Who's Up for a Weenie Roast?

Next week is September!!  I can't believe how fast this summer has gone.  I'm not sure what I've filled my time with, but sadly it was not camping.  One thing we have accomplished this summer is finishing the fire pit in our backyard. 

As a reminder, this is what the backyard looked like in the beginning (at least after replacing the sewer line):

GR had a hard time digging a hole on account of the MILLIONS of rocks that are in the soil.  Below are some rocks that he dug up-for reals!

After digging the hole, he lined it with bricks. Then we laid down bricks to make a bit of a patio area around it.

Here is the finished product:

Happy Roasting!

Week 1 Complete!

Well, week 1 is over on our primal diet.  Although it has only been 7 days, it feels like forever.  Yes, 7 days or 21 meals has been a trying time.  For me it has been harder to find things to eat rather than fighting cravings of things I miss.  I am so used to having pasta as a side dish that its been hard to find replacements.  GR and I also don't like a lot of vegetables so there aren't a lot of options to fill those pasta-less bowls. 

We've also had to try new things to make sure our bodies are getting everything they need.  Wednesday morning I woke up feeling AWFUL!  I had no energy and just generally didn't feel well.  GR thought I might not be getting enough fats in the recent meals.  We've had a lot of meat which I don't mind, but I don't love either.  Anyway, GR suggested I have a glass of milk.  This helped immensely.  Now that I know I like vitamin D milk (it's what was suggested if being on this diet) I try to have a glass more often especially if I don't eat a large meal.  We've also started adding things like avocado to our smoothies we have in the morning to help get us through the day. Oh...I was also recommended almond butter. LOVE IT! It is another source of fat to help with energy.

Anywho after only 1 week, I have lost 5.5 pounds.  So that's enough to spur me on to the next week.  Already we have both noticed a change in our taste of sweets.  We got a dark chocolate bar at the store (72% coco) and we both really enjoyed it.  Before this diet, I really didn't care for dark chocolate, but I feel that since I'm eating so much less sugar my needed level of sweetness has changed. 

Another thought about this diet is the loss of time.  We have spent sooo much time preparing, cooking, and cleaning that I feel like it's all I do.  If we are to continue on this path, we need to get more strategic.  A friend who is also on this diet cooks all of their meat on Sunday to save time during the week.  We may have to try this. 

Proud momment:  We were at Bear Lake this weekend and managed to say no to all of the burgers and shake stands we passed.  We were very tempted since it's something we always do when we go up there. 

Interesting food we've had:  Mashed cauliflower.  We  cooked cauliflower and then mashed it in the blender. We then added cheese and butter like we would with mashed potatoes.  Result: Tolerable.  I've never been a fan of cauliflower so I'm not sure what I was expecting. 

Things I want to try:  primal pizza (have to make the crust either out of mashed cauliflower or find some almond flour).  Also, I have a recipe for primal zucchini brownies (no flour, dark chocolate chips). 

In closing, I just want to apologize for the randomness of these lines.  It's late and I'm just typing.  No proofreading here.
G'night.

Our Primal Journey

So...Today June 24th, 2013, GR and I started our "Primal Diet."  Diet isn't exactly right though.  It's more like a lifestyle change.  With this diet/lifestyle, you cut out carbs and sugars and for some dairy, from your normal eating habits.  For me, this means pop, pasta, breads, cookies, cakes, potatoes, rice, etc.  For GR, pop, potatoes, beans (refried, black) and tortillas.  This change will be equally hard on us. 

What you can eat is lots of meat and protein and lots and LOTS of vegetables.  This is another hard thing for us as neither one of us enjoy a large variety of vegetables (my neighbor Emily will attest to this). 

The idea behind this lifestyle (at least as I understand it), is you body spends most of its time burning all of the carbs we put down our gullets.  If there are fewer carbs available to burn, your body can focus on burning other things (insert correct nutritional word, I can't think what it is). 

At any rate, people who have changed to this diet say they feel a "night and day difference."  They "feel" better than when they were eating their old foods and have more energy and find it easier to get up in the morning. 

Although I know this will be very hard and right now it seems extremely unlikely we would continue this lifestyle in the future (we hope to at least maintain it for 30 days), I don't think this will be a waste of time.  From this diet, I hope to expand my likes with regards to fruits and vegetables, find alternates to dishes I ate pre-primal, and experience for myself the pros and cons of eating primal. 

What I ate today:

• Spinach and mushroom omelet for breakfast
• Lunch: Green salad (spinach, mushroom, black olive, slices of chicken breast).  No croutons, yes I had some ranch (there are recipes for primal approved ranch dressing, but I was too cheap to buy all of the ingredients, so this is straight up Kraft Ranch Dressing).  Couple slices of cheese.
• Dinner: Sausage (not breakfast) and green beans. Oh, and GR grilled some pineapple.  
• Box of raisins--not sure if this is approved, has a ton of carbs
• Lots of water! Probably around 60 oz, which is actually lower than what I should have.  Something to work on.

Helpful website: http://www.elanaspantry.com/paleo-diet-recipes/.