I have been eating a Paleo lifestyle diet consistently since around early December 2012. My husband was really the driving force, we were both active with our local CrossFit gym and CrossFit and Paleo go hand in hand. I was resilient. I did not want to give up cheese, dairy, breads, etc. I have never been been overweight, and I lost all my post baby weight while breastfeeding - so why would I give up the goods?!? Back in September, we started with a 'Clean Eating' diet. We found a meal program called The Fresh 20 which gave us a grocery list of 20 items to buy each week to make 5 days of meals for a family of 4. Our problem was the portions were not very large for our active CrossFit lifestyle, the 5th day was a vegetarian meal (WE LIKE MEAT!) and the meal plans often times called for foods that were hard to obtain! So I started experimenting with Paleo. It didn't take long before I had a 1/2" notebook with plastic sleeves which then had to be upgraded to a 1" notebook with more plastic sleeves to accommodate all the fabulous recipes I was finding!
My husband and I always did the grocery shopping together before baby was born. But after we moved to Mississippi, we had less free time together so once Addison was a bit older and could sit up in the cart I would have enough room for all my groceries, so I started going during the day while Steven is at work. I also took over 100% of the cooking. I have always preferred to eat at home, making Shepherd's Pie that I would giddily devour over 4-5 days, for lunch and dinner! Or I would make a pasta to pair with broccoli that would last 2-3 days. So my strategies may not work for a family who doesn't eat leftovers - but as long as you are willing to eat last nights dinner for lunch today...you're following the right blog!
I am a planner - and being that we live in a small town in the fattest state in the country - there are NOT a lot of options for humanely raised chicken/eggs, grass-fed beef, etc at our local grocery chains. When we first started eating Paleo, I was buying regular beef from Walmart (where they put the expiration sticker on it as it comes out of the box AT THE STORE! WTF!) and my chicken from Sam's Club. My closest Sam's club is about 30 mins West. While on vacation in Dallas, there was a really disturbing documentary type show on TV that I watched from a distance - it was entirely about the inhumane conditions that chickens live in. They live in huge warehouses, have no feathers, have their daylight controlled so that they produce 2x's as many eggs in a 24hr period. That stirred something inside me. I knew this crap was happening but I never felt like I had the financial means or availability to eat humane. Even though we live on a single income with a toddler, I want to eat healthier and I want my daughter to eat healthier too (the amount of chemicals regular, seemingly healthy foods have in them these days is incomprehensible)! I ended up making the decision to drive 45-60 minutes East to Mobile, AL in search of better meat products as well as some organic foods.
My first trip to Mobile, I got lucky. I went to The Fresh Market (http://www.thefreshmarket.com) and it just so happened to be BOGO on boneless skinless chicken breasts! They are not organic, but they were free roaming and antibiotic free. I bought 15lbs I think that first trip! I also bought some boneless chicken thighs (WHO KNEW! I don't particularly care for bones/veins in my chicken, which is why I have mostly stuck to boneless breasts in the past) that were free roaming as well as humanely raised - they were on sale for $2.99lb. I thought I had struck the motherlode! So this became my weekly routine. I would do most of my shopping at the local Walmart and then buy my meats and some organic veggies at The Fresh Market in Mobile.
So...all of this being said, I eat Paleo! I don't eat it 100% of the time, but 98% of the meals I make ARE Paleo. We add ingredients, cheese and sour cream mostly, to some of our meals but most are entirely Paleo. (By the way, cheese and sour cream I believe are considered Primal which is kinda like Paleo...makes me feel less bad about not giving them up entirely!)
My goal with this blog is to encourage others to consider Paleo, there are recipes for almost any food you can imagine these days and hopefully with some information on how I eat and plan my meals, you may be able to work Paleo into your busy schedule as well!
Ashley
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