Samalope's First Whole30 Log

[samalope]

Hi there! I am Sam from WV. I am trying to get rid of my sugar addiction and this is my log. My husband is also attempting this (read, eating the food I make him). I have planned for 2 weeks for this challenge.

Sunday Nov 5 - Day 1:

Breakfast/Lunch: Homemade Pork sausage patties, eggs and hashbrowns with ghee. (I didn't realize the ground pork I got already had salt in is, so the patties came out REALLY salty. Otherwise this would have been SO good.

Dinner: Chicken Sausage, sweet potato and apple roast. (https://www.budgetbytes.com/2013/09/oven-roasted-autumn-medley/)

Thoughts: I was really tired yesterday and was very anxious to do things right. I didn't eat enough vegetables. Also, I slept in so I missed a meal. Does anyone else have dreams about accidentally eating non-compliant food?

 

[samalope]

Monday November 6 - Day 2 

Breakfast -  Hasbrown Sausage Egg Casserole (https://therealfoodrds.com/sausage-hash-brown-egg-bake/) and a banana (made this Sunday afternoon for easy breakfast)

Lunch - Chicken, Sweet Potato and Apple bake leftovers and fresh Apple. I skipped the apple in the bake because the fresh apple. 

Dinner - Salmon, roasted broccoli and potato. Spinach and Romaine salad with cucumber and hard boiled egg and Tessamae balsamic vinaigrette. 

Thoughts - I woke up hungry but my brain didn't want the eggs. I slept through my alarm so I ended up taking the egg casserole to to work and picked at it. Gag reflex was strong with this one! I wasn't able to eat my entire square, but I felt SO full until 12:30, which usually I am getting hungry by 10:30 on my diet of energy drink & candy bar for breakfast. Anyway, knowing how good breakfast made me feel yesterday made it a lot easier to eat my casserole this morning. 

I wanted to eat as much salmon as I could stomach to hold off hunger, but it was really a struggle also! I really needed something CRUNCHY with dinner last night so after dinner I ended up making a simple crunchy salad. It helped. My poor husband complained of being hungry all evening - he is used to snacking in the evening on PBJ or crackers or chips. We need to up his portion sizes. He has never tried to change his diet before so it is difficult for him, but honestly it is so much more fun and exciting to try this new thing having my husband going through it with me.

I dreamed again last night that I was eating non-complaint food. I've never had food dreams like this! It is really boring food too, like saltines.

 

 

 

[samalope]

Tuesday Nov 7 - Day 3

Breakfast - Eggs, Sausage, Hashrown casserole again and a banana, it was easier to eat today 3/5

Lunch - Crock pot beef roast with potatoes and carrots - made overnight. We've had this sitting in our freeze for a couple of months so it wasn't super fresh but we thought this would be the perfect time to use it! It was pretty good but I don't think we'll be letting food sit in the freezer that long again. 4/5

Snack - Dinner was taking too long so I had a handful of nuts

Dinner - Chicken with adobo with roasted broccoli and carrots. Spinach, romaine, hb egg and cucumber salad with tessamae dressing. 2/5

Between getting home and cleaning the dishes from the night before, and preparing food for dinner, I didn't have time to walk the dog. I was really frustrated with the amount of time I was spending in the kitchen. Also, my back hurts from standing and preparing food and doing all the dishes (I don't have a dish washer). I actually went to my parents house and snagged an old bar stool so I can sit and peel potatoes lol. I got snippy with DH as I was stressed about what I was going to make for lunch the next day. I was going to make meatloaf but DH made all the eggs into hardboiled eggs. I ran to the grocery store and bought some more eggs and ended up making it. Not very excited to eat meatloaf, but thought I'd try something different.

What I learned today: Making mayo is hard, and extra virgin olive oil doesn't work! I just wanna try some Whole30 coleslaw, is that too hard to ask?

 

[samalope]

Wednesday Nov 8 - Day 4

Breakfast - Eggs, Sausage, Hashbrown casserole again and a banana, 3/5

Lunch - Meatloaf and sweet potato  (https://www.paleorunningmomma.com/whole30-paleo-meatloaf-whole30-ketchup/) For some reason I really liked this better cold? 3/5

Dinner - 24 hour sou vide roast with lots of green beans and baked potato. 5/5 I made hashbrowns for crunch but GASP! Discovered they had dextrose in the ingredients. GAH! Not even necessary. Darn you hidden sugars!!! I was seriously about to eat them anyway but decided that it wasn't worth it. I am too committed to eating by the book.

