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The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 12

And just like that, the miracle 3 pound loss has come back. All at once. Geesh! Maybe this isn’t a miracle diet after all. Now I’m just back where I started, which I’m fine with.

You know a few days back I was feeling a little stressed? Some of that is due to being in charge of what to eat, every single night. Bob and I both cook, and usually alternate the dinner part: Sometimes he does it all or I do it all, and sometimes we just work on separate components that come together on the plate. (And sometimes we do order take out, but that’s a pretty rare event these days.)

But now I’m getting a few blank looks and the what can we eat for dinner question. It’s true, it’s not as easy as just yanking out a (homemade) meat sauce from the freezer and boiling up some pasta. It does require a little more thought. So there it is, that extra pressure for me to lead this thing, since it was my idea in the first place.

Luckily, with a few guidelines I’m able to set Bob up to make dinner tonight: Cottage pie, a proper English dish, using mashed cauliflower on top instead of mashed potatoes. He completely takes over dinner, and I’m relieved. With a side dish of some peas, sauteed with some onion in bacon fat (kept in the fridge for such occasions), we’re set.

(I used to really despise peas for several years, and wouldn’t go near them. Too many memories of overdone, bland boiled peas when I was younger, I think. Once I discovered the onion and bacon fat trick, I was sold. Just a little jazzing up was all the peas really needed.)

It really helped my anxiety level to not worry about dinner, after almost two solid weeks of every day thinking what to make. The bonus is, of course, that the cottage pie was big enough to have plenty of leftovers. Why didn’t I think of doing something like this earlier in the challenge?

More on the Paleo diet challenge:
Why I’m doing it in the first place
My plan for the 30 days

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 11

The answer to my question yesterday seems to be a definite maybe. Like a lot of things, it’s tough to nail it on your first try.

I’ve done a fair amount of searching for Paleo bread recipes in the past week and a half. The first thing that struck me is the amount of eggs involved. There are typically many, many eggs in Paleo bread. I guess it makes sense, really, because without any gluten to give some structure and help it rise, the bread needs something to achieve a texture that is lighter than, say, a door stop. With cakes and other baked goods, eggs are definitely the go-to ingredient when you want light and fluffy, particularly when you beat the whites separately and fold them in to a batter. (Just like we do with our waffles.)

When I came across a recipe for a grain-free sandwich bread that uses coconut flour and flax meal, and the accompanying picture looked great, I thought fabulous! Here I go, with the promise of enjoying a nice slice of Paleo toast in the morning.

Unfortunately, the result was less than stellar.

The loaf actually looked pretty nice, especially with the sesame seeds sprinkled on top. The texture was pretty good as well, denser than a regular bread but I was expecting that anyway. No, it was the eggs that sunk this one. It smelled quite eggy when I sliced it but when I toasted it up, the eggy smell really intensified and was, for me anyway, pretty off-putting. Instead of enjoying the toast I almost gagged. Yuck.

Note to self: When a bread recipe calls for 7 eggs in one loaf (7!), you will not like it.

To help erase my first Paleo baking disaster I consoled myself by making some banana bread, which was delicious, nutty and dense. Maybe I’ll just stick with quick breads for now.

Paleo Banana Bread

Adapted from Comfy Belly's banana bread -- I left out the oil, cut back on the honey, and ended up with a very enjoyable, very moist (but not greasy) loaf. One thing I enjoy with baking without wheat flour is not having to worry about over mixing the batter (and therefore ending up with a tough quick bread). Mix away to your heart's content! Within reason, of course.

Ingredients

3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
2 ripe bananas, mashed
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup pecans

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
Blend the dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. In a stand mixing bowl with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs together for 2 minutes, then mix in the mashed banana.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well to ensure the batter is well blended. Stir in the pecans.
Add the batter to your loaf pan and bake for 40 minutes, or until browned and a cake tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool before slicing.

