Updates forthcoming.

I know I got behind! Forgive me, as life can get in the way sometimes. I'll be sitting down to update days four and five together in one larger entry later on tonight.

Day Three. Dinner.

First... Snacks.

Figs are so pretty, but I wish they tasted better.

So, I decided to try Nom Nom Paleo's Garlic Cauliflower "Mashed Potatoes", mostly because they were a make-ahead recipe, and I was tired of cleaning the house, and needed an excuse to stop.

All you do is chop five cloves of garlic, and prep an entire head of cauliflower. Then steam 'em.

So much glorious garlic.

Then pop them in a food processor, or blender, or whatever you have on hand. Add some nutmeg, salt, pepper, and ghee.

I may or may not have used my baby bullet.

Then... you turn it on and stuff.

Viola.

These went with some Blackberry Glazed Pork Chops. They actually ended up having to be pan fried, and broiled, because we realized too late that we were out of charcoal.

So deceiving.

They looked pretty, but were a huge pain in the butt, and I couldn't help thinking how much the blackberry sauce could've benefitted from just the slightest bit of sweetness. I wished to the gods that I had some natural fruit juice, so that I could add just a splash in, but alas... I did not. To me the sauce was just too bitter. The "mashed potatoes" were a win, though, so there's that.

Today was a tough day. I'm feeling a little down for other, non-related, personal reasons, so it's been rough. I felt like giving up for the first time today, but Brian talked me down. Being female, and totally hormonal sucks so much... Especially when you realize how heavily you lean on food for emotional support. Ridiculous.

Anyway, I had a bowl of watermelon, and sulked quietly by myself as I counted down the days, instead of eating that brownie that I desperately wanted. Twenty-seven.

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Sigh. Here's hoping that tomorrow is better.

But to end this entry, a picture of my nutty boy because it makes me smile.

Love.

  

Day Three. Breakfast filled with awesome.

It's day three. I can't even believe it. I woke up this morning from a horrible dream where I had consumed an entire box of Junior Mints. It was horrific. I was devastated. Then I remembered that the only thing I did last night after dinner was look up recipes. It took me a lot of running over events in my head before I could convince myself that it was, in fact, a dream. No candy was consumed! I love that I was so disappointed in my dream self. It just reaffirmed what this program means to me, and gave me a little boost of determination.

After I got my lazy butt out of bed, I finished my morning chores, and got the munchkin up. We made our way into the kitchen. He took off to find some toys in the living room, and I got started on breakfast. Today I was determined to attempt a Soufflé Frittata! I set to sautéing my veggies (spinach, tomatoes, and white onion), and then I went to the refrigerator and got out my ghee! My handmade ghee! The ghee I made all by myself. I melted it, and brought it back to room temp., as the recipe requests.

Behold. Ghee in all it's melted, translucent glory.

Then, I brought my mixer out and beat me some egg whites.

These peaks aren't quite as stiff as I wanted, so I beat them a little longer.

I folded in the veggies and egg yolk mixture.

The colors! The colors! I always love the colors!

Then I poured the whole thing into my little 8 inch frying pan. I'll admit, it was a tight fit, and I was worried that it wouldn't cook right.

It's taking over.

But with some adjustments on the timing... It came out beautifully. Down to the very last bite. This dish was mother and munchkin approved.

Essentially veggies nestled in clouds.

The only adjustments I'd make would be to include a little bit more than the 1/3 cup of veggies that she recommends, and I definitely need to be less shy about folding them in, because they sort of settled to the bottom funny. That certainly didn't effect the taste at all, just the presentation.

After breakfast, I remembered my "slimming water concoction". I took it out of the refrigerator, and removed the cucumbers, and lemons, so that I could make sure it kept longer. Then I poured myself a glass.

So glowy. It's like magic.

This day is looking even better than the last.

Day Two. Some snackage, and dinner.

This post will be short, and sweet.

Midway through the day, after our delicious turkey patty lunch that I decided to serve with steamed yellow squash... My little munchkin insisted that he was hungry for a snack. So, I sliced some strawberries, and half a banana.

