Christie's Whole(30) ~ earlier than expected

[Christie Mawby]

So, I had no intention of starting off my whole 30 until September 1.  I have been in preparation mode all weekend; broths, soups, meatballs, chicken....all premade and frozen.  Ingredient shopping (taking advantage of the extra August paycheque).  All of it.

 

Then the unthinkable happened.  My fridge died.  Okay, its been in the process of retirement for weeks.  We haven't been able to keep milk or veggies alive for more than a few days for about a month.  Yesterday we gave up when the 1lb of cooked pickerel leftovers were fuzzy after just two days in our fridge.

 

Sure the panic set in about where we would come up with an extra 1400 for a fridge but, it's fine now.  We sorted that out.  Then the work started.  We had to move all our still edible produce and fridge contents to our "overflow" fridge in the basement.   As I emptied our predominately produce laden fridge to the lower floor I started to go through the jars on the door.  A bottle of mayo, a couple bottles of salad dressing (creamy and regular), some "organic" pasta sauce etc.   I figured that I would be tossing all of it.  But, surprise surprise....they were all fine! I was totally excited to not have to replace them all. 

 

Then I started thinking.....I just threw out 4 cups of mouldy pasta sauce I made 3 days ago....why is this jar of "organic" sauce ~ which has been open for a month in a poorly functioning fridge ~ still safe?   Why is the mayonnaise still edible when the milk I bought 4 days ago is now a solid mass of curd in my garbage can?  Just what the #$%% is in this food that is preventing it from rotting?  And why is it not on their labels? Do I want this crap in my body?  Is this really what it takes to actually see how chemically laden my food has become? Even the "safe" choices....organic sauces/salad dressings....things that should have spoiled....were full of enough preservatives to keep them "safe" after a MONTH in a non-working fridge.  I am torn between being angry and being horrified. 

 

I used to think that I could get away with not going "all in"  not dedicating the time to make mayo, to make bbq sauce, to make ketchup, or cheat with tomato sauce and salad dressing.  I realized last night (at 2 am, while rolling around in bed unable to sleep) that that is just not the case.  I used to think that the "make it all, all the time" side of paleo was a touch neurotic.  Now, I am choking on my own hubris.

 

So, when my new fridge arrives - it will be filled only with real food.  When my fridge arrives it will be a start and an end for the Mawby clan.  I  have spent the morning tossing out all those jars of food that were "thankfully" not soured.  I have replaced them with homemade dressings, I jumped in and made the bbq sauce from ISWF (we do love to grill).  I have eggs warming on the counter to attempt mayo. 

 

My whole (life) is starting about 5 weeks ahead of schedule.  I don't even want to call it a whole(30) because when Sept 30 rolls around I am not stopping.  Sure, there will be times when I splurge on treats....my kids will still get a cookie, but that cookie will be homemade, with ingredients I sourced locally and can trust.  Commercial food just lost me and my family forever. 

 

Yes, this does come off as a bit of a knee jerk reaction....but I jerked my knee, conked myself in the head, and realized that this is what I need to do for my family.  No excuses. 

 

 

 

 

[Christie Mawby]

Aug. 20

 

So, exciting news....our fridge arrives at some point Thursday afternoon!!  It's so pretty.  My first "new" fridge.  It's like a stainless steal spaceship of food chilling excellence.  It has the French doors and freezer on the bottom!  I am mildly excited about it. 

 

Today I have an exciting trip to the Walmart to buy some glass canning jars and labels.  I have the big 1L ones for making sauces and broth but not the little ones I need for dressings, and the midsize ones for condiments.  We are planning what things we need to make so this easier.    I am picking up some beef knuckle bones as well so I can make a batch or two of beef broth. 

 

I axed grains and dairy over the weekend.....I still have the most ridiculously bloated belly (especially in the am).  Last night I had fetal position level heartburn.  It was horrible, more so because I never get heartburn (not even when I was pregnant).  I have knocked down some lemon water and some herbal tea to help settle my tummy down this morning.  I also opted for cold soup for breakfast and an apple.   I just don't feel like I could put something substantial in there just yet.  I will eat a bigger lunch and maybe some roast beef post workout this morning.

 

So I am reading "It Starts With Food" again, for the third time.  There is so much in there I just didn't notice, or don't remember.  I skipped the "reintroduction" section until it is more relevant.  But I read almost everything else.  I even took notes.  I went "scholarly" on that thing.  I have a cheat sheet to stick to my fancy fridge.  I down loaded the "rules" from the website, as well as the meal template (the template is also going on my fridge). 

