Trying Paleo

This would be a longer post but well, spring is pretending to have arrived today, so I'm going to get to work outside.

I am going to TRY the Paleo lifestyle this week, as hubby will not be around to complicate things by being resistant to the system. I'm going to blog what I eat.

Yesterday was semi-paleo, as I knew I was going to be pretty motivated after going to a seminar by www.uncommonwellness.com.  I don't totally remember what I ate, but lots of eggs, walnuts, raisins, carrots, and imitation crab (I know, tons of gluten and crap in it) figured into the equation. Plus Jelly Beans. Come on, they are right. there. in. the.kitchen.  I didn't have coffee but am pretty sure I  had herbal tea.  Plus Jelly Beans.

Today so far, I've had Bacon, Eggs (fried in PAM, canola oil...Paleo? I have no idea!) and Mangoes.  I was so lucky to swing by Wal-Mart after the seminar yesterday and find PERFECTLY ripe Mangoes for 33 cents (not sure if per pound or each, whatever....it's cheap).  I should have bought a TON, but only filled up one produce bag.  Good "exotic" produce is so hard to find here in the midwest. It was like a sign from God saying I CAN DO IT (the Paleo thing).  Oh yeah, and Jelly Beans (the bag isn't empty yet!)

Pictures of food coming up soon. Time to figure out lunch (spinach cooked in bacon grease? and....roast beef with veggies?), and get to work on finishing the sandbox project. 

Ideally I'll give CrossFit a try this week too, but I'm sore just from "trying" the workout moves yesterday. I can't imagine what a whole workout is going to do to me. How am I supposed to prepare food if I can't move my arms????


*** A Few Hours Later***

Lunch was leftover Roast Beef and roasted carrots. I left the roasted potatoes in the leftover bucket.

Then I dropped Sharkboy at Preschool, shopped for more materials for the Sandbox project, worked in the yard, rearranging the garden, and suddenly it was time to pick up from Preschool. When we got home, my awesome neighbor came over to help finish building the sandbox. Then, after being more productive than I have been in ages, I tossed the kids a precut bucket of veggies, fruits, and dips, and we went to the HS Track for my first CrossFit workout.

I started with the warmup:
400m run
15 pushups (actually 8)
15 situps
15 Air Squats (more like, 9?)
15 Back Extensions (also known as Swimmers or Supermans)


The Workout
was supposed to be 3 rounds of, but I did 1 round of
Run 100m
50 pushups (more like 25)
Run 100m
50 Situps... Since I don't have the Abmat (yet) I had the kids hold my feet.
Run 100m
50 Air Squats
Run 100 m
50 Back Extensions

I came home and mowed the yard then the poor starving children dragged me inside. After quick but badly needed baths, I made them tuna (with Miracle Whip and sweet relish) sandwiches, which they DEVOURED. Not paleo and not normal dinner, but yummy and most people would consider it healthy. Sharkboy ate 1.5 sandwiches. Lava Girl ate about 3/4. Plus milk. I found more mango while cleaning kitchen (it's not really clean yet, but was trying to make a hole) and we all shared the mango. Mmmmm.
For my dinner, I ate some of the sweet and yummy tuna mixed into spinach wilted with Olive Oil and Lime juice, then tried the tuna salad on some boiled (need to find my steamer) cabbage, and also devoured a sweet potato that I had thrown into the microwave before heading to the track...but then forgot about...

After bedtime, I ate some more Jelly beans.

The first 30 days of Paleo are supposed to  be REALLY LOW SUGAR, but um, I'm a total sugar addict and refuse to go cold turkey. Anyway, I'm just giving it a 7-day trial, right? I even had coffee today, but only half my usual amount, and still used sugar and Half and Half. I've been living on Caffeine, Sugar, and healthy dinners for way too long.

The baby (18 months) was asleep before I could even get a pajama shirt on him after the bath, so I am thinking he likes all the activity, productivity, and lack of caffeine and sugar in his milk. 

Either I'm coming down off those last Jelly Beans or it's actually time for bed. Either way, I've been up for 17 hours. It's time for bed. Good night. Lets see how Paleo goes tomorrow without any bacon in the freezer, a dirty kitchen (hello, spent the whole day outside) and Tuesday is always my busiest day of the week.

