Ant & Anise

Simple, elegant, healthy food and a fondness for gluten- and grain-free recipes

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The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 7

paleo diet challenge day 7 spaghetti squash

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

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 6

paleo diet challenge day 6 changeyourlife30days

A lot of Paleo blogs seem to originate from people who were formerly very overweight, or ill with one or more chronic diseases, or both. By going Paleo they’ve miraculously changed their lives for the better, and now they’re blogging about their return to health (oh, and selling cookbooks, e-books, programs, t-shirts…..). Here are 3 examples of what I mean:

  • The Paleo Mom blog reels off over 10 heath conditions that plagued her (10! Yikes!), until she turned to a Paleo diet. With life-changing results.
  • Robb Wolf’s blog offers a wide variety of stories from Paleo converts: Elena conquers osteopenia! My rheumatoid arthritis is in remission! Paleo helps Suzanne get off thyroid medication! Wow!
  • The Paleo Lifestyle blog lists no less than 30 health changes frequently seen on the diet, ahem, lifestyle, including effortless weight loss, better digestion, and getting a famous 6-pack stomach. Impressive.

So almost a week into the challenge, I’m thinking about any changes I’ve noticed: Am I more energetic? Maybe. I’m not sure. Maybe not, then. Is my digestion any better than it was before? Perhaps. A little. Have I effortlessly lost any weight? Well, 2 pounds so far. That’s good, right? More than dropping any pounds, I’m looking forward to the 6-pack abs that are surely in my future if I stick to this. Ha!

This might get in the way of that 6-pack, but I discovered a sweet treat that seems to be allowed on many Paleo diets, except for the very strict ones that don’t allow any chocolate. That I just could not do. Eve, it’s about time talked about chocolate anyway. This isn’t the chocolate recipe that I wanted to start with, but it’s quick and helped get me through day 6.

paleo diet challenge day 6 chocolate coconut haystacks

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Paleo Chocolate Coconut Haystacks

Adapted from FastPaleo.com. I made these after dinner and held myself to eating just two of them. That was hard.

Ingredients

  • 7 ounces good quality dark chocolate, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cups unsweetened medium shred coconut

Instructions

  1. Melt the chocolate in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently and -- importantly -- never letting it out of your sight so that it doesn’t scorch. (Alternatively, melt it in your microwave or over a double boiler.)
  2. Once the chocolate is melted, remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the vanilla. Stir in the coconut.
  3. Scoop out using a teaspoon and drop onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Leave them as is, or use your fingers to mold them into little pyramids. Place the baking sheet in the refrigerator and let the haystacks chill for about 30 minutes, or until they’re hardened. Try not to eat them all in one sitting.

 

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

Image courtesy of Whole9Life.com.

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 5

paleo diet challenge day 5 seafood tacos

I’m a little amazed. The 2-pound weight drop is holding steady, and this is after having a huge steak dinner last night. Nothing like barbecue to get the into the caveman groove, I guess, and we did it up well: Striploin steak with a mushroom balsamic glaze, grilled asparagus and even grilled tomatoes. It was so delicious that I kept on eating to the point where I said I can’t believe I ate the whole thing. Whew.

A mini morning glory muffin and a coffee for breakfast, and I was good. And so very, very thankful to have some bread-y comfort food around the house for what seems like the first time in weeks, even though it’s only been 5 days. It definitely took the edge off. I started to think that maybe my pre-challenge strategy of stocking up on lots of very good bread just before I started (as in eating a whole demi loaf of Terra’s fig and anise bread in one day) was not a very smart thing to do. It feels now like I’m in some kind of Betty Ford bread rehab program and, I tell ya, it’s hard to go cold turkey.

I’m pumped about tonight’s dinner, which is seafood tacos — grilled halibut and prawns marinated in some olive oil, cumin and chili powder, served up with all the trimmings — guacamole, salsa, some sliced pickled jalapenos (handily sitting in the fridge and begging to be used up), some chopped cilantro, and then red cabbage coleslaw on the side. Butter lettuce leaves are the stand-in for the tortillas. Yum…very good. Extremely messy, though, but they were worth every lick of the fingers.

So two nights in a row of particularly delicious dinners. Is this just good luck? I’m feeling pretty good about this so far, but in the corner of my mind a few worrisome thoughts are starting to creep in. I’m sensing some pressure, I think. What will I be able to come up with for tomorrow?

