Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Easter Dinner
We had a great Easter Dinner. I didn't know what I was going to make since this is the first Easter we were eating Paleo. But it was scrumptious! I got some ham steaks from the butcher, and they were yummy! Then I made asparagus on the stove with a little garlic and onion. I made some mashed cauliflowers and an awesome carrot cake.
While at it, I found a great site with tons of recipes: http://www.primal-palate.com/p/recipes.html. I've bookmarked it for the future!
While at it, I found a great site with tons of recipes: http://www.primal-palate.com/p/recipes.html. I've bookmarked it for the future!
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Paleo Food Matrix
On Robb Wolfe's Paleo Solution website, he describes a story of a woman who couldn't figure out what to eat on the Paleo diet. This led him to create a food matrix to show how easy it was to make paleo meals quickly and with few ingredients.
There are four groups of food in the matrix, proteins, vegetables, fats, and herbs & spices. The basic idea is to pick one item from each group and make a meal with those four ingredients. In his matrix he has 27 proteins, 24 vegetables, 5 fats and 25 herbs & spices. This would give 81,000 different meal combinations. Some of them may be horrible, but some can be unexpectedly really good.
And his cooking method is simple:
1. Put oil in pan
2. Brown meat in oil for a minute
3. add hearty herbs/spices before meat, delicate spices when the dish almost done. (I personally throw in the spice with the vegetable regardless of the type and it seems to work out fine)
4. Add vegetable
5. Stir, cover and set timer for 5-10 minutes
6. Eat, or cook longer if not done
After discovering the food matrix, I wanted to have it on my phone. Two reasons for this: I wanted to have a random meal generator when I was at home to stop my temptation of always using the same ingredients. It would make me more adventurous. And, I wanted it in the grocery store, so I could get ideas and make sure I had a variety of ingredients in my cupboards.
On my quest to find a mobile app, I came across both iPhone and Android versions. However, I own a Windows Phone 7. With it being a new phone, there wasn't that app yet. So, I did what any sensible person with a bit of programming knowledge would do and built it.
So, if you have a WP7 and want the Paleo Food Matrix, random meal generator, here it is!
I also made a little video so you can see all the functionality before downloading it. Note that I'm not an expert in making videos and the app could use a bit more design. But my goal was to have it functional and worry about aesthetics later (if more than just me downloads the app).
Here's what Robb has in the matrix:
There are four groups of food in the matrix, proteins, vegetables, fats, and herbs & spices. The basic idea is to pick one item from each group and make a meal with those four ingredients. In his matrix he has 27 proteins, 24 vegetables, 5 fats and 25 herbs & spices. This would give 81,000 different meal combinations. Some of them may be horrible, but some can be unexpectedly really good.
And his cooking method is simple:
1. Put oil in pan
2. Brown meat in oil for a minute
3. add hearty herbs/spices before meat, delicate spices when the dish almost done. (I personally throw in the spice with the vegetable regardless of the type and it seems to work out fine)
4. Add vegetable
5. Stir, cover and set timer for 5-10 minutes
6. Eat, or cook longer if not done
After discovering the food matrix, I wanted to have it on my phone. Two reasons for this: I wanted to have a random meal generator when I was at home to stop my temptation of always using the same ingredients. It would make me more adventurous. And, I wanted it in the grocery store, so I could get ideas and make sure I had a variety of ingredients in my cupboards.
On my quest to find a mobile app, I came across both iPhone and Android versions. However, I own a Windows Phone 7. With it being a new phone, there wasn't that app yet. So, I did what any sensible person with a bit of programming knowledge would do and built it.
So, if you have a WP7 and want the Paleo Food Matrix, random meal generator, here it is!
I also made a little video so you can see all the functionality before downloading it. Note that I'm not an expert in making videos and the app could use a bit more design. But my goal was to have it functional and worry about aesthetics later (if more than just me downloads the app).
