Tasha30's 1st Timer Food Log

[Tasha30]

Hello everyone!

This is my very first attempt at Whole30 and I started today! Sorry for the super long post!

A little background on me is that I am a 30 year old (as of Aug, 6th) graduate student who is in my last year of my Doctor of Physical Therapy program. I have eaten almost exclusively processed and sugar laden foods for most of my life as I was a VERY picky eater up until I did a 3 month study abroad in France in 2015. My family lives off of microwave dinners, pizza, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Arbys, and Burger King so I have no idea how to really cook. I'm pretty sure the only reason I'm not overweight/obese is because of my faulty hunger cues (more on that later).

My palate has expanded since my time in France and I am eating a wider variety of foods than before, but my diet is still heavily processed since I'm a poor college student, I have poor cooking skills, and processed food is cheap. I also have an enormous sugar dragon that is going to make this VERY difficult. I decided to go on the Whole30 because my life has been lived in constant fatigue and I'm probably a form of malnourished; my weight is normal for my height, and I don't look malnourished, but the constant fatigue, sluggishness, brain fog, few and far between hunger cues, barely managed anemia, and other unpleasantness that I feel indicates that I probably am. I'm tired all the time and I feel like my short term memory is very poor which has been making my time in my doctoral program especially difficult. My blood pressure has also gone through the roof since starting the program (160/100 at the highest) and that's a stroke down the line if I don't get it under control. I'm hoping that I will see improvement in my energy, mental clarity, anemia, and blood pressure first and foremost with improvements in my body composition and acne as bonuses.

My first day on the program has been....... so-so, not a fail, but not a win either. So far my first and only meal of the day was 1/4th of the spinach frittata recipe found in the Whole30 book and one peach which I had around 1pm. I had a banana tonight around 9pm, so in that respect, I've stayed compliant and on the program.

I know this is not good as I should be having one 3 meals in the day, but I haven't felt hungry (hello messed up hunger cues) and didn't have the ambition to get in the kitchen and make any other food. As I said earlier, my family lives off of fast food so I have very few kitchen skills which means any recipe take AGES for me to make. Even recipes that are supposed to be quick and easy end up taking at least an hour for me.  Because I tend to not feel hungry, I just don't eat if I don't feel bothered to make anything which is what happened today. I'm hoping that the Whole30 will fix that problem as I'm sure I'm not eating enough to fuel my body which causes me to be so tied all the time. If I'm too tired then I will ALWAYS sleep instead of eat, which just creates a vicious cycle (I can easily sleep 12-15 hours at a time if I let myself). I'm pretty sure sugar and carbs are all that have been propping me up, so this is going to be brutal.

I was going to do the 7 day meal plan that is listed in the book since I'm totally clueless in the kitchen and have no idea how to cook/pair anything to make a meal, but after buying the ingredients for day 1-3 I was floored by the price tag and I've decided that I can't afford to follow that plan. I don't cook so I had to buy EVERYTHING that would probably be in a normal person's kitchen already. The only things I did have prior to starting are a bunch of kitchen gadgets like a food processor, instant pot, and other things from my last attempt of "eating healthy and changing my relationship with food" of a few years ago.

Due to grad school my time and budget are very limited; I only work one day a week because school eats all time, so I rely on student loans for most of my expenses. That being said, any tips, tricks, and advice you guys have that can save me time and money are greatly appreciated.

For example I learned on the forum today that you can roast half a spaghetti squash in the instant pot which will only take around 10 minutes instead of an hour like in the book, so that was pretty good to know!

Thank you for reading and I look forward to hearing from all of you and learning how to eat, live, and feel like a human being.

[Amura]

Welcome aboard!

It's a great step and one that would help you to do something very very important - cook your own meals.
I think it's the only way to eat proper wholesome meals.

If you need advice, I have two: boil and roast.
Seriously.
They are very easy techniques to cook most vegetables you can imagine. So get yourself some veggies and either boil or roast them, store them in airtight containers and whenever you have to cook just throw some of whatever you have avaliable in the dish.
Also have around something you can eat raw (lettuce, arugula, kale, carrots, radishes, avocado, etc.) if you want to cut out in cooking time.
After you sort out veggies, everything else seems easy imho.

