Paleo Lessons: Week 13

This is ironic, today is Friday, September 13 and I'm writing the Paleo Lessons for Week 13.

Sometimes, you're just going to spend more than you'd like at the grocery store. It happens. Sometimes, it's for a very good reason though. Sometimes, the extra cost is due to nuts being on sale and restocking your coconut oil stores and getting flourless cake for a birthday that was totally worth splurging on. It's not always the cause, but sometimes it is.

After the massive grocery trip, Super A and I did what anyone would do in that situation: we went out for dinner (for the aformentioned birthday). On our way back to the new apartment (which I moved into all by myself [yes, I'm proud and excited about it]), we explored a little and found a butcher shop that actually looks fairly promising. We're both really excited about it, but I'm waiting until after this coming week to go there. This coming week is almost the end of tri season/my "week off" before classes start up again/a week of weird meal schedules/the last week before campus fills up again and my friends come back and I'll no longer be cooking alone after it. So hopefully 2 Fridays from now I'll have a really nice little blurb to say about what will hopefully become my local meat shop. Until then, Trader J's, here I come!

Sometimes, you're not going to want to cook. So instead, cook a bunch of meat and prep your veggies when you have the time to (over the weekend, right after you get them) so that you'll be ready for your "Nope, not using the stove today" moments.

And finally, even though I'm pretty sure I've said it before, this lesson is worth repeating especially because I apparently didn't get the message the first time: fat will help keep you full. My goals are to use more fat when I cook, including coconut oil and bacon fat. Not sure what I'm going to do on the Whole30 coming up, but I don't normally use butter (or even have it in my fridge since I discovered bacon grease), so I should be good on that front.

Importance of Quantity

When it comes to food, yes, the quality of what you're eating is important. That's why so many Paleo sites emphasize the need to get organic, pastured, free range foods. But another thing that's just as important is the quantity of what you eat.

Eating disorders and disordered eating (yes, they are separate concepts) are far too common in today's society. I'll bet that usually when you think eating disorder, you think self conscious teenage girls. It's not limited to girls. It's not limited to teenagers. I suspect most people are at least a little disordered in their eating. That does not mean that I think most people have eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia. It means I think people use food to control and react to stress, or as a reward system, or mindlessly eat to stay awake or to help them focus. Some people just don't eat enough good real food for meals and gain weight from all the snacking they do to try to fill themselves up.

No, if you do these things, you are not broken. Neither is your relationship with food. You just need a little adjusting.

Take a look at what you eat. Try keeping a food journal for a week. Write down every single thing you eat (even those 3 m&ms from the candy bowl sitting out on your coffee table). Look at it at the end of the week. How much of your food consumption was real food? How much of it was during meals? How full were you after those meals? How full were you at the end of the day?

Also note down how much you moved, and how much sleep you got. Exercise and amount of sleep also play key roles in how your body reacts to your environment (including the food you put into it).

Now, you've done your research, you've gathered your data, and it's time to start adjusting. Things do not change overnight. It will require a little work. If you found you snacked a lot between meals because you were hungry, make bigger meals. If you snacked for any other reason aside from being hungry, start cutting down on your snacks. If you ate mostly TV dinners and rehydrated meals, you know what you need to do (eat real food!). If you rarely exercised or slept, make those aspects of your life a priority. I understand the book is good, or you really want to see what happens on your Netflix show, but put in the bookmark, hit the pause button, and hit the hay. Having a solid 8 hours will help you focus and be more productive the next day.

I would also recommend not counting your calories (in most cases). They're just numbers. They're an estimate. Obsessing over amount of calories consumed vs amount of calories burned does not encourage healthy eating habits. 17 calories is not going to make a difference either way. You'll probably be much happier when you stop doing that. Maybe try going by macronutrient ratios (protein, carbohydrates, fat) and vitamin/mineral content instead with a focus on making sure you get enough.

Try eating real food for meals, eating until you're full (not stuffed), eliminating snacking, exercising (whether just walking or something more strenuous like weightlifting, swimming, or running), and getting 8 hours of sleep a night.

Blueberry Pieish Salad

No, there are no sugars, sweetners, anything added to this salad that resembles sugar other than the blueberries and the coconut. No, there is no guarantee that your salad will actually taste like blueberry pie. The combination of the coconut, berries, and cashews reminded me of it a little, though.

