Week Three

Holy cow, this is making the weeks fly by! This week I tried some new recipes off my ever expanding "Paleo" Pinterest board and some good classics that we could eat every week, seriously...when I tell the kids what we're having for dinner there are squeals of delight and jumping up and down. Eating Paleo is a lot of work, it's time consuming, and it requires a change of the traditional love/hate relationship with food...but it's worth it. You will be feeding your body the nutrient dense food it craves to perform at it's optimal level. Here's week three's menu and grocery list!


Friday:

• Baked Chicken Meatballs These were new and were really tasty, I'll for sure make them again..even though I ended up using 2lb of Chicken and the extra mixed in things for only 1lb and didn't realize it until they were baking...I am really bad about that kind of stuff!!!!
• Zucchini Noodles with spaghetti sauce (use a jar if that's what you have time for, just check the ingredients for hidden nastiness. I use the Puttanesca sauce from TJ and add a can of diced tomatoes to mellow the kick a bit)

Saturday: (one of my staple go to meals for nights I'm working and the hubs is in charge!)

• Fire Roasted Beef Roast: 3-4 lb beef roast (I buy what's one sale), one onion sliced, 1 can Fire Roasted Tomatoes, 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar...dump in crock pot and cook on low for 8ish hours
• Peas        

Sunday: 

• Damn Fine Chicken This is another one of my staples, I could eat it every single week and not get tired of it. I do switch from baking to broil at the end to get all the skin crunchy and I do double the marinade because as you heard last week, I love me some cooked shallots...and the kids love love love this
• Braised Brussel Sprouts (our traditional way is roasted covered with bacon..it'll be tough to beat...) I'm not sure these were as good with bacon but they were good. 

Monday: 

• Asian Ground Beef and Broccoli Slaw (one pot meat and veggies..we'll give it a whirl!) This was super tasty. So much so that I made some more just to have for an extra snack when I was starving! I will be buying the stuff to make it and have it in the fridge next week for emergency lunches!

Tuesday:

• Balsamic Maple Glazed Salmon This was tasty, had a good sweet/acid balance.
• Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower (we eat this a lot! The kids love it and I love it that I can throw it in the oven and it's pretty fuss free!)

Wednesday:

• Chicken and Vegetable Lo Mein I don't add any veggies to this because it's all together in one pot and one of our favorite meals..I double it every time. The ingredient list reflects this. This meal is one of those that it's sooo nice to have prepped before hand. I always chop all my broccoli/cauliflower on grocery day and had the chicken already cubed so literally I opened bags and dumped stuff...it makes for a quick dinner

Thursday:

•  Pork Carnitas: This might be one of our most favorite recipes for pork. It's sooo savory and amazing. I always have good intentions of saving some for an actual traditional recipe that uses carnitas style meat, but it never lasts! We eat this for breakfast with a little garlic chili sauce and it's amazing...for real, melt in your mouth amazing..
• Fajita veggies: I just chop up some onions, bell peppers, mushrooms (and usually dump whatever other extra veggies I can find), saute them in coconut oil and then plop them under the broiler until they're done to our liking.

Staples:

• Onion
• Garlic
• Egg
• Olive Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Coconut Aminos
• Sherry Vinegar
• Fish Sauce
• Allspice
• Red wine
• Red wine vinegar
• Honey
• Almonds
• Sesame Oil
• Sesame Seeds
• Cinnamon stick
• Bay leaf
• Chili powder
• Cumin

Fruit:

• Bananas
• Pears
• Berries (2 kinds)
• Avocado
• Apples

Veggies:

• Zucchini (I plan on 1 per adult and 1/2 per kid..more for leftovers if you want that)
• Peas
• Onion/Shallot/Garlic mix from Trader Joes (only bc I'm fixing this on a day I work and want to cut time down)
• Broccoli Slaw (1 bag)
• Mushrooms (2 packs, I use baby bella for everything despite what the recipe tells me to do...)
• Spinach (my standard 2 bags)
• Bag Salad (my standard 2 bags)
• Shallots (4)
• Scallions/Green onions
• Brussel Sprouts (I like the bagged version from TJ)
• Celery
• Fresh ginger (it's worth it in the Lo Mein)
• Broccoli (2)
• Cauliflower
• Shredded cabbage
• Bell peppers

Meat:

• 1 lb Ground Chicken (or grind breast in a food processor..that's too much work for me)
• Bacon
• 3-4 lb Beef Roast
• 2 lb Ground Beef
• Family Pack of Drumsticks (10ish)
• Salmon (4 ounces per person. I don't love fish leftovers so don't usually make extra)
• 2 lb chicken breast (dice it before you freeze it)
• 3-4 lb Pork shoulder/butt roast

Etc:

• Eggs
• Tomato sauce
• Parsley
• Fire Roasted Tom
• 1 Can Water Chestnuts