Confessions

Last week was not a good week for me.  Somehow we forgot to take something out for dinner every night except for Friday.  This lead to one night of bacon and eggs (yummy!) and three nights of take out.  There was no real excuse for it.  The freezer is stocked full off really great food.  The fridge was full of veggies that we had purchased at the farmers market.

Lunches weren't much better for me.  I did eat my salad a couple of days, but I also had a couple of lunch dates where I was eating out.

The weekend was a total right off.  On Saturday I had an awesome girls day/night out.  This was two meals out and a lot of yummylicious cocktails.  But I think that Sunday takes the cake (at one point literally).  OK cover your eyes if you have a weak stomach ... 2 meals from McDonald's (hangs head low in shame) and a birthday party dinner that included ice cream cake.

OK that is it, I am finished with listing out my horrible horrible week.  Except that I forgot to mention the guy in the office with the box of Halloween chocolate bars that keeps on bringing them into meetings (and who I seem to go and visit more frequently now that I know they are there).

A few observations about how I felt last week ...

• I was popping aspirin like crazy.  Waking up with a head ache, going to bed with a head ache and everything in between.
• I couldn't sleep.  I was back to my old insomniac ways, where I would lie in bed for a couple hours and then move over to the spare room and watch tv to help me fall asleep.  All the while being exhausted since I hadn't had much sleep the night before.
• I was bloated most of the week and my stomach hurt a fair amount.

The worst was Saturday night.  I laid in bed all night in a drunken, sugar laden, too much bad food trance with my stomach in a lot of pain and a few trips to the bathroom.  Not a good feeling at all and thank god for probiotics to help me get through it.   I think I got maybe a couple hours sleep.

I am happy to report that first thing Monday morning I was back on track.  I even purchased my breakfast and lunch that day but stayed 95% on plan.

So what did I learn from all this ...

Well I definitely need to take items out of the freezer so that we have something for dinner and no excuse to eat out.  There is really no excuse for this, especially with all the grass fed beef that is sitting in my freezer.
Also if I am going to be eating out a lot, I need to make sure that I am making smart choices and staying on plan as best possible.

But the margaritas for the girls night out were definitely worth it!

Crazy Simple Recipe: Paleo Banana Pancakes

It is Friday!!!!!  It has been a long week with lots going on here.  Our little man was sick, which always turns life upside down and inside out.  Especially the sleepless nights that always accompany a sick baby.  But he is on the mend and getting lots of rest, and so now so am I.

I have another crazy simple recipe that I want to share with everyone.  Again this isn't something that I was smart enough to invite.  Just tried, tested and loved by my family.

These pancakes are actually one of little man's favourite foods.  He gobbles up an entire batch of these things, always to our amazement of how much food he is eating.  I must confess that even though I make these every weekend, I have never actually tried them.  I despise bananas - so of course my son loves them.

I have gotten this recipe down to taking maybe at most 10 minutes for the entire batch to be made.  That is from peeling the banana's to being put on the plate for consuming.

I think my favourite part of this recipe is that I am feeding my son a really healthy and nutritious breakfast.  Lots of protein in here from the eggs that he won't eat scrambled any more.  He never gets hungry again until lunch time, so no morning snack required.

They are also very portable.  We put them in a ziplock bag and bring them out with us.  He doesn't care if they are cold.

Paleo Banana Pancakes Recipe

2 eggs
1 banana
cinnamon to taste
oil of choice to cook with (coconut, butter or bacon fat are what I use)

Mix together eggs, banana and cinnamon.  I use my magic bullet, but a hand blender works just as well.

  Heat oil in pan on medium high.  Pour batter into fry pan in small pancake portions.

 When pancake bubbles, flip over and cook for another minute.  Then you are done!

Crazy Simple Recipe: Kale Chips

Life has been crazy this summer and I am loving it.  We are spending a ton of time as a family just hanging out and having fun.  During the week all three of us commute downtown and by the weekend we just want to stay home and relax.  Before we had the little man we used to be on the road every weekend, going every where and anywhere.  Now though, I would rather stay home and enjoy our backyard, or go for a bike ride to the local pool or splash pad.

I have a few tried and true crazy simple recipes that I will be posting over the next few weeks.  These are not recipes that I was smart enough to invent but are ones that are eaten regularly by my family.

I had never tried kale before I changed my eating style.  I just assumed that I wouldn't like it, didn't know what to do with it and just ignored it at the grocery store.  Then I came across a kale chip recipe and decided I might as well try it.  Now I LOVE kale, my favourite being Russian kale which I make into salads.

I haven't been able to get one of these chips into little man's mouth yet to know if he will eat them or not but that is OK, because I prefer not to have to share them!

Kale Chips

1 bunch of curly kale

Olive Oil 

sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Wash and dry the kale.  The dryer you can get the kale the better the results.  Break the kale into pieces and spread out on a baking tray.  I like to line the tray with tin foil although I don't think that is really necessary.

Using an oil mister filled with olive oil, give the kale a liberal spray.  This is what my oil mister looks like, I think I paid a whole $5 for it and I love it.    Sprinkle on sea salt to taste.  Be careful not to be too liberal with the salt as the kale shrinks a little in the cooking process.  Better to add more after these are baked if you didn't add enough to start. 

Place in the oven and bake for 10 - 15 minutes depending on your oven (mine takes 12).   You know they are done when you see some turning a little bit brown.

That is it, you are done!  3 ingredients, 15 minutes from start to finish and you have some awesome kale chips to eat.  I don't know how long they stay good for cause they never last more then 10 minutes.

Random Rants

I just went for a lunch time walk to the library.  About 1 km each way and it is a lovely day outside.  I even stopped at Starbucks for some tea and a break on the patio.  As I was walking I saw some things that I decided made a nice little rant post ...

1. Why are all cyclist not wearing helmets?  I just don't understand how people can not be smart enough to be wearing a bike helmet.  Especially in the middle of downtown with so much traffic and so many drivers who don't pay attention.  Are people more worried about a bad hair day over keeping their head safe?
2. Why do cyclist feel as though they don't need to follow the traffic rules?  Running red lights all the time.  Or even worse is that they seem to think they don't need to stop for street cars.  I have watched way to many close calls where a cyclist not even slowing down for the street car with its doors open almost hitting people who are getting of the street car.
3. Why do people write or highlight in library books?  These aren't you books people.  You can't look back at the book at a later date and reread what you highlighted.  The book needs to be returned so that other people can read the book.  Looking at your pencil marks or even worse highlighted sections is very distracting to the other people who are trying to read this book.

I will end this post with a little bit of happiness ...

Always fun bringing a smile to someone face as you point them in the direction of the nearest Starbucks!