More on the Paleo diet challenge:
Why I’m doing it in the first place
My plan for the 30 days

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 10

Day 10 and I feel noticeably more energetic when I wake up. I think partly it’s because the dinner last night was so satisfying. It really gave me a boost, and helped take me away from the what-kind-of-bread-can-I-eat thoughts that have been with me, pretty constantly, since I started this challenge.

Another thing that played a role in my mood, no doubt, was another slight drop in weight. 1 whole pound less, so 3 pounds lighter in 10 days. How ironic is that, when I wasn’t even looking to lose any weight? I think about all those times over the years I desperately wanted to lose some weight, just a couple of pounds. If only I had realized it could be done effortlessly, as if by magic, by giving up grains. Very cool.

I figure I’m on a roll, so today I’m starting my quest to find a good Paleo bread recipe. I’m hoping this isn’t an oxymoron. It’s been over a week of either eggs or fruit for breakfast, and while the (very much needed) break in my breakfast routine is refreshing, there must be a way to work some toast in with my morning americano. Right?

More on the Paleo diet challenge:
Why I’m doing it in the first place
My plan for the 30 days

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 9

I’m trying to keep a phrase from The Paleo Mom in mind today: It’s only effort until it becomes routine.

How very true. When I reframe my thinking from egads, this is hard to looking at all the foods that are Paleo friendly, I realize that much of my pre-challenge diet was, in fact, not so far off from Paleo. (Well, the less strict versions, anyway.) Lettuce substitutes for bread for a quick lunch — like julienned ham or chicken wrapped in butter lettuce leaves, with a touch of mustard. Yum. Main course salads with grilled chicken or salmon on top, along with other vegetables or some nuts. We do that already. So what’s so hard about this again?

With this mind shift, I set out to make a Mexican-themed dinner, something we do pretty regularly. Guacamole (always homemade) is a regular pre-dinner nibble, and assemble-your-own quesadillas or fajitas let even the pickiest eater find a combination of ingredients that work. With no crispy corn tortilla chips to help, ahem, hoover down the guacamole like we normally do, I decided it would work as an accompaniment to the main dish: Deconstructed steak fajitas. With the strip loin, and a few grilled peppers and asparagus that we had kicking around in the fridge begging to be used up, this felt like a 4 star dinner in an upscale Mexican cantina. I honestly didn’t miss the tortillas at all.

Kris' Guacamole

Yield: 1/2 cup

I've been making this for years and really don't measure the ingredients anymore, so use this recipe as a general guideline. The keys to success are to start with fresh ingredients -- bottled lime juice or prepared garlic are definitely out -- and make it just before you eat it.

Ingredients

1 ripe avocado, cubed
1 clove garlic, minced
1 fresh lime
dash of Tabasco sauce (or substitute a pinch of ground cumin and chili powder)
kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
optional add-ins: a couple tablespoons of minced red onion, chopped cilantro, or chopped tomato

Instructions

In a small mixing bowl, combine the avocado and garlic with a fork (or spoon, if you prefer a chunkier consistency).
Squeeze the lime into the bowl along with a dash of Tabasco sauce and mix together. Season with salt and pepper and taste it. Don't be shy with the salt.
Once you're happy with the seasoning, feel free to add in some minced red onion and cilantro, or some chopped tomato. Serve immediately.

Notes

It's preferable to make guacamole just before serving, as the surface will start to oxidize (turn brown) as it sits. If you do make it ahead of time, refrigerate it and cover the surface directly with parchment to minimize oxidation. This recipe easily doubles as written but if you're making a big batch (over 3 avocados), scale back the garlic a little...unless you're looking to ward off all the vampires in your neighborhood.

More on the Paleo diet challenge:
Why I’m doing it in the first place
My plan for the 30 days

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 8

Okay, I’m ready to try eggs for breakfast again. I thought I’d try the eggs in ham cups from Paleo Comfort Foods because they looked so good in the photo, and the chunk of ham I bought a few days ago keeps staring at me in the fridge. It also reminds me that I really should give Janet and Jenny their cookbooks back soon. (Both Make It Paleo and Paleo Comfort Foods are good resources for recipes so far. Both have simple recipes and appealing photographs, although I find the index in Paleo Comfort Foods to be very poor. How does that happen in a cookbook?)

