LuJo's first Whole30

[littleg]

If you are looking for an Asian-esque easy meal... I've made some (simplifying) changes to nomnom's Asian meatballs:

 

1 lb ground beef (could use pork too)

1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded sweet potato (raw) (I never measure... sorry!)

1-2 tbsp dried shallots (could use real onion, scallions, shallots here to)

2 tbsp fresh cilantro (dried would work too I'm sure) (I buy a few big bunches every few weeks, wash it all and spend 10 minutes tearing the leaves off the stems and stick it in a bag in the freezer - time consuming up front but fresh/frozen cilantro makes such a difference for flavor I think)

1 tbsp fish sauce (I found the compliant kind - Red Boat - at the local Asian store near me - not sure if you have access to this product)

S&P to taste

 

Form into balls and roast at 375 for about 15-20 minutes, flipping half way.  If I'm making really small ones (I usually do) I get about 30 per pound but they could easily be made into 4 big patties for simplicity

 

I think they taste like the inside of dumplings!

[lujo238]

Day 22

Eight more days to go.  I will probably go 1-2 days over to start reintroduction on the weekend.  Part of me feels like I should keep going but the timing is off so we'll see.  I definitely plan on doing the step by step reintroduction.  we've already discussed it but we will hammer out the details next weekend.  I didn't buy enough vegetables last weekend so I am off to the store for a mid-week stock up today.  I think I will get some different things like cabbage and brussell sprouts.  Oh and some beets. 

 

Thanks littleg for the recipe.  Meatballs are definitely on my cook up list for next weekend.

[lujo238]

Left home without my lunch today. Now I'm hungry and far from home. Looks like today is going to be the day I try to eat out. Or I may just eat the Primal Pac in my purse. We'll see how ravenous I am when my daughters soccer game is over.

[lujo238]

So I didn't eat out for lunch or eat my primal pac.  By the time we left soccer it was raining and my daughter went home with her cousin.  It just didn't seem fun to eat out by myself and primal pacs are hard to eat while driving in the rain.  So I just drove home and ravenously ate some leftover stuffed peppers. After a long day of soccer and grocery shopping I did not feel like cooking and since my kids were sleeping out tonight mom and I decided to go out to dinner.  We have a Fatz near us and they have a great Lite sirloin with only dry spices on it served with steamed broccoli and a side salad.  We did have to order no bacon, no cheese and no croutons on the salad with olive oil and vinegar for dressing.  The salad was a little boring but the steak and broccoli were fantastic.  The broccoli was steamed just perfect, not too soft or hard.  Our waitress was very patient with our questions and took the time to get us any answers she wasn't sure about.  All in all I was very pleased.

 

Finally found coconut aminos so now I am ready to try some more recipes from Well Fed.  Woo Hoo!

[lujo238]

Day 27

Four more days left. I won't actually start reintro until day 33 though. I got real hungry a couple nights ago. I thought I accidentally ate something at the restaurant that triggered cravings. Turns out it was just that time of the month. 

[lujo238]

Day 28

So close I can taste the ice cream.  We are planning our usual Saturday shopping trip including the farm market we get our meat.  They also sell an ice cream there that is ridiculously good.  We will be brining some of that home for our dairy reintro.  The ingredients are all natural, organic, and locally sourced. 

I'm feeling pretty good.  the cooking and eating part has gotten easier.  I wish I had more of the tiger blood result you hear about but maybe next time.  If I was doing this myself I might extend it but doing it with my mom and she wants the reintro done before Easter.  I sort of agree but I am already thinking of my next whole 30 and she seems to be too.  I was thinking August because the kids will be going back to school.  The added expense of summer camp makes summer tight around our house.

[lujo238]

Day 29

Explosive BM this morning.  Not good.  My younger son was home yesterday with a stomach bug.  His was vomiting though so not sure if this is that or something else.  It started about an hour after I ate breakfast which was ground turkey with sausage spices and cabbage sautéed in olive oil.  I had sauerkraut for dinner last night so maybe it is cabbage overload.  Some veges I enjoy but have to be careful not to overdo like cauliflower which can give me gas, and bell peppers which can give me heartburn.  Neither has that effect on me after one serving but if I eat in for 2-3 days in a row I feel it.  Whatever the cause I am very unhappy and miserable today.  Wednesday is my half day at work and I will probably ask my boss to leave even earlier as soon as he gets here. 

