Monday Dinner

It's Monday, again. Only one more Monday during my 30 days after today and I'm a little excited. Okay, apparently more than a little excited. I've been having very vivid dreams the past week about cheating....on the Whole 30. Who does that?! I've been waking up, feeling dirty, like I ate pizza and drank beer at some point in the middle of the night. I may be winning the battle against cravings during the day (not really cravings, but more fond memories / daydreams), but my subconscious is winning at night. Seems like a fair trade, all things considered.

Right now I'm cooking up a batch of the ultra-delicious turkey sausage. BF is not here for dinner so it's just me and the pup, on our own, for dinner. I'll be adding some eggs and potatoes to the mix for a well-rounded brinner. Hersh, I'm sure, will be keeping an eye on my plate to ensure nothing escapes while I'm not looking. He's a good watchman.

The last week has been pretty good. I've been cleaning out the fridge by eating lots of leftovers and healthy snacks. I've decided brinner is my new favorite thing. Also, a warmed apple with cinnamon and almond butter for breakfast....holy. Moly. It is really that good. It's like a warm apple pie that's on the list of no-nos. I don't even feel like I'm missing out by eating it and it makes me feel full for most of the morning.

Well, on that note, I'd better go pay attention to my brinner otherwise I'll have an engine full of fireman to feed, too.....

Day 12

I'm happy to say I'm a third of the way through The Whole 30 challenge! I can't even believe it. I was really nervous starting this, doubting I would successfully complete the first week, and here it is...Day 12 (aka: the day after Halloween....aka...the only day of the year it's okay to accept candy from strangers).

Today my plan is to go purchase an immersion blender and mustard powder. Any W30'ers know what that means? That's right. I'm giving homemade mayo a try. My sister-in-law made it (she's also doing the the W30) and said it turned out well. I don't love mayo anyway, so I'm willing to give it a shot. I won't lie, this is mostly because she found and sent me a link for delicious sounding W30 compliant (of course) buffalo chicken sliders. Sans buns. That part is no biggie since I grabbed a head of lettuce to use as the wrap. I did this the other night with burgers and it was crunchy and awesome. I didn't even miss the bun! That's beside the point; I digress.

Today. Buy immersion blender. Buy mustard powder. Dress warmly. Mentally prepare for the cold. Go to grocery store and come home, staying in the rest of this frigid weekend. The end. That pretty much sums up my plan for the weekend. I'll do planning for the week ahead, but with it being so cold, I really just want warm, delicious food. I finally found jicama so I'm planning to purchase some and give my hand a try at the jicama fries. I enjoy the W30 because it's getting me out of my comfort zone, and forcing me to try new items I wouldn't have tried otherwise.

My clothes are starting to fit better and my face isn't as chunky. I have more energy for the most part. I was a little tired towards the end of the week, but that was due to the really early mornings, I think. I'm staying up later, sleeping better, and also waking up later. There are no longer 3pm lows in the afternoon. I've found it to be true that staying full is key. If the hunger even starts to creep in, I immediately grab an apple, Lara Bar, or olives. I have a stash of W30 compliant snacks with me pretty much at all times. Preparation really is the key to success!

Today is my mom's birthday and I'm going to celebrate! Not with wine, not with cake. Maybe with some homemade ice cream or butternut squash soup. That's right folks, it's about to get crazy up in here! And on that note, I'm off to create a shopping list!

I Survived Weekend 1

That is right ladies and gents...I survived my first official full weekend on The Whole 30 (W30). And let me tell you, it was no easy feat. I had a baby shower to attend and there was NO shortage of food. I pretended there wasn't any food there that I like. No hot, bubbly, delightfully cheese dip. Definitely no hot artichoke dip. Absolutely no cheese tray, and certainly no crackers. In fact, the only thing to eat at the party was fruits and veggies. Actually, there was all of that. Notice how I said, "I pretended there wasn't...." - that's key. I did okay with only the few pieces of fruit and two platefuls of veggies. No dip. At the end of the party, I watched the hostess with the mostess clean up and clean up the artichoke dip. I swear to you, I was THISCLOSE to licking the woman's spoon (in a non-creeper sort of way, of course). That was my breaking point so I said the goodbyes and left. And then made a mad dash for home where there was a bounty of fresh, W30 approved food.

