We were going to do a 7am Crossfit workout this morning but my back was still a bit sore and sleep felt too delicious and we decided to do a night class instead. After having company for a week, I didn’t feel like making a complex breakfast, so I did up an easy one – still tasted fab.
8:30 AM, Breakfast Mixed Berry Banana Smoothie + Almond Raspberry Muffins
I’ve finally mastered the muffins so they come out fluffy and delicious. Cinnamon sprinkles are key, as is one tbsp coconut flour added to the almond flour. I use 3 eggs instead of four for a batch of 12.
Lunch, noon Homemade Chicken Soup
I was all proud of my mad domestic roasted chicken making skills last night (I won’t tell you about how I made Corey carve it when it was still pink in the middle, crap) — and I decided to push my boundaries and transform the carcass into soup.
Holy shit, you guys. This was wicked.
I’d give you the recipe because man it was awesome but I don’t know what I did. I just hucked in all the vegetables in the fridge, plus some sundried tomatoes and corn, a bunch of leftover chicken and a whackload of fresh herbs (thyme, basil, rosemary, sage, etc.) Then I simmered it for 3+ hours. Bonus: the house smelled divine.
We did a 5:30 Crossfit after a quick visit to the chiropractor at 4 (my first time, and he popped my rib back in about 5 seconds flat). Then came home and Corey through steaks on the barbie:
Last night while I was roasting the chicken I made a whack load of the tomato pesto stuff. We eat it on salad, on top of meat, as a dip for snacks like steamed broccoli and raw carrots. We still have some left to last us the rest of the challenge.
I bought a bunch of seeds and nuts and dried fruit at a store I discovered on Lonsdale today. For the last part of the challenge, we’re going to try to eat meat and seeds for breakfast – apparently this gives extra fat and strength for the day. I am dubious, but we should probably go out with a bang for our last week, right. Wouldn’t be us if we didn’t.
Have a sweet tooth right this minute and am going to knaw on a few dried bananas. After nearly a month of eating like this, I’m finding that fruit is mostly conquering my mad sweet tooth. But I can tell you that for sure, this time next week, I will be scarfing mad brownies.
Filed under: Daily Not Bread, Food Log | Tags: cauliflower mash, paleo shepherd's pie, roast chicken
My intention was to get up early this morning, it was Corey’s parents last day here and I was thinking maybe a special frittata or maybe some steak and eggs.
But, that’s OK, don’t make anything for us, we’re good with coffee, said Corey’s Mom this morning and quite honestly I heaved a bit of a sigh of relief. One thing Paleo cooking is not is quick and easy. Every meal takes some time and some effort. It’s almost always worth it, but sometimes, yeah. I just don’t feel like making breakfast.
After his parents left (and we bought them coffee) – I made Corey and I a pumpkin pie smoothie. I neglected to take a picture because I was listening on the phone while scooping and blending (on mute) – but this is a good treat. I used half a can of pumpkin, a bunch of spice, a whack load of ice, some almond milk, vanilla extract, and a package of Stevia. A super yummy treat.
This held us till noon, when we headed for Crossfit. Though Fran was the workout of the day, I received a modified half Karen. My back has been bothering me, and I think it’s making me generally out of sorts. I’ve been adhering strictly to the diet, but I’ve been feeling a little “off” these last few days. Lethargic, and I wasn’t on my game today for the workout.
Lunch, 2 PM: Shepherd’s Pie with Mashed Cauliflower
Tried this one before, liked it even better this time now that the cauliflower wasn’t green! (no green onions added to the cauliflower)
Had some grapefruit in the late afternoon before we took Nolan to his swim class. I didn’t start dinner till 6:30, which was kind of dumb in retrospect, because I decided to cook my first whole chicken tonight. A year ago, I was burning kraft dinner. I have asked myself multiple times in the last week: who the hell have I turned into? I’m not sure, but she cooks hella better than the girl I used to be.
8:30 PM, Dinner: Roasted Chicken with Fresh Basil, Rosemary and Thyme
I stuffed the olive oil and herb mixture underneath the skin of the chicken, pulling up the goo and totally ramming it in there like some kind of savage beast. What the hell?
Also, it was worth the insanity. Good god, that was good chicken. I served it with a baked yam and salad with tomato + avocado. We also whipped up a fresh batch of the omniscient tomato garlic and onion pesto.
