My sister has always been the thin one. She's never struggled with her weight. She always looks good. She's a barrel racer and she stays very active taking care of her horses and always on the go.
There's a new Italian restaurant in the small town my sister lives in and she really wanted us to try it out. She eats there several times a week! I scanned the menu before we went and I couldn't find anything with vegetables. I thought surely we could get some meat & veggies. Not on this menu. Dad and I debated if we should go or not. And after much peer pressure we said we would go. Our eating throughout the week was fairly good so we figured we could splurge. We decided we would eat a bunch of salad and then get a pizza to share with the kids. The salad and pizza were both really good. They were fairly large pieces (New York style) of pizza. I had about 1 1/2 pieces and Dad had 3 pieces. We really enjoyed the pizza until we arrived home an hour later. We both barely made it to the bathroom with stomach troubles. We were better after that but just felt really full and bloated all afternoon.
I told my sister about our tummy issues and she said that happened the first time she ate there too. But isn't that a signal from our bodies telling us that this is not good for us? If your stomach feels the urge to get rid of it immediately it surely can't be good for you. I've read plenty of articles about listening to your body and I fully believe my body was trying to tell me something. Don't get me wrong--I'm sure I'll eat it again someday..but not anytime too soon.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Tyler & Olivia - Week 7
Week 7 - How on earth did we get to week 7 and I don't feel like I've accomplished anything with Tyler and his healthy eating habits! Olivia is a little rock star. She loves meat, veggies, fruit. She doesn't like bread.
Wednesday - We picked up McDonald's and visited the great grandparents. Nothing positive to say about dinner. Oh wait...the kids had apples with their meal.
Thursday - Karate night. Rush, Rush, Rush. Get home, get kids fed, get to karate practice. I left work a little early in order to feed the kids at home instead of getting fast food. I made them sausage, warmed up left over squash & served with fruit. Tyler didn't eat since he had gold fish when I picked him up because he was starving. I tried to give him bananas or beef jerky but he didn't want those.
Friday - Success!!! Tyler ate venison sausage. A very good sized piece. He had it with a tortilla. He did eat meat!!!!! Yeah!!!!
Saturday - Running on little sleep-went to visit family in the ER Friday night at midnight. My food choices are not logical today. We went to eat Italian with my sister. Pizza. We snacked on food around the house for dinner.
Sunday - I'm starting to stress out about Tyler's eating. I'm making bad food choices for myself this weekend and I'm not trying very hard with the kids. I start to feel sorry for myself. How can I get Tyler healthy when I spend so much time traveling each day back and forth to work? We don't get home until after 6 pm. I can't get everything done that I want to. I don't have time to cook meals in advance. I don't take time to play with my kids. I'm always busy. My grandparents want to eat healthier-I want to make meals for them. I want to spend time with them. I want to spend time with my kids. They are growing up so fast. I want to workout with my parents and teach them to make it a habit. I want to have cooking days with my Mom. My sister wants us to take the trips with the kids. When am I going to have time for all of this? My irritation is interrupted by dinner. Dad cooked sirloins and green beans. And guess what? Tyler ate steak and a bunch of it. He didn't eat the green beans but he did eat apples. I have to remember baby steps. I can't change Tyler's entire diet over night. Very slow small changes. That's all I can do. Tomorrow is a new day.
This week I've shifted my concentration to dinner rather than breakfast.
Monday - We baked a ham over the weekend to eat this week. We ate ham for dinner. We let Tyler have his with ketsup. He ate some but not enough. He also had apples, strawberries and chips. He was hungry at bed time and we let him have yogurt.
Tuesday - I made Tyler a smoothie for breakfast. All I had on hand was strawberries, bananas & almond milk. He doesn't like any banana chunks in the smoothie so I had to blend a lot. What is with kids and texture, sight and smell of food? He only drank half of it. If I can get him drinking smoothies I can sneak in spinach. Tyler also had a sausage biscuit. Olivia had sausage. She's so good.
