Ostrich Burgers

Last night we ate ostrich for the very first time... In the form of a burger. I was very surprised how similar to beef it was. Don't get me wrong, it was not just like beef. It was quite good though. Good enough that I would eat it again. Good enough I would try an ostrich roast. Good enough I am thinking I need to raise ostriches. (I really want to have a farm someday, but I am allergic to everything with fur. There has not been one exception. But guess what?! Ostriches have feathers!)

We ate it just like any burger: with lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard, ketchup (the kids anyway).

See?? Completely looks like a burger. 

Weekly Paleo Menu April 29 - May 5.

I realize I started this blog and left it after two posts.

We have had a LOT of ups and downs and now that Brandon, A.K.A. The Hubby, has finally decided to be completely onboard with eating Paleo it is time to buckle down. It has only taken a lifetime for him to start listening to his father, but isn't that just the way of life?

As of now, our entire family is not Paleo. Brandon is completely Paleo (it has made such a difference with his blood glucose levels and a huge reduction in his A1C's!--He is a Type 1 Diabetic--I promise to post more on this soon.) I am about 90% Paleo, but completely gluten free. Our five children are almost gluten free, but that is all. We are a work in progress.

We have five children. Our oldest will be 18 in a week and he eats a TON. Who am I kidding? All of my children eat a TON. I have cooked most everything from scratch for a really long time. We have really had a pretty low grocery bill because of it. Changing our eating to Paleo has definitely increased our spending on food. It is a hard adjustment and it's just the beginning. We don't buy a lot of Organic foods or grain fed meats. They are expensive and they don't fit into our budget at all. I look for clearance meat and sale veggies. Natural Grocers, which is what we have in my area, has a clearance veggie bin where I can pick up a bag of going bad produce for $1.00 a bag. I still add a few fillers to my children's meals, such as Basmati rice, potatoes, corn tortillas, etc. But, I keep it gluten free.


Our Weekly Menu for April 29 - May 5:
I am posting six dinners and breakfasts because the 7th will be a free night and morning. You never know when you have something come up or you are rushed or you just don't feel like cooking.

Lunches tend to be leftovers of dinner, which I will double or triple recipes in order to have. Most dinner items can be thrown on a bed of greens and will make a great lunch. Turkey or ham sandwich meat makes a great "tortilla" for some avocado, onion, and bell pepper.

Breakfasts:

Fried eggs with fruit (whatever sounds good).

Ham steak topped with the BEST caramelized onion jam EVER and a fruit.

Eggs scrambled with sausage and some veggies.

Fisherman's Eggs--This looks easy enough. I will probably cook everything in a pan.

Bacon and fruit.

Paleo Breakfast Burrito



Dinners in no particular order:

Paleo Southwest Meat Loaf (I get to use some of the clearance ground beef I found) with guacamole, a salad (usually some kind of greens with dressing).

Crock Pot Asian Style Carnitas with Asian Cabbage Salad and grilled asparagus.

Apple Dijon Burger on top of some greens, diced and baked sweet potatoes on the side.

Salmon Sliders (but, I will be using tuna for the sake of budget), on top of Cilantro Lime Slaw.

Too Easy Chicken Adobo with Roasted Mixed Greens with Beets and Garlic (yes, I know it's the same site. I figure we will try them both at the same time... even though we don't really like beets. Maybe this will be the way that will finally help us to eat them.)

Pan-Seared Chicken and Curried Parsnips on top of a nice bed of lettuce.

*As with any menu, if we don't end up being able to cook all of the meals this week, I will just add them on to the beginning of next week.

Paleo Pancakes

A couple of years ago, I came across this recipe at Elana's Pantry for almond flour pancakes. They were good. Especially when you haven't had a pancake in a long time.

Two weeks ago my 5 year old birthday girl really wanted pancakes for her special breakfast. My plan was to make Elana's pancakes until I realized we were out of almond flour (and no one had told me). I ran and grabbed my copy of The Primal Blueprint Cookbook and lo and behold it had a recipe for coconut flour pancakes. I have to admit I was extremely skeptical. Coconut flour is very dense and I couldn't see it making a great pancake. However, I did have coconut flour on hand, so I gave it a try. They were so gross. I don't know if it was something I did or if the recipe was bad, but I won't be trying it again.

I got onto the computer and found an interesting recipe in one of the comment sections of Mark's Daily Apple (yes, the same guy who wrote the book above with the nasty coconut flour pancakes) and it looks like Mark Sisson made his own recipe. The recipe sounded so easy and at this point I was desperate!

Paleo Pancakes (my version)
*Recipe is good for one person

1 Egg
1 Ripe Banana
1 Heaping TBSP Almond Butter

Heat a pan over medium heat. Grease pan. Mix all ingredients together very well. Cook on pan until golden on both sides.

Makes about 3 pancakes.

I also added a few blueberries to each pancake. They were so good! These pancakes were fluffy and felt like normal pancakes in my mouth. This is our new "go to" pancake recipe.

Bought Sarah Fragoso's Book

I have been feeling really overwhelmed at the amount of time I spend at each meal preparing and/or cooking food, the expense, and the seeming lack of variety.. and it's only been 3 weeks since we started. First, the expense. I have been cooking from scratch for a long time. I baked our own bread and muffins and stuff, made our own casseroles, and I don't buy convenience foods very often. I also buy meat when it's on sale and cheap. So, for the seven of us, I used to feed us dinner for around (usually a little less) $10. Breakfast would be less than that and so would lunch. Now, eating paleo, the cost of food is at least double.

Second, the time. Most days I enjoy cooking dinner and creating something amazing that the whole family (with the exception of one picky person) will like. But, now I am cooking breakfast and having to prepare something more for lunch other than a quick sandwich. It took me an hour to make breakfast this morning. It left me feeling a bit tired.

Third, the variety. Ok ok. I know there is a lot of ways to prepare meat. Fabulous ways, actually. But, when you can only afford the cheapest cuts of beef, pork, and chicken it's hard to enjoy the same type of tough meat over and over again. Hopefully, we will find a somewhat inexpensive supplier of yummy fish, but it is all around here it is expensive!! (My mom fishes, I may have to use her skill to stock my freezer the next time I can go visit her.) And honestly? How many nights are we supposed to like having broccoli, spinach, or cauliflower?

So, feeling utterly overwhelmed with our "new" diet (we've done it before), I went to the bookstore and bought Sarah Fragoso's book Everyday Paleo. I payed way too much for it (amazon has it for $8.00 less), but that's what I get for convenience and a little peace of mind. I am hoping the ideas and recipes in her book will help me create a menu to help me through this slump.