Ingredients:

• salad greens (I prefer romaine, chopped)
• handful of blueberries
• couple of pinches of shredded coconut
• small handful of cashews
• 1 tsp coconut oil, melted

Rinse your salad greens. Toss with blueberries, shredded coconut, and cashews. Drizzle with the melted coconut oil. Enjoy!

Paleo Lessons: Week 11

Whew it's been a busy week. There were a couple of things I noticed this week.

I forgot how good hardboiled eggs are. I'm not kidding. I made some to go with lunch salad this week, wow. Not only are they protein and fat filled, but they're super portable and come with their own packaging. If you do it right, they take less than a minute to peel and don't need anything else to taste good (although that second bit might just be me).

This was a little stranger, but I realized my tastebuds are changing. For example, almonds taste slightly different now, with have more depth of flavor. The chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream I splurged on last week tasted... fake. It tasted full of preservatives and sweet chemicals made in a lab. It wasn't as good as I was expecting (might be the type of ice cream though, since the black raspberry - no judging, 20% and a 2/$5 sale - was delicious). As mentioned earlier, hardboiled eggs are fantastically delicious now, and I grew up enjoying them only for their ability to be colored. It's not just a physical adaptation, I think. I also wouldn't dream of giving up my lunch salad for any type of sandwich, and eggs are pretty much my go-to for breakfast now.

Last week I was sorta dreading doing a Whole30 and had all but completely dismissed the idea. Now I'm actually considering it and somewhat planning to do one relatively soon. It seems like a neat challenge. With that in mind, I'm trying to see what I can do to remove dairy from my diet. Not yet, and probably (hopefully) not permanently. Just to see what I would use instead on the Whole30. It's little things, like replacing the cheese on my lunch salad with cucumber chunks and coconut flakes and using bacon grease (my usual go to) and coconut oil instead of butter.

And finally, because this has been the most important lesson this week, allow yourself time to recover after a race. Do not go somewhere and walk around for 6+ hours the next day when you quad muscles were screaming if you merely stood the day before. Especially don't do this if you suspect you might be dehydrated. Let yourself sleep, even if that means putting off prepping some type of food until the next day. Your body needs sleep to recover. You will thank yourself the next morning, or afternoon - let yourself sleep in a little bit. I could only afford an hour, but boy did that extra hour help.

Cinnamon Eggs

Yep, you read it right. Cinnamon eggs. Scrambled eggs with cinnamon. And coconut (which is optional but not as good without).

Let me back up a second. Who's heard of the Whole9 or Whole30 program? The idea is that for 30 days, you eat nothing but meat, veggies, a little bit of fruit, and maybe some nuts. You don't eat grains, legumes, dairy, any kind of sugar (including chocolate), or foods that resemble anything processed and packaged and treat or cheat like (such a Paleo-brownies or Paleo pancakes).

Well, I like my chocolate and I like delicious glucose bombs (aka bananas) at the end of the day for a sweet moment of ... well, sweetness. Only thing is, on a Whole30 protocol, I wouldn't be able to have either one of those. Maybe some fruit, but not a baked banana with chocolate chips.

Then, Super A made breakfast. And whoa was it pretty darn sweet (without any added sugar or fruit).

Ingredients:

• eggs
• onion (chopped or diced)
• butter
• cinnamon
• coconut flakes (unsweeted, optional)

Melt the butter (or coconut oil) in a frying pan on the stove. Scramble the eggs, but add in the cinnamon, onion, and coconut flakes as they cook. Keep mixing. You should add enough cinnamon that you can see it everywhere in your eggs. Serve immediately

I'm actually going to ask him to make it again this weekend, because it was so yummy last time we had it!

Slow Cooker Cinnamon Garlic Chicken

This week is moving week, and there are two things I knew coming into it:

1. I needed to not get a ton of food at TJ's, because I would need to move it all.
2. I would be coming off a race weekend, be tired, and generally not want to cook.

So I decided to whip out the handy dandy slow cooker. It needed to be something that would last a few days in the fridge, leave me full afterwards, and not be too time consuming for the prep-work. Also, it had to be delicious. I've really been into cinnamon lately, so when I found this recipe for chicken legs, it sounded just about perfect.

