Fuel : Paleo Stew

If you're like me (and you probably are if you are eating paleo), you love meat.  And maybe you're feeding a family, and trying to adapt a houseful of standard diet eaters to healthier ways.

Well, this stew wasn't a stretch for my crew.  Nobody complained (or noticed?) that there were no dumplings  - even though  i was a little sad about that - and although i made a huge amount of stew, there weren't enough leftovers for more than two or three people.

Now the leftovers are in the freezer, and i'll write down the very easy recipe in case someone else needs it (or i want to find it again!)

Easy Paleo Moose Stew

4-5 lbs moose
1/2 c. olive oil
8 potatoes
6 carrots
3 stalks of celery
garlic (fresh or granulated)
one onion
thyme
rosemary
oregano
freshly ground black pepper
salt
seasoning salt if desired
red wine
bay leaf

You can also make this with beef!  Or presumably elk, bison, deer, whatever you have :)

In a big pot, pour about a 1/2 c. olive oil.
Heat.

While it is warming up, chop up 3-4 lbs of moose meat into biggish size pieces.  If you chop too small, the little pieces of meat get hard, but larger sized chunks stay tender.

Also, chop up a big onion.

Cook up the onion in the olive oil. Add the beef.  Season with pepper, garlic, seasoning salt (if you want!  I used Costco's applewood seasoning salt), thyme, oregano, rosemary.  (Or whatever spices you like)

While it cooks, stir occasionally so it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot, but let it get nice and brown.

Peel and chop up 8 nice sized potatoes, and six biggish carrots, and  dice three celery stalks.

Dump all veggies in at the same time and let them cook up a little with the meat.

Pour in about 8 cups of water - enough to cover all the meat and veggies, but only just.  Add a couple bay leaves.

Bring to a nice boil, and let it cook on high for an hour or so, with the lid on to keep the moisture level from evaporating.  If you're not pressed for time, turn heat down and let it cook longer....

Pour in a nice glug of red wine (brandy is nice, too).

Mix up good, and use a ladle to take out two cups of stew.  Vitamix that stew till it's a nice and thick slurry.  (Sorry to use that word in a recipe!)

Pour back in the "gravy", and stir up.  Let cook with the lid off if it's too runny.  It will thicken as the liquid evaporates.

Putting in the celery with the potatoes and carrots will make them go mushy and taste of meat.  I like that.  I love it when leeks or celery really take on the taste of the meat they are paired with.

Put stew on the table, pass around the bowls, thank God and dig in!

Fuel: Paleo tips for family meals

I thought i'd take a few posts in a row to update what we're doing with food in our house.  Not that i'm shirking the workout posts because i'm not doing a ton of workouts this month ...  Oh, no!...  Well, maybe just a little bit.

Anyway, this summer i found a pressure canner at a garage sale, and i have been having fun!  I love the aura of my grandma that surrounds the idea of canning, the memories of the peaches and pears my mom canned and doled out like candy to us in the harsh Alberta winters...

But i haven't been canning fruit.  I have bought, so far, three 20 lb boxes of peaches, but with eight children, that box is eaten up in two days.  So, unless i go buy the peaches after the children are in bed, and then start canning through the night, there will be.... shall we say, loss?  I haven't given up on canning peaches, but the season is almost gone - snow is reportedly going to fly this week, probably not to stay, but definitely to call to fall, and i don't know for sure that i will be able to get another box of ripe but not too ripe peaches!

Anyway, three useful tools i've found recently that are helping me to be more disciplined and *satisfied* as a paleo eater are three things i had in my house already.

One, is my pressure canner - the novelty hasn't worn off, and i've made borscht, pumpkin puree, and roasted tomatoes.  I carefully follow the directions, and i've found good recipes online.  Except for the borscht!  I love borscht, and i use Mollie Katzen's Moosewood cookbook recipe.

