Week One

Week One in a Nutshell

Below are some meals from this past week- a mix of both labor intensive and simplified recipes, even frozen leftovers. Most are not Paleo friendly – still working on it. 😉

I’ve listed items marked with an asterisk* on the “Where to Buy” page, for those interested. (Quite a few food items are from Costco, where we buy most of our raw meat, seafood, fruits, bread, nuts and dairy – they stock a ton of Paleo friendly items!

Breakfast (Almusal)

• Waffles*, artificial syrup and frozen wild organic blueberries*.  Only berries were Paleo.

Instead of plain syrup, our panganay made Grandmother’s blueberry syrup (syrup and berries microwaved together till hot) to go on top of her waffles. Not Paleo, but at least healthier. The others ate blueberries separately (Paleo). Maple syrup* is more Paleo friendly, but only I used it that day.

• Scrambled organic eggs* (Paleo if using coconut oil) with buttered multi-grain toast*.

Hubby has been using this coconut oil* for a while now to scramble eggs – Nutiva Organic Virgin Coconut Oil, 15 Ounce. Very Paleo,  but not everyone is a fan. I decided to start small and added a tiny bit to the butter in the pan for the kids’ scrambled eggs – just enough for them to taste, but not enough to be an excuse for not eating it. 😉 Will add a little more next time.

• Fried organic eggs* and buttered multi-grain toast* – our default breakfast these days. Eggs are Paleo if coconut oil is used – we’re not quite there yet.

• Bagels* with cream cheese or butter plus apricot preserves. Not Paleo. 😉

Snacks (Merienda)

• Crackers – Neither Paleo nor gluten free.
• Fresh fruit* – blueberries, raspberries, apples, bananas, mangoes, watermelon. Paleo and gluten free.
• Banana berry smoothies with chia seeds*. Smoothies were gluten free, potentially Paleo friendly as well if I had thought of using the almond milk we bought to try!
• Packaged yogurt smoothie drink* (not Paleo) and fresh berries*.
• Roasted seaweed snack* – gluten free, Paleo if without canola oil
• Smoothie pops (frozen leftover smoothie) – Paleo if almond milk used
• Greek yogurt*, fruit flavored or plain with honey – not Paleo

Lunch/Dinner (Tanghalian/Hapunan) 

Asian-Italian meal:

• 

  Caprese salad

  Caprese* salad – Tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and a large pot of basil plants all came from Costco. So good – most are gobbled up on the way and never make it to the table. 😉 And so fresh it doesn’t need a dressing. Gluten-free. Paleo without the cheese.

• Asian Style Salmon* with couscous and steamed broccoli – THE salmon recipe that converted one of our kids into loving salmon. Couscous is not Paleo or gluten free. Salmon can be made Paleo friendly by substituting coconut aminos* or wheat-free tamari* for soy sauce.

Pinoy meal:

• Chicken Adobo served with rice and peas, with fruit for dessert. Try this recipe if your kids are new to adobo – the flavor is milder but still very much there. Gluten-free. Also Paleo if coconut aminos* or wheat-free tamari* used instead of soy sauce.

Mexican meal:

• Easy guacamole and chips for starters (Paleo and gluten-free without chips) – for chips, I just cut tortillas into wedges and place in toaster till crispy.
• Turkey tacos – Tacos are gluten-free but not Paleo. Substitute with pre-soaked rice (PHD Paleo) or just use lettuce wraps to make it Paleo friendly.
• Avocado shake – Ended the meal with this shake (sans the ice cream), which at least one of the kids liked – yey! Not Paleo, but at least they got a dose of avocado. 😉

Fingerfood meal: Fish and chips with Greek starters

• Spanakopita*. Not gluten-free or Paleo but gives a good dose of spinach.
• Cucumber sticks and rounds – Some of our kids don’t like cucumber sliced  into rounds but happily munch away on sticks! Chilled cucumbers are more appealing too – they find it very refreshing. Very Paleo. 😉
• Parmesan cod* fish sticks and tartar sauce – I mince dill pickles instead of pickle relish for the tartar sauce. Fish sticks not gluten-free or Paleo because of breading. The Paleo cookbook above has a mayo recipe which I might try for tartar sauce next time…
• Sweet potato* fries – Paleo. Together with fish sticks = Fish and chips 😉

Hearty soup and bread meal

• Okra (microwaved) served plain – kids thought it tasted like green beans (which they like!). Paleo! 😉
• Hambone soup and Italian bread bowls thawed from the freezer. Can be gluten-free by substituting rice (pre-soaked for PHD Paleo) for the bread. Omit cheese and cornstarch to make this soup Paleo friendly. The kids do love the bread bowls and eating the soup from it, so it won’t be easy to omit that. 😉

All-new Recipes meal

• Chopped Broccoli* Salad with minimal dressing – adapted from above Paleo cookbook. Gluten-free and Paleo. Not too popular. Serving this about 19 more times will hopefully change that. 😉
• Spaghetti Squash with Turkey meatballs. Although this was by no means Paleo or gluten-free because of the bread crumbs in the meatballs, at least we finally got to try spaghetti squash – a big step in our book!

My panganay’s suggestion about the non-pasta “spaghetti”: “Mom, why don’t you start with mostly real spaghetti and a little fake spaghetti next time, just like you did with white and brown rice?” Needless to say, I ate most of the spaghetti squash. Lesson relearned – Start small.

Quick meals for the week:

1) “Fast” food

• Baby carrots – Paleo.
• Mac n Cheese – our speedy version involves layering about 6 or 7 slices of cheese on top of hot cooked macaroni, microwaving for 1 minute, then mixing. Mix in any leftover meat sauce if on hand. Not Paleo.

2) Leftover meal

• Leftover turkey meatballs with real pasta, salad – No improvements there, not Paleo except for salad. But I did have the leftover squash and meatballs rolled up in some leftover lettuce – messy but surprisingly yummy!

3) “Instant” meal

• Spinach salad then Rotisserie chicken* (from Costco – Paleo if homecooked) served with rice, chicken bouillon soup and frozen peas.

4) Takeout meal

• Pizza, eggplant parmesan, and salad with olives – all takeout. Not Paleo except salad. 😉

*Where to Buy

Disclaimers: I, Emy Damian, have not been paid to review any of the resources listed above. All comments are mine, and any resource listed without comment has not yet been reviewed. I, Emy Damian, am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.