Our Paleo Trial

Good Morning Everyone!

We have been introducing some changes into our home that we have been loving, but at the same time have also proved to be a struggle.  For the most part we are fairly active, eat pretty healthy, and occasionally indulge in not-so-good-for-us food.  Over the summer I noticed I didn't have as much desire to workout or restrain from the tempting treats at work, and in turn I noticed my body changed. Once I started back in school and teaching dance, every day was a new form of exhaustion to say the least.  I could barely keep my eyes open without a cup of coffee in hand and I hated the feeling of being so reliant on caffeine.  I had been working out, doing yoga and trying to clean up my diet but I was still feeling sluggish and not like myself. 

So...

I started doing some research and came across the Paleo Lifestyle.  Instantly it screamed to me: I could eat all of the things I love, PLUS it embraced healthy fats...what?!  Over much contemplation I decided to give it a try and have been maintaining about an 80/20 balance for the past month (with the occasional Halloween treat here and there...I'm only human!)  The first few days were super easy, as I am not a huge wheat or legume indulger to begin with (although I did have to give up my beloved oatmeal and soy milk), but after a couple of days I found I got bored, or was too lazy to prepare something or couldn't think of anything to eat.  My boyfriend and I decided to search some meal plans that others have tried and are still on the search of finding meals we both enjoy and that fill us up.  The pictures below are some of the meals we have experimented with to date, all of which are equally delicious. 

To be completely honest, my main reasons to embark on this journey were the following: to stop mindlessly snacking (I was honestly a cracker ADDICT...I never left the store without a new package in hand), to incorporate more vegetables in my diet and to hopefully regain some more energy and balance in my life.  So far I can truthfully say I feel a lot better!  Although I still have my tired days, I usually now only resort to my one cup of coffee in the mornings (blended with coconut butter, if you haven't tried this you need to...right now!  It's so creamy and delicious!), I have a lot more energy than I did over the summer, I'm eating way more veggies that I would in a normal day (and I feel like I'm reaching for them at snack time which is very unusual for me), and I have been slowly but surely kicking my mindlessly snacking habit.  It's really amazing me how much more I notice about my body when I'm eating Paleo - I now can recognize when I'm eating out of hunger and when I'm emotional or stress eating.  I know this journey will have its ups and downs along the way, but I am really looking forward to learning more about my body and incorporating all the paleo goodness into some new recipes! 

 

So tell me, have any of you embarked on the Paleo lifestyle? Any tips to share?

Banana Oats

My sister has continually told me about fried bananas, and I have always been too lazy to try them out.  

However, since I am officially finished my school semester and have an abundance of time in the mornings, I decided to try it out.

And…drumroll please…it was absolutely amazing.

The bananas become so much sweeter and more delicious when they’re fried.  They make me feel like I’m eating a sinful dessert, when I’m really eating a healthy breakfast!  

Banana Oats (1 serving)

1/4 cup egg whites

1/4 cup Coach’s Oats

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup almond milk

1 sliced banana

1 teaspoon of honey (adjust to your taste)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

toppings of choice (I used walnuts and coconut flakes)

Whisk egg whites until they are fluffy.  Add in oats, water and milk and bring to a boil.  Continue cooking until liquid is absorbed. 

While the oats are cooking, place sliced banana, honey and cinnamon in a pan over medium heat.  Fry until bananas are slightly softened.  

Mix together and add toppings of your choice!

Apple, Onion and Spinach Grilled Cheese

Good Morning!

Everyone always rants and raves to me about these 'fancy' grilled cheese sandwiches that I still had yet to try.  So, without any plans of what to have for dinner last night, I decided it was time to jump on board and try these out.  And as it turns out, everyone was right.  So much better than a regular grilled cheese!

Apple, Onion and Spinach Grilled Cheese

I started off with this beautiful board of goods.
Pumpernickel bread
Fresh spinach
Gala apples (thinly sliced)
Onion (thinly sliced and caramelized in pan)
Cheese (I grated and mixed together a bunch of 'cheese ends' we had in the fridge, so ours turned out to be non dairy cheddar, old cheddar and vegetable havarti)

Once everything was ready these were so easy to put together!  I layered cheese, spinach, apples, onions and then a bit more cheese on top - all sandwiched in between two pieces of bread.  

They only took about 5 minutes to grill on the George Foreman grill: and there they lay all gooey, cheesy and delicious. 

I think next time I will be trying this with beets!  Tell me - what's your favourite grilled cheese sandwich?

