40 Day Paleo Challenge - Days 4 & 5

I feel like all of my posts start with "today was crazy busy" -- but it's true!  Yesterday, got up at 5:45a.m., did an ab and cardio workout, cleaned for 3 hours, went to a bridal shower, went to dinner & the movies with my mother-in-law, and by the time the day was over, it was 10pm. So I apologize for not posting yesterday. I'm sure no one really depends on it, but my goal is to document all food intake for the challenge.

Bride & Groom palm tree and monkeys
from our friend's bridal shower. 

I'll do a combined post for Days 4 & 5.  I'll post what I have had thus far, and update again this evening for Day 5. I'm really digging the scene in my house right now, and like where today is going. Let me share... :)  It's cold here in FL today, so we have a nice fire going right now. We (hubby, in-laws, me) are going to watch a movie while our breakfast settles. Then I'll knock out a full body workout, and then spend the rest of the day with the in-laws. It's shaping up to be a nice day. :)

Day 4

Breakfast

Same as the last 3 days - eggs + veggies, cup of coffee.

Lunch

Ran out of time, only had time to snack on some our blueberry bread (Paleo, don't worry). Fortunately, I was good and didn't have any mimosas, cake, or any of the other food at the bridal shower.

Snack

A piece of the single layer chocolate fudge that I made a few days back. It was the last piece, so I made another batch, true to recipe minus the chocolate chips.

Dinner

Mom-in-law (Mainha) and I went out to dinner before the movies. I had a small piece of steak, broccoli, and a really simple salad (romaine lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, no dressing). 

Day 5

Breakfast

Ditto for the last 4 days. No onion bread though.

Snack
Banana... I was getting hungry on our way to lunch.

Lunch
From Cafe Eden inside Abby's Health and Nutrition Store: Thai sweet basil chicken, roasted veggies,  sweet potatoes. Picture right.

Snack
Double-layer fudge minus chocolate chips.

Dinner
A chicken alfredo much like the one on PaleOMG. I'll share my version here.

Bacon Chicken Alfredo
Approximately 4 servings
Ingredients

• 4 strips of bacon
• 1 head of garlic
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 cauliflower
• 1 broccoli
• 4 or 5 carrots
• 10 mushrooms
• 2 or 3 bell peppers
• 2 cans (14 oz ea?) of organic coconut milk
• 1 leek
• 2 or 3 green onion stalks
• 8 leaves of basil
• Rosemary, thyme, oregano, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper to taste
• 4 zucchini

Prep 

1. I'm weird and like to pre-chop all of my veggies before getting started.  
2. Also, we let the chicken breasts sit in some salt in a bowl for about 30 minutes before grilling. I'm going to omit instructions on grilling the chicken, we timed it so that the chicken was finished as I was finished with the rest of the food.
3. Make zucchini pasta. We use a tool like this. In a large bowl, let pasta'd zucchini sit on top of paper towels. Sprinkle some salt on top. Zucchini is a little water, so we are going to let the salt/paper towel soak up some of the moisture.

Directions

1. Mince garlic and chop bacon into small pieces. 
2. Using a fairly deep pan, saute garlic for about a minute, then add bacon. 
3. When bacon is as you like it (partially crispy for me), remove bacon.
4. Add olive oil if necessary to keep food from sticking, then saute cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, and bell peppers. Onions would have been nice but we used the rest of our onions to make more raw onion bread.
5. When veggies are well cooked, add coconut milk, leek, green onion, basil, rosemary, thyme, and the rest of the spices. 
6. Bring to a boil, then reduce the temperature. This will help thicken the coconut milk a bit. Another option (that you may have seen with my Paleo Clam Chowder), is to take 1/2 or 3/4 of the mixture, blend it really really really well, and return it to the pot. This will thicken the soup for shizzle.
7. When the grilled chicken is done, chop into small pieces and add to the pasta sauce.
8. Throw some noodles in a bowl, top with a couple scoops of sauce/veggies/chicken. 
9. Scarf!

And just for fun... another photo of Apollo, wrapped up in a blanket, as usual. This was taken Friday while I was working. He has his own computer chair next to mine, and can usually be found there