My husband and I do a lot of meal prep on the weekends to cut down what we have to do during the week.  We usually have a “cooking party” on Sunday afternoons in the kitchen- getting breakfast and lunches ready (as much as we can) for the week.

This week, “Jaqi’s Fat Salad” was on the menu.

What the hell is a fat salad, Jaq?

So I call most of my salads “fat salads” because they barely resemble salads anymore.  Yes, there’s lettuce and a couple of other vegetables, but I load them up with lots of other healthy(ish) ingredients and top it with a delish dressing that makes me want to actually eat a salad.

Jaqi’s Fat Salad

Ingredients: (makes 2 salads)

Salad:

• 2 chicken breasts, sliced
• 1 bunch of romaine, chopped
• 1/2 a cucumber, peeled and sliced
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
• 1/4 cup Bakery on Main GF granola
• 1-2 oz blue cheese
• 5-10 kalamata olives

Dressing:

• EVOO
• apple cider vinegar
• balsamic vinegar
• garlic powder
• oregano

Instructions:

• Grill, bake, fry the chicken to your liking.  I either bake it or quickly brown each side in a skillet.  Set aside to let cool.
• I usually have 2 containers ready at this point so I can split the veggies in-between them as I chop.  Chop up the romaine, cucumber and carrot- add to the containers.
• Add half the granola mixture to each container as well as half of the blue cheese and half of the kalamata olives to each.
• Mix together the dressing ingredients and put in a separate container for you to take on the side.  I don’t put who much of each because it’s really up to your taste.  If you’ve never made dressing before, I suggest you look up a simple recipe so you can start playing with the flavors.

Each night before I clean up for dinner, I assemble our salads for the next day.  I usually do a “theme” each week.  Sometimes it’s apple slices, heavy on the veggies, chicken or tuna- the possibilities are endless.

I know this meal is not 100% paleo- there’s cheese and GF granola in it.  However, I’ve seen a lot of paleo recipes incorporating a bit of cheese.  In all of the books I have, none of the recipes include cheese, but the cheese I chose is organic, unprocessed so I’m not putting anything crazy bad into my body, either.  I have also noticed that I can eat cheese and my stomach doesn’t become upset.  My husband, on the other hand, has a complete upset stomach whenever he overindulges in cheese ever since we cut it out of our diets.  This indicates to me that he is much more sensitive to dairy than I am and that it’s probably okay for me to have a little bit every now and then.

I believe that as much as you want to follow a diet and live a healthy life, you also have to listen to your body.  There are SO many studies coming out now about so many things- one day it says you HAVE to eat breakfast and the next says you should skip breakfast- all these crazy things like that.  I believe no one can make these blanket statements- yes, you shouldn’t eat McDonald’s and if you eat a lot of sugar, you will get fat- these are facts.  I think in every other sense, you need to listen to your own body.  If you wake up hungry (like me), breakfast is probably a good idea.  If you wake up and eat and you feel nauseous (like my mom), then holding off and eating breakfast later in the day might be a good plan for you.  If you eat cheese and your stomach gets upset, you should probably stay away from cheese and even dairy.  This is the basis of what I believe and how I eat every day- and sometimes there are foods I discover that upset my stomach and I learn to stay away from them.  Paleo, or any diet, won’t work for everyone.  You have to find something that works for you, modify it where needed and run with it.  Paleo is my diet of choice because I already have to be gluten free and I like it’s core- fruit, veggies and protein.  But I have also modified it in my own way.  I suggest you find something that works for you and do the same.  This is a great place to start if you are looking to eat healthier and change the way you look at food.