How I stayed paleo on a busy weekend

Anyone else surrounded by candy and Halloween treats?  Man, do I want a Twix right now.  But I'm gonna stay strong, although I promised myself a mini-binge ON Halloween.  After all, who else is going to eat the Almond Joys and Mounds bars that my kids hate?  (Hey, Coconut, almonds and chocolate are paleo)

This was the last weekend before Halloween, so of course it was crammed full of parties and events. On Saturday, my 11 year old and I ran the Spooktacular 5k.  We were the cute mommy/son pair dressed as Superman and Super girl.  This was the inaugural race and I hope they run it every year.  Lake Murray is am awesome location, with gentle rolling hills that provide a challenge for those who make 5ks their preferred distance.  The medals and bibs were adorable.  There was such a great turnout of costumed runners too!  A decent sized vendor fair, with 2 races and a few local businesses represented.  I'll definitely run this again.

We followed up the race with a Halloween party for military families at the Harley-Davidson of San Diego.  Put on by the USO, they offered BBQ, games and trick-or-treating.  I knew that BBQ meant hot dogs or hamburgers, probably chips or beans too.  So with mine and my son's special dietary needs, we just bypassed the "free" lunch and I let the boy choose McDonald's for his awesome effort at the 5k.  I find that being paleo, I have to skip meals at events often.  I have had luck calling ahead and asking for a special meal.  But only when its an event that I've had to pay for my dinner.  I've also found that being paleo, places like McDonalds are NOT a fun option.  Even their healthiest options, the salads and wraps, contain CHEESE and LEGUMES.  So I have to be prepared to do some doctoring.  I order the bacon ranch salad with grilled chicken.  I have to painstakingly remove ALL the cheese from the salad.  If I'm lucky, the preparer has clumped it all together.  Ironically, this is something I HATED before I was paleo.  Then, I make sure to bring an avocado with me and instead of dressing, I cut up my avocado and add it to my salad.  I like to mash it with a bit of salt.  Yes, it takes me forever to start eating, but I'm MUCH happier with my lunch this way.

We got a short respite from Halloween events and during that time I ate an early dinner.  I tried the Coconut Chicken Curry from Fitzee Foods and coupled it with some Coconut Paleo bread from Julian Bakery.  It's nice to have some pre-made meals that are ready when I'm hungry on busy days like that.  We would shortly head off to an elementary school Halloween Carnival where my family would indulge in pizza, nachos, pretzels, popcorn and soda.  I was able to resist temptation by eating ahead of time.

I made sure to hydrate throughout that busy saturday because the next morning I got up to run a distance runs on hills.  I am committed to besting my PR of 2:48:24 at my next half marathon.  That means hill workouts!  I did 10 miles at a 15 min pace.  Slow, yes, but man did my hip flexors get a workout!  That means that my run did exactly what I wanted it to do.  I did get to refuel with a carne asada burrito, but the only non-paleo thing in it was the tortilla itself.

Paleo on a busy family weekend is completely possible.  You just need to pre-plan, have meals ready to go and be flexible when you're dining out.

Paleo Product Reviews: I try, so you don't have to!

Robb Wolf recently posted about the Seven Shades of Paleo on his blog.  You can read more in depth about this humorous, yet true, categorizing of Paleo Diet followers through the link.  The categories are as follows: The Militant Paleo, The Autoimmune Paleo, The Low-Carb Paleo, The Lacto-Paleo, The 80/20 Paleo, The Vegetarian Paleo, and The "I decide" Paleo.  That last one cracks me up.  

The Militant Paleo group  "...hunt their own meat, gather berries, climb trees to harvest nuts, and make dinner outside over the fire pit...".  That's just crazy, in my opinion.  That's darn right IMPOSSIBLE in modern times.  I'm a busy mom of two, and dedicated to having time to blog as well.  That means that sometimes I want easy solutions for Paleo problems.  That's where Paleo-Friendly Pre-packaged food comes in.  I already covered some of my favorite snacks in my post about Paleo To Go.  Now that I'm firmly entrenched in this eating lifestyle though, I'm starting to reach out for foods that supplement my expanding paleo culinary skills.  Recently I've tried several products and services that I thought I'd share with you.

House Foods Shirataki Noodles -  These noodles are a WIN!  Low carb and made from the Konjac plant, sometimes known as a japanese yam.  These are completely paleo safe and a good alternative for those who miss "real" noodles.  I reccomend Dry-frying them (no oils in a non-stick pan) to rid them of their slimy texture.  They'd be great in paleo stir-fry and paleo pho recipes.  I used them to make Paleo Spaghetti.               

Fitzee Foods - This is a San Diego based pre-packaged meal company that labels their products as "ideal Meals to fit your lifestyle".  The idea is great.  Pre-packaged, pre-portioned meals for those people who are too busy or cannot cook for themselves.  They list "Paleo Friendly" meals on their website.  I was very excited to try them and purchased all the available meals from their "Paleo Friendly" freezer.  This experience is a DRAW for me.  I got the meals home only to find that their meals are "Paleo Inspired" and that they use some lentils and red potatoes in a few of their "Paleo" meals.  I'm not a MILITANT paleo, but I don't think you should label something paleo if it's NOT paleo.  On the plus side, the experience of buying the food was easy and quick.  Like shopping at a REALLY healthy 7-11.  They are located in Point Loma, which is a hike for me, but they do have pickup locations all over San Diego. And they allowed me to exchange the meals I couldn't eat for ones that I could.   I've now eaten the Grilled Steak with Chimichurri Sauce and the  JKing’s Chicken Cacciatore.  The Steak was way better than I expected.  The sauce was tasty and the steak and brussels sprouts held up well to storage.  The chicken cacciatore was disappointing   very little chicken, and the sauce was very thin and runny.  Pros: the food was tasty, the ability to have pre-made paleo meals without cooking for an hour, good customer service  Cons: not completely paleo friendly, and a bit pricey.  As a stay-at-home mom and an amateur chef, I usually have the time to cook for myself.  

Julian Bakery Paleo Breads - WIN!  These breads are made with Purified Water, Blanched Almond or coconut Flour, Egg Whites, Psyllium, Organic Apple Cider Vinegar, Baking Soda.  If you were expecting a fluffy, airy bread, you'll be disappointed   But the chewy, light texture reminds me of bagels and they're sturdy enough for sandwiches.  No crumbling!  Both breads are delicious and I totally recommend them!  $7.99 for a loaf.  I cannot wait to put together some recipe using these breads.  

Is there a paleo product that you're REALLY curious about?  Let me know about it!  I'll test it and review it so you don't have to!