Note: this recipe is in portions for a 6 quart slow cooker. You might need to make adjustments if yours is smaller.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 lb chicken legs
• 1 onion, chopped or diced
• butter (optional, add on top of everything)
• 5-6 cloves garlic, smashed (not chopped or diced at all!)
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 3-4 tbsp chicken broth, white wine, or water

Toss the chicken in the pot. Dice the onions, smash the garlic, and add them to the pot. Add the spices and the water. Cook on medium-high heat for 3-4 hours.

The original recipe called for a full tablespoon of cumin, but I like my food a little less spicy (and I think Abbs might have accidentally snagged mine), so I left it out. It probably needed it. I don't think I can emphasize enough to make sure your chicken is cooked through. If you find pink bits (which I did as I made this the night before and was slightly impatient to go to bed), put them aside and nuke them (politely of course) in the microwave for a minute or so until the pink goes away. Also, you don't need to add that much water. It might look like it, but you don't.

Now I have a meal that lasted 2 nights and meant I didn't have to actually cook anything. Cue the packing!

Paleo Lessons: Week 10

Be aware of how your fridge works. Specifically, the best places to store certain foods to keep them from spoiling. In my minifridge (that I could probably live out of if need be), I forgot that the cooling parts are at the top, near the pretend freezer. Anything I store on the top shelf, just below the freezer, runs the risk of becoming frozen. Like my romaine and zucchini. Romaine is not happy when it is frozen.

It is possible to make healthier versions of your favorite. Last week Abbs made this incredible, amazing fish sticks that actually tasted like really good (albeit way healthier) fish sticks. My favorite thing to get at Chinese buffets is the coconut chicken (so creamy, so coconuty, so gooooood....), so I Googled "paleo coconut chicken" on a whim. The top result was for coconut chicken tenders, and it looked so good that I'm planning on making it next week (move out week and recovery week).

If you're craving carbs, look at your diet again. For some strange and unknown reason, I started craving oatmeal and bagels last week, but didn't realize what it meant until this week. While the oatmeal made some sense, I haven't craved bagels since before I started eating Paleo. Right now, I suspect my body is asking for more carbs (sorta duh, I know) and maybe more fat. It's the beginning of race season for my team, and I'm doing 3 races between now and the end of September. Carbs help athletes recover from races and hard workouts, I believe, and fat would help keep me full between meals. For me, this means learning to make salad dressings. I tried it a few weeks ago, and it tasted so bad even thinking about trying again made me cringe.

Paleo Blues - Keep Your Head Up

Sometimes, with all the conflicting information and personal views out there on the wild place known as the Internet, it's very discouraging to try to eat healthy. There's the 80/20 rule that Mark Sission goes by and Primal Blueprint Fitness, which involves lifting heavy things a couple times a week, moving slowly for long periods of time quite often, and moving fast for a short period of time once a week. There's people who swear by the Whole9 and their Whole30 program. There's people who say dairy is just as bad a grains. There's people who say Paleo desserts are just as evil as the real thing because of your emotional response to that kind of food. It got to the point last week where I almost gave up on fruit because it contains carbs and a banana (the food I like to eat after dinner for "dessert") has approximately 100g of carbs in it and that's about your daily "allowance" of carbs as a Paleo-er.

It makes me want to give up and either go back to the way I had been eating (because I was actually doing pretty well relative to most everyone else I know) or to just eat salad and eggs for the rest of my life (because there's all sorts of ups and downs to every single kind of fruit and every single species of meat). Either choice involved never reading a nutrition/food blog/book/article/magazine/email/any-form-of-written-communication-that-has-to-do-with-food-except-recipes ever again.

Ok, there, you're probably saying. Calm down now. It's not that bad.

