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7-Day Paleo Diet Menu Plan
I've got a friend coming to stay next week, so I've planned a 7-day Paleo Menu Plan to showcase my Paleo diet. It’s all too easy to eat similar meals over and over, so I'm looking forward to a week of lots of variety. I'm going to over-make everything, so I have lots of left-overs to freeze and enjoy again later.
I've just written my first recipe book on Paleo Breakfasts, so will be showcasing some fantastic, but also quick and easy breakfast recipes on my menu plan!
So this is my Menu Plan for my week of Paleo meals:
Monday
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Blanched veggies with guacamole and nut butter dips
Dinner:
Chicken and Vegetable Kebabs
Snack:
Macadamia Nuts
Tuesday
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Big Salad with tuna, eggs, nuts, leaves, tomatos, olives, avocado, capsicum and extra virgin olive oil
Dinner:
Lamb-chops, Roasted Parsnips, Onions and pumpkin
Wednesday
Breakfast:
Bacon, Eggs and Avocado
Lunch:
Turkey Nori-wraps
Dinner:
Porterhouse Steak, Egg, Mushrooms and greens
Dessert:
Thursday
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Capsicum ham sandwiches (using flat-cut capsicum for the “bread”)
Dinner:
Tuna, Asparagus and Cauliflower Rice
Snack:
Friday
Breakfast:
Red onion, ham and mushroom omelette
Lunch:
Paleo chilli with zucchini noodles
Dinner:
Dessert:
Strawberries dipped in dark chocolate
Saturday
Breakfast:
Paleo Pancakes with Berry Sauce
Lunch:
Chicken Soup with side salad
Dinner:
Barbecue with selection of meats and salads
Drink:
Glass of red wine
Sunday
Brunch:
Full English Breakfast (eggs, bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, sautéed sweet potato, home-made tomato relish, Paleo sausages)
Dinner:
Sunday Roast; Roast beef, sweet potatoes, home-made gravy, broccoli and carrots
Dessert:
What do you think of my proposed Menu Plan? I’d love to hear your favourite Paleo dishes! Do you create a weekly Paleo meal Plan?
21 Paleo Lunch Ideas
I've had a few emails in the last couple of weeks asking for Paleo lunch ideas, so I thought I’d make some suggestions in this blog post. I've also written the “Paleo Lunch Recipe Book“, so take a look if you'd like lots of lunch recipes to brighten up your lunchtimes!
Here are 21 suggestions that you can mix and match to come up with an unlimited variety of Paleo lunches:
1. Make kebabs with your choice of meat and vegetables on sticks. Easy finger food and delicious cold.
2. Take in cold meat and veggies – and pour over a hot bone broth from a thermos just before serving.
3. A big salad with your favourite meat, avocado, eggs, leaves, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Keep the dressing and “crunchy” ingredients separate and mix them together just before you eat. Try extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice or mashed up avocado for the dressing.
4. Olives
5. Lettuce wraps – instead of bread, use lettuce to wrap your sandwich filling
6. Invest in a good thermos/ flask and bring in a hot, ready to eat soup, chilli or stew
7. Bag up last nights leftovers
8. Make up a crustless quiche or fritella
9. Blanch some veggies
10. Make up nori wraps with your favourite meats and vegetables
11. Raw veggies with a almond butter or guacamole dip
12. Breadless sandwiches using cold meat or flat capsicum (bell pepper) for the “bread”
13. Hard boiled eggs
14. An avocado and a spoon
15. Beef – or even kangaroo jerky (make your own to make sure it’s Paleo)
16. Cold cuts of roast meat
17. Mashed sweet potato, pumpkin or parsnip
18. Make a batch of egg muffins with your favourite ingredients
19. Make a trail mix with nuts, shredded coconut and jerky
20. Take in frozen prawns/ shrimps, which should be nicely chilled by the time lunch comes round
21. Or you could take it as an opportunity to Intermittently Fast…
Try buying a bento box with lots of small compartments to encourage lots of variety in your lunch.
Reheat?
If you've got access to a fridge and microwave as a minimum, your options are numerous. You can make batches of stews, soups, Paleo chilli or casseroles, freeze them and simply reheat at lunchtimes. A microwave enables you to reheat last nights leftovers – or even cook a sweet potato.
