Life 88 Days After My Whole30

Saturday, April 30, 2016. Whole30 plus 88 days of Clean Eating.  Mostly.

Let’s see what today brings…

4:00  AM.  It’s raining.  Hard.  Hard enough to wake me up, and wake the 2 dogs.  Jane?  Oblivious.  Me?  Back to sleep after a few minutes.

4:30 AM.  Moggy, our gray stripy tom cat, thinks this is the best time for some attention.  I’m not kidding when I say that this cat is walking on my face and head.  I give the dumb cat some attention, “readjust”, and back to sleep (again) after a few more minutes.

6:30 AM.  Jane’s alarm.  She’s volunteering for a few hours with C5 today.  I’m up, too.  A few cups of black coffee.

8:oo AM.  Breakfast.  I halved and then sliced some small yellow potatoes and cooked them in the TFal ActiFry, sliced (on the bias, as the chef’s would say) some Aidells Chicken and Apple sausages  and heated them in a frying pan just long enough to caramelize a little, and scrambled up some egg whites with my veggie mixed added.  I had to double-up on everything because our son was actually awake AND ate breakfast with me this morning!

Fully Compliant

2:00 PM.  Jane’s putting together some avocado deviled eggs for our bi-weekly family dinner.

Fully Compliant

Deviled eggs using avocado instead of mayonnaise, threw in some lime juice, cilantro, salt, white pepper, cayenne, and topped with paprika.  Of course, we had to sample them to make sure they were good.  They were.  So here’s what’s interesting – the egg carriers that we have hold 18 egg halves.  I mean, really?!?!  Do the math, egg keeper carrier people!  These egg carriers must have been designed by the same people who sell hotdogs in packs of 10, but hot dog buns in pack of 8.  Conspiracy!!!  Oh, and let’s not forget the Hebrew National hot dogs that come in packs of 7.

So now that I’m on a hotdog rant, check this out:  For appetizers this afternoon, Jane is also making mini corndog muffins.  She’s going with Nathan’s dogs and Jiffy classic corn muffin mix.  Gotta love Pinterest (so I’m told).

80/20 Rule.  Karma Strikes.  Bad Juju. No Mojo.

Unfortunately, these little pieces of crap stuck to the mini muffin tin and wouldn’t release.  Straight into the bin, as Jane would say.  At least we have deviled eggs!

5:00 PM.  Dinner.  Pot roast with carrots and potatoes, and a fruit salad on the side.  Oh, watermelon, how I’ve missed thee.

Fully Compliant

There were other foods to be eaten, but I decided to stay in the clean eating groove.  I went back for more watermelon.  Twice.

Whole30 Observation:  Here’s a tip from me to you – Tajín Clásico seasoning on fruit.  Say it like “ta-heen”.  Say it like yum.  It really gives the fruit a nice kick.

And with that, I think I’ll call it quits for tonight.

10:30 PM.  Targeted bed time.  We’ll see about that.

And so goes Step Four: Life After Your Whole30.  Today was a good day.

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Life 87 Days After My Whole30

Friday, April 29, 2016. Whole30 plus 87 days of Clean Eating.  Mostly.

Let’s see what today brings…

4:15  AM.  Alarm.  Awake.  2 cups of black coffee.

5:45 AM.  Breakfast.  Ground beef hash with white and yellow sweet potatoes; one cup of supposed to be scrambled egg whites with one cup of this weeks veggie mix: summer squash and zucchini, red and green peppers, and mushrooms.  I also had a half teaspoon of local bee pollen.

Fully Compliant

My eggs ended up in omelette form because I wasn’t paying attention to my cooking.  Look!  Something shiny!  *wanders away*.  It’s like that a lot for me…

And, for the fifth time this week, I’m going with the tried and true green tea this morning for the ride in and office time.

Here’s a side note from us – our friends little girl turned 5, so Jane put together these little cookie pops for her.

