Be a Prepper

Going paleo has taught me a lot about being prepared.  Not in a hoarder/prepper/conspiracy-theory kind of way.

More like in a if-I-don't-I-won't-survive-the-week-and-I'll-eat-crap-when-things-head-south kind of way.

So in true paleo-it-forward fashion here are a few things I've learned and how it looks for me.  Remember --> you don't have to do things my way.  Just find a method/madness that works for you and go with it.  

1.  Prep ahead. If you have your whole, real foods ready to go for breakfast/lunch/dinner, you are more likely to eat them for breakfast/lunch/dinner.  Freezer meals.  That's right -->  make it, freeze it....days go by....thaw, cook, EAT!  This is my biggest lifesaver in terms of staying on track with eating paleo. 

2.  Don't keep CRAP in your cupboards.  Sometimes I bemoan the fact that there's no junk food.  Then I am glad because if it *was* there I *would* eat it.

3.  Think about what you DO have, not what you DON'T have.  You get to have all the plants, proteins, good fats, and nuts/seeds {in moderation} that you want!  Plus water, coffee, tea, and throw in a little dark chocolate here and there...what more could you want?!?!?!?

4.  Snacks are what you make of them.  We snack on leftovers, raw veggies, fruit, homemade trail mix {read: whatever is in the cupboards...sometimes just raisins and almonds but, hey, let's get fancy and call it trail mix}, anytime cookies {a Paleo Parents recipe from Eat Like a Dinosaur}, bacon, veggies -- oh, wait, I already said that.  People are so keen on "breakfast for dinner" like they are the first ones who thought of it.  Well, not to be a jerk, but it's been done before by EVERYONE.  So, take the same idea of eating-something-at-the-wrong-time and apply it to snacks!  How about "leftovers for snacks" or "whole fruit/veg for snacks" or "real food for snacks?"  


Now for a few examples:

This was early in September.  In one day I made 7 dinners and froze them.  This is A LOT for me.  Go me!
I made 2 steak meals, 3 beef cube meals, and 2 chicken thigh meals.  I think we still have one steak meal frozen and the last beef cube meal is thawing for tomorrow.  

Another weekend I was slightly less ambitious but still made some good stuff to fuel us during the week.  Please bear in mind than ground meat NEVER photographs well.  Try not to gag.  First I made 2lbs of taco meat for taco bowls, salads, lunches, breakfasts, or whatever.  I also made spaghetti sauce {which we are using some of on our spaghetti squash tonight!} and I baked off one of the frozen chicken dinners from the last freezer meal prep.

Today I am feeling sort of under the weather.  Sad.  I mixed up a giant meatloaf -- you can find the recipe here.  I also made some red cabbage from Practical Paleo and I have a pork roast and korma curry beef cubes thawing. Remember what I said about ground meat...

Two things to note:
*I use Practical Paleo by Diane Sanfillippo for many of my go-to recipes.  They are easy, don't have weird ingredients, and always taste good. 
*I am a Wildtree rep so I use a lot of my fave Wildtree seasonings for paleo eating.