Boundless energy; beautiful waves

Day 14: That's two weeks - half way there! 
Hello. I'm back from my surf and yoga weekend retreat. It was fabulous. Fabulous because I got to surf for 10 hours over three days; fabulous because I was on the road with my fabulous and funny surfing buddy and fabulous because I was able to stop, take a breath and decompress. I was so grateful to my husband for allowing me to go away - but truth be known; I think we all need to step away every now and then, in order to see the bigger picture and take some time to consider all those things and people we are grateful for. Lawks! Three days of om-ing whilst in prayer position and I turn into a yogic oracle! We were in Broulee with Tidal Dreamings and I highly recommend them for both beginner and beginner+ level surfers.  We ate so healthily over the four days we were away. My surfing buddy decided to pretty much join me in my Paleo eating style and I think I converted her to C.A.D.A. We were exercising six hours a day and enjoyed each and every morsel we ate. I was really stoked with my invention of chicken breast strips wrapped in prosciutto. I took two chicken breasts, sliced each one into four and wrapped all eight strips in a slice of prosciutto, then pan-fried them with some oregano and sage leaves. The salad was simply boiled cauliflower with cherry tomatoes, basil leaves, a slice or two of avocado and my salad dressing. 

Breakfast - I woke up so hungry I could've eaten a woolly mammoth! Over the weekend I'd made my two room mates get up for brekkie before a two hour sunrise surf, so at 6 a.m. this morning my tummy was wondering why it hadn't been attended to yet. Left-over C.A.D.A. didn't even touch the sides, so I had to have some sweet potato mashed with coconut milk to fill me up a bit. With all my new-found skills and confidence I hit my usual surfing spot, ready to rip... only to find the surf was scary big and that I had no oomph left in my arms to paddle through the white wash. Still good to be in the water and get those couple of waves though. 

Lunch - as I hadn't been shopping, the fridge was looking pretty bare. A quick saute of mushrooms, celery, roasted pumpkin and thyme leaves topped with a hard boiled egg hit the spot.

Dinner - Hubby made me this wonderful prawn dish from the paleomom site, last night when I got home from Broulee. He did it just with the frozen prawns we had in the freezer. In trying not to be my usual controlling self, I didn't offer any advice with the spices. As we didn't have any curry powder (I always make my own mix), he grabbed a box of Indian dahl spice and used the recommended 1 tablespoon.... it blew my poor darling's head off and he couldn't eat it. Bonus, as I LOVED it and was able to have his serving tonight for my dinner!

One more thing as a post-script: going on holiday was the ultimate litmus test for my Paleo food plan, as my tummy never behaves itself when I go away. I inevitably return home bloated, uncomfortable and dreading the next morning as I have to take my "serious dose" of medication. However, for the first time in probably fifteen plus years, I had no problems at all. I had endless energy for the demands put on my body and just felt so invigorated. I strongly suspect the next two weeks aren't going to be the last two weeks of Paleo eating in my life.

Bliss balls for my surfing buddy

Day 9: Today was a "clean out the fridge" day, before I went grocery shopping. I'm not talking about the Shannon Lush kinda clean out of the fridge, which she recommends doing every week with baking soda and vinegar, which then made me feel positively slovenly. I'm talking about taking what's in the fridge and making a meal of it. 
Breakfast - The morning was so hectic that I literally threw whatever was to hand into my smoothie: a whole banana, some very ripe strawberries, a bit of spinach, a cup of coconut water and a dollop of coconut milk. I prefer the Ayam brand of coconut milk and cream as it's one of the few that is just coconut and water, no preservatives. I think I need the whole banana, not just a half, to see me through to lunchtime - it worked a treat.


Lunch - Following the same impetus as above I created a super tasty "pie" out of left-over stuffed mushroom stuffing (from Sunday 23rd) spread over the bottom of my dish, layered with about 100gm of tinned tuna and topped with my lovely Paleo crust.  

