Day 27 & 28: Uplifting Weekend

 General Conference Weekend is always refreshing and uplifting! 

I love to hear words from a living prophet. 

Even more amazing we were able to watching it from home broadcast live from Salt Lake City. 

Even more miraculous there are over 15,000,000 member! 142 temples operating, 14 more under construction and another 14 that have been announced. Over 80,000 missionaries serving around the world in 405 different missions. WOAH! 

What is even more AMAZING all of the talks are available online already! 

Click HERE

What did we eat? 

 Chicken Curry 

2 lbs chicken tenders 

1 yellow onion

2 sweet potatoes 

1 can coconut milk 

2 T curry powder 

4oz tomato paste 

2T butter

2T garlic 

cook the sweet potatoes and cut into chunks  

2 T butter in a medium heat pan. 

add curry into the pan and mix. 

after the butter is melted add the coconut milk and tomato paste- 

lower heat to simmer

in another pan sauté garlic and the onion

then add chicken and potatoes pieces and cook well

add chicken and onions into the sauce mixture 

Eat 

It seriously smelled so good that we went straight to eating and I totally forgot to take a picture of it! 

Before cooking I realized I needed an onion. Evan and I wanted to go for a run too, so in order to save time we decided to run to the store and buy the onion. Multi-tasking at its finest.  

Day 11: It's ALL good

We have made it to Day 11. 

Things are going well, I'm actually enjoying healthy eating a lot. I feel really really good. I have a lot of energy and I sleep really well. 

There has been a lot of experimental food the last 11 days. 

There is healthy tasting food, and then there is really delicious healthy tasting food. :) I think this may be the most successful paleo recipe I've made so far. It had a lot of flavor to it, and didn't taste like a pure vegetables, which was a serious plus. Evan really enjoyed this a lot!

Slow Cooked Chicken Enchilada 

Ingredients

2 lbs Chicken 

1 large diced yellow onion 

1 large green bell pepper

3 chopped jalepenos

1 4oz can green chilies 

3 fresh diced tomatoes 

1 8oz can tomato sauce 

3 diced garlic cloves

1T cumin

1T chili powder

2 tsp dried oregano 

salt & pepper to taste

Garnish: 

cilantro 

avocado

fresh lime 

1. combine all the ingredients into a large crock pot

2. cook for 4 hours on high and 2 hours on low

3. add your garnish and enjoy 

DoTerra Oils 

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Lucky me ended up with the same thing last night... So far the sore throat is already GONE. 

My newest order just arrived in the mail! Lemon, Lavender, OnGuard and fractioned coconut oil (Stays in liquid form even when it is cool). Hallelujah!

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Day 9: Good food, Good feeling in 30 minutes

I will start by saying I LOVE eating paleo. I feel good at the end of the day, not guilty about what I put in my mouth. I used to be a stress eater. In high school and college I would gorge myself when I was stressed, bring on the box of tricuts, block of cheese, candy and 64 oz diet coke. However then I just felt like a baluga whale. 
There were so many things going on today. From phone calls to errands, deadlines and getting things done around the house it was starting to build up inside my body *sigh* I used Serenity Oil, and applied it on my wrists and the side of my head onto the temples. Its a calming blend of Lavender, sweet marjoram, roman chamomile, ylang ylang, sandalwood and vanilla bean, I was surprised how much better I felt after about 30-45 minutes. 

Yes, everything got done on time and the world didn't come to an end. In those moments when too much is happening at once you feel like you might go crazy. 

Girls Camp is just around the corner and I have a lot of little things to do (assigning devotionals, secret sister, skits, ordering t-shirts and making welcome bags) YIKES. Hopefully it will all come together on time. Either way, we will have a lot of fun, there is hiking, archery, an observatory, and just being outdoors. I think I might be more excited than the girls. 

I was so happy that Evan got home early from work so I could just be done with everything else and call it a day! Dinner was paleo and then I used a tablespoon of soy sauce and 4 tablespoons of ketchup... Fail? mmmm maybe. But I didn't have time to hunt down the paleo replacements- I just used what was in my pantry. 

Either way the Sweet n' Sour Chicken was delicious. It made my stomach happy and what a successful relief to end the day. Here is where I got it! I didn't "fry" the chicken like it directed, because I don't know if I am a bad cook or I can't follow directions but I tend to always fail when it comes to frying my own meat. 

