Eating Paleo

Anyone eating Paleo? I have been since January this year. I know that may not sound very long but I have already seen such a difference. At first I wasn't sure it was connected to my eating until I tried going back to the old way of eating and saw the changes. First, I have no joint pain, I was taking some things to help with joints and have been able to completly quit taking it. Second, I lost 16lbs, always feels good. Third, I seem to get so much more done because I have more energy and I think clearer. Fourth, I sleep really good and sound.

I was talking to James (Inez's son) yes, he is here (sorta) he is already gone again. I was excited to find he had been eating paleo and also noticed less joint pain (I don't think he was 100%), until he began to eat his old food again. So if you ache everywhere, you should give this way of eating a chance. He is now driving as a transporter with his fifth wheel truck from a place only 1 mile from us. It is really good being able to see and talk to him. It was a good time in our lives when we were driving, expecially being able to take our girls with us. He was in 80 degree weather yesterday, and it was freezing here yesterday. I can't wait for our vacation that we are taking over spring break. We are going south and praying for good weather!

But the biggest change of all with this way of eating, is in the kids. We started noticing a change in Sean on the weekend when he was home from school. It took awhile to connect his behavior with the food he was eating at school. He would come home and begin to jump over and on the furniture, much like he had a caffine drink. He was also being mean to Isaac and the dog. But on the weekend he was calmer and nicer. So we kept him home last week except for one day, thursday, we sent him to school. He came home hyper and agressive and told me they give him "pop tarts". I had asked them not to, and even sent a banana with him. They sent it home and said I am not allowed to send food to head start, he has to eat what they eat. So I told them this week unless I can send food with him, I will not be sending him back.

Last night the little guys ate two helpings of salad with their meal. They are eating more and more raw and cooked veggies. Can you believe that I am making my own mayo? And my own ranch dressing from that mayo? So I am now cooking three meals a day, eggs and bacon for breakfast, pancakes on weekends, salads for lunch or leftovers and meat and veggies for dinner. For anyone that does not know what paleo is( short version is a caveman diet) , you may have to do an internet search for more info. But for our family it is a modified version. We eat lots of veggies, fermented foods, fruit, nuts and meat along with plently of good oils. We do not eat grains, beans, dairy, bad oils (canola, vegetable etc), processed food. Did you know that corn, peas and green beans, are not vegetables? Green beans are beans, but the kids really like them, so we still eat them. I do use nut flour and coconut flour to make pancakes and muffins. We have a sodastream and make our own syrup for sodas. And I still make my kids homemade french fries (white potatoes are not paleo) I do not eat them as they make my knee ache. So I have been researching paleo recipes on line and copying them. I am learning alot about how to cook meat. Greg said it is the best "diet" we have ever been on. And the kids tell me what a good cook I am, so for our family it is working pretty good. We aren't missing the bread at all. Mitchel is still eating cereal and milk and school lunches. But even he loves to have good food at dinner time. Although he still has carb cravings after dinner and usually sneaks something after the little kids go to bed. At least he sees if you eat lots of carbs, you crave carbs. I try to give the kids starchy food in potatoes, bananas and that kind of thing.

So now the challenge starts of how to take 6 people (four kids) camping and continue to eat paleo for one week. So far I have made muffins and froze them. Soaked and dehydrated nuts. Dehydrated pinapple and bananas for quick trail mix. I plan on taking hard boiled eggs, peanut butter and apples. But that only gets us started. I am taking a skillet and pans and cook stove, probably lots of shopping at a local grocery store. I'm not sure how much room we will have. We have bought the tent and have sleeping bags, I just hope there is room for us!

Catch ya later!

I want to share a project that I have been putting off for awhile. Rayana got a t-shirt from school, it is an award for being so nice. (Bully Free). The t-shirt isn't quite Rayana's type, sorta boyish and she of course loves dresses. So I had this idea to make it into a dress and cut the sleeves off and redo them. But on the other hand, having never done that, I procrastinated. She got the t shirt before Christmas and I knew she is not going to have a chance to wear it, if I don't do something soon. So today was the day. Here are some photos. The red shirt with flag was an old one of Hilary's, I started by cutting off the bottom half to make the skirt part. (I raided Hilary's yard sale this summer and pulled some clothes out that I thought I could refashion for the kids).

Then I cut off the bottom half of Ray's shirt, so I could connect the two.

Then I had to cut down the bully t-shirt as it is too big for her and I also cut off the sleeves and redid them and added the gathering at the top. A nice girly touch. I used a blue shirt as a pattern of the size I needed. You can see in the picture the parts that I cut off of the gray t-shirt. They are much larger than the size that fits her.

 

Now the pictures of the finished dress.

The t shirt fits so much better now and she likes having a dress that she can slip on a pair of shorts under. Now that I know I can do it, I am sure I will be looking for more t shirts to alter for her. I would probably cut the top part shorter but I had to leave the words on the t shirt, so it is a little below her actual waist, but she is happy and that is what counts!

 

 

Updated pics of House

Can't believe how fast time goes, especially with 5 kids. I seem to always be busy and if I have time to sit, I use my time to research on the computer. What do I research? Well of course more things to do! We just finished putting boards on our kitchen ceiling, something I found on a blog, a diy easy fix for ceilings that need some tlc. We like the way it came out.

 

We have to still add crown molding though. We can't seem to get the cut right. Notice the red paint and the white trim, it is also new. The cabinets will get painted white when I have the time. We also painted the den. It took weeks as I had to putty and wash the paneling and putty seams, tape everything off and remove and replace outlets.

This is a picture of the den, you can see where I was using joint compound to fix an area on the wall, and we were framing the door out.

This is the door now finished. You can see the new door frame. I really like the way it turned out. The room you see thru the door is the dining room. I am working on it now. Took me awhile to choose the color. I will try to finish soon and post pictures.

This is looking the other way. The whole room is so much brighter and larger feeling. The ceiling doesn't seem so dark with the walls painted lighter.

This is what it looked like before, even with the light on, it is still dark. The white strips is where I have put mud on the walls to cover joints. I also had to use a tall ladder as ceiling is about 10 feet high at the point.

We are also changing our diets and eating a more whole foods, "paleo" type diet. The change in the kids is amazing. I also have lost 16lbs and have never felt better. And the food is great. Will try to add more about that when I have some time.

The kids are doing well, Mitch will graduate this year only 3 more months, all I can say is "wow". We would like to take the kids camping, maybe spring break, and are looking into buying a tent. Any suggestions? I hope we can fit everything into the van!

Just have to show off my little ones, who aren't so little anymore! And guess who lost thier first tooth?

And Sean just because he is so cute.

He was hiding behind this at the Dr. office and I had to take a pic. I think I have about 1600 on my phone of the kids!

Love ya all!