So I'm still not back to fully Paleo, having been treated to several Administrative Professionals Week appreciation lunches, which inevitably end up being sandwiches and desserts entirely too appetizing-looking to pass up. Sure, I could take off the bread and eat very small amounts of very thinly sliced lunch meats, but that wouldn't fill me up at all. Thankfully, we also had a fruit and veggie tray at my office to celebrate one of the partners' birthday, so that helped with between meal snacking.
On a completely different note, I've been listening to A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin for the last month and a half while I'm in the car, and I'm still not even halfway through it. I read it when it came out (July 2011), but listening to it has brought a whole new depth of understanding of the plot and characters' stories. Now, several times through the series (A Song of Ice and Fire, but the HBO series is known as "A Game of Thrones" [really the title of the first book]), I've gotten frustrated at the characters that GRRM kills off (or fake-kills, in some instances). Every time, I'm reminded of a scene from The Princess Bride (the movie; I don't think it's in the book quite like it is in the movie).
It's the scene where Fezzik and Inigo find Westley in the Pit of Despair, dead by Count Rugen's machine/Prince Humperdink's hand. The grandson, whose grandfather is reading him the book, interrupts the story to have this interaction:
Grandson: Wait,
what did Fezzik mean "He's dead"? I mean, he didn't mean dead. Westley's only
faking. Right?
Grandfather: You want me to read this or
not?
Grandson: Who gets Humperdinck?
Grandfather: I don't
understand.
Grandson: Who kills Prince Humperdinck? At the end.
Somebody's got to do it. Is it Inigo, who?
Grandfather: Nobody.
Nobody kills him. He lives.
Grandson: You mean he wins? Jesus, Grandpa,
what did you read me this thing for?
(transcript thanks to http://www.princessbride.8m.com/script.htm#45 )
The line that runs through my head, every single time one of the good guys gets killed off, is "Jesus, Grandpa, what did you read me this thing for?!" Every time, I want to call the person who got me hooked on GRRM (and The Princess Bride, incidentally) and yell that through the phone. And then I want to call GRRM and yell at him, wondering when the 6th book (The Winds of Winter) will finally be done and published and I can find out what happens to the characters I love so much.
Anyway, this weekend will be another bad weekend, as I'm going to a homebrew party Saturday night and cleaning out my cabinets and pantry of all of my Tastefully Simple products that are so not Paleo, and definitely enjoying them while I can.
Maybe next week I'll get back on track... I feel like I went on "vacation diet," and like that usually turns out, am having a lot of trouble getting off of it, despite the side effects that I'm suffering through.
Lastly, I am going on a mission trip this summer to Jamaica and am raising funds to help offset the total cost. My husband is also going, and while we've raised roughly 50% of the total amount, we would still appreciate any donations. Please consider donating to the general fund that will be split evenly between all of the participants. You can donate here and we greatly appreciate it. Thank you!
Friday, April 26, 2013
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Massive backslide!
I had a really bad weekend. I mean really bad. Thursday I had an amazing bacon egg and cheese sandwich and homefries. Friday we drove up to Pittsburgh (only a 5 hour drive... only?) for the Braves game and stopped at McDonald's on the way (yes, everyone cringe). Then I had pizza for dinner at the ballpark, but made up for it (kind of?) with cinnamon roasted pecans.
Saturday was equally terrible because we ate at Waffle House. Side note: did you know that Georgia has the most Waffle Houses by a huge margin? Back to the point, you can get healthy things to eat at Waffle House. You can get salad, steak, grilled chicken... did I? Of course not. I got bacon, scrambled eggs (so far, so good) and hash browns scattered and covered (cheese).
I've tried to be good since to make up for that massive backslide over the weekend, including Panera's "Hidden Menu" roasted turkey Mediterranean salad, pistachios, Paleo donuts (probably not healthy if you eat the entire batch, but whatever), and fruit/veggies.
Weigh-in Wednesday will definitely be interesting tomorrow, and I'm sure will jump-start a "holy crap, I have to start being good again," as if the fact that my face has broken out like I'm back to being a 13 year old isn't enough of a warning sign.