For dinner on Tuesday we had Rotisserie chicken. Tyler ate 1 1/2 chicken legs, apples and I forced him to taste squash. Dad did an excellent job getting Tyler to eat the chicken. Tyler tried to get up from the table several times but Dad told him that if he didn't eat his "healthy" chicken then he would not get anything else before bedtime. (He is always hungry before bedtime. I think its because he's not eating much meat at dinner.) He had 2 small cookies and his yogurt for snack before bedtime.
Wednesday - We picked up McDonald's and visited the great grandparents. Nothing positive to say about dinner. Oh wait...the kids had apples with their meal.
Thursday - Karate night. Rush, Rush, Rush. Get home, get kids fed, get to karate practice. I left work a little early in order to feed the kids at home instead of getting fast food. I made them sausage, warmed up left over squash & served with fruit. Tyler didn't eat since he had gold fish when I picked him up because he was starving. I tried to give him bananas or beef jerky but he didn't want those.
Friday - Success!!! Tyler ate venison sausage. A very good sized piece. He had it with a tortilla. He did eat meat!!!!! Yeah!!!!
Saturday - Running on little sleep-went to visit family in the ER Friday night at midnight. My food choices are not logical today. We went to eat Italian with my sister. Pizza. We snacked on food around the house for dinner.
Sunday - I'm starting to stress out about Tyler's eating. I'm making bad food choices for myself this weekend and I'm not trying very hard with the kids. I start to feel sorry for myself. How can I get Tyler healthy when I spend so much time traveling each day back and forth to work? We don't get home until after 6 pm. I can't get everything done that I want to. I don't have time to cook meals in advance. I don't take time to play with my kids. I'm always busy. My grandparents want to eat healthier-I want to make meals for them. I want to spend time with them. I want to spend time with my kids. They are growing up so fast. I want to workout with my parents and teach them to make it a habit. I want to have cooking days with my Mom. My sister wants us to take the trips with the kids. When am I going to have time for all of this? My irritation is interrupted by dinner. Dad cooked sirloins and green beans. And guess what? Tyler ate steak and a bunch of it. He didn't eat the green beans but he did eat apples. I have to remember baby steps. I can't change Tyler's entire diet over night. Very slow small changes. That's all I can do. Tomorrow is a new day.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The Dinner Roll
The hubby and I attended a wedding this past weekend. I had been exceptionally good this week with my eating and I was planning on splurging with a glass of red wine and cake. I wasn't sure what the menu would be. When I walked up to the serving line I saw- Prime Rib, Vegetables, Salad and then a few Non-Paleo foods. I was excited to have plenty of healthy options since I knew I would be eating cake.
At the end of the serving line I did what I have always done when attending these type of functions with hubby. I grab a dinner roll for him. See, normally I would get 2 (1 for him and 1 for me) and he would get 2 for him. We have been married 13 years and that's our routine. So out of habit I did the same.
We sat down at our table and I noticed he didn't have any rolls on his plate (I didn't notice this before because he was behind me in the serving line)! Wow-I'm impressed. I completely forgot he was eating healthy. I was tempted to eat the roll myself. There was butter on the table as well. But I didn't! I passed it over to my Non-Paleo Friends.
In case you are wondering I did have that cake and wine!! It was good and I didn't feel guilty!!
At the end of the serving line I did what I have always done when attending these type of functions with hubby. I grab a dinner roll for him. See, normally I would get 2 (1 for him and 1 for me) and he would get 2 for him. We have been married 13 years and that's our routine. So out of habit I did the same.
We sat down at our table and I noticed he didn't have any rolls on his plate (I didn't notice this before because he was behind me in the serving line)! Wow-I'm impressed. I completely forgot he was eating healthy. I was tempted to eat the roll myself. There was butter on the table as well. But I didn't! I passed it over to my Non-Paleo Friends.
In case you are wondering I did have that cake and wine!! It was good and I didn't feel guilty!!
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Tyler - The End of Week 6
We have made it to the end of our crazy sick week. In 2 weeks each kid has been to the doctor twice. They are both finally feeling better and I think we will be back to our normal (whatever that is) schedule next week.
