MimiHI Whole30 Hi!

[CaveMom]

Let us know how the mayo turns out!  

I agree with foodfamilywine.  “I love your posts!”  I look forward to them every day!

[MimiHi]

Who knew Everyone's on turmeric. Well guess what? I dug around my drawer of supplements, and what did I find?? Yep. Turmeric from my naturopath. I'd forgotten all about it. So, I'm back on it and have fingers crossed it works. Once again, thank you for the great tip. 

I know you are all anxiously waiting to hear my mayonnaise news so I won't keep you waiting any longer: It turned out great! For my first time ever making it, I give it an 8. In all fairness I've never had homemade fancy french mayonnaise, so for all I know it's better than I think it is.  I believe the egg yolks, like the oil,  make a substantial impact on the taste. The yolks I used were from before XMAS (maybe Thanksgiving).  It certainly doesn't take like my Best Foods brand that I love, but I must say it's very fresh and fluffy and even when I was convinced I'd really screwed things up, Julia Child assured me it was coming along exactly as it's supposed to. 

Another great bonus, and I'm not kidding when I tell you thing:  I was sweating whipping those egg yolks and oil, teaspoon by teaspoon for 20 minutes (Felt more like 20 hours). Last night, I thought my wrist was broken, tonight I believe I developed carpel tunnel syndrome from making mayonnaise.

Cavemom and foodfamilywine, thank YOU for the kind posts. I'm so happy we are all here doing this together. I love reading about your days, and all your exciting recipes. When I feel more confident with my cooking skills, I will take a stab at some of your creations. Until then, please keep posting your pictures and recipes. They're so fun to see.

 

[Jager07]

Happy Tuesday to YOU!  (said in a Julia Childs voice )

Yes Day 2 and yes, Jager is short for Jagermeister - my first ID on the Internet years ago and it just stuck.  Yes....not that any of us drank that, especially not as a cure for a sore throat or for an after skiing treat.  

Sorry to hear tomatoes and onions are triggers for you.  I sadly had to cut onions out a few months ago for digestive reasons and feel so much better.  

Here's a recipe that a friend with horrendous joint pain and inflammation swears by:

• 1/2 to 1 C water
• 1/2 C turmeric
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cardamom
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/3 C coconut oil
• Combine water and turmeric over medium heat. Stir 7-8 minutes, take off heat and stir in all other ingredients. place in container and refrigerate
• Use 1/2 tsp per serving  in tea or whatever else sounds good.

For the mayo,  use a store brand extra light olive oil because the first time I used regular EVOO and the mayo was hoooorrrrible!  A glass container isn't necessary, especially if you're using anything besides an immersion blender.  

Also for you and foodfamilywine, you could have the best of both worlds by making the W30 avocado mayo on page 310 of The Whole30...1/2 C mayo, 1 avocado, juice of 1/2 lime.

Keep up the great job!

[MimiHi]

Jager! Thanks for this special joint pain concoction. I really appreciate you taking time to write it down for me.

As far as mayonaise goes, I actually think I might spend tomorrow making up two batches of mayo. One with Avacado oil, and one with extra light olive oil just to see which one I prefer. And I’ll buy super fresh eggs...I think my yolks were a tad old. 

Foodfamilywine, thanks for the enchilada soup recipe! It looks fantastic. Do you think a slow cooker is worth the money and the cabinet space? I don’t own any gadgets like that, so I’m always curious if people love them? We can’t eat red meat at our house due to my daughter’s meat allergy, which is main reason I’ve never purchased one. I thought the recipes mostly required using red meats.

[Guest]

Nice work with the mayo! And let us know how the turmeric works out for you. I think I'll try making mayo tonight...does it keep in the fridge or will it separate? I'm new to mayo-making so I have no idea!

[MimiHi]

Thanks ceerock, I'm not sure what the other recipes advise, but Julia Child's recipe had me add 2TBS boiling water as the final step in the process to prevent curdling. She then told me that if it does separate, just add in a bit of lemon juice into it and beat it up again with a wire whisk. I'm going to try it again today with some fresher egg yolks, different oils to see if it improves the taste. Mine isn't bad at all but I really hoped to hit the jackpot with the flavor and it falls short of that. 

