Eating Paleo: A run down

Prior to eating Paleo my family would eat out several times a week. As an ABA therapist I worked late hours and got crappy pay. By the time I picked up my children I was exhausted. It is was so easy to head to Del Taco and pick up $.50 burritos. Or we would head to Little Caesars and pick up a $5 pizza.  The whole while I was discussed at myself that our eating habits had fallen so low. However, at the time I was not even bringing in enough money for rent, let alone food. It was a difficult time all around.

While the Paleo title has made it easy for my children and myself to identify how we eat we are not perfect Paleo eaters. For one, I really could care less what my ancestors ate. I do care what is best for my body in this century. I am not perfect. Here is some decisions my family has made at this time. As my education and experience increases some of these experiences will change as well.

Shopping

We are currently going shopping every two weeks. We do the bulk of our shopping at Costco - it is the only place that I can seem to buy enough food for our budget. When I leave I get comments about how much food we have, but I fret because I know how fast my children eat through it. Currently J is always hungry and will eat as much as everyone else if I let him. It also does not help that a significant portion of our food is taken in the middle of the night by either J or S.

In addition to Costco trips I may buy some items off Amazon, pick up a few things from our awesome, but expensive, organic market, or even do a quick trip to Ralphs (Krogers). This last week we had to stop buy and get more raisons and peanut butter for L.

Organic

I believe that eating organic is important. I was taught in my environmental science class that the thicker the pill the less important eating organic is. However, I will always choose the organic over the non-organic, even for bananas. My problem is that there is just not the availability. At Costco we purchase almost every produce item that is organic. However, there is no organic apples, oranges, grapes, or a multitude of other fruits. The only way to purchase exclusively organic produce is through our local organic market. The problem is that it is just too expensive.

The nice thing is that I am starting to see some more organic items even popping up on the shelves. On our last trip we saw organic dried apple chips, organic popcorn, and of course organic honey and aguava nectar. We will continue to pay the little bit extra when faced with organic vs. non organic. However, until the selection is a bit more abundant we will have to continue to offset with non organic produce.

Dye

This is a zero tolerance item. If there is any sort of dye in the food then we will not purchase it. It amazes me how we have studies the harmful effects of Red dye and yet continue to use it, even though types of it are banned in other countries. The one problem we still have is that there is dye in our health care products. I am going to start working toward replacing all our shampoo, tooth paste, and other items to make them better for us. To help offset the cost I will probably do this a bit more piecemeal then I should.

GMO

In some regards the science behind GMO is fascinating. Yet, I have read speculation that one reason that our body is reacting so horribly to gluten is because wheat has become so genetically modified that it bears little resemblance to what was eaten even a hundred years ago. I thing the new GMO trend is great and will help get us back to eating more natural versions of food. My main concern is if we have not already screwed ourselves over to the point that we can never truly go back. I have started looking for the non GMO stamp on all our food.

Gluten

Wednesday at S's school is cinnamon roll day. I have not yet broken her of this one pleasure - however I have prepared her that the end is coming. Every Wednesday night I get her from school with bright red rings around her eyes and her so wired that she moves between walls like a ping pong ball while also jumping on every object available. I wish I can convey to you exactly how insanely crazy she gets. Cinnamon roll day has got to go!

Gluten is an absolut no in our house. I have made it an official gluten free zone. That being said the kids are still transitioning over to this concept and we are in truth not their yet. The nice thing is that J is more concerned about food then me, and as such never "cheats." S goes to school with J and he makes sure she does not cheat. Also, S has at least been on reduced sugar for her whole life, so she is completely used to not getting to eat everything everyone else does. As for L, she at least tells me when she switches for something that she is not suppose to have.

Free Range Grass Fed

This is a primary component of a Paleo diet. I have also found a reason why it matters - the meat keeps the nutrients of what the animal eats, and that is then passed on to the person who eats it. We currently get grass fed free range chicken at Costco. They also have really good eggs, coughing up the money for these are my next goal. But they are over twice as much as the other eggs. Sigh, I know I need to do it. . . Beyond that I have yet to find the free range beef that I have heard Costco sales. So, we are not perfect, but we are ever improving.

Peanut Butter

Peanut butter is not as nutritious as almond butter. I have also read that it carries a fungus however US grown peanuts have a lower risk of this fungus. I also know that peanuts are not actually a nut, and that they are not as nutritious as almond butter. With all that I currently know I have not found a good reason to take peanut butter out of my children's diet. Specifically, L will not transition over to almond butter, but she will consistently eat peanut butter giving her fat and protein to her diet. L will only eat almond butter when I cook with it. S and J both love almond butter. However, for how much they want to eat it is expensive. I offset with peanut butter. This is not a Paleo decision, and if anyone has some valid sources either way I would LOVE to read it - but not propaganda.

Treats

One thing that I am learning is that in order to help S to make better decisions - like not eating her friends hot Cheetos - she needs to have some kind of treats. The nice thing is that what is considered treats changes just like preferred foods. Raisins and peanut butter is much better preferred foods compared to root bear and ice cream.

So what do I consider treats? For one a handful of Enjoy Life Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips seems to do a great job replacing most sweets. We have also added Angies Boomchickapop Sea Salt Popcorn which is GMO free, gluten free, and contains just corn, sea salt, and sunflower oil. I have also added Lay's Potato Chips. While all of these technically stretch the Paleo limit they are all gluten and dairy free. They all also fall under my rule of three ingredients or less. These are not free foods in my house, typically these are food the kids have to either earn or will get for a special occasion.

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Here is how we are currently eating Paleo. While those who are hardcore Paleo eaters the could easily bash the decisions that I have made for my family. However, for those of you who are trying to do best by your kiddos (special needs or not) I hope this rundown helps.