Buying Lunch
Food courts, café's and restaurants all provide Paleo options, especially where you’re able to make a few substitutions. All day breakfasts are a good choice (think bacon, eggs, avocados or omelettes), roast dinners, salad bars; at a pinch I've even ordered a sandwich – without the bread (but with a few confused looks). The problem with buying lunch is the price – and you can’t always be entirely sure about all of the ingredients.
Emergency Paleo Food Stash
Despite your best intentions, there’s always that day you forget to bring in lunch – or worse still your money – so it makes sense to have an emergency Paleo stash at work. This way when there are no good options around, you can always put together a Paleo snack. Things like tinned mackerel, sardines, salmon and tuna, jars of olives, nuts, seeds, dried fruit and jerky will store for a long time and could be good options.
Brown-Bag Lunches
For a lot of people kitchen facilities aren't available and eating out isn't an option at lunchtime. Which leads to the question, what can you put in a Paleo Packed Lunch? Just because you can’t heat food, definitely doesn't meant you can’t keep it Paleo.
What’s your favourite Paleo lunch? I’d love to hear any tips and Paleo Lunch Ideas that you have – particularly for quick and easy Paleo lunches!
Kitchen Heaven or Kitchen Hell?
As I mentioned in my Paleo Pets post, I’m currently house sitting and looking after someone’s dogs
I always look in peoples shopping trolleys with interest, but living in someone else’s house offers such a unique insight into what people really eat. The pantry in the house I'm staying in could not be any further from mine. And I find it really sad.
Obviously fresh food was used up before they left, but even so, it appears that almost all of the families meals come from tins, packets and jars, with expiry dates far into the future and lists of ingredients I don’t recognise.
The kitchen counters are full of gadgets like toasters, popcorn makers and microwaves – all absent from my kitchen. Meanwhile gadgets that I rely on in my kitchen are no where to be seen – a blender for soup and sauces; weighing scales for trying out new recipes; a big stockpot for broths and a slow cooker are very evidently missing. Instead of measuring cups and a julienne peeler I've found a pizza cutting wheel and an ice cream scoop.
The pantry is filled with a fat fearing agenda. There are all sorts of fat-free, reduced fat and low-fat instant options. Even the olive oil is “light” – but of course the fat of choice appears to be canola oil. The spread options (for bread, I presume) are low fat margarines. There is a shelf full of cereals, all boasting some amazing health benefits (and lots of mention of wholegrains) on their packaging.
I've been really surprised to find the herbs and spices (of which I have a rather large, regularly refilled collection in my own kitchen) consists of just a packet of cooking salt and an unopened jar of black peppercorns. I suppose when you reheat and eat out of packets and jars, all the taste you need is provided for, by the unrecognisable ingredients listed on the packet. With some good meat or fish, vegetables and a handful of the Paleo ingredients I can use my herbs and spices to make literally hundreds of completely different meals, with far superior tastes to anything the packets could provide.
Water doesn't appear to be the drink of choice, judging by the collection of shockingly coloured cordial bottles and shelf of soft drinks bottles.
The other interesting comparison is in the cooking materials themselves. Plastic (for use in the microwave and for storing food) is in almost exclusive use, and most of the cookware is non-stick. I used to use this type of cookware too – until I started to replace my pots and pans with safer options.
Tellingly the kitchen also houses two medicine cupboards full of all sorts of medications. My medical supplies are housed in a small container and consist of paracetamol (not used this year as I just don’t get headaches any more), some old forgotten about inhalers (my asthma disappeared without trace a couple of years ago), some out of date antihistamines (my allergies have also disappeared) and some plasters (bandaids for any Americans in the house).
I can’t accept it takes too long to bother to prepare proper food, it definitely isn't more expensive than buying everything in packet form. I think for some people opening and reheating from a packet has just become a sad habit, that is hard to break.
The effort to buy low-fat and “healthy” cereals clearly indicates an desire to be healthy – it’s just sad that the intention has failed so strongly in execution.
Have you seen such a SAD kitchen recently? Do you think this is typical?
Paleo Barbecue Recipes
We've finally started to have a few sunny days – the perfect time to get the barbecue out and try out some Paleo Barbecue Recipes!
There were a few recipes I’d wanted to try in Mark Sisson’s cookbook, The Primal Blueprint Cookbook, which had been waiting for some sunshine. I amended the recipes according to which ingredients I could get – and what I already had in my kitchen.
I managed to get hold of some turkey (I don’t know why it’s not more popular in Australia?), an essential ingredient in the Turkey Kebabs I wanted to make. I also made Green Chili Burgers, based on a recipe in the book. Sadly mine were made with regular beef and not bison as the recipe suggests (another type of meat I've not seen in Australia).
