Recipe of the Day - Paleo Steak or Chicken Fajitas

 

Fajitas are a classic in Tex-Mex cuisine and are adored universally by kids and adults alike. The classic fajita calls for skirt steak or chicken and is served with a choice of toppings over corn or flower tortilla, but this Paleo take on the classic fajita meal is just as delicious without the tortilla. Today, fajitas are also commonly prepared with pork, chicken or shrimp and the usual vegetables include bell peppers and onions.  Enjoy making a big batch and pleasing the whole family with this classic do it yourself dinner. This recipe serves about 5 people, but be sure to make more for leftovers.

 

 INGREDIENTS:

• 3 lbs chicken breast, cut in thin strips (I used grass fed steak tips cut into strips);
• 3 bell peppers;
• 3 onions, sliced;
• 2 tbsp oregano, chili powder, cumin and coriander;
• 6 chopped garlic cloves;
• Juice of 3 lemons;
• 4 tbsp cooking fat (coconut oil, butter olive oil or ghee are excellent here);
• Butter lettuce to serve;
• You choice of toppings: diced tomatoes, fermented pickles, sauerkraut, sliced avocados, salsa, guacamole, jalapenos and/or salsa verde

PREPARATION:

1. Combine the chicken (or steak), bell peppers, onions, spices, garlic and lemon juice in a bowl and mix well.
2. If preparing ahead of time, let marinate in the refrigerator for about 4 hours.
3. When ready to cook, heat a large skillet on medium heat and cook the whole preparation with the cooking fat until the chicken/steak is cooked through and the onion and bell pepper are soft.
4. Put the hot chicken or steak preparation in a large bowl and let the people prepare their own fajitas on top of lettuce leaves with their favorite toppings.
5. It's really that easy.  :-)

Why Paleo?

Why did I choose Paleo you may ask?  Out of all the oodles and oodles of diet plans out there....why Paleo?  Paleo is more than just a diet....it's a lifestyle urging people to get better sleep, eat healthy, be active, etc.  It may not be for everyone, but it works for me and that's why I am still doing it five months later.

I’ve been eating grass-fed ground beef, venison, steak skewers, pecan/almond-crusted chicken, pork and fish. I’ve been eating eggs, sausage, bacon, sweet potatoes, yams, deviled eggs, cabbage slaw and curry. I’ve been eating spice-rubbed chicken, salmon salad, and pear salad with balsamic vinegar. I’ve been eating shrimp with red onion, garlic, green bell peppers, salsa verde and chili powder. Our fridge is filled to the brim with fresh, local, and organic fruit and vegetables of all colors, and our freezers are full of grass-fed beef, turkey, lamb, venison, elk, fish and chicken.  I haven’t been scrimping on fat, either. I cook my nutrient-dense meals with coconut oil and olive oil,  real butter and eat plenty of avocados and macadamia nuts and even a little bit of almond butter. What’s missing from this list? Added sugar. Alcohol. Milk. Cheese. Grains. Legumes. Processed foods.  I stay away from all of them.

Popularized by Dr. Loren Cordain, the world’s leading expert on Paleolithic diets, (and more recently by Robb Wolf, author of New York Times bestseller The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet), this way of eating is based on research indicating that the best diet is the one we’re genetically adapted to. 10,000 years of agrarian eating is a small blip of time evolutionarily compared to the 2 - 5 million years we spent as hunter-gatherers, and research indicates that many people haven’t adequately adapted to Neolithic foods such as grains and dairy. Want to lose fat? Prevent disease? The Paleo diet can help.  My husband (Adam) and friend (Cooper) are both into fitness and working out -they are always trying to find methods to improve recovery and performance. Good nutrition is huge.   Both my husband and Cooper checked into the best eating plans out there and settled on the Paleo after countless hours of research.  They both thought it would be the best for me as well, so I joined in.  What did I have to lose?

But aren’t grains healthy? Actually, they’re not. They’re loaded with lectins (gluten in wheat, avenin in oats and zein in corn), which can create intestinal damage, inflammation, and poor digestion. Grains are loaded with phytic acid and other chemicals which strip nutrients such as magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron and B vitamins from your body. Grains also spike insulin levels. And they are not nutrient dense by any stretch of the imagination.  I have noticed that I don't have any bloating or fluid retention since being on this diet plan.

Beans and legumes? They also have lectins (and, in the case of soybeans, phytoestrogens). Dairy? Many people react poorly to lactose, and casein allergies are not uncommon. Milk also causes insulin spikes.

Most people won’t try to argue the health benefits of sugar and alcohol, but will instead mention moderation. I agree. Ask me to give up chocolate and wine for life, and I’d run the other way.  In fact, after my first 60-day Paleo cycle, I have included a bar of dark chocolate every week (dark chocolate is allowed on the Paleo).   After the first 30-60 days, start introducing other foods into your diet and see how you feel.  I can tell you that I felt like CRAP when I had a piece of pie to celebrate my birthday.  It made me want to stay on the Paleo.  I cut out all the inflammatory, insulin-spiking, calorie-dense but nutritionally sparse food groups for the first 60 days and let my body heal and recover from whatever effects those foods may have be provoking.  I then pushed the “reset” button with my metabolism, systemic inflammation, and the downstream effects of the food choices I’ve been making.  I learned once and for all how the foods I’ve been eating are actually affecting my day to day life, and long term health.

