Author Topic: Paleo or Primal "Corn Flakes for dinner" equivalent?  (Read 6568 times)

meadow lark

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Paleo or Primal "Corn Flakes for dinner" equivalent?
« on: May 02, 2014, 06:23:34 PM »
I try to eat healthy, but with mixed results :-). Does anyone have a suggestion for a substitute for the function of a "cereal for dinner" style meal?  I don't actually mean cereal!  I mean something you don't have to spend much time thinking about, cooking, etc.  Easy and cheap, good enough when you don't know what you want to eat, not a strong flavor profile, etc.

MicroRN

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Re: Paleo or Primal "Corn Flakes for dinner" equivalent?
« Reply #1 on: May 02, 2014, 07:46:18 PM »
Eggs are my go to, but if you don't eat eggs just pan cook some ground beef/pork/turkey with frozen vegetables.  You can even cook the meat ahead of time and freeze in small quantities.  Also, I always keep frozen burger patties.  Cook it up and steam some veggies.  Tuna, chicken, or salmon salad from canned works too.   

I do something pretty similar to this...
http://nomnompaleo.com/post/4360193712/emergency-protein-a-k-a-garbage-stir-fry
« Last Edit: May 02, 2014, 07:50:00 PM by MicroRN »

sunnyca

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Re: Paleo or Primal "Corn Flakes for dinner" equivalent?
« Reply #2 on: May 02, 2014, 08:47:12 PM »
I no longer eat paleo, but I do make paleo granola ahead of time and use it as a cereal substitute when I'm really lazy. You can make something similar to my lazy version of paleo granola (toasted coconut, sunflower seeds, chia, and whatever else is around). 

Or a better recipe is this:

http://paleoporn.net/primal-granola-bars/

horsepoor

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Re: Paleo or Primal "Corn Flakes for dinner" equivalent?
« Reply #3 on: May 02, 2014, 11:18:02 PM »
A big salad and like, some hard boiled eggs, cooked chicken or a can of kippered herring.  If salad is too hard, then just some olives, nuts, and raw veg (carrots, broccoli, bell pepper slices).

ASquared

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Re: Paleo or Primal "Corn Flakes for dinner" equivalent?
« Reply #4 on: May 02, 2014, 11:22:12 PM »
Some kind of egg scramble - saute some veggies, few eggs, meat/cheese if you like.  If you want you can get fancy with some herbs/etc.  Never gets old and endless combos.  Super fast.  Great for kiddos too if that's a concern.

Leisured

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Re: Paleo or Primal "Corn Flakes for dinner" equivalent?
« Reply #5 on: May 04, 2014, 12:31:23 AM »

The solution is simple. Make thick soups, casseroles, vegetable pies and fruit pies ahead of time. Microwave ovens make a big difference; cut a slice of vegetable pie, and a slice of apple pie, and heat.

Vegetable soups have more water than casseroles and are often blended, but other than that there is not much difference between a pumpkin/potato soup and a vegetable and meat casserole. My wife sometimes adds macaroni, but not blended, to soup.

A spoon of the curry sauce Rogan Josh (not curry powder) makes a difference, as does chopped bacon.

Pastry is frozen puff pastry, readily available. In a pie dish, start with sliced potato, sliced carrot, chopped bacon, green beans. Top with cauliflower and broccoli, and top that with frozen grated cheese. The potato carrot and cauli and broccoli are partly cooked, the other ingredients are raw. Add a layer of puff pastry, and cook for about 40 mins, or until brown. The cheese melts and soaks into the convolutions in the cauli and broccoli

Eat toasted bread with the soup, from your home bread maker machine, of course.

The bread maker machine can be loaded and set to ‘Dough’. This will make dough in about an hour and a half. Pour the dough on to an oiled baking tray, top with whatever you like, olives, chopped meat, cheese, and bake for about 45 minutes. This is focaccia and will last for days.

ASquared

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Re: Paleo or Primal "Corn Flakes for dinner" equivalent?
« Reply #6 on: May 04, 2014, 01:10:13 AM »
I think you missed the point - Paleo = no wheat, sugar, refined carbs etc.  So puff pastry, bread, foccacia are out.  Dairy is debatable but frozen shredded cheese definitely won't cut it for most paleo people.  That's why it's hard to plan/prep/cook paleo without a lot of time or money or creativity:)

RetiredAt63

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Re: Paleo or Primal "Corn Flakes for dinner" equivalent?
« Reply #7 on: May 04, 2014, 07:54:04 AM »
Use anything that you would normally make in large batches for future meals - so if you have made chili, for example (I make it without beans because I am low carb) you should have containers of it in your freezer.  Then just thaw, heat, and you are good to go.  What those will be for you will depend on what you eat, but there are lots of paleo recipes out there - NumNum Paleo is a good cookbook for ideas. Frozen soups and stocks, meat dishes, etc., are all wonderful resources for when you don't want to actually cook.  And canned meats and fish.