Turkey Kebabs
Ingredients:
200g minced (ground) turkey 1 egg (I'm using omega 3 enriched eggs at the moment) 1 tablespoon dried parsley ½ teaspoon each of garlic powder, cumin, paprika & salt ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon & cayenne pepper 1 spoon of olive oilMethod:
It doesn't get much simpler! I simply added the ingredients (except the oil) to the food processor and blended until everything was well mixed in. I then formed the meat into kebabs on wooden skewers and coated with a little olive oil.
The kebabs were then barbecued until cooked thoroughly.
Burgers
Ingredients:
200g minced (ground) beef 1 teaspoon dried chilli 2 tablespoons coriander (cilantro) Half a small finely diced onion 1 teaspoon cumin ½ teaspoon chilli powder & salt 2 eggs
Method:
I put everything except the eggs in the food processor and blended well. I then formed the meat into burger shapes and cooked thoroughly on the barbecue. Whilst the burgers were cooking I fried the eggs and served them on top of the burgers.
Along with the meat, I made a simple salad to complete the meal.
With it being this easy to make burgers and kebabs, I don’t know why anyone would buy them ready-made!
What are your favourite barbecue recipes?
The 1st Australian Paleo Weekend!
Note: This is an old post – the next weekend has not yet been finalised, but please sign up to my newsletter if you are interested in the next event!
I'm very excited to announce the first Paleo Weekend in the Southern Hemisphere will be held on 12th & 13th May, 2012 on the beautiful Cockatoo Island, in Sydney Harbour.
Whether you’ve been living a Paleo lifestyle for a while, have been interested but are yet to dip your toes in – or are looking for a way to finally improve your health and fitness – this is the weekend for you!
I’ve got together some of the leading experts from this side of the World (including Jamie Scott, Dr Anastasia Boulais, Julianne Taylor and Dr Ron Ehrlich), to talk about all aspects of health, nutrition & fitness and to demonstrate and teach techniques to participants. The Paleo Weekend will be held on 12th & 13th of May 2012, on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour – an absolutely fantastic venue! The weekend will be fully catered with an amazing Paleo menu. There is also the exclusive option for a limited number of attendees to sleep on the island overnight, in pre-erected luxury tents (it doesn’t get much more Primal than that!).
Attendees will: –
· Learn about Paleo nutrition and health
· Have the opportunity to quiz the experts,
· Learn through a demonstration session how to cook quick and healthy Paleo meals,
· Learn how to get on the fast track to peak sporting performance, by opening the door to their mind
· Learn barefoot running techniques
· Enjoy an early morning yoga session on the harbour shore to kick start the day
· Enjoy a social Paleo feast on the Saturday night with like-minded new friends
· Have the unique opportunity to sleep on the island
· Enjoy fantastic Paleo meals prepared for them
· Enjoy a life changing Paleo Weekend in a unique venue like no other!
Sessions Include: –
Cookery Demonstration; learn how to cook quick and easy Paleo meals at home
Barefoot running technique
Early morning Yoga overlooking the harbour
Fitness techniques – learn how to improve your technique and fitness – details to be announced
Paleo Nutrition lectures – on a variety of topics to be announced soon
Paleo Health lectures – on a variety of topics to be announced soon
Learn how to achieve improved health results & how to get on the fast track to peak sporting performance, by opening the door to your mind
Ticket prices are currently on sale at an early bird discounted rate until 31st March.
Numbers are strictly limited due to the island licensing – so book yours today to avoid missing out!
Read more about the Paleo Weekend
I can't wait to hear your thoughts about this exciting event!
For full details – read the Paleo Weekend FAQs
Primal Smoothies
I've started to have smoothies some mornings when I'm in a particular rush, since they are so quick to make and can be packed with nutritionally dense Paleo foods. I'm also going to start making up a smoothie to take to the gym with me – that way I'll be able to have something in the post work-out window – I often miss this valuable time, in my return from the gym.
Today I tried a smoothie from Primal Toad's Toadally Primal Smoothies ebook, the “Clumsy Popeye”. I thought this one would be a good choice after an early morning gym session, as it is packed with antioxidants – and protein in the form of protein powder.
