Saturday, December 21, 2013

Christmas, but the cookies look so good....

Yes, Christmas time is here again. Time for family, friends, maxing out the credit card, and a huge amount of goodies just begging to be eaten. How do you get through without having to moving up one wardrobe size? Since hCG and subsequently going Paleo, I tend to lose on those holiday feast days. Thanksgiving gave me a 2 lb. loss. How? Easy, I don't partake in anything that has grain. Yes, that means I miss out on the Stove Top stuffing, biscuits, the pie, the cookies, and the like. It doesn't mean that I don't get to eat, enjoy my family, or have a treat. It means that I do my best to choose wisely. My Thanksgiving plate had turkey, mashed red potatoes, honey glazed sweet potatoes, and southern style green beans (green beans, bacon, onions, and lots of butter). I even had some cranberry sauce (which did have HFCS, yecch). Our Christmas dinner this year will be Tri-tip, baked red potatoes, steamed broccoli, salad, and for the family, gravy, rolls and apple pie. Does this sound like I am denying anyone a grand Christmas feast? No, of course not. Am I anywhere near depriving myself? No, not even close. For me, Christmas is family coming together to celebrate the birth of the Christ. It's about loving and giving. It's not about cookies, cakes, or any other food, healthy or otherwise. I hope everyone has a happy Christmas. May God bless you all so that the best of your past will be the worst of your future.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Back to the Drawing Board

Hello all! I have been lax on my postings, mainly because I am being lazy and flighty. I did not manage to come through the Thanksgiving season unscathed. In fact, I find myself 30 lbs. over my best weight of 191. I am still down 100 lbs., and have no desire to gain and lose THOSE pounds again. My biggest problem is not sticking to a stricter Paleo eating plan. I have been far cozy with sugary stuff. Mainly dark chocolate. I am still very careful that it contains no soy or dairy, but candy is candy. I have been researching Paleo meals that I will be terrorizing the whole family with. Everyone has been eating bread, pasta, cakes, cookies (not me...but I am letting the Littles and not being a good Mommy). Not to mention all the processed meat products. So, starting Jan. 1 we will be having wonderful Paleo stuff, with some minor addendums (my hubby has to eat on the road, so lettuce wrapped sandwiches are a no-go). I will be focusing on homemade meals, prepping and freezing, and the odd Paleo snacky. My poor children will be stuck eating healthy meals and snacks (awwww poor babies...). I just whipped up a batch of Paleo mayo which came out well with an immersion blender, my preferred way of making mayo without using the "slowly, slowly, slowly, slowly, add the oil, drop by drop, slowly, slowly" method, which is time consuming and well, frankly, sucks. Take your favorite mayo recipe, put it all the ingredients into your jar of choice (I use 1 quart mason-type jars, my stick blender barely fits in it...), then put in your immersion blender, set it on the bottom of the container and let it whirl until the emulsification process starts (you will see the eggs and oil start looking solid, like mayo), then you can start the up and down movements to blend in the rest of the oil. Here's a tip to make sure you get good mayo, all the ingredients should be a room temperature. Once you put all the ingredients into the container, let them sit together for a few minutes so that everything is at the same temp. I am not promising perfect mayo every time, but definitely most of the time (sometimes you just get oily scrambled eggs, yecch...). I am starting my strict Paleo plan now, and will keep everyone posted on how things are going. If sticking Paleo shows me some good results, then I may just strict Paleo my way back down, if not, I am contemplating doing hCG again in February. Well, I am off to start some meatloaf (an old family recipe that improved by being converted to Paleo!).