The Whole30 Days 7-9

Again, I am sorry I am not the best blogger!! The last few days have been pretty normal. Sunday I was in Atlanta, so I stopped by Trader Joe's for the first time and OMG I was in heaven! I was able to get so many things that our local grocery store doesn't have! I stocked up  on coconut flour, found some complient almond butter, and so many other great things!! I even got a treat for myself when the Whole30 is finished! I'm not really craving as much as I was, but I think that's because I know I can't have it! I feel about the same, just weaker and tired. I hope that goes away in the next few days!! So 21 days to go!!

The Whole30 Days 2-6

What did I tell ya'll? I'm terrible at blogging!! So ya'll will get the short version of days 2-6. Day 2 was much better than day 1. I had no headache and did fine with the food I was eating! Everyday since has been good days. I have had lots of water, fruit (probably more than I should eat), veggies, and chicken, deer, and salmon! The past few days I have made some dishes that were delish and very Whole30-friendly!! I made breakfast muffins (recipe below), which had eggs and sausage, and salt and pepper! I also made spaghetti sauce from scratch (no cans) and put it on spaghetti squash! I made bean-less chili and it was so yummy and it had a little kick! I have had baked salmon with lots of fresh lemon juice too! One thing I made that I am really excited about was "fried" chicken nuggets! I used coconut flour and added lots of spices and I used coconut oil and water to "fry" the nuggets!! They were so good!! Tonight I made fajitas and made mine into a fajita chopped salad with fresh salsa!!

I am having a much easier time saying no to certain things. I am still craving everything though, and I hope that gets better! I find myself planning my first meal when I finish the Whole30!! If I have learned anything it is this: I ate so much random stuff and never really realized it!! And by random, I do not mean random ingredients in things, I mean in everyday life. Remember the cake I mentioned on Day 1? Well it stayed at my work most of the week. If I was not doing this challenge I would have probably eaten a piece everyday it was in the office. I am at the age where a lot of my friends are getting married or having babies, so I feel like I go to a shower every weekend (which the finger foods at these showers are my favorite kind of food). I eat my normal 3 meals a day, but add these things that you forget to count and you wonder why your gaining weight! Now, at this point, I am all about eating the cake, fixing a plate at showers, etc. But my problem with it, was my 3 meals a day were not the healthiest. I am thankful that I am seeing that and I plan to change my 3 meals to being healthier, so I can have a piece of cake every once in a while if I want one.

So I have a confession: I found a Whole30 approved ranch dressing recipe and I wanted to try it! I got all the ingredients and got home ready to make it. It calls for cashews, but not a bunch, like 1/4 of a cup or something like that. So at the grocery store I look at all the ingredients to make sure that there is nothing I can't have, well..I grabbed the wrong can!! So I got home, Brian and I popped it opened and started eating a few. I was telling him about the dressing and ready him the ingredients on the back and then I read PEANUT OIL!!! I could have died!! It was day 2 so I decided to not start over. I am sure I will eat things throughout the month that I will not know it has certain things in it! So I am not going to sweat it, if I don't know, I don't know!!

Week 1 almost done!!

Mini Breakfast Casseroles

Ingredients:

10 eggs
1 lb sausage
pepper
salt

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350. Brown the sausage and drain out any fat. Next crack 10 eggs and mix with the sausage crumbles. Add salt and pepper. Next take a 12 count muffin tin and pour it equally. Pop it in the oven until the eggs in the middle is done!!

Until next time!!
Ansley

The Whole30 Day 1

So, I have been wanting to start a Blog for Brian and me for a while now. I wanted to do it so we could share what was going on in our lives with our family and friends. I love to cook and craft and Brian loves theology. I knew we could each write post and one day look back on what God was teaching us, or what recipe I made, etc. So what better way to get in the habit of blog posting, than to take you on my Whole30 journey? So here it is....

Day 1

I guess I should start with explaining what the Whole30 is! The Whole30 is a nutritional program designed to change your life in 30 days. Simple right? You can be the judge! Certain food groups like sugar, grains, dairy, and legumes could be have a negative impact on your health. So how do you know these foods are having a unhealthy impact on you? You cut them out of your diet and reintroduce them back in your body one at a time after you have detoxed them all out. There are tons of proven benefits and testimonies from people who have completed lots of Whole30 programs. If you would like more information about the Whole30 program, you can go to www.whole30.com and there is also a book called "It Starts With Food", by the creators of the program.

Back to day 1. Today was not terrible. I did have a pretty bad headache around 6:30pm and I did not even try to work out. I do not think I ate enough earlier today. I will be more prepared tomorrow. For breakfast I ate 3 scrambled eggs and mid-morning I ate an apple. For lunch I had a salad with tomatoes and hard boiled eggs. I made a salad dressing using apple cider vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. This dressing wasn't very good, but I forced myself to eat as much salad as I could.  I also had 2 all-natural turkey hotdogs and mustard. They tasted very different, but I think I will get used to them! For dinner, Brian grilled deer cube steak (venison) and I made sweet potato fries (recipe below). We were going to have brussle sprouts with dinner, but my headache made that a no. Once I laid  down a while and ate dinner I was fine. Oh and I also had a peak moment today!! My boss made a co-worker a birthday pound cake (one of my favorite cakes). She made one for her to take home and one for the workers to eat, so during my lunch I sat next to a pound cake and didn't eat any!!

Sweet Potato Fries:

Ingredients:

1 sweet potato per person
olive oil
salt
pepper
garlic powder

*I always guess how much of each ingredient to use, always do less than you think, because you can always add more at the table!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Cut potato in strips (as thick or as thin as you like). Throw you cut potato in a gallon size ziplock bag and pour a little olive oil in. Shake the bag and make sure all fries are completely covered. Next add salt, pepper, and garlic powder (if you have other seasoning that you think would taste good, try it!). One your fries are covered with seasoning to your liking, put them on a cookie sheet or pan (try not to overcrowd) and stick them in the oven. Bake until they are golden brown, turning occasionally.

Day 1-finished
29 days to go!

-Ansley