carefree highway

I’ve been slacking on this… work’s gotten a little more hectic lately, to the tune of my picking up several extra hours. I’m not complaining though! More money equals more yummy Paleo food. Speaking of which…

Things I have made in the last two days:

- NY Strip Steak - dear GODS this was amazing. I followed Mark’s Daily Apple’s article on How To Cook The Perfect Steak to the letter and it came out perfectly! So juicy, so flavorful, so easy! I used the grill pan I bought at Salvation Army a few days ago for $2, which really added to it. I can’t wait for summer so I can grill for reals!

- Garlic & Bacon Egg Salad from Nom Nom Paleo - For future reference, this can be made in the span of one 45 minute long lunch break, so long as you intend to eat it as you walk back to work. Either way, delish :)

- Indian Butter Chicken - Made this for dinner tonight. It was good, but I definitely need to make it a few more times before I’ll get the spice combination just right. Mine was missing a few things as I didn’t have any garam masala and ended up just throwing in what I had of what Wikipedia listed as the component spices. Also, I always knew that people said fresh ginger root was hot, but I didn’t realize HOW hot until I licked one of my fingers after grating it. Yikes. Regardless, the heat was good with this recipe, I just need to work on the spices and flavor.

- The biggest surprise though was this recipe for braised cabbage (again from Nom Nom Paleo). Who would have ever guessed that I like cabbage? I only picked some up on a whim after my roommate mentioned I’d probably like it, and Giant had half heads on sale. Very good! Mine didn’t look near as pretty as the picture on the recipe (mainly because I only had yellow onions, not red ones) but it certainly tasted good!

I honestly don’t feel like I’ve “gone on a diet” like I did when I tried the South Beach diet. This feels more like I’m learning a new way to eat, and I’m liking what I’ve found so far. I’ve devoured nearly every single Paleo meal I’ve made so far (with a few exceptions) and each has left me saying “om nom nom nom nom…”

What’s been difficult to get over is the guilt that hits me whenever I feel really full. I’ve always associated the feeling with overeating and body image issues. I feel guilty for eating too much, ashamed at not being able to control my portions like everyone said you were supposed to. That’s going to be a tough hurdle to get over, but I think I’ll get there. The fact that I’ve lost weight - my old normal jeans are now slightly big and my previously squeeze-into-them-when-everything-else-is-dirty jeans fit rather nicely now :) - is helping to alleviate that feeling. I think that’s just something that’ll fade with time, I don’t know if it will ever be gone.