Fuel : Proteiny, savoury eggs in a muffin tin!

Like most things in life, the inevitable craving for carbs can fixed with the judicious application of bacon!

Coach T loves these little "muffins", which are super easy to bake and are super tasty!

We tweaked this recipe from allrecipes.com, so it's always a little different...

Bacon and Eggs in a Muffin Tin

Preheat oven to 350.
Bake bacon on a cookie sheet (this reduces the mess!) till well done but not completely crispy. 

But a little knuckle of butter inside each muffin cup.
Curl a bacon slice around the inside of the muffin cup, and break some up to make a "bottom", too.

Sprinkle a little cheddar in each muffin cup, then break an egg into each one.  Top with jalapeno bits and a little more cheddar, and any leftover bacon crumbs.

(Coach T likes to switch up what cheeses he uses, or add in onion instead of jalapeno, or red peppers, too)

Bake in preheated oven for ten to fifteen minutes.

Delicious!!!  I have frozen these so he can grab them for a quick breakfast (when he isn't doing the intermittent fasting, which i guess will be another post one of these days...) :)  But in general, they go way too quick to save.

Fuel : Simple, Clean Suppers

I feel a little guilty blogging about meals i didn't make (except for the chicken!).  Coach T loves cooking and is a lot less utilitarian than I am.  Still, he makes meat, a veggie, and that is it.  No breads on the side, no carbs, but still... tasty!

One simple thing we do with a lot of our veggies is roasting a la Jamie Oliver.  (Click the link for the recipe!) In one of his shows, he had a huge pan of cut up veggies and poured on a "big glug" of olive oil, tossed it all up with his hands, shook generous coarse salt and pepper on it, and threw it in the roaster with his meat.  It looked beautiful, and when we tried it out, it *tasted* wonderful, too!

So, we tend to roast veggies a lot.  Some, like the sweet potatos in the top photo surprise us with how delicious they are later on, cold.  We left the skins on, and they were delicious cold as boats in our bedtime snack.

The pork ( top photo) is just marinated and cooked in a chimichurri sauce, and the chicken (second photo) was "fancy" - Coach T asked me to mix seasoning salt with butter and lift the skin all over the chicken and stuff in the seasoned butter.  Usually i just use a lot of seasoning salt and make sure to baste but the added butter did make the meat extra tasty!  They end up tasting just like the rotisserie chickens you buy at the supermarket!

The tomato and mozzarella salad is his summer favourite, and I love it too!

Here is the recipe:

Coach T's Summer Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

6-8 ripe tomatoes, cut into 1" cubes
2-3 cups mozzarella, cut into 1" cubes
2 tsp basil
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste


optional add ins: pine nuts, and feta :)

Fuel : Affordable Fuel for a Big Family

I've talked to a few other moms (of bigger families) who've been to the blog and wonder how it works, feeding everyone paleo.

First of all, we don't.  We figure we'll go bit by bit, and i'm still baking (!) for the little ones.  (it helps if you think of it as making kid chow :) - not meant for adult consumption)

So, the children still eat homemade whole grain (and sometimes white!) bread, biscuits, potatoes, corn...  But gradually we are converting our pantry and buying habits to include them.  It helps that paleo seems to be "all the good bits" anyway...

Except to our one extreme carboholic child :)

Anyway, one thing that's made a difference in our food budget was an offer from friends.  We don't hunt (yet) but friends are outfitters, and had a moose where the hunter didn't want all the meat.  So she called me out to her place, i brought the children, and we cut that moose up :)

Haven and the incomparable Mrs. Davis

It was seriously a lot of fun, for all the children - where else do you get to see a giant carcass suspended from a hook in the roof, or get to chop up huge sides of meat, or grind your own burger meat, and then wrap and stamp it?

Now, many months later, we are still eating that moose!  And tonight we had probably the best steak we've had in many months...

Costco has great prices and great quality, and we're able to buy sizes commensurate with our family, but a little wild meat thrown in there gives variety, and  is just as delicious as store bought!  Try it!

Fuel : Snack time

If you've tried to  lose weight before, the idea of a bedtime snack may not seem like a good idea.  But if you've been in the Zone, you'll know where we're coming from.  Three meals, two snacks, all balanced carbs/protein/good fat.

This is what Coach T made me for my bedtime snack.  Mmmm....

Being paleo doesn't mean following all the Zone rules, but we do find they mesh pretty well, and following the Zone may be better if you are the type of person who likes to count calories, or measure portions, or who is apt to cheat :)  just a tiny little bit!

Right now, we're loosely following Zone/Paleo/ketogenic diet rules - low carbs (and good carbs over refined, no white sugar/flour), adequate protein, and high(er) fat.  It's so delicious!  And, i lost another pound this week :)....