As I think back about their eating this past week it has been easy to give them processed foods. No prep work involved, no thinking, no planning. It was easy. Do I really want them eating Paleo? It's so much work. I have to be prepared, start planning meals and convince Tyler to eat things he doesn't want to. As I thought about this I remembered how great I felt when I finally gave up grains and dairy. I want my kids to feel the same-I want them healthy. It's going to be a long, difficult road but we are going to do it!!
As I think back about their eating this past week it has been easy to give them processed foods. No prep work involved, no thinking, no planning. It was easy. Do I really want them eating Paleo? It's so much work. I have to be prepared, start planning meals and convince Tyler to eat things he doesn't want to. As I thought about this I remembered how great I felt when I finally gave up grains and dairy. I want my kids to feel the same-I want them healthy. It's going to be a long, difficult road but we are going to do it!!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Dad's Going Paleo/Primal - Sirloins & Squash
I'm so excited!!! I knew my husband would eventually want to get healthy. He has done it before. When he decides to do something then he does it.
This is so good for me for many reasons. Of course the obvious-someone to share in my paleo journey. I won't be tempted by the foods he is eating anymore. And last...he is a fantastic cook. We can eat more meals together instead of us all eating different things. That brings me to tonight's dinner.
With the kids still sick and our schedule not back in place yet...Dad got home from work earlier than normal because he had to pick-up Olivia. That meant he was able to help with dinner. Here's what he cooked....he cut a sirloin steak into strips and pan fried with onions. We called them "steak fingers". So yummy.
While he was working on that I cut up squash, onion, mushrooms and baby carrots and baked them in the oven on a cookie sheet with bacon grease. Yummy too!
It was so nice to have Dad back in the kitchen with me. Normally, he grills outside on weekends..but this was a nice treat to have his cooking "inside" during the week. Hopefully, more cooking together to come.
This is so good for me for many reasons. Of course the obvious-someone to share in my paleo journey. I won't be tempted by the foods he is eating anymore. And last...he is a fantastic cook. We can eat more meals together instead of us all eating different things. That brings me to tonight's dinner.
With the kids still sick and our schedule not back in place yet...Dad got home from work earlier than normal because he had to pick-up Olivia. That meant he was able to help with dinner. Here's what he cooked....he cut a sirloin steak into strips and pan fried with onions. We called them "steak fingers". So yummy.
While he was working on that I cut up squash, onion, mushrooms and baby carrots and baked them in the oven on a cookie sheet with bacon grease. Yummy too!
It was so nice to have Dad back in the kitchen with me. Normally, he grills outside on weekends..but this was a nice treat to have his cooking "inside" during the week. Hopefully, more cooking together to come.
Tyler - Week 6-Monday, Strep & Ice Cream
New Week, Again.
Monday - Tyler is still running fever and now his throat looks really bad. We go to the doctor and he has strep. Here's all the things that go through my mind.
1. Poor Kid - His throat hurts so bad.
2. I'm going to miss more work - I missed 2 days last week with Olivia.
3. This is going to keep me off schedule and hinder my good eating habits.
4. He is so contagious!! I'm so worried the rest of us are going to get it!
5. Are we ever going to get any sleep again?
Then at the doctor's office - The doctor tells us that Tyler probably can't eat much with his throat as swollen as it is. But she did recommend ice cream, yogurt or anything cold. All the unhealthy things we were trying to avoid. So what did I do? I took Tyler to the store and let him pick out whatever ice cream(s) he wanted. Here's what we came home with...
Monday - Tyler is still running fever and now his throat looks really bad. We go to the doctor and he has strep. Here's all the things that go through my mind.