For proteins it depends more on the type of protein you like, but there are very easy ones such as canned fish (just open and eat!) and hardboiled eggs. 
Also steaks and fish fillets. Throw them in a pan with some cooking fat, and when the sides look done turn them to cook the other side. 
You can buy large amounts of either meat or fish at discount price, cut in portions and freeze (either raw or cooked). 
Throw a portion with your prepped veggies and your meal is ready to go.

Salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil. That's a finishing touch for pretty much any dish.
When you have managed basic dishes, then get into the fancy sauces (many are easy to make, but I would not rush it).

I know it does not sound exciting, but honestly, unexciting is better than not eating because you don't feel like grabbing a cookbook and trying a completely new recipe with completely new techniques that you don't control.
 

16 hours ago, Tasha30 said:

The only things I did have prior to starting are a bunch of kitchen gadgets like a food processor, instant pot, and other things from my last attempt of "eating healthy and changing my relationship with food" of a few years ago.

 I certainly don't have (or need) gadgets such as those.  Of course use them if you have them, but personally I would advice to focus on basic food.
I would not google "instant pot whole30 recipes" because the fancyness of those would make your meal planning more complicated.

[Tasha30]

Thank you for the advice Amura!

Day 2 went better food-wise. I ate three meals today and made homemade ranch that tasted better than I thought it would! I thought I was going to feel like crap since a lot of people experience the hangover on day two and I only ate the spinach frittata the day before but I actually felt normal, so that was nice.

M1 @1pm: A quarter of the spinach frittata and strawberries

M2 @4:30: Protein salad with grapes, celery, carrot, and onion over baby spinach with home made ranch dressing

M3 @9pm: Spaghetti squash, tomato salad from the Whole30 book, and ground turkey

I'm starting day 3 today. I'm feeling a little tired but that's nothing new for me, so I guess I'm still feeling pretty normal.

[Emma]

Wow - you are making a huge shift! It's crazy how much cheaper and easier it is to eat processed foods and fast food places and, in some places, how hard it is to find healthy foods at a reasonable cost.

Your Day One sounded not so ideal, but your Day 2 rocked. I think the biggest thing I learned was to make sure each of my meals followed the template and had the three key things: protein, healthy fat, veggies (not fruit).  For me, the quick and easy go-to's when I'm not feeling the love have been almonds, olives, carrots, hard boiled eggs, compliant salami or cans of tuna.  Haha - or like today's lunch: prosciutto, mixed greens, lemon olive oil dressing from Tessamae.  MANY of my meals have been pathetic, but many more, over time, have gotten to be pretty dang good.  Your meals today sounded pretty darn sweet!

[heb2014]

Way to go, @Tasha30! You can do this.

In addition to some of the suggestions above, canned chicken or frozen already cooked chicken are great time savers (just be sure to check labels for ingredients).  And baked potatoes (bake a bunch at once and keep on hand, already cooked - makes an easy base for protein and fat...or a side) 

And I would add stir-fry to methods to try - even if you don't make a sauce. Just for a different texture. 

Walmart has some frozen Great Value Whole30 meals you could keep in your freezer for one of those too-tired-to-cook moments, that way you could still get a healthy meal.

In Day 9 of the Whole30 Day By Day book, Melissa Urban writes about making things easier "...or maybe it's realizing that not every Whole30 meal has to be a religious experience, and it's ok if dinner is grass-fed hot dogs, store-bought applesauce, and leftover veggies." I think it's important to not get overwhelmed and have something to fall-back on. Not every meal has to be Instagram-worthy.

[Jihanna]

Keep it simple, and give yourself grace.

Don't worry about fancy cooking methods, just get the food cooked (or throw it together as a salad, or use pre-cooked compliant stuff, etc.). Pair things up based on what you personally like, even if other people don't think it should work. You're basically just going for a protein, a bit of healthy fat, and a veggie or two (some of which can be starchy veg if needed or wanted).

If you're only cooking for one, a standard "sheet pan dinner" is 4 servings so would give you dinner plus a few leftover meals. A big pot of soup gives the option of keeping some in the fridge as well as freezing some for a future quick-meal. The instant pot gives you a way to get freshly "baked" potatoes and sweet potatoes, a quick method for steaming spaghetti squash, etc.

One key thing I learned is that my budget matters more than a label saying organic / grass-fed / free-range / etc. We have 5 full-grown adults and 1 adult-sized teen in the house, so every dinner I cook is 8-10 servings (or more if it's a massive pot of soup). We go through A LOT of meat, eggs, and veggies (not to mention the bread and other non-compliant stuff most of them eat). It's simply not in my budget to buy all organic foods, so I don't sweat it. I just remember that we're all eating better food overall, and I go with what I can do.