Strawberries and bananas are bffs. This is known.

And decided to split it with him. Sort of.

He's kind of awful when it comes to sharing.

For dinner, we had Baked Mustard and Lime Chicken. It turned out like this...

Nomilicious, or something.

It was awesome. I'll admit, the lime taste is extremely strong, but I'm very sensitive to acidity, and Brian said that it was delicious (he isn't afraid to tell me when things suck: my tarragon coconut chicken, for example, but that's a story for another day, or never). I whipped up the asparagus in the skillet with some minced garlic, minced onions, garlic powder, and a dash of salt, and pepper. They were delicious, as well. I sense a trend here.

That brought day two to a close. No complaints other than headaches, but I know it has everything to do with the sugar withdrawal. When I finally gave in, and took an Aleve, all was well. Actually, I'm feeling pretty super. Confident, even. I can do this.

That's my confident face.

So, that's it for now! Until tomorrow!

Day Two. Breakfast, and lunch preparations.

We started off this morning a little more slowly than normal. Brian had a meeting in San Antonio, which is about an hour's drive, and I had to jump out of bed to iron his shirt. After he was out the door, I got Liam dressed, and we had a little bit of playtime before breakfast.

Look at how innocent he can appear.

I left him to his own devices, and hopped into the kitchen to chop some veggies for the turkey patties I wanted us to have for lunch. I chose bell pepper, onion, some parsley, and celery. Normally, I just throw in some celery for added crunch, and I keep these relatively simple.

Before the transformation. 

They're like butterflies.

I stopped chopping my veggies to add some coconut oil to my frying pan. I actually really love coconut oil. It heats well, it doesn't have any flavor that I can distinguish, and it's so good for you! I got so distracted, and excited chopping up my veggies, and preparing the pan, that I forgot to season the turkey meat. Whoops.

So pretty, and so tasteless. Wait.

No worries. I hastily added just a dash of salt to their tops after I popped them onto the frying pan.

Before salt.

Of course, Liam came running into the kitchen when he started to smell the food, so I had to multi-task, and whip up some eggs for the little bird.

The bird reference feels like awkward cannibalism now.

After he finished his eggs, I popped back over to the stove to finish up the patties. They looked and smelled delicious, and I can't wait to eat some for lunch.

Can it be lunch now?

We had a little bit more playtime before I started on my last project for the morning. My bestie, who is one day ahead of me on the program, called it a "slimming water concoction". That is a satisfying name, so that's what I'll go by. Brian isn't like me, in that I can just drink water all day, and be fine. I don't need any flavoring in my drinks, I'm not a big fan of soda. Brian is the opposite, so I decided to make this for him to see if he'd like it. I followed the recipe my bff provided here. 

I love those colors together.

Except that I didn't peel my cucumbers. Ooops, but what can I say? I'm lazy. Or I forgot... I'm doing a lot of forgetting today. They were already in the container before I realized...

Basically a lost cause at this point. ;)

Still looks like hers, except, you know, my cucumbers still possess their skins. I like to think that I'm just a generous veggie drowner. You may be sacrificed to the water gods, but at least you still get to wear your clothes. Or something. 

Basically it might suck to be a cucumber in my house.

Well, that's it for now! Until dinner!

Day One.

Let's start with the obvious: Breakfast. This household is already a fan of the fritatta. I discovered them a week or so ago when I first thought about starting this program. I like to think I have them perfected. They are SO simple, and so much better than omelettes, and so much easier, and just as customizable, and and and... 

All you do is saute some veggies. Today I chose spinach, mushroom, red bell pepper, onion, yellow squash, and calabaza squash.

These veggies love each other.

Then toss them in with some eggs, freshly beaten. Then cook all the deliciousness as if it were an omelette, except... when it starts to cook on the bottom, sides, and these little bubbles start to form... Pop it in the oven, with the broiler setting on to finish.

It's like the eggs are having a party.