Little Cookie Pops For The Kids

Whole30 Observation:  Cookies = My Kryptonite, Achilles Heel, Samson’s Locks, you name it.  These little pops were made using Oreo’s and Candy Melts.  Oreo’s have always been one of my all-time favorites.  While Jane was making these cookie pops, I didn’t sneak single one.  But I did make an inquiry as to when a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies (with walnuts) might be making an appearance.  So I have Christmas to look forward to, I guess.

The view from my first stop this morning:

The view from my first stop this morning.  Snow.  In the desert.  At the end of April!

11:00 AM.  I just had to stop in to my office.  Lunch.  Another awesome green salad with half an avocado and leftover brisket, oil and vinegar dressing.  Delicious.

Fully Compliant

Lots of running around today.  I had a big bag of carrots and celery to chew on while I was driving around.  I managed to not hit any traffic this afternoon and made it home at a decent time.

4:00 PM.  Snack.  Sliced Red Delicious apple, and a latte made with a double shot of espresso and some steamed almond milk.  I’m feeling much better now that I had some coffee this afternoon!

Fully Compliant

 

5:30 PM.  Dinner.  Leftover encore presentation from last night, just re-packaged.  I diced up and cooked a medium white potato in the TFal ActiFry, sliced up some leftover grilled zucchini, and cubed up a leftover pork chop.  I cooked the spud ’til it was mostly done, threw in the leftover chopped grilled chop and let it get warm, then tossed in the zucchini just long enough to warm through.  Again, all the cooking was done in the ActiFry thing.  Another winner!

Fully Compliant

A bowl full o’ goodness.

Early dinner tonight due to us having to get on the road and attend a school event.

So with that, I shall bid you adieu…

10:30 PM.  Targeted bed time.  We’ll see about that.

And so goes Step Four: Life After Your Whole30.  Today was a good day.

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Life 86 Days After My Whole30

Thursday, April 28, 2016. Whole30 plus 86 days of Clean Eating.  Mostly.

Let’s see what today brings…

3:55 AM.  Awake.  Before the alarm. Arrghhh!!!!  2 cups of black coffee.

5:45 AM.  Breakfast.  Ground beef hash with white and yellow sweet potatoes; one cup of scrambled egg whites with one cup of this weeks veggie mix: summer squash and zucchini, red and green peppers, and mushrooms.  I also had a half teaspoon of local bee pollen.

Fully Compliant

I’m going with the tried and true green tea this morning for the ride in and office time.

11:00 AM.  Lunch.  I had a delicious green salad with left over brisket on top.

Fully Compliant

The rest of this afternoon will be spent running around town.  No more office time.  Carrots, celery, and apples will be joining me on my travels.

Whole30 Observation:  Or just an observation in general – My coffee groove has been busted again this afternoon, and the universe is out of order.  I may have to kill an espresso later on, probably after dinner.  I really like my afternoon coffee and I feel like I missed a key part of my day when I don’t have one.

6:00 PM.  Dinner.  Grilled pork chops, grilled zucchini spears, and white potatoes cubed up and cooked in the TFal ActiFry.  We’re still going strong with this gadget.  And, as they say in all of the home cooking gadget commercials – “Clean-up’s a breeze!!!” or “Clean-up’s a snap!!!” or something…  All of those potatoes cooked with only 1 tablespoon of oil or ghee, split between the 3 of us.  Not bad.

Fully Compliant

 

Well, that’s about it for now…See you tomorrow.

9:30 PM.  Targeted bed time.

And so goes Step Four: Life After Your Whole30.  Today was a good day.

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Life 85 Days After My Whole30

Wednesday, April 27, 2016. Whole30 plus 85 days of Clean Eating.  Mostly.

Let’s see what today brings…

4:15 AM.  Alarm. Awake.  2 cups of black coffee.