In preparation for my upcoming surf/yoga weekend, I'd promised my surfing buddy to bring along some bliss balls. I found this recipe on nomnompaleo,com. Of course, I couldn't stick to the recipe, so I added a dollop of tahini and a tablespoon of my Dutch cacao. I just tried one out of the freezer..... yummmmm. Where the strawberries have frozen, it's like little bursts of strawberry sorbet in your mouth. I imagine we'll look forward to these after a day of non-stop activity.

Dinner - Maybe it was from all the bliss ball bowl licking, but I just didn't have the urge for any protein. I was quite happy with a simple stir fry of red onion, kale, mushroom and asparagus. Topped off with last night's gochujang chilli dressing. By the way, I'm loathe to find out the bitter truth as I loved it so much, but I don't think that dressing was strictly Paleo. Hard telling, not knowing Korean. I think I might be inspired to sneak another bliss ball with my cuppa later on though!

P.S. I will be out of action for the next couple of days whilst I surf and downward dog my little heart out. Very excited. My surfing buddy is keen to join me on this Paleo adventure, so she loves to eat healthy too, though she is likely to sneak a bit of goat's cheese on her salad! We have a menu plan: fresh fish and sweet potato chips for the first night; CADA and salad for breakfasts and dinners; Steak and roast vegies for night two and prosciutto wrapped chicken breast with a cherry tomato and cauliflower salad for night three. Talk soon.

Spicing up my life

Day 8: It feels great to be back to my usual energy levels. Tuesday is my day completely to myself and with my new training program, I have scheduled it to be a long bike ride. But life sometimes just gets in the way of these well intended schedules. After dropping off the kids at school, I got home to discover my youngest had left his school hat behind. So back in the car, up the hill, as just as I got to the classroom I remembered it was my rostered day to help with reading. There goes that long bike ride... But I so love being in class with my Squidget and meeting all his new buddies.
Breakfast - given plans for a long bike ride, I had made myself a poached egg. I really felt like something crunchy and toast-like under my egg. So I slowly baked some of that crust from the grain-free nacho mix. I put it in the oven, spread out as thin as I could, and baked it for 35 mins on 150oC. It didn't have the required crunch, but it did make my brekkie more satisfying.

Lunch - After my bike ride I really didn't have time to make a pretty lunch for my blog. I had already poached a chicken breast, so I fished that out of the stock it was bathing in, sliced it up, added half an avocado and a Lebanese cucumber, then drizzled the whole lot with that amazing Anchovy Sauce. Gosh it looked a mess, but tasted superb. 

Dinner - I have a very dear friend who has a farm. It holds cattle and sheep, lots of kangaroo and even an obnoxious alpaca. Now it's illegal for them to "farm" the kangaroo, so no joy there, but their lamb is to die for. When invited recently to dine on some of their own produce, I felt a special affinity for the lamb on my plate, as I had personally shepherded it on one visit. I feel so at home being back on a farm working with the animals. Knowing where your meat is sourced from can really guarantee better quality meat and an understanding of what it takes to bring this produce to market. In honour of great lamb I made a simple, very family friendly meal of chump chops pan-fried in some grass-fed butter, roasted purple sweet potatoes (brilliant; the boys thought they were normal potatoes as the inner flesh is pale cream), roasted cauliflower and steamed broccoli. The whole lot was dolloped with this recipe I found in our newspaper, using one of my favourite chilli pastes - gochujang. I buy it in my local Asian grocery store. I also dry-roasted some sesame seeds and cashew nuts and added them to the garnish.

To the dressing, I added 1 tsp of sesame oil and 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar. I didn't use the rice wine vinegar.