About meal planning -- I know the services can be amazing, and it's really helpful if you're short on time... but they don't take local sales into account, and often can plan foods that are a bit outside the budget. The same goes for meal plans in books. What I've found works best for me is to check the local sales each week (you can check just one store, or as many as you're willing to shop) and use what's on sale to help me build my meal plan. If whole chicken is only $0.49/lb this week, then I'll get two; one to freeze and one to toss in the instant pot for one night's dinner, with leftovers (plus a carcass to make broth). If roast is on sale, we'll have roast that week; if not, then I don't buy it. If pork loins are on sale, I'll buy 2 and cut them in half; two halves are used for pork roasts, and the other halves are cut up into boneless loin chops. Ground beef is what I use most, and I generally buy the 73/27 unless the 80/20 is on sale (I've literally never bought 93% lean beef).

Doing that, writing a meal plan around the local sales, allows me to feed 7 (our adult-sized mouths plus my 9yo) and stay within our budget. Sometimes I can splurge on things like organic daikon radish because I've managed to save so much on other items... those weeks make me happy, because I love some daikon "ramen" soup!

[Tasha30]

Thank for all the tips! I'm definitely going to have to look at the sales ads and try to make meals from those. I think the thing that trips me up is that I've never really thrown my own meals together before, just got fast food, went out to eat, or would make something like a bowl of Kraft Macaroni and cheese and call that dinner. Now I actually have to throw things together, but that's what the internet is for I suppose lol.

Well day 3 was fine, still no cravings for the bad things I was eating and I ate the three same meals I did in day 2. It's the end of day 4 now and I'm still feeling fine with no cravings. I will think about the bad stuff and I do find myself looking down the isles I know have candy and baked goods, but no real craving yet. My classmates are going to an ice cream social tomorrow and I'm going to go along to be social, so we'll see if that triggers the cravings. I'm optimistic though since ice cream is not high on my list of favorite sweets.

The Meals for today (day 4) were:

M1: Last of the frittata and a banana

M2: the last of the protein salad

M3: Pan seared chicken breast, baked sweet potato cubes, and a cabbage slaw with the roasted red pepper mayo that is in the Whole30 book.

 

How much fruit do you all eat? I know the book says not to have fruit to curb sugar cravings because that is still giving into the mental demand for sugar, but what about on a normal day. So far I've had 1 or 2 pieces of fruit a day, but I'm wondering if that is preventing me from kicking my sugar addiction (or maybe is why I'm not having any cravings).

[Jihanna]

Regarding fruit, I don't eat it for the first week or two of Whole30, and I try to limit "sweet" starches like sweet potatoes and butternut (I'm happy enough to do roasted carrots in the place of those for the first bit!). When I do eat fruit during Whole30, I tend to use fruits that are less sweet and I make sure they're incorporated with my meal (e.g., raspberries on a salad, apples cooked with my pork roast). I never ever eat dried fruits during Whole30, because those send me hunting for date and nut bars, which are a quick way to derail myself. I also tend to push my fruit toward the evening, so I'm not setting myself up for sugar cravings throughout the day, making it harder to not snack. (When I'm not on round, I eat a banana every day or two and will occasionally have a fruit salad of some sort, still typically toward day end.)

With all that in mind, I can say that my sugar dragon is a nasty beast that has to be starved into oblivion in order for me to function well on round. It's a tricky thing, too, because as it nears hibernation it starts acting like a salt dragon... the idea being that if it can make me cave and start snacking on salty stuff, the sweet stuff won't be far behind! Not everyone has to treat their dragon like I do, but I've found that it's my best bet for getting through that first week without setting myself up for massive cravings in week two.

Throwing meals together becomes easier with practice... and honestly I've found that I much prefer doing it without all the pasta and stuff that we used to always eat. (It's funny that I say that, because now that my son's back home, I have to remember that I'll need to cook 2 lbs of spaghetti noodles anytime I make spaghetti squash and sauce, because that boy could eat a whole spaghetti squash by himself!)

