Trader Joe's, and Whole Foods, and Rainforest Cafe, oh my!

Yesterday I made the trek to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods with two of my aunts. We met up with one of my cousins about halfway there, and she and her two kiddos joined us. TJ's and WF are about 1/4 mile from one another, but about 1 1/2-1 and 45 minutes away from where I live. I've written letters to both stores asking them to open locations closer, but it looks like my cries go unheard. ;-)

The trip itself was pretty fun. My aunts are fun. Cave Baby is fun. And when my cousin and her kids joined us, Cave Baby was in heaven. One of my cousin's children is about 2 months older than Cave Baby, so they're pretty close when they get together. They were both ecstatic to see one another and while they were in different rows in the van, they yelled back and forth to each other. Pretty darn cute! My cousin's other child is almost one, so she really was too young to hang with her brother and Cave Baby, but she did a lot of babbling, smiling, and being adorable. Cave Baby and cousin held hands walking from the van to the store (they also held adult hands; don't worry), and were thrilled with the child-sized carts that TJ's had to offer.

I got some raw cashews, uncured no-nitrates added bacon, uncured no-nitrates added beef bacon, prosciutto, raw pepitas, dried mango with no sugar added, the best chocolate bars I've ever had (85%), raw unsalted almond butter (creamy...just my preference), salsa (tons and tons of salsa. They have THE best salsa. Period.), fruit and vegetable juice (I specifically looked for it because Cave Baby loves it, and her favorite flavor, Strawberry Banana, was on sale for $1.99/bottle! I took every one they had.), some tuna steaks, some almond meal, and some jojoba oil and vitamin e oil. I love that place! OH! And some nitrate-free no added crap hotdogs. I really wish they sold them around here!

After loading up the car and putting all frozen/refrigerated stuff into the giant cooler my awesome Aunt had ready and waiting in the back of the van, we headed to WF. Before I even walked in I grabbed a few organic mangos which were on sale for $1 a piece! Woo hoo! I got some unsweetened shredded coconut, 3.6 pounds of free-range grassfed ground beef (which randomly happened to be on sale (that day only) for $4.99/lb!), some yogurt that is dairy free and sugar free (made of almonds and sweetened with fruit juice) for Cave Baby, some coconut butter, grapeseed oil,  some Annie's Organic no-sugar-added ketchup (sweetened with agave...all Paleo ingredients. Love the stuff (well, I've never had it, but Cave Baby loves it and I love that it's Paleo AND convenient), some canned fish, a dark chocolate bar (that I'm not very impressed with), and that's all I can remember off the top of my head.

http://www.rainforestcafe.com/images/content/wildbunchphoto.png

Then we headed to...the Rainforest Cafe! It was my first time there and none of the kids had been there before either. I called the day before to ask about cooking oil and was told that they use vegetable oil. I asked if there was anything that could be prepared without oil, and the woman told me the chef would come out and talk to me when I was there. Sure enough, as soon as our server took our drink order I told her about my conversation. Right away she nodded and said the chef would be right out. Seriously within about a minute he was at our table. He was patient, attentive, and seemed to give a crap that I had some special dietary needs. He was incredibly accommodating and basically said he could make whatever I wanted however I wanted it. Because I'm doing basically no carbs (aside from today, which has been special because of a late night last night that involved wine and my just not really caring today), I had grilled chicken only, though he offered several times to grill or steam veggies for me. Cave Baby had grilled chicken as well with a Cave Baby sized banana as her side. It was wonderful. And an absolutely wonderful experience. The kids had a blast. They loved all of the animals, and they got up and danced like little dancing-machines next to our table.

I'd packed a ton of food for the trip just in case. I wasn't sure how all of the kids would do, as none of them were able to get their naps in. But they were all awesome little well-behaved troopers! None of my snacks were touched, save a fruit rope shortly before arriving home. But I had three almond butter and no-sugar added sandwiches, tons of grapes, carrot sticks and celery sticks, trail mix, and raisins and pineapple chips packed. Someone will be getting a lot of almond butter and jelly sandwiches... ;-)

For lunch yesterday I just heated some Paleo chicken nuggets from my freezer stash and served them with some grapes. No picture. I was rushing like a crazy person.

Her dinner was the chicken and banana at the Rainforest Cafe.

Today's lunch was bacon, mango and a bite of an apple muffin (Paleo). But no picture. I was tired and didn't think about it.

