Why Paleo?

A few years ago (actually right after my wedding) I took control of my diet.  I have always had a pretty healthy diet, but for some reason I always felt bloated and lethargic after I would eat.  Especially after lunch at work.  I started researching because I hated feeling this way!  This brought me to the paleo movement that was happening around this time.  I started reading about it and found it was a diet based on the types of foods presumed to have been eaten by early humans, consisting chiefly of meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit, and excluding dairy or grain products and processed food.

WHOA WAIT NO BREAD OR CHEESE?!?!?! 

I wasn't sure I could do it because legit I love bread and cheese and wine all together.  But I was committed and I wanted to try and prove to myself I could do it.  

It was hard but luckily there were so many awesome bloggers with great recipes.  I remember the very first meal I made for me and Dave and IT WAS AWFUL!!  Like not even edible.  It was stuffed mushroom cap filled with all types of veggies and ground meat.  Sounds easy and delish.  Until I added WAAAAY too much coconut flour.  Let me break it down real quick for you, coconut flour is like a sponge.  It lasts in your pantry for awhile because you are only supposed to use a small amount.  LESSON LEARNED!! 

That didn't stop me though and I kept making more and more recipes I would find.  I tried for a week to do NO GRAINS whatsoever.  This did not work for me, my body, or mood.  I slowly incorporated 'gray area' grains back into my diet (ie quinoa, white rice, and spelt) and was a much happier person.  I also would eat sweet potatoes and plantains for carbs.  I adapted to what worked for me.  I started to slowly but surely feel better in my skin.  I didn't realize how much the bread and cheese were messing with my system.  My jeans felt loose on me and my stomach flatter, a feeling I still will never forget.  I am lactose in tolerant and from some research I read, sometimes being gluten intolerant and lactose intolerant go hand in hand.  So it made sense I felt better when I wasn't eating the foods my body had a hard time processing.    I continued to eat like this for quite some time.  I followed a paleo/gluten free diet. 

Then I got pregnant.  And my paleo diet/gluten free diet went out the window.  All I could stomach were crackers, starburst, and gushers.  I tried so so so hard and read so many other paleo mom's blogs but you are at the mercy of the little bubs growing inside of you and trying to not throw up every two seconds.

Fast forward and I am cracking down again on my diet.  My skin has been flaring up (itchiness, ecezma, dry spots on my face, etc).  I am taking control of my diet but switching it up.  I'm doing a hybrid of paleo / clean eating.  I can't cut grains and carbs out of my diet, it just doesn't work well for my body.  So I plan to incorporate healthy carbs -- sweet potatoes, plantains, rice, and quinoa -- and cut out as much dairy as I can.  

Enough blabbing here is one of my husbands and I favorite paleo dinner (for the record he DOES NOT eat paleo but he loves this recipe). 

PORK CUBAN MEAT SANDWICH 
(recipe can be found here also.)


Ingredients

1 pork tenderloin, about 1 1/2 lbs
1/2 lb. thinly sliced deli ham
1/4 lb. swiss cheese, optional
1/2 c. dill pickles, sliced into long strips
4 T yellow mustard
2 T honey
S&P

Directions:

Get your oven to 450ºF.

Look at your pork and you’ll likely see a sliver of skin that’s silver in color. That’s called the “silver skin” …it should be removed with your knife. Don’t worry about all the fat, that will cook away, but DO DO DO remove the silver skin. Salt and pepper both sides of the pork. (I like to pound my pork thin so it's easy for me to layer the other ingredients) 

Mix together the honey and mustard in a small bowl.

This is the easy part, in whatever fashion you’d like, layer the ham, cheese and honey mustard into the pork loin.  When you’ve gotten about half way through, add the pickle slices (going long ways). Make sure to put the pickles long ways so when you slice the meat, you get a little bit in every bite. I suggest putting the pickles in half way through the stuffing process because otherwise it’s likely to cause the pork loin to be over stuffed and not roll up properly. Once you’re finished, roll the pork up. Using about 4 pieces of butcher’s twine, tie the pork together–don’t worry about the ends.


Sear the pork loin over medium high heat (in an oven safe pan) in a bit of fat, until you see a nice brown crust on both sides.  Stick the pan in the oven and cook until the center of the pork loin measures 140ºF– about 25 minutes. Let it rest for around 10 minutes, then slice and serve. You may want to make another batch of honey mustard to serve as a dipping sauce.

  

  Enjoy and Until Next Thyme -- 

Kam :)