I'm pretty bad about blogging daily. It's why I stopped really blogging here and just updated my Facebook page. I didn't feel creative enough, or funny enough, or interesting enough to post something every day.
But today I feel inspired!
After my super sad salad at Chevy's Monday I've been jonesing for a burrito bowl type situation. The problem is the majority of the delish components are off my menu at the moment. Beans: Nope! Rice: Nope! Corn: Nope! Sour cream...you get the idea. Then I remembered I had half a cauliflower left from when I made that amazing veggie biryani Saturday night. So I decided to adapt the recipe to make a Tex-Mex type rice that I could top with some taco meat, lettuce, and guacamole and then pretend like I got it from Chipotle.
Ingredients:
1/2 Cauliflower Head, riced
3 Tbsp ghee or light olive oil (I used ghee)
1 onion, diced
1 cup carrots, diced
1 zucchini, diced
1 can (14.5 oz) fire roasted tomatoes (I used Muir Glen)
Juice from the tomatoes, plus broth/liquid to get it to 1/2 cup
Taco Seasoning, about 2 Tablespoons (I used Danielle Walker's recipe, it's not online, womp womp)
Method:
Melt ghee in big sauce pan over medium heat. Saute carrots and onion for 5-7 minutes. Stir in cauli rice and seasoning, cook for another 5 minutes or so. Add broth, tomatoes, and zucchini, stir to combine. Lower heat just a notch, cover and let it bubble for about 15 minutes.
I just sampled a bit and I can't wait until dinner time.
Oh, and I'm still on track, I feel good, etc. etc. etc.
Wednesday, September 30, 2015
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Whole 30: Midway update
Well, I'm past the midway point now! It's all down hill from here. I read the reintroduction section of the book so I could plan for when and how I would reintroduce the food groups that I've eliminated these last fifteen days. In my "I just play a doctor on TV" opinion, I feel like they don't allow enough time between food group introductions. They call for 3-4 days, I'm going take a week for each.
Yesterday I worked a half day then met a friend for lunch. She's moving to Hawaii (such a pity, right?) and I might not see her for years unless I convince The Husband we need to go. Anyway, I had the saddest salad ever for lunch. I 86'd the cheese, tortilla strips, and corn salsa from the salad and I used salsa for dressing. That wasn't the problem, the problem was the portion sizes. It was a big plate of lettuce with maybe 2 oz of grilled chicken and 1/8 of an avocado with a sprinkling of bacon bits and chopped red peppers. Despite the lacking the portion size, it was tasty and I wasn't hungry anymore. Guess I can't really complain, then?
Last night I tasked The Husband with grilling up some steak, chicken breasts, and some burgers so we'd have some protein for the week. We ate grilled veggies and burgers last night, tonight is busy so we'll just have the grilled chicken. Actually, every night this week is busy! Band practice, homecoming parade, more band practice, orthodontist appointments, a football game Friday and so on. I knew if I didn't have some stuff ready, I'd be scrambling.
I'm still sleeping great except for getting up to pee two times per night. I fear that will never change, I can't remember a night when I didn't get up at least once. I've been meaning to analyze my FitBit data to see if I'm less restless and whatnot.
So basically this is all very boring. I'm planning, I'm eating, I'm feeling great, etc.
Yesterday I worked a half day then met a friend for lunch. She's moving to Hawaii (such a pity, right?) and I might not see her for years unless I convince The Husband we need to go. Anyway, I had the saddest salad ever for lunch. I 86'd the cheese, tortilla strips, and corn salsa from the salad and I used salsa for dressing. That wasn't the problem, the problem was the portion sizes. It was a big plate of lettuce with maybe 2 oz of grilled chicken and 1/8 of an avocado with a sprinkling of bacon bits and chopped red peppers. Despite the lacking the portion size, it was tasty and I wasn't hungry anymore. Guess I can't really complain, then?
Last night I tasked The Husband with grilling up some steak, chicken breasts, and some burgers so we'd have some protein for the week. We ate grilled veggies and burgers last night, tonight is busy so we'll just have the grilled chicken. Actually, every night this week is busy! Band practice, homecoming parade, more band practice, orthodontist appointments, a football game Friday and so on. I knew if I didn't have some stuff ready, I'd be scrambling.
I'm still sleeping great except for getting up to pee two times per night. I fear that will never change, I can't remember a night when I didn't get up at least once. I've been meaning to analyze my FitBit data to see if I'm less restless and whatnot.
