![]() I love their dressing, the spicy ketchup is delicious, and the chocolate collagen fuel is amazing stirred into coffee. If you aren't familiar with Primal Kitchen, let me introduce you! Mark Sisson has been a leader in the paleo/primal movement for years; his knowledge helped him create some of the tastiest and healthiest condiments on the market. No added sugar, no processed oils, no artificial anything. Just real ingredients that make your food taste even better. While in high school and college, all my friends put ranch dressing on just about everything they ate, I did not. I DO NOT LIKE RANCH! However, I would put Primal Kitchen ranch on just about anything! But not ice cream... that would be gross. Believe it or not, it's even dairy free. Ryan wasn't a huge fan of the Classic BBQ sauce (not sweet enough for him), but the Golden BBQ sauce is great on pulled pork. The spicy ketchup has found its way onto eggs, burgers, and even into stir-fry sauce. The steak sauce I bought at Christmas was incorporated into marinades and beef roasts; it was too cold and icy to grill steak this winter. Enough about condiments, Primal Kitchen also sells whey protein powder, collagen, and protein bars. Ryan and I have started taking the protein bars with us for afternoon snacks. They are very low carb and even fit into a Keto diet. Since they aren't full of added prebiotic fiber, we can also eat an entire one each and not experience the 'windy' after effects. We also like that they aren't overly sweet and verging on glorified candy bar territory. I'll chat more about their products in the future but know that if you follow the pretty link on the side bar, you'll get 10% off your first online order when you use the promo-code EAT SIMPLE.
0 Comments
![]() How many clients do you think have asked me to write them a meal plan? Not as many as you might think. Instead I teach them how to write their own weekly meal plan that fits their health goals and preferences. Some people want lots of variety and thrive on coming up with new recipes from cookbooks and pinterest. Other people just want to eat similar foods most days and do the bare minimum when it comes to cooking. Some families do well with theme nights for suppers, this is especially helpful for families with young kids or kids on the Autism Spectrum since it creates structure. It also helps take the thinking out of planning and grocery shopping. Maybe the "theme" is a type of meat or a type of cooking style. This allows for enough flexibility that taco night can be made with chicken, beef, or shrimp! Or chicken night could mean that it's grilled but it might also mean that it is roasted. Many families like to leave weekends open ended and use them as a time to eat up leftovers, eat out, or make a slightly more time intensive meal. Monday - Burgers / Grill Tuesday-Tacos Wednesday-Pasta Thursday- Stir Fry Friday- Fish Saturday - Leftovers Meal planning helps us make a complete grocery list sometimes prevents me from buying things we don't need, or making more than one extra trip to the store during the week. Ultimately, it saves timed money. Despite buying a lot of the same things, we actually end up with a wide range of flavors thanks to different seasonings and dressings/sauces. Since having Fredrik, our meal planning has changed several times over. Now that the weather is nice, we are trying to grill more, but also have to take into account the fact that he wants to eat too. While I'm all for serving him the same things we eat, not every food is appropriate for this. ex: shoshito peppers, cabbage slaw, broccoli salad. Currently Fredrik has decided to boycott most meat and fish and eggs, must be a texture thing... I'm having get a bit creative with what I serve him. Anything mushy or crunch seems to be ok. Pickles, bananas, muffins, and teething crackers are favorites. To stream line Ryan and I's lunches we have adopted the Mark Sisson 'Big Ass Salad'. I prep a giant bowl of salad stuff on Sunday, cook a couple packages of chicken thighs in the instant pot or now on the grill, and then divvy it all out for lunches Monday to Wednesday. I'm having a lot of fun creating homemade dressings or trying different Primal Kitchen flavors. Come Thursday we switch it up. Ryan usually ends up with a can of chicken mixed into a Trader Joes Indian Fare pouch and Fredrik and I eat various leftovers or make salmon/sardine/tuna salad. I know that Monday and Wednesdays need to be leftover nights since Ryan and I both work those days and get home too late to cook. A recent week of planning looked like this: Weekly Salad - Asian (sesame dressing, bok choy, cilantro, sunflower seeds) Sunday - bun-less burgers + 1000 island slaw (sweet potato for F) Monday-Leftovers Tuesday - sloppy joe meat (in freezer) + cauliflower rice (cauliflower patties for F) Wednesday - Leftovers Thursday - turkey sausage skillet meal Friday - pork loin + broccoli salad (steam broccoli for F) Hope this helps you dear reader, now go forth and meal plan! Then grocery shop... How does your family do meal planning? What works best for you? |
BrennaI'm a dietitian with a passion for good nutrition, bold flavors, playing in the dirt, and being with my family. Archives
June 2019
Categories
All
|