5:45 AM.  Breakfast.  Ground beef hash with white and yellow sweet potatoes; one cup of scrambled egg whites with one cup of this weeks veggie mix: summer squash and zucchini, red and green peppers, and mushrooms.  I also had a half teaspoon of local bee pollen.

Fully Compliant

I’ve got some green tea for this morning for the ride in and office time.

11:00 AM.  Lunch.  I had a tasty green salad, left over smothered pork chop, and mashed potatoes made with chicken stock and ghee.  Pretty darn tasty.

Fully Compliant

I tried to fluff-up the potatoes with a fork before taking the picture.  I’m not sure what they look like here!

5:00 PM.  Dinner.  Roasted brisket with carrots and potatoes.  Another hit!

Fully Compliant

Let’s talk about this gravy for a second – Basically, you take the left over drippings off of the bottom of the pan, along with the other stuff that kind of fell in during the roasting process, which includes lots of onions, and blend them down into a sauce.  This gravy is the best!

That’s about it for now.

9:30 PM.  Targeted bed time.

And so goes Step Four: Life After Your Whole30.  Today was a good day.

Return to Life 84 Days After My Whole30 or Continue to Life 86 Days After My Whole30

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Life 84 Days After My Whole30

Tuesday, April 26, 2016. Whole30 plus 84 days of Clean Eating.  Mostly.

Let’s see what today brings…

4:15 AM.  Alarm. Awake.  2 cups of black coffee.

I just remembered that I forgot to add a photo and publish the blog last night before bed, so there I was, in the wee hours of the morning, trying to do something other than drink coffee, watch the news or watch Sports Center.

5:45 AM.  Another wonderful breakfast of ground beef hash with white and yellow sweet potatoes; one cup of scrambled egg whites with one cup of this weeks veggie mix: summer squash and zucchini, red and green peppers, and mushrooms.  I also had a half teaspoon of local bee pollen.

Fully Compliant

 

I’ve got some more of that green tea for this morning for the ride in and office time.

8:00 AM.  Acupuncture appointment.  Third one.  Trying to see if that helps with the sinuses.  I’ve also been eating bee pollen every day and having a tablespoon of Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar to see if that helps.  Nose job?  Probably next…

11:00 AM.  Lunch.  I had a tasty green salad with half an avocado and a grilled chicken breast on top.  Always good.

Fully Compliant

6:00 PM.  Dinner.  Protein-style hamburgers with white sweet potato fries.

Fully Compliant

Again with the TFal ActiFry – we’ve been using this a lot lately.  Let’s see if it stays that way…  Also, I made some killer sparkling white tea with Silver Needle white tea and the SodaStream carbonator.  Pour this over some ice and add a slice of lemon, and life is good.

That’s about it for now.

9:30 PM.  Targeted bed time.

And so goes Step Four: Life After Your Whole30.  Today was a good day.

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Life 83 Days After My Whole30

Monday, April 25, 2016. Whole30 plus 83 days of Clean Eating.  Mostly.

Let’s see what today brings…

4:15 AM.  Alarm. Awake.  2 cups of black coffee.

5:45 AM.  Breakfast.  Ground beef hash with white and yellow sweet potatoes; one cup of scrambled egg whites with one cup of this weeks veggie mix: summer squash and zucchini, red and green peppers, and mushrooms.  I also had a half teaspoon of local bee pollen.

Fully Compliant

I’m sticking with the green tea for this week’s morning after coffee but before lunch beverage.  I love this stuff and still have, like, a pound of it left.

1:30 PM  Government bureaucrats made me late for lunch.  I had a killer green salad with half an avocado and an Aidells Chicken and Apple sausage on top. *in my best high-pitched voice* Awesome!!!

Fully Compliant

 

Whole30 Observation:  Clean Eating Observation:  I thought I was going to be in trouble today with my gluten consumption from yesterday – waffles with breakfast, naan with dinner, as well as eating rice with dinner last night.  I made it from 6:00 AM to 1:30 PM without eating anything, and no sudden vicious hunger attack.  So yay.

