Life on the Farm.

I have acclimated to rural living: My dog had a raccoon up a tree for over an hour (said raccoon had a habit of crossing the yard at exactly 8:30am for several days straight until the tree incident-haven't seen it since). My chickens follow rabbits, lie in the dog bed, tap on my front door and window, and still run from me. I like to see snakes because I know they are getting grasshoppers the size of small birds. Pileated woodpeckers pound on the tin roof of my chicken coop. I am a pro at releasing opossums from the trap. I have a bat colony living in the Royal Palm 4 yards from my garage. And none of this bothers me. In fact, I love it. I have realized how much easier it is to be motivated to do work around the house when it is more rewarding...not just the mundane tasks of emptying the dishwasher and such. Don't get me wrong, I still hate cleaning, it's just different when that task is overshadowed by much bigger tasks that are more rewarding. Plus there is something about cleaning windows with a chicken eyeballing you on the other side. I'm liking this homesteading stuff...

Dead.

So my garden is basically dead. But the lessons I've learned are alive and growing. The first lesson is- nothing is like it is in Indiana. When they tell you to plant early spring...they are talking January, not March. Things were going great, but then it just got too hot for things to last. Then add to it the fact we are in a drought crisis and only allowed to water our yard once a week and things sizzle pretty fast. So, the cucumbers are dead. The beans are dead. The tomatoes are struggling to hold on. The green onions are dead. And the zucchini just keeps growing, but does not produce fruit. We have been able to cut some lettuce and enjoy it. We also dug a bit to see if carrots were growing and sure enough they were. We picked a little guy so Donovan could eat it. I have more basil than I know what to do with (of course that would grow). I am hoping the peppers will rally the troops, but with a three week trip up north and no rain in sight I am not crossing any fingers. It is still fun to watch though and hopefully when the heat starts to taper off I'll plant some more and we can try it again.

Round 2.

Round 2 of recipes from Everyday Food: Roasted Chicken Breasts with Carrots and Onion.
Again good. Just 86 couscous and sub mashed cauliflower, otherwise the recipe was already Paleo friendly.

Everyday something.

Since before I got married I received a monthly magazine entitled Everyday Food by Martha Stewart. That subscription stopped when Paleo entered our life and was replaced with frequent visits to the Everyday Paleo site. The fact they are both "everday something" is ironic I think. Well, now that I have the rules engraved into my brain I thought I would go back to some of my Everyday Food recipes and make them Paleo style. My first attempt was with Tandoori Chicken with Yogurt Sauce and I'd say it was a success. I forgot to take a picture of it since we didn't eat until 9pm, but here is a picture from the original recipe.

Mine looked exactly the same. No, wait, better....I wish.

I simply subbed the low-fat yogurt with plain coconut milk yogurt and served it over garlic cauliflower rice. I also don't do meat with bones (too much work) so I just used boneless, skinless chicken breasts. That's all it took to convert the original recipe. It was delish.

How does your garden grow?

In case you've been wondering how my garden has been doing....




It's doing great! I'm concerned with the bugs that have recently invaded since things are beginning to grow, but I'm hoping things will survive. I ate my first bean yesterday and it tasted like sweet success. I may have to get the chickens to spend a little while in there during the day to get those pesky bugs, but that would mean I would have to sucessfully corral the chickens over to the other side of the yard, through the fence and over the garden barrier. This is a difficult thing to do because I have renegade chickens. They spend most of their time getting the bugs out of my neighbors yard. However, I can't say I blame them- If I had a large dog and crazy 3 year old boy chasing after me I'd spend my days in the safety of the neighbors yard too.

Here is a picture of how the chicks have grown. They are about two months old...

Back in the saddle.

I took a break from the internet during Lent and am now back....though I'd like to keep the time I spend surfing the web to an absolute minimum. I spent much more time reading, playing and hanging out with my little man and loved it ( I don't think people.com or facebook missed me too much!). So just a little catch up on the last month:
1. On April 11, 2011 we started Whole30
2. On April 24, 2011 we had Easter Dinner and screwed it all up.
3. On April 27, 2011 the leftovers are gone and we are back on Paleo.

I've tried some new things recently thanks to some of my favorite websites:

Sausage N' Cabbage Noodles with fried apples


Mango Gazpacho Soup

Zucchini Pancakes


Salisbury Steaks

Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Salad (with a few personal tweaks)

Homesteading.

As you know, about two years ago we began eating "Paleo" and it was then our grocery budget went through the roof. About one year ago we moved to the rural part of town into a house on 1.25 acres. This house came equipped with a sturdy chicken coop. About 6 months ago I read some books on homesteading. At that same time I developed a long term Timm Family Homestead Plan.
Step one: Compost
Step two: Chickens
Step three: Garden
Step Four: Bees
I realized we live in the sub-tropics and have excellent growing weather, all we eat are raw fruit and veggies, we have the space, and we have the coop...why not be as self sufficient as possible.