For dinner she had some BBQ style grassfed free range ground beef with a carrot stick, a celery stick and some grapes. For dessert she had a square of 70% chocolate. I put some coconut butter on it for her, but she wasn't a fan and I had to rinse it off. =)

The BBQ meat is *so* good. And so, so fast and easy. Try it. It will become a staple for you. Cave Baby loves this stuff so much that she can't get it into her mouth fast enough. She politely ate it with her spoon at first, but halfway through she just couldn't stand it anymore and abandoned her spoon in favor of using her little hands to shovel it into her mouth as fast as she possibly could. Just like a real cave baby. ;-) I normally don't allow that since I'm a big promoter of manners, but it was too funny and too cute to do anything about this time. I'm a fan of picking my battles.

Easiest BBQ Meat in the entire world: (again...I'm not a measurer)
Ground meat of your choosing (I've used it all: buffalo, turkey, chicken, and now ground beef)
BBQ 3000 from Penzeys Spices (this stuff is AMAZING)
Sea salt
Pepper
Garlic (powder is fine, fresh is fine, Penzeys is fine. I used Penzeys this time, but I've used all options)
Tomato paste (today I used the kind in a tube, but I usually just use the canned kind)

Just brown your meat on the stove (I highly recommend cast iron cookware. I was a HUGE fan of my Rachael Ray cookware. LOVED it. Used only that. Coveted it. But then came to realize that cast iron is just healthier. And after finally coming to terms with it and trying cast iron, I will never use anything else. I LOVE it.) and drain. Add some water (about 1/2 a cup to a cup). Add a very generous amount of BBQ 3000, a little bit of sea salt, some pepper, a very conservative amount of garlic, and some tomato paste. Using the can of tomato paste, I'd say about 2 tbsp for 1 pound of meat. The tube paste is double concentrated, so I just played it by ear. Combine it all thoroughly, let it simmer, taste test it and add seasoning as you see fit. Let it simmer until it isn't watery. And serve. It is absolutely delicious. I hope you try it and love it!

Saturday night dinner

Cave Baby, when asked, said that she wanted taco meat for dinner. Well, first she said chicken, and when asked what kind of chicken, she changed her answer to taco meat. We've been eating taco meat an awful lot lately...I promise that's not the only thing we eat! But it's something that almost always sounds good to me, so I'm absolutely okay with Cave Baby's taco meat kick.

I decided to make crispy (roasted) broccoli as a side. And then I saw some summer squash fresh from the garden and decided to do something with them. I haven't been all that creative with veggies since going Paleo. I find that I really just like to roast them. Or grill them. I wanted to be a bit more "creative" than normal, so I opted for some additional seasoning.

Taco meat, roasted broccoli and roasted summer squash.

For the taco meat: (no measurements. I find that by taste is the best way to go)
Ground meat (I used ground chicken this time around)
Sea salt
Pepper
Ground Cumin (I'm very generous with this)
Paprika
Chili powder (not Indian chili powder, which is obscenely spicy)
Garlic (I usually just use garlic powder, but used Penzey's garlic today)
Onion powder
Dark cocoa powder (be sparing with this)

Just brown the meat, drain the grease, add some water and add the seasonings. Let it simmer as you stir periodically.

For the broccoli:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Trim the broccoli (I like the pieces nice and small because Cave Baby likes them crispy). I use the stalks too, I just peel them first. They're really nice and tender. Put the broccoli and stalk pieces onto a cookie sheet (I line mine with tin foil because it makes clean up a breeze), drizzle a generous amount of extra virgin olive oil on top, and add some sea salt and pepper. Toss. Spread the pieces out evenly, and put into the oven for about 20-30 minutes.

For the summer squash:
Summer squash (I used 3 small/medium squashes)
EVOO
Sea salt
Pepper
Garlic (you could use powder or fresh, I used Penzey's)
Penzey's orange peel

I used the 450 degree oven. Slice squash into coins. I used an 8x8 baking dish. I poured some EVOO into the bottom of the dish, and put the squash in. I drizzled some EVOO on top of the squash, added the salt, pepper, garlic and orange peel and tossed well. Then I put it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes. It turned out fabulously. This was probably my favorite way I've ever had summer squash. Cave Baby informed me that she doesn't "yike" squash, but as per our rules she had to try it. Instead of gagging, which she does when she legitimately doesn't like something that is in her mouth, she smiled. She clung to her story of not liking it, but her smile told me she was full of bologna.

I hope you enjoy!

I'm sure some of you are wondering if my Cave Mama plate looks like Cave Baby's. The answer is: no. When I eat taco meat, I piled it on top of a heaping salad. I use Half/Half baby spinach/spring mix lettuce. I also use a rainbow of bell peppers, and about a half of an avocado. And then I put the meat on top. I, of course, mix it all up while I eat, though. I had broccoli and squash on the side. I love putting my protein on top of a bed of spinach and spring mix lettuce. It tastes fresher and is more filling. And it has the benefit of the spinach. I'm always looking for meal ideas, so if you have any you'd like to share, please do!