One more milestone to celebrate

Day 7: Big cheer and high five to myself. That's a whole week of eating Paleo. Do I feel better? Well, since you asked... my stomach has been AWESOME!!! I am so happy with the results. I have reduced my medication by more than half. Given my goal was to do just that, I reckon it's a great result. The truth of the matter is that I am unlikely to ever be completely medication-free, but reducing it will really improve the condition of my gut. So buoyed by this state of events I enjoyed my seventh Paleo day enormously, starting with...
Breakfast - as most of my "experiments" have worked so far, I wasn't too disappointed in this one, but I won't be trying it again. From this recipe on eatdrinkpaleo.com, I tried to re-create the smoothie using the fresh coconut and coconut water I had available as I thought 1 cup of coconut cream would be just too rich. I added half a banana to help thicken it up, but my food processor left the smoothie too chunky. It would probably work well in a Thermomix. I really enjoyed having a coconutty iced coffee for brekkie, but it wouldn't be to everyone's taste.

Lunch - Oh the relief to know I had a meal already prepared when I got home starving from bashing around in the waves. That is, my second portion of my stuffed mushrooms from yesterday's blog. Sprinkled with some cayenne this time - love my chilli!

Dinner - Swordfish is very rarely on the menu at mi casa, but it was on special, as was some asparagus. My surfing buddy had told me about making salmon with salsa verde in the weekend, so I googled it to see if it was Paleo and found this fantastic sauce made with anchovies and capers, and thus.... a meal was made. I felt in need of some bigger carbs tonight so I steamed some pumpkin and cauliflower and mashed them with some butter and nutmeg. The swordfish I simply pan-fried and spooned the lovely sauce over everything. My eight year old polished off his plate too.

Finally, I've just discovered that a spoonful of coconut milk in my nightly chai tea is simply decadent. Enjoyed with one of my bliss balls. Nigh night.

Getting inventive to keep it fresh

Day 6: The first thing I googled this morning was "bored with Paleo". Not a cheerful start. I think I was a bit morose about not joining in with my friends to have fish and chips and a lovely Barossa wine on the beach the night before. I like to have fun with my friends and instead I just felt a bit more neurotic than usual. But hey! Today's another day and after reading a few other blogs I'm back on track. I reminded myself to "just BE": Just to sit with the discomfort, acknowledge it and let it pass...

Breakfast - C.A.D.A. coz if it ain't broke, don't fix it. See yesterday's post for the recipe.

Lunch - this was where the blogs I'd read helped. They suggested getting inventive, so I created my first Paleo meal (with a bit of inspiration from this stuffed mushroom recipe). Firstly prepare your 4 - 6 field mushrooms  by brushing them or wiping them with a slightly damp cloth, cutting off the stem and scraping out all the feathery gills. Save all that black mushroomy goodness. Then saute half a stick of celery, quarter of a red capsicum, 2 garlic cloves and all the mushroom bits, 3 thyme stalks and two anchovy fillets plus some s & p. Then put the whole lot into a blender along with about 200gm of tinned tuna, one egg and a tablespoon of coconut flour. Pulse it to a chunky paste and spoon it into your field mushroom cups. Bake at 180 oC for 25 mins. I had mine with some braised kale. Hubby even commented that they were really good.

Dinner - Nachos is one of my absolute favourite "junk food" dinners. It's definitely because of the swathes of cheese, sour cream and salsa I normally top mine off with. The whole family loves them too, so I always have a batch in the freezer for an easy Sunday meal. I was keen to try this Paleo version from beautyandthefoodie.com. I wouldn't say that the topping tastes like cornbread, but it's such a clever and creative crust. I'm now thinking of other ways to use it: shepherd's pie, fish pie... When I looked at my store-bought jar of salsa, I saw there was sugar in it, so I quickly made a simple salsa of half a tomato, quarter of an avocado, a handful in total of mint, parsely and basil, a squirt of lime juice and some s & p. With the meat mixture, there was enough for two freezer meals so that I can enjoy nachos alongside my boys again too. 