So the plan was set in motion: The compost heap was easy and therefore started immediately. It's doing exceptionally great and I can tell it's eager to do its job. It won't have to wait much longer before being put to use, as last week Donovan and I spent time planting some tomato and pepper seeds so they can germinate and be ready for planting when we get our raised beds built. I've got my shopping list prepared for those beds and hopefully within the next few days a stop at Home Depot will help complete step 3. I also have the seeds for the remaining ingredients for a wonderful summer blend of fruits and veggies. I'm starting off small though, I am a newbie. Today was the most exciting part though. I've been going back and forth about chickens for quite some time. I wanted to get young hens that were ready to lay, but didn't want to spend $20 each- just in case it turns out Kiya isn't so friendly with chickens. I also wasn't sure I wanted to get chicks either since it would be a while before they began to lay and I wasn't sure I could raise the little gals only to be eaten by a raccoon, snake, bobcat or Kiya. So for months I've been dragging my feet, but today when I went to the Tack and Supply store to check the board for laying hens we passed a cage of the cutest week old chicks I've ever seen. Decision made. Our new "Friends" came home with us: Ross, Rachel, Chandler, Monica, and Joey (sorry Phoebe, there were only 5 left). So hopefully I'll be a good little mama to our new family members and soon we'll enjoy backyard fresh eggs for breaky each morning. Yum, yum. Here are some pictures of our progressing homestead.






Don't worry. It'll be a while before I feel prepare to take on a swarm of bees.

Awareness

I've had countless conversations with people over the course of the last few years about the Paleo diet and everyone (including myself) always says things like "yeah, it makes sense, but I could never do it." Well, to that I say: It does make sense and you could if you wanted to. One of the greatest benefits of learning about the Paleo diet is learning about what foods work best with how your body is designed. It has to do with insulin and glycemic index, but I won't get into that-because I can't really explain it! What I can explain though, is through learning about this you learn to look at food in a whole new way. When you learn that what you eat affects how you even think about food (see My Mother,The Rodent) you think twice about that plate of pasta. You begin to realize that doughnut isn't worth eating just because it's in the room. You learn that you can make your own granola cereal and even if you choose to eat it with milk, whole milk is better than low-fat because the saturated fat helps block your insulin from spiking. So if you have one glass of milk a day, you may want to look into choosing organic whole milk. You may also learn that choosing cage-free, organic eggs provides a more nutrient rich egg and is worth paying the extra dough for, while the nutrients in carrots don't vary enough between organic and conventional to spend the money if it's going to break the bank. (I do think organic is best if you can.) There are changes everyone can make to lead a healthier life, even if you don't choose to be "Paleo." My goal for this year was to eat at least two Paleo Meals a day since I struggle with breakfast-see previous post. So for breakfast even if I don't eat paleo, I still make better decisions with what I do eat. You can choose maple syrup and pasteurized butter to go with those homemade waffles and pancakes. You can choose Larabars instead of Quacker Oats Chocolate Chip granola bars. You can choose guacamole over chip dip. You can choose a smoothie over a milkshake.

So if you're considering a paleo life, don't get overwhelmed thinking you have to go cold turkey or become an extremist (though most people do it this way and become one after they see the difference). If all you can do is make some small changes and begin paying attention to how food affects you, then you're better off than you were before. Also, don't beat yourself up if you do mess up. I've certainly messed up a bunch over the last months of having visitors and over the holidays, but I still know that my overall diet is a healthy diet and I know my long term plan is to keep working for consistency. Someday I'll get there, but I'm not there now.

The Breakfast Battle

I ate hundreds of eggs during my senior year of college. One of my lovely roommates cooked me scrambled eggs almost every night. I also ate countless boxes of hamburger helper, but thats not relevant to this post. The eggs are. After that year I had a love/hate relationship with eggs, however, it wasn't until I got pregnant with our son that my relationship with eggs really took a turn for the worst. One of my aversions was to eggs; specifically sunny side up but any type of egg turned my stomach. Amazingly three years later I still feel that way about them. I eat them occasionally, but I cannot have them every day for breakfast as most people do on paleo. This means I need to find substitutes. I've mainly gone for the carrot bannana muffins found on paleoplan.com or fruit, but over superbowl weekend we had some friends visiting that introduced us to "Paleo Krunch." While his was so delicious, we thought we could attempt to make a knock off right in our own kitchen. We hunted for some recipes and decided to use this recipe from the PaleoBlocks website. Adam was the chef for this project and deserves all the credit. I am so excited to have breakfast in a bowl again (with unsweetened almond milk of course). I saw some other Paleo granola recipes out there so I'm sure we'll be trying some more in the future.