It feels like the last few days have been tough in some regards, but I must admit that embarking on this challenge has brought a certain zing into my culinary life. While it has closed some doors for a while — notably on the bread front, which I’ve whined about probably more than I should — it has opened others.

Discovering coconut flour has been worthwhile, and not something I would have known existed otherwise. I haven’t used it in a big way, not yet, but when I opened up the package and took a whiff, it smelled so pure and well, coconutty, that I felt instantly transported to a tropical beach, cool drink in hand and sand between my toes. Realizing that almond meal is a pretty decent stand-in for all purpose flour, at least in something with a heavier texture like muffins, is pretty cool as well. Thank goodness I’m not allergic to nuts, or Paleo-friendly baked goods would be that much more challenging.

Eve, your squash pancakes with smoked salmon and cream cheese schmear were such a treat tonight. A squeeze of lemon, some capers and chives on top…very tasty. I should come over to your place for dinner more often, especially if you’re serving bubbly.

Eggs in Ham Cups

Serving Size: 2-3

From Paleo Comfort Foods by Julie & Charles Mayfield.

Ingredients

6 large eggs
6 slices of ham (preferably a quality, nitrate free source)
1-2 teaspoons coconut oil
1/2 cup mushroom finely chopped (optional)
1/2 cup shallots finely chopped (optional)
fresh chopped chives for garnish (optional)
olive oil or coconut oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a muffin tin with olive oil or coconut oil.
In a small frying pan, heat 1-2 teaspoons of coconut oil over medium heat. Saute the mushroom and shallots for 3-4 minutes, or until shallots have softened and mushrooms have cooked down.
Place one slice of ham in each cup. Put a few tablespoons of the mushroom-shallot mixture in the bottom of each. Crack an egg into each ham cup.
Cook for 15 to 20 minutes (depending on how you like your egg). Garnish with fresh chives, if using.

More on the Paleo diet challenge:
Why I’m doing it in the first place
My plan for the 30 days

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 7

Typically, I buy fresh seafood, meat, fruit and vegetables, and only a minimal amount of packaged foods, like curry pastes or a certain peanut sauce I like in my stir-frys. I make my own vinaigrettes for salad, bake my own desserts and never tire of creating new appetizer recipes. Bob does superb casseroles (always on the rather large size), a mean mushroom sauce for steak, and a bearnaise sauce that pairs beautifully with grilled salmon.

We don’t eat out a lot, and one of the reasons for that (besides the expense) is that we are both good cooks, and, more importantly, we both enjoy cooking. At the risk of sounding too boastful, our home cooking is almost always better than the food we’d get in a restaurant.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that cooking from scratch is no big deal for us, and we do it willingly. In fact, we prefer it. So the switch to a Paleo back-to-basics diet should be a pretty smooth transition, shouldn’t it? Well yes. But after almost a full week in, I’m recognizing in myself a continual anxiety in the back of my mind about it, and that surprises me.

It’s not the cooking without packaged or processed foods, or cooking simple meals with real ingredients. We do that already. I think the anxiety stems from a couple sources: It’s the shift away from former staples in my diet — cheese, bread, pasta — the things I could always rely on to bring together a quick meal. Baked mac and cheese? Lasagna? Yes, please. It’s the increased label reading to figure out if a certain ingredient is okay or not. It’s scanning menus and realizing that the only ‘safe’ thing to order is the salad, again. (Sigh.) And it’s thinking about how to work protein into every single meal, especially breakfast.

It is definitely a shift, enough to vex me a little more now that I’ve got 3 solid weeks of the challenge ahead. Tonight I quelled my anxiety a little by making a meal that has already made it into our ‘normal’ repertoire before now: chunky tomato and beef sauce atop roasted spaghetti squash, with some parmesan cheese melted on top.

More on the Paleo diet challenge:
Why I’m doing it in the first place
My plan for the 30 days