The rain pounded down this morning, grey and bleary, and we’re on Day 5 of house guests and since I’m an introvert loner at heart, I was a little stressed this morning. Actually, Corey and I both were, and we were thinking that it was odd that we were both feeling discombobulated – perhaps it was the diet? But I think it’s just the change in our routine. Cooking for more than 3 of us, especially on this diet, is a little hairy.
8am Breakfast: Coconut Almond Crepes with Fresh Mango, Strawberries, and Bananas
(I was in a rush, hence the blurry)
(I served Corey’s parents yogurt + maple syrup with theirs. Corey and I just ate ours plain)
These were a bit of a bitch to make, but they’re delicious.
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 banana, mashed super fine
2 eggs
1/4 cup egg whites
1 tsp. pure almond extract
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk.
Heat element/flame to high, then pre-heat pan with a bit of olive oil. These are thin, so scoop only a little. Mine spread unevenly but flipped well after about 4-5 minutes on med-high heat. This made about 8 thin crepe like pancakes. Heap on the fruit on top and they’re filling enough to tide you till lunch.
I had an epic nap at noon. Almost two hours. It was awesome and I was going to run afterward but you know..I’ve worked out hard 5 days this week and my back is a bit sore and though Friday was my rest day this week…I decided to make it 2 rest days this week. I think my body needs it.
We were suddenly starving at 12:30 or so and Corey made me a snack while he made lunch. For normal people, a snack is a hunk of bread or a cookie or perhaps some cheese and crackers. My man made me some weird Chinese broccoli with tomato onion dip and I am getting used to this shit because it tasted perfectly delicous:
Then he made lunch:
1:00 lunch: Ground Curry chicken lettuce wraps:
We then went bathing suit shopping, because we’re going to a beach at the end of April. For the first time in my adult life, it wasn’t an excruciating experience. I am not horrified by the state of my body. This feels good, you guys.
We picked up some stuff for dinner and made
7pm, dinner: Butter Chicken on Spaghetti Squash
Did you know you can have butter chicken legally on the paleo diet? OMG, either did I? You just need to make a few modifications:
1) Light coconut milk instead of cream
2) Extra virgin olive oil instead of butter
3) Spaghetti squash instead of rice/bread
The spices in butter chicken are cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaves, cloves – all Paleo friendly. We bought ready-made butter chicken spice mix at Whole Foods – no added salt or preservatives. We then just chopped some onion, garlic, and chicken in a pan, added spices, then light coconut milk, and voila. This was an instant favorite.
Dessert was sliced grapes, apples, and dates. Super delicious food day.
Filed under: Daily Not Bread, Effect on Workout | Tags: paleo ahi tuna, paleo coconut muffins, paleo omelette
I startled awake at 6am, which is super insane, because we were up well past midnight and there was no real reason for me to be up before 7 (my son’s Dad was dropping him off at 7am)
So I put on a load of laundry and set to work baking coconut blueberry muffins.
Caveat: these sound better than they tasted, and I was a bit disappointed. They were sweet and tasty, but too dense and, as Corey said they “suck all the moisture out of your mouth)
Next time I’d add more applesauce and maybe some almond flour instead of pure coconut flour. I used:
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup plain almond milk
1 mashed banana
1 cup frozen blueberries, dusted in coconut flour (to prevent blue bleeding into the berries)
Mix all ingredients in bowl, blueberries last, and place in muffin tin. Makes about 12 big muffins.
We went to the 10am Crossfit workout, my back still a bit sore but not noticeably. The workout was “Chuck Norris”, a killer of a workout with a long list of excruciating exercises done 50 in a row. I modified knees to elbows to a v-sit, which sent pangs of pain up my back until I stopped lifting my head as much. The jump pull ups were also killer on the back, but everything else was kosher.
We were starving when we came home:
12 noon, brunch: Chicken avocado omelette with mushrooms, tomatoes, onions and garlic
I had a few dates as snacks, and an americano mid afternoon, but saved my appetite as we were making dinner for Corey’s parents:
7PM, Dinner: Seared Ahi Tuna with Garlic Lemon Asparagus on fresh Spinach, with Sundried Tomato Onion Dip
Corey bought some fresh ahi tuna steaks at the Dundarave Fish Market last night. They were pricey (40 bucks for 2 thick steaks) but they fed four of us well and they were so perfect on their own, all they needed was a tiny bit of pepper and a little bit of heat. The tomato dip has become a staple and is always delicious.
We’re moving into our final week of this! I am really amazed at the differences in my body.
