Awesome in a Skillet

Paleo Pot 

Good Morning Friends! Today I thought I'd share a little bit about one of the Fisher Sisters' recent adventures... and that is, eating paleo. 

Maybe you know about paleo eating from a friend or co-worker... maybe you haven't heard of it. When you first hear of the eating plan, which includes the stipulations- no grains, no dairy, no added sugar- it might sound a little extreme. And hey, we all thought the same thing. We ate mostly healthy... everything in moderation, right?

Well, Lindsey was the first to take the plunge. 

 And as you can tell, she looks amazing. But... I wasn't sold. I mean, no salad dressing?? No lattes in the morning? That did not sound fun.

Lindsey started eating paleo as part of a challenge with her gym- Crossfit Jax. She had recently had a baby and thought that the challenge would be a good way to kick start losing the baby weight. And, to her surprise, she liked it. 

The first couple weeks were difficult. After all, she had to re-figure out what to eat for all of her meals! No oatmeal squares in the mornings, no squares of chocolate to get through the afternoons... But once she got passed the "But what can I eat?" phase, she loved it. She had more energy, she felt healthier, and she started to shed the baby weight. 

I decided to eat paleo for different reasons. (Obviously. I do not have a child.) I was having painful stomach aches after I'd eat. They were inconsistent, and  I could not figure out what would trigger them. Finally, I asked Jeni- my cousin, the super star nurse that I live with- what I should do. She said I should cut something out of my diet for a week and see if that helped, and she suggested I start with gluten, as many people develop a gluten intolerance as they get older. 

And surprise surprise, it helped. If you know me well, you know that I still have one of the most finicky stomachs in the world, but it is much, much better. 

Once I cut out gluten, deciding to switch to paleo eating was next. 

These are what I usually eat for snacks: 

Celery and bell peppers because veggies are important, almonds and an avocado
because you need some good fat, chicken because protein is a good thing,
 and strawberries to sweeten things up.

I officially made the decision to eat paleo with Alli. In January, she gave birth to my beautiful niece Eleanore, so in March we decided to start a paleo eating challenge together through our gym- Crossfit Jenks- to help kick start the process of losing the baby weight. And I am getting married in 95 days, so I wanted to be in great shape too! It was perfect timing. 

On the off chance that you also would like to be in better shape (I mean swimsuit season is almost here...) or just all around healthier, you should consider the paleo diet. It's not a lose-weight-quick-miracle diet, but a lifestyle change. The process of getting in shape is gradual but the results last. Yo-yo dieting is not really helpful in the long run. 

If one of your concerns is that you will have to eat booooooring on the paleo diet- think again! Sometimes this diet takes more planning ahead- after all, vending machines are not typically paleo friendly- but you can do it. 

There are lots of websites that can help you get going. The challenge Alli and I are doing is with a trainer at Crossfit Jenks (who is in amazing, super human shape) and she has a blog with paleo eating tips.  PaleOMG is one of our favorite websites- Juli is a funny writer and an amazing cook. Her website has lots of options. Steve's Paleo Goods has lots of yummy snack foods you can order, and Gwynth Paltro's new cookbook, It's All Good, has lots of clean eating options in it. 

{If you need more options, just type in "paleo" to google and you'll find lots of websites and blogs (like this one) that will encourage you and give you more ideas!}

To give you an example of tasty paleo meal, I'll share what Jon, my fiance, and I made last night. After a 4 mile run, I was soooo hungry, and I wanted a lot of food. But we are also trying to save money, so we did not want to spend a lot of money on said food. 

So we went with our go-to meal. The Paleo Pot. Basically a stir fry of whatever we have in the fridge that sounds good. Which almost always means bacon- because when does bacon not sound good? 

Last night's paleo pot consisted of: 8 strips of bacon, (I know, maybe we should have used less bacon... but it tasted awesome!) 1 shaved sweet potato, (I used the potato peeler to shave it. It worked well.) 2 links of chicken sausage seasoned with basil and thyme, (which I lazily did not make- I bought it at the store.) 1 chopped red bell pepper, 1/4 of a chopped onion, (for flavor. We are not HUGE onion fans.) 4 eggs, and a few handfuls of spinach. Prep time and cook time- about 30 minutes total. Delicious. 

First, cut up the bacon and get it cooking. Once it is about half-way cooked, start adding the sweet potato shavings, the bell pepper, the sausage, the onion, and whatever else you want to put in there. Once that cooks a bit, clear spaces for the eggs. You can cook those over-easy, over-medium, or just scramble them in there. Lastly, add the spinach and then cover the skillet to steam. 

Then: Voila! 

And yes, if you were wondering, WE ATE IT ALL. All of it. And it tasted heavenly. 

In the future, I think we will maybe use a little less bacon (maybe 4 strips?) and more spinach. We might also add some broccoli just to get a little more veggies in there. 

And there you have it. The awesome paleo pot. If you're a calorie counter- that meal serves 2 (if you're both hungry) and is about 550 calories per serving. All that bacon adds up. But hey, I'm not mad at it. The protein was awesome. 

By the way, I am aware that the meal is in fact made in a skillet, not a pot, but work with me. I like alliteration. 

So there you have it. It is possible to eat paleo and not feel like you're suffering. Also, if you're a Starbucks devotee like I am and cannot fathom giving up your frothy dairy laden drink, consider gradually making the switch to americanos. You can sprinkle some   cinnamon in there for flavor. I now have one every morning and I loooove it. And so do my shrinking love handles.

Have you started eating clean? How has it been for you? If you have any thoughts or ideas about cleaning eating- we'd love to hear them! We are always looking for more ideas to spice up our menus. 

Happy Tuesday Loves!

xo, The Attic 

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