You're right, it's not. (Have I mentioned that life is a little crazy right now?) But when the buzz of mostly non-important details starts to get to you, keep this in mind:

1. Women and men have different types of bodies. Women have more fat deposits because, for childbearing - immediate or down the line, these fat deposits are very important. (See this article for more details.)
2. Because of #1, intermittent fasting affects men and women differently. See the same article listed above, I think. (I read a couple of articles yesterday on the topic and I believe it's covered in that article. If not, leave me a comment and I'll look it up and post it.)
3. Carbs aren't the devil. I'm pausing before saying the human body needs some carbs because of all the fully fat-adapted athletes I've read about, but carbs aren't the devil. Or even evil. Carbs are a macronutrient. As a topic, they should be neutral. It's too much or too little carbs/protein/fats that becomes iffy, but... (see next line)
4. Your macronutrient ratios depend on your body, your body's chemistry, and your body's metabolism. And your gender might have something to do with it too. Stefani over at Paleo for Women actually recommends women consume 100-200g of carbohydrates per day, especially those breastfeeding or athletes. (Cue a calming of my banana-induced too-many-carbs-in-one-day freak-out.)
5. I digest dairy well, so milk isn't the devil for me either. I enjoy Greek yogurt on an almost daily basis and have had no adverse reactions.
6. Eating natural foods, organic or conventionally grown, grass-fed or not, is definitely healthier than eating pre-processed, pre-packaged items found in the frozen dinner section of the grocery store. Nit-pick about the details all you want, I'm going to go make myself some beef burgers with peach chutney, eat them wrapped in lettuce leaves, and polish off 1 potato's worth of homemade baked sweet potato fries dipped in cinnamony Greek yogurt. I'm eating whole, less processed foods, and it makes me feel good. Maybe I'll even throw some bacon in with that burger and have a small almond flour brownie afterward (although I'm probably full by this point so maybe not). Have an issue with Paleo desserts? More for me. And, yes, they are a treat for me, too, not an everyday thing.

I think that covers most of it for now. Remember, the body you have is the only one you get. Treat it right, but don't be afraid to treat yourself well, too. It's not worth stretching your budget to its breaking point just to get organic and grass-fed everything. It's not worth stressing out about the details when you're already eating healthier than the vast majority of America's population. And hey, if long distance running (or triathlon-ing, in my case) is more your thing than body-building (or vice-versa), ok. It's all up to you. But don't be afraid of your food or your exercise.

I will also add that I think I still need to do some evaluating of my life, eating habits, relationships with food, and relationships with other people that include food.

Cinnamon Maple Syrup Dip

This is intended to go with the Homemade Crabby Sweets, but it's also just a good dip. I'd make it for carrots, maybe even celery, too. That's how Super A and I tested it while we were waiting for the fries to be done. I made a double batch and brought the leftovers to work this week for my carrots.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Mix all ingredients until well combined and serve! Note: don't make it in the container the yogurt came in, it will most likely overflow.

*** I will be trying this again with less maple syrup. Stay tuned!

Homemade Crabby Sweets

This summer, I was introduced to Crabby Sweets. Normally, I'm not a fan of sweet potato fries. I don't know what it was about these - maybe the Old Bay, maybe the maple-syrupy dipping sauce, maybe my tastebuds are changing that much - but they were delicious. Abbs, sweetheart that she is, made some a few weeks ago (sans maple syrup dip). She and our friend who was over for dinner passed after a few fries, so guess who ate most of the bowl? Yup. No regrets, they were fantastic.

Ingredients:

• 3 large sweet potatoes
• Old Bay seasoning
• coconut oil or other cooking fat, melted (don't use olive oil for this one!)
• salt, if desired

Heat the oven to 450 F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (for much easier clean-up).

Peel the skins off your sweet potatoes. Despite what people think, the skins actually hold a lot of anti-nutrients, so you don't really want to eat them. Besides, this is easier than scrubbing them. Cut them up lengthwise, like fries. Or alternately you can make potato wedges, it's up to you. But stick to one or the other, and aim for similarly sized pieces or they won't cook through properly.

In a bowl, combine your potato sticks, melted cooking fat, and spices. Yes, this involves getting your hands dirty. When the oil and spices evenly coat each fry, put them on your baking sheet in a single layer and stick it in the oven. Let them cook for 15 minutes, then flip them over and cook for another 15 minutes. If you want crispier fries, I suggest (but haven't tried!) putting them on the top shelf and turn the oven to broil for the last few minutes.

Yumyumyum! We only cooked them for 20 minutes on one side, but Super A cut them really thinly so they were nice and soft, well cooked but still held their form. I have to say, they were pretty amazing (and cost less than $7.50 - what I'd normally pay on the boardwalk)!

Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

Last year was the first time I was introduced to spaghetti squash. It's like magic - a vegetable that, when cooked and "attacked" with a fork, turns out looking like one of my favorite but definitely not Paleo foods. I had one hiding in my fridge, as well as some tomato sauce and ground beef, so the solution was obvious: made spaghetti and meatballs.

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash or 3-4 zucchini
• 1 lb ground beef
• tomato sauce
• spices

Prepare your noodles. For the spaghetti squash, I actually made it in the microwave. Cut it in half longways, scoop out the seeds, and coat the edges and inside with cooking fat of your choice. Lay the squash open side down in a glass container or microwave safe dish. Cook for 5 minutes in the microwave on high, rotate dish and squash halves, and cook for at least 3 more minutes. Test with fork and cook more as needed. 

Meanwhile, add your spices to your beef (I used oregano, basil, a generic spice mix, salt, pepper, and garlic powder). Mix well. Abbs suggested adding an egg, but it's optional. Heat a frying pan on the stove and add cooking fat. Form the beef into balls and put in pan. Let cook, making sure they don't burn. Flip as needed. Cooking time will differ depending on how big you made your meatballs. When the meatballs are cooked, add your tomato sauce to the pan (to warm the sauce). Turn the heat down to simmer.

When everything is ready, run your fork through the squash to make spaghetti strands. Since there were only two of us, we used the squash halves as bowls. Put your meatballs and sauce on top and serve!

Paleo Lessons: Week 9

Oops, I lost track of how many weeks it's been since I started Paleo. I thought it was week 11. That seems like a good thing to me, actually.

Try new foods. Even if they're scary, hard to pronounce, or you don't know what they are. Went with Super A and Abbs to a gluten free Mediterranean place for lunch on Friday and didn't know what I was doing when I ordered, so I asked the gal behind the counter for recommendations. I ended up with steak, feta, carrots, and cauliflower in a gluten free wrap with a lemon sauce and a balsamic sauce on the side. It was amazing and I can't wait to go back.

Before a race, banana pancakes are the perfect food. I made some for a race on Saturday, they were devoured, and now I'm all set to make them before the next race, too. The race went well, look for a post soon.

Listen to your body. If you can't keep your eyes open, get some sleep. If you're so sore that standing up or sitting down causes you pain, go easy or take the day off. You'll feel so much better the next day, and your body will perform better than if you had forced a hard workout on yourself. It's not worth it.

Eat when you're hungry, don't when you're not. If you're trying to loose body fat, try to avoid nuts and fruit. If you're trying to stay fuller for longer, eat more fat. This is something I know I need to work on. Salad dressing makes me nervous though. Maybe I'll compromise a bit.

Empty jars are your friends. So is bacon and bacon grease.

Slow Cooker Chili

Alright, here's one of the recipes I keep talking about but not actually posting: the slow cooker chili recipe.

I don't know about you, but the homemade chili I'm used to eating is full of beans. It's delicious, except for the whole "beans being legumes and legumes not being Paleo" thing. I wanted a recipe that I could whip together in the morning before a long days of work and classes and enjoy when I got back that night, ready for an easy "no-prep" meal. Preferably a warm one well suited to fall and the strangely chilly weather we're having here (no complaints, I like it). The original recipe is Melissa's from Clothes Make the Girl. She has instructions on how to make the chili on the stove, but that won't help me. On a whim, I pulled out my slow cooker (a nice, sturdy, old thing that I love) and used it for the first time. The prep work consisted only of adding everything to the pot, clearing a space for it on the counter, and writing a note so no one would accidentally burn themselves or unplug it.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons oil (coconut, EVOO, your choice)
• 2 onions, diced (medium-large are best)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 1 tbsp red chili pepper
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1.5 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1tsp salt
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 14.5 oz fire-roasted chopped tomatoes
• 1 cup broth (use beef for the best results, but I used chicken)
• 1 cup water (possibly less, need to test again, when in doubt use a little bit more)
• 2 lb ground beef

Combine all the seasonings in a small bowl and mix. Dice the onions (Abbs taught me how to do this without loosing a finger) and put them in the bottom of your slow cooker. Add the tomatoes, the tomato paste, the meat, and the seasonings.

