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The Paleo Mama’s Weekly Meal Plan #2

May 25, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 10 Comments

Please forgive me for being a few days late posting this. I was at the Florida Parents Educators Association Convention for the past 2 days with my husband. It was awesome! It’s an annual state convention for homeschoolers… loaded with workshops, exhibits, and encouragement for homeschooling families.

However, I’m making time tonight for you all!!! I want you to have this for the coming up week. The first meal will be Memorial Day themed, followed by 4 other simple, budget-conscious, Paleo meals.

I included two crockpot meals because I know this is a busy week for everyone. Many families are running around crazy trying to wrap up the end of the school year for their kids. I hope this week’s meal plan makes your life easier!

Hope you have a Happy Memorial Day! Thank you to those who have served this wonderful country and for those who have given their lives. I am forever thankful.

Weekly Meal Plan #2

***Bookmark this page so you can come back over the week to find the recipes you need***

Meal 1 (Memorial Day): Spanish Burgers  & Sweet Potato Wrapped Bacon Bites.

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If you are going to a party and you want to impress your friends with some Paleo food, the Sweet Potato Wrapped Bacon Bites are AMAZING! We call them “Little Bites of Heaven” because you just want to savor every bit of it.

There are a few additional things you can add to the Spanish Burgers if you want to get fancy. The recipe has a caramelized onion chile relish and a roasted red pepper sauce you can make to go with them. I know it is Memorial Day and having “Spanish” burgers may sound silly, but they are really good and we use them as our regular burger recipe now. If you don’t like chorizo, you can use ground pork or just some more ground beef.

Meal 2 (Crockpot): Chile Cilantro Lime Crockpot Chicken & Tomato, Avocado, Cucumber Salad

paleopot

***see note below on saving the bones and making homemade stock***

I just love easy crockpot meals! Paleo Pot put together a golden recipe with this one! Add in the delicious salad and you have a simple meal for those days when you don’t have time to cook dinner!

Don’t forget to marinate the chicken overnight!

***Save your bones from the whole chicken and make stock according to my method here. Save the stock for meal 5 in this plan***

Meal 3: Salmon Patties with a Creamy Lemon Dill Sauce & Faux-Tato Salad

salmon patties

This meal is a little bit more intricate. Make this meal on a evening you have enough time for all the prep work. Savor your extra work…it will be worth it. I’m always trying to find more frugal ways to get seafood into my family’s diet!

Meal 4: Green (or Red) Chile Pork Taco-Salad

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With all the veggies in this, no need for a side dish. Pile your salad high and enjoy the simplicity of it! It’s one of our best pork dishes!

Meal 5 (Crockpot): Creamy Chicken Tomato Soup with Almond Bread

We just had this soup tonight for the 10th time, or so, and it’s so delicious. The Almond Bread recipe is another family favorite! We love dipping the bread into soup and stews. The Almond Bread is much like cornbread.

My family enjoys soup on, even, the hottest days! It’s just a healthy, frugal way to utilize all that stock that you are making if you are following my simple recipe.

<<<Printable Shopping List>>>

Are you enjoying these meal plans??? Let me know!

 

Filed Under: Budget Shopping, Weekly Meal Plan Tagged With: budget paleo meal plan, dairy free, gluten-free, grain-free, paleo, primal

Shopping Paleo at BJ’s Wholesale Club

May 19, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 19 Comments

I did my grocery shopping today at BJ’s Wholesale. I didn’t want to sign up for a membership because I have a Sam’s and Costco membership, but I received a free 2 month membership incentive in the mail and thought I would give it a try.

I have to say…I am quite impressed. They have MUCH more organic produce than Costco even does. I love Costco and find a lot of Paleo items there, but it’s a 20 minute drive for me. BJ’s is right down the road!

Here’s a few things I loved about BJ’s:

***Note: I buy organic when I can find it and when I can afford it into our budget***

  • They are CHEAP! REALLY cheap…even their organic foods are cheap.
  • They have Kerrygold butter!
  • They have a MUCH larger selection of natural household cleaners.
  • They have large quantities…but they also have small quantities. So, if you are single, or it’s just you and your partner, then BJ’s would still be awesome! They had large packages of their meats (5lbs) and smaller packages (2lbs)!
  • LOTS of organic produce!
  • A good selection of healthy snacks for the kids (nuts, fruit leather, Buddy Fruit applesauce pouches, organic yogurt (if you do dairy), cases of olives, and good selection of fruit (some organic).

