Paleo

What does paleo mean here is what Wikipedia says: The modern dietary regimen known as the Paleolithic diet (abbreviated paleo diet or paleodiet), also popularly referred to as the caveman diet, Stone Age diet and hunter-gatherer diet, is a nutritional plan based on the presumed ancient diet of wild plants and animals that various human species habitually consumed during the Paleolithic era—a period of about 2.5 million years duration that ended around 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture. In common usage, such terms as the "Paleolithic diet" also refer to the actual ancestral human diet. Centered on commonly available modern foods, the "contemporary" Paleolithic diet consists mainly of grass-fed pasture raised meats, fish, vegetables, fruit, roots, and nuts, and excludes grains, legumes, dairy products, salt, refined sugar, and processed oils.

Alright now that we have that out of the way we will go on. My friend and Paleo follower Chelssie came over last week and while J and Ian played we talked Paleo. After going over what I eat throughout the day I'm already following the Paleo way in some ways such as (this is what I'm eating today and usually eat everyday I like routine what can I say):

Breakfast: scrambled eggs- paleo approved
morning snack: rice chex- not paleo approved but doesn't have gluten so still kinda good
mid morning snack: carrots- paleo approved
Lunch: Applegate deli meat, strawberries- paleo approved
afternoon snack: rice crackers- not paleo approved due to the rice but better than other crackers
pre-dinner snack: protein bar- no good
Dinner: chicken teriyaki- good but the rice is not paleo approved but better than noodles

So overall on any given day I'm eating at least 80% if not more paleo than not. Which is good and I'm staying away from glutens which is also good.  One can determine on their own how strict of a paleo follower one wants to be.  Come Christmas I may fall off the paleo wagon but I won't fall off without trying to hang on I've got almond flour and I'm researching alternatives to refined sugar and brown sugar as well and will playing around with some of my favorite Christmas cookie recipes. My Trader Joes shopping list is growing.

Below is a picture of a meal Chelssie made this past month:


Fresh strawberries, roasted squash and broccoli, carribean jerk chicken

Can you say yummy?!?! She also just sent me a link of some info to read through that I haven't gotten to look at it throughly yet but from what I did read and what Chelssie told me as well is that paleo requires preperation.  Off to prepare some sweet potatoes which are my new protein bar replacement.

Paleo Police

So in order to dive into this paleo world a little more than just for breakfast I have decided to call in my good friend/Paleo know-it-all friend Chelssie. She and he family have been living paleo for almost a year.  When I asked her to come over and go through my pantry and fridge she said I will probably hate her so we will see come Thursday.  I did remind her that I am the one that is asking for this.  I won't be throwing anything out but when it's something I only eat and it's not paleo approved then once it's gone it will not be purchased again. So we will only be focusing on the foods I eat (good thing I indulged this past weekend into some of the naughty stuff) not what Marcus or Ian eat. I'm quite certain my fruit/veggie bowl will be safe...I HOPE!!!

Till Thursday check out this video that kindergartens the paleo way of eating.

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Sunday nights

My Sunday nights usually look like this:

Earlier in the day I already went through all the ads and coupon inserts and pulled out the coupons that I will use and clipped them.  Don't get the Sunday paper then sign up to receive notifications of coupons via email (I sent up a gmail account for all coupon notifcations to be sent too) from websites such as RedPlum, Print Coupons Online, also check out TheKrazyCouponLady there she will do the research for you if you don't have the patience or time.

I gather up my 4 store ads that I always look at: Meijer, Target, CVS and Walgreens.  I compare my list to the ads and what coupons I have.  When it comes to bathroom personal essentials I feel we can never have too many now too many to you may be different than too many to me so that is up for translation. I'm in no means a candidate for Extreme Couponing.  As the week goes on and we run low/out of something then I add it to the list and come Sunday night I break my 1 list down to 4-5 lists with the store names on top and then what I'm getting from that store and cross the item off my master list of needs.  The other thing we do is make out our menu for the week based on what we have in our freezer, what's on sale and what our palettes are craving.  Now when I say a menu I don't say on Monday we are eating such and such and Tuesday such and such.  Instead when I make out our dinner options I choose 3 that are kinda quick and easy and 3 that are a little more time consuming for the days I'm off work.  And we pick that day which one we are going to have for dinner.  I know some families have it planned down to the day and that is a bit too much structure for our family.

I primarily look to CVS and Walgreens for our bathroom personal essentials: razors, shampoo/conditioner, body wash, face wash, lotion, girly items, etc.  With both of these stores they often have money back offers with different products for example a couple weeks ago Walgreens had the brand of tampons I buy for 6.99-$2 (in store rebate, to be used on a later purchased) then I had a $2 off coupon. I also had buy one get one of the same product and for each of those I got $2 so I really got buy 1 get 2 free with the coupon and in-store rebates.  Another great buy I had was on Bic razors they were buy 1 get 1 50%off and I had a $2 off coupon which was applied to both packages of razors. I also used some in store rebates from the previous week to help pay for the items.

