Day 20 - aka fun in the sun (a la paleo)

Well yesterday began with some excitement for me - Before then, my best time for 500m on the rowing matching was 2:33 and as of yesterday it is now 2:09!!  I am so excited!  However, that, along with the rest of the killer WOD left me so tired last night I could not even lift my laptop to my desk to type my blog... Food wise yesterday was not very exciting... nothing really new..a lot of leftovers.  One cheat - went out to eat with the gang from work.  I ordered a very paleo friendly chicken salad but they did not have olive oil/vinegar.  I used their balsamic vinaigrette sparingly but I am sure there was sugar in it...

Paleo Picnic!

The weather here in South Louisiana has been so amazing...Jason and I decided it was time to take the kids for a road trip so we headed to Tickfaw State Park in Springfield, LA.  They have an amazing outdoor water park that is just right for Abby and Luke's age.  The kids had a blast and we all enjoyed a paleo friendly picnic.  While we were there, Jason and I talked about how different the picnic would have been pre - Day 1.  There would have been chips, brownies and/or cookies, lots of bread, cheese, deli meat and who knows what else.  This time we had grilled chicken, along with all kinds of fruit and nuts.  The only thing that is probably not completely Paleo is hummus..but the kids love it and so do Jason and I so that, along with carrot sticks, was a welcomed addition to our picnic.  Jason and I both felt great for the whole afternoon - no weird stomach sickness that usually comes along with the heavy eating that would have been done at a picnic three weeks ago....

When we got home, I decided to cook some Paleo meals that would get me through the week.  I was originally going to do Paleo stuffed peppers but ended up making up a "lazy man's stuffed pepper casserole" instead.  There were peppers on the top and bottom and a meat/veggie mixture sandwiched between.  It ended up really, really delicious but it was not the show stopper... if you are doing Paleo like me and do some recipe research, it won't take you long to come across many, many versions of Paleo "rice" which is just finely chopped cauliflower.  I found myself avoiding these recipes because I was sure I would be disappointed.  I was so, so wrong.  this dish will now be a staple on our dinner table....it was soo good.  There is much debate online about how to go about actually making this rice dish but I went for convenience.  I had about a 1.5 bags of frozen cauliflower in the freezer and microwaved it so it was still cold but not frozen.  I then put small batches into my chopster and chopped until, to me, it looked like cous cous.  I heated some olive oil in a pan and started by throwing in some diced zucchini - I am always up for including as many veggies as possible in each meal.  Then I added the cauliflower and some basic spices and cooked until it was warm all the way through....It was really, really soo good!  I think this will be a great side dish to take the place of spaghetti squash.  I love it and all, but don't want to get burnt out of any specific food....

So tomorrow is weigh in day.  I have a feeling I didn't do as well as my last two weigh ins; mostly because I ate out alot this week.  But I am ready!  Sure, I miss baked goods, especially brownies, bad enough to have dreams about eating them..( these are my erotic dreams...haha...me sitting by myself eating a brownie and drinking a big glass of milk)  But I feel good and healthy and have an amazing family that deserves a healthy mom!