Here’s a few things I bought at BJ’s and what I spent:

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  1.  Stretch Island Fruit Leather (all fruit), 30 pieces: $6.99 – These are usually $0.50 a piece in the grocery store.  At BJ’s, you can get it for half the price!
  2. Organic Girl Superfoods Green Mix, 1lb: $4.99
  3. English Cucumber, 2ct: $2.79
  4. 1lb bag of Kale: $1.99
  5. Green Pepper, 4ct: 4.99
  6. HUGE bag of Organic Peas: $6.49
  7. Red Pepper, 4ct: $4.99
  8. Bananas, 3lbs: $1.49
  9. Almond Milk, 86oz: $3.49
  10. Organic Celery, 3 hearts: $3.79
  11. Applegate Smoked Turkey Deli cuts, (2) 7oz packs: $7.69
  12. Applegate Forest Ham Deli cuts, (2) 7oz packs: $7.29
  13. Applegate Beef Hot Dogs, (2) 12oz packs, $8.29
  14. Organic Fuji Apples, 5lbs: $8.99
  15. Black Olives, 6 cans: $6.89
  16. Organic Carrots, 5lbs: $4.49
  17. Blueberries, 18oz: $6.99
  18. Ground Pork, 2.5lbs: $4.98
  19. Beef Stew Meat: 5lbs: $17.08
  20. YoKids Organic Yogurt Squeezers, 16 tubes: $5.99 (this is the only dairy my kids get…I freeze them)
  21. Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes, 6 cans: $5.99
  22. Kiwi, 3lbs: $5.49
  23. Buddy Fruit Applesauce Pouches, 12ct: $7.79
  24. Lara Bars, 12ct: $10.99 – *unfortunately, these were the Uber Lara Bars which have brown rice syrup in them…so not 100% Paleo

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Non-Paleo Food Items (yes, I am human) and Household Stuff:

  1. Giradelli Chocolate Chips, 5lbs: $8.99
  2. Veggie Straws: $4.99
  3. Jimmy Dean Turkey Links: $8.99
  4. Basmati Brown Rice: $4.99 – (I buy this to go with my Asian foods at parties where some people don’t get Cauliflower Rice)
  5. Kids Shampoo, 4pk: $5.99
  6. Hydrogen Peroxide, 2pck: $2.29 (I use this for bleaching)

Total Spent: $210.00 – $10 over my weekly food budget

I allot $200 a week to groceries. This covers all household supplies, dog food, cleaning supplies, and anything else. This week, I am using these meats from my freezer: Tilapia, chicken breasts, and Salmon. I, always, buy my meat in larger portions and split them up, then freeze.

What else do you find at BJ’s Wholesale Club that is Paleo-worthy?

 

 

 

Filed Under: Budget Shopping, Starting Paleo Tagged With: Bj's wholesale club, dairy free, gluten-free, paleo, paleo on a budget, primal

Paleo Eliminated My Son’s Seizures

May 17, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 5 Comments

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I just, ABSOLUTELY, love this story that Cavemom’s Cooking is going to share with us today. This story brings tears to my eyes because it, perfectly, describes the love a mother has…

…how she won’t take the average answer to be the ONLY answer

…how she KNOWS her son…truly, knows him

…how she heals her baby’s seizures with proper diet.

Yes, I love this story, and I know you will too!

The end of May marks a special anniversary for us:  Our son, Kaiden, has been seizure free for 3 years.

Kaiden has Down Syndrome, and was diagnosed with benign myoclonic seizures (infantile spasms) when he was almost 8 months old.

