Whole30 - Day 20

I can't believe it's been 20 days!  I feel really good.  It's definitely a challenge keeping food in the house since I have been supplying 100% of our meals.  It's noticeable to me that I sleep better, wake more easily and don't really seem to get tired during the day.  I have felt fine energy-wise with my workouts as long as I make sure to eat something before (usually 1/2 a sweet potato) especially if I'm teaching the class.
I have been completely compliant short of having a sauteed banana with unsweetened coconut for dessert a couple times.  Not too bad.  No alcohol.  That's a bit of a challenge but I survived a party and it was definitely easier than I expected!

Some recent meals that are worth remembering -

Sauteed haddock - marinated first in a little lime juice and garlic (30 mins?) and s&p.  Served with cabbage and onions and asparagus.

The homemade bacon came out AMAZING.  I didn't  use the "pink salt" (sodium nitrite) because I read it wasn't necessary...so why bother adding it!  I followed this basic recipe (minus sugar, fennel, caraway) and left in fridge for 5 days before cooking as in the recipe.

Delish breakfast with homemade bacon, eggs, and leftover sweet potato fries.

Easy basic chicken thighs/ tomato/ avocado/ salsa salad

The pups begging for food

Wild Salmon marinated in dijon, garlic, lime, apple cider vinegar and cayenne - served with sauteed kale

Coconut shrimp!  So good.  Chris followed this recipe - served with sauteed sugar snap peas and an Asian broccoli slaw.  Topped with some mango salsa :)

And tonight's meal-

I cooked a pork shoulder from our favorite farm, Blue Jingler, following this basic recipe/spice mix and using the crock pot.   The pork cooked for 10 hours and fell right off the bone...minimal shredding needed.  I served with mashed rutabaga - something I had never made (or even eaten) before.  We were both big fans!  I used some vegetable broth to moisten when mashing.   Excited to have a new starchy side other than sweet potato and winter squashes.  Also served with sauteed kale.

Chicken Sausage, Peppers and Onion with Zucchini "Pasta"

I got this spiral vegetable cutter for Christmas and finally broke it out of the box...

It works really well, highly recommend!  The blades are super sharp and there are suction cups on the bottom to hold it in place while you push the vegg towards the blades.  Can't wait to make some sweet potato fries with it.

I first cooked some chicken sausage and cut it up, then chopped onions, tomato, peppers, fresh parsley, and garlic and sauteed.

Boiled the zucchini noodles for ~3 minutes while the rest simmered-

 Added some all natural no sugar added sauce to the mix as well as a bunch of crushed red pepper, and combined:

Closest thing to pasta we will have!  Really good and veggie-packed dinner :)

Day 9!

Feeling good on Day 9 of the Whole30.  I received the book in the mail, "It Starts With Food", written by the creators of the program and started reading...  It all makes a lot of sense.  I am having some carb (cookie, specifically) cravings, but I'm going to have Chris take those to work and that should be done with it.  He ate leftover ice cream cake last night, and I was pretty ok with it (Being on a different couch).  I think I may have lost a couple pounds, but I am waiting until the end of the month to approach the scale...

This AM made a delish breakfast - avocado egg nests... Doesn't work as great as in all the recipes online... the egg fell out a few times and ran all over until I scooped out some xtra avocado and had it sitting on the perfect angle. Served with some fresh hot salsa and cilantro and black coffee of course.

Backsplash

We have been indecisive on the backsplash in the kitchen (STILL) and also don't want to dish out the cash right now for the pricey tile that we sort of like.  We have a New Years Party this year and the lack of a finished backsplash burnt my eyes when I saw the pictures:

A little over dramatic, maybe.  But the rest of the kitchen looked so nice!

So of course I got on Pinterest and searched for ideas.  We decided on a gray tinted chalkboard paint not only for the fun chalkboard use but for the natural slate look that it provides.  It was so easy to do I don't know why I waited a year to finally do something with the area.

BEFORE: 

AFTER:

Whole 30 Day 6

Enjoying the Whole30 - It's going great so far.  Been making some different meals, sticking strict to no grains/ legumes/ dairy/ sugar/ or any processed foods.  Still getting accustomed to 3 meals a day and not snacking.  Some of our recent meals are below:

Pancetta, Butternut Squash and Kale Saute

Salad with leftover chicken thighs, an avocado, and fresh hot tomato and mango salsa 

Thai Coconut Curry Beef with Mushrooms & Broccoli over Spaghetti Squash 

Beef, Pork & Vegatable Meatloaf with homemade baked sweet potato fries and broccoli

(Just so I remember how I made it - Meatloaf:  1 lb ground pastured pork, 1 lb grassfed beef, 1 chopped onion, 1 shredded carrot, 1 pkg frozen spinach (thawed and drained), minced garlic, s&p) 

We are currently curing a pork belly for bacon.  We will see how it is in a week! 

Sweet potato chips.  Also made beet chips.  Sorry TerraChip, I will no longer need your overpriced chips, these are SO easy to make!

Whole30

I'm participating in the whole30 challenge starting yesterday...

Our eating habits are generally good and generally followed the paleo diet... however overindulging in more unhelahty food, booze, and skipping workouts more frequently over the holidays has left me feeling (and looking) bloated and crappy.  Ready for a change.


It's a month long strict paleo nutritional program... not a weight loss program per se, they call that an added benefit but you really do it for health. I have never followed the no dairy part of the paleo diet before so that will be a challenge. But I like challenges. And no alcohol. Big yikes! However I'm not happy with my body and I exercise so it's obviously what I'm putting in...  There are plenty of healthy, delicious foods on the allowed list :)


"We want you to use the Whole30 as a learning tool to gain awareness of how the foods you used to eat were actually affecting how you look, feel, live and perform."


Basic overview of the program: http://whole9life.com/start/

Dec 29, 2012

Some fun playing in the snow with the barnyard friends

 I run, they follow!

 The house looking warm!