Meal planning becomes easier with practice, too. I have a few go-to sites for recipes, and I save anything that I think I'll want to make into an online recipe box, then pull recipes into my meal plan. I use Copy Me That, which is free and has an app for my phone. It's got a nifty button that saves recipes directly into your box, where you can tweak as much or as little as you want while retaining a link to the original; there's a meal plan feature that lets you set recipes for each day or make notes for the days (like "steamed broccoli" since I don't need a recipe for that); some other features too, without having to pay for the premium version. Probably my favorite thing about it is that it has a checkbox for if you've actually made a recipe, a rating system, and you're able to set recipes as favorites.

CookSmarts is a pretty cool place to start if you want some insight into how to actually do things in the kitchen. They've got quite a few good guides and lessons that are part of their free site, as well as articles (which include a weekly meal plan that I don't actually follow but I do at times save meals that look tasty and might be tried in my future!). There are two super-cool things about their recipes -- first, every single recipe has 4 options (original, gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian), so I usually just look at the paleo one and alter as needed to make it compliant if it isn't already; second, they give very explicit directions including videos of how to do some of the prep work, like chopping. Here's an example that includes video tutorials: Thai-marinated chicken thighs (just a note, the marinade/dressing for this is amazing when blended into a creamy goodness; just remember to use coconut aminos and skip the honey). They do offer a meal-planning service, which you can test drive for 3 or 4 weeks, but I've personally found it easier to just make my own plan from gathered recipes (and, of course, it's cheaper that way, too).

NomNomPaleo, PaleoLeap, RealSimpleGood, and PaleoGrubs are the sites where most of my saved recipes have come from, at least the ones that are Whole30 compliant (or easy to tweak into compliance). Be wary when searching Whole30 recipes, though, because there are a lot out there that are made with compliant ingredients but don't really embrace the spirit of the program, so it's worth looking past those while on round. Also remember that when looking at paleo sites, they're bound to have some stuff on there that are outside the spirit of the Whole30 program as well... but some of it's certainly worth coming back to later, if it won't lead you down a rabbit hole!

NomNomPaleo did a big Whole30 recipe roundup, as well, so I wanted to link it in case it's helpful!
https://nomnompaleo.com/post/42057515329/the-round-up-30-days-of-whole30-recipes

Ahem, and now I'm going to walk away before this book gets even longer!

[Amura]

6 hours ago, Tasha30 said:

How much fruit do you all eat? I know the book says not to have fruit to curb sugar cravings because that is still giving into the mental demand for sugar, but what about on a normal day. So far I've had 1 or 2 pieces of fruit a day, but I'm wondering if that is preventing me from kicking my sugar addiction (or maybe is why I'm not having any cravings).

I'm eating up to 2 pieces of fruit a day. Some days I don't eat any at all.

I never eat any it in my breakfast, I think this is better for my energy levels and I make sure I don't need a mid-morning snack.
I never thought I would enjoy veggies for breakfast but I do, and that's something I'm gonna keep after my Whole30.

I may eat a piece after lunch or dinner, specially if I have no more food to serve and I don't feel completely satiated.
But I try not to think of it as dessert. "Oh, what will I eat for dessert?" makes my mind wander and think of sweet options - so I try to avoid that mindset.

[heb2014]

11 hours ago, Jihanna said:

Meal planning becomes easier with practice, too. I have a few go-to sites for recipes, and I save anything that I think I'll want to make into an online recipe box, then pull recipes into my meal plan. I use Copy Me That, which is free and has an app for my phone. It's got a nifty button that saves recipes directly into your box, where you can tweak as much or as little as you want while retaining a link to the original; there's a meal plan feature that lets you set recipes for each day or make notes for the days (like "steamed broccoli" since I don't need a recipe for that); some other features too, without having to pay for the premium version. Probably my favorite thing about it is that it has a checkbox for if you've actually made a recipe, a rating system, and you're able to set recipes as favorites.

CookSmarts is a pretty cool place to start if you want some insight into how to actually do things in the kitchen. They've got quite a few good guides and lessons that are part of their free site, as well as articles (which include a weekly meal plan that I don't actually follow but I do at times save meals that look tasty and might be tried in my future!). There are two super-cool things about their recipes -- first, every single recipe has 4 options (original, gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian), so I usually just look at the paleo one and alter as needed to make it compliant if it isn't already; second, they give very explicit directions including videos of how to do some of the prep work, like chopping. Here's an example that includes video tutorials: Thai-marinated chicken thighs (just a note, the marinade/dressing for this is amazing when blended into a creamy goodness; just remember to use coconut aminos and skip the honey). They do offer a meal-planning service, which you can test drive for 3 or 4 weeks, but I've personally found it easier to just make my own plan from gathered recipes (and, of course, it's cheaper that way, too).