 

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 4

rawalmonds And just like that, 4 days in, it’s happened. The good-vibes-it’s-exciting-to-try-this-la-la-la phase has officially ended, and the first few things I find annoying are rising to the surface. The first one, by far, is the shopping. I feel like I’m constantly going to the store, or thinking about ingredients I need to get. One or two trips every day, mostly to ensure I’ve got enough protein in the house. It’s not like I’m eating a completely new way, but somehow there’s this added pressure to get that protein, at every meal. Or else.

Keeping a good supply of fresh vegetables and fruit is completely different, somehow. I don’t get annoyed at picking up fresh produce every day or two, since that’s what I’m used to doing anyway. So perhaps it’s just a settling in thing, this buying seafood and meat every few days.

Number two on the annoying list is figuring out what to do about breakfast. Eggs are okay, and sometimes I really enjoy them, but I don’t want to have them every day, or even more than maybe twice a week. A bowl of fruit isn’t always that satisfying for me, especially if the weather is cool out. I guess I could start to make extra meat or fish at night and just reheat that but geez, that seems a little too much of a leap from where I’m at right now.

It’s not too hard to figure out that, underneath it all, I’m still craving a warm bread-y, toast-y kind of start to my day.

What on earth can I do to bring some bread-like goodness into this Paleo challenge? I spent a good couple hours over the past few days scouring the internet for Paleo bread recipes. Not an easy fix apparently, if the posted pictures are any indication. To me they all look um, well, pretty, awful for the most part.

Not to be completely defeated, I turned to finding a good recipe for a quick bread, like banana breads or carrot muffins. Here there seemed to be a glimmer of hope. This recipe for carrot-apple-raisin muffins caught my eye, and now I’m determined to make these so I can get my bread-like fix.

Oh good, that means another trip to the store to get some almond flour. This better be worth it.

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Paleo Morning Glory Muffins

From Paleo Comfort Foods by Julie and Charles Mayfield. These turned out to be extremely tasty. I made mine in mini muffin tins (of course!). If you go with the mini size, they’ll take about 15 minutes to bake.

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups almond flour
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups carrots, peeled and grated
  • 1 large apple, peeled, cored and grated
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 1 cup raisins
  • 3 large eggs
  • 2 tablespoons honey (optional)
  • 1/2 cup coconut or olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a standard-sized muffin pan (or use muffin liners).
  2. Combine almond flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add carrot, apple, coconut and raisins and combine well.
  3. In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, honey, oil and vanilla extract together.
  4. Pour the wet mixture over the dry ingredients and mix very well. The batter will be very thick.
  5. Spoon the batter out into muffin pan and place on upper or middle rack of your oven for 40-50 minutes. When a toothpick inserted into the top of a muffin comes out clean, the muffins are done.
  6. Cool muffins in the pan for 8-10 minutes and then remove to a rack to finish cooling.

Notes

For some variety, substitute currants or chopped dates for the raisins. You can also add a little orange zest to give the muffins some citrus flavor.


More on the Paleo diet challenge:

Why I’m doing it in the first place

My plan for the 30 days

Image courtesy of HealthAliciousNess via Flickr.

The Paleo Diet Challenge: Day 3

paleo diet challenge day 3 tomato spot prawns cauliflower rice

All right, my weight basically stays the same all the time, within a 3 pound range. This morning when I stepped on the scale and saw my weight lower than it’s been in years, I almost fell backward into the bathtub. Surprise! Almost 2 pounds gone in 2 days. What’s with that? And I’m not feeling hungry in the least between meals. Strange.

What to do about breakfast this morning? While I enjoy eggs I don’t eat them very often, as in once every couple of weeks. Yesterday’s triumphant Mediterranean egg breakfast aside, I didn’t feel like facing eggs two mornings in a row. I decided on a big bowl of fruit — a couple of kiwis, a banana, a few apricots and some strawberries. Simple and more or less satisfying. Strict Paleos would be scolding me for not having protein but meh, I’m a newbie at all this.

The big hit today was dinner. I made some cauliflower “rice” for the first time. Admittedly my expectations weren’t terribly high, as I find cauliflower and (white) rice to be pretty uninteresting on their own. But, turns out my weight drop wasn’t the only surprise of the day. Cauliflower masquerading as rice may fool you into thinking it’s a real grain.