Once again I've loaded my Pinterest board with lots of delicious foods, and haven't made any of them due to sheer laziness. Since I'm not working at the library tonight, maybe I'll go grocery shopping and pre-prep some meals for the rest of the week.
Here's to re-starting!
Saturday was equally terrible because we ate at Waffle House. Side note: did you know that Georgia has the most Waffle Houses by a huge margin? Back to the point, you can get healthy things to eat at Waffle House. You can get salad, steak, grilled chicken... did I? Of course not. I got bacon, scrambled eggs (so far, so good) and hash browns scattered and covered (cheese).
I've tried to be good since to make up for that massive backslide over the weekend, including Panera's "Hidden Menu" roasted turkey Mediterranean salad, pistachios, Paleo donuts (probably not healthy if you eat the entire batch, but whatever), and fruit/veggies.
Weigh-in Wednesday will definitely be interesting tomorrow, and I'm sure will jump-start a "holy crap, I have to start being good again," as if the fact that my face has broken out like I'm back to being a 13 year old isn't enough of a warning sign.
Once again I've loaded my Pinterest board with lots of delicious foods, and haven't made any of them due to sheer laziness. Since I'm not working at the library tonight, maybe I'll go grocery shopping and pre-prep some meals for the rest of the week.
Here's to re-starting!
Monday, April 15, 2013
Spring Tease
Well, spring has been a bit of a tease this year. Last week I was in sleeveless shirts (maybe I was turning my space heater on at work, but I do that in the middle of summer too), and this week I'm back to sweaters.
However, we had a beautiful weekend, and my husband got out the grill I gave him for his birthday and we had steak and grilled squash and zucchini and sweet potatoes, and it was delicious! Grilling Season is probably my favorite season of the year, and it's so easy to eat Paleo when you're throwing real meat and vegetables (and fruit for dessert) on the grill!
I also made Paleo mint chocolate chip ice cream using the ice cream machine I picked up at our church's Rummage Sale this year ($4!), so it was a very nice treat without the inevitable stomachache that follows a "oh, one bite of ice cream won't kill me" slip-up. We were out of spinach, so mine wasn't nearly as green as the picture, and I used half the amount of peppermint extract that the recipe calls for. I definitely didn't get a picture of the ice cream because I ate it way too fast.
Yesterday for lunch we had Bacon Avocado Cups, and ohmygoodness, bacon makes everything wonderful, and I already adore avocado, so this meal was a win! I also did apple omelets because when I told Adam what we were having for lunch, he looked at me and said, "What else?"
I go back to work at the library this week, so I'm back to the "half hour to prep and eat" dinner evenings, which is always interesting. Yay for quick easy salads! I think I'll bake lots of bacon tonight and make sure that I have avocados on hand to do the bacon avocado cups again. It's hard to go wrong!
I also got to take lots of naps this weekend, which on my "favorite things to do" falls directly behind "reading." (Don't worry, spending time with my husband and our dogs is higher up on the list than either of them.)
Probably the best part of the weekend though was that the Braves swept the Nationals! It's so exciting to see my team have a strong start to the season. Though the Nationals' announcers were fond of saying "a sweep in April and a sweep in September are two very different things" and "there's a lot of baseball yet to play," it was fun to hear them stumble over Andrelton Simmons' and Maholm's names. Bless their hearts.
However, we had a beautiful weekend, and my husband got out the grill I gave him for his birthday and we had steak and grilled squash and zucchini and sweet potatoes, and it was delicious! Grilling Season is probably my favorite season of the year, and it's so easy to eat Paleo when you're throwing real meat and vegetables (and fruit for dessert) on the grill!
I also made Paleo mint chocolate chip ice cream using the ice cream machine I picked up at our church's Rummage Sale this year ($4!), so it was a very nice treat without the inevitable stomachache that follows a "oh, one bite of ice cream won't kill me" slip-up. We were out of spinach, so mine wasn't nearly as green as the picture, and I used half the amount of peppermint extract that the recipe calls for. I definitely didn't get a picture of the ice cream because I ate it way too fast.
Yesterday for lunch we had Bacon Avocado Cups, and ohmygoodness, bacon makes everything wonderful, and I already adore avocado, so this meal was a win! I also did apple omelets because when I told Adam what we were having for lunch, he looked at me and said, "What else?"
