Any Paleo-eaters on Mumsnet?

[megandraper]

Thinking about going (mainly) Paleo for our family (DH & I plus DCs age 5, 3 and 1). Two of our children are coeliac, so we're already gluten-free - main changes would be weaning ourselves off sugar, white flour, processed food etc. I see the biggest challenge as getting the kids to change what they eat (although we've already successfully managed one big change with the more to gf). Breakfast is the first target - the kids like g-f breakfast cereal, toast, pancakes etc. They do eat boiled eggs, so that's one alternative, but can't do that every day. Snacks will be the next on the list.

Would love to hear from anyone who is eating Paleo, especially with kids. Tips about good recipes would be great.

[megandraper]

Snow/Queen - thank you for that link about agave. I did think that it was a 'more healthy' version of sugar and more healthy than honey. DC1 would be just as happy having honey, so I am going to swap over to that now.

It really is a minefield, isn't it, trying to provide healthy food.

[megandraper]

The Yam - I love the sound of the mini-frittatas in muffin cases that you can freeze and reheat - that could work for us.

Can you give me a recipe for the frittatas? And how do you reheat? Oven or microwave - how long for? Sounds great.

[snoworneahva]

It is a minefield but I think you have to see this as a journey, you're trying to improve your diet - it will never be perfect.....and the marketing people know which buttons to press.

Dh came back with a tub of Carte D'or last night, he thought because it said no artificial additives it was fine - one look at the long list of ingredients suggested it was expensive, cheap crap made from skimmed milk and veg fat, masquerading as a quality product - vanilla ice cream should only need cream, vanilla, eggs and sugar.

There's a blog Paleo Parents I think it's called, might be useful.

[snoworneahva]

Bed hopper you can use maple syrup on a Paleo diet - I buy mine in bulk from lidl it's about half the price of the supermarket version.

[QueenofWhatever]

Why do you need to use agave syrup? Fruit is naturally quite sweet anyway.

As you reduce the amount of processed food in your diet, there will be less and less sugar in your diets. Our appetite for sugar (natural or otherwise) has really decreased as our taste buds continue to adjust.

[QueenofWhatever]

This article on sugar and children is really interesting.

[megandraper]

Queen - I don't eat agave myself, or use it for cooking. DC1 adds it to things. I am going to switch to honey instead, having read about the concerns with agave. It would be nice to remove it altogether, but getting towards a good, varied diet has been a very tough journey with DC1, and I don't want to risk disrupting that by withdrawing things that make him happy to eat. He is extremely skinny, so weight is not an issue.

[EMUZ]

I eat (loosely!) Paleo as I do eat dairy (doesnt seem to affect me or weight loss)
Breakfast I often have full fat total yoghurt with berries and find it pretty filling. Omelettes are good too

[snoworneahva]

Sleepywombat fantastic recipes - made the gummy stars this morning - the kids loved them and are taking the lemon hearts to school for lunch - off to make a bulk purchase of gelatin. Raspberry and orange planned for later.

[TheYamiOfYawn]

For the frittatas, I mixveggs with whatever else I want (last batch was chopped cherry tomatoes, rocket and olives), put them in silicone muffin cases (or a well-greased muffin tray) and bake for around 25 minutes on gas mark 5 or 6.

There ate loads of fantastic paleo/primal food blogs. I will post some links later, but if you want to have a google, my favourites are Nom Nom Paleo (by a woman who had 2 young children and a full time job with uncivilized shifts), The Clothes Make the Girl and Primal Palate. I also love the ethos of Whole 30 which is a 30 day intro to paleo eating.

There is also a good blog called Paleo for Women which isn't really about food but is good for health and learning to love your body if you don't already.

[megandraper]

Thank you Yam - will try making the frittatas this weekend and freeze. I find that every time I introduce something new to my kids, I have to bribe them at first just to take a taste, and then (if I'm lucky) after a few repeats, they find they like it and don't need the bribe any more. They like boiled eggs but not omelettes - I think the muffin case size and cute look of these might swing it though.

And wombat - brilliant recipes thank you. Am going to try the gummy bears this weekend too.

Anyone know where to get grass-fed gelatin?!

[megandraper]

thanks wombat. i came across great lakes but thought they were only in the US. Will check Amazon.

[TheYamiOfYawn]

My favourite primal/paleo recipe blogs:

nomnompaleo.com/

www.primalpalate.com/

www.theclothesmakethegirl.com/

www.paleoforwomen.com/

www.marksdailyapple.com/

Packed lunch ideas here: nomnompaleo.com/post/30267255011/a-week-of-paleo-school-lunches-part-1-of-5