Fish and chips on the beach

Day 5: I have my first "social" challenges today. Like with this whole Paleo caper so far, the trick is in the planning. Knowing what you're going to have when out and about. Perhaps even relaxing the food plan for a meal. More on my evening meal later...
Breakfast - I was happy to make my own C.A.D.A. this morning. I had forgotten about this Paleo gem, introduced to me whilst camping. Before this, I was a total muesli, yoghurt and fruit kinda breakfast girl. I have missed it a bit, as I never get sick of it. I'd have it three times a day if desired. So C.A.D.A. (that's Coconut Almond Date Apple, by the way) made the world feel much more normal again. I had had the pleasure of bashing a coconut to bits with my six year old the day before, so I added several chunks of fresh coconut, about 10 almonds, half a dozen dates, a Granny Smith apple, a sprinkle of cinnamon, some chia seeds and a slosh of coconut water into the food processor. The resulting bowl of bircher-muesli-style goodness was given a further slosh of almond milk - yummy. I love the tanginess that the Granny Smith gives, but you may prefer a sweeter apple.

The planets then aligned and my hubby and I found ourselves childless for a few hours.... so we went off on a bike ride and stopped for a coffee. Again, in the past I was a soy flat white girl and this time I ordered a long black and sneaked in my almond milk, procured from my backpack. Easy and no embarrassing demands made of the barista.

Lunch - Just keeping it easy, but I was hungry after my second workout: a mushroom and  broccoli frittata. 

Dinner - This was where I'd had a think about eating on the beach with my mates. Knowing it was fish and chips and knowing what a greedy little piggy I am around hot chips, I decided to make my own meal. I bought a bag of mixed root vegie chips, so I had a chippy experience along with everyone else, and a tub full of salad (lettuce, celery, herbs, sweet potato, diced up pork, avocado and my trusty dressing). Oh that was hard though! I really like chips and Barossa reds!!

My friends are well used to me making bliss balls, so I made these to add to the picnic. A cup of dates soaked in coconut water for an hour, a cup of almonds, a large tablespoon of cacao, several chunks of fresh coconut (dessicated would work fine too), a tablespoon of tahini and half a cup of frozen raspberries. I put the mix straight into the fridge to harden up before rolling them into bite-sized balls and covering them in shredded coconut. That Dutch cacao is so rich. It really makes you feel like you've had something very chocolatey.

Friday night = Treat night

Day 3: So much better today. I could even manage a series of downward dogs to warm up my just-got-out-of-bed stiff body. The meals varied between same old, same old and something really exciting. More on that later...
Breakfast - a smoothie, with this one a bit chunkier than yesterday's - featuring a stick of celery, spinach, 1/2 banana, 4 sugar plums that were looking a bit tired in the fruit bowl and a teaspoon of chia seeds. All whizzed up with coconut water, water and a spoonful of coconut milk. Driving off for a surf I thought I needed to take a snack with me, but I realised I was under a Jedi-mind spell. I've been thinking of this Paleo food plan as a diet and the moment I tell myself "the D word" I go into real cave woman mode; obsessing about food, hoarding ingredients for future dishes and living from one meal to the next. When I took a deep breath and a long, hard think, I realised I wasn't hungry, I was still just a bit low on energy. Wonderful morning, as I watched my surfing buddy catch the wave of her life.

Lunch - a bit of same old... this time replacing the tuna with poached chicken breast and adding some savoury semi dried tomatoes and pine nuts.

Dinner - this was when things got exciting! Friday night is always my night off from cooking. I usually get sushi (or a kebab when hubby and I get out to watch some rugby). So I wanted this Friday to be a treat night too. I took this idea from Nom Nom Paleo's website. Then I had kale, which had been ignored as a smoothie ingredient, needing to be used. So I roasted it along with ribbons of zucchini and carrot with coconut oil and Herbie's Spices Roast Vegetable Herb Mix. I then rolled the crunchy kale into the sushi roll for some texture and had the other vegies on the side.

But the grand finale was this: chocolate coffee caramel bar. Seriously?!?! This can't be Paleo? But according to Mark Sisson, chocolate is firmly on the Paleo list, so who am I to argue? I bought as pure chocolate as I could find - 70% cocoa, no soy lecithin and a packet of Dutch cacao. Making it involved lots of bowl and spatula licking. I was soooo happy with the results. It was very rich - I replaced the coconut milk that goes in with the dark chocolate with Tasmanian grass-fed butter. But just heavenly. Definitely a keeper for life beyond Paleo.