After 60 days on the Paleo, my husband no longer had food allergies that he began to get in his late 20's.  He was at the point where he couldn't eat raw veggies/guacamole/etc.....and after 60 days of being on the Paleo, he has NO allergic reactions to any of the foods that adversely effected him prior.  Men always lose their weight faster than women....it's a sad truth.  After 5 months of Paleo, both Cooper and Adam are at their target weights already and are now working out to build muscle on their lean mean frames. 

I have received countless emails and notes from friends asking all types of questions, so I will try to answer some of them in the next couple days.   Enough for tonight!

Recipe of the Day - Paleo Bacon Wrapped Spinach Stuffed Chicken

The below chicken dish was a hit in our house this evening.  I cut one of the breasts in half so you could see how colorful and pretty the inside is!  We paired the chicken with some steamed broccoli with butter and frozen grapes for dessert.  :-)

 Ingredients:

• 4 large chicken breasts
• 8 slices of bacon
• 1 bunch of fresh spinach
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 shallots, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• black pepper
• sea salt
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Pound chicken pieces fairly thin.  Season the inside of the chicken with some black pepper and a wee pinch of sea salt.  Heat skillet with olive oil and saute garlic, shallots, and red bell pepper.  Add spinach....toss all ingredients until it cooks down.  Place spinach filling along the inside of the chicken breasts.  Carefully wrap chicken breasts around the spinach filling (its okay if the filling spills out a bit).  Wrap bacon slices around the chicken breasts (I used two slices for each breast).  Secure with a toothpick, if needed.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.  Remove chicken breasts and turn on the broiler.  Now broil the chicken breasts for about 5 minutes on each side, until the bacon is nice and browned.  Yum....super tasty!  :-)

How the Paleo Lifestyle Has Changed My Life

Not to toot my own horn, but I have achieved a lot in life at a young age.  I have never had any problems with motivation when it came to work, graduating college, running a successful company, volunteering my time for civic duties, etc.  My life is pretty wonderful - I am happily married to the love of my life, have amazing and supportive family/friends, own a house, great company, do activities that I love....everything is perfect…..well….almost perfect.  There's one thing I have struggled with most of my life and that's my weight and self image...and the lack of drive I have to improve my own health.  My weight/health has been an Achilles heel for me, especially recently.  It's not that I haven't wanted to look and feel good, but I never held the motivation long enough to succeed.  I was always busy doing everything else to try and conquer the world.  It finally got to the point when I had to face my fears head on or my whole world would eventually crumble.  

It was not that long ago (June 3, 2011 to be exact) when I made a decision that would change my future life for the better....!   I was overweight (obese), self-conscious, unhealthy, and having all sorts of health issues that were attributed to my poor eating habits, lack of sleep and stress.  My June 2011 trip to the doctor was an "a-ha" moment that will forever be ingrained in my mind.  The doctor told me that if I stayed on the path I was on with my unhealthy ways, it would lead to a very dim future.  He wanted to do a second blood test on me because he said I was becoming pre-diabetic.  I looked at him like he was crazy, but knew in my heart that he was right...and also knew that he didn't need to do another blood test.  I don't know if it was the fear or embarrassment, but I made a decision right then and there that this would be the last time I would ever hear a doctor say that to me.

I went home that day feeling a new sense of determination.  I was defeated, but excited because something finally clicked in my head and I knew that changes were a necessity now.  I immediately talked to my husband, who has ALWAYS been a rock for me.  He has tried to help me in the past to lose weight and feel better, but nothing ever really stuck.  I'm Italian - I love food....and when I say that I love food.....I MEAN IT.  When we visit my family in New England, all our activities are centered around when and where we are going to eat.  The North End of Boston has the best I-Talian food....and we never miss a stop when we are in town.   It's not my husband's fault that I have failed in the past - he can only help me so much.  Until I made the decision MYSELF to get on the healthy wagon, no one could tell me what to do.

It's not about a diet.  Diets come and go.  I have done diets out the wazoooo.  The GI Diet, Atkins, Vegan, South Beach, Weight Watchers, all whole grains...the list could go on and on.  I never lasted on them because I always felt that I was the odd ball out when we went out to dinner with family/friends and when I ate lunch at work.   The diet worked in the beginning, but that's what diets are....they are a short term solutions that don't last.  You can't remain on a diet for the rest of your life - it's not going to work forever.  I needed to look at losing weight and feeling healthy as a LIFELONG change.  I needed to change the way I looked at food.  It's not that I could never enjoy food again, but I needed to eat to live, not live to eat.

This blog is not about having all of my friends and family jump on the Paleo bandwagon.  I just want to share how the Paleo Life is working for me.  Everyone is different, I absolutely know that.  I have so many friends asking me on a daily basis how and what I am doing, so I thought it might be easier for me to just share it with everyone in one place....simple as that.

As of today, October 30, 2011, I have lost 48 pounds and six dress sizes.  I feel amazing.  I have more energy now than I have had in years.  I went to the doctor last week and ALL of my blood work is completely normal (as is my blood pressure).   My work schedule has not slowed down, but I feel my attitude with life and how I handle situations has dramatically changed for the better.  I don't have the excessive mood swings that I was experiencing before and all of my health issues attributed to my weight have diminished.  I know that I have more poundage to lose until I reach my goal, but I have such a positive outlook and the future is looking bright.  I can honestly say that I am finally feeling completely blissful with myself.....so watch out world.

If you are interested in the Paleo (AKA Caveman) Solution.....you should start by reading this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Paleo-Solution-Original-Human-Diet/dp/0982565844/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1320024346&sr=8-1

More to come later on how I started and why I chose the Paleo direction.....