At all 4 stores you can combine manufacturers coupons with store coupons this is where my research comes into play.  Since we don't buy pre-packaged meals I turn to stores websites for coupons off produce and deli.  I also go to Aldi for produce and items that we aren't brand specific about such as certain cereals, baking items, milk, etc.

Meijer: you can sign up for mperks where you can "clip" coupons and when you go to check out you select the mperks logo and you enter your phone number into the kiosk and any coupons that correspond with what you purchased.  Last week I decided before going to the store to print out a list of the coupons I "clipped" and  I'm glad I did as I purchased items I had "clipped" coupons for but it wasn't taking them off so with my proof of clipped coupons an employee was able to make the proper price adjustment. 

Target:  there is no limit to how many times you can print the same coupon from their website unlike brand websites.  They also take $0.05 off for each bag you bring in to bag your groceries with.

Brand Websites: If you are brand specific on certain items as we are in our house then go to the brands website they often will have coupons that you can print off.  If we buy juice at our house then it's V8 Fusion juice so i will google V8 Fusion and find their website where they almost always have coupons for.  And then if I have a store coupon I pair them together and wait, I wait for the store that I have the coupon too has the juice on sale and then I go in for "kill", haha.

Diapers:  I have stopped buying diapers from big box stores and now they get them sent to our door on a monthly basis from Amazon if you sign up for their subscribe and save program you save 30% and you can cancel your subscription at anytime.  So right now I get 192 Pampers size 4 for $31.49 that's $0.16 a diaper and free shipping.  If I went to Sam's Club I would buy Sam's Club brand and would get about 147 diapers for $35.00...

Couponing is not hard once you get started and organized and have yourself a game plan.  Happy clipping and if you have any questions feel free to email.

the other white meat

Now, Ian is no where near ready to have chicken nuggets but when he is he will only be eating homemade chicken nuggets. If you don't know what they put in the chicken nuggets at McDonald's or in the frozen food department then read this. And watch this The video link is from Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution show he had on ABC where he went to a town in Virginia and attempted to make over their school lunches and their thinking about food. Food Revolution is where I first found out what was in chicken nuggets. I showed this to Marcus and in the video Jamie says that this is how they make them over the pond but I looked at the bag we had in our freezer at the time and it contained the same ingredients that Jamie in the video. That is when we started solely making homemade chicken nuggets when we wanted them. Before I would make them occassionaly but you know what happens you don't have time and excuse after excuse comes into play. Now, no excuses it's homemade or no chicken nuggets simple as that.

Now, I would consider letting Ian have them if a)we are in the middle of no where and this is our only option to stay alive and b)if we are in the middle of no where and this is our only option. Simple as that!

cravings

Not sure what the deal is but every since Ian entered the world I've had some serious cravings. You name it I pretty much want it although lately it's been chocolate I've been able to cure it with chocolate milk for 2 reasons: 1) I can justify it, it's milk and milk is good for you and 2)we don't keep candy/cookies in the house (anymore) and in order to get chocolate I have to leave the house and spend money 2 things I don't want to do. When I was pregnant I craved NOTHING no pickles, ice cream, chocolate, or any other things women usually crave. Now though I can't get enough food in me, feed every 2 hours and we'll get along just fine. Although if I'm involved in a task of some kind that I'm really interested in I have to be reminded to eat. You would think then while I'm at work I wouldn't be very hungry but that's where it's the worst and to make mattters I only have the food I bring with me each day meaning once it's gone it's gone no getting more. The days I stay home and spend the day with Ian I have to remind myself to eat. What's the deal? Anyone have suggestions before I start eating my work/purse/lunch bag? I changed what cereal I eat in the morning to something with more protein in it and when I do snack it's 1 of the following: banana, yogurt, granola bar, crackers or crasins.

system

I've been trying to figure out a system for trying to figure out what foods I'm eating are causing Ian to be gassy and uncomfortable. I know to keep a food journal my problem occurs when I thaw the milk from 2.5wks ago and pour it from it's nicely marked bag that contains the date and time to a bottle. I make 6 bottles up at a time. I was talking with my sister (Aunt CiCi) regarding this problem and she came up with a system that I'm going to try starting next week.

The system:
Keep a food journal, once I thaw the milk get medical tape or tape I can write on and transfer the date and time from the bag that contains my milk onto the tape and tape it to the bottle. Sounds good to me and simple, not sure why I couldn't come up with it but oh well. Thanks Aunt CiCi.

We will know in approx. 2.5weeks what is causing Mr Ian to be gassy. Good thing during the week I eat the same foods everyday except for dinner I'm not that routined.