This is 5 minutes to Prep
25 minute cook time.

Sweet n' Sour Chicken 

2 lbs chicken tenders

1/2 c honey

1/2 c apple cider vinegar 

4 Tbs ketchup 

1Tbs Soy Sauce 

1 tsp garlic powder 

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees

Put chicken tenders into a small glass baking dish 

Pour sauce mixture over the chicken 

Bake for 25 minutes 

Several blogs say quinoa is paleo because its a seed, others claim it is not paleo because it is a grain seed. I think it probably isn't paleo, but I ate it anyway:/ 

I made more of the cashew butter to eat. I turned out better than last time. I had it in the food processor just a little longer and it turned out even more smooth than before. Ah so so delicious. 

Here is the blog where I got the recipe! 

Day 8: Keep it SUPER Simple (KISS)

I feel like it gets more and more busy everyday and it gets harder and harder to be creative with food. Repeats are in the near future for sure. I don't know how much more experimental I can get. 

My day was spent at the car dealership waiting for them to do a safety recall. I waited 4 hours before they told me it was going to be awhile. What a waste of time. I did go to Target while I was waiting. Their shelves were bare..... not a very fresh n' full store. It wasn't just this aisle. 

I did however, find a really great vegan, dairy-free, gluten free, kosher snack bar. They are delicious- watch out because some of them do have peanuts. They are delicious and sure to please your tummy, and hold you over until the next meal.  I can't say I found them because a friend recommended them to me, LUNA BARS! Awesome. Coconut pie is delicious and if you look at the ingredients it is all paleo friendly. 

For dinner I kept it super simple .

A ground beef burger patty with a little salt, pepper, and avocado slices. 

Evan had a loco mock which is rice with gravy, burger patty and an egg. 

Here's to a good start to WEEK 2! My craving of sweets is GONE! I'm pretty happy about that, but I've been craving other things like yogurt and salt and vinegar potato chips. There has got to be some sort of substitute..... 

Searching. 

Day 4: I'm still Living Paleo

Today has been so so busy. I have 4 weeks to get Girls Camp situated and ready to go. I was out and about for most of the day unexpectedly and Costco was one of my stops- yes they had samples, but I turned the other cheek. That is until I got to the Organic Fruit Snacks, which actually were all natural fruit and raw coconut sugar so yes I partook of the sampling. 

I've had people asking me what and how Paleo is. So paleo is eating natural foods- grass fed beef, poultry, and wild caught fish. There are no grains, rather there are seeds, nuts berries, organic produce, organic eggs and natural oils (coconut oil, butter).

If you read the labels on your foods you'll notice there is sugar, dairy, soy, or things you don't even know how to pronounce. The "caveman diet" eliminates these things (soy, sugar, dairy, grains, vegetable oils, and legumes) because lets be real- our bodies really don't know what to do with things we can't even pronounce.  I was kind of sad about the no bean/legume situation, but I only ever eat the canned beans and those are loaded with sodium. 

I'm no expert but I definitely did a lot of reading and research before I started the diet. I read medical entries and blogs. The best blog is by Jackie called The Paleo Mama. She has the absolute best 101 on Paleo. 

I went grocery shopping today. Here is a little advice, COSTCO! I love costco they have a lot of the cooking oils and such that you need and you can get them by the "giant" size: Pure Vanilla Extract, Nuts, Coconut Oil, Flaxseeds, Chia Seeds.... It's worth it. They also have a great deal of produce and eggs that are organic. There are also some organic meats available at Costco, and you will save money. Paleo can be more expensive but if you know your prices you won't go over your budget! 

Also, I LOVE my ninja blender. Its not only a blender, but a mixer and a food processor. I can pretty much do everything with one kitchen gadget.  

In fact I made myself a little condiment to make things more exciting. Yes I made Cashew Butter. 

Here is the Blog where I got the directions for this. 

The Healthy Foodie- Who Says Eating Healthy Has to Be Boring

I was craving something salty to add to my apples, and this turned out perfect. 
In fact I'm obsessed. 

