Sunday afternoon musings

[pellucid]

Thing one: some of you eat paleo, yes? Here's my thing. I was a gluten-free vegetarian, but I've been having so many more GI-related problems in the past few months, and I've now cut dairy and legumes, which seems to be helping. Except that there go my two primary sources of protein. So I've been sucking it up and making myself eat small quantities

Comments

[gabolange]

Obviously, I do not eat paleo, but I do cook a whole heck of a lot, so as I find recipes and ideas that fit your bill, I will pass them along. (Today: mushroom wild rice soup! That has a dash of cream at the end that could easily be excluded, but which would fit the leftovers-making, rice-loving, veggie-friendly bill. Not a weeknight project, since it has a couple of mostly-unsupervised steps, but I think it will be a good addition to the repertoire. For me at least--YMMV, let me know if you would like me to send it on.) Also, if you'd like, I'm happy to go looking for any good-seeming paleo food blogs, since I know that kind of looking around is not your cup of tea. Again, only if you'd like

[pellucid]

Mostly, ::hugs::

Since we've already covered the pertinent parts of this reply. :)

[abyssinia4077]

I got this! (partially at least

[pellucid]

Thank you! I will check these out when I'm feeling capable of doing so. (One of the side effects of my digestion being out of whack is a lot of anxiety about food, which is really frustrating: I know what I need to be working on to fix it, but every time I go hunting for new recipes, I get all panicky...)

And I don't mind meat as a component--particularly because soy often gives me trouble--it's meat as the main event that bothers me. So cut up chicken in my stir fry, or in a stew/slow cooker thingie, or something like that, should be fine. But it's the idea of slow cooker meals and things that make leftovers and so forth that I need to get into my repertoire. Because that's basically what I've been eating all this time, but they all have beans in them. (Oh, beans! How I miss you already...)

[abyssinia4077]

Ah, totally understood.

Would it help if I pointed you to some particular recipes I've liked?

I love one pot meals, so I'm all about mixing meat in with other stuff. (okay, I've also developed a love for homemade meatballs, but I won't push you that direction). For me, it's worth spending the extra money to get higher quality meat from either the meat people at the farmer's market, Whole Foods, or a butcher - I notice the quality difference in both preparing and eating it. Things like grass-fed beef, pasture raised lamb, sustainably (as much as that's possible at all) caught fish, chickens that actually were outside and ate bugs, etc.

I'm happy to share some of my staples with you - any general food genres you tend to really like/not like?

[daybreak777]

Hmm, interesting food quandary. I was mostly only eating meat a couple of times of week but starting losing so much weight that I concentrated on eating meat again. It helped! But that doesn't help you,hmmm. First, maybe add grains that have protein. Brown rice, quinoa, and amaranth make regular appearances in my diet. They have some protein. Other options include tofu or seitain, though I don't eat those myself. I do buy them cooked very occasionally and don't miss the meat when I do. Other than that, I do focus on healthy fats like avocados, dark chocolate and lots and lots of nuts. Nuts! Really good sources of protein and fat. Maybe not peanuts if you have allergies.

That's my take. I'm sure you already know about low-glycemic carbs that fill you up like squash, rutabaga, brocolli, etc . . . A drizzle of good olive works wonders . . .

[pellucid]

Yes, those are (mostly--soy and peanuts are legumes) all things I've been trying to eat. For me it's less about weight loss or gain, or about eating something that will fill me up, or whatever, than it is about finding the food triggers that set off this whole series of unpleasant GI and brain effects. So I've basically just been a mess for months because of something (or things) I've been eating. It's not just the gluten anymore, apparently. So now it's a matter of figuring out where the problems are coming from and then figuring out how to be balanced without those things. While also not totally breaking my budget or my ethics on meat, since that is looking like a necessity.

[daybreak777]

I wish you some food peace. Even if you're eating the right things, if it stresses you out, it's kind of counterproductive. And I hope you find out your food triggers. That's the key. But I wish you some peace. I do recommend the squashes, though! They are comforting and filling and might not trigger you.

*hugs*

[de23]

I'll second the rec for The Clothes Make the Girl. Here are a couple soup recipes of hers that are really good, I eat them for breakfast a lot. (and lunch, and etc

[pellucid]

Thank you! It's the cooking a bunch and doing leftovers that I'm trying to do, but I haven't figured that out yet in a world without all my bean staples. And part of this (a big part, really) is that when my food gets out of whack, my brain gets out of whack about food, and I get really anxious when I try to handle things like shopping for and making new recipes. Buying and fixing meat, just in itself, is something I find ridiculously stressful. So I'm trying to take it all one step at a time, trying to find a few recipes to start with that don't feel impossible, and we'll see

[de23]

Haven't been back to work yet (still have 1 inch of ice on the roads), but here are some other "simple" ideas. Chicken - I buy boneless skinless breasts or thighs (organic thighs when they have them - I can afford them, unlike organic breasts). Take a glass baking pan and melt a little coconut oil in the bottom. Plop the chicken in the pan. Sprinkle with whatever seasoning you want. Salt & pepper is the basic, but you can add different blends or even some italian seasoning with some tomato paste. Flip and repeat. Cover and bake at 400 for 30-50 min, depending on the size of the chicken pieces. Tuck in the fridge and eat on it thru the week. You can do the same thing with fish, just rinse and dry before you put it in the pan

[de23]

F

[dm_lunsford]

You've received some good paleo resource suggestions already. I'll add this one to the mix: Detoxinista. She's also on FB, Twitter, Pintrest. Not strictly paleo, but every recipe from her recs that I've tried has been good. I also recently picked up this cookbook I spied at a TJ Maxx: Paleo Lunches and Breakfasts on the Go. I've been too busy of late to actually try any of the recipes, but on my goodness everything in it looks very appealing.

If rice is a big staple for you, you might consider doing the cauliflower substitute option.

Good luck! :)

[pellucid]

Thank you! I'm definitely intrigued by lunches and breakfasts on the go!