Meals : 1.13.2012 and other news

I know you guys were thoroughly impressed with my last meal plan based on all the comments! haha!

But, no, seriously - I'll keep this up for a bit in hopes that it might just make some of you realize eating Paleo isn't the end of the world and actually quite easy if you plan for it. No one said you had to eat this way 100% of the time. Start with dinner and go from there!

Friday: A classic - spaghetti. Of course we made it with spaghetti squash and not noodles. I also don't buy premade sauce and instead make my own. I've found that the perfect combination is a can of each of tomato sauce, diced tomatos and tomato puree. Then season the crap out of it with basil, rosemary, thyme and garlic. Sorry, no garlic bread!

Saturday - Leftovers because there's always a ton after spaghetti

Sunday - A huge rack of ribs. Mmmm!! Jim's going to try his hand at making his own BBQ sauce. I told him to have at it as long as it's not loaded with brown sugar. Results to be determined. Oh, and I'll probably make a side of mashed cauliflower and possibly sweet potato fries for the boys.

Monday - Another experiment night. We're going to make pizza but instead of following the recipes from Everyday Paleo like we have been, we're going to attempt the Make It Paleo version.

Tuesday - Leftovers

So, remember how I said I wanted to try my hand at more pinterest ideas? Well, this week I finally did and attempted to make Eli these homemade fruit roll ups. Only two ingredients: pureed strawberries and cinnamon. You just dehydrate this in the oven for a couple of hours. Super easy, right? Well, I kind of shanked it. For one, I used too many strawberries in one batch and the center was still mushy while the ends were perfectly dry. And two, I used wax paper which, I've learned, is nearly impossibly to peel. The good news is we've actually managed to salvage some of it [when we have a few moments to sit down and peel away that wax paper] and it's actually really yummy! I'll be sure to attempt this again soon.

It's been three months since Gabriella has been born and for the most part my workouts have consistent of interval training and body weight resistance. I really wanted to push myself harder but the muscles that were compromised during pregnancy were still in baaaaad shape and hurt like heck for days after exercising [low back, low belly, groin muscles, and inner thighs]. This wasn't "oh, good workout!" sore...more like "two pregnancies in 18 months" sore. Well, this week I up'ed my protein intake, got serious about recovery drinks and started lifting H-E-A-V-Y. I'm talking dead lifts, clean and jerks, squats and I'm even back at attempting pull ups. Don't even assume I can muster the strength for one....I definitely need assistance. After 20 minutes or so in the basement I could barely walk up the stairs. It was awesome. Anyway, my whole point is because of these workouts, I was so freakin' hungry, I wanted to gnaw my arm off. This was a week where I would go back to the fridge a hundred times, just stare and think "we have nothing to eat." And it didn't help that Jim mentioned pizza - the real ooey, gooey kind - on Tuesday. I was strong though and didn't budge and instead made my friend, Rebecca's, zucchini fries. Uhhhhh....SO. GOOD. I made a batch right before Jim worked out and asked him if he wanted to try one. He said he'd wait until he was done and I just laughed. I ate the whole batch before he had a chance to consume any and didn't feel guilty at all! You snooze, you lose, buddy. Anyway, make these fries. You won't regret it.