I go back to work at the library this week, so I'm back to the "half hour to prep and eat" dinner evenings, which is always interesting. Yay for quick easy salads! I think I'll bake lots of bacon tonight and make sure that I have avocados on hand to do the bacon avocado cups again. It's hard to go wrong!
I also got to take lots of naps this weekend, which on my "favorite things to do" falls directly behind "reading." (Don't worry, spending time with my husband and our dogs is higher up on the list than either of them.)
Probably the best part of the weekend though was that the Braves swept the Nationals! It's so exciting to see my team have a strong start to the season. Though the Nationals' announcers were fond of saying "a sweep in April and a sweep in September are two very different things" and "there's a lot of baseball yet to play," it was fun to hear them stumble over Andrelton Simmons' and Maholm's names. Bless their hearts.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Weigh-In Wednesday
Well, I weighed in this morning, and as expected, I have gained back a few of the pounds I lost in my post-op lack of appetite. It also doesn't help that any time there's chocolate to be had, I'm having it. Not to mention the ridiculous amounts of sangria I've consumed lately...
More importantly, my Mama was in town this last weekend, and we had a smorgasboard of delicious Paleo yumminess (and sangria). Friday night we made turkey spinach meatballs (I know the recipe calls for basil, but whatever) and roasted asparagus.
Saturday for breakfast we had the green apple smoothie that I fell in love with last week. For lunch, we had barbeque at my church's Annual Rummage Sale, and while it may not have been strictly Paleo, it was still delicious! Dinner, we made avocado stuffed burgers and bacon-wrapped sweet potato bites.
For dessert, we tried these donuts, and it was an interesting venture. The donuts themselves kind of fell apart (Mama and I came up with several reasons why, so hopefully my second batch is easier to eat), but the chocolate frosting on top was so good that I finished it off with a spoon and spatula.
Rather like Heather Armstrong over at dooce®, anytime it's avocado season, I snatch up a million of them at the grocery store and put avocado on everything. I tried frying avocado, because what Southern girl wouldn't, and it was rather an epic fail, but tasty. I'm going to have to work on refining my fry technique, because I think it was user error rather than the recipe falling short. Rather than let the rest of the avocado go to waste, I tossed it in nutritional yeast and baked it.
Yesterday for dinner, Adam and I decided on "breakfast for dinner" and I baked maple bacon and made cinnamon apple scrambled eggs--it wasn't pretty, but it was tasty!
More importantly, my Mama was in town this last weekend, and we had a smorgasboard of delicious Paleo yumminess (and sangria). Friday night we made turkey spinach meatballs (I know the recipe calls for basil, but whatever) and roasted asparagus.
Saturday for breakfast we had the green apple smoothie that I fell in love with last week. For lunch, we had barbeque at my church's Annual Rummage Sale, and while it may not have been strictly Paleo, it was still delicious! Dinner, we made avocado stuffed burgers and bacon-wrapped sweet potato bites.
For dessert, we tried these donuts, and it was an interesting venture. The donuts themselves kind of fell apart (Mama and I came up with several reasons why, so hopefully my second batch is easier to eat), but the chocolate frosting on top was so good that I finished it off with a spoon and spatula.
Rather like Heather Armstrong over at dooce®, anytime it's avocado season, I snatch up a million of them at the grocery store and put avocado on everything. I tried frying avocado, because what Southern girl wouldn't, and it was rather an epic fail, but tasty. I'm going to have to work on refining my fry technique, because I think it was user error rather than the recipe falling short. Rather than let the rest of the avocado go to waste, I tossed it in nutritional yeast and baked it.
Yesterday for dinner, Adam and I decided on "breakfast for dinner" and I baked maple bacon and made cinnamon apple scrambled eggs--it wasn't pretty, but it was tasty!
I've gone a bit crazy recently pinning delicious-looking Paleo recipes that I just have to try, like the banana chai smoothie and crab cakes on my Paleo Pinterest board, so if you're looking for ideas, hop on over there and make yourself a grocery list!
Monday, April 1, 2013
Month One is in the Books!
Today marks the one month anniversary of my Paleo journey. I had a weekend full of slip-ups, thanks to post-surgery "my give a damn's busted," and I'm feeling it! I had limoncello white chocolate cake, a Moe's burrito, caramel cremes, and ice cream.