Thoughts: Day 4 I was exhausted. I didn't want to spend another minute in my kitchen, especially doing the the pile of dishes left from yesterdays attempt at mayo. I took a 2 hour nap after work, then got up and had some roast with baked potato and was fine. I just watched tv and chilled then decided that for a better tomorrow I should go ahead and do the dishes and I am glad I did.

Food dream of the day: eating Flips white chocolate covered pretzels, then thinking that they'd be really good dipped in icing packs leftover from toaster strudels. Then you realize in your dream you can't eat that and start spitting it out and coughing then wake up coughing. LOL

What I learned today: ALWAYS READ THE LABELS BEFORE YOU BUY ANYTHING!!!

 

[samalope]

Thursday Nov 9 - Day 5

Breakfast - Eggs, 3 slices of Kroger PreCooked Lower Sodium Bacon, green beans and a Banana. Black Coffee

Lunch - 24 Hour Roast Left overs, green beans, apple

Dinner  - Sou vide Salmon, green beans and baked potato.

Thoughts: Today I felt really good, I was prepared to feel miserable all this week but I am really surprised at how decent I feel. DH said he feels hungry and tired, same as usual. I've been trying to get him to eat more fats. 

I started meal planning for Week 2. I am really trying to prepare ahead for Days 10 and 11 so that I can succeed. I am thinking 2 croc pot meals might be in order. Or something simple like sou vide salmon and quick veggies. Something really delicious that I know will work.

What I learned today: Planning is key!

[samalope]

Friday Nov 10 - Day 6

Breakfast - Eggs and banana

Lunch - Leftover salmon, green beans and apple 

Dinner - Sirloin steak and baked potato and roasted broccoli 

What I learned today: Sirloin steak is expensive but really delicious! I also learned that my local butcher has baby sausage links without any additives. Yay! 

-------------

Saturday Nov 11 - Day 7 

Breakfast- Egg, baby sausage links, and a failed attempt at hash browns

Lunch - Had a late breakfast so lunch was light. A few grapes, handful of nuts and 2 pieces of bacon

Dinner - Chicken Tenders, green beans, and baked potato 

Food dream of the day: I had a dream I was on a date going to a Chinese restaurant and I ordered a baked potato because nothing else was compliant. 

What I learned today: HOLY CRAP I SUCCESSFULLY MADE MAYO!!! I was so excited.  I immediately made some coleslaw that turned out great. So excited to eat it tomorrow. 

I meal planned everything out this morning for the next week. So far my meals will include: stuffed peppers, pineapple sausage stir fry, chicken Thai curry, beef stew, and some other things. 

I went to Aldis today and got a ton of produce and meats. Good prices. I had to go to Kroger for some more specialty items. Still need to go to Walmart for some ghee. 

ALSO I am very happy to have completed one week of Whole30! It seems to be going well with lots of planning. I am spending way too much on groceries  though. Some of it was just like Whole30 staples I needed to buy though. And figuring where it is best to buy certain groceries. 

NSVs For this week: Making mayo and coleslaw, making meatloaf for the first time, keeping my kitchen clean, managing my time better, successfully meal planning 

 

[samalope]

Sunday Nov 12 - Day 8

Breakfast- Bacon, eggs, and some cantaloupe

Lunch- was supposed to be chicken tenders but I was too busy to cook them. Ended up having some cantaloupe and nuts! Def not enough food and I felt it later!

Dinner- I tried to make this Chicken Sausage Sweet and Sour Stir Fry (changing the recipe to be compliant) but when I thought I ordered coconut aminos this weekend I accidentally got the regular soy aminos! The labels were too similar. So I had something similar, but without a lot of flavor.  It was an interesting combo though.

What I learned today: Don't skip lunch because you will be a zombie

I food prepped a lot of stuff for the next couple of days so we'll see how it goes.

[samalope]

Monday Nov 13 Day 9

Breakfast - Same casserole as last week, but I used ground pork instead of pork sausage because it was so much cheaper ($1 a pound??!)

Lunch - leftover chicken sausage sweet and sour stir fry

Dinner - Salmon, roasted red potatoes and green beans

What I learned today: Peeled potatoes will brown left in the fridge to their own devices. Need to add them to some lemon water to keep them looking pretty.

 

[valiantrunner]

The foolproof way to DIY hashbrowns:

1) Shred potato. Doesn't matter how you do this - cheese grater or food processor works.

2) Soak them in cool tap water for 30 seconds.

3) Squeeze water from the potatoes using a towel.

4) Fry in a dry pan, with a little ghee, or with olive oil/avocado oil/coconut oil. YUM!