Well done on your breakfast by the way, ceerock. Not sure I could eat salmon first thing in the morning like that. You definitely earned a big hi-five for keeping on track under extreme conditions.

[MimiHi]

Day 6: 

In a rotten mood thanks to my dog.

He really drives me nuts some days, most days actually. He's a big huge Basset Hound and if you've ever had one, you know exactly what I mean. As luck has it, his hound personality and my whole30 timeline clashed at 1am...Melissa warns us that around day 4-7 we might feel SUPER P*ssed off at nothing in particular, but she failed to mention that if this coincides with your dog wanting to go "check to see if that kitty cat might be in the backyard at 1am" you're in for a long day ahead. 

Hope you all are having a much more upbeat day than I am...thank goodness for leftovers, and for the structure of this program because for some odd reason I'm enjoying the strictness of it all today.

[MimiHi]

Here's the monster.

[kirbz]

@MimiHi Awww, but just look at that face! He can't possible be anything but sweet and innocent! :-) 

[MimiHi]

Ha! You made me laugh, kirbz! His nickname is The Monster. I swear, he's the devil in disguise some days. This picture makes him look small, too. I should've found a different one, just so you guys can see the size of him. He's HUGE. His front paws are as big as my hand. We thought he'd be small, so when he kept growing and Growing and GROWING, we wondered what the heck is happening with this dog?!! 

Ok, now I'm thinking I don't despise him quite so much. Just wish he'd figure out that the kiitty next door wants nothing to do with him, and if she did, she'd kick his a** anyway.

One thing about this day of being rather snarly is that I'm getting a lot done. I hope you guys don't have a day like this, it's really not as fun as those first few days when everything was super awesome. 

Food-wise: sticking to all compliant foods, and so I'm happy about that. Also relieved that things like "honey" and "maple syrup" aren't allowed. Surely, I would've figured out a way to add that into my diet today, what with my lousy mood. So glad I have "just say no" to lean on. Thanks a lot Nancy Reagan. (That's for those of us old enough to remember her "Just Say NO" to drugs campaign way back in the "80's)

If you don't hear from me the rest of the day it's because I don't want to bum you all out with my lousy  mood. I'll be super excited to see how you all are getting through the day, and if you have a funny pet story to share, I'd love to hear it. 

[CaveMom]

The Monster is soooo cute!  

Sorry about the lousy day.  I like that we can just tell it like it is on this forum.  Usually on social media, people paint a false positive of their lives.  There are definitely, definitely rough days on this program.

Hope you feel better soon.  We’re here for ya!

[Guest]

Funny about your dog! He does look like a sweetie but I'm sure being woken up in the middle of the night, on a cranky day, is not fun! Hopefully you can eventually forgive him, though.   And I hope the crankiness subsides, though don't feel bad--every day doesn't have to be perfect and we all have our moods, especially when potentially triggered by a new eating plan. 

[MimiHi]

Thanks for the support during my crabby day yesterday. I hope none of you has a day like that. It really was not a fun feeling to be so crabby all day.

Day7. One week down. Crazy how fast that went.

Here's my look back on the week:

I discovered Kale is definitely not my friend. I ate too many nuts and dates, but hey! It was the first week, so that's ok. I learned to make mayonnaise, cut wayyyy back on my Le Croix habit...from 3 to 4 cans a day to 3 for the entire week. The big one is I didn't mess up, so I can pass on to week 2 feeling like I really accomplished something. Who knew that not eating any crap all day long would feel like such an accomplishment? Shows you how bombarded we are with it everyday all day. I also discovered that you are cooking amazing dishes, taking fantastic photographs, have incredible commitment to stick with it, and are all amazingly supportive Whole30 friends. You all have brightened my day, each day, this past week, and yesterday when I was craving chocolate or trying to rationalize a way to add "honey" to the list of acceptable foods. I didn't go thru with it because I thought of you guys and how inspiring you are.

I think the biggest improvement from a week ago is that I feel less stuck, not so frozen on the sidelines, like I did before Cavemom inspired me to go to the store and get ready to start early. This is such an amazing feeling because I've felt stuck in life for quite a few years, so to feel life shift a bit is really really great.

YOU are all so wonderful, and I am happy we are here doing this together. I'm very grateful for you all. Have a Fabulous Day, whichever Day you're on!