[lujo238]

Day 30

Wow here it is.  The final day.  I'm feeling proud and a little nervous.  I've got my reintro mapped out to start this weekend.  Today's menu is as follows.

 

M1 - 2 eggs, fried plantains, and shredded sweet potato

M2- Homemade chicken salad made with homemade mayo, onions and celery over salad greens

M3 - organic rotisserie chicken with sautéed carrots, zucchini, and peppers

[lujo238]

Dairy Reintro yesterday

I didn't have nay problems yesterday with dairy.  I think I ate enough to give it a good test too.  I put some smoked cheddar in my scrambled eggs at breakfast, ate some goat cheese with veges and some shredded mozzarella in a salad and a couple slices of a garden herb cheese at lunch, and after dinner a bowl of salted caramel ice cream.  No headaches, stomach aches or stuffy nose.  Yay.  Now as long as everything stays okay today I will be able to mark dairy as okay on occasion.  As much as I love cheese I did eat more yesterday than would be typical except for special occasions.  I intentionally ate so much though because I wanted to be sure. 

 

I did make a mistake this morning though and ate cauliflower at breakfast after eating it yesterday for lunch.  I often forget that if I eat cauliflower twice in a row I get gassy.  I've been burping for the last 30 minutes or so.  As soon as it started I immediately remembered I doubled up my cauliflower.  Darn it. 

 

I didn't get much sleep last night.  One of my dogs got out of the yard and did not come home so I had two crying kids in my bed.  She digs under the fence lately and my boys keep filling in the holes but she did it again yesterday.  By the time we noticed she was just gone.  Usually when she gets out she wanders off for a bit then comes home and sits on the front porch until we let her in.  Last night she did not come home so that's a bad sign.  Then right after the kids settled down we had a storm come through that brought both my little dogs running and jumping into bed with us.  So last night I had two kids and two dogs in my queen sized bed with me.  Not fun.  My right shoulder hurts where my daughter slept on it for hours and I could not move.  I'm really worried about my runaway dog.  With the storm last night I really expected her to be home this morning.

[mcjule]

So sorry about your dog -- you must be so worried!  I hope your dog comes home soon!

[lujo238]

Got a little gassy after lunch again today.  Not sure if it has anything to do with the dairy I ate yesterday.  Lunch was ground beef/turkey combo with curry seasoning and coconut milk with a roasted yellow bell pepper and half a baked sweet potato.  Sometime bell peppers make me gassy like cauliflower so I'm just not sure.  Then around 3 o'clock I got so tired.  Again not sure if it's the dairy or my lack of sleep last night due to the kids and the dogs.

[lujo238]

Think I made a mistake this morning.  I had my reintro planned with some rye toast to go with my eggs, peppers and plantains.  Last night I went to bed and shortly afterward starting coughing and feeling not good.  This morning I woke up and just felt like crap, dry itchy eyes, mild sore throat and irritated sinuses. (Any chance this is a reaction to dairy two days ago?) I got up anyway poured myself a cup of coffee and made breakfast.  Here I am 30 minutes later with a clearer head and wondering if I should have delayed my wheat reintro.  My eyes feel like sandpaper already.  How will I know if the wheat makes it worse or not?  I am definitely not my best decision making self first thing in the morning.  Should I keep on and eat more wheat at lunch or quit and try to get better first?

[Physibeth]

Ultimately it is up to you but if you are not feeling well I would delay your reintroductions until you feel better. It is possible this is a delayed dairy reaction or you may just have a bug. Either way I hope you feel better soon! 

 

As an aside...you should consider starting a Post-W30 log or a log in the reintroduction section as we generally ask people to keep their Whole30 logs just for the duration of the program so the discussions here stay on compliant foods.