Lunch: Salmon casserole from yesterday (and there is still more left for tomorrow! It makes a lot), sweet potato fries.

Supper: Ginger beef with mango-avocado salsa. Once again, this was so good. Our steak ended up not being quite cooked enough, so we sauteed it in a pan on . . . → Read More: Day six]]> Breakfast: Fried eggs, leftover pork.

Lunch: Salmon casserole from yesterday (and there is still more left for tomorrow! It makes a lot), sweet potato fries.

Supper: Ginger beef with mango-avocado salsa. Once again, this was so good. Our steak ended up not being quite cooked enough, so we sauteed it in a pan on the stove with some mushrooms and the marinade to cook them up just a tad more. Perfect! And once again, Meredith scarfed this down. She didn’t like the salsa (even though normally she loves avocados and will eat them for a snack plain right out of the skin), but enjoyed the meat. I think she would live off of nothing but meat and fruit if she could.

Snacks: Apples sprinkled with cinnamon and baked for a few minutes, deviled eggs, carrot sticks.

I found today a bit hard. My daughter brought home candy, but as is normal for her she barely ate any of it. She certainly hasn’t inherited my sweet tooth. So I put the rest in the cupboard, but then every time I walked into the kitchen I thought about that candy! Finally, I asked Kris to hide it from me. In retrospect, I should have just thrown it out.

A few more digestive issues this morning, but feeling good tonight. Hoping that it is just a transition thing that will pass.

I thought I’d post a picture of the mayo we made too, turned out great except I ran out of light olive oil and so used about a half cup of extra-virgin olive oil in the recipe and it is very strong. I have since read some people who have had great experiences using a mild-flavoured coconut oil to make mayo, so I am going to try that next time. As it sits in the fridge it firms up even more.

Lunch: More of the casserole, and deviled eggs.

Supper: Barbecued pork butt. She is not kidding when she calls this crazy good. Even Meredith was wolfing it down and came back for seconds, and then thirds! And this . . . → Read More: Day Five]]> Breakfast: Salmon and asparagus casserole. We used good canned salmon and did not add the milk.

Lunch: More of the casserole, and deviled eggs.

Supper: Barbecued pork butt. She is not kidding when she calls this crazy good. Even Meredith was wolfing it down and came back for seconds, and then thirds! And this is a kid who eats like a bird normally. Really, really good. We had it with a green salad with veggies and apples.

Snacks: Avocado drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, carrot sticks, plums.

We went out to a local market we hadn’t been to before today and couldn’t believe their prices on produce, so we bought a whole lot more veggies. Though our CSA does seem to be at least close in price to the grocery store, I think this market is definitely cheaper. So we may cancel the CSA after all and just plan to shop once a week from the market.

Still feeling good today. Have had some minor digestive issues, which is odd since I can’t think of what I’ve eaten that would cause them.

When we went out today, I walked around in my barefoot runners for the first time and loved them. It was actually kind of neat being able to feel the ground beneath my feet. Hopefully I will start running this week.

Lunch: Deviled eggs

Supper: Grilled chicken with pesto, cucumber salad, roasted asparagus.

Snacks: Lara bars, banana (for Meredith), apples, green smoothie popsicles, nuts

We were out for part of the day again, so didn’t really have a real lunch, just some snacks. I was feeling a bit shaky again this . . . → Read More: Day Four]]> Breakfast: Hard-boiled eggs, peaches

Lunch: Deviled eggs

Supper: Grilled chicken with pesto, cucumber salad, roasted asparagus.

Snacks: Lara bars, banana (for Meredith), apples, green smoothie popsicles, nuts

We were out for part of the day again, so didn’t really have a real lunch, just some snacks. I was feeling a bit shaky again this morning so decided to make some homemade Lara bars using unsweetened dates. Delicious! Surprisingly, it wasn’t me that was having problems holding back, but Kris. I was quite okay having just one for a bit of energy in the morning, and then walking away. I am trying not to always turn to sweet things (like fruit) when my sweet tooth kicks in, as part of the point of doing the Whole 30 is losing my constant cravings for sweets. I’m finding sometimes even just a glass of water is all I need when I’m wanting something sweet. There is so much good food that we’re trying, that it’s been really easy to stick to so far.

In fact, Kris and I were discussing that tonight while eating supper. We rarely have pesto sauce anymore, since we have dairy allergies, even though we enjoy it. This pesto sauce was sooo good and I never would have guessed there was no parmesan in it if I hadn’t made it myself. Everything we’ve eaten so far has been awesome, and we haven’t felt like we’re depriving ourselves or missing out. We could get a little more imaginative with breakfasts, but we’re on a bit of a budget right now and eggs are cheap. I can’t wait until our own chickens start laying!

If I’m still feeling this good next week, I hope to start running. It’s been a couple of years since I ran. In fact, almost two years ago exactly is when I found out I was pregnant with Fiona and the morning sickness and tiredness hit soon after. I plan to do this program again, and have barefoot runners to run in.

Lunch: Hard-boiled egg, carrot sticks. Not nearly enough, we left the house to go for a day trip right before lunch and I packed snacks with the intention to eat lunch before we left, and forgot. So I grabbed an egg and the carrot sticks as we were going out the . . . → Read More: Day three]]> Breakfast: Fried eggs, peaches

Lunch: Hard-boiled egg, carrot sticks. Not nearly enough, we left the house to go for a day trip right before lunch and I packed snacks with the intention to eat lunch before we left, and forgot. So I grabbed an egg and the carrot sticks as we were going out the door. Surprisingly, though I was hungry at first, I actually found that munching slowly on some of the snacks we had brought really satiated me.

