What the hell is the ‘Paleo’ diet, anyway?

Regular readers of this blog will know that I spent January following the Paleo lifestyle, with the goal of giving my system a ‘re-set’ and I guess a bit of a cleanse, whatever that means. It was a New Year’s resolution for someone who doesn’t do New Year’s resolutions…

Asparagus wrapped in proscuitto - yum :)

First up, I have to say I am totally surprised at how easy I found it this time around. I’d done a Paleo month previously (which involved me going hard core for a fortnight, then slowly falling off the wagon over the next fortnight), and I found it really hard! I don’t know why it worked this time – I think everything aligned, and I knew I had to put in the prep to make it work for me. I also felt amazing after just one week (and lost 2kg), so that helped to keep me on track.

Paleo Challenge - Week 3

After two weeks following the Paleo lifestyle I’m feeling pretty great. The Keratosis Pilaris  (chicken skin) on my arms is clearing up, my IBS has calmed down completely, and I feel really energised.

Kombucha, Coconut Oil, Cacao Nibs and Kelp Noodles - Paleo staples

Last week we had a few unforeseen things come up which meant we went “off plan” for a few meals, but I still managed to keep within the Paleo guidelines. I did have a couple of glasses of wine out to dinner with a friend one night, but I’m OK with that! That was my only slip up, so I’m pretty happy with myself. I think the main reasons the Paleo lifestyle is working for me is that I can eat until I feel satisfied (i.e. I'm not hungry!), I’m not counting calories or weighing portions, and I can fit it into my real life.With a bit of prep and planning it's really pretty easy.

I’ve become a little bit obsessed with making Paleo waffles (using this Against All Grain recipe). I make them on the weekend and then freeze some for a quick breakfast during the week – they’ve been satisfying any lingering cravings I have for a piece of toast in the mornings. I might try them without the honey and make savoury ones… with bacon?  Mmmmm…. Bacon….

Week 3’s meal plan is below.

Paleo Challenge Week 3 meal plan

This week I’m using the Quirky Cooking cookbook and the Skinnymixers website for inspiration. They're all Thermomix recipes, which work perfectly in Boris the Bellini. These recipes are available freely online:

Beef Madras - I serve this with cauliflower rice, and it is AMAZING!

Vietnamese Fish Curry - I might do this with a broc-cauli rice combo, for a splash of colour.

Singapore Noodles - I’ll replace the soy with coconut aminos, and the vermicelli noodles with kelp noodles.

Mexican Pulled Pork - I'm serving this with some sauteed onion and capsicum, and a spicy guacamole, in butter lettuce cups.

Chicken Tikka Masala - also with cauli rice, and I might make some Paleo naan bread if I’m feeling decadent.

I’ve only managed to fit in two cross-trainer sessions this week, but have just tried to be a lot more active in general. Yesterday I walked about 30 minutes carrying Little Miss in the Manduca (baby carrier), which was quite a workout. At 16kg she’s pretty much at the max weight limit for babywearing, but it was actually quite nice to have her so up close and personal for our walk, we had some lovely little chats along the way. I won’t be doing it again anytime soon though, my shoulders are still killing me!

The main thing I’ve been missing is some kind of salty, crunchy snack, so I’m on the hunt for a tasty Paleo savoury snack recipe this week.

How is your January going? Are you still working on your New Year's goals and resolutions?

I've linked this post to I'm an Organizing Junkie's Menu Plan Monday

Paleo Challenge - Week 1

I've decided to make January a ‘reset’ month, where I focus on improving my health, fitness and general wellbeing. D's along for the ride (whether he likes it or not) because I do all the cooking! I'm going to follow the Paleo lifestyle for the rest of the month, use the Cross-trainer that’s been hiding in our laundry every couple of days, and avoid alcohol (apart from Australia Day ;). Easy!

My meal planning inspiration

After a heavy couple of months of eating, drinking and being very merry, I’m actually looking forward to getting things back on track.

Awesome dairy-free banana muffins

I love baking healthy treats for my kiddies, first and foremost because that way I know exactly what's in them, and secondly because it makes me happy to watch their little faces light up when they bite into something yummy.

Yep, I'm a 'feeder', but I do try my best to keep our treats healthy and low in refined sugar.

I've been using coconut sugar recently as an alternative to refined white sugar, as it has quite a few minerals and nutrients in it, is low GI (only 35), and also has a really yummy caramel flavour. It is also high in fructose, so be aware of that. For a fructose-free sweetener, I use rice malt syrup, which is made from brown rice and is a blend of glucose and maltose. 

My other issue when baking is making sure everything is dairy-free for my little man, so I generally use coconut oil in place of butter, and use almond or oat milk if a recipe calls for milk. Most recipes take a couple of goes with tweaking different ingredients before they come out the way I want, but my kids and husband are generally happy to taste the 'practice' ones. "I'll take a bullet for you", says Mr McD.

Banana muffins are a weekly thing in our household, as they're the perfect way to use up the almost black bananas in the bottom of the fruit bowl, and they're also a great way to hide some fibre and other goodness from Little Miss, who is currently following the 'white food only' diet popular with 3 year olds the world over.

Awesome dairy-free banana muffins

This recipe is very forgiving, and I probably make it slightly differently each time.

Ingredients
4 large very ripe bananas
1/4 cup coconut sugar or brown rice syrup
1/3 cup coconut oil (warmed to liquid)
1 egg, very lightly beaten (or you can use 1 chia egg* for an egg-free/vegan version)
1tbsp white chia seeds
1 tspn vanilla bean paste
1/2 tspn cinnamon 
1 1/2 cups plain wholemeal flour
1 tspn baking powder
1/2 tspn baking soda

Method
In a medium bowl, mash the bananas with a fork (leaving a few chunky bits), and then mix in the sugar, oil, egg, chia seeds and vanilla.

In a larger bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon together, and then pour the wet ingredients into the dry. Stir until just combined, then spoon into muffin trays.

I bake these at about 180 deg C (fan forced) - mini muffins take about 18 minutes, and standard muffins take about 25 minutes. Just keep an eye on them and test them with a skewer - they're ready when the skewer comes out clean and they're nice and brown on the top.

This recipe usually makes 12 mini muffins and 12 standard size muffins.

These freeze really well, or keep them in an airtight container in the fridge for 4 or 5 days.

Tweaks

• Add a handful of chopped walnuts and some Lindt 70% chocolate to the mixture for dairy-free banana-choc-walnut muffins. OMG. 
• A handful of frozen blueberries also works really well as an added extra.
• You can use plain white flour instead of wholemeal.
• If you don't have enough bananas, you can make up the difference with apple sauce (or I've been known to squeeze in a pouch of Rafferty's pureed apple).

*A chia egg is a decent egg replacer in a lot of baking recipes - mix 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water, and let sit for about 10-15 mins.