I could have sworn I had fish oil pills in the closet from a previous vitamin taking kick, but all I could find was Vitamin E and A and multi vites, so took some of those. Fish Oil will go on the list of junk to buy.

My First Time...With a Circular Saw

So, a few months ago, I convinced myself that Spring really would come eventually, and decided that I will make a couple more Square Foot Gardening beds of various sizes. Previous things I have built, I have paid 50 cents per cut at the lumber yard to get what I need.

It's embarrassing to stand there like a little woman who is afraid of saws or something while Mr. Manly Man with an Apron  instructs teenage Future Manly Man in the things I could do if only I had a saw.

The cost effectiveness of this decision had to be ignored. Really, it's a matter of pride.

So, I called My Dad, My Hero, the guy who made building everything and anything look so easy for my whole life. My dad's been through a few saws in the last bunch of years while remodeling 2 houses. He and my mom and extended family actually built a house, A WHOLE HOUSE, from scratch before I was born. 

It's like having my own The Learning Channel expert on speed dial. He recommended the 7 1/4 inch Skil saw as the best in my budget.  My budget was stretched a long way by Amazon. I love Amazon. In just 88 cuts, the saw will pay for itself!  

He also recommended this set of blades. It comes with one, but apparently, different numbers of teeth are needed for different types/thicknesses of wood. Dad said one of these will even cut the conduit I use for making Trellises for my Square Foot Garden. That's one more thing I got to stand around like a Little Woman while Mr. Manly Man with an Apron instructed teenage Mr. Manly Man in the art of cutting.  Having the right blade for whatever job I decide to do will make life so much easier, and really expand the uses of my new toy.







So, My saw came in the mail. I took it to the garage, cleaned off the work bench, organized the tools some, etc. It's a good thing the previous owners of the house put up a pegboard and super workbench!  My Power Tool Collection now consists of a Drill, Sander, and Circular Saw.

Fast Forward a few weeks. My two youngest kids start playing in the yard on nice days, digging and digging in whatever dirt patches I'll let them attack. I decide to build them a Sandbox.

Eventually we go to the nearest city where building materials cost slightly less than an arm and a leg. This Mega Sandbox is going to be in my front yard, so I have decided I want to build it out of Redwood (whatever that is...), because my SFG book says it's prettier and lasts longer than Pressure Treated. I head into the store thinking 12x12 for my size, since an awesome friend offered me as much free sand as I could shovel! But...2x8x16 Redwood boards are $32/each. 12 footers aren't much cheaper, and I would have used the extra 4 footers to make a pretty SFG for the front yard. Anyway...For $120 I could have bought a plastic Step2 sandbox years ago. Hello...I'm a cheapskate, and the longest board that would fit in my Minivan is an 8 footer, so ....8x8 or 6x8 became my answer.  The lumber yard was nice enough to make those two cuts for free so they'd fit in my car.

All good homemade sandboxes have corner seats, so 8x8 turned to 6x8 so the whole thing could be made out of $66 worth of Redwood.

So, this morning...it was cold....but not wet...yay Spring!
 I had marked my lines to cut on yesterday.

Called Dad to get advice on which cuts to make first...angles or straights...Angles.

Ok. I opened the box! and got out my BRAND NEW CIRCULAR SAW!!

Oh crap...must install blade. How hard can it be? With directions in 5 languages, after calling Dad to get the push I needed to use force to remove the little wrench from the machine, on the 2nd try, The BLADE WAS INSTALLED, AND TURNING! yay!

Ok, 2 little kids running around the yard will make excellent weights to hold the boards still while I cut.

My cuts weren't perfect, but I wound up with two 6-foot boards, two 8-foot boards, and two identical corner seats. Mission Accomplished!

How I grew up around saws and woodworking and got the highest grade in my 6th grade Shop class, where I was actually THE ONLY ONE who passed the test that actually allowed me INTO the woodshop to build a birdhouse-- without ever operating a circular saw by myself --is beyond me. But--Now I've done it!

What's next? lots of ideas, but first, I need to FINISH the sandbox project!

8 cuts today =$4. Only $80 more cuts till the thing pays for itself!