Paleo Update

A little over a month ago, we decided to change our diet dramatically. Some of the mommies on an October group (MOO) that I am part of  on Facebook were talking about the Paleo diet. I decided to look into this lifestyle to decide if it would be a fit for our family. Before we decided to change to this style of eating, we were already avoiding grains for Adalynn because of the enzyme that does not digest grains is not readily produced until at least a year. Then with Adalynn potentially being called failure to thrive and learning celiac disease can cause this diagnosis (we have family history of it) we decided to go gluten free. It doesn’t hurt to be gluten free even if she does not have celiac disease. We were already basically having her be gluten free (because of her being grain free) so it was just an adjust for the rest of the family.

Many of the gluten free products contain rice (it’s a grain, just doesn’t have gluten in it) we wanted to find a diet that we felt most comfortable with giving Adalynn. So that is when we found Paleo and I actually thought this is what we need to do. We decided to modify it because we do include dairy in our diet. An added benefit is Paleo diet helps people with autoimmune diseases–the hubby has ulcerative colitis. So it turns out this diet would be a win-win for our family.

So its been a few weeks and I’ll be honest we have not been perfect with this lifestyle. Sometimes our home is not properly stocked and we pick up dinner on the way home. We do try to abide by the diet when we eat out but it’s not perfect. I am hoping this summer while I’m at home that we get even more proficient with it before the fall.

Today, I had a piece of pie. It was delicious but now I need to find grain-free option for a pie–the hubby is craving one. Because we are trying to adjust to this lifestyle, recipes are a must in our household.

I joined a couple of facebook pages where a lot of my recipes and choices come from for our meals.

Just Eat Real Food

Against All Grain

Both of these links have been crucial for our lifestyle.

The past month we have been doing this lifestyle change and I have to say the hubby and Adalynn have seen significant changes. I think Adalynn has gone through some major growth spurts since we have cut gluten out of my diet (we have never given her any in the first place). I know babies grow (tear) but I have seen a significant growth in Adalynn. The hubby’s stomach is doing much better.

We have messed up. I ate a slice of pie today. We are adjusting overall to this diet and I am excited to see the progress my family has made because of it!

We recently bought a Nutribullet and the kids are loving it. Little man has definitely drank more than his fair share of the smoothies in the house hold. His favorite smoothie was: kale, bananas, mango, strawberries, blueberries, and water.

I recently found this website: The Domestic Man and I am actually excited to try out some of his recipes. He takes popular chain restaurants and tries to recreate them with the Paleo diet in mind (awesome!).

Day 2

I think I can do this paleo diet. Tonight for dinner I made a seven layer mexican dip and it was super easy. Everyone (all 5 of us) enjoyed it and I think it would be a great party food.

http://cavegirlcuisine.net/2012/09/12/seven-layer-mexican-dip/

I was probably able to make this meal from start to finish in 30 minutes–I even made the guacamole in that time span as well. Super easy and fast.

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I don’t have a fancy glass bowl but this is the best imagine of the finished product.

Paleo Diet Day 1

We have decided to go gluten free recently. The paleo diet is also grain free (we are choosing not to give grains to Adalynn until a year due to children not being able to digest the enzyme until at least a year).

Today Jeremy went and got all of the groceries we needed in order to start on our new adventure. I left work a little early so I could get some prep time before he went off to work (we work opposite schedules).

Our dinner:

Chile Verde Chicken Enchiladas

Needless to say I was a bit intimated…I mean in this recipe I would be making grain-free tortillas. I was going to make the sauce from scratch. I love baking and cooking from scratch but I was going to be using ingredients that I dare never touch before.

I started cooking around 2:30 and was finished by 4:30. I now know next time to insist Jeremy gets egg whites so I don’t have to crack and do egg whites on my own. I also think I could shave a lot of my prep time by a half an hour. Overall it was a very easy recipe to do and would definitely try it again.

The finished product:

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Adalynn did a great job picking up the chicken and tortilla and munching down on it. I love baby led weaning!

When Jeremy gets home tonight from work, I am going to make paleo pumpkin muffins.  I will also be making either a seven layer mexican dip for tomorrow night OR pulled garlic chicken with red pepper sauce and loaded baked avocados.

We are going full force into this paleo lifestyle.