Upon arriving home, I realized while there was no shortage of W30 food I craved, I made a burger. Did I mention it was the size of a dinner plate? Okay, so it might not have been that big, but it definitely isn't much of a stretch from the truth. It was probably the biggest burger I've had in a long time. After waiting 16 stressful minutes, I realized one very sad, sad thing. No ketchup. Oh, we have ketchup, don't get me wrong. There just wasn't any ketchup without sugar. I did the next best thing (in a pinch, with a dozen feeding type frenzy hungry sharks circling in my stomach) - I mixed Frank's Red Hot with French's and went to town. Hershey sat at my feet, switching up different positions every few minutes. If I hadn't known any better, I'd have thought he was a fuzzy clock telling me the time. This is one of the few times I didn't share with him. It's probably for the best. I was so hungry I could have eaten him. (No dogs were harmed in the telling of this story. Or, in reality.)

After the burger settled and I took Hersh for a walk, I created a shopping list and went to pick up some groceries. While moseying around Harris Teeter, I started to get annoyed. I was thinking about all the money being spent on fresh, nutritious food and actually got a little frustrated. And then it hit me. I might be spending more at the grocery store buying healthy food, but guess what? I'm not out spending money at restaurants, buying delicious tasting at the moment, but devoid of all nutrition food! Holy cow! Let me tell you, that really made me stop and think. (I also made time for a moment of gratitude to be able to afford the cartful of healthy food, because not everyone has that ability.)

After shopping, made a quick stop at another gathering. There were FAR fewer temptations so that was easy-peasy compared to earlier in the day. Fast forward to Sunday. No apple fritters and coffee. That is the standard breakfast for me and the BF each Sunday. This Sunday it was coffee (black), with a side of super yummy onion sausage with eggs. The onion sausage gave just the right amount of kick to make me feel satisfied. BF woke up just in time to get Part 2 of the breakfast that I hadn't yet gotten to.

Later that day, Hershey and I planned meals for the week. I figured it best to try and get as much prepping / cooking done Sunday so there are fewer chances of 'Hangry' spells during the week. Really, it's safer for everyone that way (win-win!). There were a couple of ribeyes that had to be eaten so those were marked for dinner. Most of the meat purchased Friday was divided and put into the freezer. I took some shrimp out of the freezer to make Tuesday, and left drumsticks out to eat Monday (they were really tasty). I also made Lara Bars. And 8 hard boiled eggs. And, a crockpot meal I found the recipe for on a paleo website....balsamic chicken and sausage. Holy balls does that stuff taste amazing! Perhaps I tried a bite or two when I pulled the crockpot out to let it cool down. BF agreed - it's amazing. You might be asking "Did she eat only steak for dinner? That's not a well rounded meal." You'd be right, it's not. I also grilled up cut up potatoes with minced garlic and evoo. I could have eaten the entire thing. I didn't, but I seriously contemplated it.

Today was good. I had packaged everything last night so this morning was a grab and go. I'm talking food, remember that. I actually even made time to cook the rest of the sausage with leftover potatoes and added egg at the end. After it was cooked, into the Pyrex and then lunch bag, and off to work it went. I practically inhaled that stuff due to the pure awesomeness. And then I realized....I have to train someone in an hour. Ah crap. I had another cup of coffee hoping it'd cover my garlic / onion breath, knowing gum and mints are not W30 compliant. After a couple cups of water, I felt confident the dragon breath had been slayed. That's right. I'm my own Excalibur! ha

I'm feeling confident about tomorrow, and the remaining days of this challenge. I seem to have more energy and am feeling more alert. Things are going well and I'm looking forward to the next couple weeks. Challenges? I'm sure there will be some. I can't wait to stomp 'em and keeping moving forward.

Day 4 of the Challenge

It was kind of a challenge, too. I didn't really prepare and was running low on leftovers. For the first time ever, I ate a sweet potato for breakfast. Granted, it had cut up apple with cinnamon on it, but still. It wasn't my favorite. A few hours later, I ate another apple. My boss is the best and let me out after completing my one major task for the day so I was able to zip to the meat market while the BF finished up. I was a little bummed to find out the bacon ALL had sugar of some sort. This was sad because when I called the other day, I was assured the non-smoked bacon was sugar free. Cue the waa waaa.

