Flinstones Week, Day 1

As I've mentioned before, my husband and I eat Paleo all the time while the kids will have a Paleo dinner every night because they don't mind what I make for dinner.

This week, on their own, they've decided to eat completely Paleo!  That means all snacks and meals will be Paleo.  Amazing, right?  To refresh your memory, eating Paleo focuses on meat (preferably grass-fed), fish, vegetables, fruit and nuts.  That's it.  No legumes, no grains or rice, no peanuts or soy, no dairy and no sugar.  That will make us the Flinstones for the week, minus Dino!  They even sat down with me and perused the Eat Like a Dinosaur book to pick out snacks and meals.  After I thought I had enough yummies listed, they continued to look and found more stuff!  While I was making the shopping list they both blurted out that I needed to get more carrots and they told me it was for something from the book.

I thought I would write about our experience on a daily basis(if I can).  Another reason why I'm happy to put in even more time in the kitchen is because of my son's behavioral issues.  Eating Paleo, while healthy because of its main focus, also removes gluten, which may have an affect on his behavior.  I've read studies that have shown that a change in diet, mostly the removal of gluten, can improve ADD in some kids and I'll use this week to test that.  My kids eat healthier than most, but it still may take more than a week to see any results.  I'm hoping that this will be the first step toward them eating this way more consistently.

If you would like to know more about eating Paleo, I would highly recommend the book It Starts With Food or going to the Whole 30 Challenge site.  While it does not specifically say that they are Paleo, it is very much in line with it and it focuses on how what we eat can affect our health.  It is not a book about weight loss nor is it a diet book or the latest craze.  It shows you how all food can affect things we don't see going on inside, such as hormones and inflammation; things that may simply be a nuisance today but can worsen as time passes.  Hence the name, It Starts With Food. I rarely eat off-Paleo, but when I do I feel sick for a few days and it sucks.  Yes, days!  Not a couple of hours, or overnight, but daaays!  There are some things I personally need to tweak, which is why I'm reading the book. Read it, especially if you think whole grains are good for you.  And if you do read it, please, please read the entire book.  Don't skip over the why part straight to the how part.  You'll miss out on some eye-opening information. On to today's meals and experiences:

Breakfast

• Nut Butter Banana Smoothie
• Turkey Sausage
• Strawberries

My daughter was excited and happy to have this breakfast.  She even had an extra sausage!  My son, on the other hand, freaked out when he saw the smoothie, even though he read the recipe and even saw a picture in the book.  He took a few sips, had his sausage and strawberries then proclaimed he was full.  I glad that he tried it despite the disgusted face he was making as I was pouring it in their cups.

Lunch

• Leftover Roasted Chicken with tomatoes, olives and mushrooms (from Sunday's dinner)
• Mixed steamed veggies

This was an easy one.  It was leftover dinner, which they happily ate the evening we had it, so they ate it again with no issues.

Snack

• Organic Fruit Leather
• Choice of Macadamia Nuts or Almonds

My daughter opted for almonds and my son would have none of it.

Dinner

• Grass-fed Beef Patties with Homemade Baked Sweet Potato Fries (please don't purchase the frozen stuff filled with chemical preservatives when it's easier to make it straight from sweet potatoes)

I came home from CrossFit to find that everyone loved dinner.  How could you go wrong?  Plus, it's dinner. They never complain about dinner, remember?  My son did complain that his stomach hurt.  He was probably hungry and wanted to have a cereal bar from Whole Foods.  I told him if he was still hungry he could have some nuts or some more of the burger patties.  He chose to go to bed instead.

Dessert

• Peach and nectarine

They usually have the same fruit but apparently they couldn't agree on what to have.  Either way, they will always have their fruit.  I don't have to twist their arm.

That's it.  It is that simple and easy.  Really.  I obsessively enjoy love meal planning and eating this way simplifies things without being bland or boring.

Until next time...