Garden Splendor

Oh I love the Spring! The garden is coming along, nicely. Seeds are starting to sprout. I am sure that is because of our crazy good weather. It was 80 degrees today! If you are in the Pacific NW then you'd know that is crazy warm for a day in April.
I got to weed the walkways around the beds today. It's such a meditative tasks and makes me break a sweat too!  I am so grateful to my friends (Christy, Tom, Larry, Sokay, Sonja, Jules and of course Andrea!) who helped me rebuild my fence last year. What great friends to come and spend the day pounding poles into the earth. We have a lot of deer in our area so we maintain a 6 foot fence around the garden.
So far I have planted lettuce, beans. peas (two varieties), carrots, and cucumbers. I noticed today that we have a some mystery squash coming up as well. I will definitely be transplanting those to a better spot. Right now they are coming up in the middle of the carrots. Oh did I say Sunflowers too? I am so excited about those!
I think I will be planting another round of carrots and peas. The first round of carrots have done nothing. It may not have been warm enough yet (until today!)
This picture is of the garden in May 2011. This year I was inspired by my sister- she plants her garden from seeds. So I followed her lead and I am happy with the results so far! i will obviously gets starts of tomatoes and maybe a pepper or two. Maybe some basil starts- oh I should get some planted for the kitchen counter. I have grown basil in the kitchen for the last few years and it is amazing to grab a fresh sprig or to add to the dish. Well I better capture my last few minutes of freedom while my son is distracted. Enjoy your day!

Dinner so good!

Just thought I'd share a dinner with no recipe. Warning: this is NOT totally Paleo. Contains peanuts. I just haven't been able to completely let go of peanuts. So this is Spinach, Chopped Cauliflower and Peanut Coconut Chicken. Oh yum it was good.

Carrot Ginger Soup

Carrot Ginger soup warms the soul on these still cold nights. My sister shared this recipe with me. And it's totally Paleo! So gather your organic carrots and make this wonderfully yummy soup.

Carrot Ginger Soup

1 lbs Carrots sliced

1 med onion chopped

1 inch of fresh ginger, chopped

1/2 cup orange juice

1 cup of cream or coconut milk/cream

Chicken broth

Sautee the carrots, onions, and ginger in a little olive oil or coconut oil for five minutes, then add enough chicken broth (homemade is best!) to cover the carrots.  Simmer for 40 minutes. Add cooked carrot mixture to blender. Blend until smooth and creamy. Add cream or coconut milk and orange juice.  And serve!
This soup also freezes really well. I like to use a canning jar with about 2 inches at the top. Super yum!

Still Loving Paleo and Still Struggling a Little

19 weeks into Paleo. Almost four months. And I am still loving how I feel. Yay. I don't think I have ever lasted this long on any other plan. Even straight up gluten-free. I would only last four to five weeks before I would give up. Now I won't say I haven't slipped up. I have eaten gluten. I admit it. But not often. My frequency of "off plan" eating has dropped significantly with paleo.

I really feel like the gluten-free thing has been easier with no grains. I feel like I can get back on track so much easier. And my slip ups are becoming less and less frequent. I love that about Paleo for me. 
I have also *consciously* chosen to have some things off plan like a piece of gluten free cake on Valentine's day. 

Certainly the sugar thing has been the hardest. That is my current struggle. I crave sugar ALL THE TIME! I eat dark chocolate covered almonds to satisfy my sugar craving and usually that works great. But lately they are not sweet enough. I am not hungry but I want something sweet! You know as I write this I am realizing I used to eat a lot more dried fruit. I bet my sugar intake was much higher than I realized.

My weight loss has been slow. About 1 pound a week, my naturopath is quite happy with this rate. I had my body fat measured this weekend. It was in one of those water tanks- the most accurate way to measure, I hear. I am at 40% body fat. I was actually happy to hear that. I thought it would be higher. It was really great to meet with the guy who administered the test. He asked what my goal weight was and I found out that I have 165 lbs of lean body weight- which is quite amazing! I have always known I was strong and this was confirmation of that!

So with that test I have a new found inspiration to be more diligent. That is one thing that's been interesting to me- I need to follow Paleo 100% to loose weight. The 80/20 plan would not work for me. I do not loose when I am not absolutely attentive! And that is hard to maintain.

But for whatever reason- I feel good. And I keep doing Paleo. It serves me. Maybe in more ways then I realize.