4:30 PM.  Home.  Snack.  Sliced Red Delicious apple and a double shot of espresso.  I’m out of beef jerky.  I wonder how that happened?  Not bad, though.  The jerky lasted 3 weeks.

Fully Compliant

4:45 PM.  Snack V.2.  Caffé Americano.  Molto Buono.

Pienamente Compatibile

I should have put something in the foreground or background or maybe a saucer for perspective.  That is a 16oz latte mug, btw…

6:30 PM.  Dinner.  Smothered pork chop, mashed potatoes made with ghee and chicken stock, and Italian cut green beans.  Still one of my favorites.

Fully Compliant

 

That’s it for now.

9:30 PM.  Targeted bed time.

And so goes Step Four: Life After Your Whole30.  Today was a good day.

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Life 82 Days After My Whole30

Sunday, April 24, 2016. Whole30 plus 82 days of Clean Eating.  Mostly.

Let’s see what today brings…

6:30 AM.  Awake.  2 cups of black coffee.

After a trip to Lowe’s, I’m starting yard work and Jane’s starting breakfast.

9:00 AM.  Breakfast.  Scrambled eggs, bacon and waffles.

80/20 Rule

OK, so we got a brand new waffle maker for Christmas, and we’ve only used it once.  January 1st, 2016 to be exact.  We were way overdue.  We enjoyed our waffles very much.

Back to yard work for me, and back to cooking for Jane.  For next week, she’s making breakfast hash with ground beef and sweet potatoes; my veggie mix which will consist of summer squash and zucchini, red and green peppers, and mushrooms; Jane’s veggie mix which is zucchini and mushrooms; and she is also putting together a Thai curry sauce for later on tonight.  Seriously, if there was a way I could provide a smell link to what was going on here this morning…  I was working in the front yard and it smelled soooo good from outside, even better inside!

Let’s fast forward a few hours…

6:00 PM.  Dinner.  Chicken Thai curry on Jasmine rice, served with a side of home made naan.  I forgot to take a picture of the naan.  Trust me – it was delicious.

80/20 Rule.  Again.

So it looks like I invoked the 80/20 rule twice today.  Waffles for breakfast, naan for dinner.  And rice to round it out.  I should be back on track tomorrow.  No guilt.

9:30 PM.  Targeted bed time.

And so goes Step Four: Life After Your Whole30.  Today was a good day.

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Life 81 Days After My Whole30

Saturday, April 23, 2016. Whole30 plus 81 days of Clean Eating.  Mostly.

Let’s see what today brings…

4:15 AM.  Awake.  My internal alarm clock (it’s a curse) and my bladder think it’s time to get up.  TCOB, back to sleep.

6:00 AM.  Jane’s up and getting her day started.  She’s volunteering with C5 for a few hours this morning, and then she’s flying solo on the days first grocery shopping trip.

In the mean time, I have 2 Golden Retrievers on the bed who think that participating in a wrestling match and using me as the ring is a great idea.  Bless them.

Whole30 Observation:  Once you decide to give the whole “clean eating” thing a go, the longer you stick with the program, the easier the shopping gets.  (Especially when I’m sitting at home, cooking and eating breakfast, and writing on the ol’ blog while Jane is out shopping.)  Yes, you’re still reading labels, but not as much as you used to.  The “prep” cooking gets a lot easier, too.

7:30 AM.  After having a couple cups of black coffee, I’m moving on to tea while I’m getting my breakfast ready.  My tea of choice (since it was the first one I grabbed) this morning is Teavana Dragonwell Green Tea.  Good stuff!

Brew, Baby, Brew!

I guess ours is an older generation ‘Perfectea‘ maker, compared to the fancy newfangled ones they have now.  This is a 16oz/500ml brewer/steeper thingy, though.

