Welcome to My Kitchen

Hello Friends! My name is Cora. I have three amazing and energetic kids who keep me very busy. I spend a lot of time in the kitchen catering to their every request. I started to think about what I was feeding my children everyday out of convenience. Granola bars, cereal, pretzels, yogurt, cookies, ice cream, fruit snacks, juice and the list goes on and on. I thought I was feeding them well, but the reality is that I was feeding them what was fast and convenient. Everything was highly processed, full of sugar and contained little nutritional value. For a long time I had struggled to gain any sort of control over our kitchen. It was almost never clean, rarely stocked with anything healthy and most nights we end up wasting money on eating out only to feel hungry again before bedtime. Well, I recently decided that I have had enough! Why waste money? Why fill our bodies with foods that aren't helping us? So, my research began.

A good friend steered me toward The Whole 30 program, which is a 30 day dive into the Paleo lifestyle. You can find details about this program here. In 30 days I experienced major changes in the way I felt and lost 18 pounds! The basic guidelines are no sugar, no alcohol, no grain, no beans, no dairy and no cheating! "Ok. Well, what do you eat, Cora?" became an everyday question for me to answer. Well friends, welcome to my blog, where I will share with you my quest for a healthier lifestyle. I will include recipes, meal plans, grocery lists and budget and kid friendly Paleo options.

Cora's Kitchen confession #1: I rarely stick to a written recipe. I see them more as guidelines. So when I am writing out a recipe, feel free to take your own liberties with it.

Today, let's talk about lunch. One of my favorite lunches has become this:

Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps:

1 Can Light Tuna in Water
1 Tbs. Light Mayo
1 Lg Carrots Chopped
1/2 Small Apple Chopped
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
A few pecans as garnish

Mix together and serve in fresh lettuce! This is so simple and it is really delicious. Today I served it with the other half of my apple, a few fresh raspberries, half of a sliced cucumber, and some black olives.

I am learning that simple, real food is the way to go!

Tonight we are having a big pot of my homemade 3 Meat Chili. Tune in tomorrow for the recipe and family review!