I put water, frozen blueberries, cashew butter, Chocolate Primal Fuel, spinach coconut milk & ice in my blender for a few minutes – and then served, with some shredded coconut on top. It doesn't get much easier than that! I thought the spinach taste might not be to my liking, but the main tastes were the chocolate, coconut and cashews – I really enjoyed it and will definitely be making this one again. There's a whole section on green smoothies, which I'm keen to try – it seems like a good way to get in lots of good nutrients.
Do you often have smoothies? Are they something you have as a meal, or as a post workout recovery drink?
12 Ways to Eat Paleo on a Budget
It seems to be a common belief that eating a Paleo diet is expensive. It definitely can be costly, but there are many ways you can eat good quality Paleo foods, without spending a fortune. There’s also the consideration of your future healthcare costs – I like to see my Paleo nutrition as an investment in my lifelong health (not to mention the cost of sick days I've not required). So, doing Paleo on a Budget?
These are a few ways I've found to keep it Paleo – and economical.
1. Buy less popular cuts of meat.
The popular cuts are expensive because everyone wants them. White meats like chicken breast and tender meat (from the parts of the animal that do little work) such as loin and fillet are the most expensive, as they can be cooked quickly with good results.
Whilst a lot of the cheaper cuts could be tough (if you cooked them in the same way as the expensive meats), when you change how you cook you can make the meat amazingly tender and juicy. Slow cooking is a great way to cook these types of cuts, without making them tough and dry. It almost seems a waste to make casseroles and stews without using mutton, shoulder, brisket, chuck, blade, skirt or topside steak! Most of the animals we eat can (and should) be eaten nose to tail – even the bones are great to make bone broths and stocks with.
Chicken necks – a cheap option
My butcher doesn't display the less popular cuts, but can always provide me with inexpensive cuts like forequarter chops, pork hock, beef and pork cheeks and organ meats like liver and heart. I've not yet been brave enough, but brains, onglet (from inside a cows ribcage), pigs trotters and tripe are also used in recipes and have great nutritional profiles! I get bones for next to nothing from my butcher. I've also found kangaroo to be a really cheap meat here in Australia.
2. Move away from the supermarket/ grocery store
Whilst it’s definitely quicker and easier to get everything you need from under one roof, it is rarely the cheapest option. They are less likely to have the cheaper, more unusual cuts of meat and non-uniform vegetables – and you’re not likely to have much idea where to produce came from. Where they may sell some items at very cheap, competitive prices – often the price reflects the quality. Look to butchers, greengrocers, farms, health food stores, online stores and farmers markets.
3. Research
Don’t just buy from the first place you find, ask around and find out about other local sources. Prices vary significantly between shops/ farms/ online stores – find out which source is best for which item. I was surprised to find a few things are actually cheaper to have shipped from America, instead of buying locally – even with the shipping fees.
4. Buy in bulk
Big-ticket items such as coconut oil vary wildly in price, and often have sales and discounts for buying in bulk. Look out for offers and stock up when there is a chance. Another great saving can be had by buying large quantities of meat – such as half a cow. If you have a freezer this will keep for a long time and you’ll have a great variety in different cuts. You can join together with friends to save even more by sharing the meat; perhaps you can even come to an arrangement where your friends store some for you (if you don’t have a big enough freezer). There’s also a time saving to be had as grocery trips won’t need to be so frequent with a fully stocked freezer.
5. Buy at the end of the day
Farmers markets and stores often reduce prices significantly just before they close for the day. If you delay your shopping you can often save a lot of money with some great bargains; just make sure you freeze or use the produce straight away before it passes its best.
6. Buy direct
Cut out the middle man and buy directly from the farm! There may be a CSA scheme near you, a farmers market, or a farm shop. Not only can this be cheaper, but you’ll know exactly where your food comes from and will have a lot more confidence in the quality.
7. Eat seasonally
If you want to eat strawberries in the middle of winter – you have to pay for it! Keep an eye on what is in season and adjust your menus accordingly. Not only is eating in season cheaper, the produce is likely to be local and there are many biological arguments to support only eating food that is in season.
8. Plan your week
So much food is thrown away – a huge waste of money. I now spend time at the weekend working out what I’m doing for the week ahead and planning what I will eat each day. I then buy just the food I need for those meals (or plan to defrost meat from the freezer). This has significantly reduced waste and saves a lot of time too.
9. Be flexible
If you’d planned beef, but lamb is on special – be flexible and take advantage of the offer. Not only will you save a lot of money, but you might also discover a great new dish you’d never have tried otherwise!