8:00 AM.  Breakfast is served!  I took 2 small-ish yellow potatoes, diced them up and threw them in the ActiFry with a tiny bit of olive oil and ghee.  When the spuds were almost finished cooking to my liking, I added 2 sliced Aidells Chicken and Apple sausages and let them get a little caramelized before plating that mess up and adding 2 poached eggs on top.  And I use the term “Poached Eggs” rather loosely in this case.  The first one was a disaster, the second one was just a minor catastrophe.  In my defense, I’m trying to remember the last time I tried to poach an egg.  I got nothing.

Fully Compliant

Maybe if I put enough pepper on my breakfast, everybody will say “You like pepper much, dude?”, and nobody will notice the carnage of the poached eggs on this plate.  as if.

Afternoon running around:  First we went to Sprouts Market for cacao nibs and local bee pollen.  Then over to Costco for Aidells Chicken and Apple sausages, Kirkland dry roasted almonds, and GT’s Gingerade Kombucha (sounds gross but it’s delicious!) and finally a stop in to Winco to get the rest of the ingredients to make our trail mix and to grind up some almond butter.

Our trail mix consists of raisins, dry roasted almonds, salt and pepper cashews, pecan halves, pepitas (roasted pumpkin seeds), raw sunflower seeds, and cacao nibs.  Happy snacking!

Fully Compliant Trail Mix (Before Mixing)

8:00 PM.  Dinner.  Baja style fish tacos.  WAIT!  NO! THEY’RE NOT DISGUSTING!  They’re absolutely delicious!  The first time someone asked me over for fish tacos, I couldn’t come up with an excuse fast enough to not have dinner with them.  I showed up anyway because I heard there was going to be beer there, too.  Anyway, aside from the beer, it was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made and one of the best things I have ever eaten.  Ever.

Clean Eating

Start with cooking your favorite fish – we use cod.  You can use whichever fish you prefer, but I would stay away from tuna and salmon and other stronger or more oily fish.  Shrimp and lobster work well, too.  Don’t forget, you have to double down on the corn tortillas (the little ones).  Here’s the Clean Eating tag because of the tortillas – Ingredients:  Ground corn, water, salt, and lime.  So, place your cooked fish on the doubled corn tortillas, then add thinly sliced or shredded cabbage, pico de gallo, and a little squeeze of lime juice.  We also had salsa verde with ours, made with roasted tomatillos and just a little jalapeño.  Oh, and there’s also a really good cheater white sauce that you can put on these tacos to give them an even more auténtico groove – make your homemade mayo with avocado oil, thin it down with a little bit of lime juice and water, add some very finely chopped cilantro, and spice it up with a tiny bit of cumin and ancho chili powder.  Just remember, this is more about the “fresh” than it is about the “spicy”.  Dig in!

10:30 PM.  Targeted bed time.

And so goes Step Four: Life After Your Whole30.  Today was a good day.

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Life 80 Days After My Whole30

Friday, April 22, 2016. Whole30 plus 80 days of Clean Eating.  Mostly.

5:45 AM.  Breakfast.  I took the last serving of ground beef hash with sweet potatoes, and since I killed my veggie mix yesterday, I kind of appropriated Jane’s veggie mix of zucchini and mushrooms, and scrambled it all together with a cup of egg whites. And a half teaspoon of bee pollen.

Fully Compliant

I made a travel mug of green tea for the morning beverage.

Carrots, celery, apple slices yada yada yada.  Lot’s of running around this morning and a Doctor’s appointment at 1:00 pretty much screwed up my food groove.  Fruit and vegetables are fine, but I require protein to stay on an even keel.  Needless to say, I was pretty much off of my game and feeling like crap.

4:00 PM.  Home.  Food.  A medium white potato cooked in some ghee, 2 Aidells Chicken and Apple sausages and 3 eggs over easy.  Fully Compliant.  No picture.  The eggs were a complete disaster.  I actually should have taken a picture of the eggs, and starred in my own commercial for a frying pan saying “Has This Ever Happened To You?!?!”

