you know that I'm an expert at going through phases.  Generally, they are hobbies (knitting, quilting, scrapbooking, podcasting, etc.).  Blogging is apparently an occasional interest.  It looks like I had that interest sometime in 2011.  Since then, my toddler daughter has become a pre-schooler, we have moved to Gilbert, AZ (southeast of Phoenix) and we are expecting a second child (a boy) in the next 6 weeks.

My husband and I also have put on some pounds.  About 85% of mine might be attributed to being pregnant, but still.  Somehow, about 2 weeks ago, we both reached a breaking point.  We had to change the way we have been eating.  One thing that has never been a phase for us is our belief that Crossfit is one of the best ways to respect your body.  We just have been disrespectful (and busy) for the last 2 years.  Nonetheless, we do have to eat.  So for the time being, we are eating like Crossfitters without actually being Crossfitters.  We have become a Paleo household.

So the point: I want to share our journey. We aren't doing this for weight loss (although we'd be happy with that side effect).  We are doing this as a lifestyle change, to start respecting our bodies again.  Our family is committed to:

1) Eliminate refined sugar, grains and legumes from our home completely.
2) Eliminate dairy for the adults.
3) Find foods that fit all of our palates and that keeps us satisfied and not missing the junk food we used to eat.

As a primer, here is the Wikipedia page for the Paleolithic Diet (also called the Caveman diet).

"Before"

Christmas 2012