Our first week

So far we've done fairly well with our new eating habits. We officially started eating different last Thursday, though I'd been gradually cutting things out in the previous weeks. On Friday I developed a terrible headache. I also felt dizzy and in a bit of a fog. At first I thought maybe I was just dehydrated, but soon realized that was not the culprit. I researched sugar and grain withdrawl symptoms, and found that they can last up to a week. Thankfullly, by Sunday afternoon I felt back to myself, and by Monday I felt much better than usual. Although I haven't slept as well as usual (due to kids, not the diet), I have much more energy in the mornings. We also joined the Y this week, and I have enjoyed being able to workout without tripping over my children.

Foodwise, I was prepared for a struggle with my husband when it came to dietary changes, but he has embraced it (with the exception of his "cheat" meals!). Previously he was skeptical of most "healthy" recipes (cauliflower breadsticks, anyone?). In fact, in the days after Christmas he seriously proposed eating only salad (with chicken on top) for lunch and dinner--for the remainer of this diet. Surprisingly, he has liked most recipes I've tried, and is on board with the changes, though he reserves the right to sneak a treat everyone now and then. So far Hubby's cheats have included a burrito Friday & a--gasp--BigMac on Sunday, and we both had a bit of wine Sunday evening. {We also agreed early-on that he would still be allowed his beer. :-)}

One thing I have noticed is we are often hungry. This is not supposed to be the case while eating primally, so I wonder how much more protein we should be eating. I am also spending more time with meal preparation, though that was expected. Overall, we've enjoyed our meals this past week.

Meals have  included:

• Egg Muffins - Hubby has been reheating these at work for breakfast. They're great to make ahead, but can be a pain to clean up in the muffin tin. I'm considering trying out some paper liners.
• Fish tacos - Cod, lightly seasoned with Real Salt, pepper, cumin and lemon juice, sauteed and served on lettuce with tomatoes, shreded cabbage, jalapenos and avocado
• Carnitas - served much like the fish tacos
• Chicken made from this recipe on my friend's blog. I subbed coconut vinegar and almond butter. I think we would have liked it better with the peanut butter; next time I'll try sunflower seed butter. The kids ate the chicken as an entree. Hubby and I ate it over salad, and I used the dip as a dressing. Yum!
• Chicken nuggets for the kids - dipped chicken pieces in egg & then almond flour, baked in oven.
• Sausage Stuffed Zucchini Boats - these were by far my favorite so far, and my boys gobbled them up like crazy, too! Hubby said gave me permission to add them to the rotation, though Sissy gagged her way through them (can't win 'em all). I left out the bell pepper and the parmesan, simply because I didn't have any on hand.
• Omelettes have been big on the breakfast menu. The kids prefer cheese, hubby likes some ham/bacon added, and I like to load mine up with veggies--broccoli, tomato, avocado--yum!
• Banana Pancakes - The kids loved these! I thought they tasted like banana bread. I left out the chocolate chips and used regular milk.
• Coconut flour waffles - can't find the recipe I used for these, but neither Hubby nor I liked them. The kids enjoyed them, and I made Hubby some scrambled eggs :)
• Salmon - seasoned with a curry salt and sauteed (yum!)

Some recipes I'm excited to try soon are Zucchini Spice Muffins and Primal Nut Bars.

Do you have any Paleo/Primal recipes you'd recommend??