Mix it all together (using your hands works best). Add the broth and water. 

Turn the slow cooker on to medium heat (make sure at least medium if using raw meat like I did) and let it cook for 8+ hours. I think mine sat for closer to 9 or 10 and came out fine.

Notes:

The original recipe Melissa wrote calls for twice the amount of red pepper and cumin. I'm not that used to eating spicy foods, so it was too hot for me. I still need to test the halved amounts of chili pepper and cumin to see what the heat is like. Also, it freezes well, and it's pretty good in a breakfast omelet.

In other news...

I haven't made any of the new recipes yet, and I still need to write up the one for the chili, but I'd rather give it another go before I post it to see if I can get it to be a little less spicy.  Last night was zucchini carbonara night. Abbs was really impressed at how easy it was to make. She's keeping track of what meals we make for during classes, I think, so she knows what's good and easy and quick. Tomorrow I'm making damn fine chicken again (another classic), and tonight she's making turkey burgers I believe. So much yummy food.

I think I've mentioned earlier that right now I have plantar fasciitis (PF) and am avoiding running. It's been going on 2 months since the last time I ran, and although I'm antsy to get back to it, I'm also finding that I actually do enjoy biking and swimming. Yay! There's a challenge going on at the pool where each length (25 yards) counts as a mile, and they want to see who can swim the farthest away from the pool. I got roped into it by someone else from the tri team, and we roped in someone else, with all of us hoping to get to Hawaii. Hawaii is nearly 5000 miles away from here. Right now I think I'm hovering around 1300 miles (respectable!) with a little over a half a month to make it the rest of the way (not happening, I'd like to maintain my status as second place holder though). My average biking speed has increased, too, I think, which is also exciting. There's a race this weekend that I'm doing as a relay, and I'll be doing the bike leg. It's only a sprint, so it should be pretty easy.

Paleo Lessons: Week 8

Week 8? How on earth is this week 8 already? It seems like much longer and much less than that at the same time.

Here's what I've learned in the past seven days:

You will on occasion buy too much food. It's somewhat inevitable. It'll happen. And some of it will go bad before you get a chance to use it (like an entire package of butternut squash did over last weekend when I was away grr...). The upside is, when you make your food, you'll have options. Abbs, my newest cooking buddy, and I didn't coordinate as well as we could have, and we ended up with an extra zucchini and some panchetta that we didn't quite have plans for. So Wednesday night when I made cauliflower pizza, we ended up throwing the panchetta on top (a very good idea). Thursday, when she made green beans with coconut chips, it turned into a stir-fry and in went the zucchini!

Read up on spices before you use them. I used to think I had 8 year old taste buds when it came to spicey food. It's something I have to remind Super A of on a quasi-regular basis. I made slow cooker chili this week and it called for a variety of spices I didn't own and didn't know how to use. So I followed the recipe, and it ended up a bit hotter than I normally would like (cue runny nose). It was good though, and not too hot for me to enjoy. Then Abbs made soup. I don't know what kind of soup it was or what she put in it, but it was spicy! I let it sit for a while, thinking that if the temperature cooled down I'd be able to eat it without feeling like my throat was on fire. Oh nay nay. She and I figured out later that the spiciness actually got stronger the longer it sat. I gave up halfway through my bowl and went back to the chili. Now I've decided I have 6 year old taste buds, and that I really need to know what the spices are going to do to the dish before I add them.

It is easier to cook with a buddy. I already knew this from cooking with Super A, but it's that valuable of a lesson. If you're already making x-amount of food, double (or triple) it, and you get multiple meals for the same amount of work. By sharing those meals with a buddy, it means you don't have to do the clean up (at least in my kitchen) for that meal, and your friend will probably make dinner the next night. It's twice the food for half the work. (Eh, don't do the math on that, I'm not entirely sure myself). It also means you might find yourself eating foods you wouldn't normally choose. With Super A, I eat tomatoes and avocado on my salad. With Abbs, I eat (as previously mentioned) spicier food than normal. Whatever you make probably tastes better, too, if you're trying to impress someone (be it friend or more-than-a friend). It also might mean a night of leftovers - the already cooked kind of leftovers, not the "what the heck can I make out of an eggplant and three sausages" kind of leftovers.

