February 28 Update: New Recipes, Whole 30 Halfway Point (again) and New Resources for You

Are you ready for the big Downton Abbey finale? I’m so excited, I can hardly wait. How will they tie up all the loose ends? Will Edith finally get her guy? Don’t we all hope so? Will Granny have a heart attack when she finds out what Spratt has been up to? But alas, the Oscars are on tonight so we’ll just have to wait one more, dreadfully long week to have all our questions answered. In the dull, waiting times, I’ll give you this lovely post to read and some yummy recipes to try. I can’t help but think that perhaps Lord Grantham would feel better if were following a paleo diet!

Back to the reality of the 21st century in the good old USA. First up, a quick update on my Whole 30 Day Sugar Detox: on day 12 and chugging right along. I’ve been doing a lot of recipe development lately and it is just impossible not to taste what I’m preparing. Just not possible. I’ve been working on a gluten free flour mix that is free of gums. It looks lovely in the mixing bowl, but the real test is in the oven of course. Those flour blends have turned into pie crusts, focaccia bread, pizza dough and bar cookies. Yes, I did taste each and every one of the recipes so technically, that would disqualify me from my Whole 30, but no, I am not starting over. This was not a slip-up. This was work. I hope you will eventually be super happy with this extreme sacrifice on my part. 🙂

Aside from that recipe testing, I’ve stuck very closely to the no sugar plan. I’m convinced that it has had an effect on my joint pain and I will do anything to make walking less painful. I’ve gotten into a groove with my breakfasts and lunches so that has been a relief. There isn’t a lot of variety, but that doesn’t bother me so much. Those two meals are far more about getting in the proper nourishment in a quick and efficient manner than fixing something gourmet. Then dinner gets to be more interesting. A couple sample breakfasts from this week:

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Bacon, wilted kale and a Millennium Falcon*

*If you cut a pear in half, use your knife to slice out that hard part near the stem and then use a melon baller to remove the core, you magically transform a plain, old pear into a Star Wars snack. I can’t tell you how many lunches have turned from bland to grand with this one little trick. My children are so easily impressed.

For that kale, I poured about half a teaspoon of the rendered fat from the yummy bacon into a non-stick skillet, ripped up the kale into bite size pieces, sprinkled on a little salt, put the lid on for about 5 minutes, and voila! I had been eating spinach every day, but the kale is so much better. To my tastebuds anyway.

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And then I got tired of kale and was apparently too lazy to cook another vegetable. Raw carrots it is.

My summary of days 6-11 of the Whole 30 this time around: nothing exciting. I’m not feeling amazing like I had hoped, but I’m not feeling bad. Figuring out the benefits is not as easy when they’re not dramatic. This is surely due in part to the fact that I was already eating pretty well to start. I can say that I have less joint paint, my skin is clear, and I am not craving sweets nearly as much as before.

Are you doing some sort of Whole 30 or Sugar Detox as well? How’s it going?

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New recipes up this week (you did get a preview of these in last week’s note so there are no big surprises here):

Pork Carnitas with Pineapple Mango Salsa Slaw

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A great crock pot meal for when you can’t be at home watching over your dinner.

Paleo “Shake and Bake” Chicken with an AIP version

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AIP version on the left, Paleo on the right. Delicious all around!

AIP-Friendly Hamburger “Buns”

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Everybody in my house (except me) likes to eat with their hands and these “buns” pass the pick it up with your hands test. Messy eaters rejoice. No, they’re not this yellow in real life. I need a new photographer.

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My technical support expert is working on adding a Recipe Index to the menu bar as we speak. There, you will be able to quickly search through all of the recipes I’ve posted. Currently, when you view the site on your desk top computer or tablet, you see a recipe index on the side bar, but you don’t get that if you’re viewing the site from your phone. Soon, you will see the Recipe option in the drop down menu at the top of your screen.

We’re still working on that resources page where I’ll tell you what all these weird ingredients are, where to find them and what to do with them. I promise, it is coming.

That’s all for this week. As always, I so appreciate you reading along and forwarding this to your friends. I am constantly evaluating my motives for starting and continuing to build this blog and I keep coming back to the hope that maybe, just maybe, something I put up here will help someone else to find a healthy life, one where you don’t feel sick after you eat. I went for years taking the medicines and following the advice of doctors that clearly didn’t really have my best interest in mind. I wish I had known about paleo sooner.

I hope it’s a good week for you!