heb2014

I forget about broccoli slaw! I've used it in place of noodles before in Asian inspired dishes.

Right! I'm trying to look for other places to "sneak" in a vegetable; right now the only other one I do is add shredded carrot to my marinara sauce - just saute it with the onions and celery and no one knows it's in there.

I'm not going to recap all my meals from Days 19 - 22 (Jan 30 - Feb 2), but I'll quickly say it was more eggs and soups and leftovers. My grocery total for the month of January was $509.21 ($109 more than I would have liked). A lesson to be learned about meal planning - plan for flexibility! I liked the simplicity of planning once a month, but the reality of it was that only 7 days went according to plan. I made another 4 of the planned meals on different days due to various requests or events that popped up, so maybe my planning was 11/31. We ended up with more leftovers at some meals than I planned - which was a bonus so I didn't have to cook as much. I panicked about the budget and reworked the last two weeks, incorporating more things I had in the house and simplifying our meals. I should take what's a home in to consideration better when planning. As I planned for February this weekend (luckily having enough leftovers to get us to Sunday), I started thinking post-Whole30. I'm undecided about reintroduction and tempted to not do it again - because I didn't have any issues last time in October, at least not with the 4 main reintroduction groups. I'm sure this isn't the recommended route....and there's nothing I'm especially missing (except hummus); we just have some upcoming events during the time that would be reintroduction where I'd like to not be as strict. Oh - and it's Girl Scout Cookie season. Could they not move this away from Lent? September would really be a great time for this. Oh,.Lent - something else I haven't thought about until just now. Anyway, I'm still undecided on reintroduction, but in the mean time, I'm thinking a lot about "food freedom". I know added sugar does affect me so I would still like to limit desserts and avoid coffee creamer with sugar. Particularly with desserts and sweets, my rule is to only eat it if it's homemade AND one of my favorites. I am going to continue to avoid cooking with soy, but not necessarily seek it out in restaurants. I am also going to limit non-alcohol gluten to "homemade" - only homemade pastas, homemade bread, etc. This is mostly because I want to lose some weight, so it's not a family rule - I'll likely keep cooking store-bought pasta for the kids and squash or whatever for me - when I do want a special pasta dish on occasion, I'll have to take the time to make it. And I am going to limit alcohol to special occasions/events, and then, only if I really feel like it. I'm going to keep trying to add more vegetables in to our meals - not only as a side, but in other ways, like mix riced cauliflower with rice. I still have some work to do on defining these things because I work better with strict rules than general guidelines.

Day 18 (1/29/2020) M1: Boiled eggs + grapefruit + coffee w/ almond milk M2: leftover chicken salad + carrots w/ avocado ranch M3: spaghetti w/ squash + green beans When I write this out, it looks pretty dismal (at least to me) - but I enjoyed all of it and didn't feel deprived. I am feeling good, but my meals definitely don't follow the template. Started my February planning.

Day 17 (1/28/2020) M1: breakfast casserole + coffee w/ almond milk M2: Zuppa Toscana and a palm-full of almonds M3: leftover shepherd's pie I put the last two servings of the shepherd's pie in to Glasslock Containers for lunches and pulled some marinara sauce out from the freezer for tonight. It was good, and I liked the convenience of not have to cook again last night, but I'm ready for a change. Luckily, spaghetti won't require much cooking either (heating up the sauce, cooking the squash for myself, and noodles for the kids and husband; pretty hands off). We should get dinner two nights out of the sauce, so it looks like stew on Friday and I'll have stopped the hemorrhaging grocery budget at $509.21. Aaaaaaannnnndddd.... I just realized it will be February in three days and I haven't planned at all past Friday. I was on it for January....not so much for February.

Good grief - I am not creative enough. I can't remember how many times during my round 1 I ate salad with no dressing because none of the options were complaint. Olive oil and lemons - this is so smart! And what you said a couple of posts back about your 11yr old with food allergies - I love this! I remember how shocked and happy I was when my 5 yr old ate 2 helpings of my Whole30 meatloaf (150% more than I expected her to eat). It's so nice when you find a new complaint recipe the whole family will/can eat.

Day 16 (1/27/2020) M1: breakfast casserole + coffee w/ almond milk + another cup of coffee (black) at work M2: cauliflower soup w/ a spoonful of coconut oil added (had one left over that I had frozen; honestly, I'm glad it's gone - it was good, but a little bland unless adding something to it) M3: leftover shepherd's pie Really wanted a Coke yesterday at work. I wasn't feeling my best (headache that was coming and going yesterday).

