Specialty: Paleo May 2012 Mini Menu
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Paleolithic, Paleo, Primal, Caveman, Hunter-Gatherer, Stone Age Diet, are just a few of the names for this diet/lifestyle. Increasing in popularity worldwide partially due to the increase in gluten and dairy allergies, and elite training programs such as CrossFit, the Paleo diet is popping up everywhere. You asked, and we’re delivering. I have spent the last few weeks doing some research to provide you with the first ever OAMM Paleo Mini Menu.
My reading has been nothing short of intriguing and eye opening. I had a lot of misconceptions about the diet, but now I understand the principles completely. While starting the research I found myself eating quite Paleo to pin tummy issues and reflux with my newest son. I eliminated dairy, grains, starchy vegetables and some nightshade vegetables. I felt like I was eating nothing, but as I started digging into these books and blogs I was finding recipes everywhere. Everywhere including right here at Once A Month Mom! A lot of our vegetarian, whole foods and gluten/dairy free menus fall within Paleo guidelines.
Therefore below you will find a compilation of Paleo recipes from popular Paleo blogs and even a few from right here at OAMM. I followed the stricter rules of primal eating with no dairy, no sugar, no hydrogenated oils, no legumes and no grains.I also only bought free range organic chicken and pork as well as grass fed beef. Stayed true to the dirty dozen for my vegetables and fruits. I did include two recipes with potatoes, which from what I’m finding in the paleo world is a debatable addition. One has sweet potatoes which are acceptable from what I’ve read. But after reading this and this from Mark Sisson himself, I chose to keep the russets in the stew as well. I kept the menu seasonal as well with easy recipes to put on the grill or let sit in the crock pot so you’re not heating up your kitchen as the temperatures rise.
After my adventure in the paleo lifestyle, I can honestly say that I will keep some of the principles in our lifestyle. Will I follow it 100%? Not yet. I believe in the 85/15 rule that Dr. Cordain outlined. That 85% of your diet should be paleo, but 15% can be other. I still like to make desserts, breads and pizzas with my family although we have cut way back. I love to have a glass of wine, or a cocktail after a long week of work or on the weekends. And I still like to go out to eat with my family and friends and not feel restricted. But it was educational and I’m happy to have had the time to dig deeper.
Here you go folks! I hope you enjoy it as much as I have getting it ready for you!
What are Mini Menus? Mini menus are a fraction of the meals you would see on a normal menu and can be completed quickly and efficiently in a few short hours, in the evenings when you are preparing the meal for dinner or during small bursts of times like naps. Mini meal plans are designed for the busy family who wants freezer meals in their freezer but doesn’t have time to do a full months worth of meals. If you are new and not sure how to get started we have a wonderful series starting with 5 easy steps to get you on your way to once a month cooking. Good luck!
Breakfasts
Energy Bars
Lunches
- Italian Meatballs
Roasted Red Pepper Soup
- Beyond Easy Pulled Pork**
- Roasted Red Pepper Soup
Dinners
Add Ons
**Indicates meals that require NO COOKING on your OAMC BIG DAY aka “throw and go” meals, perfect for the family who needs to adjust to just do the quick meals!
Recipe Cards
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Grocery List
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Instructions
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Labels
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Pinterest:
Are you a person that likes to see the menus visually? Perhaps you should check out the 10 Day Specialty Paleo Menu 2012 via Pinterest to see the yummy goodness you will be cooking up on this menu. Not sure what Pinterest is all about, check out what Once A Month Mom has to say about it.
Get Started
Are you new to Once A Month Mom or once a month cooking (oamc) in general? If so, you might want to spend a few minutes (or hours) on the Get Started Series. If you are in a real hurry to catch on we have written some simple steps for getting started. Welcome!
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YAY! So excited about this menu :). We’ve been making the whole foods plan and I’ve been thinking about incorporating some paleo eating into our daily lives! This is great!
So excited for these recipes. We’ve been paleo for almost a year and nt yet been able o easily incorporate freezer meals yet – thanks!
I am so excited about this menu! I’ve just started exploring the Paleo diet and I’m thankful for to have a familiar format to start incorporating it into our diet.
I just started Paleo (I’ve been blogging all about my experience). Soooo happy about trying your Paleon recipes!!!
yes! I have been hoping for this! I love that it is a mini menu too. . I think those are the best!