So basically this is all very boring. I'm planning, I'm eating, I'm feeling great, etc.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Whole 30 Day Fourteen: Two weeks already?!
So today was Day 14. I can't believe it's been two weeks already! In general I'm feeling really good, I've only had to take my Meloxicam a few times in the last week.
Last night I made the most delicious dinner. Seriously. It was soooooo good. I made a vegetable biryani (another delish dish from Danielle Walker) and I put cashew chicken curry on top it (sans yogurt). Oh, I also left out the raisins. Because raisins are gross. I also added red bell pepper to the onions and stirred in fresh broccoli at the end. It was just what I needed to break me out of my food slump. I had some more for lunch today. It's seriously so good that I hope I dream about it tonight.
I would like to pat myself on the back for tonight's dinner prep because it involved taking a bag of soup from the freezer (a Day 1 prep) and putting it in the crock pot. Done and done. So easy. I think I ate a gazillion vegetables today.
I still need to master my mayo. I attempted to fix yesterday's debacle, but it turns out my blender is too big for such a small batch. So I'll probably end up buying a smaller food processor or a newer stick blender that doesn't require me to hold the button down because I just can't do that with my lack of grip strength/joint pain in my hands.
I'm still sleeping really well, too! All in all, I don't regret making the decision to give this another try. I've tried it before a few times in the last year and never made it past Day 4. One of my friends (she's also my neighbor) is sticking to the W30 lifestyle for the most part too, so it's nice to have someone so close by who gets it. She drank seltzer with me last night while watching Doctor Who. All in all, it was a nice weekend.
Speaking of Doctor Who...some may consider what follows spoilerish, so if you're not caught up or if you care, quit reading now.
Last chance...
Um. What the hell is up with the shades? Those better not be a replacement for the sonic screwdriver. Because seriously. What. The. Fuck?
Last night I made the most delicious dinner. Seriously. It was soooooo good. I made a vegetable biryani (another delish dish from Danielle Walker) and I put cashew chicken curry on top it (sans yogurt). Oh, I also left out the raisins. Because raisins are gross. I also added red bell pepper to the onions and stirred in fresh broccoli at the end. It was just what I needed to break me out of my food slump. I had some more for lunch today. It's seriously so good that I hope I dream about it tonight.
I would like to pat myself on the back for tonight's dinner prep because it involved taking a bag of soup from the freezer (a Day 1 prep) and putting it in the crock pot. Done and done. So easy. I think I ate a gazillion vegetables today.
I still need to master my mayo. I attempted to fix yesterday's debacle, but it turns out my blender is too big for such a small batch. So I'll probably end up buying a smaller food processor or a newer stick blender that doesn't require me to hold the button down because I just can't do that with my lack of grip strength/joint pain in my hands.
I'm still sleeping really well, too! All in all, I don't regret making the decision to give this another try. I've tried it before a few times in the last year and never made it past Day 4. One of my friends (she's also my neighbor) is sticking to the W30 lifestyle for the most part too, so it's nice to have someone so close by who gets it. She drank seltzer with me last night while watching Doctor Who. All in all, it was a nice weekend.
Speaking of Doctor Who...some may consider what follows spoilerish, so if you're not caught up or if you care, quit reading now.
Last chance...
Um. What the hell is up with the shades? Those better not be a replacement for the sonic screwdriver. Because seriously. What. The. Fuck?
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Whole 30 Day Thirteen: My dinner was better than your dinner
And I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.
Whole 30: What day is it???
I missed updating my blog on my Whole 30 adventure for a few days. Oops. While my energy in general has been better, at night time I'm toast. Especially after dinner making and kid wrangling and what not.
I tried a new recipe for Meatza and while I wouldn't call it a fail, I wouldn't call it a win either. It was just too weird for me to wrap my brain around. I topped mine with onions and peppers. It made me not hungry, so it did its job. It was not pizza. Sigh.
I changed up my salad for when I was at school and added shrimp instead of chicken. That was a nice change. The frittata/egg bake I made for brunch has been fab for breakfasts. Even though I'm eating a variety of things, I'm kind of bored with what I'm eating. To combat this, I'm making a W30 compliant chicken curry tonight. I need something exotic-ish and different.
So that's a basic wrap up from the last few days. I'm still following the rules and getting through my days. I'm waking up naturally and not feeling tired (as evidenced by my 7 am blog post on a Saturday).
