Paleo Grillin'

Today was a big day for many reasons! Number one, and most importantly, it was Memorial Day. Having a family member who was killed just days before the end of World War II, which left my Memaw a widow and my beloved Granny without a father at a young age, in addition to an incredible Granddad who served in three wars and taught us the meaning of the word "patriotism", I understand the significance of this day. I am eternally grateful to the amazing men and women of our United States armed forces, especially those who make the ultimate sacrifice. We are truly the land of the free because of the brave. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to those who keep us that way.


Memorial Day is traditionally a day where people have cookouts. A lot of the celebrating revolves around food and alcohol, which can make it very difficult to stick to the clean eating lifestyle. Many people see holidays as a good excuse for a cheat day, and believe me there are many holidays where I do the same. However, this Memorial Day I managed to stick to my paleo eating pretty darn well.

I was really craving some charcoal grilled food for Memorial Day. In my opinion there is absolutely nothing better than food off the charcoal grill. Gas grills are good, don't get me wrong, but they in no way compare to that delicious charcoal grilled flavor! I just love it. So we went to Kroger and loaded up on meats and veggies. Meat-wise we got some London broil, chicken breasts, and shrimp. Veggie-wise we got a lot...onion, baby tomatoes, squash, zucchini, mushrooms (y'all know how I feel about mushrooms!), and some red, yellow, and orange peppers. I also got some pineapple to grill up for dessert! (I LOVE grilled pineapple!)

Here is where it gets a little non-paleo. My husband cut the chicken and London broil into cubes for the skewers while I peeled the shrimp. We then skewered them and marinated them in some Italian dressing, and holy moly it was DELICIOUS. I know, I know, Italian dressing is most certainly not paleo, but using it as a marinade when I could have easily had hot dogs, cheeseburgers, barbecue, or all of the above, makes me ok with my decision. We marinated them for about 4 hours. The veggies were chopped and skewered, and then I poured olive oil all over them. Before being cooked the veggies looked like this...


And I actually manned the grill during this whole experience! (with some help from Tim and the boys of course, but I would say it was about 90% me!) Add grill master to my list of skills! ;-) Everything came out beyond perfect. I was quite proud! And the grilled pineapple was an absolutely perfect dessert for the evening. Usually I don't eat fruit after lunch, but I made an exception for some yummy grilled pineapple! :-) Here is what our spread looked like...



I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day and took a little time to send thanks up to the men and women who have made our lifestyle possible. Your sacrifice is never forgotten.