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Ridding Yourself of Paleo Guilt

February 4, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 6 Comments

As mothers and fathers, we carry a tremendous amount of weight on our shoulders. We provide, we nurture, we nourish, we educate, we protect, and we impact our children’s lives. However, at times, we fail, we give in, we give up, we don’t care, we make mistakes…we throw up our hands and feel like the biggest losers. We aren’t perfect, nor will we ever be perfect. We know this. We feel this. But, can we ever learn to accept this?

When we choose to change our family’s nutrition, we go through waves of highs and lows…and towels thrown on the floor in frustration. We so want to change our nutrition. We SOOOO want to give them the best. We SOOOO want to provide the top-quality products that we can. We try and we try to make room for it in our budget, but when things get tight and bills come in, we have to make choices.

Oh, the guilt. I know it, cause I feel it too. I remember making the most delicious, roasted chicken legs for my kids one night. They LOVE chicken legs. They love getting their fingers dirty and not being forced to use a fork. They relish every delicious bite. I hear my 18 month old going, “Mmmm,” slurp, “mmmm“, over-and-over that night, literally licking the bone…sucking on the delicious cartilage. I remember my daughter saying to me, “These are the best chicken leggies ever, Mommy”.

Enjoying his chicken leg
Enjoying his chicken leg

I should smile and be happy, right? My kids are eating chicken! They are eating Brussel sprouts. They are eating asparagus, for God’s sake! However, happy is NOT what I felt.

You see, we had just lost A LOT of money. I’m talking thousands and thousands of dollars. We had to make some serious budget cuts and buying grass-fed meat, free-range poultry, farm fresh eggs, organic produce, expensive raw milk…this stuff was the first thing to get pushed to the back burner. We just couldn’t afford it.

I know they tell you to make quality food a priority, but we were, literally, having to save any extra penny we could. Buying the best quality was not attainable for us.

So, as my son is gnawing on a chicken leg, I’m thinking about all the hormones, antibiotics, and preservatives that he probably was ingesting. Oh, the mommy guilt. Mommy guilt will crush you. It will crush your confidence in an instant. It will break every good thing that you have done for your family and tell you…you’re…just…not good enough. You’re just not smart enough. You don’t try enough.

LIES…

We make the best choices we can for our family and no one else can tell you that you could make better choices.

You see, our best, is relative to each person. You can relate this to lifting heavy weights. I often talk to other women about how I love to lift heavy weights. Some ask what my numbers are and when I tell them, they say they could never lift heavy weights. Then I explain to them that heavy is relative to each person. Heavy to me may not be heavy to you. Heavy to you may be heavier than someone else. However it’s all still heavy! However it’s all still our best!

When people start eating Paleo they think that they MUST buy organic, free-range, grass-fed, pastured foods. I don’t know how many have even been detoured from eating Paleo because they know that can’t afford this. More important than this, should be eating REAL foods. More important should be moving off of processed foods. More important should be that WE ARE ACTUALLY TRYING.

So, I bought my factory farmed chicken legs and I watched my kids eat them…and I felt it. I felt that guilt. But, when I saw my kids enjoying it and I knew that I had done my best to put the best food on the table that I could…I smiled.

I smiled back at them and said, “thank you” and I meant it. I kissed their greasy lips, and I really did mean it. And, you know what?

My kids still love me. Love me to the core.

 

Steps to making wiser choices when your budget is limited:

Check out how I save money here.

Buy whole chickens and make stock with the bones.

Shop at meat markets where preservatives are not used.

Order from Amazon.

Check Craigslist for local people selling farm-fresh eggs.

Shop at Farmer’s Markets. Remember local is, sometimes, better than organic that has come from across the country.

Don’t make meat the highlight of the meal. Incorporate it in to your meal.

Do the best you can and let go of the guilt!

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Living Sustainably, Paleo Education, Shopping Local, Starting Paleo Tagged With: budget, chicken, gluten-free, paleo, primal, real food

25 of My Favorite Main Dish Paleo Meals

November 15, 2012 by Jackie Ritz 15 Comments

I thought I would put together a list of the recipes that my family loves! These are tried-and-true! We eat these pretty much on a rotation or using whatever meat we have stocked in the freezer!

1) Balsamic Mustard Chicken – This tops my list because this chicken is unbelievable. We serve it over spinach and drizzle the juice over roasted veggies. You have to try this!!!

2) Chicken Nuggets – my kids love this…ok, so do us adults 🙂

3) Thyme Roast Chicken – I am always looking for whole chicken recipes because I buy whole chicken in bulk when it goes on sale. This chicken is so delicious!

4) Lime Roast Chicken – another whole chicken recipe that my family loves. The juices are so good you can drink them!

5) Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps – this is a recipe that I made Paleo. We love it!

Asian Lettuce Wraps

6) Damn Fine Chicken – OMG, this chicken is so good. We make it with virgin red palm oil.

7) Spicy Caramelized Peach & Leek Stuffed Bacon Wrapped Chicken – whew, yes it’s a long title but it is out of this world! The sauce is delicious!

8) Meat & Spinach Muffins – We love these! They are a great protein to have on hand when you are in a hurry.

Meat & Spinach Muffin on the right

9) Ground Beef Stroganoff – tired of burgers? Give Beef Stroganoff  a try!

10 ) Stuffed Poblano Peppers – these are sooooooo delicious! Not spicy, and our kids eat it!

11) Firecracker Tuna Salad – another amazing recipe from The Clothes Make the Girl!

12) Almond Bread – I know this isn’t a main dish…but this is our go-to bread recipe. It’s the consistancy of cornbread and a great side to any soup or stew! I just had to share it because it’s that time of the year where there’s nothing better than a warm piece of bread and a hot bowl of soup!

13) Creamy Chicken Tomato Crockpot Soup – this is so easy and simple and yet so tasty! I always have lots of bone stock that I make from our whole chicken bones. This soup tops my list!

14) Chicken Noodless Soup – just in time for the chilly months! This soup will warm you to the bones!

15) Paleo Butternut Squash Lasagna – this is soooooooooooooo freakin good! I make it quite often. You won’t even miss the lasagna noodles! Trust me, my Italian husband gobbles this down!

16) Sausage Stuffed Apples – sausage and apple just go perfect together!

17) Apple & Bacon Stuffed Pork Chops – finger licken good! You won’t be disappointed with this. I’ve even make it with chicken breast and it’s just as good!

18) Spinach Stuffed Braciole – mine never comes out pretty, but it tastes amazing! My mom introduced me to this recipe! So good!

19) Pepper Crusted Steak – delicious! We had it over spinach and loved it!

20) Zucchini & Sweet Potato Frittata – we have this for breakfast, for dinner…who cares! It’s so good and I love sweet potato!

21) Scotch Eggs – the Scottish got it right when they created these little boogers! Another great breakfast or quick snack if you are on the go a lot!

22) Bacon Egg Cups – so cute and easy! Great when you are in a rush and need to get ready while the oven cooks for you!

23) Mexican Hash – my husband loves this hash! I use it with ground beef sometimes instead of chorizo and it’s delicious!

24) Buffalo Chicken Chopped Salad – ever get that chicken wing craving? This salad will satisfy it!

25) Lemon Garlic Crockpot Chicken – another favorite whole chicken recipe! But this one you can throw in the crockpot and be done with it!

Filed Under: My Recipes Tagged With: beef, chicken, crockpot, paleo

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Hi, I'm Jackie Ritz and welcome to The Paleo Mama! I'm a published author, certified herbalist, and voracious researcher of natural medicine and nutrition. I'm glad you're here and I hope you stick around for awhile!

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