Day 13 (1/24/2020) M1: Breakfast casserole + coffee w/ almond milk M2: Adielle's sausage w/ stone ground mustard + carrots w/ avocado ranch (went to Walmart at lunch - ate late) M3: leftover chili Day 14 (1/25/2020) M1: eggs + bacon + coffee w/ almond milk (made the kids and husband steel cut oats) M2: leftover teriyaki pork M3: out for a friend's birthday - ate a salad (brought my own dressing!) Made chicken broth to use in meals this week Day 15 (1/26/2020) M1: eggs + bacon + coffee w/ nutpods (made the kids and husband homemade biscuits to go along with it...man they looked good) M2: chicken salad M3: Chicken Pot Shepherd's Pie - took a version of chicken pot pie I make, except using arrowroot to thicken instead of a roux, and topped it w/ mashed potatoes instead of pie crust. It was delicious, but didn't turn out like I expected because the potatoes sank into the filling instead of staying on the top. I'm guessing shepherd's pie should have less thickened broth than pot pie to help support the potatoes. But this made about twice as much as expected so I'm thinking we'll get 5 meals out of it - less cooking this week! Also made Zuppa Toscana w/ sweet potatoes for lunches. At the birthday dinner on Saturday, a friend asked how the Whole30 was going (because I may have been grumbling about not eating pizza); I told her that I do feel better and that's when it hit me....I really do feel better when I eat this way. Eggs/breakfast casserole with eggs is a little monotonous and there are some things I miss, but I'm back to the point of remembering how bad I felt before my first round in September, and this does make a difference.

Day 12 (1/23/2020) M1: Breakfast casserole + coffee w/ almond milk) M2: leftover gumbo w/ riced cauliflower M3: something I will call teriyaki pork w/ broccoli, brussel sprouts, and pineapple over cauliflower rice. Not bad for a small pork roast I found in the freezer. I dumped it in the slow cooker (defrosted first) with some sauce I had purchased during my first round along with some chicken broth; then after it had cooked, I whipped up some compliant sauce using the liquid from the slow cooker and some other compliant ingredients. This was my first success using arrowroot flour to thicken sauce! That gives me hope for making a stew and shepherd's pie out of one of our favorite chicken pot pie recipes (because I found ingredients in the house) Meal ideas for the weekend and next week (from what I've found in the house, just need a few ingredients): Stew Shepard's pie w/ chicken Potato soup (we have tons of potatoes) Zuppa Toscano w/ sweet potatoes and Aidells chicken sausage Chili from the freezer Marinara sauce for spaghetti squash (spaghetti for the kids) also in the freezer I think I will buy some bone-in chicken and make my own broth instead of just buying the broth I need for several of these - that way we can also have chicken salad or something with the meat (and the chicken I have in the freezer is boneless). Need a few things for the kids' breakfasts so I'm making a list of the fewest items I can get away with and heading to Walmart after work instead Kroger (where I usually buy groceries). I took the time earlier this week to build one of my recent Kroger purchases on the Walmart pickup website, and it was about $20 cheaper ($155 vs $174). It's not as convenient to get to or to shop at, but we've set up our February budget and if it will stretch our dollars, I might as well start getting used to it (and then plan for Walmart pickup next time!).

Day 11 (1/22/2020) M1: Breakfast casserole + coffee w/ almond milk (the creamer I mentioned in day 10 is Nutpods - didn't use it today) M2: leftover gumbo w/ riced cauliflower M3: leftover chili w/ baked potato My daughter wanted to make dessert, and we had a package of brownie mix. We made them together and I didn't eat any. Win-win.

Day 10 (January 21) M1: Fried eggs + coffee w/ creamer M2: chopped pork M3: chili w/ baked potato The fried eggs did not hold me over well (and I know - it doesn't follow the template....); made the breakfast casserole for the rest of the week after dinner. Had to travel for work with some colleagues; we went to a well known bbq restaurant for lunch. I figured I'd be able to find something on the menu to eat - and I did, except it was just meat - dry meat with zero sauce. They sell their rub and their sauce at the restaurant, so I was able to look at them to see if it included non-compliant items; the rub did not - the sauce did. There were no salads and no sides that I could eat. Not satisfying. I calculated how much we've spent on groceries so far this month - $451.22. Not including the times we eaten out (two times as a family that we've paid). My food budget/goal for the month is spent (though admittedly, I just added the receipts and didn't look to see if there were items that should fit in other categories that we purchased at the same time). Regardless, I am getting creative with what we have at the house this week, and we'll see how far that can take us. Made a large pot of chili last night, saved two more meals from it and froze the rest (likely to eat late next week). I'm not using that as an excuse to give up on Whole30; I don't think adding back any of the restricted items would help the budget (except maybe fill my husband up a little faster so he *might* eat less). I just need to scale back from the recipes that take lots of ingredients and eat a little more simply. Now it's a game for me to see what I can come up with, and luckily, I'm considering it a fun challenge, not a stressor (at least for now).