The second is my dehydrator.  Dehydrated tomato chips are delish - so sweet and tangy!  And kale chips cooked in the dehydrator stay bright green and keep a little of the kale flavour as opposed to oven baked.  If things ever needed storage (i.e. didn't get eaten up straight out of the dehydrator or as soon as they come out), ziplock bags or empty clear containers can wait in the pantry until we're ready to use them.

And the third is this simple trick - use your fridge and freezer!

What i'm doing with good meals is to make sure i put the leftovers in the freezer as soon as the meal is done.  That way, i have individual sized (or a lunch size shared with children) meal that i can just heat up, and it's delicious and homemade, and guilt free.

For lunch, we had leftover pumpkin shrimp coconut curry.  It was just as good as the first time!  I made some fries for the kids on the side, and felt so virtuous.

From the leftover turkey we had the other day, Coach T made turkey soup from homemade stock for Sunday dinner, and i put the leftovers in the fridge in quart jars.  We'll for sure eat that up in the next day.

Tonight, i made stew - instead of flour to thicken it, i took a few scoops of the stew itself out, and put it through the vitamix.  It was a really nice stew consistency, very meaty flavoured, and gobbled up.  I made a whole bunch, so i would have some leftover to freeze - and it's in the freezer.  There's not enough for all of the children and for me but one day maybe next week, i'll let them have noodles or something carby, and i'll eat leftover stew that tastes just as good as it did tonight.  Or, once we have enough healthy leftovers, we'll have a little lunch buffet.

With the chickens we had the other day (we have to make two chickens generally to feed our family), i took the bones and made stock, then froze it in water jugs (i bought half a dozen nice sturdy ones from a restaurant that went out of business) in my big freezer.  Once i have big family sized portions all frozen, i can transfer to ziplock bags, and pop them back into the freezer till i'm ready for soup.

This is how fast food should be!  It's easy because i took a few minutes on another day to put things into storage properly.  I found that when i just shove a container of leftovers into the fridge, that we weren't eating it always in a timely manner, and a lot got thrown out.  This method is making sure that everything gets eaten, *and* appreciated!

Even the canned food doesn't seem to last long - i think i am down to one more quart jar of pumpkin puree, and i will probably put up a few more batches of that, since it's been nice to have fresh pumpkin pie for the littles, and curry for all of us - but the canning or freezing just buys me the luxury of time!  Time to get back into the mood for curry, or stew, or roasted tomato sauce :)

Next post : recipes!  I'm not the queen of paleo eats, but these are hearty, kitchen tested, and not too hard to make :)

Paleo Hospitality

I have been wanting to work on hospitality, to be better at it.  But it honestly is one of the hardest parts of eating paleo.

Eating paleo makes me feel so good, it is a really hard thing to eat something that i know will make me feel bloated, tired, and draggy.

But it is hard at public gatherings to go through the buffet line and ignore all the pasta, breads, and just grab all the "good things" - meats, salads, nuts :) and leave the rest.

and it's equally hard to invite someone over and serve just meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts.  It's not crazy, it's not bad, and it can be delicious.  But your choices are much more restricted, and i've had trouble feeling okay about hospitality, paleo style.

http://www.betterlivingdiary.com/cranberry-almond-and-coconut-bliss-balls-for-a-healthy-sweet-treat-and-energy-kick/

My friend Terry sent me a link to a blog that detailed a woman's "hospitality pantry" and it made me think.

 That it's not as simple as popping a frozen lasagne in the oven to "reheat" - it takes about 45 min to cook...

Same with chicken pies etc..  Although they are only about 30 min i guess...

Coach T does have a weakness for treats!!!  So, out of love for him, i do not buy packaged cookies/treats/sweets.  If i do, i buy them planning to use them immediately (i.e. that day or the next day at the latest), and if i buy, say, a bag of Oreos for the children - they get the whole bag at once.  (There are seven who can eat Oreos, so it's not like anyone is dying of sugar poison!)  And then there are none left to tempt  me or Coach T.