I would like to discuss my homemade mayonnaise for a second, though. Even though it's tasty, it's just too runny. I've googled and tried all the tricks and it just won't set up and get thick and delicious like the store bought stuff in a jar. I'm going to make another batch today, but I'm going to use just an egg yolk instead of the whole egg. This makes me happy because raw egg yolks are far less gross and nasty than raw egg whites. Raw egg whites squick me out. I'm not worried about the raw egg, I buy eggs locally from a farm that lets their chickens mill about freely. I'm also going to use less lemon juice. The flavor has been a bit too lemony in my last few batches. Maybe I'll switch it up to regular vinegar for this batch and see how it goes. Oh....adventures in mayonnaise.
Lastly...these microwave chips are getting me through this PMS-y week. I think. I'm not sure if The Husband agrees. I hid upstairs last night while they ate real pizza. Well, it was Papa John's...I'm not sure how real that is. Anyway, look at these chips! From the microwave! No oil. Just potato and salt. Nom nom nom.
I tried a new recipe for Meatza and while I wouldn't call it a fail, I wouldn't call it a win either. It was just too weird for me to wrap my brain around. I topped mine with onions and peppers. It made me not hungry, so it did its job. It was not pizza. Sigh.
I changed up my salad for when I was at school and added shrimp instead of chicken. That was a nice change. The frittata/egg bake I made for brunch has been fab for breakfasts. Even though I'm eating a variety of things, I'm kind of bored with what I'm eating. To combat this, I'm making a W30 compliant chicken curry tonight. I need something exotic-ish and different.
So that's a basic wrap up from the last few days. I'm still following the rules and getting through my days. I'm waking up naturally and not feeling tired (as evidenced by my 7 am blog post on a Saturday).
I would like to discuss my homemade mayonnaise for a second, though. Even though it's tasty, it's just too runny. I've googled and tried all the tricks and it just won't set up and get thick and delicious like the store bought stuff in a jar. I'm going to make another batch today, but I'm going to use just an egg yolk instead of the whole egg. This makes me happy because raw egg yolks are far less gross and nasty than raw egg whites. Raw egg whites squick me out. I'm not worried about the raw egg, I buy eggs locally from a farm that lets their chickens mill about freely. I'm also going to use less lemon juice. The flavor has been a bit too lemony in my last few batches. Maybe I'll switch it up to regular vinegar for this batch and see how it goes. Oh....adventures in mayonnaise.
Lastly...these microwave chips are getting me through this PMS-y week. I think. I'm not sure if The Husband agrees. I hid upstairs last night while they ate real pizza. Well, it was Papa John's...I'm not sure how real that is. Anyway, look at these chips! From the microwave! No oil. Just potato and salt. Nom nom nom.
Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Whole 30 Day Ten: Gimme those chips
No really. I want chips. Thank the universe for that Pampered Chef voodoo chip maker. I had a potato's worth of chips this afternoon. Had to do it. It did the trick. This thing is getting me through PMS on the W30.
In other news, I woke up naturally at 5:30 again and had a great day. I'm starting to get sleepy now as I watch more Arrow.
I'll write a real post tomorrow when I'm not on my phone.
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Whole 30 Day Nine: Zoodles are not pasta, seltzer is not wine, and other truths
Today is my 14th wedding anniversary. Go me! Go us. We had a rough patch six years ago, but it's been mostly smooth sailing ever since. Normally on this day The Husband would bring home my favorite IPA or a nice bottle of wine. We'd get a little tipsy and then eat something super delicious that I didn't have to cook.
Things are a little different this year. First of all, I have seltzer not wine. And I'm making my own dinner. And I'm having zucchini noodles (zoodles). While zucchini is delicious, it is not pasta. Sidenote: Do you have trouble spelling zucchini? I do. I'm a great speller, but I always, always, always want to put one c and two n's. Anyway. I'm sure this meal will be fabulous, but it's certainly lacking the indulgent anniversary dinner qualities that usually come along with any meal eaten on September 22. I couldn't find a compliant marinara at the store (added sugar), so I made my own. I used hot Italian sausage for protein. I found a decent sausage [insert joke here], but it had sugar on its ingredients list. Guess what? I bought it. I cooked it. I'm going to eat it. Fuck it. The overall sugars for per serving was zero, so I feel okay about the minuscule amount of sugar that was contained in the sausage spice mix.
