Fat Challenge Day 2 - 7.31.09

Felt good yesterday, went to bed really full, though.

Breakfast -
2 eggs, fried
2 soy sausage patties
5 blackberries
15 almonds

Lunch -
Meat sauce
Broccoli
15 almonds







Snack -
2 hard boiled eggs (I love how YELLOW & rich fresh eggs are!)
5 blackberries
3 tsp. peanut butter

Dinnner -
3 hardboiled eggs (no meat defrosted in the house! ugh)
2c. brussel sprouts
olive oil, 15 almonds

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Fat Challenge Day 1 - 7.30.09

I've decided to do another "challenge" since I seem to enjoy them so much:). I'm only setting a goal of 2 weeks for this one and will continue on from there as I see fit.

This challenge will be to eat more fat every day and to eat ZERO cheat meals. I'm not going 100% paleo yet, b/c I will still occasionally eat soy, peanut butter and might have dairy here & there, but I will limit these.

Breakfast - 2 fried eggs, 2 soy sausages, 15 almonds, 1tsp. sunbutter (mental note: TOO sweet for morning time!)

Lunch - Meat sauce w/spaghetti squash + 15 almonds + 1tsp. peanut butter

Snack - 1 banana, 9 almonds

Dinner - 1 chicken thigh + 1.5c. roasted brussel sprouts + 4tsp. peanut butter

Snack - 1 banana + 4 strawberries + blueberries + 6 pecan halves + 2tsp. coconut flakes

Meat vs. beans in our evolutionary history.

Do people ACTUAL believe this kind of thing will work?

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7.29.09

I'm super excited that Melissa Byers left me some advice on my blog! :) (I know, I'm a nerd).

So the plan of attack is to eat more fat. Started off the day in the negative b/c I figured the olive oil I fried my eggs in would be enough fat for breakfast. It's 9:30 and I'm STARVING. So, for future reference, I need to eat more fat in the mornings.

Breakfast - 2 eggs (fried in EVOO) + 2 soy patties

Lunch - Greek salad (olives, feta, lettuce, tomato, artichoke hearts) + 2tbs. greek dressing. I'm pretty sure greek dressing is NOT paleo, but this is basically a wash since I ate out. **STARVING by 3PM... missing that protein & fat for sure**

Dinner - (eating out again) 2 h.b. eggs + spinach + medley of veggies + low-carb sesame dressing (probably not paleo)

Snack - 2tsp. sunbutter (@ 7PM), then fruit salad (banana, 4 strawberries, blueberries, 6 pecan halves, & 2tbs. shredded coconut)

Eating out twice today was probably not the best idea, but I had a good time visiting with a friend & my mom, so it is what it is.

Target for tomorrow: MORE FAT!

Great article on Thunder Heart Bison farm in Austin, TX. I want to get some meat from this guy!

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Avoiding the pitfalls...

How do you avoid the temptations to have just one cookie, or just one cracker, or just one box of cereal:)?

I've been having a hard time avoiding "cheat" foods on the weekends, especially when we aren't busy doing stuff all weekend and instead are lounging around watching TV. It's when I'm bored that I'm most susceptible to temptation.

I've always been a "grazer", meaning I would eat ALL DAY LONG. I have found that as I've gotten stricter with my diet, the need to graze subsides. I'm actually satisfied after a meal, which is a totally new concept for me.

However, my biggest pitfall is... my husband. Not to pick on him or anything, but he eats the way he wants, and that is his choice. But having the snacky/goody type foods in the house makes it REALLY hard when I'm feeling my willpower weaken.

I'm not sure how to deal with this. I try to pressure him to eat the way I do, but that's not exactly fair. He didn't pressure me (overly much) when I chose to remove meat from my diet. So who am I to tell him to eat the way I currently do?

I guess I just need to remove the option from my brain somehow. I mean, I could do it with meat and never had a slip-up, not once. I could always talk myself out of any cravings I had. With junk food, I have a harder time. :)

I'm going to challenge myself for the next 2 weeks to go 100% cheat free (I gotta start somewhere). I won't be 100% paleo, b/c I'll still eat peanut butter and the occasional dairy, but no junk food at all.

I think if I just take a stand, it will help with my weak times.

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7.28.09

Doing well so far today, paleo-wise, except for 2tsp. of natural peanut butter this afternoon & soy patties this morning. I'm having serious peanut butter issues lately... I can't get enough of it. That and fruit, I'm going fruit crazy.

Breakfast - 2 fried eggs + 2 soy sausage patties + 12 almonds

Lunch - Leftover meat sauce with spaghetti squash (about 1/2c. spaghetti squash and about 1c. of meat sauce)

Snack - chicken drumstick + handful of blueberries + 7 blackberries + 2tsp. peanut butter

Dinner - 1 chicken thigh + 1/2c. roasted cauliflower + 9 almonds

Snack - 4 strawberries + 1 banana + 1/4c. blueberries + 6 pecans

Still haven't lost any weight, despite cutting out refined carbohydrates, and adding in meat. I'm also RAVENOUS most of the time, but I can't really up my protein intake (the meat is too expensive). I guess I need to start eating more veggies and filling up on that.