The surgery was a success. Instead of being a torn lateral meniscus like every medical professional except for the radiologist thought, a piece of cartilage had detached from my patella and was floating around. The surgeon removed that and repaired the surface of the joint arthroscopically, and the first couple of days after surgery I was wondering what all the fuss was about. My pain was practically nonexistent and the swelling was minimal.
Then Day Three hit. I woke up at 5 a.m., hit Adam awake and said, "IT HURTS NOW! PAIN MEDS! ICE PACK!" Nothing could touch the amount of pain I was in, but thankfully the pain medication I was prescribed caused "drowsiness," which translated into sleeping through a good 80% of Thursday-Sunday. Great way to celebrate Holy Week, right?
(P.S. Dry shampoo isn't all it's cracked up to be.)
My pain is still fairly high on the subjective scale of 1-10, especially when I'm stupid and make trips down to the dryer in the basement (you expected me to wear wrinkled clothes on my first day back to the office?) and stand long enough to dry and straighten my hair (and you expected me to have wrinkled hair on my first day back?).
We have had some delicious Paleo meals in my recovery, including continual snacking on the 9 1/2 pound ham I baked before surgery, roasted zucchini, a delicious citrus and rustic herb chicken dish that Adam came up with last night, and a bison cocoa butternut squash stew that Adam made in the Crock-Pot.
I have played with the 3 minute mug cake from Delighted Momma, adding almond butter and chocolate chips to make it a bit more moist and brownie-like. It doesn't really look any different than the original, so I didn't take a picture of it, but I enjoyed it a lot more!
I did find a recipe for Paleo chocolate ice cream and avocado burgers last night, so as soon as I'm up to grocery shopping, those are both happening! How amazing does this look?!
The surgery was a success. Instead of being a torn lateral meniscus like every medical professional except for the radiologist thought, a piece of cartilage had detached from my patella and was floating around. The surgeon removed that and repaired the surface of the joint arthroscopically, and the first couple of days after surgery I was wondering what all the fuss was about. My pain was practically nonexistent and the swelling was minimal.
Then Day Three hit. I woke up at 5 a.m., hit Adam awake and said, "IT HURTS NOW! PAIN MEDS! ICE PACK!" Nothing could touch the amount of pain I was in, but thankfully the pain medication I was prescribed caused "drowsiness," which translated into sleeping through a good 80% of Thursday-Sunday. Great way to celebrate Holy Week, right?
(P.S. Dry shampoo isn't all it's cracked up to be.)
My pain is still fairly high on the subjective scale of 1-10, especially when I'm stupid and make trips down to the dryer in the basement (you expected me to wear wrinkled clothes on my first day back to the office?) and stand long enough to dry and straighten my hair (and you expected me to have wrinkled hair on my first day back?).
We have had some delicious Paleo meals in my recovery, including continual snacking on the 9 1/2 pound ham I baked before surgery, roasted zucchini, a delicious citrus and rustic herb chicken dish that Adam came up with last night, and a bison cocoa butternut squash stew that Adam made in the Crock-Pot.
I have played with the 3 minute mug cake from Delighted Momma, adding almond butter and chocolate chips to make it a bit more moist and brownie-like. It doesn't really look any different than the original, so I didn't take a picture of it, but I enjoyed it a lot more!
I did find a recipe for Paleo chocolate ice cream and avocado burgers last night, so as soon as I'm up to grocery shopping, those are both happening! How amazing does this look?!
Also, I didn't weigh in on Wednesday because I was still gingerly putting weight on my right leg, but I did weigh in on Saturday and lost 4 pounds since the Wednesday before! We'll have to wait and see how much of that is because I slept through meals, but I figure some of it will stay off, right?
Monday, March 25, 2013
Day Twenty-Five
...in which I relate my poor decision Saturday night. I was really craving pizza. I mean really. So I ordered Domino's extra cheese pan crust with a side of stuffed cheesy bread. Oh, it smelled fantastic. It tasted fantastic. And then 10 minutes later I was banging my head against a wall wondering why in the world I had done that. I felt awful!
