Going Primal

I haven't been blogging for the last year. Major family changes going on and major health issues on my part. So it was time for a change. Discovered I have to make some serious dietary changes. No nuts, no seeds, no grains and no sugar! There are actually a whole lot more no foods than that but that give you an idea of the direction I am headed. On the other hand I am needing more dairy, more meat, and more veg. The idea behind this is to lesson my fibro symptoms and boost my immune system.

To make my life as easy as possible I have started weekly menus again, and home cooking all my foods from scratch again. I had to do this the last time I got super sick, but had gotten lacks over the last couple of years and have been paying for it.

My current tactic is search the web for tasty looking paleo, primal or easily adjusted recipes. Make up a menu for the week I am planning for, this is usually 3-4 meals, the rest will be eating left overs and snacky foods, I am really big on no waste and not over doing it. This means I do not have to cook every day and can cook when feeling up to it, and can eat left overs when too ran down. And the last step is shopping lists. I look at my menu for the week, see what we have on hand and buy only the basics needed for the meals on my list, plus a few extras. That's it. One other thing I try to do when meal planning is plan meals that have ingredients that over lap, so again no waste and I have to buy less. I usually have two meat based meals and one to two meat free meals, or with low meat. Examples would be a pork week, where two of the meals both call for pork, I buy just enough to cover both recipes, and have no other meat to buy. Same for chicken, two chicken weeks. Thus having a bit of a theme. Other examples are green onions, scallions or leaks, mushrooms, cabbage, really any ingredient.

Each weekend I do my shopping for the coming week. I usually pick up a produce box with a  variety of produce, along with fresh raw goat milk, and some times cheese. I then get what ever other veg are still on my list and my meat. I also make sure to have snack foods on hand, we pretty well always have apples and other fruits, carrots and cucumbers, yogurt and cottage cheese. That along with fresh organic free range eggs from our hens rounds out our daily diets.

I am not a big breakfast fan, but I eat an early lunch, this is often left overs, then I grab a carrot or few slices of apple or what ever fresh raw veg we have on hand for snacks till dinner. I eat 2-3 actual "meals" the rest the time grazing. Besides cottage cheese and yogurt a favorite snack is a couple spoons of plain yogurt, fresh raw local honey drizzled over it, organic apple cider vinegar splashed in, then dusted with salt pepper and dill to taste, mix well and use as a dip for bell peppers, cucumbers, carrots and other veg. Another favorite snack around here is two 6 minute steamed eggs (best if at least 3 days old, too fresh will not peal no matter how you cook them) with a small glass of fresh, raw goat milk.

I have been photographing my meals as I go along, and have decided to share along with recipes to help any others starting out on this path. Most the recipes are gathered from online sources, and most the time I have written them down and not kept track of where I got the recipe, so please forgive not giving proper credit like I would like. Many have been altered just a bit to best suit my diet needs.

For more recipes check out my Pinterest page, warning not all pinned recipes are paleo, primal, or even close to healthy. http://pinterest.com/laemorae/food/

I invite you to follow along on my journey and join me in making healthier choices.