Thursday, March 12, 2015

Day 4: Still truckin

High points: MC got the children up, dressed, fed, and out the door this morning so that I could have an extra hour of sleep. It was a precious hour. Lunch was leftovers from last night's dinner - such a nice break from a salad. Later in the day, with the help of an obliging Beckett (who used his library voice and entertained himself for 20 minutes) and a considerate neighbor (who walked Sadie home from the bus), I also got a twenty minute catnap this afternoon. MC came home early from work so that I could rest a little more and prepare dinner without running interference. Dinner tonight was our best-tasting Whole 30 dinner so far. Heeding Amber's advice, I paleo-fied an old favorite of ours: Chile Verde Stew. I omitted the beans and added one small red potato and one large plantain. Tomorrow I will brown some more meat and add it to the leftovers for the weekend and next week's lunches; I don't think each bowl of this night's version had an entire serving of protein. It was v. satisfying nonetheless. I have chia puddings assembled in the refrigerator for tomorrow's breakfast.

Low points: Well, this is, after all, a food blog. So I don't want to get too detailed and be off-putting to anyone who stumbles here looking for a cake recipe, or anyone who is checking out the website before coming to a class. On the other hand, I want to share an honest, thorough experience here because that's certainly what I've looked for when I do my Whole 30 Day X googling. In the spirit of finding a happy balance, here's my Cliff's notes/sanitized version: my head hurt all day, my cough and sore throat came and went, I had v. little patience with those I love most dearly, and I did not really want food at all. It is hard, however, to serve my children crackers and cheese and even beef sticks ("evaporated cane juice" is third ingredient) and not take a bite. I haven't though, yet.

Interesting points: Once I finally succumb to sleep, I have had v. vivid dreams the last few nights. This was something the Whole 30 folks warned us of - somewhere in the materials I've read, it states that Whole 30 dreams are up there with pregnancy dreams. My taste buds continue to change. I drank a homemade elixir tonight with whatever I had in my kitchen that might be nourishing and not gross (I just couldn't go the garlic-chewing route, Tommy). I used freshly grated ginger, a cinnamon stick, and some fenugreek and just steeped them in boiling water for a bit. As I was about to take my first sip, I braced myself for something oddly spiced and decidedly lacking in honey. But it was delicious, and soothing. I didn't miss the honey at all. Recall: my favorite food is cinnamon roll. Another surprise has been that I haven't craved our usual post-dinner snacks since I started the Whole 30 challenge. We typically have a glass or two of wine and chocolate or popcorn or cheese and apple or something. Not horrible, but not necessary. Since Monday, dinner, followed by a warm beverage (chicken stock, tea, my weird elixir tonight), has been sufficient. Who knew?

What I ate looked nothing like what I planned to eat:

Breakfast: Chia-coconut pudding with almonds, sunflower seeds, and blueberries (thawed from frozen), green tea Nothing. I just wasn't hungry.

Fish stew and loaded sweet potato lunch

Lunch: Tuna salad lettuce wraps, baked sweet potato, roasted kale, apple + Sunbutter sandwiches Leftover fish-carrot-ginger stew with a drizzle of coconut milk; spoonful of sunflower seed butter; 1/2 a sweet potato with guacamole

Homemade Lara Bars

Snack: about 2.5 hours after lunch, 2 hours before dinner, I had a homemade lara bar

Kale ChipsChile Verde Stew for dinner

Dinner: Plantain tortillas with leftover chicken and/or cod, make some scrambled eggs if needed; magic green sauce, cabbagy variation on this date slaw, guacamole, big green salad Some roasted kale, while I was cooking, and then Chile Verde Stew with some sprinkled roasted kale on top

Good night friends. xoxox

1 comment:

  1. If you in fact watched my garlic video, I'm not surprised it didn't inspire you to try that particular fix.

    Hunger is a bit of a roller coaster, but nothing scary; it's that old, white, rickety wooden Valleyfair one, nothing to call home about. I do find that as long as I have good music playing, which is much of the time I'm home, then I forget about most cravings.

    I tell ya, though, I had a close call when I stopped at the store on the way home for a couple of ingredients. I stood frozen at the self checkout line for no less than 2 minutes holding a NO ****ING WAY THAT'S PALEO item in my hand after scanning the two things I was there for. I finally put the damn thing down and got the hell outta there. I definitely couldn't accomplish-or embark upon-this challenge without a friend for motivation, humor, and accountability. Grateful for the great Edith.

    Breakfast: Ham and eggs a.k.a. "Tommy's filet migNOMelette". Pear.
    Lunch: Lettuce wraps w/ leftover chicken.
    Snack: Larabar, olives
    Dinner (6:15pm, but TO BE CONTINUED...) Baked swt. pot. On deck is more lettuce, with a little nut butter inside, and some leftover killer fish stew I brewed for last night's dinner + plus that healer of a cup of bone broth. (I don't heal like I used to in my "prime", so hopefully a month of this funky challenge and some of its agents will help remedy some serious nagging injuries I've been refusing to sit out basketball for six weeks or so to let heal. Also, I refuse to see yet another doctor that will tell me to do just that: "rest". More like be restless and fat. The injuries, you ask? Sports hernia and torn rotator cuff. Ouch every time I step out on the court, but...#STILLGOING)

    Hope you're feeling better into the weekend, E.

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