[...] freezer cooking for my new diet (I made 2 loaves of Paleo banana bread and I’m printing stuff out from Once A Month Mom!) [...]
YaYY!! I’ve been waiting for this!
[...] onceamonthmom.com via MommaKristi on [...]
Thank you, we’ve been incorporating paleo meals into our everyday. We still eat some grains and other non-paleo stuff, but every week it gets less and less. The 85/15 works great!
I agree Jaki it’s getting less and less at my house too!
I can’t believe I found this! I am converting to Paleo and am having trouble getting my meals together… breakfast has been tough. This looks great!
We’re happy you’ve found us!
I am SO EXCITED! We chopped and prepped most of the meals this afternoon/evening. I omitted the breakfasts and plan on using the lunches for dinners as well but then having leftovers the following days for lunches. My husband’s been eating paleo style for a couple of years and I’ve been struggling to come up with new ideas and to make sure I incorporate enough veggies in. This will be great! I am super excited to not have to worry about dinner every few days now as well! Thank you SO MUCH!
You’re welcome! I’m glad you found us and enjoy it! I will say though the frittata is also a great dinner and is even better the next day ;)
The frittata was great, Kelly! We are just coming to the end of the paleo mini menu meals (note it is nearly a month later–we were really able to stretch it out by making for 4 and planning ahead). My faves were the meatballs (though next time will cook the onions first), the pulled pork pot roast crockpot, and the butternut squash casserole/lasagna–made this into 3 instead of 2 portions by using loaf pans and had one for dinner tonight. SO DELICIOUS! I have to say that I did buy salsa verde and marinara sauce rather than prepping those to cut down on some time. Was pretty easy to substitute with store bought things that my husband can eat paleo style and saved some time and even money…. Overall, I am SOLD! Getting ready to look at the grilling mini menu and maybe another 10 day menu–since obviously it lasted us nearly a month, it worked out well! THANKS SO MUCH!
Heather what a great review thank you! I’m happy you liked everything! And yes the substitues are fine for the add ons. We all need a little spare time where we can get it!
This is so awesome! Any change of Paleo becoming a regular full menu?
Not at this time. We are in discussion about more mini menus though. Glad you like it and please note that its overall popularity will determine its continuation.
This is a great menu! I really hope it makes it as a full time menu, mini or full! I am so excited that I found this site, Thank You!!!!
[...] freezer cooking for my new diet (I made one Cilantro Lime Chicken and Beef Stew) [...]
Keep this coming! I really need these! Thank you so much!
Please consider making this a regular menu, at the very least in mini-form! This is exactly what I’ve been needing!
We did the Paleo menu this month…please keep doing it! We’ve been paleo for 4 months now and this kind of thing is so helpful. I noticed your diet mini menu for May is also paleo adaptable.
So very excited to see this mini menu…my husband has been eating Paleo for a while now and I’ve finally jumped on the wagon too. My struggle has been with making Paleo recipes that are convenient so I am so happy to have found this….I can incorporate meals my husband loves and my love for freezer cooking!!! Thank you! I am looking forward to more mini menus in the future.
You’re welcome we’re happy to help!
So great to see a Paleo menu! Please keep it as a regular feature!! I have many Paleo cookbooks and websites that I frequent but it’s nice to have a OAMM menu set out!! So much easier!!
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can’t tell you how you have improved the quality of my life with this wonderful Paleo mini menu. Not having to decide what to cook everyday will be a blessing!
THANK YOU!!! I’ve loved your site but really, really wanted a Paleo option. I have shared this with a couple of friends and one just did her first ever once a month cooking! Please, please keep it at least as a mini menu!
Keep sharing and we just may!
Love that you’ve included a paleo menu. I do hope you will continue this. There are lots of paleo recipe seekers out there who will really love this! Keep the good stuff coming!
We appreciate the enthusiasm and are making considerations for future ones. The feedback from readers helps tremendously.
When my friend told me about your site I figured it was all processed, white flour, casserole type meals. I am SO excited about what I found! Not only a whole foods menu and a blog post in favor of raw milk, but a Paleo menu too. Thank you! I’m going to start with this mini menu this weekend! We’ve been Paleo for a few months and it gets tiring cooking fresh every day. You may have saved my summer!
