Completely agree with having food on hand you can eat. My weakness is sweets, chocolate in particular. I keep a stash of dark chocolate in different brands and flavors, because if I didn't, I would eat anything else that comes my way. Very little self control when it comes to candy lol
But the same goes for other healthy foods too! It's easier to avoid temptation when you have a good substitute.

Its been a few days since I checked into the forum and I see
there were lots of replies. Thanks!

Rabbit, thanks for the stir fry suggestions. I hadn’t thought of that. Soups are a good idea too.

Laurinda, I will check out Whole30 and thanks for the other
links. I hear you on the grains
thing. I totally get what you’re
saying. I think at the ripe old age of
38 I am learning grains are not my friend.
Also thanks for the photos w/ info.

RL, I am in Mexico.
The oven is Mabe brand (pronounced ma-bay). It’s a local brand. I searched the owners manual and found
nothing about the settings. I suppose I
could call HQ and ask but I feel kinda silly.
I thought maybe it was a thing with ovens calibrated to Celcius rather
than Fahrenheit, like 1=100, 2=200 but I have no clue if that is right or
not. I even googled a few times to try
to find general info on oven settings 1-5 but came up dry. If you know more about it please let me
know! Oven thermometers are a good idea
I hadn’t thought of. I like your
suggestions for sauces, vinaigrettes, etc – and how you broke them down for
silly old me.

Dianne, thanks! I
will look into these. I found some
options on amazon already just haven’t bought any.

Bettycrocker, let me know how the anti inflammatory diet
goes for you.

Texstyle, let me know what you think of the AIP stuff you
read. And yummo, bacon wrapped
asparagus!

Trekkiegirl, wow, you have a lot of restrictions, too. Glad you manage, that gives me hope.

Marlene, I am so glad you feel like AIP is worth it. I just need to start and get over the
emotional part of it.

Jackiec, thanks for the practical suggestions.

LBD, that sounds great, please keep me posted and feel free
to PM me if needed.

British ovens used to come with readings Gas Mark 1 to 5. British cookbooks will often have that as the heat setting alongside or instead of the temperature. I thought one of our UK fabbers would chime in and set you straight. Barring that, I would google either what the equivalent is, or a cookbook/recipe collection.

Just chiming in to wish you luck, and to add that it is normal to grieve when we are about to embark on a big change. And food is really emotional, so the grief is even sharper for many of us.

I really like what Rachy said about learning to associate certain foods with feeling lousy (or great) -- as soon as you recognize that, you'll start to understand that you are choosing to eat in a way that makes you feel good, not "giving up" something of great value. But it may take a bit of experimentation before you figure out your own personal no-goes. What works for one is not right for another.

I am with Jackie -- preparation is everything. But preparation need not be hard. You can set aside a couple of hours one weekend day to do the prep for most of the week. The way we do it at our house is to ensure we make enough of the protein to last at least two meals (often more). Last night's supper protein becomes today's lunch protein. Most of my lunches consist of a humungous green salad, plus lean protein, plus a square of dark chocolate, and some fruit.

Also, think outside the breakfast box. In North America, we tend to think that breakfast "must" be a starchy sweet (like muffins or pastry) or a specific protein (like eggs). But why? Why can't breakfast be like any meal? I often eat soup for breakfast, or roast chicken plus veggies. It takes a week or so to get used to the change, but once you do, you won't look back.

L'abelle, I was wondering if our settings are the same as UK. I noticed watching some uk cooking shows they used gas marks rather than temps. Maybe someone will chime in.

Suz, after moving to mexico I eat all sorts of things for breakfast. It's really refreshing thanks for the other suggestions. Too tired to reply to each but know I appreciate the feedback.

Oh, I noticed a mental typo: sauces (flour, butter and a liquid like oil or milk)... make that 'cream or stock or milk,' not oil. Duh. The butter is the oil.

Ok. I googled the Mabe company... you can email customer service: http://www.serviplus.com.mx/Es.....vicio.aspx

I rely on you for an email in Spanish, lol My Spanish is *Bakery Spanish*: All about baking and teasing people about their new boyfriend/girlfriend and how we all should be drinking some beer instead of working right now. Haha!

...But if it's a Mabe, I'm thinking these are highly likely to be the equivalents - but I'd put some thermometers in and turn the oven on and see what's what.

• 250 Fahrenheit = 130 Celsius / Centigrade = .25 Gas Mark = Cool
• 275 Fahrenheit = 140 Celsius / Centigrade = .5 Gas Mark = Very Slow
• 300 Fahrenheit = 150 Celsius / Centigrade = 1 Gas Mark = Very Slow
• 325 Fahrenheit = 170 Celsius / Centigrade = 1.5 Gas Mark = Slow
• 350 Fahrenheit = 180 Celsius / Centigrade = 2 Gas Mark = Moderate
• 375 Fahrenheit = 190 Celsius / Centigrade = 2.5 Gas Mark = Moderate
• 400 Fahrenheit = 200 Celsius / Centigrade = 3 Gas Mark = Moderately Hot
• 425 Fahrenheit = 220 Celsius / Centigrade = 3.5 Gas Mark = Fairly Hot
• 450 Fahrenheit = 230 Celsius / Centigrade = 4 Gas Mark = Hot
• 475 Fahrenheit = 240 Celsius / Centigrade = 4.5 Gas Mark = Very Hot
• 500 Fahrenheit = 250 Celsius / Centigrade = 5 Gas Mark = Extremely Hot

hi abc,
below I listed the best blogs (according to me anyway:)) for AIP resources and recipes:
http://autoimmune-paleo.com - they do recipes round up so you can go explore other blogs - there is lots of resources out there so don't get discouraged. mickey's cookbook is great.
http://healingfamilyeats.com - Kate recipes are amazing and they all work!!! she also links to amazon for ingredients she uses, which was extremely helpful for me in the beginning
http://www.thepaleomom.com - no introduction needed. great blog and her books are super informative.
http://www.phoenixhelix.com/media/ - very good podcast and solid blog.

from my experience a first few weeks are challenging. clean a kitchen and pantry of anything you cannot eat. it is really helpful to make a weekly meal plan, grocery list and prep as much food as you can in advance. double the recipes and freeze the additional portions. in order to succeed you need to always have food you can eat on hand. start with something easy that looks super tasty to you and look at a whole process as an adventure. focus on what you gaining, stay positive :)!!! I am deeply grateful for all the people who freely share their AIP knowledge and journey. without them it would be super rocky and lonely road. good luck!

RL! I am impressed you know "bakery Spanish" - ha, I bet it is full of fun slang, the kinds of things you don't learn in a book (the types of things I had to learn after moving here). I digress - THANK YOU for the settings. I think I will email CS just to be sure but this is amazing!! Thank you sooo much!! And as an aside, no wonder my chocolate chip cookies weren't baking up quite right. Guessing at the temp isn't the way to go, haha.

Iari, thank you for the pracitcal advice and links. I will be sure to check them out.

You guys have been so great with my inquiry! Thanks for all of the hints, suggestions and moral support. I was a bit scared to post this but now I have no regrets. Thanks again to all.