That makes the idea of a hospitality pantry problematic.  I did a lot of these ideas (which my friend Amanda shared with me, too!) - and they are great - but for me, hospitality does mean either a last minute dash to the store, or picking things up the day before, things we would not usually eat.

I AM planning to do a hospitality pantry in my own food language - which would mean, having treat balls made and hidden (sesame seeds, a little honey and a little oil,  or ground almonds, a little maple syrup, and a little oil - possibly dipped in very high cocoa chocolate), having salted nuts, keeping a few fancier cheeses (brie, that Irish one from Costco, the one with all the tiny holes, maybe some fresh goat cheese.. and meats on hand - sliced and ready to roll or serve. (i really really could use a meat/cheese slicer!  It would help make this diet so much more *beautiful* :), having fruits on hand (i have been buying those boxes of 20 lb of peaches - thinking i will can them, but 20 lbs of peaches last two days in my house, and that's in addition to the ~20 lbs or so of fruits and snacky veggies (carrots, cucumbers, celery that children will eat raw for a snack).  Crackers don't work for us, but jerky is a nice treat for us, although not too nice looking for guests.  Dehydrated apples are nice "chips", and kale chips are yummy, but again, weird looking to serve to people...  Salad can be a nice thing to serve, if it's full of fruits or cheese or meat and a yummy dressing.

It is a challenge to think "hospitality" without wheat or flour.  Maybe you all have some ideas for me?

stephanie

Fuel : Lunchtime salad

Coach T says that if i'm still hungry, it's because i need more fat in my diet.

I love chicken skin and bacon as much as the next guy, but I've got eight children and there just plain isn't enough skin to go around :)...

Other great ways to increase your fat intake is: olive oil dressings, butter slathered on roasted meat, nuts (salted or not) and nut butters, coconut oil.

But one of my favourite fat sources is avocado.  It's full of minerals, has a delicious, smooth taste, can be added to eggs, sandwiches or salads, and fills you up!

Plus, I find that as mom i can either feed me or feed the troops, and eight little mouths certainly outvote my paleo tummy...  So i end up making carby foods for their breakfast, and grabbing quick whatever i can find to fill my tummy as they get going.  This morning (and lunch) it was a peach and some leftover ham!

This salad is super easy to make with leftover salad, taco fixings, or to just make up for a one person salad bowl.  A plain oil and vinegar dressing is great, but add in some mashed avocado, and a little dab of dijon mustard, and it's a whole 'nother world.

One more delicious trick is grinding up sesame seeds into a paste in the blender, and using the pea sized chunks as "croutons"...

Fast and easy!

Fuel : Garden Season - Beets!

The day after i processed all the kale (kale chips, but i also blanched and froze two bags full and made kale and beef for dinner, which was yummy, kind of like a healthier hamburger helper), i decided to tackle the beets.

I already had borscht and i thought instead of making more, why not just process them so that i can do whatever i want with them  later on?

I love roasted beets with my roasted pork or beef, and they are delicious just as a side dish.

My friend Zoe used to make beetroot pickles and i remembered she told me all i needed to do was to peel and slice beets and put them in vinegar.

So, first i cut off the beet greens, chopped them up to eatable size, blanched and froze those.

Then, i washed off the beetroots, and let them cook in the boiling water for 25 minutes, till they were nice and cooked.

The children loved the "bloody" looking water in the sink afterwards!

I drained them, and sliced them up.

The little ones i peeled (just by rubbing with my fingers, the peels slid off easily), sliced, and put into two little pint jars with cider vinegar for easy beet pickles.

The bigger ones i cut off the tops and sliced in coins for roasting or soups later on, and filled four bags full.

Then i was hungry, so i opened one of the bags, slathered the beets in sour cream and fresh dill (also thanks to Shawnelle!) and had lunch...

MMMMMmmmmm....

Fuel : Garden Season - Kale chips!