And of course eggs, they are certainly paleo, and eggs as an omelet with some roasted/sauteed vegetables are certainly delicious, filling, and fast and easy.  If you can see a busy/exhausting time coming, why not have hard-cooked eggs ready?  They are good on their own, or in a salad with veggies and mayo.

Gardening season has finally started here - last night I came in exhausted and didn't want to cook - one small can of ham, one onion sauteed in butter, some grated cheddar cheese and 4 eggs later I had a wonderful crust-less quiche, ready to eat, and leftovers for two lunches.  Less than 5 minutes actual prep time, I could manage that much work.

matchewed

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Re: Paleo or Primal "Corn Flakes for dinner" equivalent?
« Reply #8 on: May 04, 2014, 08:23:23 AM »
Mixed frozen veggies tossed into a pan with a bit of oil over a medium heat (my stove top is a nuclear reactor though so take that with some salt), add two eggs at the end mix it up, just while the eggs are firming toss some soy sauce (I use a sweet soy sauce slightly more syrup like and... sweeter). Mix it all together and voila you have a 10 minute vegetable stir fry. Healthy, simple, yummy, easy.

horsepoor

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Re: Paleo or Primal "Corn Flakes for dinner" equivalent?
« Reply #9 on: May 04, 2014, 09:55:19 AM »
Also forgot to mention guacamole with veggies.  Or simply an avocado with a bit of salt.  Guac/diced avo makes a good dressing for tuna or chicken salad, too.

I find it helpful to keep a couple kinds of sausages around for easy meals as well.  How well this works for you will depend on how paleo-compliant you are.  I go middle of the road and buy the natural sausages, but not the super expensive guaranteed gluten free stuff.  Anyway, they keep a long time in the fridge and can add some quick protein.  I often cut them up and make a "dirty rice" concoction with the cauliflower rice I keep in the freezer.

Sweet potato can be microwaved if you're doing carbs, and if you're doing dairy, cottage cheese is a pretty good protein topping for it.  Some people like them with cinnamon, but I go the other way and spice it up with chile paste.

NeuroStash

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Re: Paleo or Primal "Corn Flakes for dinner" equivalent?
« Reply #10 on: May 04, 2014, 06:15:56 PM »
Just in case anyone on this thread is interested, there is a great book on the topic of the paleo lifestyle by an evolutionary biologist that evaluates the evidence for and against a lot of the claims of the paleo movement.  To summarize a complex topic, she explains that humans are evolved to eat a wide variety of foods (though highly-processed foods are objectively bad for you). 

Here's a link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/Paleofantasy-Evolution-Really-Tells-about-ebook/dp/B007Q6XM1A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399248732&sr=8-1&keywords=paleofantasy



RetiredAt63

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Re: Paleo or Primal "Corn Flakes for dinner" equivalent?
« Reply #11 on: May 04, 2014, 06:38:32 PM »
Thanks for the suggestion, I am now #18 in line at my library.  Hey, she quotes Neil Shubin in the intro - I loved "Your Inner Fish".

And yes, if you look at our teeth and digestive tract, we are obviously omnivores - what we eat has to a large extent depended on availability.  And being able to cook - we can get a lot more good out of our plant food by cooking it, culture matters.

Just in case anyone on this thread is interested, there is a great book on the topic of the paleo lifestyle by an evolutionary biologist that evaluates the evidence for and against a lot of the claims of the paleo movement.  To summarize a complex topic, she explains that humans are evolved to eat a wide variety of foods (though highly-processed foods are objectively bad for you). 

Here's a link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/Paleofantasy-Evolution-Really-Tells-about-ebook/dp/B007Q6XM1A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399248732&sr=8-1&keywords=paleofantasy

ASquared

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Re: Paleo or Primal "Corn Flakes for dinner" equivalent?
« Reply #12 on: May 04, 2014, 10:47:27 PM »
I'm not paleo - but do choose a whole foods diet, Michael Pollan style.  Interesting study a couple years ago comparing low fat, low-glycemic (anti-inflammatory diet) and low carb (paleo).  Low glycemic and Low carb lost weight, however with the low carb inflammatory markers increased.  Chronic low grade inflammation is linked to a variety of lifestyle disorders. 

Once again, just eating real food wins out!

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1199154

 

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