This is the way I've gotten them to crisp up beautifully like the storebought ones (the ones with dextrose). I have a corn allergy (dextrose is corn derived), so I've been doing it this way for a while. SO GOOD! If you fry up an egg, over easy, and then break the yolk...it's like a little piece of Heaven on your breakfast plate. So good it ought to be banned LOL!

FWIW, oxidized potatoes taste just as good as unoxidized potatoes

[samalope]

14 hours ago, valiantrunner said:

The foolproof way to DIY hashbrowns:

1) Shred potato. Doesn't matter how you do this - cheese grater or food processor works.

2) Soak them in cool tap water for 30 seconds.

3) Squeeze water from the potatoes using a towel.

4) Fry in a dry pan, with a little ghee, or with olive oil/avocado oil/coconut oil. YUM!

This is the way I've gotten them to crisp up beautifully like the storebought ones (the ones with dextrose). I have a corn allergy (dextrose is corn derived), so I've been doing it this way for a while. SO GOOD! If you fry up an egg, over easy, and then break the yolk...it's like a little piece of Heaven on your breakfast plate. So good it ought to be banned LOL!

FWIW, oxidized potatoes taste just as good as unoxidized potatoes

Oooh thank you for the tips. I love hashbrowns

[samalope]

Tuesday Nov 14 Day 10

Breakfast - Same ol egg casserole and banana

Lunch - Dad's Recipe Beef Stew SO DELICIOUS! Beef, carrots, potatoes, celery, and tomato sauce. Salt and pepper and paprika. We made a lot so it will probably last 3 meals. Also an apple.

Dinner - Dad's Beef Stew, oranges and grapes

I officially LOVE overnight croc pot meals. I was so happy to come home to realize I didn't have to make dinner cause it was already done! I will have to use one or two a week from now on.

I feel like I ate too much fruit, but we bought TOO MUCH FRUIT this weekend, and I don't want it to go to waste. Maybe I'll make DH eat it for me since he's always hungry. 

ALSO, BIG NEWS! WE ARE GETTING A DISHWASHER!!! We rent so I couldn't get a built in but I got one of those counter top dishwashers, which is perfect for just the 2 of us.

Food dream of the day: I was getting ready in the morning, I found a bag of Reisens chocolates and I just absent-mindedly ate a few. I flipped out and was devastated that I had to start all over!

 

[Babsie95]

yeah gotta rinse and squeeze the shredded potatoes for hash browns. I can't tell you how many I screwed up before I figured out the key

[samalope]

Wednesday Nov 15 Day 11

Breakfast - breakfast casserole and banana

Lunch - Leftover beef stew and an apple

Dinner - Stuffed Green Peppers  and mashed potatoes (ran out of ghee, so I used almond milk and coconut oil and some garlic salt)

Too many potatoes this week! That should be the last of them about for this week.

 I got a stool to sit while I am doing dishes (which really piled up due to laziness!) and watched some Netflix. I just relaxed and watched my show and did the dishes at my leisure, and even though it took me longer I still got some TV time in (I really like watching TV lol).

Do any of your have some fool-proof Whole30 crowd pleasers side dishes for Thanksgiving? I thought the coleslaw I made was great but my husband said he didn't think other people would like it lol. I would do the mashed potatoes but my mom might have ownership of those lol. But now I am thinking I have 2 family members who do not eat dairy so I could make a yummy dairy free version for them!

 

[valiantrunner]

8 hours ago, samalope said:

 

Do any of your have some fool-proof Whole30 crowd pleasers side dishes for Thanksgiving? I thought the coleslaw I made was great but my husband said he didn't think other people would like it lol. I would do the mashed potatoes but my mom might have ownership of those lol. But now I am thinking I have 2 family members who do not eat dairy so I could make a yummy dairy free version for them!

 

3

We were going to bring steamed green beans, mashed sweet potatoes and compliant gravy to our family Thanksgiving. I'm expecting to only be able to eat the turkey otherwise LOL

[ShannonM816]

10 hours ago, samalope said:

Do any of your have some fool-proof Whole30 crowd pleasers side dishes for Thanksgiving? I thought the coleslaw I made was great but my husband said he didn't think other people would like it lol. I would do the mashed potatoes but my mom might have ownership of those lol. But now I am thinking I have 2 family members who do not eat dairy so I could make a yummy dairy free version for them!

There's several ideas here:   https://meljoulwan.com/2017/11/10/paleo-whole30-thanksgiving-recipes-2/

And if you Google whole30 thanksgiving, you should find a few old posts on the Whole30 blog with recipe ideas.