Top Eight Things That Make Paleo Easier

8. Bolthouse Farms Olive Oil Vinaigrette in Raspberry Merlot- This pink bottle has transformed my salad life. I'm not a huge oil and vinegar type of gal so being able to use a real dressing helps motivate me to make a salad rather than a sandwich come lunch time.

7. Larabars- Coconut Cream Pie is my favorite and this bar is the perfect solution to that quick snack fix. Plus, it kind of tastes like dessert.

6. So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer- You can get it in French Vanilla or Hazelnut flavor. I've only had the french vanilla, but it makes coffee so much more tasty in the morning!

5. The Paleo Plan- while we don't utilize the service anymore, it was a great tool to start out using. For just $10 per month it helped me learn to cook and how to adapt "regular" recipes. It also helped with grocery shopping and learning to organize my meals. Great tool for beginners or for those who don't have the time to sit down and figure out weekly menus and grocery lists. Just be cautious of those sneaky non-paleo ingredients. Visit www.paleoplan.com for more info.

4. Leftovers and Planning ahead- The key to staying on track is to have food in the house. Make sure you're always fully stocked; even if this means going to the grocery store every day! Leftovers have been paramount to keeping us on track, as we always have something to eat. I also make a mealplan Monday morning for the week. I leave one day for a flex day, but otherwise I make out that list and stick to it. I shop for everything I will need for those meals and store them in the garage refrigerator. That way, we don't eat what I need for meals and wind up frustrated because I don't have anything to cook.

3. Clean out the pantry, stock up the fridge- when you don't look at cookies and granola bars everytime you open the pantry you won't want them. If you keep junk food in your house, you will eventually eat it. Instead, keep those fresh cut peppers and cucumbers at eye level in the fridge so you can reach in and grab a handful whenever a hunger pain strikes. My go to food is always almond butter and apples, so I make sure I always have more than I think I'll need in the house.

2. Support- I learned this through my hubby. He was 100% and I was dinner time compliant. I made paleo dinner, but for the rest of my meals ate like crap. This meant I had junk in the house. When we began the program as a family is when we were able to succeed.

1. FOOD SHARING WEBSITES! The whole9 blog recently posted several links to blogs that feature paleo friendly recipes. They also shared a few websites that compile recipes from many blogs onto one user friendly site. Two years ago when we began eating paleo, I could not find good recipes. I am astonished how many great recipes are out there now to make my life easier. Here is the link to whole9's post: http://whole9life.com/2011/02/steal-these-meals-recipe-sharing-blogs/

What Do I Eat?

I've been asked several times what we eat so this post is going to be links to our favorite recipes.
Breakfasts:
Carrot Banana Muffins
Omelet Muffins

Dinners:
Thai Chicken Wraps
Paleo Pizza
Paleo Meat Loaf
Not-So-Boring Chicken Stir Fry
Roasted Root Veggies and Chicken
Chimichurri Chicken
Pesto Chicken

I also love to cook a whole chicken and shred the meat. I use the meat for omelets, in salads, chicken tacos...you name it! Another easy thing to do is combine pecan meal with just about anything for a quick coating on chicken. For example, combine pecan meal with dried cranberries in a magic bullet and voila- tastes like Thanksgiving. How about pecan meal and coconut. Yumm. And then there is coconut flour, coconut milk and macadamia nuts in the bullet and that's great for fish or chicken. You can also make some good sauces for those things by combining coconut milk with something yummy- cucumber or apples perhaps. You can also mix a good Paleo approved Raspberry Preserve w/ a bit of red wine vinegar for a good fish topping.

I'm not too creative with my meals, but I have realized the key to eating paleo is simply to TRY recipes. Many times when I look at ingredients and pictures I don't think I'll like them, but in the end I do. It's strange. So my challenge is to just try it out.

Guess who's back, back again.

Tami's back. Tell a friend.

I realize I took a hiatus. I'll tell you, it was not just from blogging-also from paleo. Those darn Christmas cookies did me in. I also had to go to MI for a few weeks after Christmas and when we got back our "busy season" was in full effect. For us, busy season is a wonderful time of year when all our friends and family from Indiana and Michigan get sick of the cold weather and head down to South Florida for a vacation at our home. We love it, but because of all the comings and goings, eating in and eating out, we don't do well sticking to a good meal plan.

I do have to put a disclaimer in there that we did have some friends come Superbowl weekend and they live the Paleo life. So, for them the menu was packed with paleo super bowl goodies. We had fresh fruits and veggies, paleo chili and some delicious meatballs taken from Everyday Paleo.
It was after that though, the decline happened yet again.

I've been doing my best to eat at least two paleo meals a day, which I've done for the most part, but have done terribly snacking and eating sugar in between. I'm going to tighten up my eating beginning today and continue on the blogging and Paleo wagon.