1. Poor Kid - His throat hurts so bad.
2. I'm going to miss more work - I missed 2 days last week with Olivia.
3. This is going to keep me off schedule and hinder my good eating habits.
4. He is so contagious!! I'm so worried the rest of us are going to get it!
5. Are we ever going to get any sleep again?
Then at the doctor's office - The doctor tells us that Tyler probably can't eat much with his throat as swollen as it is. But she did recommend ice cream, yogurt or anything cold. All the unhealthy things we were trying to avoid. So what did I do? I took Tyler to the store and let him pick out whatever ice cream(s) he wanted. Here's what we came home with...
I know...that's way too much ice cream. It will be in our freezer to tempt us the next few weeks. Why did I let him get so much?
Monday was quite the day. But let me add a few more issues I dealt with. First, at my workout-my 1st-I'm not sick anymore-beginning of the year-workout with my trainer...I couldn't finish my workout because I felt like I was going to pass out and throw up! I guess my allergies or whatever I have are not gone. My head was spinning. I was so excited to get back to my routine--working out and eating right. Only to be delayed again.
Then...are you ready for this... My husband is now ready...Ready to eat right and get healthy. What?
Today? Are you kidding me? I've wanted him to do this with me for the past year. I knew not to push him. I knew that on his time he would eventually get there. I just didn't expect it to be today. The day I am falling apart.
Tyler - Week 5 & Sick
Here we go. New Year - Let's get these kids healthy!
Monday - Home for New Year's Holiday. Lots of unhealthy leftovers. Still eating the leftovers.
Created a "Healthy Eating" chart for Tyler. Tyler must eat healthy and drink more water for 6 days and then he gets a prize. Yes, it's time to try bribery.
At this point-I'm basically trying to get Tyler to eat more meat and vegetables. If we can determine that he ate a reasonable amount of meat and veggies for the day then I'll give him a check mark for the day. He is excited about the prizes.
Tuesday - I didn't sleep much the night before. Olivia sick with fever. I made eggs and sausage for Tyler for breakfast. Instead he had a granola bar. I was so tired.
For dinner I pan cooked some beef round steak and pan cooked green beans in bacon grease. I served to the kids with fruit. Olivia loved it and ate a bunch. Tyler tried it but didn't like it. I didn't realize he helped himself to the pantry while I was cooking. He had chips and granola bars. He wasn't even hungry. At bedtime he was hungry. A normal recurrence in our house. Dad gave him 2 choices-beef jerky or pepperonis. The kid ate the beef jerky! Yeah!
Wednesday - Up all night with Olivia. Served Tyler cereal. Olivia's not eating-only drinking milk. I'm getting sick too!
Thursday - Tyler to the doctor with ear pain. I'm still sick.
Friday - I'm feeling bad - don't know if it's allergies or what the kids have. Olivia seems to be well.
Saturday - Tyler starts feeling bad with sore throat.
Sunday - Tyler runs fever all day. I start to feel much better.
I gave up on the healthy eating for now. The kids didn't eat much and when they did it was difficult to find things they would eat. And me--well--I fell into the old comfort foods. I hate to confess this...but I think I had toast for lunch one day. Yes, just toast. That did nothing for me. Probably made me worse.
Let's see what happens next week.
Monday - Home for New Year's Holiday. Lots of unhealthy leftovers. Still eating the leftovers.
Created a "Healthy Eating" chart for Tyler. Tyler must eat healthy and drink more water for 6 days and then he gets a prize. Yes, it's time to try bribery.
At this point-I'm basically trying to get Tyler to eat more meat and vegetables. If we can determine that he ate a reasonable amount of meat and veggies for the day then I'll give him a check mark for the day. He is excited about the prizes.
Tuesday - I didn't sleep much the night before. Olivia sick with fever. I made eggs and sausage for Tyler for breakfast. Instead he had a granola bar. I was so tired.
For dinner I pan cooked some beef round steak and pan cooked green beans in bacon grease. I served to the kids with fruit. Olivia loved it and ate a bunch. Tyler tried it but didn't like it. I didn't realize he helped himself to the pantry while I was cooking. He had chips and granola bars. He wasn't even hungry. At bedtime he was hungry. A normal recurrence in our house. Dad gave him 2 choices-beef jerky or pepperonis. The kid ate the beef jerky! Yeah!