Today at the gym, my hernia was rubbing against my shirt and driving me insane as usual so I took off my tank top (had a sports bra underneath) and when I was doing my Good Mornings, I could clearly see my abs, defined and pretty void of puffiness of any kind. This has never occured before. I have to credit the diet, because I’m not doing much different, activity wise.
I’m with Corey now, I think. I’ll continue this way of eating. It’s pretty smart.
(PS I also made dessert for everyone tonight – banana coconut pudding with raspberries and banana slices. I used the rest of the coconut muffins crumbled on the bottom, it was pretty rad. )
The morning was a little bit hectic, with a somewhat crotchety pre-schooler, visiting (kind-of) in laws, and a slightly messed up back (think I tweaked it doing thrusters the other day and it’s sporadically kind of wrenching, like a harsh stitch that comes when I cough and do sit ups and roll over the wrong way in bed. Weird.
So we just made a fruit shake for breakfast (berries + banana + vanilla and ice) and I stopped at Starbucks for an Americano on the way home. In all of this, the lack of milk in my coffee has been the biggest adjustment. I still miss it.
Lunch, noon: Chicken, almond + strawberry salad
Corey had to go to the office today (typically we both work largely from home) and I wanted something simple for lunch, so I cooked up an organic chicken breast in lemon and garlic and put it over a simple salad of raspberries, strawberries, pineapple sliced grapes, and slivered almonds. No dressing needed, the moisture of the fruit was enough.
Corey’s parents wanted to take us out for dinner, and we wondered where we could go that would be Paleo friendly. We ventured out once since we’ve been on this diet and we wanted oysters. The restaurant was out of oysters and there was nothing else on the menu we could eat.
We finally landed on The Dundarave Fish Market, a popular fresh seafood place in West Van. Corey and I both ordered plain halibut. Normally it came with rice but we asked for salad instead (mixed for me, cucumber for Corey, no dressing) and had raw oysters and lemon to start. The halibut came with a red thai curry sauce and I am not positive it was totally legal but it was *mostly* legal for sure and so I dipped a bit of my halibut in the sauce and oh my god. There is nothing like super fresh fish. We’re so lucky to live here.
Oh God! WordPress ate my post, filled with commentary about our house guests (Corey’s parents!) and the challenge of feeding non-paleo people a paleo diet (would they hate the fact that we have no bread, no cheddar, no brownies with ice cream?)
It went over well. I’ll keep it short this time:
Breakfast, 8AM: Coconut berry muffins
Lunch, 1 PM, Spicy Paleo Stew
This was simple, good and spicy – organic grass-fed stewing beef is the key!
7:30 PM, Dinner (post Crossfit workout) – Coconut Curry Shepherd’s Pie with Yams
It was a hit with Corey’s Dad, who asked for seconds!
I used red curry this time instead of green but otherwise everything was exactly the same — and just as delicious.
I finished the meal with grapes, cut up pear, and sliced apples for dessert.
Filed under: Daily Not Bread, Emotions, Food Log | Tags: paleo blog, paleo breakfast burritos
I was feeling uncreative at breakfast. And strangely, had some pretty strong cravings for completely illegal stuff: eggs benedict with hollandaise, french toast and crumpets. Egg burritos. MMmm burritos.
So I made a fake breakfast burrito:
8 am, breakfast: Turkey Egg Scramble Burrito
I scrambled up some eggs and egg whites (I usually use 3 eggs and about 1/4 cup egg whites to make enough omelette or scrambled eggs for both Corey and I for breakfast), added mushrooms, onions, and tomato. Then I put the cooked egg mixture on top of an organic turkey slice, and rolled it up like a burrito. Tasty and easy to eat.
We did a noon Crossfit class – one that involved as many rounds as possible of box jumps, pull ups, and thrusters which is kind of like hell on wheels times eleven hundred and then afterward, you feel like you can conquer the planet.
We didn’t have a proper lunch, Corey’s parents were coming into town and I was cleaning and fussing a bit, and ended up eating a few dates, a handful of carrots, and then finally a turkey burger wrapped in lettuce. It was a bit plain, but fine.
We played some soccer and grabbed some groceries (we’re going to make Corey’s parents our fave Paleo meal tomorrow night, the Curry Turkey Shepherd’s Pie with Yams) and then came home around 7. Corey’s parents were here and so we wanted to visit and did something simple – baked yam and bbq’d steak and again, I was so busy chatting that I forgot to take pictures.
Later we sat in the living room and snacked on sliced strawberries, grapes, and sweet cantaloupe. We were both exhausted by 10:00 and I fell asleep a quarter of the way through watching Dexter.
