Paleo Stir-Fry

We had some yummy Paleo stir fry last night.  Because soy sauce is a Paleo no-no we used coconut aminos instead.  FYI - It is somewhat difficult to find this product and I had to buy it at Whole foods.  I will say we really do enjoy the flavor of this product and plan to use it again.  We put chicken, asparagus, carrots, broccoli,  red peppers, green peppers, and onion in our stir fry.  We cooked the chicken first in coconut oil, then cooked our vegetables.  Next we added them all together, poured in the aminos, and cooked them all a little bit longer.    We let the kids pick which vegetables they wanted and let them cook them themselves in their own skillets.  They really enjoyed making their own "Chinese" food.  It is a pretty quick, easy, and healthy meal. 

Meatballs, Fritters, and More...

For Sunday lunch after church we had Pork Meatballs and mashed cauliflower for lunch.  We added bacon to it this time as promised.  The bacon was a nice added flavor but we will not be adding garlic to it again.  It is very overpowering.  And, the whole house smelled like garlic and cauliflower.  That, is not my favorite smell!  The meatballs tasted a lot like sausage and everyone seemed to like them.  We did not have parsley on hand so we used rosemary instead.  We will probably not have these again.  The applesauce made them kind of runny and if you are making these - you might want to cut back on it. 

We had the delicious sweet potato hash for dinner Sunday evening. We did not have eggs or cilantro with it this time.  And, in case you were wondering it was still fabulous. 

For dinner tonight we had steak and vegetable fritters.  Brad and I really enjoyed these!  They were yummy.  We doubled the recipe and are planning to use leftovers and scrambled eggs tomorrow.  We did not make egg muffins this week to change things up a bit.  They did need a little salt and we cut back on the cumin because of my aversion to strong spices.  We will make these again.  

    

The Challenge Is Over...My Thoughts on Paleo...

Our challenge is over.  About a week and a half ago I was asked if I felt any different while doing this diet.  My response was no, not really - but now I realize I was wrong!  This weekend I ate food without restriction.  I had pizza, ice cream, barbecue, french fries, popcorn, soda and I felt terrible afterwards!  Clean eating makes you feel clean and I can say in retrospect - I had way more energy as well.  I'm not saying we are going to be total Paleo fanatics or anything - but we are going to continue to try to eat Paleo during the week and then eat without restriction (not crazy) on the weekend.  I have tried new recipes - some good and some I will not eat again.  I have explored new avenues in nutrition.  And, I feel really good about my choices pertaining to God's temple (1 Corinthians 3:16).  I struggle in the area of self-discipline and these last couple of weeks have been a good "work-out" for me.  I have been trying to be more consistent in my diet, my work-outs, and my quiet time.  Those are all things that I always make me feel so much better when I make the choice to make them a priority.       

Roasted Chicken

Tonight I made one of Brad and Hunter's favorite recipes.  I tried it a few months back and it was a hit.  I do use butter in this recipe - but I don't think it would be as moist without it - so that is just how it is.  :)  It is called Juicy Roasted Chicken and that is just what it is. We added our favorite bacon wrapped asparagus.  It was a yummy meal and we all enjoyed it!  I warn you in advance - if your family loves it as much as mine you will have to make two chickens...I do.  I think Brad and Hunter demolished the first one all on their own.  Only a couple of days left until we are done with our challenge.  We are going to break our restrictions on Friday night for dinner.  Any suggestions on where we should go? 

We weren't in the mood...

Tonight we were supposed to eat little sugar pumpkins stuffed with meat.  We were not in the mood.  Do you ever have a menu item that you put off?  Back when you found the recipe and made your menu - it sounded awesome...but then when it came time to eat it - you felt really blah about it...  That was us today.  Brad was really craving steak and ground beef in a pumpkin is not equivalent to steak.  So, we went to Texas Roadhouse.  All four of us had steak.  The boys had mashed potatoes but Brad and I had baked sweet potatoes and a steamed broccoli/carrot mix with ours.  I will say that this diet has really helped me embrace sweet potatoes.  I started consistently eating sweet potato fries early on this year followed by sweet potato chips.  I had eaten them very sporadically in the past.  I had never been a fan of baked sweet potatoes before unless they were coated with Texas Roadhouse's signature caramel sauce/melted marshmallow blend - hence making it dessert.  But, I am here to say - my sweet potato only had a small amount of butter on it.  I took the majority of it off.  I know butter is dairy - but I'm not eating one dry.  I was super proud of myself for not eating any rolls.  I don't know why I chose a restaurant to eat at that had a big bucket of peanuts and a big basket of rolls on the table just sitting there tempting me!