Wednesday - Up all night with Olivia. Served Tyler cereal. Olivia's not eating-only drinking milk. I'm getting sick too!
Thursday - Tyler to the doctor with ear pain. I'm still sick.
Friday - I'm feeling bad - don't know if it's allergies or what the kids have. Olivia seems to be well.
Saturday - Tyler starts feeling bad with sore throat.
Sunday - Tyler runs fever all day. I start to feel much better.
I gave up on the healthy eating for now. The kids didn't eat much and when they did it was difficult to find things they would eat. And me--well--I fell into the old comfort foods. I hate to confess this...but I think I had toast for lunch one day. Yes, just toast. That did nothing for me. Probably made me worse.
Let's see what happens next week.
Pulled Pork - Caveman Style
I had never eaten wild hog before. Not that I can remember anyways. This New Year's Eve was my first experience.
My husband's friend gave us 2 small wild hogs to cook. My husband slow cooked them on the wood smoker, removed from bone and served with homemade BBQ sauce as pulled pork. I don't think the sauce was Paleo (it was leftovers in the freezer) but we can work on that for next time.
I tried the pork right off the bone (without sauce) and "OH MY" it was GOOD! We have to get more wild hog!!!
My husband's friend gave us 2 small wild hogs to cook. My husband slow cooked them on the wood smoker, removed from bone and served with homemade BBQ sauce as pulled pork. I don't think the sauce was Paleo (it was leftovers in the freezer) but we can work on that for next time.
I tried the pork right off the bone (without sauce) and "OH MY" it was GOOD! We have to get more wild hog!!!
On the Grill
Done
Yummy!
Bacon Squash
I have to share (what I like to call) a success recipe. At Christmas I made a squash dish that everyone loved.
First I cooked a package of bacon in the oven on a cookie sheet. I removed the bacon and set aside. I then drained half of the bacon grease onto another cookie sheet so that I could make 2 pans of squash.
I cut up
yellow squash,
zucchini,
onion,
bell pepper (both green & red-it was Christmas)
I spread the veggies onto the pans, drizzled with olive oil and seasonings and baked in the oven. Just as the veggies on the edge of the pan were beginning to burn I pulled the pans out. I moved the veggies to a bowl and crumbled the bacon on top. This was so easy & I received so many compliments!
First I cooked a package of bacon in the oven on a cookie sheet. I removed the bacon and set aside. I then drained half of the bacon grease onto another cookie sheet so that I could make 2 pans of squash.
I cut up
yellow squash,
zucchini,
onion,
bell pepper (both green & red-it was Christmas)
I spread the veggies onto the pans, drizzled with olive oil and seasonings and baked in the oven. Just as the veggies on the edge of the pan were beginning to burn I pulled the pans out. I moved the veggies to a bowl and crumbled the bacon on top. This was so easy & I received so many compliments!
Baking Day 2011
For the past 13 years I have always hosted a Baking Day. I pick a day the week before Christmas-invite some family (Mom, Grandma's, Sister, Cousins, etc.) over to bake all day long. We start early, we drink, bake, eat until the sun goes down. I bake all kinds of sweets. I use tons of sugar and flour. I always attempt a family recipe of kolaches. Then I usually send everyone home with sweets, take some to Christmas and over-stuff myself on the leftovers.
But this year was different. I committed to cook ONLY PALEO/PRIMAL foods! Here's the yummies I made:
Paleo Brownies
http://www.health-bent.com/treats/paleo-fudgy-brownies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
http://cavegirlinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/11/chocolate-chip-cookies.html
Candied Pecans
http://paleomama.com/?p=563
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
http://cavegirlinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/11/chocolate-chip-banana-bread.html
Carrot Cake
http://www.primal-palate.com/2011/04/carrot-cake.html
My chocolate chip banana bread wasn't sweet enough but everything else was delicious. I learned something-we don't really need a lot of sweets. I made 5 recipes (normally I would make 10). I had so much left over with just 5 recipes that I ended up freezing alot of it. I had a much more enjoyable day cooking less and visiting more.
