Day 10

This Cobb Salad is amazing. So so good. I had a hard time not eating all the bacon before I could get it cut up and put into the salad :)

I'm definitely not winning the Paleo Challenge, scores for the first week are up and theres at least ten people ahead of me. Main reason being, I don't get 7 hours of sleep every night (I have a 14 month old) and I work out 5 days a week, not 7. Oh well though, at lease I feel good, and that is most important!

Paleo Meatloaf and BBQ Sauce, Salad, and yes, wine!

I've never made meatloaf before, and for this being my first time, I feel like it was pretty darn good!
This is the recipe I used. The only thing I changed is I used deer meat instead of beef and I used 1/4 cup of coconut flour because it's what I had.
So this was dinner.. meatloaf, salad, and yep.. I had a glass of wine. And it was delicious. I needed to treat myself :)
The bbq sauce I used I found on a website that used it for chicken tenders. I can't remember the website so here's the recipe:
-3/4 orange juice
-2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
-10 TBSP tomato paste
-4 TBSP minced shallots
-4 cloves minced garlic
-1/2 tsp mustard powder, paprika, and salt (each)
-1/4 tsp pepper
-1 TBSP coconut oil

Heat oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Place minced shallots and garlic in sauce pan until soft. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer over low heat 15-20 minutes.

I have a bunch left over so I might make some chicken tenders for lunch tomorrow. Finley loves chicken so it's an easy choice :) I hope you try the meatloaf and like it! It does have a little spicy kick to it!

P.S. I forgot to mention yesterday that I greased the muffin tin for the egg muffins with coconut oil and it worked perfectly!

Day 8

Week 2! This morning I finally made these egg muffins. I used the chicken maple sausage I've linked in another post, sweet onion, and yellow pepper. I ended up with a few more veggies and so I used 8 eggs and made 9 muffins instead of her 6. Next time I'll use more spices, I was in kind of a hurry this morning. I stuck a few in the freezer also to see how they would hold up and if they would be good if I stuck  them in the microwave.

For lunch I had leftover chili and avocado. I'm not gonna lie, that chili would be really great with some melted cheese and crunchy wheat thins. It was hard to resist!

And for dinner tonight we just made a simple steak salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Justin and I are craving sweets so I'm thinking I might find a Paleo sweets recipe just to satisfy the craving. Or maybe some super dark chocolate, I've heard of a lot of Paleo people do that.

My shoulders seem to be doing better in my workouts. It would be interesting to know if it is diet, fish oil, or just my body adjusting to the workouts. Or all 3. Either way, I'm happy and hope they keep getting better and that I keep getting stronger!
My family commented today that in the past week of eating Paleo, I look leaner. So that is a nice compliment! It must be working, and I do feel good!

Day 7!

So tonight I made Paleo Chili! Since it's Paleo, you're not allowed to put beans in it, I was surprised by how many people asked 'so what are you gonna put in it?'. It never occurred to me that it wouldn't just be meat, spices and veggies. The only thing I did different from her recipe was I added the zucchini I had left. I really liked her idea of putting avocado on top and having a little bit with each bite. I never would have that of that myself but in my opinion it just made it even yummier.

I also made this. It was nice to have a little frozen treat. It's weird how just changing the texture of something can make it a treat :) It's definitely worth a try if you have a sweet tooth like me!

Have a good night everyone!

Day 6

I know I'm getting to this a little later than usual, sorry! Last night Justin and I decided to go on a dinner date where I had two glasses of wine. When I got home I promptly fell asleep :)
So yes, I finally gave in and treated myself. I did however keep my dinner Paleo which I'm happy about. Then I had a few bites of dessert which I do regret. I'll go on a run today to balance out :)
I do believe in indulging every once in a while, what I regret is I've just been working really hard this last week and feel like I kind of ruined it. But today is a new day, I'm not going to dwell!
So yesterday I made this yummy pan seared cod with avocado salsa for lunch. It was really good!

Cookin

Finished Product!

That salsa is so good. I LOVE cilantro and mixed with lime juice and spicy red pepper. It was just delicious. When I finished eating I had wished I had another fish fillet!

Since we didn't have dinner at home I don't have another recipe to post. I am really excited about tonight's dinner, so check back and I should be back on track posting after we eat dinner :)

Day 5

I am not cooking tonight. I had a great meal planned but when I got home from the gym and took out the fish I realized it was frozen solid. I bought if from the area of the grocery store where everythings always fresh so I just assumed and stuck it in the fridge. Now, my daughter is in bed and my husband at work so I just ate a salad I made from spring mix and whatever veggies in the fridge and some avocado. I did however make some roasted sweet potatoes and my own 'protein bars' for snacks. I was searching online for different snack ideas because I'm getting tired of nuts and fruit.

Here's the recipe for the sweet potatoes. Super easy and super delicious.
I can't take credit for the protein bars either but I don't remember where I got the recipe because I was googling like crazy. It's very simple though..
1c nuts
1c dried fruit
1c dates
Put the 3 ingredients in the food processor and pulse to break it all up. Then leave the processor on until it starts to ball up like you see in the bottom picture. Then take out the 'dough' and press in down in a baking sheet to desired thickness (middle picture).
Refrigerate for a minimum of one hour and then you can take them out and cut them up. I would suggest individually wrapping and freezing them or keeping them refrigerated because otherwise they will get all gooey again.They are still very soft from the fridge, I will try freezing mine.
For my first try I used cashews and dried cranberries and they taste exactly like that :) So basically its a way less expensive Larabar and it should be easy enough to figure out the calories of each bar.
I'll probably make what was supposed to be dinner tonight for lunch tomorrow and keep the plan of tomorrows dinner.
Check back to find out what they are! Thanks for reading! :)

Day 4

Bacon Stuffed Chicken is what was for dinner

Well, another day has come and gone!
Today's breakfast was more of the same, scrambled eggs with veggies and sausage. The sausage I've been using is this. I just get if from one of the health food stores in town.
I'm going to have to find some different recipe ideas in the next few days so we can have some diversity for breakfast.
Lunch we had leftover spaghetti from last night.
Snacks were these carrot banana muffins. They are great because I freeze them and just microwave when I want one. My daughter even loves them!
Dinner was the Bacon stuffed Chicken you see in the pictures. It was really good! The recipe is linked in the caption. Sorry the pictures aren't great, I was kind of in a hurry to get dinner on the table. For sides I made a regular salad with bell peppers, mushrooms and cucumber and I also steamed some Brussels Sprouts.
I really wanted a beer with dinner again and of course I'm craving dessert! I was looking up different dessert ideas and tomorrow I think I'm going to try this banana ice cream. I've had some bananas in the freezer for a while now that I hadn't decided what I wanted to do with. I'm excited to try it! I'll let you know what the family and I think too :)