Friday, October 15, 2010

I Discovered Paleo!

Donna here. Yes its true, I discovered paleo...of course I didn't name it paleo or much of anything, because I thought it was just my whacky new way of eating. I should explain. Last February I had a partial thyroidectomy for a large nodule caused by childhood irradiation. When your throat is cut, you feel very restricted, foodwise. What made me want to gag was bread, cereal, pasta, and anything of substance, which was interesting because I always had at least one, if not two bowls of cereal daily. At first I ate applesauce, puddings, popsicles, and anything soft. As I grew stronger and hungrier, I graduated to pureed stews of meat and vegetables. At the time I had been almost vegetarian with whole grains and muffins as my "health foods." But a weird thing started happening. The more stew I ate, the more weight I lost. Not only that, but I wasn't taking my usual ration of prilosec and tums. I knew I wasn't doing Atkins (the idea of which always disgusted me ) because I wasn't eating dairy or fatty meats and cheeses. It wasn't until I was perusing a thyroid website that I learned that the foods I was eating were "paleo" and that there was a whole story behind it! I'm glad that so many people are eating the way that makes ME most comfortable-I love raw crunchy veggies, fruits and berries, and nuts. I had to get used to eating more meats, but thats coming along well too. And to not have to worry about my weight and still lose, eating what makes me happy...whats wrong with that!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

The Right Stuff

A few weeks ago we were in a fall kind of mood at the grocery store and added a 6 pound turkey to our cart. Yesterday, we decided to cook it in the evening. What to do about stuffing? Before I got on the plan I loved the stuffing more than the turkey, but it is almost entirely bread. Fortunately, when I went to Google and tried "Paleo turkey stuffing" I get several useful recipes. The main ingredients tended to be vegetables such as cauliflower, mushrooms and onion. One of them called for bacon and sausage, so we went along with that. At the end, we had something that was a hit with both of us. I should have taken a picture, but I was too busy eating. Bring on Thanksgiving and a crustless pumpkin pie!