Roasted root vegetables are always good, or a nice salad. Bacon wrapped potatoes, sweet potatoes, or dates are good for appetizer type things. Instead of recreating mashed potatoes, you could do these:   http://wholesomepatisserie.com/sides/roasted-garlic-rosemary-hasselback-potatoes/

[samalope]

12 hours ago, ShannonM816 said:

There's several ideas here:   https://meljoulwan.com/2017/11/10/paleo-whole30-thanksgiving-recipes-2/

And if you Google whole30 thanksgiving, you should find a few old posts on the Whole30 blog with recipe ideas.

Roasted root vegetables are always good, or a nice salad. Bacon wrapped potatoes, sweet potatoes, or dates are good for appetizer type things. Instead of recreating mashed potatoes, you could do these:   http://wholesomepatisserie.com/sides/roasted-garlic-rosemary-hasselback-potatoes/

 

Oh thank you, I'll check those out! I talked with my mom about stuff I could bring and we agreed on green beans with bacon and some sort of potatoes for those with dairy issues She'll still be making her classic creamy potatoes. I have the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off so I might try to get creative with another appetizer or something from the recipes you suggested

[samalope]

Thursday Nov 16 - Day 12

Breakfast - Casserole zzz getting bored with it. At least the weekend is coming up and I can have time to make a good fresh breakfast Also a banana. 

Lunch - Stuffed Pepper leftovers. YUM Still super good. I was really proud of myself for recognizing as I was eating, hey! You're full! You don't have to eat all of your mashed potatoes. So I didn't. My body and my brain are communicating better I think

Dinner - We STILL had beef stew left! So instead of the planned salmon and veggies we ate the last of it. Still so good. Definitely going to make that again the week after next.

Snack- I know snacking isn't allowed, but we have DnD sessions at our house and I like to feed people, Whole30 or no Whole30. So I tried my hand at some sauces and successfully made mayo again, and made some sort of oniony, garlicy sauce from the mayo. I have a friend doing Keto so I tried to mix that sauce in with some tuna for some veggie dip, but I used way too much garlic (didn't think it was possible to have too much garlic). I also tried to make baked sweet potato chips which was fun, even though they turned out soggy cause I just winged it and didn't follow a recipe (I learned after that I need to soak the sweet potatoes). The dip + the sweet potato chips was really good though even though the dip was garlicy, it somehow worked? Also I had a big bowl of apple slices cause I bought way too many apples this week to eat on my own. Yay friends to help me eat stuff! Haha.

Anyway, yesterday I just had a lot of fun experimenting in the kitchen. WTF COOKING CAN BE FUN?! NSV for sure.

Food dream of the day: My friend took me to an ice cream parlor and we chowed down on some ice cream and cookies. Then I got really mad at him for taking me there because he knew I was doing Whole30 and couldn't have it!

 

[samalope]

Friday Nov 17 - Day 13

Breakfast - Just a banana, I know its bad  I woke up late and didn't have any casserole left

Lunch - Eggs and bacon and an orange

Dinner - Chicken Tenders and green beans

This day was the first day I had any real cravings for non-compliant food. I left work early to be home for when a package arrived, and that drive home early triggered thoughts of "Oh!  I should eat out somewhere since I am away from work for lunch!" We have very few food options where I work so it is always a treat when I have the option to eat in town. So I really wanted Chinese food or something fun. I think I am just conditioned to think that way when I can eat in town. It was really weird. I was kind of off for the rest of the day. 

Also, a coworker brought in some real fancy-pants cupcakes from a trendy bakery, and they are so good. I had to tell her no, thanks. She forgot I wasn't eating anything sugary. I felt bad and told her so.  

I think there was just a combination of me having to say no to something very special and delicious, and wanted rewarded for the decision, and also the fact the my daily schedule was wonky. And the fact that I started my day with only a banana. They just kind of all added up to blech. -

Saturday Nov 18 - Day 14 

Breakfast - Sausage, eggs, and green beans. I really like green beans with my breakfast! 

Lunch - Leftover chicken tenders and an orange, I ate breakfast late so I didn't eat a big lunch. 

Dinner - I had my first dining out experience! I got to-go burgers from Five Guys (with lettuce instead of buns) and brought them home and put some homemade mayo on them. It was nice cause I was starving after a long shopping trip at Walmart. 

I was still feeling deprived yesterday, I think it is because I haven't been eating enough vegetables.  

[samalope]

Sunday Nov 19 - Day 15

Breakfast/Lunch (because I slept in lol)- Sausage, eggs, green beans

Dinner - Old-Fashioned Slow Cooker Pork Chops Recipe with broccoli and mashed potatoes

Yesterday I just wanted to sleep all day! I did some sewing (I cosplay at anime conventions) and prepped breakfast for the week. I am so excited because I only work Monday this week and then its no more work!   It was hard to push myself to do cooking today.