Here's what Robb has in the matrix:
| Proteins | Vegetables | Fats | Herbs & Spices |
Chicken breast Chicken thigh Flounder Snapper Trout Halibut Mackerel Bass Salmon steak Salmon fillet Shrimp New York steak Rib eye steak Round steak Ground beef Beef ribs Rump roast Beef stew meat Pork loin Pork chop Pork ribs Baby back ribs Bacon Pork roast Lamb chops Lamb rack Venison steaks | Asparagus Avocado Artichoke hearts Brussels sprouts Beets* Carrots Celery Daikon Zucchini Fennel Root Kale Chard Dandelion greens Spinach Acorn Squash* Butternut Squash* Yam* Sweet Potato* Red pepper Yellow pepper Green pepper Red cabbage Green cabbage Napa cabbage | Coconut oil Olive oil Macadamia oil Avocado oil Lard | Allspice Basil Cardamom Cinnamon Celery seed Dill Fenugreek Garlic Ginger Curry-Red Curry-Green Curry-Yellow Oregano Cillantro Nutmeg Rosemary Thyme Garam Masala Bay Leaf Salt Herbs de Provance Chili powder Paprika Cumin Black pepper |
Monday, April 4, 2011
Eggs and Avocado
There was one recipe for deviled eggs made with avocado. While I didn't actually try that particular recipe, I did try hard-boiled eggs and avocado together. Yum! I would have never thought of this combination and it's really good. Super quick too - peel egg, cut up avocado, eat together. Nothing fancy and a great snack!
Paleo Solution 30-Days of Food
In the "The Paleo Solution" book, there is a 30-day diet to follow to get started with the Paleo Lifestyle. When I started this journey, I started with that as my blueprint. The recipes were good with some being really, really good. That Greek Scallop one is awesome! My husband also really like a lot of the meals and is happy we're trying some new foods for dinner.
I found that I didn't particularly like eating leftovers for breakfast or even lunch really. Breakfast has been the hardest though, and I know it's mostly mental. I've mostly switched over to making scrambled eggs for my breakfasts in March. Although I'm looking at some interesting recipes for breakfast in April.
I would highly recommend the dinner recipes in the Paleo Solution.
I found that I didn't particularly like eating leftovers for breakfast or even lunch really. Breakfast has been the hardest though, and I know it's mostly mental. I've mostly switched over to making scrambled eggs for my breakfasts in March. Although I'm looking at some interesting recipes for breakfast in April.
I would highly recommend the dinner recipes in the Paleo Solution.
Weeks 3 & 4
Week 3 is when I finally stopped feeling hungry. I had found some snacks (Larabars, dried fruit and nuts) and that helped a lot. However, my weight loss plateued that week. I went back to re-read some of the food recommendations and found that fruit and nuts are not to be consumed in high quantities if you're trying to lose weight. Oops. At least I didn't gain any weight.Week 4 is when I finally got the food consumption ratio down. I lost another pound and didn't feel hungry all week. I also noticed that my acne was going away... nothing new was popping up. I've dealt with that issue my entire adult life and it was a nice surprise. I can't say that I've really felt like I have that much more energy or other benefits, but I'll keep logging and we'll see what happens.
Friday, April 1, 2011
First 2 Weeks
Switching over to a Paleo diet is not easy. The first two weeks in particular really sucked. I felt hungry all the time. I had cravings for sweets in particular. I didn't like leftovers for breakfast. I had been a cereal breakfast eater for years and years and years. I had the runs from eating coconut oil... or at least that's what I attributed it to. All in all, totally unpleasant.During the first two weeks, I sent desperate emails to friends of what I could eat, especially for some snack ideas. One of the saviours was Larabars. There are a number of different flavors that are Paleo. The chocolate and peanut flavors are not paleo, but everything else is safe. And, thank god, they taste good too! The other thing I now always have on hand is dried fruit. While you're not supposed to eat a lot of dried fruit, or other fruit for that matter, if you're trying to lose weight, it was better than feeling super hungry and hitting the candy machine.
Although the first two weeks of transition really sucked, I did lose 5 pounds. That part of it really kept me at it and trying to figure out what I could do curb the cravings instead of giving in. I didn't seen any other benefits during those weeks that are touted by others.
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