On the plus side of this trip to the market, I was able to pick up enough fresh meat to last at least a couple weeks (I hope). In fact, I'm not sure I've ever bought so much meat at once...no joke. My bounty included 5lb fresh hamburger, 4 ribeye steaks, 2 packages of drumsticks, the remaining lot of THE most delicious sausages - onion. (Seriously, those suckers are in high demand. If you don't get to the market earlier enough on Sat, they sell out and it's a little heartbreaking once you've tasted them.) Oh, that's right. I also got a few hot sausages and a package of beef stew meat. 

The BF always jokes I'm on old bitty, and how I like early bird specials. There is some truth in his statements. That said, because neither of us ate lunch, we were both starving by the time we got home from work. Guess what? We ate dinner. At. 4pm. Ha. I brought him to the dark side!! *Insert evil laugh.* The steaks, as always, were amazingly fresh and delicious. I didn't think steak could be better than the stuff bought at the grocery store, but holy cow, is it ever! The difference between fresh cuts of meat and store bought...well, there really isn't any. It's a hands down kind of thing and the fresh meat wins every time.  Go healthy, fresh meat! 

The Day After Yesterday

If you guessed 'today', you'd be right. I'm just too lazy to look back at the days to see what re-set day I'm on. I think it's Day 3? Like I said, I'm not sure. I'll look tomorrow.

Today was a great day. Work was good. Had an awesome lunch date with the BF over some tasty leftovers from last night. Today after work I went downtown to Charleston to see about starting this year's Christmas shopping. That was a bust, but at least the scenery was beautiful. I also had an engagement at 6p and knew there was no way I was tempting myself by going out, and there wasn't enough time to go home first. Guess what? There happens to be a Harris Teeter downtown. Yep, I popped in there and picked out an almost-one-full-pound-apple (I'm pretty sure their scale was off) and a bottle of water. I snacked on the beast of an apple and drank water on the way to the 6p and stayed completed satisfied until getting home for dinner at 7. What you didn't see is the grand opening extravaganza, which btw, offered a variety of deliciously scrumptious looking food (almost all of which was non-Whole-30 approved). I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little sad about this. Oh, and did I mention my buddy specifically called attention to the MOST amazing lumpia? Yes, she is on the 'you suck' list right now. I'm kidding. I told her I'd get one in 26 (27?) days.

Tonight was a night of leftovers. Chicken meatballs with spaghetti squash. I didn't really want the squash, but had some anyway, figuring it would help fill me up. Turns out that was a correct assumption.

I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with the clean eating so far. I'm not sure I'll still feel the same next week, but for now, really great. I swear I can see positive changes to my body already, but maybe it's just the optimist in me. Either way, it's motivating and I love it. (Note: There is a caveat to this...bathroom breaks. I feel like I'm in there 20 times a day?! What's up with that, clean eating??)

And on that note, I'm out. Time to relax and snuggle with the pup. (Okay, so maybe it's b/c my battery is almost dead and I'm too comfy to go get the charger. Is that so bad??)

Day 2...Again

You read that right. No, it's not a real life Groundhog Day situation. It's called the 'I didn't check the label closely enough and apparently the compliant bacon eaten on day 2 wasn't actually compliant". Cue the emphatic sigh. So there you have it. I'm back at day 2. At least this little mishap occurred on day 2 of 4 or I may have had a meltdown. Hopefully, this was a one time deal and there will be no more little accidental slip ups.

After feeling a little bummed out about this situation, I put my big girl britches on and did what any sensible person would do. I called the local butcher and asked about their bacon, of course. Turns out their bacon is sugar free....as long as it's not the hickory smoked kind. I can deal with that. As an alternative, there's also the Whole 30 okay'd bacon that can be purchased. Shockingly, when I looked today, it was in stock (the first time yet!). While I was tempted to jump on that heavenly hog deal, I waited and decided to check out the meat market first. And by meat market I do mean an actual meat market (butchery), not a strip club in some seedy part of town.

After getting past this little mix up, I went about my day. Again today there were mini snacks - all healthy and within the acceptable list (trust me, I keep the list on my desktop). I felt satisfied all day, but on the way home the hunger monster came at me full force. I wasn't tempted by junk food, but I immediately started cooking dinner the minute I walked into the house. On tonight's menu was chicken breast and veggies...pretty basic. It was delicious and if I'd taken 2 minutes to get the camera out and snap a picture of this beautiful masterpiece, I would have. However, that wasn't an option. This body wanted food and my only mission was took make sure the chicken wasn't raw and then eat. I'm kidding. Sort of.