Yes, that is a major misnomer with freezer food. I am so glad that you found us and found menus that fit your family. We are glad to have you! Let us know how the cooking goes and what you do with your “saved summer”. :)
I hope the Paleo freezer meals become a regular! I first started using your website to go gluten free. You have helped me tremendously in that endeavor. We are now trying to stick to the Paleo diet and did not even know where to start. I am so excited to try these meals and I really hope you create more Paleo menus each month!
We’re happy to keep helping you out Heather! Keep spreading the OAMM word and we just may stick with Paleo ;)
I’ve been using your Gluten Free menu’s and adapted them Paleo Sytle. but I am so glad you did the Paleo Mini. I hope you make this a regular!
YES!!!! Thank you so much! I used your menus quite often a few years ago, and it was great for our family. We then made the change to Paleo and I haven’t made freezer meals since. Just checked back and found this wonderful addition!! I will make it this week – so excited!!!! I do hope it becomes a more regular feature :)
Well, good timing! And welcome back.
So happy to see a paleo option! Ive been intrigued by the idea of freezer cooking, but I was having a hard time adapting it to paleo. This will make it much more convenient to stick with nutrition that makes me feel amazing! I hope it becomes a more regular feature!
We most certainly are considering having it more regularly, we will keep everyone updated.
Thank you thank you thank you!!! IT’ssowonderful to have your entire website, but this has espcially made my life better! due to my husband’s health issues we’ve been attempting to go paleo, this helps so much!!
Count me among the folks who hope this becomes a regular feature! I usually adapt recipes from your whole foods and gluten free menus to fit my paleo-ish diet. I can’t wait to try this menu!
Counted!
So happy to have found this site! I enjoy cooking, but find with two little ones it becomes more of a chore at dinner time. I hope my 4 year old and I can turn this into a fun couple days of prepping for 10+ meals! We try for whole foods and gluten free as much as possible, and this plan seems perfect! Thanks so much for all your work, looking forward to trying out a new way to feed my family well!
You’re welcome and we hope you enjoy your free time after prepping!
Amazing. You guys were already pretty cool in my book, but then you went and added a paleo menu!
What I wouldn’t give to get one of these every month… hint, hint. Paleo is such a great way to eat, but it’s very easy to fall back into bad habits, unless you have a freezer full of healthy options.
Truly, thank you for everything you guys do.
Keep spreading the word Jessica! ;)
I keep checking to see if there is another Paleo menu… I really hope you get enough positive feedback to keep this regular (at least as a mini)!
This is amazing. I just had another baby and this is probably the only way they will eat anything other than pizza for the next few months. THANK YOU. Please do more Paleo!!!
So glad to have found this resource! I’m going back to work and needed some great paleo freezer meals – definitely putting in a vote for more!
:)
Ditto the vote for more paleo! I am going to try my first oamc this week when the grandparents come in to town. This will help me at the end of the day when I ask, “do I clean the house OR cook dinner?”. Now I will be able to do both :)
Yes, more Paleo recipes & freezer cooking! Getting my list ready now, love that I can put the # of people I’m cooking for & it’s all organized! :)Pinned w/a gold star!
Welcome Lisa! Stay tuned ;)
This mini menu is fabulous!!! I had followed your blog once upon a time ago, but since converting to Paleo found it hard to incorporate. My friend told me about the Paleo mini menu and this is just what I needed! Thank you. I would definitely be interested in a Paleo menu!
Welcome Liz! Share with your friends, and maybe your wishes will come true!
Thank you for this. I have to eat gluten-free due to a celiac diagnosis, but wanted more whole foods, less rice-focused meals and paleo has been my answer. But I was struggling with my OAMC, that I did still need for my busy family. More of these, please! And thank you for keeping this free!
Love the Paleo menu!!! This is exactly what I’ve been looking for!
[...] and freezing then OnceaMonthMom.com. Did you know that they’ve recently experimented with Paleo and [...]
[...] and freezing then OnceaMonthMom.com. Did you know that they’ve recently experimented with Paleo and [...]
Thinking of doing/trying paleo. I must have specific meal plans done for me or I always fall off the wagon! Thanks for the examples, I am going to try them while off of work for holidays since we don’t do traditional foods.