I know I’ve said 100 times I’m a lazy cook. Last week though, I tried to be proactive and planned out some meals and pre-prepared them. Turns out that last week became 100% insane, and without that food, I would have been at the mercy of convenience foods. I was completely beat-down-exhausted, didn’t feel well, and only walked twice. The food planning totally saved my week. Yay planning!
The problem I was left with on Friday though was that I still had extra. Extra meat, extra veggies, extra stuff that I bought and didn’t prepare because I had plenty from my weekend prep work. I froze what I could, but I didn’t catch some of it before it was too late. Suckage. Wasteful.
This morning, I planned out my list again. I haven’t had much of an appetite the past 3 days, so I tried to take that into account as well. Still though, when I just finished up my prep work, I think I might have overbought again. I will need to spend some time on Wednesday going through and doing anything I can prep and freeze. Guys, I’m NOT a prep and freeze person. I’m used to convenience and never thawing anything. Thus part of the problem of how I got to be 455 pounds.
Things I learned about food this week:
- A whole chicken cooked in the roaster can serve as breakfasts and lunches for 4 days
- Sauteed honeycrisp apples are dabomb. Chop honeycrisps, put in a hot pan with a little bit of butter (just so it doesn’t stick to the pan. If you don’t do dairy, you can do coconut oil) and then sprinkle as much cinnamon as you want on it while they sautee. They’re awesome cold or hot. Nom nom.
- I have reversed my stance on ground turkey. I used to be a hater. I learned this week if you put fresh guacamole and salsa on it and eat it in a lettuce wrap, it tastes pretty darn good.
- Bacon-wrapped dates are insanely satisfying: savory and sweet in 2 bites
Something I hear a lot of is “I don’t have the money to eat healthy.” It’s true that you can spend A LOT of money on organic, fresh, locally sourced foods and special products to eat. Believe me, I’ve given myself plenty of sticker shock at Whole Foods, The Fresh Market, and even the local farmers market. It’s also true that you don’t HAVE to.
I thought I’d share my grocery list from today to try to show how it’s really not that complicated or expensive if you don’t want it to be. I only cook for myself though, so I can see where it would be more difficult if you were trying to feed your family of four on a diet like this.
Just a reminder that I’m doing Paleo: no wheat, corn, starches (white stuff), no sugar (unless naturally in the food), no artificial sweeteners, no legumes, and extremely limited dairy (2 ounces in my coffee daily and the little bit of butter from the sauteed apples). I’m also staying away from eggs and beef since I recently learned I’m intolerant to them.
- Lettuce
- Honeycrisp apples
- Avocados
- Cilantro
- Dates (a splurge for my bacon wrapped dates)
- Grapes
- Tomatoes
- Onions
- Watermelon
- Sweet potatoes
- Kale
- Garlic
- Broccoli
- Limes
- 1 tuna steak (I really didn’t need this- it was on sale and looked very fresh – regretting it)
- 4 tilapia fillets (on sale) – for fish tacos
- 1 pound of ground turkey or bison – I got bison this week
- 1 whole chicken
- Nitrate free, sugar free bacon (yes, this is more expensive, but you don’t need much)
- 1 pound of sausage (again, not sure I needed, but it stays good for a few weeks at least)
- Brussel sprouts in the steam packs – I love them and they have nothing added. I think I get the Steamfresh brand
- 1 bottle of Perrier (I don’t drink soda – let me have a few bubbles!)
In my opinion, this is pretty simple. I have squash and spinach left over from last week that I can use as a side dish as well, so I probably overbought veggies also. If you can eat beef and eggs, you can sub lean ground beef for the turkey or bison, and use eggs as an easy source of protein instead of natural bacon or sausage. The brussel sprouts and Perrier are my only “interior” items – things I had to go down the aisles of the grocery store to get.
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