Day 6

This is my first "real" day back to work. Not wearing jeans or hoodies like I did when everyone was out. Feeling great, I put on a pair of slacks, yes, I said slacks, and they fit great! Way better then they did 2 and half weeks ago. It wasnt a struggle to keep the button closed LOL! Im excited because today my husband officially starts Paleo. He's been following a lot of the meals i've made but with New Years and Football, it was hard for him to get into it over break, being that were both back to our normal work schedule, today should be a great starting point for him. Everything works better when you have a partner!

I made smoothies this morning, and in the words of Eddie from "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" movie, "Clark, this is goooooodd!" Let me tell you, a shot of rum in this baby and it would have tasted like a tropical vaction on the beach!
      Strawberry Pina Colada:
      1 frozen Banana
      4 sliced strawberries
      1/2 cup sliced fresh pineapple
      1/4 cup canned coconut milk chilled
      1/4 cup of water
      Blend until creamy, makes about 24 oz. Im not totally sure because I split it with my husband and his             container was bigger then mine.

Considering I gave him more for breakfast, I took a little extra food for the day. I had a hard boiled egg around 10 am, which held me over 'till lunch around 12:30. I had a beautiful salad, similar to yesterday. Arugula, grilled chicken, tomato, black olives, and peperchini peppers. Balsamic and olive oil.

For a snack I had an orange and an apple.

John made himself a nice veggie salad, similar to mine, with a side of pickles (weird, but filling im sure) and a side of honey dew, which I heard was really good!

Dinner tonight was  chicken marsala. Using chicken breast, no breading needed (sometimes i use a little flour, but not really needed). Sautee chicken in non stick pan with a spritz of olive oil. I love using my Mister, you can fill it with any oil you want and it comes out in the pan like a can of Pam would. Once chicken is cooked, Im adding two 8oz containers of white mushrooms and half a container of baby bella. Let that sautee with just a little more olive oil and fresh garlic. Salt and pepper to taste. Pour in half a cup of marsala wine to deglaze the pan, and then add half a can of chicken broth (or a whole can if you want it juicy.)  I served seamed green beans on the side and a salad. Also, Cauliflower rice. I will post more on that!!

Update** Coconut Milk whipped cream, Second time around

**UPDATE
 This sucks! I really don't know what I'm doing wrong! I bought a regular can of coconut milk. Kept it in the fridge for 24 hours, upside down. I open it today, and its all mixed, nothing separated. I tried to whip it, but nothing, just cold milk. Damn! I was really looking forward to this, so instead, milk shakes it is LOL!


So yesterday I posted about trying out a "coconut whipped cream" recipe. Well, lesson #1 learned, don't use lite products. Tried using lite coconut milk for the recipe, ehhhh what do I know, right? Well no such luck. All I was left with was cold coconut soup!

So...I'm trying again! Bought another can of coconut milk, this time, regular. I've got it chilling in the fridge as we speak. My macerated  berries really need a pairing of delicious whip tonight, plus, I hate when recipes fail!

I will update!

Day 5

Felt great this morning! For breakfast I switched it up and had a big bowl of fresh fruit. Sliced banana, mandarin oranges, and chopped pineapple with a cup of tea. Nice to not eat bacon everyday. 

For lunch, a delicious salad made with arugula, grilled chicken, black olives, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, and balsamic and olive oil. Let me just say, I love arugula!

Time for dinner-scared! Eating at moms house tonight, let me first say, as mentioned on Facebook, I've found my biggest weakness! I get here and there's homemade macaroons on the table. Chips pretzels and homemade French onion dip...and a plethora of other delicious treats....all of which I did not touch! 

Mom's making homemade gumbo, in honor of my brothers birthday and his mysterious love for St. Louis. I will only eat the chicken and veggies. She made rice on the side, so I decided to bring over a much needed salad.  Also, guess what else she made....Red Lobster cheese and garlic biscuits... really? come on mom! But to my temptation, I didn't try one!