Doctors told us to expect global delays and low muscle tone in regards to Down Syndrome, but they didn’t talk about dietary needs.  After the seizures began, I noted that sweet potatoes and carrots intensified Kaiden’s seizure activity.  The neurologist said outright that diet had absolutely nothing to do with the seizures. He also told us because of Down Syndrome, this type of seizure would not affect Kaiden cognitively and that he may outgrow the seizures within a few short years. So, with that knowledge and because of the possible permanent side effects of allopathic anticonvulsant drugs, we chose to go the holistic route, which significantly reduced, but not eliminated his seizures. I still felt very strongly it had to do with food.

 A few months into the seizures, I became concerned over Kaiden’s cognitive and motor delays.  Everyone said it was Down Syndrome; that I needed to expect these delays.  But I just couldn’t accept that.  In the midst of the seizure-ridden days, he had lucid moments.  Moments where he’d do things, normal baby things.  The most memorable one was four months into the seizures.  He looked directly at me, said “Mama,” smiled at me, repeated it, and then repeated the performance again the next day.

Most of the dietary research I was able find was actually on autism, rather than Down Syndrome.  All I could find about treating Down Syndrome holistically was that individuals were more likely to be gluten and lactose intolerant.  Since I knew many autistic individuals also were gluten and lactose intolerant, I began to look into it.  Because Kaiden was still on breast milk, he wasn’t yet getting any extra dairy.  I chose to remove grain from his diet as well.  If he got any lactose and gluten, it was solely through breast milk (I exclusively pumped for him). I knew from very early on (pre-seizures) that through breast milk,  fresh green peppers gave Kaiden a rash and painful gas, so I had stopped eating them long before.

By his first birthday, Kaiden was pretty well on table foods.  I thought that his seizure activity was spiking after eating foods like spaghetti and tacos, but wasn’t sure as the activity didn’t seem much worse than average.  As far as the carrots and sweet potatoes went, it’s not like I gave them to him once and noted activity.  I tried on 3 separate occasions with the same, repeated result.  A day and a half later each time, his seizure activity spiked.  I was already keeping a log of his daily seizure activity; I began to add in what he ate.

 About a month after Kaiden’s first birthday, I ate an eggplant dish. And boy, did Kaiden’s seizure activity spike. Once I figured out it was the eggplant, I pumped and dumped all my fresh breast milk and gave Kaiden frozen breast milk for a few days, and his seizure activity went back down.

 A couple of months later, I tried fresh green peppers again.  I ate a tiny amount, and didn’t notice any significant difference in Kaiden’s seizure activity – no rash, no gas, so a few days later, I had a good helping of them.  And a day and a half later . . . on Mother’s Day no less . . . Kaiden’s seizure activity spiked like it had done with the eggplant. He spent Mother’s Day having seizures and screaming.  We both cried a lot that day.

 For several days after that I literally walked around the house saying, “what the @*#&%& do eggplant and green peppers have in common that Kaiden reacts so badly to them?”

Then finally, I typed in Google, “green pepper eggplant have in common“. And the connection came up . . . they are both members of the nightshade (solanaceae) family. As are tomatoes, potatoes, all peppers, paprika, ground cherries, and lots more foods I wasn’t familiar with. It was a smack-myself-in-the-forehead moment.  The light bulb switched on.

 Being into natural remedies, I am familiar with some of the properties of deadly nightshade but never thought about foods of the nightshade family. I was cooking with tomatoes, potatoes, paprika, and chili peppers on a regular basis.

Immediately I eliminated nightshade foods from my and Kaiden’s diets, and within a few days, his seizure activity reduced down to 1 – 3 seizures per day. Then I ate a grilled chicken sandwich (contained mayo, which has paprika in it, and a slice of tomato). A day and a half later, Kaiden’s seizure activity spiked. When it went back down, I ate a hamburger with mustard (contains paprika) and a day and a half later his seizure activity spiked again. That was enough of a “lab test” for me, and I completely eliminated nightshade foods for both of us.

Kaiden’s seizure activity dropped again, and within a few days, on May 28th 2010, he had his last seizure!

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 The more I observed him, and the more research I did, I came to the conclusion that the seizures were merely a side effect of what the nightshade foods were actually doing to him.  He gained so much in development so quickly that I knew there must be more to it.  My current theory, which may or may not be correct, is that nightshade foods over-stimulated his nervous system, allowing it to become overloaded, too noisy; he was not able to filter out that noise.  