A little catch-up to do (since I don't get on the computer much between Friday afternoon and Monday morning - and was off yesterday) I am currently in a panic about budget and how much I am spending on groceries, so this week is likely going to be completely different than my meal plan, searching for food that we already have and figuring out what I can make with it that is complaint. Days 6 (January 17) M1: technically complaint but not recommended smoothie + coffee w/ almond milk M2: Tuna w/ avocado + ranch (should have just gone with mayo - I love the Tessemae's ranch, but not with tuna...) w/ lettuce + carrots M3: Gumbo w/ riced cauliflower Small victory: I made two gigantic pots of gumbo Friday afternoon - the duck dumbo my husband requested (our traditional recipe that involves a flour roux and beer) and a Whole30 gumbo for myself. I spent all afternoon cooking and was exhausted, but everyone we had over loved the duck gumbo and I have plenty of Whole30 gumbo (which was also delicious) left over for lunches this week. Day 7 (January 18) M1; Fried Eggs + coffee w/ almond milk M2: (out to eat w/ my parents who came to visit, somewhat unplanned) Roast w/ no gravy, plain baked potato, carrots (which I didn't eat after one bite because they were way too sweet to not have honey or something on them, despite what the server had said - that bite was delicious though...) M3: One-pot Baked Chicken Thighs with brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes (really easy and really good) Small Victory: we went to our favorite local ice cream shop and I didn't have anything, not even a coffee Day 8 (January 19) M1: Scrambled eggs, bacon, + coffee w/ almond milk M2: Leftover gumbo w/ riced cauliflower M3: dinner at a friends' house - chili over baked potato Small Victory: we have dinner once a month with four other couples and their kids. There was food aplenty to eat and cheat, but I ate what I could and had fun. Also - we had a busy day so I was thankful for the leftovers for lunch. I didn't get to meal prep anything. Day 9 (January 20) M1: Fried eggs + coffee w/ almond milk M2: leftover gumbo w/ riced cauliflower M3: leftover baked chicken, brussel sprouts, and sweet potato Small Victory: being home all day and not snacking

KEEP GOING! Tessemae's dressings are my favorites! For salads or for dipping. Snack if you have to; following the recommended 3 meals isn't worth being hangry on days that your meals didn't meet the template and you find yourself out of energy or angry. Just make sure you're eating because you are truly hungry, not for comfort. Find some quick fix items you really like and keep them on hand for when you don't really feel like cooking (something along the lines of Applegate Hotdogs and some vegetables you can toss together with dressing or roast with oil). Or find a quick recipe you can keep ingredients on hand and whip together (this is mine: https://www.wellplated.com/whole30-chicken-salad/) Stock up Whole30 complaint single serve freezer meal - Great Value brand at Walmart. AND evaluate your Non-scale victories and focus on what's already happening rather than the end results. https://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-nsv.pdf

I don't know about cross contamination, but a lot of the mixed nuts that I looked at included peanut oil or vegetable oil (which includes soybean oil). Even a lot of the containers for other types of snacking nuts, like cashews or almonds, included one of these oils. For that reason, I would avoid them unless you can read the label and make sure there's nothing else included. I had much better luck finding nuts down the baking aisle (they are not roasted and don't have the oil).

Day 5 (January 16) M1: Coffee w/ almond milk + breakfast casserole M2: Cauliflower soup + 2 energy balls + a grapefruit (I was in a rush this morning and grabbed 2 of the energy balls for fat/protein to go with lunch) Snack: Cashew Cookie Larabar (thought my hunger might have something to do with my KATT mood when I got home) M3: Eggroll stirfry w/ cauliflower rice (made frozen gyoza to go with it for the rest of the family; I love these so it was a little hard to resist, but I did) Found myself low on patience again when I got home from work and picking up the kids. Our son was so whiny, and my husband hadn't made it home yet. This would have been a night we picked up take-out if I wasn't on Whole30 and trying to save money (husband's been off it since his work trip). I'm glad I had an easy meal planned. I changed in to my sweatpants and comfy shirt, plugged the kids in to the tv (not my proudest parenting moment), and powered through. Once my husband got home, I was at least about to laugh about being in a bad mood. He and our friend that's visiting met a couple other friends out for a drink after helping me get the kids in bed; I shampoo'd my hair and went to bed early (I feel like shampooing my hair is a legitimate event now that I'm trying to go longer between). I tried the Lavender Lemon collagen in hot tea yesterday afternoon; it was still clumpy but this is the best way to drink it. Delicious.