Eating Rainbow

Yesterday was Easter. My sister came over and together we created an Easter Feast that actually included all of the colors of the rainbow. ROYGBIV. Red were the tomatoes, peppers, strawberries and raspberries. Orange was the butternut squash. Yellow was the lemon zest. Green were the asparagus, avocado, lettuce, and celery. Blue were the blueberries. Indigo were the blackberries (or so we decided). We were stuck for our final color until she proclaimed that the "red" onion she was mincing was, in truth, Violet! We chopped til we dropped, then enjoyed that yummy, yummy rainbow...

Yesterday also began my second week eating strict Paleo-minus. The first week was surprising in a number of ways:

1. I had NO cravings. There was not a single moment when I was battling the urge to go off plan. Sure, there were times that something "off the menu" sounded or looked good, and there were times when my lazy self would have been happy to grab something easy, but I seriously was not even tempted. I was astounded by this, because I have gone off of sugar before, and it was very difficult.
2. I ate really delicious food every day. Even when I was ravenous and in a hurry (thank you, Emergency Guacamole and Sublime Sweet Potato!).
3. I tried lots of new recipes (including two to serve to guests--usually a "don't"). The ones listed above I made up on the spot, but I also made Breakfast Hash, Impromptu Green Salad with Tuna (another "on the spot" creation), two versions of Collard Greens with Coconut Milk, and from Melissa Joulwan, Ras el Hanout spice blend (which I used in beef and greens dishes), Whipped Coconut Cream, and yesterday's Deconstucted Gyro Salad.
4. I faithfully made a lot of veggies. I am a slacker, so I'm always surprised when I manage to do something that actually takes effort. Collards, salads, butternut squash, cauliflower, spaghetti squash, zucchini, sweet potatoes (lots of sweet potatoes), etc.
5. I learned to like coconut cream in my coffee as a substitute for cow's milk cream. Even though it is far more expensive and is a bit of a hassle to prep.

Last week I was on "Spring Break" from one of my main occupations. This week my challenge is to continue to eat Paleo-minus in the midst of my normal routine. One challenge I foresee is that I will have to fit breakfast into my morning schedule. Previously I was either skipping breakfast or eating something grabby and sweet (like a Lara bar or yogurt with a banana). I have found that, on Paleo-minus, skipping breakfast is a bad idea because it throws my eating times and amounts off for the rest of the day, and it is difficult to eat enough for that day. And eating anything sweet first thing goes completely against the Paleo grain. Without eggs or nuts my breakfast options are dinner leftovers, or cooking meat.

Well. I just have to "Make it work," as Tim Gunn would say. :)