 I may not know what caused his seizures in the first place, but I am thankful for them every single day; if it hadn’t been for those seizures I’d never have discovered the connection between nightshade foods and my son’s ability to process sensory input.

This began our journey into Paleo!!!

There is so much more to Kaiden’s story – you can keep up with us at here!

Keep up with our cooking adventures here!

 

 

Filed Under: Guest Posts Tagged With: autoimmune paleo, dairy free, down's syndrome, gluten-free, grain-free, nightshade free, paleo

YOU ASKED FOR IT: Paleo Weekly Meal Plan #1

May 16, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 12 Comments

meal plan collage

 

Ok people, I’m giving in. You asked for it…here it is. I’ve decided to post a weekly meal plan for you all who are in such dire need. Trust me, I’ve been there. It’s overwhelming. You just don’t know where to start. You don’t know how to afford real food. You don’t know how to cook real food. You just don’t have time. Start here…start fresh. Take a deep breath. You can do this.

I’m going to post a weekly meal plan every Thursday. This meal plan is going to be VERY budget friendly with the options of upgrading the meats to something else more expensive. I will menu plan for 5 meals and on the bottom is a printable shopping list! This way you can save one day for leftovers and another for eating out or choosing your own recipe.

Serving size for all these recipes is 4-6 servings.

 

Paleo Weekly Meal Plan #1

***Bookmark this page so you can come back over the week to find the recipes you need***

Day 1: Creamy Chicken Skillet Over Spaghetti Squash (recipe is on the bottom of blog post)

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Make a whole chicken using my crockpot method. You will use the meat for 2 meals.  Go see my guest post on Paleo Parents on how to crockpot cook your whole chicken and then immediately make chicken stock. This first meal uses 1/2 the chicken.  Reserve the other half of the chicken for Day 4’s dinner. Three cups of the stock will be used in tomorrow’s dinner; freeze the rest of the stock or sip on it throughout the week like I do!

Day 2: Italian Meatloaf with Green Bean Amandin

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Your stock should be done by this evening so just scoop out 3 cups of the fresh stock out of your crockpot to make the Green Bean Amandin with. Freeze the rest of the stock or drink it throughout the week.

Day 3: Beef Kabobs with Grilled Peaches

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For those who need to watch their budget, ask the butcher to cut roasts into steaks for savings! Then you may use these cuts for the kabobs. Usually roasts are cheaper per pound than steaks. If you can afford it, buy sirloin.

Cut peaches in half and remove the pit. Grill on both sides while grilling the Kabobs.

Day 4: Asian Lettuce Wraps with Coconut Rice with fresh Pineapple

Asian Lettuce Wraps
Asian Lettuce Wraps

My recipe calls for raw ground. Just ignore that part and stir in the reserved 1/2 chicken meat with the cabbage and red bell pepper.

Day 5: Salmon in a Bag (or Tilapia) with Mexican Coleslaw

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If your budget allows, then get Salmon.  If not, grab some Tilapia (not from China) or other fish you prefer!

The Mexican Coleslaw is a family favorite with us. The kids LOVE it! I have had much success using Broccoli slaw instead of cabbage. Also, add some cilantro to your Salmon bag to bring the flavors together!

Please come back and tell me how you enjoyed these meals!

<<<Printable Shopping List>>>

 

 

 

Filed Under: Weekly Meal Plan Tagged With: budget paleo meal plan, dairy free, gluten-free, grain-free, meal planning

Guest Post, The Simple Paleo Life: Paleo Batch Cooking!

May 15, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 2 Comments

My new friend, Sylvie,  from The Simple Paleo Life has some awesome stuff to share with you all on batch cooking. This is great, practical advice that Sylvie proves to be so much less daunting than what it really is. I know you will love what she has to share!