Say NO to the kale in your smoothie!

Healthy eating with a head cold

Day 2: I reckon if it wasn't for this blog, I would've given up on this Paleo food plan - by day 2!! However, despite feeling like snuggling up in bed with a Magnum and a trashy mag, I stayed on track. They say that using social media to publicise your health intentions is one of the best ways to stay true to your goals. It worked! I also took photos of all my meals but I need to figure out how to reduce their size. 
Breakfast - a two egg omelette filled with my left-over roast pumpkin and some lightly pan-fried mushrooms. Then an almond milk flat white - who knew that it'd be as good as it was? Not missing my soy at all. I have been trying not to have any tea or coffee within an hour of eating, so to maximise absorption of all the nutrients I'm eating. I didn't work out at all today as walking to the supermarket was challenging enough, so I didn't get as hungry as yesterday. Having eggs for breaking always keeps me going for ages anyway. 

Lunch - I had promised a photo of my invention: coconut milk braised zucchini and fish, topped with cauliflower hummus. Just as lovely today as yesterday. Hopefully all that garlic will help clear my cold.

Dinner - I made this http://ancestral-nutrition.com/spicy-chicken-lettuce-wraps-paleo-primal/, with a couple of adjustments.
 I used 500 gm of chicken mince, added one finely grated carrot and sprinkled with lots of diced red pepper and coriander. For the kids I added my exciting new find - brown basmati rice. The lovely Indian grocer told me to add sizzling ghee with cumin seeds to the rice as you fluff it up. They loved it.

I'm now just curled up with a chai tea with a splash of almond milk and a handful of dried fruit and nuts. Full as a bull, and happy that I nourished my body so well, when it so needs it. 
My sister told me to look at his site: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/welcome-to-marks-daily-apple/#axzz2wM1f30L7
There's so much info out there, just as well I've got some time on my hands to sift through it.

Giving Paleo a try

 

Day 1 - I started my month of Paleo-style eating completely unorganised. The fridge was looking a bit bare so my meals were "experimental". As such, I didn't take any photos coz they weren't pretty.

Breakfast - a smoothie of honeydew melon, a handful of spinach, a teaspoon of chia, 3 dates, a teaspoon of Super Greens powder and a cup of almond milk. If you leave it for 15 minutes before you whizz it up in the blender, the chia seeds will swell up and make the smoothie thick. It was yummy but I was starving by lunch as I went on a 7.5 km walk.

Lunch - I will make this again tomorrow and photograph it, as it was fantastic: a dollop of coconut milk on the bottom of an oven-proof dish, ribbons of zucchini rolled around in the milk as well as a fresh fillet of fish, some s&p and baked at 180oC for 20 minutes. I then topped it all off with some Paleo Hummus http://cookeatpaleo.com/roasted-cauliflower-hummus/and put it back in the oven for 5 mins to warm through.

Dinner - 1 chicken breast, sliced up, sautéed in extra virgin olive oil along with spring onions, garlic, broccoli and more zucchini (my friend gave me 3 huge schlongs of zucchini and after making zucchini bread and butter pickles, zucchini and walnut cake (both non-Paleo I'm sorry to say) and now today's dishes, I'm down to a manageable half left). I added some oregano and chilli flakes, roasted brown onion and pumpkin. Man I was hungry and very crabby. So I saved most of the roasted pumpkin for tomorrow's breakfast to give me some carbs early on in the day rather than having them in the evening.

Snacks - an apple, a small handful of almonds and cashews, some pepitas and dried apricots and a coffee with almond milk and several cups of rooibos tea.

Eating loads of veggies isn't too much of a struggle but it may take a week or so to get used to the lower carb intake. All in all, a great start. I don't think there were too many deviations. Maybe the dried fruit is a no-no?? Just let me have one little sweet treat... Puhleeeease??!!