Non food related:
Spring has sprung! Rad.
The munchkin had nightmares last night, and then rolled into our bedroom this morning at 5:30, all discombobulated and trying to insert himself backwards onto our bed. I stumbled with him in one arm back to his bedroom and fell asleep awkwardly and board-narrow beside him, my Blackberry in hand because I knew the alarm clock would be going off at 6:30.
We went to the 7am Crossfit class this morning, and just had water before. The warm-up was intense on its own, but the workout, a balls out 500m row, got my adrenaline pumping for the day. I set a new women’s gym record, 1 minute 46 seconds (Corey was third for men, which is a way faster territory!) and I honestly felt I could have gone harder. I credit this diet for my newfound energy, I really do.
Breakfast, post Crossfit, 9 am: Banana almond pancakes with sliced strawberries, kiwis and grapes:
Mashed bananas (2), 2 eggs, a quarter of a cup of almond flour, some almond extract if you want it — these are rad topped with any kind of fruit. Cook the pancakes on a medium flame for about 5 mins before flipping, they are a little tricky as they’re very moist.
We had half a grapefruit each around 10:30 am.
Lunch, 12:30 PM, Tuna Balls
Today is our grocery store delivery day so we were a bit behind on staples. I improvised and threw together the following ingredients:
-1 can local white solid tuna, packed in water
-Green onions, diced (I used all in my fridge)
-1/2 can pumpkin ( we had leftovers. Make sure you use the unsweetened stuff)
-Sliced carrots (again, leftovers)
-Half a tin of unsalted corn
-3-4 egg whites (we had no eggs in the fridge)
-1/4 cup almond flour.
Roll into balls. Makes 12 delicious morsels.
If I had more time, I would have made a garlic tomato dip, but I just inhaled 5 of these mofos while I was on a Conference call and called it lunch.
I had a handful of dates and some raisins around 3 pm due to starvation. We took the kidlet to the pool at around 6. I didn’t feel embarassed to be walking around in a bathing suit, and that feels damned good.
Dinner, 7:30 PM Coconut Curry Chicken with Mushroom and Red Pepper on Spaghetti Squash
This was amazing. Hit me up if you want the recipe, otherwise I am too tired. It’s Paleo, though, every bit, of course.
One thing of note: it is exhausting diarizing everything I eat on the Internet. If I’m going to continue to eat Paleo, I’d maybe only diarize once a week or so. But I do absolutely think I will keep up with it to some extent.
Filed under: Daily Not Bread, Emotions, Food Log | Tags: paleo breakfast pots, paleo butternut squash soup, paleo halibut
We’re officially halfway through the Crossfit BC Paleo Challenge and I am feeling really good. I weighed myself out of curiosity at the end of February, to see whether I’d gain or lose weight on the Paleo Diet. I weighed 152, and I think I may have dropped 1 or 2 pounds in the last two weeks. It’s tough to say – and I’m not going to step on a scale till the end of March. I do know:
1) My energy levels are through the roof. I did a casual 10K on Sunday in the pouring rain, up and down hills and through the forest, and clocked in under 48 minutes. My fastest 10K of the year, and honestly, I felt great. I wasn’t trying to put on the gas, my body just felt efficient.
2) My stomach muscles are taut, and my arms have new definition. My face is leaner, and the part of my stomach that used to kind of sit over my jeans when hunched in front of my computer – is gone. I’m definitely leaner than I have ever been in my adult life.
3) I’m enjoying my food. I like preparing it, I love the taste of it, I like planning our next meals. I’ve lost the craving for salt and sugar, and only think about cheese once a day instead of every two minutes. Corey and I plan our meals slightly ahead of time, and have been ordering from spud.ca, which delivers organic meat, herbs, and produce and is a godsend for this diet.
Breakfast, 8:30 AM Egg & Yam Pots with Crushed Tomatoes and Carmelized Onions:
And a side of blueberries! Three eggs + a can of organic unsalted diced tomatoes + half a white onion (carmelized), layered on top of half a cooked yam. Put in the oven at 350 for twenty minutes and you have a great little breakfast pot. This was filling, I could only eat half, but later polished it off before lunch.
We had strawberry banana + almond milk smoothies at 10:30 am to tide us over before our noon Crossfit class.
