tiffysquid

Food today: my son and I ended up unexpectedly driving half an hour to meet a friend on a nearby river, late afternoon. Just before we dashed out the door, I stuck the thawed-out chicken drumsticks in the InstantPot, threw in a piece of lemongrass and some wilting green leek-tops, a cup of water, salt and pepper. Turned it to "slow cook" and hoped for the best. Came home to a very delicious, if not terribly attractive, chicken dinner! On the side, previously roasted sweet potatoes. I also have a big bag of sturdy winter salad greens from our local CSA; ate a big bowl of those with tahini

Rikki, i hope you are feeling better! The MSG controversy is interesting to me, as someone who had had reactions to *something* in a number of soups in Asian restaurants in the US. Once I read about MSG being a problem, I stopped eating at places that use MSG, and stopped having the symptoms. The one time I slipped was in Thailand, and I was practically hallucinating from whatever was in that (delicious) Tom Yum soup. Was it MSG? I can't really say. But it brought on migraine effects.

I'm on Day 13. Very slow, tired mornings, then some pep in the afternoon after my (large, eggy) breakfast. A treat this week was a surprisingly delicious, farmed steelhead fillet with loads of flavor and fat; if you've never had it, steelhead trout is similar to salmon. I had some Hot Lava salts my husband got me in Hawaii... I slathered those on both sides, sauteed the fish a couple minutes in a thin coat of olive oil, skin down, then added a little water and put on a lid, poached it for a bit. delicious! For the non-Whole30 menfolk I made gluten-free penne pasta with a cashew-basil

On the tater tot discussion: for me, that would qualify as "French fries" or "food without brakes" or "chips," all no-no's on the Whole30. But some of the rules seem kind of arbitrary... so maybe tater tots are okay? There was also a crazy band called Tater Totz in the late '80s/early '90s. Did a smashing, 12-minute cover of Yoko Ono's "Don't Worry Kyoko."

Interesting! I find that I'm ravenous, but I eat big fats and proteins to satiate myself, instead of carbs. Having done Whole30 before, I'm not focused on portion sizes or meal templates or any of that, mainly just compliant food. For me, if I'm hungry, I gotta EAT. Must be cool to not be hungry! Also funny: Melissa Urban is very strict about how it is "not hard" to drink coffee without milk or cream in it... but my first W30 I had trouble with that. I'm allergic to nuts and coconut, so I can't put a substitute in my coffee! And it was fine. I ended up staying on black coffee (decaf) afte

I am eating a lot more meat and protein than usual. My body just loves this. Within days, I somehow feel better. I lose puffiness in my face, my pants fit better. I don't know if it's *because* the fats and proteins and animal-food are so desired by my body, or because my body's delighted *not* to be dealing with a bunch of sugar and processed carbs and legumes. In any case, it's sure nice. Cooking-wise, my favorite W30 thing to do: at night before bed, put a couple sweet potatoes or yams in the digital oven, and set a timer. Wake up to wonderful smells in the house, and something

I hear you, Rebecca! I got my Covid booster (Moderna) the other day. I don't feel awful by any means, just a bit blah, and the achy shoulder. Finding that the more I mobilize and stretch the shoulder, the better it gets. A big long hot bath last night helped loads, too (lolling around in the bath watching old episodes of Jeeves & Wooster on DVD -- far more amusing than eating ice cream or something!).

from what i'm reading in the Whole30 books, breading is strictly non-compliant, non-Whole30. but a good thing to do if you end up going "Whole30ish" after your W30 + reintroduction phase.

Sounds like everyone is doing pretty well so far! Nice. As for my banana dipped in raw cacao/cocoa powder... well, apparently that's not going to stay in the rotation. I've probably had 3-4 of them since making the discovery the other night. Here's from someplace on the whole30 website: "Cacao (or 100% cocoa) is great when used as a savory spice (our Mocha Steak Rub from It Starts With Food is a great example), but you can also add it to your coffee or tea. However, don’t mix cacao with dates, figs, or other fruits to make chocolate-y confections during your program. That goes

argh!! why must they do that!? (add sugar, and/or switch out ingredients on us...)

There are some great non-alcoholic options out there these days. Some do have sugar (like the lovely Aurora brand) but some do not. Look for hop waters, CBD/hemp drinks, etc. Also herbal non-alcoholic mixers.

Thank you! Been bad & good, up & down, on & off with the illness. Today I feel pretty solid so far, though I had a bad night's sleep. Last night I got really cravey. Ended up eating a banana, dipping it in raw/unsweetened cacao/cocoa. Hard to say whether that is appropriate W30 behavior, but whatever, I didn't actually hunt down a candy bar, so that's good...

What are you guys cooking and eating, so far? I'm doing a lot of eggs (helped my upset stomach). Roasted a chicken tonight. Baked some zucchini with Berber spice (yum!), had Romaine lettuce leaves and various chopped-up things to put in them. At night, I put sweet potatoes in the oven on a timer -- just a whole sweet potato or yam, 425 degrees, 90 minutes. They're cooked, and the house smells great, when I get up, take my thyroid medication, and wait an hour before I can eat. I think morning is a danger time for me, if there isn't something readily available that's compliant and warm

hi Laura. hope your first day goes well! thank you for the kind wishes, Izzy. i am feeling much much better today. still wasn't up for taking a walk (in the two feet of snow!) but didn't nap all day. i cooked non-W30 food for my (pescatorian) husband and (eats-everything) son, and W30 food for me and my son. i'm perimenopausal, on Day 1 of my Whole30, on Day 1 of my moon cycle, and just getting better from stomach/gut sickness, and it's New Year season... so yes it certainly feels like a lot of beginnings. Rikki, welcome and I hope it goes wonderfully well! Interesting about eggs. ma

i'm officially starting on January 3rd... but i'm starting it weirdly this time. i have some kind of stomach bug or food poisoning, started New Year's Eve. i was just going to indulge in a couple of carby, cheesy snacks and one alcoholic beverage, and didn't get far in. i suppose that part is just as well! my fever broke, i got a Covid test (negative), i'm still kind of weak and barely able to eat much. today: eggs and squash. seems like a W30 moment already.