1. FOOD PROCESSOR
Let's face it, "ricing" a couple heads of cauliflower is way harder and more time consuming than breaking open a box of Uncle Ben's. But, if you committed to the gluten-free lifestyle, having a quality food processor by your side in this journey will improve your experience tenfold. My husband actually asked for a nice food processor for his birthday a couple of years back. If you know him, you will find this funny as he is definitely more of a power tools and cool electronics kind of guy. In hindsight, I see the brilliance behind his request. He now gets all sorts of yummy dishes liked mashed cauliflower potatoes and cauliflower rice, without the stressed out wife.
2. QUALITY SPICES
Fresh herbs and spices make a HUGE difference in how your food tastes, especially when most of the other ingredients in the recipe are veggies! I highly recommend Penzeys Spices for all of your cooking and baking needs. All fresh, all organic with incredible flavor. Prices are very reasonable and shipping is minimal. Promise it’s worth a try. Penzeysspices.com
3. MANDOLIN
This is another of my favorite kitchen gadgets because it makes life SO simple! It slices sweet potatoes, butternut squash and zucchini as thin as you want within seconds. Way better and less bloody than using a knife to make paper thin chips out of yams.
4. COMMITMENT TO FORETHOUGHT
Paleo/Gluten-Free/Whole Foods/Zone, any of these eating plans require some planning and effort to be truly successful. Eating for optimal performance and health takes time. But, think about how hard you work in the gym, how focused and driven you are. Think about the goals you are striving toward. Think about how your gym time is making you a healthier and more productive human. The last thing we want is to detract from our gains and productivity by poor diet. Taking time to plan your meals and to shop for fresh food is absolutely worth the effort. I personally have the most success when I plan out a week worth of meals at a time and do my big grocery shopping once a week. That way, when 6 pm on a Wednesday rolls around and I have to pick up young kids from day care, drive my older daughter to basketball and attend a parent meeting at school all at the same time, I don’t have to decide what’s for dinner and make a trip to the grocery store too! Planning ahead makes it less likely you will be tempted to hit the Wendys drive through when the going gets tough.
5. CREATIVITY
Chicken and broccoli, tasty as it is, will get old if you eat it EVERY day. Trust me I know from experience. The whole paleo/zone lifestyle was overwhelming for me at first, so I tended to make the same meal over and over and over…. I doubted my ability to truly make this a lifestyle because I was so bored with cooking, and I never really enjoyed meals. Gradually I became more creative- trying different Paleo recipes and making tweaks to traditional recipes to make them Paleo friendly. It has absolutely paid off. Healthy and tasty are not mutually exclusive if you are willing to experiment and try new things. I really admire the ladies that run the following websites and I consistently love the recipes they post: paleoomg.com and health-bent.com. Check em out if you are looking for something different and yummy!