My friend, Shawnelle, brought over a few children to play with mine, and a whole lot of produce.

I felt rich!  Fresh goat's milk, goat cheese, herbs, and a huge bag  of kale and another of beets.

I had just made and canned 11 quarts of borscht (mmm....), so i was thinking of things to do with beets, and what on earth to do with all that kale?

But, we have found a winner recipe!

And best of all, paleo friendly :)

For months/years people have told me about kale chips.  Finally, a chance to try it out.  I decided to try two methods and have a taste test with the littles.

First, to prepare the kale - wash the huge leaves free of caterpillars and their eggs.  Then, using a sharp knife, cut out the tough inner vein.  Then, tear them into roughly potato chip size pieces.

After they were all torn up and clean, i put a few handfuls in a big ziploc bag, poured in some olive oil, and gave them a nice massage through the bag, getting oil all over them.

Then, i took them out of the bag one by one and spread them on a cookie sheet (being careful to spread them out flat) or a dehydrator tray.  Sprinkled with coarse salt, and some batches with table salt (table salt was much less salty).

Then, i put the cookie sheets in the oven at 300 degrees, and the dehydrator sheets into the dehydrator at top temperature.

The oven baked kale chips were ready after about 20 minutes or so - they got a little golden and were completely dry and crumbled to tasty dust as we crunched on them.

 In paleo eating, i often crave something crispy and this fit the bill.  I also have a history of kidney stones, and these are full of oxalic acid, so when i eat them, i have to be careful to drink a lot of water!

The dehydrated chips came out the next morning, and they were surprisingly still beautifully green.  Crispy, yes, but some of them were still chewy.  Probably if we had left them in the dehydrator a little longer, they would get just as crispy.  They did have far more "kale" taste than the other chips, which i thought was a plus.

But the children all voted for the oven baked.  I think we will end up making both, as the dehydrated kale chips are likely more nutritious.

Fuel : Coach T's Coconut Curry

Once summer is over, I'll be doing most of the cooking again.  Coach is a principal,  and has the summer off, and loves cooking, which equals easy street for me, kitchen wise.

And I am so grateful he likes cooking so much *and* loves nutrition and fitness.  I sure wouldn't be making as much of an effort to lose those baby pounds if i didn't have him on my side and in the kitchen :)

Here is our dinner tonight - sweet potatoes on the side, and Coach's famous coconut curry.

Coach T's Coconut  Curry

8-10 chicken breasts

1 can coconut milk

lots of curry powder

garlic and onion

cinnamon

salt, pepper

chop up chicken breasts, fry in olive oil with spices.  Once browned, add coconut milk.  Season to taste, and let simmer till cooked through.

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 : Dinner Guests

So, apart from working out and nursing my baby and homeschool planning, i also am geared up for  hospitality.

I know it's not a strength for me, but i think i have found a game plan that might work :)

 (Why is this important to me?  Mostly bcz the Bible says it's a big deal.  And i believe the Bible)

So - my first step is inviting over "easy" people.  I will eventually get around to lepers and orphans (i hope!)  but for right now, i need a lot of practice with people who won't judge - and luckily my life is full of just that sort :)

Secondly, i asked for help.  My friend Amanda has cooked for huge crowds and was able to give me some really practical pointers about choosing food/selection/drinks and ways to make that end of things smooth.  (Check out my other blog for deets!)

But in this blog, on this post, i thought i'd share what is working for me, paleo wise, in having guests over.  Because it just seemed like one more insurmountable  hurdle - to have people over, but serve "plain" paleo food.  No matter how good it makes me *feel* to be in ketosis, i do not feel like a paleo chef yet!  My object is to get 'er done, and make it pretty later...

So, today, we invited over a fun family after church and here is what we served (sorry, no pictures!)

