Day 3.. shopping and recipes tasting..

So I bought all Paleo friendly items today at the store.. Normally I would go up and down every isle, searching for items to take home. Cheez-its, Soda, Butter, Bread (<--staple item).. This time was different. VERY different.

I went through all the fruits and veggies; peppers, asparagus, apples, watermelon, pineapple, onions, lemons/limes, garlic, sweet potatoes... (organic mostly) and some roasted unsalted sunflower seeds (no shells).

And then I went through all the cooking items that we will need... that was probably the most expensive part.

Getting Almond and Organic flour, coconut oil, Almond butter, coconut milk, pure maple syrup, flax seed, and Omega-3 cage free eggs.

I still got cheese and milk. And I got steak and bacon.

 Getting the rest of my meats at the farmers market this weekend for the grass fed meats.

When I got home, I was very excited to try out some recipes. Paleo Banana Bread

This is the one I tried:
Almond Coconut Banana Bread

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 large ripe banana, mashed

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 small loaf pans (5 3/4 x 3 1/2).
2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl.
3. Combine wet ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together.
4. Pour wet into dry ingredients and mix until fully incorporated.
5. Divide evenly (dough will be thick) into loaf pans and smooth the tops.
6. Bake for about 35 minutes.
7. Remove loaves from oven, let cool in pans for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling.

My Take: Not too impressed. I think next time I will double the maple syrup and add another banana and maybe even a little natural honey (even though its a Paleo fail) because it's better than sugar.

So a little disappointed, but not deterred. Next I wanted to try to make a Sweet Potato Salad to go with our Steak tonight. So I followed this recipes a little more loosely, using a light mayo instead of homemade, and I added eggs.

• 4 large Okinawan purple potatoes* or regular sweet potatoes
• 1/4 cup homemade mayonnaise (see below)
• One or more of the following:
• 2 pickles, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped chives

*Okinawan potatoes are often only found at Asian markets.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-purple-potato-salad/#ixzz20FVd1Zgk

This one was a FULL on disappointment. Ick. I don't like sweet and salty mixed, so that could be it.

Next I thought I'd go with something easy. A Coconut milk Strawberry Lime Smoothie... sounds delicious, right?

So I tried this recipe out.. I definitely added too much Lime juice, but still tasted bitter and not at all appetizing. I added 2 tbsp of honey to this... it was the ONLY thing that saved it.

Strawberry Lime Shake

• 1 ½ cups coconut milk
• 1 10-ounce package frozen strawberries
• 1 tablespoon lime juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil (optional)

http://www.elanaspantry.com/strawberry-shake/

So now onto Dinner... I've got Ribeyes marinading in the fridge with a herbal ingredient with olive oil and vinegar to moisten. Steamed Broccoli and Asparagus with watermelon for desert... This I KNOW will be delicious...

Day 3 is a experimental day, but still a success... I haven't cheated :)

Ps: I weighed in at 135.2