Wednesday, February 13, 2013

The Breakfast/Lunch Challenge

Other than the whole no-pasta thing, the biggest challenge for me (well, both of us) is what to eat for breakfast and lunch.  For as long as I can remember, I have had cereal for breakfast.  Other than weekends/special occasions when my family or I would make a deluxe breakfast, I would have cereal.  So what do you do when you aren't supposed to eat grains or dairy??

Lunch is a similar problem for me.  I typically have something involving cheese, crackers, an apple, a sandwich, yogurt, or something along those lines.  So most of that is now out.  My husband typically just has dinner leftovers, so he doesn't have such an issue.

Today (our first day of Paleo), has already been a bit difficult.  I made a big batch of hard boiled eggs yesterday so we could have an easy breakfast of eggs and fruit.  That actually kept me reasonably full all morning.  Yay, protein!  Once I have more time on my hands, I plan to try some other easy make-ahead breakfasts.  Stay tuned!

For lunch today, we both had some leftovers of meals that were primarily meat and veggies.  I admit though, my leftover chowder did have milk and cheese in it, but hey- remember baby steps!  So when I was still hungry 3 hours later, instead of going for the string cheese or crackers, I tried out a smoothie!  I was on a smoothie kick for a while this summer, so I decided to break out the blender and try again!  I am hoping to make large batches of smoothies as another option for a ready-made breakfasts or lunches.  So, here is what I used today:
  • Ice
  • Strawberries
  • Grapes
  • Banana
  • Spinach (going green!)
  • A squirt of Honey (not pictured)
  • A splash of Milk (I realized I needed some sort of liquid to make the blender work and this was the best I came up with... I wish I had orange juice- I'll try that next time!)
That squash on the side did NOT go in, it just wanted to be in the picture...

 The smoothie ended up tasting great and as I had heard- you can't taste the spinach.  It just adds nutrients and turns it....
 
GREEN!


Stay tuned for more smoothie varieties and my attempts at figuring out breakfast and lunch.  And of course our first Paleo dinner tonight!  If you have any B/L recipes/ideas, please share!

3 comments:

  1. Christie! I've been doing CrossFit for a while, but never got on board with Paleo (I love cheese and sugar too much). I've been trying recently to incorporate some paleo meals into my life, so I applaud you for dedicating yourself to it for 40 days!

    To save time in the morning I've been making variations on these egg cups - basically egg cupcakes - and then heating them in the morning to eat quickly. I still cheat and put some cheese on them, but at least I'm trying, right?

    http://www.recipebyphoto.com/spinach-egg-cups/

    I'll definitely be checking in on your posts, and will be stealing some ideas :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Those egg cups are exactly what I had in mind to try! Glad you are doing that too. Thanks for the support!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Christie,
    Hi, I've been attempting to incorporate Paleo into my lifestyle, no lie, it's a little difficult. Not so much on giving up the carbs, but man oh man, do I miss my sour patch kids.

    I have a suggestion for you on the smoothies. I've been trying to make a breakfast smoothie with fruit and veggies in it. Okay, this is what i do... I freeze my berries (blueberry, strawberry, mango, banana) throw them in them blender/food processor along with spinach, kale, some sprouts that I've recently started growing in a jar with a dash of carrot juice and some apple juice. That way there is no need for ice if your berries are frozen! it turns out amazing every time. Oh, I also throw some chia (yeah, ch-ch-chia) seeds in there for some extra omega.

    Hope that helps a little and I really love your blog. It's so nice to hear someone elses trials and tribulations with the paleo diet.
    Keep up the good work! and PLLLLEEEASE keep writing!
    -mel

    ReplyDelete