Day 31

Breakfast

Eggs with Carnitas

 Lunch

Sausage and cauliflower

 Dinner

Carnitas over sprouts

Day 30

Breakfast - Cauliflower and rosemary ham

Lunch - Rib eye with brussel sprouts

 Dinner - Crock pot carnitas from the Whole9 Blog. http://whole9life.com/ This is a great site. It's crazy how many Paleo recipes you can find online!

http://whole9life.com/2010/08/steal-this-meal-crock-pot-carnitas/

Day 29

Breakfast: Brussel sprouts with a g-fed beef sausage

Lunch: Heirloom tomato wrapped with rosemary ham. 1/2 avocado and sautéed swiss chard.

Randomness

Dinner: Beef Osso Bucco

Osso Bucco Recipe from HowtoCookMeat.com

Day 28 - Asian Salad and Turnip Experiment

Breakfast: Heirloom tomato, 1/2 avocado and grass-fed beef sausage.

I walked to the farmers market after breakfast to buy more grass-fed beef. The actual rancher who runs the operation in Santa Maria was working his booth this time. I thanked him for producing healthy food without the hormones and corn. Meeting him was super cool. I am a nerd. I also bought two turnips before walking back home.

Dey Deys Meat and Sausages

Huge Turnips

Lunch: Bison over farmers market greens. I drizzled the salad with walnut oil and liquid aminos which gave it a nice Asian flavor. This salad was really good! I also had some steamed broccoli.

Asian Bison Salad

Late afternoon and early dinner:
The other half of the avocado
Grass-fed beef sausage
Raspberries with sliced almonds and coconut milk

 Justin and I experimented with the turnips to see if we could make turnip french fries. I saw a recipe online. I would not recommend this. They turned out extremely soggy in both the oven and deep fried. Turnips hold too much moisture to work for fries. I am just going to stick with them as my breakfast potatoes.

Day 27 - Wine Tasting at Bridlewood

Last nights dinner with friends at the Wine Cask was very entertaining. I had a little over two glasses of wine a green salad, rack of lamb served with dandelion greens and my cheat dessert... cheesecake with fresh strawberries. I kept my cheat to only dessert because I knew that they were serving a not so Paleo lunch at the winery the following day.

I had a portabello mushroom topped with a little ground beef and a one fried egg for breakfast. We left for the winery in the Goleta fog and saw blue skies as we headed to Santa Ynez.

We finally were able to get some sunshine!

 They served a cheese, cracker, nut, dried fruit and chocolate platter. I stuck with the cheese (the lesser of all evils), nuts and half of a dark chocolate truffle that was melting in the sun.

The view from Bridelwood

We came home for dinner. I made shrimp cakes, similar to crab cakes, steamed broccoli and a salad with heirloom tomatoes, avocado and walnut oil. This was my first recipe attempt with a new website. Both Justin and I thought the shrimp cakes turned out really well.
http://www.elanaspantry.com/shrimp-cakes/

Shrimp cake recipe from Elena's Pantry

I had a plucot (plum/apricot) after dinner. It's early. I'll probably have some dark chocolate later.

Day 26 - Left Overs

Breakfast: Grass-fed Beef and Roasted Leeks
Snack: TJs Beef Jerky
Lunch: Beef in tomato sauce and walnuts

Tonight is going to be wine tasting and Paleo friendly foods at the Wine Cask.

Day 25 - Jasmine is almost over the hump!

I kicked the day off with a tough pyramid workout. I love boot camp.

Breakfast: Eggs, the last of the london broil and half of an avocado

 Lunch: Pan fried scallops, roasted fennel and romaine topped with hot bacon and shallots

 Dinner: Carnitas in El Pato salsa with a mache salad drizzled with olive oil

I am not blogging it regularly, but I do end almost everyday with a little dark chocolate.

Justin and I are wine tasting Friday night and Saturday afternoon. I am looking forward to the weekend!

Day 24 BF and Lunch

I woke up early this morning and did laps for 30 minutes at the Los Banos Pool.

Los Banos Pool

I had bacon, two eggs and a turnip for breakfast. My paleo meal looked like it was straight out of a diner. I did a little research on turnips, because they are an excellent substitution for breakfast potatoes. They are low in calories, carbs and sugar. They are a good source of minerals and protein. Everything on the link below is positive. Check it out.

http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2709/2

I just peeled the turnip with a potato peeler. I quartered it, and then cut the quarters in half. Then I sliced it thin and cooked the pieces in a skillet with oil. It's super easy.

Bacon, eggs and a turnip

Lunch was leftover spaghetti squash with meat sauce.

Day 23

I had a really good workout this morning at boot camp. I followed it up with some eggs.

Bison sausage, baby bellas, tomato and salsa

 I was not too hungry for lunch. I cooked some bacon (the chemical free kind) and added it to a salad. This was sooooo good.

Hot Bacon Salad

 I was having a major carb craving in the afternoon. Walnuts and protein based snacks were not cutting it for me. I broke down and had two dry but toasted Vans gluten free waffles that were in my freezer for over a month. I felt bad eating processed food, but I really needed some carbs. The only way to get through cravings is to keep your kitchen clean! It's best to have your cheat moments outside of the house where you can't dive in again at a weak moment.

The carb craving led me to my dinner choice for the evening. I made some pasta sauce from scratch and added grass-fed beef. The sauce over spaghetti squash makes the perfect comfort food. I love this dish!!! Manga, manga!

Spaghetti squash "pasta"

Day 22 Dinner - Roasted Bison, 1/2 Artichoke & Salad

I just had a great hill sprint workout. Thank you Jenny! I cannot wait for boot camp in the morning. Bring it!