NomNomPaleo, PaleoLeap, RealSimpleGood, and PaleoGrubs are the sites where most of my saved recipes have come from, at least the ones that are Whole30 compliant (or easy to tweak into compliance). Be wary when searching Whole30 recipes, though, because there are a lot out there that are made with compliant ingredients but don't really embrace the spirit of the program, so it's worth looking past those while on round. Also remember that when looking at paleo sites, they're bound to have some stuff on there that are outside the spirit of the Whole30 program as well... but some of it's certainly worth coming back to later, if it won't lead you down a rabbit hole!

Allrecipes.com is another good website - you can search "Whole30" and find a lot of compliant meals AND I think there's a way to enter your location so that it can tell you if any of the ingredients are on sale at the stores near you (I can't exactly remember what you have to do to get the site to do that....it's been a while since I set it up).

[Jihanna]

1 hour ago, heb2014 said:

Allrecipes.com is another good website - you can search "Whole30" and find a lot of compliant meals AND I think there's a way to enter your location so that it can tell you if any of the ingredients are on sale at the stores near you (I can't exactly remember what you have to do to get the site to do that....it's been a while since I set it up).

I haven't actually used AllRecipes.com for hardly anything, ever... as funny as that might seem. I mean, I've seen them in my search results when I've looked stuff up, I just haven't ever clicked on them to use the recipes when cooking. I think I've just tended to shy away from the big sites where lots of users contribute, in a general sense, couldn't tell you why. The on-sale thing is interesting, but only 3 stores seem to be supported for my area (and they aren't any of the 4 I routinely shop at, lol)... so I might purposefully take a look at recipes in the future, but the on-sale feature apparently won't be of any use -- which is fine by me, since I pull up my stores' ads every week and peruse them to gauge value versus distance, anyway  Yes, I'm a nerd.

[heb2014]

2 hours ago, Jihanna said:

I haven't actually used AllRecipes.com for hardly anything, ever... as funny as that might seem. I mean, I've seen them in my search results when I've looked stuff up, I just haven't ever clicked on them to use the recipes when cooking. I think I've just tended to shy away from the big sites where lots of users contribute, in a general sense, couldn't tell you why. The on-sale thing is interesting, but only 3 stores seem to be supported for my area (and they aren't any of the 4 I routinely shop at, lol)... so I might purposefully take a look at recipes in the future, but the on-sale feature apparently won't be of any use -- which is fine by me, since I pull up my stores' ads every week and peruse them to gauge value versus distance, anyway  Yes, I'm a nerd.

Honestly, I don't use it very often anymore either - I think I used to build some of my recipes in it to try to figure out calories per serving way back when I did Weight Watchers 10 years ago.  I just remember it had that "on sale" feature and thought it could be helpful, especially for someone who might have limited time to plan and grocery shop.

[Tasha30]

@Jihanna - Thank for all the information! That "copy me that" site is really cool and handy! I'll be sure to check out the other links as well!

@Amura - That's a good point. I think I'm going to cut down on the fruit (once I've eaten what I have) and only eat it sparingly.

@heb2014 - That allrecipes site sounds very handy, I'll definitely have to check it out!

 

So, day 5 was alright, still no crazy cravings. I did take a one hour nap in the afternoon, but so far so good.

M1 was two palm sized compliant chorizo patties, two eggs topped with pico de gallo, and roasted sweet potato.

I did not eat meal 2

M3 - was pan 7oz seared chicken breast, roasted sweet potato, and cabbage slaw with roasted red pepper mayo

Snack: a handful of grapes.

 

Day 6 has been alright. Still much the same only I had a headache around 3:30pm this afternoon and have a small one right now (11:20pm).

M1 11am: Two palm sized chorizo patties with two eggs topped with pico de gallo, one avocado, and cabbage slaw with roasted red pepper mayo

Skipped M2 again

M3 6:30pm: Spaghetti squash with ground turkey and tomato sauce

Snack 8pm: a banana

[Tasha30]

Alright, so:

Day 7 was a test for me. We had our White Coat Ceremony at school which had a reception full of sweets: brownies, chocolate covered strawberries, and all kinds of other really good looking stuff that I would have absolutely loved. It was tempting, but I stayed good and did not indulge in any of it.