Lunch, 2 PM: BBQ steak wraps in lettuce + garlic lemon asparagus spears
We were strapped for time this afternoon, busy with work and so we fired up the BBQ a little before 2, our stomachs rumbling. Corey threw on steaks and I warmed some onion and tomatoes in a skillet. I stuffed romaine lettuce leaves with the tomato and onion and placed the seared steak on top. Threw a few asparagus spears in a bit of olive oil, garlic, and fresh lemon and voila, paleo lunch! After we cleaned up, I put a butternut squash in the oven for later.
I had to do my taxes and go to the bank and run errands and I was pretty starving by 5 so had a Lara bar to tide me to dinner. Those things are delicious paleo godsends, but they’re pretty high cal, so I’ve only indulged every few days. They seem even sweeter than they did when I first tried them, which must be due to the lack of sugar in my body.
Dinner, 7 PM Halibut Steak with Tomato Onion Paste and Butternut Squash Soup
The halibut was pan fried in garlic, onion + a bit of olive oil, and put on plain spinach. We added our standby tomato pesto (sundried tomatoes, fresh garlic, fresh basil, and slightly browned onions pureed in the blender) and served with a butternut soup (1 small cooked squash, 1 tin lite coconut milk, half a cup of almond milk and red thai paste (no salt). I added some unsweetened shredded coconut and fresh mint to the soup for garnish.
The halibut steaks were super small, we were both a bit hungry after. I had a few strawberries and fresh pineapple slices for dessert, Corey had some blueberries. Good day, good food, super workout and I feel like we’re doing it right.
Filed under: Daily Not Bread, Food Log | Tags: crab frittata, crossfit, paleo recipes, turkey shepherds pie with yams
My cousin was in Vancouver from Winnipeg this weekend, and my brother took him out crabbing off my parent’s dock in deep cove. They left the ne
t out overnight and the reward was awesome: ten big, beautiful crab to be used by them in immense amounts of butter and garlic. We were given two. Corey bashed them up on the patio, all hunter-gatherly, and then pried out their flesh. Those things are picky as all hell to prepare, but my god they’re worth it.
I marinated the crabmeat in lemon, garlic, and pepper, and put them on a frittata with green onions and sliced ripe avocado.
Breakfast, 9 am: Crab + Avocado Frittata with Fresh Salsa and Fruit Salad
The frittata was awesome and easy (we used leftover salsa) and the fruit salad was delicious too. I used pears, apples, mango, pineapple, grapes, and then I heated up some plain frozen blackberries until they became a kind of sauce, and drizzled those over the fruit. God. We’re totally eating like kings.
10:30, snack: Blackberry + Banana Smoothie with Almond Milk and Ice
Lunch, 1:00. Leftover Spaghetti + Spaghetti Squash
It’s consistently better the next day, and we never get sick of it. It was my favourite paleo meal until tonight…
Dinner, 7PM, Turkey Curry Shepherd’s Pie with Sweet Potato Topping
OK, so this didn’t photograph well. But Corey and I both ate it silently and gluttonously and made gutteral satisfied noises of delight. I think Corey’s polished off the rest of it.
The thought of cooking Thai during this challenge didn’t occur to us because the store bought green and red curry pastes have a whack of salt. But I found a package of additive and salt free curry paste at the organic market by my house and my brain started rumbling.
I’m going to post the recipe here, it’s that good.
3 medium sized organic yams
1 package organic lean ground turkey meat
1 medium yellow onion
1 red pepper, cut in strips
2 fresh carrots, chopped into coins
1 can low fat coconut milk, unsweetened.
1 package Thai green curry paste. We used Asian Home Gourmet because it has no added sugar or additives.
handful fresh chopped basil
2 tbsp shredded unsweetened coconut
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup plain almond milk
1. Nuke yams for 15-17 minutes on high. Poke them first! (Cook them in the oven if you’re not lazy/have more time, it’s totally up to you.)
2. While they cook, dice up an onion and add turkey meat to slightly olive-oil coated fry pan. Cook till turkey is brown.
3. Add carrots and red pepper until tender crisp. Now add the green curry paste (1 packet) and the full can of low fat coconut milk.
Stir until you cannot handle it anymore and have a taste. It’s good, right? I know! My god.
4. The yams should be done. Take them out of the microwave, split them in two and scoop out the flesh. Mash up, throw in some cinnamon.
5. Place the turkey meat mixture in a casserole dish and spread yams and cinnamon on top. Sprinkle with a few teaspoons of shredded coconut (unsweetened) Cook at 350 for about half an hour.
This should make about 4 good-sized portions.
Kristin + Corey Paleo Log Blog 