Save Time in the Kitchen by Batch Cooking

When we first made the switch to the Paleo lifestyle,  one of the things we struggled adjusting to was how much more time it took  to make real food versus boiling water for some pasta and opening a jar of pasta sauce. It felt like hours from prep to dishes.  We soon learned that spending a couple hours on a Saturday or Sunday would make the weekly meal prep a whole lot easier!  It also saves dishes to be washed since I, strategically,  use the food processor in a way that I only have to wash it once or twice during the big cookfest!  This is multi-tasking at its best.  I actually much prefer doing this than cooking one individual meal since I feel the cost-benefit time wise is much more favorable!

Here’s what I made during a day of mad kitchen prep on a weekend :

  • 2 roasted chickens with potatoes
  • braised kale (with bone broth) from our garden
  • steamed broccoli
  • ghee (from grass fed butter)
  • burger patties with hidden liver
  • bacon (vanished same day, oh well)
  • 2 gallons of kombucha started (for upcoming BBQ)
  • chopped carrot sticks for snacks

That sounds like a lot! But so many things can be done simultaneously that it really doesn’t take more than a couple hours!  Here’s what it looked like:

The night before:

  1. Plan what you will be prepping if you haven’t done so earlier in the week
  2. Set your frozen meats out to defrost

The cooking!

Start with the things that will take the longest to prep/cook.

I started by brewing tea for my kombucha (I only have one kettle, one mesh strainer and one big glass bowl so I did this in 3 batches).  Just writing this makes me realize I should get a couple more strainers and bowls to speed up the process!

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While that was brewing and cooling, I got the chickens rinsed off and in the oven with potatoes.  I usually add other root veggies as well.  Use timers, timers  are your friend.  I have my eye on this triple timer for days like this!

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Then I placed the butter in the pan to make the ghee and started the most hands on task: the “hidden liver” burgers.  (Grind liver, add ground beef and spices and fry them up!)

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While keeping and eye on ghee and burgers, wash and cut up carrots for carrot stick snacks during the week!

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Add one more pan with bacon to cook up. Warning: if kids and canines are present, your chances at having leftovers are ZERO.

If you have another burner available use it to steam some vegetables (I usually have all 4 burners going!)

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Braise some kale or collard greens in bone broth.  As the bone broth evaporates the minerals and “goodness” (I believe that’s the technical term) are left behind.

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That’s it!  Several meals and snacks in just a couple of hours!   Sip some booch while you’re doing it and you’ve got yourself a little party! 🙂

What are your favorite tips and tricks to reduce your time in the kitchen?

About The Simple Paleo Life:  Sylvie is a celebrity personal assistant and mom of 3 by day, paleo enthusiast and blogger by night.  She and SAHD hubby, Eric, each lost over 60 lbs with paleo and continue to improve their family’s health with food and lifestyle tweaks.  Sign up for their newsletter at www.thesimplepaleolife.com and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.

Filed Under: Guest Posts Tagged With: dairy free, gluten-free, grain-free, paleo, paleo batch cooking, primal

Monkey Smoothie (or Monkey Popsicle)

May 14, 2013 by Jackie Ritz 7 Comments

I’ve posted this simple recipe a few times on my Facebook page and I have had such a great response that I thought I should actually write-up a blog post on it.

My favorite thing about this recipe is that it is soooo filling! My kids LOVE when they hear the blender going! Hope you enjoy this as much as we do!

Monkey Smoothie (or Monkey Popsicle)

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Ingredients:

  • 16 0z of coconut milk
  • 4 TB Almond/or some other nut butter
  • 2 teaspoons of raw honey
  • 3 TB of cocoa powder
  • 2 (frozen) bananas
  • 2 teaspoons of vanilla
  • Optional add ins: ice, carob nibs, avocado, coconut butter, pastured egg yolk, coconut oil

Directions:

1. Place all the ingredients in a blender and blend. If using frozen bananas then you may not need any ice cubes. If you are using unfrozen bananas, then throw in 5-8 ice cubes.

2. Top with raw carob nibs and enjoy!!! Makes enough for 2-3 servings so you can enjoy the smoothie now and freeze the rest!

3. POPSICLES: pour into popsicle molds and freeze! Makes 7 popsicles!

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Filed Under: My Recipes, Paleo Baby, Paleo Toddler Tagged With: dairy free, monkey smoothie, paleo, popsicle recipes, primal

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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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