Sunday, January 8, 2012

Going Primal

I have set a goal for myself and my family for the next few months.  In that time, I plan to transition our food consumption nearly entirely to a paleo style of eating.  All that means is that we will be eating the types of things that could have been available to our long-ago hunter-gatherer ancestors.  Meat, vegetables, fruits, nuts and things made form these (i.e. coconut oil, almond flour, etc.).  No processed stuff.  We had gotten pretty good at eating only "real food" a few years ago after I read Michael Pollan's "In Defense of Food."  But over time, some old habits have returned and the desire for convenience has led me to rely on some easy foods that don't quite fit into the "real food" ideal, and certainly not into the paleo plan.  In general, we do eat pretty well and stick mostly to relatively unprocessed foods.  But I have gotten back into eating pasta and bread and cereal, when once I had stopped buying and using these foods.  It has been easier to make quick cereal or oatmeal for my hungry girls in the morning, rather than cooking eggs and/or bacon or something similar.  My girls do love their breakfast "O's."



And for a long time I was pretty good about making lunches of various types of meat, cheese, and fruit or veggie.  But my kids started to get sick of lunch meat and chicken, and rather than spend the time getting more creative, I have begun to rely on PB&J or mac and cheese a few times a week.  These girls will chow some mac and cheese.

Snacks are usually fruit or yogurt, though when we run out or if I'm out somewhere with the girls, I usually rely on the always-loved bunny crackers.

Though it takes some planning and a few changes to some of the ways we have been eating lately, doing dinner in the primal way is pretty easy.  Meat and vegetables.  Done.  Cut out bread, legumes, cheese.  I can do that (cheese is hard, but manageable).  The hardest part, and what I really need to put some effort into will be breakfast, lunch, and snacks.  Bottom line is, I need to get more ideas and start using them.  I can make scrambled eggs in the morning, and Lass ate them up this morning along with some fruit, but Miss isn't a huge egg eater and I know they will get sick of scrambled eggs and hard-boiled eggs.  I have come across some recipes for paleo-friendly pancakes (Oh how I love thee Pinterest), using almond flour or butternut squash.  So I'll definitely try those too.  I have some plans for lunches and snacks as well.

Today I grocery shopped and almost everything I bought was a vegetable or fruit.  I got some meat (though not a lot as we have a freezer full of venison), some nuts and a few spices, etc.  I did buy some non-paleo friendly items, like a couple of boxes of mac and cheese and some peanut butter and jelly (in case of a melting-down-at-lunch-time emergency!).  I feel good about trying to feed my family in a more healthy way.  That has always been my goal, and even now I think I do a pretty good job of it.  I just want to challenge myself to do better.  The past week we have eaten only paleo-friendly dinners, at least, so I'm making progress.

Eating a paleo diet seems to have lots of benefits.  I've read about it, but have also seen it at work in my brother.  If you want more information about what a "paleo" diet really consists of or why it is a good thing, you can check out the website of Robb Wolf, who seems to be the paleo guru, or that of Sara Fragoso, who has lots of recipes on her blog and whose cookbook "Everyday Paleo" is great.  I've also found lots of good recipes by searching "paleo food" or "paleo recipes" on Pinterest (which is my newly-found crazy addiction, by the way!!).  This way of eating just makes sense to me, so we're going for it.  Though I'm not giving up milk.  That's just asking too much.
 

1 comment:

  1. I would seriously love to do this, but I just couldn't get B on board. Or Mike for that matter! Good luck! I'll let you know if I come across some recipes :)

    ReplyDelete