Full belly, but I was still feeling like crap.  So what’s one of the worst thing you can do after eating?  Nap!  So I took one for an hour.  And I woke up feeling so refreshed!  Which is a complete lie.  I don’t feel any different.

6:00 PM.  Dinner.  Spicy Mexican beef and vegetables, and a side of cauliflower rice.

Fully Compliant

Pretty tasty!

Bed time will be coming up really soon.  Sorry for the boring post.

And so goes Step Four: Life After Your Whole30.  Today was a not so good day.  I’ll quit whining now.

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Life 79 Days After My Whole30

Thursday, April 21, 2016. Whole30 plus 79 days of Clean Eating.  Mostly.

4:15 AM.  Alarm.  Awake.  2 cups of black coffee.

5:45 AM.  Breakfast.  Encore!  Ground beef hash with sweet potatoes; veggie mix (summer squash, butternut squash, zucchini, red and green bell peppers, and mushrooms) scrambled with a cup of egg whites.   And a half teaspoon of bee pollen.

Fully Compliant

I made a little travel mug of green tea for the morning sipping session.  I was still a little mad about forgetting my big travel mug yesterday.  However, as of this afternoon, order has been restored in the universe.  My big travel mug is back in its place.

1:30 PM.  Lunch.  I really have to stop doing this.  Sometimes you get so busy and you can’t stop and have a proper lunch break.  Slave to the dollar, I guess. I had a great green salad with avocado and roasted chicken breast, threw down my carrots and celery, and chased it all with my apple slices.

Fully Compliant

Fully compliant truck salad, served on the center console of my truck.  You know, in some places you have to pay more for a salad served like this.  Ambiance ain’t free, ya know.

4:00 PM.  Snack.  A double shot of espresso.  Followed with a double shot of espresso.

Fully Compliant

OK, I have to write about this.  I’m not in any way, shape or form a coffee snob.  We have everything in our house from Starbuck’s Caffe Verona grind for the morning pot, to some pretty exotic single origin 96 rated top shelf stuff.  We really like our coffee.  Anyway, I keep seeing this Medaglia D’Oro espresso in the grocery store, and it’s really inexpensive.  So instead of thinking “How good can this coffee be at that price?”, I thought “Hey, if it’s really bad, I’ll put it in our vermicomposter.  The worms love coffee!”  So we bought some to try.  And yeah, this ‘bargain brand’ of espresso is actually quite good.  By good, I mean strong flavor and finish.

Word of advice to anybody doing this Whole30 thing:  Try different coffees and ways to prepare them.  See if any of your local coffee shops offer “cupping”.  Again, I’m not a coffee snob, but I do like a good cuppa Joe.  And, although I post and joke a lot about SWYPO lattes and cappuccinos, we still drink our morning brewed coffee black.  *climbs down from soapbox*

5:00 PM.  Dinner.  Diced medium white potato thrown into the T-Fal ActiFry, some leftover flank steak to make a hash dish, and 3 eggs over easy.

Fully Compliant

I haven’t had breakfast for dinner for a long time.

We’ve used the ActiFry more times in the last 2 weeks than we have since we got it as a Christmas gift like 3 years ago.  Quite the White Elephant at the time.  The jury is still out…

Whole30 Observation:  On a totally random, but I digress note: We had asparagus with our dinner last night, which got me thinking about Why Your Pee Smells Funny After Eating Asparagus.  Thanks, Web M.D.!

I have to publish the blog early tonight.  We have a school function that we need to attend, so I need to get out the door.

10:00 PM.  Bed time if we’re lucky.

And so goes Step Four: Life After Your Whole30.  Today was a good day.

Return to Life 78 Days After My Whole30 or Continue to Life 80 Days After My Whole30

Relive my journey from Day 1.