Fuel : Paleo Pizza

I smelled dinner cooking and it smelled like.... Pizza Hut!

What on earth?  So delicious... so forbidden...

But when T called us upstairs to eat, there was something decidedly unpizzalike on the table.

The bacon definitely made up for the lack of crust - it was crunchy, and salty and delicious.  The chicken was seasoned using a bottled cilantro/lime marinade (we also love Tyler Florence's Ultimate chimichurri sauce if you prefer making from scratch).

And over all, melted cheese.  Everyone ate it and loved it :)

Coach T's Paleo Pizza

Cut up ten chicken breasts into bite sized pieces.  Throw them into a casserole dish (9X13 pyrex baking dish, ungreased).  Slather them in chimichurri sauce, or italian salad dressing, or whatever marinade you like.

Bake until almost cooked through.  Cut up half a pack of bacon.  Shake over top the chicken.  Cook again till bacon is crispy.  Drain liquid.  Cover in shredded feta and grated cheddar.  Bake until cheese is bubbly and golden.

Even the littles ones loved it!

Fuel: The Simpler the Better

Because i'm feeding ten people most of the time, I'm usually making huge amounts of food.  I love making a big roast, or ham, or a few chickens at a time, and having leftover meat - it's always good to have an emergency protein ready to go.

I have a little crate of hardboiled eggs in the fridge right now, cheese, and no leftover meat!

Even though we made a huge ham, it went fast.

So, here is a fast and easy dinner.  Just meat, and watermelon.  Easy, "allowed", and simple.  You don't need a ton of starchy sides!  Try it!

Tentative Paleo solutions...

Well, here i am again. I know this blog hasn't been regularly updated, which is kind of indicative of my commitment to the paleo diet :)

While i do think the foods list help to make me feel better, healthier, less bloated - i have problems with the whole "caveman" concept - It says in the Bible that Cain (Adam's son) brought grain to offer to God (and it wasn't good enough, so maybe there is the backup for paleo right there in the Bible!) - so i guess they had grain from the beginning...

Anyway, T is still really loving this way of eating - he's lost 25 lbs since the summer and is pretty ripped... And i want to help him and make him happy...

so finally i had some time to write out seven paleo breakfasts, lunches and dinners - and an accompanying grocery list. That way, when i go grocery shopping, i will have everything i need to make paleo foods all week long...

T's come up with some delicious paleo meals, too - and we are loving the cookies we found a recipe for on Paleo Mama's blog - they are so rich and delicious - they aren't really like cookies at all, something better and dark and full of texture and mmmmm mouth feel...

Anyway, I thought i'd post my list here, and if anyone has substitutions, other ideas, variations - i'd love to hear them!

Paleo Breakfasts:

scrambled eggs and salsa

hard boiled eggs and fruit

fried ham and eggs/fruit

protein shake (this isn't really paleo, but T does it. It means i get hot chocolate for breakfast!)

breakfast fruit salad and eggs or meat

breakfast veggie salad and eggs or meat (recipes to follow)

eggs benny sans muffin...

Paleo lunches:

*tuna, apple, and celery salad (with raisins) (dressing : sunflower oil and red wine vinegar) - T also added macadamia nuts and jalapenos and cilantro

*leftover beef and guacamole (this idea was from Son of Grok's website, and i didn't know how good it would be as leftovers - but it is DELICIOUS!) I used the guacamole recipe i usually use, from the Moosewood cookbook

*chicken soup

*bacon brocolli soup (thicken with potato?)

*leftover meat and fruit

*chili

*..... this was tuna melts until T pointed out, no cheese... so i only have six ideas... help!

Paleo dinners:

*beef and guacamole grande:)

*chimichurri pork and mashed cauliflower (T added coconut oil, saffron, and salt - it was delicious)

*dry rubbed roast beef and spaghetti squash

*baked chicken quarters and rutabaga

*jerk pork and roasted parsnips with lime mayo

*bacon broccoli soup

*chicken soup with veggies and salad

Paleo extras:

*almond chocolate balls (from Serene Allison's book, Rejuvenate Your Life)

*homemade halvah balls (from the same book)

*nuts

*fruit

*paleo cookies (mmmm)

The problem is, T isn't partial to soups or salads. And my children are huge dairy fans. And i like using baking to fill them up (bread, muffins, dutch babies, pancakes, waffles, biscuits, etc...). I've always thought a good mom knows how to make cookies!

So that's my problem i guess...

I'm cooking for eight or nine people, three times a day, and trying to keep it as paleo as possible. Usually, if i can't keep us all paleo, the children will have something carby, and i will eat leftovers or protein shake... We'll see if a little organization can help me do it this time!