One pan dinner

Wow, so sorry postings have been sparse. We closed on the new house today. We are now trying to pack up sections of the house and slowly move it over to the new house. Only, with four kids running around this is very slow going. 


I made a one pan dinner last night. I have no time to wash dishes. So we had steak and vegetables. 


Step 1: melt butter
Step 2: add salt to steak, and add steak to pan.
Step 3: Cook steak until done. 
Step 4: Remove steak and let rest
Step 5: Throw in broccoli and carrots into same pan (do not drain the butter or meat drippings)
Step 6: Toss the vegetables in the "sauce" and allow to cook for 5-7 minutes. Or until tender. 


Serve. 


Delicious! And quick.

Almost there!

Just 1,500 views away from my super-duper secret turkey recipe!

Whew

What a week!  It's been crazy preparing for a garage sale, holding the garage sale, loading items into cars, and trying to keep track of four kids while Tom is out on a speaking event. 


I''ve yet to make it to the grocery store. I'm this close :::hold thumb and pointer finger 1/2 inch apart:: to telling the kids we're going to be extra primal and eat leaves and grub.  Maybe then they'll appreciate the steak and cheese more. 


My mom was super generous and drove from Oklahoma up here, with four of my siblings in tow, to help out with the garage sale. The kids wanted things like doughnuts and chips and bread for sandwiches.. so I bought them. And my own family may or may not have snuck a few of these items. I'll take it to my grave though. 


I seriously need a detox though. I fully expect the kids to have some meltdowns in the next day or two. My mom and siblings left a few hours ago, so the kids and I will be eating a lot of salad and olive oil tonight. And that will probably be our diet for the next few days as well. 


I'm going to go make that salad now. . . right after I take a nap. 


Oh wait. I'm Mom. I don't get naps.

House is Sold!

Wow, it's been a crazy few weeks here! We decided to buy a new house, 18 hours later we signed a contract on a our future home, three days later we put our current house on the market, and five days later... it sold!  Amazing. 


Because of all the craziness I haven't been to the grocery store for over a week. It's making meal prep a little difficult.  Last night I realized the kids had nothing to pack for lunch so I had to run to the store. I had to think of something quick and wouldn't require cooking... so I came up with deli turkey wraps. 


1 big romaine lettuce leaf
3 oz turkey
2 slices turkey
mustard. 


Layer and roll. 


I also gave them some sliced apples and some dark chocolate chips. They were really pleased with it, thankfully. 


Tonight was dinner at Jason's Deli since we had a house showing at 6pm.  I did have to stop at the grocery store on the way home since Veronica needs some pudding for tomorrow, so we stopped and bought some avocado and raspberries. I still need to make this... ugh 


So tomorrow is yogurt for breakfast. And some beef burgers (I'm cooking them now) for lunch. And who knows what's for dinner. 

Food is so Stupid Sometimes

I keep stalling out on weight loss. It's really starting to annoy me. I haven't written out my story yet (it would take forever at this point!) but I still think something is not quite right with my metabolism. 


I think food is too much of a bother when you're a mom... I think the main problem is eating too little. It's difficult (though not impossible) to be Primal when you are constantly on the go. Lately I haven't had time to premake any meals or snacks, which means I don't eat. 


What happens when you don't eat?  Your body craves fuel. What does your brain immediately think of as fuel?  Sugar. (I wonder if the brain is ever retrained or if it will always rely on sugar as a quick energy source?) So I go throughout my day thinking "I'll eat as soon as I get time to make something" but I never do have/make the time for it, so I end up wanting to devour sugar. Any kind of sugar. So I had to put the chocolate chips on the high self (at 5'1 I'm short) so I could resist the "Hey, it's dark chocolate, it's good for me--it's filled with antioxidants!" type rationale. Now I was not eating handfuls of chocolate a day, but even if I were, it seems to me that I would have to consume a massive amount of chocolate in order to take in more sugar/calories than my body could use and store as fat. 


I've also really tried to focus on smothering anything I eat with grassed butter. I've added heavy cream to foods in the hopes that the high fat content would help eat away the stored fat. I know some people say that dairy hinders weight loss, but I dairy out for a while and saw no results in additional weight loss, so I'm skeptical this is the case with me. 


So I'm in a little bit of a slump, I'm afraid.  I don't want to go back to the way we were eating before, GP has way too many great benefits, but sometimes I wish I didn't have to think about food so much. 

And then there's the idea of "you could be 115 pounds if you just stuck to eating meats and vegetables all the time. For some people even eating a dairy serving or having some sugar stalls weight loss, so it's best to stay away from these things."


Let's say this would be true of my situation. Do I want to live like that? Do I want to say *all of the time* "no thanks, I'm only eating my chicken and green beans today."  Sometimes I do want a cupcake. And sometimes I do want to go out for frozen yogurt with my girls. (After all, It's a Summer tradition!) And every once in awhile I want to eat the things I loved when I was a kid. So if indulging in these things every once in a while is going to mean I'll be fat forever... maybe I just have to accept that. 


I really think a properly working body should be able to tolerate eating a few sweets or grains without it going completely haywire and completely halt weight loss. Right?  


Sorry, don't mean to be a downer, but this blog was started to be an accurate depiction of a family's ups and downs of going Primal, so I figured I'd better keep with that theme.


In the meantime, if anybody has some good high-fat menu ideas, please share!

Cupcakes!

I really wanted cupcakes yesterday, but the thought of making Primal-friendly cupcakes made me tired. Baking is so time and energy intensive when baking primally. ::sigh::


Anyway, I remembered a Facebook friend of mine started a blog and she tends to do more baking than cooking (from what I can see anyway)... which is great! because I don't have time to fiddle around with ingredients. 


So here's her blog: Primal6  where she gives some simple instructions to a quick and easy cupcake recipe. 

I made them today (omitting the Stevia) and they really did turn out well.  I made the icing out of heavy cream, 1/2 tsp almond extract, and 1 tsp of maple syrup. 


You should try it!

Who Wants the Perfect Turkey Recipe?

We have hit 95,000 hits!  Yippee!!


I have a super, amazing no-fail turkey recipe which I love. I have never given out the instructions before, but I will if we hit 100,000 views! 


So help me help you. Send some of your friends over and let's all have the juiciest, more flavorful turkey ever!