Day 4

Well they say once you make it past day 3, it's all up hill, but to be honest, it hasn't been that tough so far. 

For breakfast, scrambled eggs and bacon, bought the low sodium type this time. Wondering when I'll get tired of bacon, I mean, I loveeee bacon, but I need I switch it up a little bit. 

For lunch, we went out, it was tough finding a restaurant with options but we finally decided on Outback. Of course as soon as we get there they lay the delicious bread and butter down. What a test! But I didn't eat it, promise! We had the coconut shrimp to start, I'm sure it's not %100 Paleo but I'd imagine close. Soo good! I ordered the sesame salad, it had sliced ahi tuna, lettuce, carrots, cabbage and almonds. Wasabi vinaigrette on the side. Very tasty, and I felt full after! 

For dinner, maybe a little chicken, I'm not sure yet, surprisingly still full from lunch. And I snacked on some fresh pineapple as I was chopping it up for tomorrow. 

My sister came over tonight so I have some strawberries and blackberries macerating in stevia. I'm going to attempt to make a whipped cream from canned coconut milk. Here's the recipe I saw:   http://www.paleocupboard.com/fresh-berries-with-whipped-coconut-cream.html

Forgot to mention, was extremely proud of myself when at Fairway Market, I was about to grab a piece of bread to taste some balsamic, when I suddenly shouted "NO, I can't eat that" and then walked away, calmly haha

Day 3

It's getting easier! Slept great last night, even woke up at 5 because John had to figure out if he was going to work or not (because of snow) and for the first time in a long time, I fell right back to sleep. Usually I'm up for at least half an hour.

We ate breakfast a little late due to shoveling snow. So brunch we'll call it. I made scrambled eggs(just egg and water, pepper, garlic salt) and bacon. Usually I can only eat egg whites but so far, so good! 

For lunch, I've made homemade cream of broccoli soup. Sauteed 4 yellow onions in my left over bacon fat. To that I added 4 cups of chicken broth and 2 cups of water. salt, pepper, and a clove of garlic. While that was coming to a boil, I steamed about 4 heads of fresh broccoli. Rough chopped and added to the soup once it boiled. (I reserved about of cup of broccoli to add at the end.) I let that sit for about half an hour on medium heat, then took it off the heat and used an immersion  blender to blend everything together. Lastly, I added about a quarter cup of coconut milk---interesting! It made the soup a little sweet so I added more salt, cracked pepper and a little onion powder. Honestly, I think I like it! It smells like coconut but the taste is hidden. Had a salad with lunch and some Cantaloupe after.

For dinner tonight, I made hamburgers in lettuce wraps. Lots of healthy toppings like tomato, red onion and avocado, and  side of baked sweet potatoes. Hubby seasoned them up with lots of flavorful spices!

Day 2

Not to bad! Hubby and I had eggs and bacon for breakfast, made salads with grilled chicken for lunch but do to the bad weather, and my  successful meeting at Fordham, I met him in the city and we went out for lunch. I had a delicious Thai chicken salad, lots of veggies(and papaya) dressing on the side. John, well he's trying lol

Dinner was grilled skirt steak with a homemade chimichurri sauce made of olive oil, parsley, cilantro, shallots, garlic and salt. I also baked some plantains and then lightly toasted them in the skillet. YUM! 

Day 1

Well we slept a little later then expected so we skipped breakfast. For lunch I made a mixed greens salad with tomato, black olives, and some ham. Balsamic dressing. I also had a sliced mango. I won't tell you what the husband had, only part of it was paleo, but he's prepare for PALEO dinner and meals moving fwd! 

I got a little hungry a few hours later so I heated up some homemade chicken soup, here's the kicker, I had to pick out all the pasta I had originally put in it when I cooked it a month ago. That was fun-desperate LOL! 

Tonight I'm making chicken and asain veggies with egg drop soup.