[Guest]

I find the community to be very helpful as well, and inspiring. Much better than doing it on your own! Glad your mood has improved...hope the dog stays quiet!

[Jager07]

You are doing an incredible job, MimiHi and congrats on a solid first week!

I love that we're all here for each other and want only good things for each other.  

Btw, your pup is adorable.  The snow, however, not so much....(from a Wisconsin native)

[CaveMom]

Congratulations on finishing the first week!  I’m so glad we are all are on the Whole30 journey together!  Truly great support here!

I’m glad you are feeling better!  Thank you for the kind words.  You truly do have a gift for lifting others up!

[MimiHi]

Day 8:

I was starving last night, and ate too many nuts. Stuffed into olives, into dates, into literally anything that had a hole I could plug.  I discovered when you shove a little almond into a perfect green Spanish olive, it turns into bite-size bliss. I also realized that my desire to eat 10 of them  is probably not a good sign for the nuts in my house. Time to cut waaayy back. 

I remember reading about banana pancakes. I hate pancakes, so I couldn’t imagine why such a thing would be off limits. I’d gag if I had to eat a banana pancake. Now I get it. Nuts are my banana pancake. Dammit. 

So here we are Day 8 for me, Day —— for you. Each day that unfolds reveals a little (or a lot) about our relationship with the foods we used to eat. It’s a fascinating process. Now, I’ve got to do some serious soul searching about almonds, of all things. 

What’s your banana pancake?  

 

[Guest]

funny! salted cashews would definitely be my banana pancake...i mindlessly ate a whole (small) bag the other night!

[Jager07]

That was an awesome post!  Black olives.  I seriously need to stop myself from eating the whole can.

[MimiHi]

No wonder I adore you two! Girls after my own heart. Cashews and Olives. Right?? Sooo good. With a smidgen of control, they're compliant, too! Control being the operative word in that last sentence. 

 

[MimiHi]

Day 9: The days are flying by, aren’t they?

I can tell the thrill is dimming and the restrictions are still uncomfortably tight, yet somewhat routine. The weeks ahead seems verryyyy long. I’m tired from waking up at 4am each morning. I can see why so many people bail right about now. There. I said it. I won’t do it, but I certainly understand why it happens.

I ate that Applegate turkey last night. It had the oddest texture. It tasted fine (not likes the “smoked” version I tried the first day, which was down right disgusting), in fact it had no flavor at all really. Odd, but it’s convenient. I’ll give it that. I also tried NutPods...now this is one I really don’t understand. How is it that this product is on the list of acceptable foods, but if we make the same thing at home, we’re considered cheaters? Just wondering...

I’m sooooo looking forward to tomorrow! Day 10! I believe this is the day, way back when, I told ceerock we’d feel ready to do our own spirilizing!

 

[Guest]

hang in there! i have to admit i still have no desire to spiralize...although i've been working the hell out of my mandoline.

why are you waking up at 4am--is that just your routine or are you having sleep problems?

i ordered some nutpods after reading about it here...this morning i put coconut cream in my coffee (i had intended coconut milk, but it's so cold here my can of coconut milk simply would not shake up, it was supersolid!)  it was ok in coffee but not a ton better than drinking it black.

[MimiHi]

Thanks ceerock! I really appreciate the encouragement. I think I’m just in a bit of a lull. A dull lull. 

I cant imagine spirilizing anything either, now, or ever. I’ll gladly pay the extra money. It’s funny how Day 10 seemed so far off.

I made a list of gifts I’d treat myself to when I passed various milestones. Day 10 = Trip to the bookstore, but I now think I’ll add in an extra stop to the kitchen store. I think the one way to pull myself out of my stooper is to go buy a mandolin and a sheet pan. Hows that for an exciting Saturday night?!

[MimiHi]

As far as the NutPods go, I bought the original flavor and it’s pretty good. I bet the flavored ones would be even better. 

[CaveMom]

I’m right there with you MimiHi.  Yesterday was day 10 for me.  The newness is definitely wearing off.  I’m still totally committed, but the thought, “Why are you doing this again?” Kept running through my head yesterday.  

Hope things start looking up for you.  You are on day 10 and over 30% complete!  That in itself if a significant accomplishment!  I think you are doing great, and your kindness and encouragement enriches the experience for the rest of us too!  Hang in there!