 

I keep reading that I should "start now", "immediately" etc.  I just can't do that.  Well, I guess I have in a way, but I feel I need to be more prepared.  I don't do well with change at the best of times.  We are talking about changing the way I deal with food, my kitchen, my household routine (let's be honest there is much more work this way, at least at first) and all of those are great things...that alone would be enough to make me a very "pissy chrissy" for a week or two.  To do it without the back up of preparation ~ which would make it impossible to say "it's too hard" or "I don't have time" ~ would be like tempting fate.

 

I chopped up some red and green sweet peppers and stuck them in the freezer.  We have fresh picked strawberries and saskatoons washed up and in the freezer.  I blanched the extra green beans from the garden and froze them, along with the sweat peas.  I have about a million tomatoes that are ripening on the vine, and about the same number of carrots (orange and purple) ready to pull.  I am down to one cup of black coffee a day (yeah) and I am tempted to switch to green tea but, since I routinely skip coffee until much later in the morning it isn't really a "pick me up" it is more of a "mommy's relaxation time after cleaning up the mind blowing mess my kids and dogs make EVERYDAY" so I will keep it for now.

 

That is pretty much where I am this morning.  In semi-autopilot, viciously tossing things I arbitrarily decide don't make the grade so that Friday morning when I open my spiffy fridge everything in it is Whole30 approved.  I will start my Whole(30/Life) with no temptations.  I will not start this from an emotional, panicked, "omg, how did I get fat" state.  Nor will I start from the "oh, there are so many changes, I don't know if I can do this" state of mind.  I am just doing it. 

[Physibeth]

Your attitude is great! Yay on the new fridge. We are moving out of a house we are renting from friends into an apartment again and I'm sad to be losing my nice appliances. 

 

Keep taking your baby steps and making your preparations and when you have day 1 you will be a rockstar!

[tinman57]

I was surprised at how much I went "scratch" on a ton of things.  I make mayo about once a week (depending on whether I've used it or not -- I go in spurts).  I grind spices.  I dry my own fruits and veggies.  I've become EARTH MOTHER!!!

[Christie Mawby]

We are in the midst of the great "ketchup" debate right now.  I made a batch, and it is delicious but the husband and the kids are refusing to give up their Heinz.  Salad dressings I will make once a week (or more depending) and bbq sauce/ketchup I am planning on making once every two weeks.  Mayo terrifies me.  I made jalapeno coleslaw dressing a few weeks ago and just could not emulsify it.....it broke about 3/4 of the way through.

 

We do our own spices and blends as well.  We are debating the dehydrator.  We make jerky in the oven and I have dried fruit in the oven - which, in the winter isn't bad as it warms up the house, in the summer though.....it's a tough sell.

[Physibeth]

Mayo terrified me until I saw this tutorial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbPF_rLpd9o

 

I've yet to have a failure following this method and it is AMAZING.

[Physibeth]

Oh and if your oven goes low enough to not necessarily need the dehydrator I would wait as they are spendy. My oven doesn't go down low enough for some of the things I have my eye on and I'm sure the oven in my soon to be apartment will go even less low so I've been entering every contest giving a dehydrator away that I see. 

[Christie Mawby]

Aug 22

 

Well, here I am Whole30 starts tomorrow morning!!!  Which, at this point, is really more of just a day since I have been pretty good this week - there are left over bbq'd potato wedges that have my name on them for lunch today....and I put whole milk in my coffee this morning as a treat.

 

My husband's first ever Whole30 will start on September 1....so I guess mine is more of a Whole38.  Truthfully, I am not sure how he will stick to it.  He is travelling a lot next month and having several sit down dinners with senior management ~ those always involve scotch and usually pasta for dinner.  Oh well.  It's his body I suppose.

 

My 4 day foray into this so far has left me with an extremely unsettled tummy, gas, and an intense desire to drink copious amounts of water.  Coffee makes me thirsty.....I may dump coffee in favour of tea....I make no commitments to that though. I do enjoy my joe after doing my housework in the morning.

 

I think I have the rules down pretty solid.....I made the mistake of mentioning this in a fitness group I belong to (I knew I shouldn't but, it just slipped out) after they all picked themselves up off the floor from disbelief that I would be dumping grains, dairy, and legumes I was lectured about the dangers of a high fat diet.  Sorry?  When did I say I was eating a "high fat" diet?  I just linked to the blog....they can read for themselves.