Cold roast beef with a horseradish mayo and a chili aioli (and butter)

buns

bagels

greek feta and apple salad

grapes

deli meat

cheese, sliced

chips

mixed salted nuts

pink grapefruit pop

diet coke

milk

and for dessert -  two kinds of pound cake, tuxedo cake, and our guests brought a pie and black forest cake as well.

This is very doable!  Instead of a bun or bagel, i used a knife and fork with my meat, and dipped it into the dips.

Salad, fruit, cheese, and nuts rounded out my plate, but there were carbs for regular folk :) and chips for the children.

Coffee and dessert for all who wanted it (but I'd rather stay paleo!)

It wasn't the fanciest ever table, but there was plenty to eat, plenty of variety, and best of all, no stress on my part about food, or what to eat, or feeling deprived *or* like a bad hostess...

I'd love to hear how other paleo mamas handle hospitality!

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: Breakfasts and Lunches

Breakfast is probably the easiest time to be paleo/primal.  Really, all it means is that you get to have delicious first thing in the morning.

I love toast and muffins as much as anyone, but it's not really a great way to start the day.  I know i feel logy and then ravenous an hour later when i eat bread for breakfast, but paleo breakfasts fill you up and give you energy for the morning.

I've been cruising paleo blogs  this  morning, looking for ideas, and there are some super creative people out there!  For instance,

Nomnompaleo's  sweet potato hash (she has an ipad app,  too!)

MultiplyDelicious' Paleo Pumpkin Streusel Muffins

Mark Sisson's Mini Crustless Quiche

These delicious bacon wrapped muffin tin eggs from Allrecipes.com (Coach T loves these with a little extra chili chopped up and mixed in)

or

these labour intensive but yummy sounding 

breakfast salmon burgers from The Paleo Network

We are a little more boring - but doable!  Coach T does intermittent fasting, so he never eats breakfast, and frequently not lunch either, so i'm kind of on my own with the children for those meals.

I usually have eggs for breakfast - fried.  I don't require a lot of variety :) first thing in the morning - and eggs are easy and quick to do, and easily dressed up with cheese, avocado slices or guacamole, sides of salsa and/or sour cream, and if i have any leftover meat, pretty much anything can get fried up and then eggs poured over it.

I especially love when we have leftover pork roast - carnitas (crispy fried bits of pork) are so delicious on the side, or scrambled up with eggs!

The other awesome thing is bacon - it feels a little decadent, but bacon doesn't take too long to fry up in the pan - i add it in a few minutes before i start my eggs and end up with one dirty pan.  Of course, if i'm making paleo for all the children, too - i bake the bacon on a cookie sheet in the oven under the broiler.  It's finished super quick and i can do a pound at a time.

Coach T's lunch - leftover taco moose, with spices, mixed into scrambled eggs, with salsa on the side.

Lunches are easy, too - i make big amounts of dinner, and usually use the leftover protein for lunch,  something like the above!  This is all about quick and easy.  We are taking time over the summer to assemble more paleo recipes for variety over the winter months (and even through the summer!  I love these roast beef tacos by nomnompaleo!), but often with eight children, just getting something on the table and into our bellies is an accomplishment.  So we're going for fuel,  which occasionally is beautiful, rather than food porn every day :).

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!

Fuel: Son of Grok!

We first came across this recipe at Mark's Daily Apple - another paleo eater called son of Grok invented this, and it's surprisingly satisfying.

We DO eat meat other than ground beef!  And we'll get there soon.  This is just what Coach T wanted to make today, and i'm willing, as usual...

Son of Grok

mmmm.....  primal!

Brown 2 lbs meat (we used ground moose, but whatever kind of ground meat you have will work)

Season with chili powder, seasoning salt, onion powder, whatever you like to make it mexican - if he had taco seasoning, he would have used that.

Serve!

OKAY, It's a little fancier than that.  Serve, with green salsa, sour cream, and homemade guacamole on the side.  Delicious!

We had burritos for the children, but most of them chose to have Son of Grok with us instead...  yay!

