Paleo Snobs

We are one week away from Rollercon, the annual roller derby convention held in glorious Las Vegas, NV.  Rollercon is a yearly event that is home to 5 days of skating, debauchery, skating, and more debauchery, and is held at the Riviera Hotel and Casino.

The Riv has the jankiest food court I have ever seen, and severely lacks in snacking options.  I know this, because I decided to nix all gluten (read: NOT paleo) from my diet this week last year, and I had so much (NOT) fun eating while I was in Vegas. I sat on my ass and watched roller derby for 15 hours a day, ate beef jerky (don’t worry, it was gluten free but it was really expensive), and drank Monster Lemonade Tea energy drinks. The only time I changed it up was the day I ventured away from the tracks, and out to the food court with a friend; I had black beans and awful steak from La Salsa. I more or less pickled myself between all of those chemicals in the Monster, the sodium in the jerky, and the stale smoky casino air.

I promised myself that this year, I would do something to avoid being in that situation again. So for the past 356 days – yes, almost a full year - , I have been planning on how I would cook and pre-package my food to bring with me to Rollercon.

I made my hotel reservation in January and I am fortunate enough that my room reservation comes with a mini fridge. If, for some reason it doesn’t, I will have a very large cooler (read: hide a body in) to store all of my foods in. I am so glad ice is free, because I will go through a lot of it. Also on the ‘To Pack’ list: slow cooker, Foreman grill, rice cooker.  Bet your ass I will be reserving all of the fat from anything I make on that Foreman grill.

I am very lucky to have access to a kitchen, thanks to my wonderful parents who are residents of Nevada, the day before Rollercon starts. We’ll be doing a lot of prepping there. By prepping, I mean slow cooking things, broiling things, eating things…stuff like that.  Pretty much making all of the things that aren’t breakfast.  I am cooking for 5 people over 5 days, so this is likely going to take all day, minus the hour we’re gone to do Early Bird Registration.

Are you thinking, “Tiggles, shut up and tell us what is on the menu”? Here is a rough draft of what I want to make/have on hand. Maybe more, maybe less:

Peach glazed pork roast in the slow cooker

Garlic Dijon Chicken/plain chicken breasts

A couple of vegetable dishes that are tolerable cold (to be determined)

Leafy green mix salad

Homemade protein bars

Pumpkin muffins

Scrambled eggs (in the rice cooker) and bacon (not pre-made)

I will post a full update on food, recipes and cool shit once I get back.

My cooking partner in crime for this trip, Jefa, also suggested it would be a great idea to have some pre-made stuff as well. She is a genius. She is also a mother, so that’s why she thinks of shit like this.

That’s Jefa in the middle, number 77, being used as a cannonball. Hi Jefa! Photo credit to the awesome George Medina

On the pre-made list:

Applegate Farms lunch meats

Steve’s Paleo Kits

Chocolate covered almonds

Hard boiled eggs

Fresh fruit (bananas, kiwis and citrus fruits!)

If you are going to Rollercon and were totally friggin’ stumped on how you can maintain your healthy eating habits, I hope this helped or at least gave you some ideas. You have one week to prepare, so make it happen. AND, duh, we already know this, but don’t forget to bring like six cases of water with you - the casino air sucks, the weather is hot and dry, and you will be drinking and/or super physically active. HYDRATION IS IMPORTANT. Write it on your hand, along with your room number.

See ya!

-Tiggie