I've had a need for comfort food lately because of my new puppy. He's been with us 3 weeks now and while I've actually gotten a few full nights of sleep since, most nights I am up with him at least once. And unfortunately my adrenals are suffering as a result and I have that “tired but wired” feeling quite a bit. If I get up with the pup at say, 1 am, I'm usually lying in bed tossing and turning until at LEAST 3 am. It doesn't matter if I count sheep, meditate, go downstairs and read for a bit, stretch, whatever – my cortisol levels are spiked and I'm screwed. It's the worst when you are beyond exhausted and all you want to do is sleeeeeep, but your body is saying “nah, maybe later, time to play!”. Luckily my functional medicine practitioner was able to give me some adrenal support supplements in the form of some adaptogens which are helping a lot, but it's definitely something I need to keep an eye on for sure.

My new cutie pie

The last time this happened, after the birth of my youngest, I just pushed through it all, worked out the same, started eating terribly (with a lot of sugar to keep my energy levels up), etc and everything eventually came crashing down around me and I could hardly move. This time though I know to back off on the exercise right now (except for my weekly Barre class and some short walks), try to take naps when I can, go to bed early every night (sometimes at 8:30), meditate at least 10 min a day to help reduce any additional stress, take a few minutes for “me” time each day, eat as cleanly as possible with as little sugar as possible, and not be afraid to ask for help and support from my loved ones. And luckily for me, puppies get through this phase MUCH faster than babies. So we shall see how this goes, but it'll take some recovery for sure!

Anyway – comfort food for me in the “old, pre-Paleo” days included yummy pasta dishes. Well, that's out now obviously, but fortunately I can recreate them with some even more delicious sweet potato noodles 🙂

This Paleo and gluten-free sweet potato carbonara comes together in under 30 minutes and is a great option if you are looking to eat less meat in your diet. Paleo can get a little meat heavy at times, and I've been really wanting to reduce our intake lately. However, if you want more meat or need something a bit more to fill you (or your ridiculously fast growing children), you can easily add some Italian Sausage links or chicken to this dish. Either cook them in a separate pan from the rest of this or roast your chicken in the oven. I personally like chicken thighs sprinkled with salt and pepper roasted in the oven at 425 F for about 40 min.

This meal is also a great budget-friendly dish as potatoes are not expensive and sweet potatoes are one of those things that are almost on the Clean 15 list so I usually feel ok buying conventional to save some moolah. Same with mushrooms. Save your pennies to buy better bacon and organic spinach.

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If you need a tutorial on how to make sweet potato noodles with a sprializer, check out my video. The Paderno spiralizer I have is only $22 on Amazon right now, so it's a great deal!

I hope you enjoy!

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