When I started cutting things out of my diet, like grains, I needed to find some awesome replacements to fill that delicious void. I say delicious because I'm being honest here. I've read a lot of paleo eaters say, oh grains don't taste good, it's the stuff you put on them like butter. Well, I'm here to tell you while I could certainly eat butter off a spoon, I could also eat a fresh baked baguette with nothing on it and be in heaven. But I digress. So in my journey of finding new favorite foods I have stumbled upon a couple foods that I honestly have no idea how I've been living without until this point.
First: Goat Cheese
Holy crap! Have you ever had goat cheese? I'm sure a lot of you have. But for some strange reason, I hadn't. Now I'm already a lover of cheese in general. My favorite cheese for a long time has been this Irish cheddar I get from a local market. But I'm really loving this right now. Since I first tried this stuff a few months ago, I haven't had a salad since without it. And that is saying a lot because I eat a salad for lunch 5 out of 7 days a week.
So what do I eat goat cheese with? Obviously salad. Since it is soooo creamy, I haven't even been using any salad dressing. I eat it on salads like the one below, pulled pork salads, bbq chicken salads, ext. Sometimes I crumble some and mix it in a bowl with some fresh tomatoes and eat it as a snack. And as I'm sure you have concluded, sometimes I just eat a big spoonful of it! ;) The most recent way I have had it is in THE BEST OMELET I have ever had. I'll post that recipe soon.
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| This was the first time I had goat cheese. My mom made this yummy chicken salad with it. |
Second: Avocado
Ok, so it's not as if I had never had avocado before. I have eaten guacamole a million times. But once I changed my eating habits I needed to find some higher fat, healthy foods. One food most all paleo eaters love is avocados. It's creamy and delicious and a great source of those healthy fats we are always looking for. In the past, I don't think I had ever purchased an avocado. These days it's a staple on my grocery list.
So what do I do with all these avocados? Well, half the time I just eat them! A lot of mornings my breakfast consists of half an avocado and these organic smoothies I buy that have 6 grams of protein. (I'll have to make another post about them because they have some pretty awesome ingredients). Some days I make banana avocado smoothies with or without protein powder. The most recent concoction I have tried is this egg baked in an avocado. If you have never tried this you are missing out. It is super simple too!
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| Baked egg in an avocado: hollow out some of the avocado to make enough room for the egg. Crack the egg into the whole. Crack some fresh pepper and salt on top. Make a bowl out of aluminum foil and bake in the over on 375 for about 25-35 minutes just depending on how you like your egg. |
I was a little skeptical about trying this at first. I'm not sure why, but I figured it had two of my favorite foods so how could it be bad? Man was I glad I tried it! The texture of the avocado and the egg work so well together. More creaminess which I'm clearly a fan of. I saw another recipe where they used cayenne pepper, but I tend to like more simplicity. This was delicious for breakfast with that perfect balance of fat and protein I'm always looking for. Definitely a must try!
Have you guys discovered any new foods that you can't believe you were living without??
