Today turned out to be a pretty eventful day for the kids. Peyton had school and lunch bunch; Austin had school and spent the afternoon watching you tube videos trying to learn how to loom like daddy; but Brayden had the most eventful day of all. TMI alert: Brayden hasn't pooped in three days; I remember this being common in exclusively breastfed babies, but being the neurotic I am, I still called the doctor. The nurse didn't seem concerned at all and said that they typically wait five days before wanting to see him. I told her that he seemed a little uncomfortable and was passing gas like a man not a five month old boy. She told me to give him apples, peaches, or prunes. I have never started solids with my kids before six months. Dr. Nadleman advises against it, but if his office says it is okay then I believe them. So lo and behold, Brayden had his first bite of food today once Daddy got home. I chose prunes figuring if he only took in a bite or two it was the most likely of the three choices to help get the ball rolling in the potty department.
All ready to try some food
After the first taste
In it went and out it came
Very messy, but very happy boy
Posing for the baby book photo
He actually did end up liking the prunes and probably took in two full spoonfuls. The nurse said two to three spoonfuls would do the trick, so we shall see. I am not going to continue with solids until we see Dr.Nadleman on the 17th. However, if he continues to have these tushie issues it's nice to know I can give him some prunes, and he'll eat them. I cannot believe how big he is getting! I'm not ready for him to be so grown up!
My exciting news today is that I recreated my absolute favorite salad of all time in my kitchen today for lunch! I LOVE the California Citrus Salad at Claim Jumpers. I used to crave it, but then I discovered that it was 1300 calories. I could not believe it; a salad had more calories than more than half of the other menu items. I was destroyed. I could no longer justify ordering a salad that was that caloric. That was then, back when I was counting every calorie and fat gram, and this is now when I could care less about calories and want to pig out on the avocado and cashews that make that salad so delicious.
I made my salad with romaine, blood oranges, red grapes, green apples, craisins, raisins, cucumber, cashews, and half of an avocado. I dressed it with balsamic vinaigrette and entered nirvana after every single bite. The best lunch I have had to date on Paleo, maybe even ever!
After my fantastic lunch, I got started on dinner. I starting preparing the chicken cacciatore. It was extremely easy to prepare and required very little effort. It had a lot of the same ingredients as the pot roast I made, so I was skeptical that it would taste differently. It did call for 1/4 cup of coconut milk which always worries me. I am always nervous that everything will taste like coconut. I considered leaving it out but wasn't sure how that would effect the end result, so in it went. After about 10 minutes of simmering on the stove top, the sauce was ready to be poured onto the chicken and put into the oven. An hour later and this is what it looked like:
There was a TON of liquid and veggies. I only made three chicken breasts, so we came nowhere close to eating all the veggies in the pan. The chicken was fork tender and very moist.
Paul's plate. Mine was the same but with sweet potato instead of mashed.
Chicken Cacciatore
2 tablespoons coconut or olive oil
1 yellow onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
3 carrots, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 cups strained tomatoes or tomato sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup full fat coconut milk
1 tablespoon dried parsley
1 tablespoon thyme(I did not use)
3 cups sliced white mushrooms
sea salt and pepper
4-6 skinless chicken breasts
- Preheat oven to 375
- In large soup pot, heat oil over medium high heat
- Add onion, celery and carrots and sauté until onions start to brown
- add the garlic and sauté until fragrant
- Turn the heat up to high and pour in the balsamic; then turn the heat down to medium and reduce the vinegar by half, stirring often so it doesn't burn.
- Add the tomatoes, chicken broth, and coconut milk and stir.
- Add the parsley, thyme and mushrooms and bring to a boil.
- Turn the heat to low, season with salt and pepper and let simmer while you prep the chicken.
- Place the chicken breasts in a large casserole dish and season both sides with salt and pepper.
- Pour the sauce from the pot on top of the chicken. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 45minutes to an hour or until chicken is no longer pink on the inside.
I really loved this dish and could not taste the coconut milk at all. The kids at it all up too. I think I would just use more chicken next time so all the sauce and veggies don't go to waste.
Overall, a great day of eating that began with me finishing off the mashed potato cake with a cup of coffee. Another cheat today but at least the cake is gone now; except for the fact that I am super sad that it is gone. I love it so much! If these mashed potatoes weren't the premade kind, I would possibly consider making a cake to take to Heather who claims she has never had it. I would, of course, keep a slice or two for myself.
I have no plans yet for tomorrow's meals, but it most likely will include this salad again with a little of the leftover chicken. Oh, and my snacks today were two Ghirardelli dark chocolate squares and some nuts.
XOXO
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