I think that's about it for this week (that's it? That's a lot!), so I hope you have a good weekend! I know I plan to!

Cranberry Salad with Chicken

Note the title. This is not a recipe for chicken salad, but rather salad with chicken in it.

Ingredients:

• Romaine lettuce, spinach, or your preferred salad greens
• Dried cranberries
• Flax seeds
• Chicken (cooked)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cheese (optional)

Rinse the salad greens and tear into appropriately sized pieces. Add chicken and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add flax seeds and dried cranberries and cheese. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Noatmeal

Ah, oatmeal. That good ol' stick to your ribs, totally not Paleo breakfast food. Best made by a parent on a stove on a cold Saturday morning, complete with hot chocolate and snow outside. Also highly enjoyed by children when it's the instant oatmeal with sugar eggs that dissolve into dinosaurs when hot water is added.

Instant oatmeal. I shudder slightly at those words (despite consuming plenty of it myself in the past). Society, you're doing it wrong.

Last week I started thinking about how delicious oatmeal is and that it's one of those meals I still miss occasionally. So when I went to the grocery store, I had to get some butternut squash. I know what you're thinking - those two things have nothing in common, what are you talking about, Jenna? I'm talking about noatmeal!

I first saw the idea on Mark's Daily Apple. His recipe calls for a banana, 3 eggs, a couple handfuls of nuts, nut butter, and a food processor. That sounds like a lot of work for someone who's looking for a quick and easy meal in the morning (and doesn't particularly want eggs - not blasphemy, it happens to the best of us). I liked the idea though, so I kept looking around. Most of the recipes called for bananas. I love bananas. Sounds perfect, right? Well, Super A just told me that bananas have something like 27 grams of carbs per 100 grams, and I know they're packed with sugar - a lot of recipes that call for bananas say adding more sugar is optional. Plus I like my sweet treats at the end of the day, which usually involve a mashed banana. Plus I'm trying to get more veggies as part of my daily food intake. Pumpkin noatmeal sounds good, but they don't have pumpkins (canned or regular) at my Trader Joe's yet.

But they have butternut squash. Already cut up butternut squash. Easy to cook butternut squash chunks.

It probably would have cooked quicker if I had cut the cubes smaller, but it worked pretty well. I sauteed my squash chunks in a frying pan over low-low medium heat for (accidentally) an hour. I believe they're supposed to be done after about 15 minutes, but I was cleaning up some stuff and forgot. Luckily they didn't burn, the heat was low enough. I dumped the chunks into a container, mashed them up, and put them in the fridge for the night. Cooking the squash is the main prep needed for this recipe.

Ingredients*:

• 1 cup butternut squash, cooked and mashed
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 "shakes" (1-2 tbsp) almond flour
• 2 eggs
• Handful of chopped walnuts
• Cinnamon (I used lots)

Put the squash, almond milk, and nuts/nut flour into a saucepan on medium heat and stir until combined and warm. Add the egg and stir until mixture is uniform and cooked (3-5 minutes). Remove from heat and add cinnamon and more nuts if desired. I sprinkled my noatmeal with cinnamon, stirred it in, and then sprinkled it again.

It's good hot (like regular oatmeal) or chilled in the fridge for a while (like pumpkin pie). Enjoy!

*This recipe could easily be halved or doubled. The amounts listed were sufficient to fill me up completely for a couple of hours. Also, I don't actually know exactly how much I used of each ingredient as I didn't measure. (Come on, when you're running around in the morning would you measure, or just say "Hmmm, this looks like a good amount of that" and move on?) This is more of a guideline, adjust as needed. Start with less almond milk and add if it looks too dry. With the cinnamon it was sweet enough that I didn't feel the need to add honey.

Avocado Pineapple Burgers

So yummy! Don't think I have a picture for this yet, but I'll take one the next time I make them.

Ingrediants

• 1 avocado
• 1/3 of a lemon
• 1 lb ground meat (used beef)
• 1 onion
• Mushrooms
• Garlic
• Spices
• 1 pinapple

Mush the avocado in a bowl. Squeeze in the juice from the lemon. Set mixture aside.

Cut the pineapple into desired sized chunks.