I have also made some excellent food lately. I've become slightly addicted to Delighted Momma's Three Minute Chocolate Paleo Mug Cake. I made roasted turkey legs with sage (Adam said this was my best yet, which I had to disagree with, but whatever), candied carrot coins, crispy skin salmon, a sauteed spinach salad with dates (I substituted raisins) and pine nuts from Practical Paleo, and Paleo sugar cookies thanks to a blog my mom found for me.
During my convalescence (in which I have to put weight on my knee tomorrow after surgery, so hopefully it's not too excruciating), I'm going to be enjoying the ham I baked Wednesday night with the Paleo bread that Adam found (thank goodness! I had missed the convenience of sandwiches so much!) and homemade Paleo mayo. I also made sure that I got a lot of fruits and vegetables while I was grocery shopping last week, and I'll head back to the grocery store for more chicken breasts and lemons (it's amazing how fast we go back through lemons).
Any ideas on quick and easy meals that I can prep in advance and have ready to eat without too much time on my feet in the kitchen?
I have also made some excellent food lately. I've become slightly addicted to Delighted Momma's Three Minute Chocolate Paleo Mug Cake. I made roasted turkey legs with sage (Adam said this was my best yet, which I had to disagree with, but whatever), candied carrot coins, crispy skin salmon, a sauteed spinach salad with dates (I substituted raisins) and pine nuts from Practical Paleo, and Paleo sugar cookies thanks to a blog my mom found for me.
 |
| Roasted turkey w/ sage |
 |
| Candied carrots |
 |
| Salmon prep |
 |
| Salmon sauteeing |
 |
| Finished salmon with a wilted spinach salad with raisins and toasted pine nuts |
 |
| Paleo sugar cookies, which were actually more like tea cakes, but still delicious! |
I'm having knee surgery tomorrow, and working at the library tonight, so I'll be enjoying the leftover crispy skin salmon for dinner tonight.
During my convalescence (in which I have to put weight on my knee tomorrow after surgery, so hopefully it's not too excruciating), I'm going to be enjoying the ham I baked Wednesday night with the Paleo bread that Adam found (thank goodness! I had missed the convenience of sandwiches so much!) and homemade Paleo mayo. I also made sure that I got a lot of fruits and vegetables while I was grocery shopping last week, and I'll head back to the grocery store for more chicken breasts and lemons (it's amazing how fast we go back through lemons).
Any ideas on quick and easy meals that I can prep in advance and have ready to eat without too much time on my feet in the kitchen?
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Day Twenty a/k/a Weigh-In Wednesday
I lost another .7 pounds this week, bringing the total to 3 pounds. This makes for a healthy 1 lb/week, so I'm on the right track to my goal (just 6 more pounds)!
Last night was interesting, full of highs and lows. [On the nights my family ate around the table (most nights), we went around and each person told about their high point and low point of the day.]
I worked at the library, which is always a high, and scheduled a hair appointment with my recently re-found hairdresser (woot!). I got home from the library at 9:15 and told my husband that I'd be staying awake for a while because of a 10:30 webcast with the producers, some of the cast, and the great bearded glacier himself, George R.R. Martin, about the upcoming season of A Game of Thrones on HBO. We don't have HBO, so I have to wait until it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray, so it'll be fall (at least) before I get to see it, but I was hoping that Martin would maybe mention when book 6, The Winds of Winter, would be available.
Adam said, "Well, since you'll be up, why don't you go grocery shopping?" So we looked at Practical Paleo together, decided on some recipes, made a list of everything we'd need, and I left the house around 9:40. Factoring in a 5 minute each way drive to the grocery store and back and assuming Adam would unload the groceries and put them away once I got home, this left me with 30 minutes to shop.
At 10:15, I hadn't even finished in the produce section and resigned myself to not watching the webcast live, and walked a little more slowly to finish the rest of my list. The grocery store we go to has a "Scan it!" feature that means you can scan groceries as you shop and bag them before checking out at the register. At 10:30, the scanner stopped working. The system apparently turns itself off at 10:30. Seriously?! Seriously. There should be a sign.