School was a bit crazy today. I had fewer classes to teach because while I was subbing with my same students, I was filling in for the lead math teacher, not the co-teacher. I only had to teach math, not math and science. At about 11:30 I felt like I needed a drink, but that was because 3rd period was OUT OF CONTROL. They've never been like that for me before. It was crazytown. I got a break at 4th period, so I ate my salad and regrouped. I got to see a few of my buddies from across the hall from Friday, so that made me happy. And I forgot I needed a neat bourbon. Then 5th period came in and it was so very different. They were far less crazy than their counterparts. And when I left after class, one girl exclaimed, "What do you mean you're leaving? You usually stay for science too! Don't leave!!!!" and another kid told me I was his favorite teacher. So that totally made my day. And these teachers. And their lounge. There's always something on the table that says "help yourself". And it's usually cake or some sweet bread of some sort. Today's offering was banana bread. I'm going to leave a bowl of kale on Friday and see what happens.
I hit the store after school to buy the non-compliant sausage, zucchini and stuff for brunch tomorrow. Schools are closed and a friend invited me to lunch since she's not working either. I didn't want to have to try to find something I could eat out at a restaurant, so I counteroffered with an invite for brunch at my house. I'm making a some eggs, home fries, blueberry muffins for the kiddos, fresh fruit and coffee, juice, etc. This way I know that I'm compliant. Unless I decide to throw some of that sausage in the eggs. You never know. I'm feeling crazy!
As to how I'm feeling, I feel like this is a good thing for my body. I'm less achy than I have been after being in the classroom all day. I went to the store after work and didn't bitch about it. I wouldn't turn down a long walk right now. Normally by 6:30 I'm exhausted and, as The Husband likes to call it, I've retired to my chambers. While I'm tired, I'm not beat. I feel less fluffy. I do have fleeting moments of wanting to eat a bag of chips or a whole pizza, but they pass.
So that's today. I'm going to go eat my fancy anniversary dinner now. Here's what it looks like.
Things are a little different this year. First of all, I have seltzer not wine. And I'm making my own dinner. And I'm having zucchini noodles (zoodles). While zucchini is delicious, it is not pasta. Sidenote: Do you have trouble spelling zucchini? I do. I'm a great speller, but I always, always, always want to put one c and two n's. Anyway. I'm sure this meal will be fabulous, but it's certainly lacking the indulgent anniversary dinner qualities that usually come along with any meal eaten on September 22. I couldn't find a compliant marinara at the store (added sugar), so I made my own. I used hot Italian sausage for protein. I found a decent sausage [insert joke here], but it had sugar on its ingredients list. Guess what? I bought it. I cooked it. I'm going to eat it. Fuck it. The overall sugars for per serving was zero, so I feel okay about the minuscule amount of sugar that was contained in the sausage spice mix.
School was a bit crazy today. I had fewer classes to teach because while I was subbing with my same students, I was filling in for the lead math teacher, not the co-teacher. I only had to teach math, not math and science. At about 11:30 I felt like I needed a drink, but that was because 3rd period was OUT OF CONTROL. They've never been like that for me before. It was crazytown. I got a break at 4th period, so I ate my salad and regrouped. I got to see a few of my buddies from across the hall from Friday, so that made me happy. And I forgot I needed a neat bourbon. Then 5th period came in and it was so very different. They were far less crazy than their counterparts. And when I left after class, one girl exclaimed, "What do you mean you're leaving? You usually stay for science too! Don't leave!!!!" and another kid told me I was his favorite teacher. So that totally made my day. And these teachers. And their lounge. There's always something on the table that says "help yourself". And it's usually cake or some sweet bread of some sort. Today's offering was banana bread. I'm going to leave a bowl of kale on Friday and see what happens.
I hit the store after school to buy the non-compliant sausage, zucchini and stuff for brunch tomorrow. Schools are closed and a friend invited me to lunch since she's not working either. I didn't want to have to try to find something I could eat out at a restaurant, so I counteroffered with an invite for brunch at my house. I'm making a some eggs, home fries, blueberry muffins for the kiddos, fresh fruit and coffee, juice, etc. This way I know that I'm compliant. Unless I decide to throw some of that sausage in the eggs. You never know. I'm feeling crazy!
As to how I'm feeling, I feel like this is a good thing for my body. I'm less achy than I have been after being in the classroom all day. I went to the store after work and didn't bitch about it. I wouldn't turn down a long walk right now. Normally by 6:30 I'm exhausted and, as The Husband likes to call it, I've retired to my chambers. While I'm tired, I'm not beat. I feel less fluffy. I do have fleeting moments of wanting to eat a bag of chips or a whole pizza, but they pass.
So that's today. I'm going to go eat my fancy anniversary dinner now. Here's what it looks like.
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