Oven Braised Mexican Beef

Day 7/8/9 Recipe

     Sorry for the brief hiatus!  Life definitely got in the way.  I have been at a grueling teacher leadership conference for the past three days along with making the 12 hour drive home to visit my family in Chicago yesterday.  You can't very well type and post while driving a car for 12 hours!  Being new to the 'blogging world' I need to find a way to get this into a routine. . . Anyways, I will get better!  

 

My road-tripping buddy Ranger

     Before I get to the recipe, paleo road tripping is HARD!  While I eat paleo a vast majority of the time, one of the few times I do is usually on my 12 hour road trips to Chicago.  It's hard to keep yourself awake and focused on the road for such a long time, and drive-throughs are so quick and convenient in times like this.  Not to mention the fact that while driving for such a long time, I usually need a way to entertain myself (read.chewing, eating, snacking to fill the boredom. . . .)  It's hard to fight it!  However, we are on a 30 DAY CHALLENGE and I was determined to stick with it!  

Awesome Paleo breakfast from Zeda Jane's

     The first key step was starting out strong with a filling breakfast.  Eggs, bacon, spinach, and tomatoes.  Then, I loaded up on paleo snacks for the ride - kale chips, strawberries, nuts, jerky, a banana.  I brought a little cooler with some chicken salad to have when I got super hungry.  Was it 100% perfect paleo?  No.   My jerky did have a lil bit of sugar listed on the ingredients (however it wasn't the 3rd ingredient as it is in so many of them!)  But paleo is a template; it's about adapting to fit your lifestyle.  You do what you can with what you have in that moment.  My snacks were delicious and it kept me from driving through that fast food window!  Not to mention I had a great driving buddy with me!  Ok, on to the recipe. . .

Avocado Chicken Salad

Day 6 Paleo Recipe

     Quick and Easy Lunch!  This is an easy recipe if you've got some leftover chicken in the house.  It uses NO mayonnaise - store bought mayo is not paleo, but you can make your own paleo mayo!  Eat this plain, or scoop it into a lettuce wrap for a delicious meal on the go.

Missing Rice and Grains? Try Cauliflower "Faux" Rice

Day 5 Recipe

     We are 5 days in now, and for those of you who have done this before or already follow the paleo template this may not be to big of a system shock.  For those of you who are trying paleo for the first time, most likely you are in the midst of sugar and grain "detox".  You have taken the sugar out of your body and now you crave it - you are in "withdrawal".

Pan-Seared Salmon and Oven Baked Broccoli

Day 4 Paleo Recipe

I mentioned the wonderful salmon dinner that we had in a previous post and here it is!  I'm not really a big fan of fish, but salmon is one of the few I like.  Ideally we would want to be eating fresh, wild caught fish but I live in the real world of bills, rent, and car payments all on a teacher's salary so. . . We recently bought a membership to Sam's Club (best decision ever!) and they have salmon fillets that fit our budget.  If you have the money, Clean Catch is a great fish market here in Charlotte.  The knowledgeable man behind the counter shared a great way to cook the salmon which I am sharing here with you!  Works great every time I've made salmon.  And the broccoli recipe. . . . ohh the broccoli.  Not gonna lie, sometimes this broccoli almost doesn't make it to the plate as I am constantly 'taste testing' when it comes out of the oven.  Soo good!

Pan-Seared Salmon and Oven Baked Broccoli

Wise words from Coach Matt!

When living the paleo life, we must remember a couple of rules if we want to see the results and benefits of this nutrition.

Turkey Marinara with Zucchini Pasta

Day 3 Recipe

Easy, quick, delicious.  This is a great staple recipe.  We eat it at least once a week.  Leftovers are awesome for breakfast, lunch, snack, you name it!  Enjoy!

Turkey Marinara with Zucchini Pasta

McCormick Seasoning

Refreshing Salmon Cucumber Salad

Day 2 Recipe

Starting off the 30 day challenge right, last night for dinner we had some delicious salmon fillets.  Salmon's a great protein with a strong ratio of high Omega-3 to low Omega-6. 

Fresh dill, grilled asparagus, mmmm. . . 

Ham and Egg Cups

Day 1 Recipe

Here's a recipe that's great for a quick and easy breakfast on the go.  When we make these, I wake up excited for breakfast, and they never last too long!  And no one said you can't have breakfast for dinner, or lunch, or snack. . .

Ready to go in the oven!

Paleo Challenge is ON!

Welcome to day 1!

     I hope that by now everyone has taken their measurements, cleaned out their pantry, and read over the info Matt and I put together. Being prepared is the path to success!  Most importantly, HAVE YOU SET YOUR GOAL?  For best results, you need to have a focused goal that you are working towards - %body fat loss (1-3% is reasonable), # pounds lost (depends on your current weight), inches lost, strength PR increased. . . Make it realistic and quantifiable.  It may sound silly but WRITE IT DOWN!!!!  Putting it in writing will create an increased sense of commitment and reality to your goal, than having it just floating around in your head.  Put it somewhere where you will look at it daily - on your mirror, in your car, ON YOUR PHONE :)  Take these next 30 days to become a better version of you!

Creative, Easy Salad

I get easily bored with salads.  It's just not something I can eat over and over.  Here's a quick and easy salad that's a bit different than the typical lettuce creation.  Yes it uses lunch meat, and yes that's not quite paleo.  But the way I see it, we all have to make some concessions here and there.  Lunch meat is a convenient and cost-effective way to get protein in.  I do my best to select brands that are lowest in additives, preservatives, and other processed junk.  I used ham because that's what I happened to have in my fridge (left over from making ham and egg cups), but feel free to use whatever you have on hand - turkey, chicken, etc.

Grape and Sunflower Seed Salad

Broccoli Cauliflower Bacon Soup

Paleo Eggplant Lasagna

Alright, so I've never cooked with eggplant; I've never even bought an eggplant before! But it's an excellent source of vitamins, dietary fiber, and antioxidants, so I took a risk and made a Paleo eggplant lasagna!  I adapted it from a recipe I found on Big Eats, Tiny Kitchen: Paleo Eggplant Lasagna. 

Paleo Eggplant Lasagna