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"Spaghetti" w/Meat Sauce

Another yummy dinner tonight. I made the following meat sauce and used spaghetti squash instead of pasta. (Adam ate regular pasta and canned sauce... grrr!)

Ingredients:
1/2lb. ground beef
1, 28oz. can of diced tomatoes
1/2c. beef broth
1 med. onion
3 cloves garlic
basil, thyme, oregano
red pepper flakes
salt & pepper
1 med. spaghetti squash
olive oil

Directions:
Cook up the onions & garlic until soft, then add beef broth and let it absorb into the onions & garlic mixture a little. Add in tomatoes, cooked beef, & spices and simmer to let flavors meld. I cooked mine for over an hour b/c I started the sauce right when I got home, but this definitely isn't necessary.

For the spaghetti squash, I cut it in half, scooped out the seeds and cooked it, covered, in the microwave for 10 minutes, per Elizabeth @ Caveman Food. Then you just run a fork through the meaty part of the squash and it comes out like angel hair pasta!

For lunch today, I ate the wings that we BBQ'd yesterday & leftover cauliflower. I used the Son of Grok's BBQ sauce and just marinated the wings before throwing them on the grill.

Had an afternoon snack of one drumstick, 1/2c. grapes, and 1 tsp. of peanut butter (not paleo), and an evening snack of 4 strawberries, 1/4c. blueberries, 1 banana & 6 pecans.

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Tandoori Chicken w/ Roasted Cauliflower & Dill/Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

Not exactly paleo, since there is yogurt in the dish, but it needed a little something to cool down the tandoori chicken. This was really, really good. I'm not sure if it's because I haven't eaten meat in so long or if the grass-fed meat is super tasty or what, but I am really enjoying all of the meat dishes I've made so far. Adam doesn't seem as enamored with the dishes, so it might be just me:).


Tandoori Chicken (marinade from Paleofood.com):
* 1/2 cup coconut milk
* 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
* 2 Tbsp. lime juice
* 2 tsp. salt
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 1 tsp. ginger, minced
* 1/2 tsp. cumin seed
* 1/2 tsp. coriander
* 1/4 tsp. turmeric
* 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
* 1/4 tsp. black pepper
* 1/8 tsp. cinnamon
* pinch ground cloves
* 2 chicken breasts

Mix all ingredients making sure that all the spices are well blended.
Marinade chicken breasts in the sauce for several hours. Grill over med-high heat for 6 minutes on each side.

Yogurt Sauce:
* 1/2 c. plain yogurt
* 2 tsp. dill
* 1 tsp. cilantro

Mix together and serve over chicken.

Roasted Indian Cauliflower:
* 1 head cauliflower
* Olive oil
* Garam Masala

Cut up cauliflower into florets and drizzle with olive oil. Add desired amount of garam marsala and roast in the over at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

I cut up the whole chicken raw this time instead of after it was cooked. I think I did a pretty good job for a novice! We used the chicken breasts for this recipe, but you could use it for any other parts or pork or fish.

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Spicy, Spicy Steak

Well, I had my first steak in seven years last night. It was delicious! I've never really been big on steak b/c growing up our steaks were always cooked "well done"... ICK! Last night, I had the hubs cook mine to medium (130 degrees) on the grill and it was perfect.

I used a basic rub of the following:

* 1 tbs. paprika
* 1 tbs. crushed black pepper
* 1 tsp. kosher salt
* 1/2 tbs. garlic powder
* 1/2 tablespoon onion salt (powder would have been better, but I didn't have any)
* 1/2 tbs. crushed coriander
* 1/2 tbs. dried dill
* 1/2 tbs. crushed red pepper flakes
* 1 tsp. cayenne red pepper
* 1 tsp. ground ginger

It was so spicy and delicious:). We both had rib-eye steaks, but Adam (the hubs) used a marinade of A-1 sauce and Worcestershire (among other things). However, A-1 has HFCS! I never knew that (not that I ate it anyways as a vegetarian).

We also had asparagus with lemon juice & salt. Seriously delicious meal!

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Pecan Crisp with Peaches & Blueberries

I made a really delicious dessert Saturday night b/c I was craving sweets and didn't want to make peach cobbler (with all that sugar/flour). Inspiration came from Mark's Daily Apple and I just tweaked it to what I had on hand.

Ingredients:
1 peach
5-10 blueberries (fresh is best, but frozen okay too, just don't thaw first)
1/2 cup pecans (chopped)
2 tbs. butter
Cinnamon & nutmeg
2 tsp. honey (optional, but delicious)

Preheat oven to 250 degrees and toast the pecans for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Heat 1 tbs. butter over med-low heat. Add in sliced peaches and coat in cinnamon & nutmeg to your preference. Cook for 10-15 minutes.

Add cooled pecans to food processor and pulse until finely ground. Slowly drizzle in 1 tbs. of cooled, melted butter while pulsing.

Add this crumb crust to the bottom of a small baking dish and push down to form a loose crust. Top with peaches & fresh/frozen blueberries and bake in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes (just to warm everything up together).

I topped mine with 2 tsp. of honey and it really sweetened it up, but it could go without as well if you didn't want the sugar.

I imagine the crust would work well with any kind of nut (almonds, walnuts, etc.).

I think this is sort of paleo, except for the butter, right? :)

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