 

I roasted a whole chicken last night.  It was delicious.  I basted it with coconut oil before popping it in the oven....sooooo juicy.  Plus I kept all the drippings and will be whipping up another batch of broth overnight.  One thing I have to say....even without having completed, or even started this, the "paleo" way of eating really has an emphasis on using the entire animal....organ, fat, bones, meat....I love that, in a way it shows more respect to the animal we are eating...my deep thought of the day.  I just find it a very "in tune" way of eating.  It seems so much more balanced and aware than buying random meat wrapped in Styrofoam.

 

So, anyway.....my fridge arrives at some point today.  I am re-organizing my kitchen, pantry, cupboards so that once that baby is plugged in my kitchen will be good to go.  Evolution of the caveman's kitchen, I guess.

 

Oh well, I would love to chat more....but...there are counters with stuff stuck to them to which I must attend....and kids who require food...constantly.

 

To tomorrow!!!

[Snow]

I do know what you mean about using the whole animal! I used to veggie years ago and since being paleo I have obviously started eating more meat but have stopped feeling guilty or squeamish about it. I have found a local abbatoir with a butchers attached and I see the cows as I drive up to buy my meat and know they are happy and healthy and have had a good life and now I eat things like liver, kidney and chicken skin all of which I wouldn't have ate before. Really does seem more natural and respectful x

[Christie Mawby]

Aug 26

 

So, obviously I am horrendous at logging, journaling, blogging, babbling or whatever this is that I am doing over the weekend.  Which is cool. 

We spent the weekend cooking and stocking up on sauces....six jars of marinara and 4 jars of chicken stock....which seems like a lot of work but...chicken stock basically cooks itself.  Today it's salad dressing and mayo (or possibly another dressing if it doesn't emulsify right)  I may make ketchup or I may just not bother...I am traveling out of province this week and I am the only one that eats it.  I may make a batch for the kids that is sweetened with a touch of honey and see if they like it better and just keep the "smokey" unsweetened variety for myself.  Truthfully though, most of my food tastes perfectly fine without it so I don't find I am reaching for the red stuff to add flavour.

 

So we had food breakthroughs this weekend.  My kids ate spaghetti squash with marinara.  I didn't have to bribe them with dessert, they just ate it.  My youngest ate chicken salad.  They both ate garden salad (well, the leaves anyway).  Lastly, we made the Citrus Carnitas from Well Fed on Saturday and, once we convinced them to try it they went carnivore on them.  It was pretty awesome and depressing since, I didn't get to eat as much.  Next time its a double batch - which seems to be needed anytime we make anything out of that cookbook. 

 

I made an appointment with my Doctor today to discuss my thyroid meds.  They are seriously messing with my eating routine.  The rules of thyroid meds.....take first thing in the morning with water.  Do not eat or consume anything other than water for an hour.  The catch is coffee, I can have coffee if I wait 45 minutes.  Apparently the theory is that they work better on an empty stomach.  The downfall is, that by the time I am "allowed" to eat....I am well past feeling hungry, and I feel like I am playing food catch up all day long.  So, given my dose is so low (and that I have basically just been skipping it for 3 weeks now with no ill effects/affects...those two always mess me up) I am going to see about just coming off them completely, or start taking them at night.  I eat dinner around 6 and go to bed around 10 so....it should work, the other option is getting up in the middle of the night to take them which, will just make me angry.  An interesting note to the thyroid pills.   Every summer I am basically eaten alive by mosquitos.  I am like a magnet.  They come for miles to dine on my special blend of east coast blood.  This summer, however, I had zero bug bites.  My whole family was covered in them....I went camping, in the bush, three times and never once wore spray, and never once got bit.  Everyone else was bathing in deet and locking themselves behind canvas all day.  Coincidence?  Maybe, but definitely weird.

 

So, there's my day.  Now I am off to make some eggies and beet tops for breakfast.

[Christie Mawby]

Aug 27

 

So, last night we had spaghetti squash and baked chicken thighs for dinner.  It was delicious.  Yesterday was also the first night I didn't snack at night!!! Yeah!!!   I was also pretty close to 100% compliant yesterday (damn that splop of milk in my coffee).  So, I really feel like "ramping on" to the Whole30 was a good idea.  Not as overwhelming.  Given my history of getting overwhelmed, then stressed, and then just throwing my hands up in the air and giving up....I am glad I went this way. 

 

I am aiming to make this week fully Paleo compliant - no treats though - the only thing that really knocks it out for Whole30 is the limited dairy I am eating (in my coffee mostly and random nibbles of gouda and edam while I finish off the wheels....good cheese is too expensive to just NOT eat).