Atop the rice, er, cauliflower, was a saute I make when local spot prawns make a brief appearance every year. We typically have this over pasta and I could probably eat it for, I don’t know, every day for two weeks never be tired of it. First, it’s easy and quick to put together, perfect for when you come home after a long day and want to eat something right now. Also, it doesn’t require much precision in measuring out ingredients, which makes me feel very Jamie Oliver-ish. For Bob, I add heavy cream to make it a more of a rose sauce but I like it just as well without any cream at all.

The double tomato spot prawn saute (sans cream, since I was cooking for one) had a depth of flavor, almost a beefiness, that was particularly satisfying. It kind of feels like my taste buds are on high alert. So far so good even though it’s only day 3.

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Double Tomato Sautéed Spot Prawns

Serving Size: 1

Serve this on top of cauliflower 'rice' for a delightful summer meal. This recipe can be easily doubled (to serve 2) with no adjustments. If scaling the recipe further upwards (to serve 4 or more), keep to 3 garlic cloves.

Ingredients

  • 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon dried pepper flakes
  • 2 tablespoon oil from jar of sundried tomatoes (plain olive oil would do just fine too)
  • 4-6 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
  • 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
  • 3/4 cup chicken stock
  • splash of white wine (optional)
  • 6-8 spot prawns, shelled
  • 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • sea salt and freshly ground pepper
  • cauliflower rice, for serving

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a large saute pan on medium heat. When the oil is hot, reduce the heat to medium-low and add the garlic and (if using) dried pepper flakes. Saute for a few minutes until the garlic is softened up, reducing the heat further if needed to ensure it doesn’t turn brown.
  2. Add the sun-dried and fresh tomatoes, then the chicken stock and (if using) white wine. Bring the sauce to a boil an reduce it for 6-8 minutes, until it reaches a thicker consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  3. A couple minutes before you’re ready for serving, stir in the spot prawns. They only take 1-2 minutes to be done, so keep an eye on them. Once the spot prawns have turned white and are firm, turn off the heat, stir in the parsley and you’re ready to go. Serve on top of cauliflower rice.

 

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 2

paleo diet challenge day 2 mediterranean eggs

My first thought when I woke up was that I wasn’t very hungry at all. This is unusual. We did eat a little late last night, so maybe that’s part of it.

It could be that I’m just anxious about this challenge too. My breakfast routine has been pretty basic and, now that I write about it, downright boring for the past several months: Peanut butter on multigrain toast. That’s it, along with a coffee. Now that both of those are out of the question, I peeked into the fridge for some inspiration. What could I eat? Unfortunately the fridge was looking a little bare. I decided to go ahead and have my coffee, and flip through those borrowed cookbooks for some inspiration.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the breakfast choice quickly became clear: Eggs. Both books (that is, Make It Paleo and Paleo Comfort Foods) have an abundance of egg recipes, from scrambled to fried to atop beef hash to baked in muffin cups. Eggs in ways I hadn’t thought about, before now. The few ingredients I did have, in the fridge and the herb garden, were enough to turn out a Mediterranean inspired, very Paleo-friendly breakfast. And you know? I liked it. Maybe not as much as peanut butter toast, but it would do just fine.

I turned my attention to the Paleo cookbooks again. Turns out there are some interesting ways to avoid bread, potatoes and all grains. Raw cauliflower, pulsed in a food processor and sauteed with some onions, becomes “rice”. Almond meal subs in for all purpose flour in muffins. And what’s this? Coconut flour. Wow. And here I thought I had to give up all my beloved baked goods. All of a sudden I felt a new energy come over me and I started dreaming about bread. If I can bake, I can definitely make it through the challenge.

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Mediterranean Eggs Paleo

Serving Size: 1

Adapted from Make It Paleo by Bill Staley and Hayley Mason

Ingredients

  • 1 tomato, sliced in 1/4 inch thick slices
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
  • 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar or glaze
  • 2 free range eggs
  • 5 Kalamata olives, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped fine
  • salt and fresh cracked pepper

Instructions

  1. Preheat the broiler on high. Place the slices of tomato on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Broil for 2-3 minutes, or until the tomatoes are heated through.
  2. While the tomatoes are broiling, heat the other 1/2 tablespoon olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Break the eggs into the pan and cook until the whites set up. Flip the eggs over and continue cooking until they’re done to your desired likeness. I like my eggs pretty well done.
  3. Place the tomato slices on your plate. Sprinkle the olives over the tomatoes. Stack the 2 fried eggs over the tomatoes and sprinkle the oregano over the plate.

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