Dinner was incredibly better today than yesterday

In fact today I can honestly say I could eat like this forever 
I really liked this meatloaf recipe. The last time I made meatloaf it involved a ton of brown sugar and ketchup along with bread crumbs and eggs. 
This one didn't involve sugar-which concerned me, but it actually was so good. 

 

Italian Meatloaf

Ingredients 

2 lbs ground beef
2 c tomato sauce- I used Prego ( no sugar or preservatives )
2 eggs-whisked 
1 finely chopped onion
salt & pepper to taste 
spinach-optional 

1.preheat oven to 400 degrees 
2. Combine beef, 1 c of tomato sauce, 2 whisked eggs, chopped onion (if you do decide to add spinach- throw it in the microwave for one minute to soften it and get the extra water out)
 3.into a bowl 
4. mix with your hands 
5. put mixture into a bread pan or glass pan
6. cook for 35 minutes 
7. Pour another cup of sauce onto the top of the loaf. 

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients 

3 sweet potatoes 
1 T ground cinnamon 
1tsp ground ginger 

1. Cut sweet potatoes into small chunks
2. boil in water for about 20 minutes or until soft 
3. Drain and put pieces into food processor 
4. add cinnamon and ginger 
5. blend until it is smooth 

Day 1: So it Begins...

30 Day Challenge 

I'm pretty Tired of Hives! That's why I've decided to begin the 30 day challenge. 

There are a million fad diets out there- protein shakes, no carb, juicing, vegan... blah blah blah. A popular diet now is the Paleo Diet. Can't say it's a "new thing" but its patterned after the Paleolithic People or "CAVEMAN"  who once roamed the earth eating a variety of foods such as: 

Free Range & Grass Fed Meats 

Wild Caught Fish 

Free Range Organic Eggs

Seeds, Nuts & Berries

Organic Produce

Saturated Fats like Coconut Oil 

No more processed food

Refined Sugars

Dairy

Vegetable Oil 

Soy

Grains 

Legumes

Eliminating these will reduce inflammation in the body, food sensitivities (which is a huge one for me!) and so much more. According to my most recent lab results following a doctor visit, I have high cholesterol (225)- so hopefully this will lower that! It's not horrible because my good cholesterol is high but I would like to get the bad junk down. 

So I'm ready to try it! One of my old roommates, Amanda Runge http://thehighheeledhousewife.blogspot.com

just completed this challenged successfully.

Cheers to her!  

So here's to Day 1: 

There are a few things I was worried about

1. I was worried I would be craving ice cream, cheese and chocolate all day but I was surprised I was full and the substitutes were actually really good. I still wanted gummy bears. I've been craving them for 5 days.... :/

2. My husband really like rice and mint oreo ice cream. I was afraid he would hate dinner...but he was pleasantly surprised. (I'm not making him eat paleo but he has volunteered to willingly eat what I cook 6/7 days) so paleo it is. He did ask for a run to Mickey D's. haha 

During the day I snacked on

Strawberries

Blueberries 

Apples

Hard Boiled Eggs ( no yoke )

For Dinner I made 

Creamy Chicken Casserole 

Ingredients 

3 cups of shredded chicken (cooked it covered in shredded coconut pieces)

2 2/3 cups of mashed butternut squash

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup coconut cream from the can

2 T cider vinegar

1 tsp sea salt

2 1/2 cup of frozen green peas 

 1 T shredded coconut (optional)

1. bake the butternut squash in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until it is soft. cut it up into small pieces and mash it up in the food processor.

2. batter the chicken in egg and cover in coconut pieces. cook thoroughly in a pan and shred it

3. combine all ingredients together in a pan

Evan asked me what kind of cheese was in this, and was surprised when I told him NO CHEESE!

Yep, no cheese, no dairy..... Its was a success. 

If you know me it doesn't end there. I was born and raised having dessert to follow dinner 

Chia Pudding

3 T Chia Seed

1 cup coconut milk 

1T vanilla extract

lime zest

blueberries 

1T honey

shredded coconut

1. combine chia seeds, coconut milk, vanilla extract, lime zest, and honey. whisk together. refrigerate for 5 minutes and then whisk again

2. cover it and refrigerate for 2 hours

3. add blueberries, some more lime zest and shredded coconut then enjoy it!