Homemade guacamole

based loosely on the Moosewood Cookbook by Molly Katzen

We also eat meals other than dinner... more on that coming up :)

Fuel: Greek Meatballs!

I'm going to try to alternate food and exercise posts - hopefully something is helpful, and if not, at least it pleases my OCD mind to have some sort of balance here!

Tonight's dinner was a winner, at least with me and Coach T.  The littles were a little indifferent - i think because of the olives.  Next time, maybe i'll make a batch of plainies for them..

I used ground pork because it's delish :) but you can use lamb, beef, deer, moose, whatever you have on hand (can you tell we are Canadian?)

This recipe makes enough to feed a family of ten - so, half it if you are a normal sized family or scale down to suit your household...

Paleo Greek Meatballs

2 lbs ground pork

1 c. flaked feta cheese

4 eggs

4 tsp dried parsley (i didn't have any fresh)

3 tsp dried onion (again, no fresh)

1/2 c. olives, cut up into little bits

3 tsp greek salad dressing

Turn the broiler on in your oven.  Mush all ingredients in a big bowl till well mixed.  Using olive oil, grease a few baking dishes - cookie sheet, cake pan, pyrex baking dish (i used all three!) and form the mix into balls, placing on the pan.  Broil on one side until bubbly and just browning.  Flip and brown the other side, and then move each batch to a cookie sheet at the bottom of the oven.  Once all meatballs are cooked, move cookie sheet up to the top rack of the oven to get nicely golden and sizzling with melted feta.

Serve with greek yogurt tzatziki (we just discovered a new favourite from Costco!)

and a side salad.

This side salad is just a small head of romaine, chopped up small, 1/3 of an English cucumber, 1/2 a tomato, chopped up small, a few handfuls of feta cheese, and greek salad dressing.  You can adjust proportions and ingredients according to what you like - i would have added olives if i'd had any more pitted olives!

           As a mom, this way of eating sometimes seems more expensive - after all, where's the filler?  It's just meat and veggies (and a dip!) - but what i've found is that while the ingredients can be more expensive, you don't need to eat a ton to feel full (because there is plenty of fat to satisfy, and plenty of protein to give you energy).  The carbs from vegetables give energy without a sugar high and collapse later on, and although it seems strange to have a meal on purpose without a starch on the side (!), you really don't miss it at all.  Now, if i have guests, i might still serve a starchy side, just because some smaller guests may be picky and only want carbs (my sixteen year old!), but as a family we don't miss the rolls, rice, noodles etc... and i tend not to even have a lot of those carbs in the house, as the littles will want them and they're pretty tempting when we're running low on time.  Fresh veggies or fruit is just as quick as grabbing a bun or toast, and better for you in so many ways!

Exercise

Exercise...

5 km run today through the woods.

Green leaves scattered thickly on the ground.

Dodging other people's dogs (why do they run *around* T but try to climb up my legs? Can they sense a klutz coming up and want some fun?)

The smell in the air is something i thought we had missed out on - the day after the first leaves started to fall, we had snow for 9 days solid, sleds, snow pants, mittens, the whole nine yards.

So it felt like a gift to be out running in the autumn.

Crisp air, and mittens, but i probably could have gone in my t shirt and stayed warm enough (but why risk it?)

It was one of those days where it is utterly painless to run, and you could just go and go and go. I still walked up the stairs at the end (boo!)- but i ran nonstop the rest of the way, and we beat our time record by 2 minutes!

Food - T made his famous bouillabaisse again,and it was so delicious. We've had it twice in the past couple of days, and if all my meals could taste like that, paleo would be no problem at all. I'm still eating a little bit of carbs, but i'm ramping back down, and maybe this week i'll be back on the wagon.

I do find we run out of veggies/fruit a lot faster this way, and my outdoor fridge will soon be out of commission (unless i can convince T to move it indoors) - last week i went out to get a melon and it had already frozen. I just sliced it up that way and we ate icy cold frozen melon. Yummy...