Season the meat. Separate into quarters. For each quarter, divide it in half. Make each half into a small patty. Spread the avocado mixture on the patty. Put the second patty on top of the first one and fold the edges together  If you don't get them all the way together, that's ok, just know that avocado will leak into your pan/onto your grill. Repeat for the remainder of the burgers.

Heat the pan and place 2 burgers in it. If you have a lid, cover the pan. You want to cook the burgers on medium heat. Flip when sides start to brown.

While the first burgers are cooking, saute the onions (chopped as desired), mushrooms, and garlic in another pan. Use as a topping or a side. 

Place the pineapple or onions and mushrooms on top of the burgers and enjoy!

Repercussions

I like eating Paleo. I feel better, I sleep better, and I enjoy my food. But on the weekends, especially when I go to visit friends or go on long rides/big workouts, I don't eat nearly as well. This past weekend was no exception.

Friday night I was at home, so I made some yummy yummy cauli-pizza (and fried the extra "dough" on the stove to make fritters - yum!). It was a good time.

Saturday was messier. I went to an open water swim for the first time (turns out opening my eyes underwater, yes with goggles, makes me feel clausterphobic when I can only see to my elbows) and so breakfast consisted of a Larabar after the swim, a banana and a Builder bar after the bike ride, and plenty of water and Gatorade. Saturday night found me at the boardwalk eating a bacon cheeseburger (fine except the bun), Crabby Sweets (which apparently are the only sweet potato fries I like), and frozen custard.

Sunday was full of bagels and tons of fruit (which normally I love, but I was craving some protein), some fries and chicken fingers, and nuts/raisins on the train back home. When I got back, I overloaded on the protein with fish, chicken, and eggs, with some veggies and spinach on the side of course.

I'm sure you're wondering, "What are these repercussions you're talking about?" Try mood fluctuations, grogginess (which could be due to a late night beach visit that I'm recovering from), and restless sleeping for the past 2 nights. Not to mention that I just felt inflated after eating all those fried, sugary foods and the bagels. Ugh. It makes me want to do a ton of pushups to verify my muscles haven't disintegrated.

I'm aiming to eat as well as possible this week, with lots of veggies and protein, because I know that's what makes me feel good. Well, that, and dark chocolate. Unfortunately, something similar is going to probably happen the next two weekends. On the upside, Larabars are as Paleo as a granola bar can get (Apple Pie is good), I have butternut squash and zucchini in my fridge, and I'll be getting a new cooking buddy next week!

Paleo Lessons: Week 6

I like yogurt, but it's a common place for high fructose corn syrup to sneak in. I was disappointed when I read the ingredients on my favorite flavor (Trader Joe's Vanilla Greek Yogurt) and saw that sugar was the second ingredient and corn syrup was on the list as well. I got some of the plain Greek yogurt instead, because it at least doesn't have any added sugars or syrups, forgetting that I consider it to be fairly bitter and tart. I will say though, it's much better with honey added and it makes a great veggie dip. Just keep in mind that the honey sinks to the bottom if you add the honey and then put the container back into the fridge without mixing (oops).

Variety is the spice of life. Wednesday, something struck me. I was eating the same handful of meals every week! Yes they're familiar and safe, and I know they don't cost much, but man do they get dull after a while.

It's not as scary to tell people as I thought it would be. Maybe I just have nice friends though, or maybe it has to do with being in college where everyone tries new things. The few friends I've told have been very accepting of my choice - especially my buddy who has been away researching in beautiful Costa Rica and will be sharing the kitchen with me when she gets back.

Don't grocery shop when you're hungry. I thought this problem would go away with eating Paleo, but it doesn't. It just means you look to foods that aren't bread products instead of those yummy looking donuts.

And finally, it's ok to not be perfect. The lovely Diane over at Balanced Bits reminded me with this article that I am human (that is to say, imperfect), I am a college student (that is to say, financially constrained), and it's ok that I love chocolate (ok, so maybe she didn't say that exactly). So you know what? If I'm eating Greek yogurt instead of Kefir, or even vanilla Greek yogurt instead of the plain stuff sometimes, it's better than I was eating before. It's better than choosing ice cream every night. And it's not a huge deal if I do choose ice cream every now and again.