Supper: Chicken curry with f’rice. We made the chicken last night, using this recipe. Though neither of us mind cauliflower, we were a bit skeptical of the claims that the f’rice would taste like rice. And it didn’t, when we tried it out of the pot. It tasted just like cauliflower. But then we put the chicken curry over it and both my husband and I agreed you really can’t tell the difference once it’s mixed with the curry. Delicious! We had a green salad with cumin-lime dressing.

Snacks: carrots, pistachios (for Meredith, I wasn’t sure if they are approved so didn’t have any though looking at the Whole 30 website I think it’s just peanuts that aren’t approved), apple, peaches, homemade Larabars a friend brought. The Larabars are sweetend with dates! They are really delicious and I think they might be a great little snack to have around the house. If I made them and couldn’t stop eating them, I wouldn’t make them again but to have around just to have one here and there I think would be fine.

So far, we have both stuck to it! I was so tempted today to stop in at the grocery store and grab myself a donut or some candy, but managed to resist. I told myself “Kris will never know”, but then reminded myself that I’m not doing this for him, but for me.

We’re starting to find a greater variety of snacks to keep around the house. We are all grazers here, and though we do have three bigger meals a day, we all like to be able to reach into the fridge for a quick something. I think especially since I’m nursing, I get hungry a lot!

Breakfast: Deviled eggs, I made some with avocado and some with mayo. Very tasty! Meredith had a smoothie with greens, avocado, coconut milk, and raspberries. I did add a small amount of maple syrup in it for her because there were more greens than normal.

Meredith and Fiona also had banana almond pancakes. I . . . → Read More: Day two]]>

Breakfast: Deviled eggs, I made some with avocado and some with mayo. Very tasty! Meredith had a smoothie with greens, avocado, coconut milk, and raspberries. I did add a small amount of maple syrup in it for her because there were more greens than normal.

Meredith and Fiona also had banana almond pancakes. I found these hard to cook. They stuck to the pan and didn’t flip very nicely. It might be because I didn’t follow the recipe exactly and/or because the batter ended up too thin. I had no almond butter and no more eggs left, so I put almonds, coconut oil, flax seed, and water in the Magic Bullet, blended them up, added the banana, blended some more. The small taste I had was tasty though, and the girls really enjoyed them.

Lunch: Yam fries, salad with apples

Supper: Moroccan grilled salmon with mango-avocado salsa. This is one of those recipes that makes changing our eating habits completely worthwhile. We find new recipes that will definitely remain in our rotation. This was so good. Kris and I both loved it. Meredith said she wasn’t hungry and ended up having a smoothie a little later instead. We had green salad as well with homemade Italian dressing.

Snacks: Meatballs, carrot sticks, fruit, avocado drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

I didn’t find I felt nearly as hungry today as I had yesterday, and already I’m thinking about candy and sugar and chocolate less. I guess that’s a good sign! I did wake up feeling a bit shaky and tired. Mark Sisson calls this the low-carb flu. Since I am nursing and also primary caregiver of two young children 40 hours a week, I need my energy. I ate a huge breakfast of deviled eggs, snacked on meatballs, and felt much better. I decided to have something a little more high carb for lunch. Hence the yam fries, which were delicious. I used to make yam fries a lot, but haven’t made them in a long time. I forgot how easy they are and how good. It makes me really look forward to trying more new (or forgotten old) recipes.

Breakfast: Spinach and mushroom frittatas. We used this method, but different ingredients. Ours had mushrooms, spinach, bok choi, beet greens, onions, and garlic powder. Delicious! Meredith had some fried eggs and strawberries.

Lunch: Shepherd’s pie.

Dinner: Leftover shepherd’s pie. I realize potatoes aren’t technically allowed, but they seem to be pretty controversial and even . . . → Read More: Day one]]>

Breakfast: Spinach and mushroom frittatas. We used this method, but different ingredients. Ours had mushrooms, spinach, bok choi, beet greens, onions, and garlic powder. Delicious! Meredith had some fried eggs and strawberries.

Lunch: Shepherd’s pie.

Dinner: Leftover shepherd’s pie. I realize potatoes aren’t technically allowed, but they seem to be pretty controversial and even the Whole 30 site lists them as arbitrary. I actually feel potatoes are nutritious, they’re easy to grow, and I’m not trying to lose weight. Doesn’t mean I will eat them a lot (and may not again before the Whole 30 is over). The main thing though was that it was leftover from last night and full of spinach, beet greens, bok choi, mushrooms, onions, and other good veggies. I wasn’t about to let it go to waste. We also had green salad with apples, cucumbers, peppers, etc.

Snacks: Meatballs (without the sauce, we just made up the meatballs, baked them, and then stuck them in the freezer to be pulled out and reheated for snacks). Kris has declared these meatballs the best he has ever tasted. Definitely worth a try. We also all had various fruits and vegetables over the course of the day. Pears sprinkled with paprika and cinnamon (Meredith and I wolfed these down).

I’ve got to be honest, I was pretty impressed with my willpower today. We went out with some friends and there was tons of yummy food, and I turned down the crackers and cheese and any other good food that normally I would have been all over, eating vegetables and fruit and a deviled egg instead. I realized later that the mayo used probably has canola oil and sugar in it, but I’m not worried about the amount in one deviled egg.

One lady had brought these delicious looking apple slices, and when I asked if there was sugar she assured me there wasn’t. I took a bite, then had to double check, and she told me oh well there is maple syrup. So while I wasn’t perfect today, I think I did pretty well considering how much of a sweet tooth I have normally. All I could think about all evening though was how much I wanted a little handful of chocolate chips or a cookie or some candy… I’m not normally that bad but I think knowing I can’t eat it makes me want it more.