M1: 1/4th of a 10in smoked salmon Fritatta (smoked salmon, orange and red bell pepper, green onion, capers, dill, salt, pepper, 6 eggs)

M2: I did not eat because I was busy at the ceremony and it was time for dinner by the time I got back

M3: Spaghetti Squash, a ground turkey and sausage mix, with spaghetti sauce

Day 8 was when I noticed that I was thinking about sweet treats A LOT more. I am home from college this weekend and my dad's house/hometown is where I do most of my really bad eating (lots of pizza, McDonalds, dairy queen (soft serve ice cream shop), frozen yogurt, and many other sweets), so I think this is the psychological struggle coming into play since my brain knows this is where I have the bulk of my no-no foods AND my dad and brother only eat fast food and/or order pizza. I made food before I came home so I knew I'd have my approved food to go to, but the pizza and sweets have definitely been on my mind.

M1: another 1/4th of the smoked salmon fritatta and some roasted sweet potato

M2: The Chicken and Pesto frozen Whole30 meal from Walmart

M3: another bowl of the spaghetti squash, meat, and pasta sauce

 

So far I'm not really noticing any changes in energy, mental clarity, or anything like that. I haven't really broken out since started the Whole30, so that is a plus.

[Tasha30]

Day 9 - I was still having the psychological cravings for sweets, but held out strong and didn't break my whole30!

M1: Skipped because I woke up late and it was nearly lunch time.

M2: The Butter Chicken frozen Whole30 meal from Walmart. It was okay, but I don't think I'd buy it again.

M3: spaghetti squash, meat, and pasta sauce

 

Day 10 - Did a good job of waking up early enough to eat breakfast. I normally forfeit eating breakfast for more sleep, but I'm trying to make getting all the meals in a priority.

M1: 1/4th of smoked salmon frittata, roasted sweet potato, and pico de gallo

M2: avocado tuna boat in a romain lettuce leaf with some homemade ranch and a few carrots. Not loving the avocado tuna but I have to eat it so that it is not wasted.

M3: ground turkey and compliant sausage mix, two large eggs, pico de gallo, and sweet potato.

 

I found some Whole30 approved marinades for chicken, so they're marinading right now and I'll test them out throughout the week!

 

[Tasha30]

I'm not sure I remember what exactly I ate on days 11 and 12, but I did finish the smoked salmon frittata only to discover on Tuesday (day 12) that the smoked salmon had sugar in it! I can't believe I forgot to check! I was in such a rush to make my breakfast for the weekend and go back to my hometown that I didn't check to make sure NOTHING had sugar in it!  I'm quite bummed about it. While I do think that my increased sugar cravings while in my hometown were mostly psychological warfare, I do think that maybe the sugar in the salmon could have excited my sugar lizard (it doesn't quite breath fire like a dragon). Not that I am back at my apartment the cravings have gone away even though I at the salmon while here, so I've decided to continue with the whole30 instead of starting over. I'm going to continue and see how I feel on day 30, if I think I need more time/don't notice any differences then I'll extend it so that it is a true 30 days with no unintended slips. I am now tracking the day according to when I really started and I am not keeping track of what day this would be if I decide to extend to account for the oversight.

So, today is day 13/day 1-

I had a NSV today! We had group presentations in one of my classes and one group brought in a whole plethora of sweets! They had cupcakes, candy (Reese's, M&M, Kit Kat, you name it), mini brownies, cookies, and popcorn. Why they decided to do that to me, I have no idea. I did long for all the sweets (I love cupcakes, brownies, Reese's, and M&Ms) and there was a feeling of being left out, BUT they did bring one bag of Cutie's clementines, so I had one of those and told myself that it was enough.

M1 - compliant sausage (I triple checked), two eggs with vanilla bean ghee drizzeled over top, and some carrots with roasted red pepper sauce.

M2 - left over cinnamon basil chicken from last night and a salad consisting of: baby spinach, celery, carrot, tomato, onion, and guacamole on top

M3 - Brown mustard and balsalmic vinegar marinaded chicken with a side of green onion and mushroom cauliflower rice.

I did have a fail today. I accidentally doubled the salt in the mayo I made today! It's edible, but very salty. If anyone has any tips on cutting the salt, I'm all ears.