I knew at that point that I would end up unbagging everything at the cash register and re-ringing everything up (thank God for patient and helpful store employees). I decided to finish up my list before submitting myself to that ordeal, and picked up 4 bags of dark chocolate chips. Unfortunately, one bag was split open and some inconsiderate shopper had put it back on the shelf anyway, so I ended up with chocolate chips in my purse, cart, and all over the floor.
This was Not. My. Night.
However, things turned around when I discovered that I've saved up enough gas reward points to get $0.30 off per gallon and that the door closest to my parking spot wasn't the one that gets locked up after a certain time at night.
Once I finally got home, I made Adam take charge of putting the groceries away while I made some kale chips. Delighted Momma's are much prettier than mine, but here's a shot of mine anyway.
My weigh-in this morning was definitely a good way to start the day, and my breakfast of a hard-boiled egg and blackberries was a good way to continue it. Lunch is an avocado, an orange, and some kale chips, and I have no idea what dinner will be--Adam is in charge of picking one of the recipes I bought ingredients for and making it, since I'm working at the library again and will only have a half-hour to be home and eat.
I also got a return call this morning from the health food store nearby that carries Julian Bakery's Paleo Bread that they'll reserve a couple of loaves for me from their most recent shipment (which should arrive tomorrow or Friday) and call again when it's available! I'm so excited to be able to add the quick "whatever, I'll just make a sandwich" back to the list of possibilities.
You now know my "high/low"s from yesterday. Here's to more highs and fewer lows today!
Last night was interesting, full of highs and lows. [On the nights my family ate around the table (most nights), we went around and each person told about their high point and low point of the day.]
I worked at the library, which is always a high, and scheduled a hair appointment with my recently re-found hairdresser (woot!). I got home from the library at 9:15 and told my husband that I'd be staying awake for a while because of a 10:30 webcast with the producers, some of the cast, and the great bearded glacier himself, George R.R. Martin, about the upcoming season of A Game of Thrones on HBO. We don't have HBO, so I have to wait until it comes out on DVD/Blu-ray, so it'll be fall (at least) before I get to see it, but I was hoping that Martin would maybe mention when book 6, The Winds of Winter, would be available.
Adam said, "Well, since you'll be up, why don't you go grocery shopping?" So we looked at Practical Paleo together, decided on some recipes, made a list of everything we'd need, and I left the house around 9:40. Factoring in a 5 minute each way drive to the grocery store and back and assuming Adam would unload the groceries and put them away once I got home, this left me with 30 minutes to shop.
At 10:15, I hadn't even finished in the produce section and resigned myself to not watching the webcast live, and walked a little more slowly to finish the rest of my list. The grocery store we go to has a "Scan it!" feature that means you can scan groceries as you shop and bag them before checking out at the register. At 10:30, the scanner stopped working. The system apparently turns itself off at 10:30. Seriously?! Seriously. There should be a sign.
I knew at that point that I would end up unbagging everything at the cash register and re-ringing everything up (thank God for patient and helpful store employees). I decided to finish up my list before submitting myself to that ordeal, and picked up 4 bags of dark chocolate chips. Unfortunately, one bag was split open and some inconsiderate shopper had put it back on the shelf anyway, so I ended up with chocolate chips in my purse, cart, and all over the floor.
This was Not. My. Night.
However, things turned around when I discovered that I've saved up enough gas reward points to get $0.30 off per gallon and that the door closest to my parking spot wasn't the one that gets locked up after a certain time at night.
Once I finally got home, I made Adam take charge of putting the groceries away while I made some kale chips. Delighted Momma's are much prettier than mine, but here's a shot of mine anyway.
My weigh-in this morning was definitely a good way to start the day, and my breakfast of a hard-boiled egg and blackberries was a good way to continue it. Lunch is an avocado, an orange, and some kale chips, and I have no idea what dinner will be--Adam is in charge of picking one of the recipes I bought ingredients for and making it, since I'm working at the library again and will only have a half-hour to be home and eat.
I also got a return call this morning from the health food store nearby that carries Julian Bakery's Paleo Bread that they'll reserve a couple of loaves for me from their most recent shipment (which should arrive tomorrow or Friday) and call again when it's available! I'm so excited to be able to add the quick "whatever, I'll just make a sandwich" back to the list of possibilities.
You now know my "high/low"s from yesterday. Here's to more highs and fewer lows today!
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