 

I am going to visit my father this weekend so, I know that it will be almost impossible to be 100% Whole 30 on that trip.  He doesn't keep veggies in the house...or fruit (save for bananas).  Plus he gets all "uppity" if you offer to cook....because it means he needs "help".  Ughh, that must be the difference between men and women, if some one came here and offered to home cook my meals for two days I would gladly let them.  He is already nattering about going to the pub and having wings and beer.  I find myself stuck between disappointing him and disappointing myself.  If my mom was there I would have the bonus of her there, since I converted her to a moderated version of paleo last spring.  I will just have to figure it out as I go along.  This is what happens when daddy's beer buddy suddenly decides to start taking better care of herself

[Physibeth]

Ramping up is a good idea and totally doable. At some point you just need to rip the rest of the band aid off. When you are out of milk don't buy more...same with the cheese (I get the tasty cheese thing). You can freeze cheese but not sure if that works well with what you have. 

 

As far as the visit to your dad's...stay strong! Make sure that he knows the choices you are making are about you and not about him. Why not prepare some veggies to bring with you? Just add them to your meals. If he throws the "I don't need help" thing at you why not respond with a kind "I know you don't need help, I just want to do this for you because I love you" or something like that. 

 

Do you have a set day 1 in mind?

[Christie Mawby]

Thanks Physibeth,

 

Sorry for the delay ~ I was totally disconnected during the trip and it was amazing.  My first "official" full blown Whole30 day 1 is tomorrow.  So, I am formally declaring war on September 3

 

My husband was so awesome while I was away, I prepped a grocery list for him based on a menu and he did all the shopping.  He made mayonnaise, caesar salad dressing, regular dressing, tomato soup, roasted red pepper soup, pizza sauce (that's for him not me) and today he did up a big roast for leftovers through the week.

 

The visit home was okay.  It wasn't as bad as I thought.  His fridge was BRUTAL ~ 2 potatoes, 4 carrots, and 3 yellow onions.  He did have copious amounts of meat though so, I made up salads for myself, and then ate the last of his root veggies.  Not exactly balanced but I made the best of it.  There were no wings and/or deep fried things, no pasta, and no bread or grain related foods.  It was a mixed bag.  He did delight in telling me how bad bread can be for you (all the while eating a dozen premade breaded wings lol).  I will get better at the bounderies the more comfortable I get with my "new" identity.

[Christie Mawby]

Whole 30 Day 0

 

It was supposed to be day 1 but I caved and had a slice of homemade bread with my eggs and spinach this morning.  So on a scale of 1-10 the day wasn't so bad...but not Whole30 approved.

 

I have made an executive decision...I ran out of coffee yesterday and was so tired I couldn't be bothered to go to the grocery store...so this morning, after walking my son to school, I came home, plopped my 3 year old in the wagon and set off for a 20 minute walk to starbucks....where I ordered a black iced coffee (it was hot out).  Then I dragged my 3 year old home, the long way.  All told I was walking for about 50 minutes.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  So we have decided that we will go for walks every morning for coffee and an apple juice.  I turned off the Keurig and put away my little filter cup.  I will not keep coffee in the house.  I will still have copious amounts of  herbal tea though.

 

Then I came home and sort of organized my kitchen and living room.  I ate my lunch.  I prepared the special "first day of school" cookie and enjoyed about 40 glasses of water.

 

I have a headache, not surprising I have had one for 5 days now and my sinuses feel stuffy.....I probably picked up a bug last week when the temperature dropped and it took hold because of the lack of sleep and veggies over the weekend.  I will try to flush it out with lemon water.

 

I took jumbo dog for a quick walk tonight he was panting up a storm because its warm again (i love fall but hate the flux in temps - be hot or be cold not both) I should take the Mollymoo but, I am tired and grumpy.

 

On a different note....the husband broke the emersion blender....it was 3 days old.  So far this year he has ruined a full size blender, two food processors, the jug for the breville juicer, and now the emersion blender.  I don't get it.  He just refuses to pay attention to what he is doing.  I can't focus on it or I get angry.  But, seriously dude....pay attention. ugh.

 

Okay.  I am off to take dog number 2 for a walk.

[Physibeth]

Sounds like your husband should not be allowed to use fancy kitchen gadgets. I like your Starbucks ritual walk! Way to be purposeful on your exercise. Wishing you a super successful day 1 tomorrow!