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.)