Roasted Bison London Broil, 1/2 Artichoke and Salad Drizzled with Olive Oil

Day 22 - Checking In

Yesterdays update which is kind of boring because I have a ton of leftovers...

Breakfast: 2 eggs, a steamed artichoke and homemade mayo.

Light lunch: Bison sausage with mustard

Grass-fed Bison (aka Buffalo)

Dinner: Bison London Broil cooked 8 hours in the crock pot. Cooked in red wine, balsamic vinegar, braggs liquid aminos, tomato sauce, garlic and onion.

Bison London Broil

 Monday's breakfast: 0, that's right. The meat kept me so satiated over the weekend that I needed a break from food.

I had to offset the meat consumption by tuna salad for lunch. I mixed the tuna with capers and homemade mayo. I'll never buy store bought mayo again. Disgusting...

Chilled Tuna and Tomato Salad

I have never felt so full on a "diet". I don't really see this as a diet. Its more of a lifestyle. I love it!

Day 20 - Bison and Artichokes

I made up for breakfast during lunch. I had two eggs and a bison dog.

Dinner was a seared bison tenderloin, an artichoke and fresh made mayo.

I'll be having artichokes for days

Mayo ingredients. That's avocado oil.

Seared bison tenderloin and artichoke

The artichoke was so tasty; I went back for seconds. Dessert was a small dark chocolate square.

Day 20 - Catching Up

I am finally back from Santa Cruz. My last post was lunch on Wednesday. That evening I went over to a friends for a pot luck dinner. I brought prawns and cocktail sauce. The main course was Paleo friendly. She served a green salad with balsamic vinegarette and skirt steak. The desserts were a mixed fruit salad and cookies. I passed on the wine. I was going to pass on the cookies too, but the plate was right in front of me. I thought that I would have just one as I did not stray from the diet all week. It was good for just a moment in time, so I had a small oatmeal cookie too. I realized something after the second cookie. The cookies really did not do anything for me except make me crave more of them... so stupid. I stopped after the second one.

Thursday Breakfast Scramble

Sausage, veggies and avocado

I had Los Pinos Mexican Food for lunch. It was pork chili verde with a side salad. I used the extra chili verde salsa as dressing for the salad.

Pete BBQ'd dinner for us. I had been planning to eating fresh wild salmon soon to see if I would have another allergic reaction and end up in the hospital again. Both Jasmine and Justin have been kind enough to take me on separate occasions. I thought, that because I have been 99% off of gluten, I may have put my allergy into remission. It worked!!! It's been two days and no crazy rash. Yay!!! I'll reintroduce chicken and turkey at some point in the next two months two see how my body reacts.

Fresh wild salmon, skirt steak and a grilled artichoke

My favorite dog, Sonnie

The vineyard after a little morning haircut

The Howards, a.k.a. my Santa Cruz housemates

Our dessert: Dark Chocolate and Fresh Raspberries

Fridays Breakfast was an egg white omelette with sausage and veggies. I did not order the egg white and would have preferred normal eggs. Keith, the cafe cook, was on auto pilot assuming that would be my preference. Breakfast was great regardless.

The lunch choices were all super starchy. I reverted back to the salad bar to fill my bowl, then to the sandwich station for some roast beef and avocado.

Last PLT cafeteria lunch for the week

 After lunch I drove back to Santa Barbara. I stopped at the Moss Landing fruit stand on the way and picked up some beef jerky, cashews and sliced veggies that were seasoned and fried. Big mistake on the veggies! They were almost as bad as eating potato chips. I had a couple handfuls and threw them away when I got home. I also picked up 4 enormous artichokes for $5.99, romaine and broccoli.

I did not feel like cooking by the time I got into town. I stopped at Chipotle for a little gluten free Paleo love. I had a salad topped with carnitas, salsa and guacamole. The Chipotle is within a few blocks of my house. I moved into town in November and this was my first visit. It was great in a pinch. Really yummy too!

Chipotle Carnitas Salad with Guac

I woke up craving eggs. I was going to scramble some for breakfast until I saw that Justin took them camping with him :(
My breakfast was not very well rounded.

Pete sent me home with a large brown grocery bag full of lemons. I can't wait to add these to my water. I have so many that I might make ceviche later in the week.

 I went to the Country Meat Market and stocked up on nitrate free, antibiotic free, grass feed meat. I am so glad to be home! I bought the section of the buffalo that is claimed to rival filet mignon, bison hot dogs, ground beef and London Broil. The total was $64. Its pricey but I don't mind spending money to support local farms that raise cattle with kindness.

Meat-fest for the week

Day 16 - Whole Foods Salad Bar

Afternoon snack: Pureed fruit

Dinner: Whole Foods Salad Bar topped with bay shrimp and a little piece of swordfish.

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with veggies and pork sausage. Yum!

Whole Foods $11 Salad

Plantronics Cafe Breakfast topped with Tapatio

Day 16 - Cafe Plantronics

Breakfast from the corporate cafe: Two eggs and two pieces of bacon.

Lunch: Salad bar topped with Roast Beef and 1/2 Avocado. Dressing was olive oil and red wine vinegar. Hiding under the meat was broccoli, spinach, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, cucumber, tomato and pepperochini.

This looks boring but was actually very good for road cuisine.

Dinner Day 15

Cafe Sparrow with Teddi and Pete

Shared Ahi App

8 Year Anniversary and Still in Love!

Butterfish at Cafe Sparrow

Items I ate:
Butterfish, Beets, Green Beans and Squash. I skipped the wine, rice, corn and bean mixture.