The chicken breasts were cut up into strips and then put into a heated pan with about a teaspoon of coconut oil and then seasoned with Hawaiian seasoning. This stuff is amazing, or what the cool kids these days say, Amazeballs. Did I spell that right? I don't even know. ha. Well, continuing on, the chicken was cooking and all seasoned and my belly was rumbling. At the same time, I was also cooking up some rice and heating up green beans (for the pup). I'm not entirely sure, but I have suspicions he may have been eating better than me the last 2 months, no joke. His food was ready before mine and I eyeballed him with envy as he began to chow down. Luckily for both of us, my dinner was done moments later. It was SO good. I took the chicken out of the pan, added a tiny bit more coconut oil and then threw in the fresh green beans, mushrooms and squash. Within a few minutes (which seemed like forever, btw) those were done and I was on the way to my happy place (aka eating dinner). Another successful evening, BF approved meal.

After dinner was the evening walk with the pup. We both need the exercise, though I feel he did more so, as I found out he 'feasted' on 8-10 chicken nuggets last night with a certain someone while I was out for my paint date.  This is apparently what happens on the nights Mom is out of the house. Granted, the BF told me his plan; I just didn't believe him. Consider it a lesson learned.

To round out the night, feeling optimistic about my second Day 3 and look forward to visiting the meat market tomorrow. I'm pretty excited about that trip because there will be more than a couple little piggies going 'wee wee wee, all the way home'. And into my fridge. The end. :)

Day 3

Today was another check on the calendar, another success. There was a bit of a challenge thrown in by having plans with my girlfriend to have a drinking and painting night. I told her Sunday there would be no drinking for me and she was fine with that (she's awesome). I definitely ate more today than yesterday, but it was all Whole 30 compliant, delicious and nutritious food.

On the way to work (which took forever) I realized I didn't pack leftover sweet potato hash. Sad for me. That said, I still had leftover cabbage / shrimp / pepper combo from Sunday night's dinner so it equaled out. I had a variety of fresh fruit and a lone hard boiled egg to get me through the day before and after lunch. I had my last coffee before 2, even though I easily could have downed another.

We left work a little late which made me feel rushed to get everything done before the painting date, but somehow I pulled it off. I came home and whipped up some delicious guac (thanks for the recipe, Hilarie!) and cut up some carrots and peppers to have with it. While I was doing that, I managed to find 45 seconds to eat a bowl of leftover spaghetti squash with sauce and meatballs. Fast forward 3 hours, and I'm on the way home after a delightful painting date. I was heading to the grocery store to pick up more peppers (when ALL peppers are 10/$10, I buy 10 for $10) and had the realization - I was completely satisfied from dinner...still. If dinner had been pasta, I easily would have eaten twice as much and added a few biscuits on top of that....and I would have been hungry by bedtime. I would have felt grossly full and super tired. It dawned on me that it had been 3 hours since dinner and I still felt completely full and satisfied! Granted, I ate some guac and veggies, but I didn't inhale it as I might've had it been cheese and crackers (and last week, pre-Whole 30). I won't lie; there was a good chance a nap would've been had if there was no paint date, but there was and I pushed through.

Rounding out day three, there were some ups, a couple downs (mostly due to traffic), but all in all, it was a good day. I may have had a slight moment early this morning of wanting to punch someone in the face, but I didn't and my day went on just fine. Funny how that happens. Slowly but surely I'm realizing I'm feeding my body, and my soul. I need to give it proper nutrients. Who knew by doing such a seemingly simple thing would also taste so good?! (Check back in a week to see if I'm still saying how awesome it is. :))

Day 2 - Dunzo!

Okay...Day 2 of the Whole 30 Challenge. The day was actually really great. I ate sweet potato hash and a banana for brunch and was surprisingly full the rest of the day. I made sure to drink my 3rd and last cup of coffee before 1300 and was mindful to also drink plenty of water. I was happily surprised at how great my day was, and even more impressed I didn't feel the need to snack or eat lunch at 1100.