10. Make more
When I cook, I always make more than I need for one meal. I then either eat it again for dinner the next night (or even breakfast), or freeze it ready for an instant home cooked meal in the future.
11. Stop buying lunches and coffees
I don’t know how expensive lunches are where you live, but here in Sydney buying lunch is about $10 a day – and despite making a Paleo-friendly choice, I'm always dubious about the quality of the ingredients. I now make lots of lunches at the weekend and bring these into work each day. I've probably saved enough to buy a grass-fed cow since I've been doing this, as each lunch costs under $2 to make – and has far superior ingredients.
Fortunately I don’t like coffee – but I'm amazed how much people seem to spend on this each and every day, it seems like such an extravagance when they could easily make their own – or dare I suggest drink water instead (spot the non-coffee drinker)
12. Stop eating out
Eating out is so expensive and is so often such a compromise on nutrition – particularly when you have to please non-Paleo friends. I've recently been having friends over for dinner – and going to their houses for dinner. I find this so much more enjoyable. You get to showcase your cooking, make food that is Paleo, from great ingredients – and perhaps even demonstrate to your friends exactly what Paleo is. Once you rotate with a few different friends you’re likely to have saved a lot of money – and probably had far more enjoyable evenings!
Do you find Paleo expensive? What tips have you found to reduce the cost?
Paleo Iodine Wraps
Since my new supply of himalayan salt arrived with a big warning on the outside “this does not contain iodine”, I've been craving salty foods. I'm sure this is psychosomatic, but it has lead to quite a lot of reading about iodine deficiency in the last week.
It does appear to be quite possible to become deficient in iodine when eliminating regular iodised salt and conventionally raised animal products. Apparently they started adding iodine to salt many years ago – and to animal feed, as many people were deficient in the mineral. Iodine plays a crucial role in thyroid function and is an essential mineral. I had quite extensive blood work a couple of months ago but for some reason, despite my thyroid function being tested, iodine levels were not part of the tests. I will get my levels checked out, but in the meantime, I need to make sure I get enough iodine, be it from my diet, or supplements. Kelp Supplements seem to be quite popular, so perhaps they will be a good choice?
Wild caught fish is a good source of iodine, but I don't incorporate this in my diet regularly – this is probably something I need to change. Seaweed is supposed to be an excellent source of iodine, so to that end, I created “Paleo Iodine Wraps” for dinner this evening, using Nori sheets.
The wraps were going to contain beef, but I actually found some fresh turkey today – and it was on sale, so I had to buy it (I've got no idea why it's so hard to find turkey in Australia – it's got such a fantastic nutritional profile!). As you might have noticed I'm quite keen on putting fruit in with savoury dishes, so thought I'd experiment with some apricot to go with the turkey and seaweed flavours. I'm really enjoying coconut aminos at the moment, so I used it to marinate the turkey and beef in.
Ingredients
Fresh Turkey Thinly Sliced Beef Onion Capsicum (bell pepper) Zucchini Mushrooms Tomato Lettuce Avocado Nori Sheets Coconut Oil Coconut Aminos Coriander (Cilanto) Himalayan Sea SaltMethod
I cut the turkey and beef into thin strips and let them marinate in the coconut aminos for a few minutes, whilst I prepared the rest of the ingredients.
I cut the onion, capsicum, zucchini, mushrooms and apricots into strips and then stir fried the meat in the coconut aminos and a spoonful of coconut oil.
Once the meat browned off I set it aside, and stir fried the vegetables and apricots in the same oil. I added the salt and some coriander to this and kept the vegetables on the heat for a few minutes.
Whilst the vegetables finished cooking, I cut the lettuce, tomatoes and avocados into strips, since these did not require cooking.
When the vegetables were ready, I assembled all of the ingredients on one edge of the nori sheets, and rolled them until they resembled (paleo!) sushi rolls.
I was pleased with this impromptu dinner and will add it to my list of good foods to make for on the go! I think these would store fine in the fridge overnight, so would be another good option for work lunches – or even as a grab and go breakfast. I really liked the contrast of the seaweed taste with the sweetness of the apricot. I think next time I'll use fish instead of turkey and beef to full embrace a sea theme for this dish – and to get in a bit more iodine!
I've not checked yet, but hopefully if I incorporate Nori a few times a week, I won't have to worry about iodine deficiency.
I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on Iodine intake and deficiency, is this something you actively address in your diet?