It comes out amazing every time, and oh-so-delicious.

For lunch I made us chicken salad wraps with the coconut wraps I prepared yesterday. This was very simple, minus the homemade mayo which I thought would be simple, but for me, wasn't at all. It took me three tries before I finally got the taste right. But oh, I must admit, it was worth it.

You're too pretty to be such a pain in the butt.

 I went very basic on the chicken salad. Celery, green onion, salt, pepper, some paprika, some white onion, and, of course, the hard-won mayonaise.

Simplicity.

 These are Brian's wraps. Delicious. Have I used that word too much already? I decided to just have the chicken salad by itself with only half a wrap to sort of dip it in every now and again. I was feeling full from breakfast still. All and all, lunch was a success.

Like little chicken salad tacos.

We did some shopping today, and bought my son some cute new outfits, and moccasin shoes. Then, we went to the park.

This is happiness, by the way.

Finally, dinner. I popped a pork roast in the slow cooker, and had it going all day. Then, I followed this recipe here. It was very, very easy. Just some tomatoes, olives, chard, and onion tossed in with the roast. Yum! It was our first time trying chard. Brian described it as "like spinach, but with a stronger taste." I honestly didn't notice much flavor from it, but I was sort of lost in a melt-in-your-mouth-roast heaven.

Olives, how I love thee.

 Day one complaints?

I want a cupcake. I've been calling them "phantom cupcake pains" in my belly. Other than that, I haven't been any hungrier than normal. My head's been fine. Nothing crazy! Today was a definite success.

EDIT:

Complaint number two? We're really going to need to get more eggs.

A lot more eggs.

Yikes.

The "before". A little about me, and some prep.

My name is Melanie. I'm 24 (almost) years old. This is me.

Cheesy grin.

I weigh this many pounds.

No comment.

This is my vice.

Hello, Gorgeous.

Or anything with sugar in it, really.

I could take or leave "regular" food, but show me a molten lava chocolate souffle, and I'll go weak in the knees. I guess if I'm being honest (and this is clearly all about honesty), I like the way sugar makes me feel. More specifically, chocolate. If I'm stressed, my god, do I just want to reach for a cookie. Hell, even when I'm not stressed, I want a cookie. Sugar makes me happy. Sugar makes me giddy. I love sugar.

Sugar doesn't love me.

My body clearly doesn't appreciate it the way that I do. If I even look at any piece of dessert, I gain a pound. My body cannot process sugar in any way that doesn't involve me gaining weight, and giving me bad skin. You'd think that I'd have sworn them off by now, knowing that. But no, I continue to delight in all things sweet. When I first heard about the Whole30, I thought, "no big deal. I can still bake gluten free desserts!" Ooops, no. That is one major rule with this challenge. You are not allowed to "paleo-ify" any junk food or desserts. No coconut milk ice cream. No flourless brownies. No coconut flour cookies. Nothing. This made me die a little on the inside, I'll be honest. At the same time, I'm looking forward to seeing how my body benefits from this reprieve. I'm getting off track...

I did some prep work yesterday. I made coconut flour wraps for "sandwiches". These are more egg than any bread, and, obviously, made from coconut flour. The only approved "flour," on the Whole30. I don't think that it really counts as a flour at all, really. Before I made them though, I had to answer this vital question:

"Am I trying to exactly duplicate or recreate the poor food choice with “approved” ingredients, or am I merely looking for a healthier, more nutritious substitution for that food?"

In this instance, to the former, that would be a flat out "no". I just wanted to create something that would hold whatever sandwich-y filling we might use on the days that we tire of lettuce. So, I whipped them up from this recipe here. I added some cajun seasoning to them because it's one of my boyfriend's favorite flavorings.

It doesn't get much simpler than that.

Who's pretty? You are, you are. You-you-you-you are.

I also made some clarified butter, but I forgot to snap a picture. And hey, that about covers it as far as preparation work went. Now for day one... But first, I leave you with a picture of the new and improved contents of my refrigerator.

Awww'yeah.