I relaxed for a bit after getting home by eating an apple, reading The Whole 30 book and then I started thinking of dinner ideas. My inner creative genius decided to make spaghetti squash (for the first time ever!) with homemade sauce. I read Hilarie's sauce recipe and decided I didn't have that kind of energy. As a substitute, I made my own version. The preparation went something like this. 

Ask BF to cut squash in half. Mission accomplished. Scoop seeds and stringy flesh. Done. Start gathering all the sauce ingredients - yellow and red peppers, tomatoes, garlic, dried basil from our garden, and an onion. Check, check check. The oven had preheated at this point so I put the squash in a pan, face down, covered it with foil and into the oven it went. I washed and prepared all the veggies at this time and after 20 minutes, put them all in the oven with their long lost friend, the squash. After being in the oven 40 minutes, the squash was still pretty hard so I put it back in for another hour. 

At this point, it looked like a bomb went off in the kitchen (again) - how does this happen?! I digress. I take the tomatoes out of the oven (they were heating up in some foil with garlic), and added them oh so gently to the blender, where they were promptly blended into a delicious base. To be honest, it was getting late in the evening, the tomatoes were a little more runny than I thought, and my dog was staring at me with sad eyes because he hadn't yet been for a walk. I felt my soul starting to wither. 

The other veggies came out of the oven and were put into the food processor, which decided not to work. Cue the anger / frustration / tears. I ended up aggressively chopping the oven roasted peps and onions and put them all together with the tomato deliciousness, and all into a saucepan with chicken meatballs, onion and mushrooms. Back to the oven to check the squash....success! It was perfectly cooked. 

By now, I was tired, angry, frustrated, and sad. All over dinner. Oh, and the sad look on my dog's face. I turned the oven off, covered everything and brought him for a walk, figuring it would make him happy and calm me down. That was probably the best decision of the night. Once we were back home, I realized I had zero appetite. ZERO. There was no way I was going through all of that just to put it away so out of spite (apparently, towards the offending squash), I ate a small bowl, packed the leftovers up, and sat on the couch. For exactly 10 minutes. I felt completed drained and defeated (but also impressed with the dinner - it was so tasty) and so at 2100 I called it a day. Successful? Yes. Mixed emotions? Definitely. I feel there should have been a sign somewhere saying "Buckle the seat belt and keep all hands and arms in at all times", because I was not at all prepared for the roller coaster of emotions. 

(Note: this was written on day 3 because of the aforementioned maniacal behavior and feelings.) 

New Post....WHAAAT?!?

The Whole 30 Challenge

Day 1

Feeling exhausted, but good. I’m not sure if the bacon used (Publix, low sodium, hickory smoked, no sugar) is 'Whole 30' compliant. I’ll have to look further into this. Dinner seemed to take forever and it was like a bomb went off in the kitchen.  I suspect this was due to a Dobby-like house elf that snuck into the kitchen and destroyed tiny sections one by one so I wouldn’t notice, since it clearly wasn’t me. Well, it worked. I didn’t notice until it was time to clean up, and holy cow! Talk about F-5 tornado zone…jeez. This made me momentarily reconsider the Whole 30. Kidding (sort of). I convinced myself it was so messy because I was making additional meals, as well as dinner. Trying to get ahead of the game, you could say. 

Breakfast: black coffee

Lunch: McIntosh apple

Dinner: Cabbage sautéed with a little olive oil, fresh lemon juice and HI seasoning (garlic, salt, pepper), topped with fresh-from-the-dock shrimp and red peppers.  Heated it all up on the stovetop and it was done in about 15 minutes.  Verdict? YUM! (BF and Hershey also seemed pleased with dinner so I’m going to mark this one a success.)

Breakfast for tomorrow prepared. It’ll be a tasty concoction of cooked up sweet potato homefries with no-sugar bacon (again, add’l research is needed to ensure this is compliant), onion and about 2tbsp bacon fat. Sprinkle with cinnamon and a bit of nutmeg, tossed in the oven for about 15 to add crunchy-ness and voila! Dunzo.

Ready to go snacks…stocked up on raspberries, bananas, apples and avocados. Oh! And, I also learned to make hard boiled eggs! I know, it’s a little ridiculous that I’ve made the ripe ol’ age of 3-4 and haven’t made hard-boiled eggs before. Consider that ‘to-do’ crossed off my bucket list.