Orange and Strawberry Salad

Hey again!

Sorry it's been a while, I took the weekend off as it was my 25th Birthday!  Ahhh - it really is crazy how fast time flies! 

I'm going to warn you in advance that I'm probably going to post quite a few salad recipes, and oatmeal recipes as these are my staples.  I have both of them at least once a day and, since I used to absolutely hate vegetables, I know there are others out there who are not as fond of them and maybe would like some ways to incorporate them into their lives as well!  Hence my new addiction: fruit in salads.  I love fruit. If I could eat just fruit all day long I would be the happiest girl in the world.  Unfortunately, I realize I need to eat more than just fruit all day long to stay full and have a balanced diet.  So I one day came across the realization that if I started putting fruit in my salads like everyone else started doing eons ago, I would probably enjoy them a bit more.  And guess what?  I LOVE SALADS!  

So here it is, my simple salad that I had for lunch today.  I'm not huge on measuring ingredients because it really slows me down and I kind of just like to wing it, but I did sort of measured this one for you today!

Orange and Strawberry Salad (serves 1)

2-3 cups fresh Kale (I learned this great trick from my farmer friend Mike last year that if you massage the Kale with some olive oil for 30 seconds to a minute before hand, it makes it wonderfully tender!)

4-5 Strawberries (chopped)

1/2 Orange (chopped)

1 TBSP walnuts

1 TBSP dried cranberries

1-2 TBSP blueberry balsamic vinegar (or regular works just as well!)

Mix it all together and enjoy!

I also paired this with a hard boiled egg and a rice cake so my stomach wouldn't start grumbling 5 minutes into class!

Apple-Raisin Oatmeal

Good Morning and Happy Friday!  

I don't know about you, but I always get a little excited when I wake up knowing the weekend is just around the corner!  

This morning's recipe is one I stumbled upon from the amazing blogger Catherine at Rabbit Food For My Bunny Teeth!  

Here is her original link - you should check out her page. It's life-changing.

http://rabbitfoodformybunnyteeth.com/fluffy-oats/

Now onto my breakfast this morning...doesn't it look scrumptious?

Apple-Raisin Oatmeal (serves 1)

1/4 cup liquid egg whites (whisk before combining)

1/4 cup Coach's oats (from Costco - any kind will do!)

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1 tsp honey (add more or less to taste, I don't like mine very sweet)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp raisins

1/2 apple (chopped)

Combine in a small saucepan and heat over medium until oats begin to simmer.  Continue simmering until liquid is absorbed, or desired consistency is reached.  

I like to add a little bit of almond milk afterwards and top with toasted coconut flakes (Have you tried these?  They're honestly ah-mazing: good old Costco!)

Tropical Green Smoothie

Good Morning out there!

Welcome to my obsession (I’m not kidding…I need at least one a day, sometimes that turns into two or three)

Smoothies!

This is my new favourite smoothie.  It’s tropical and amazing and everything you could wish for in a glass.  I like to blend my spinach in the Magic Bullet first because it blends it into a finer paste than my Ninja does.

Tropical Green Smoothie (serves 2)

4 cups of fresh spinach

1 frozen banana

2 oranges, peeled

2 cups of frozen pineapple

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 cup almond milk

1/4 c greek yogurt (plain, vanilla, coconut - choose your favourite, they’re all good!)

Blend and enjoy!  

You may need to add more or less liquid, depending on your blender and how thick you like your smoothies!  J likes protein powder in his smoothies instead of yogurt, which just makes it a bit richer/sweeter (but also delicious!)

Kale and Beet Salad

...Isn't it B-E-A-U-TIFUL?

I have a tendency to crave a random assortment of fruits and veggies at once, hence the mixture in this salad.  I made this before my evening class last night and had NO idea it would be so gosh-darn delicious!  You can use as much or as little of each ingredient as you would like, I just put a general guideline for those who would like an idea!

Kale and Beet Salad (1 serving)

2 cups kale

handful almonds (10)

1/2 apple chopped

2 strawberries chopped

1/4 pickled beet (on non pickled if you'd prefer!)

handful of snap peas (chopped)

tablespoon of dried cranberries

You can use whatever type of dressing you want: I used a mixture of balsamic and poppyseed

I'm a huge believer that beautiful food = happy tummy, and this salad is full of colour and flavour!  Let me know what you think, or any substitutions you've made to suit your tastebuds!

Cheers!

Kelsey