My family was impressed with the paleo foods. They thought the sweets tasted different without the sugar and flour but they were really good. A successful day!!
But this year was different. I committed to cook ONLY PALEO/PRIMAL foods! Here's the yummies I made:
Paleo Brownies
http://www.health-bent.com/treats/paleo-fudgy-brownies
Chocolate Chip Cookies
http://cavegirlinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/11/chocolate-chip-cookies.html
Candied Pecans
http://paleomama.com/?p=563
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
http://cavegirlinthekitchen.blogspot.com/2011/11/chocolate-chip-banana-bread.html
Carrot Cake
http://www.primal-palate.com/2011/04/carrot-cake.html
My chocolate chip banana bread wasn't sweet enough but everything else was delicious. I learned something-we don't really need a lot of sweets. I made 5 recipes (normally I would make 10). I had so much left over with just 5 recipes that I ended up freezing alot of it. I had a much more enjoyable day cooking less and visiting more.
My family was impressed with the paleo foods. They thought the sweets tasted different without the sugar and flour but they were really good. A successful day!!
Friday, January 6, 2012
Tyler - Weeks 3 & 4 - Christmas, New Years, & 2 Birthdays
Where do I start?
Tyler's birthday, Christmas, Olivia's birthday & New Year's. That 2 full weeks of temptations and 2 weeks of failures. On Tyler's birthday we ate out twice and had cake. On Olivia's birthday we ate out once, made pizza at home and had cheesecake.
On Christmas Eve/Christmas Day we had 5 celebrations with meals in a 30 hour time period. Lots of presents, lots of food, lots of chaos. I love all of our family and we all love food!
We tried to throw in meats and veggies when we could...but we did indulge in the "bad" stuff too much.
Tyler's birthday, Christmas, Olivia's birthday & New Year's. That 2 full weeks of temptations and 2 weeks of failures. On Tyler's birthday we ate out twice and had cake. On Olivia's birthday we ate out once, made pizza at home and had cheesecake.
On Christmas Eve/Christmas Day we had 5 celebrations with meals in a 30 hour time period. Lots of presents, lots of food, lots of chaos. I love all of our family and we all love food!
We tried to throw in meats and veggies when we could...but we did indulge in the "bad" stuff too much.
Tyler - Dinner & Conversation with Dad
Sunday night dinner. I gave the kids each a plate of food that consisted of sausage, bacon, potato chips, and apples. Tyler ate the apples & potato chips. The kid is not getting any protein. I made Tyler try the foods. He licked them and said gross. Dad and I told him he would not get anything else to eat until he took a real bite of the sausage. He wouldn't.
I tried talking to Tyler about how important it is to eat protein. He wants to be a football player and a navy seal when he grows up. I told him that protein is a very important part of a football player and a navy seal's diet. He still wouldn't eat. I can't get through to him.
Tyler went to his room & Dad went in to have a talk with him. I don't know the details of their conversation but five minutes later Tyler comes out of his room with a different attitude and asks for bacon to eat. And this kid ate bacon. Wow. He ate and ate. Luckily I had fried up 2 packages earlier in the day for our breakfast the following week. He then had his granola bars also. I was pleased that he finally had something in his tummy besides chips and apples.
Now--back to breakfast challenge...
I tried talking to Tyler about how important it is to eat protein. He wants to be a football player and a navy seal when he grows up. I told him that protein is a very important part of a football player and a navy seal's diet. He still wouldn't eat. I can't get through to him.
Tyler went to his room & Dad went in to have a talk with him. I don't know the details of their conversation but five minutes later Tyler comes out of his room with a different attitude and asks for bacon to eat. And this kid ate bacon. Wow. He ate and ate. Luckily I had fried up 2 packages earlier in the day for our breakfast the following week. He then had his granola bars also. I was pleased that he finally had something in his tummy besides chips and apples.
Now--back to breakfast challenge...
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