[samalope]

WOW Has this last week been crazy. I wasn't able to get to my computer long enough to keep my log.

Basically I've been eating a lot of meat and potatoes, unfortunately not enough greens and my body has gotten a little... stuffed up. Ugh. Also, I was stressed out last week about Thanksgiving. I made it through though with my own potatoes and green beans. My mom was a little passive aggressive about me not eating all her yummy food, but I told her I'd make it up to her for Christmas dinner. On a side note, I was surprise how sad I felt over not getting to eat pie, which isn't even a dessert I particularly like. Also, the fact that I wasn't belly-achey full after was weird, but I think good. Also there were days last week where I slept in so I only had 2 meals instead of 3 and days I just didn't feel like cooking.

This week will be better and I've got all my favorite recipes from the last 3 weeks on the menu.

Sunday Nov 2 - Day 23

Breakfast - Sausage and hasbrowns (ran out of eggs)

Mini-lunch - 2 all beef hotdogs

Dinner- Chicken tenders, hashbrowns, and a lot of broccoli

On the menu this week: Dad's beef stew, stuffed peppers, salmon, thai curry, more chicken

 

[samalope]

Monday Nov 27 - Day 23 (yesterday I was all kinds of tired apparently! Couldn't get the day or the date right!)

Breakfast - 2 eggs, 3 pieces of bacon and a banana. Skipping the casserole this week.

Lunch - Leftover chicken tenders, broccoli and potatoes

Dinner- Dad's Beef Stew

Thoughts: I have been feeling really uncomfortable lately. Early last week I felt good. Tuesday I had a root canal and things seemed to go downhill from there. TMI Warning I have been blocked up since and for the first time in my life experienced hemorrhoids :-/ Neither issue has resolved itself yet, though I am now using medicine to help.

Tuesday Morning thoughts: I am also now catching some sort of cold. Started coughing last night and I am still phlemy this morning. I am just tired and want to feel normal again. I will try to drink lots of water today because I think that might help. At least I have leftover beef stew which should be good with the sore throat.

[samalope]

I wanted to write down some thoughts from last week because I forgot to log it.

I ate out at a local dinner place and asked the waitress the standard questions, including if the broccoli had butter on them, and she said she didn't think so. I told her if she finds out they do, just bring me some other steamed vegetable. Well, brocolli comes out and I take a huge bite, and it is smothered in butter. I ate my baked potato and steak though so it wasn't all bad. However, that night I had the worst headache. I really wonder if it was the butter that did that.

Also, I found frozen hasbrowns that are JUST potatoes! Unfortunately it is at a store I don't go to very often but I think I'll stop there once in awhile just to pick those babies up.

 

[samalope]

Tuesday Nov 28 - Day 24

Breakfast - Bacon, eggs, hashbrowns

Lunch - Leftover beef stew

Dinner - More leftover beef stew. I made stuffed peppers but didn't feel like eating them.

Thoughts: feeling like crap today, I have caught some sort of cold/flu with a dry cough and I am achey. Fortunately it seems like my digestive issues are getting better.

 

[samalope]

Wednesday Nov 29 - Day 25

Breakfast - Bacon, eggs, banana

Lunch - Skipped it because I wasn't feeling good

Dinner - Hot dogs and potatoes and broccoli and hot tea

Cold was really bad. I pretty much passed out after work. Probably should not have gone in.  I went to sleep after I took the dog out and didn't wake up until 9pm and made myself some quick dinner. I am really not wanting to be Whole30 with a cold but it is doable. I just want some chicken noodle soup from Bob Evans! Maybe I can make some, minus the noodles. I want to comfort myself with food when I am feeling sick. You know how women complain about their husbands being big babies when they are sick? It is the opposite for me and my husband. I am mopey!  Maybe it is because we don't have kids yet so I can afford to mope lol. Anyway, I want to use food to make me feel better emotionally more than physically, so I gotta look out for that. 

[samalope]

Thursday Nov 30 Day 26

Breakfast - bacon, eggs, hashbrowns

Lunch - banana

Dinber - apple and a little soup

I tried making chicken vegetable soup but it didn't turn out very good. I'm hoping that it turns out better after sitting in the fridge for several hours. I'm still not feeling well and still recovering from a cold so I didn't have much of an appetite. I'm kind of disappointed because I only have a few more days left of Whole30 and I don't have that tiger blood mostly because I'm so sick! I will be doing the 10-day reintroduction though so I still have time to recover and feel good hopefully.