Day 5 & 6....WHOLE30

The past few days have been crazy and I've eaten A LOT, but my cravings have been very minimal and that I am happy about!! Before I tell you what i ate and share the few pictures I was able to take, I dont know that I have shared what I am doing here, so here it is:

This is my Word of Wisdom (WOW) Journey. As I take this journey to try and follow the Word of Wisdom to incorporate Clean Eating into my life and do the best that I can for my body, I have decided to kick it off with a WHOLE30 Challenge. It is 30 Days of Clean Eating! That is why  I have been numbering my days! That all should make a little more sense now. :-)

If you would like to know more about what I am doing, you can check it out at www.whole9life.com. :-) 

Here is how the past few days have gone: 

DAY 5: 

Breakfast: 2 Eggs & a Peach 

Lunch: Summer Chicken Salad from Zupas - 

minus the dried cranberries and dressing.

I was hungry and breakfast was soooo good, so I had another 2 eggs and a Peach! :-) 

Dinner: 

Sweet Potato

Salad

4 Homemade Meatballs

no picture :/

DAY 6: 

(no pictures today)

Breakfast: Protein (Banana) Pancakes! YUM! 

Lunch: 3 Homemade Meatballs & Spinach Smoothie! 

Dinner: 4 Homemade Meatballs and LOTS of Grapes

Snack: Orange

Unfortunately today, we did not have very many greens or other vegetables, but after a quick trip to Walmart this evening, now we do! :-) I ate quite a bit of meat today because of that, I have some work to do to balance out my meals! 

I am feeling much better today, I had a very very busy day and I seemed to have a good amount of energy all day! Now its time to go to bed..... Lets see what tomorrow brings! Goodnight! 

Cheers! 

Day 4: "Carb Flu"

Today was a "carb flu" day! I didn't believe them when they told me it would happen, but it happened. I was achy, tired and had a headache, it felt like the flu....haha! I might have also been a little cranky. Oops! I guess this is what happens when your body is starting to deal with the changes you are making; going from using sugar and grains as an energy source to using good fat and your fat ;-) YAY! My body is going crazy! 

Here is what I ate for Day 4, despite cravings being through the roof, I did pretty good! 

Breakfast: Protein Pancakes (My Favorite!!) and a handful of Grapes

Lunch: Greens w/ Coconut Oil, a side of Homemade Asian Meatballs, and an Orange.

Dinner: 3oz Salmon, Yam, and 1 C of Peas. 

I also had a small snack of a couple meatballs (cause they are soooo good) and some grapes! 

ASIAN MEATBALLS

from www.nomnompaleo.com

Ingredients:

8 medium fresh shiitake mushrooms, minced

1 medium shallot, minced

3/4 cup minced sweet potato

2 tablespoons minced cilantro

2 pounds ground beef

1 1/2 tablespoons Paleo-friendly fish sauce

2 tablespoons tomato paste

Kosher salt

Freshly-ground black pepper

2 tablespoons coconut oil 

Step 1: Line a baking sheet with foil, and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 

Step 2: In the meantime, finely mince the mushrooms, shallot, sweet potato, and cilantro and toss it all into a large bowl. 

Step 3: Add the ground beef, fish sauce, and tomato paste, and season with salt and pepper.

Step 4: Thoroughly combine ingredients but don't overwork the meat.

Step 5: Melt the coconut oil, and brush it on a foil lined baking sheet.

Step 6: Use your hands to roll out three dozen meatballs, and arrange them on the baking sheet. Each meatball should be about 1-1/2 inches in diameter.

Step 7: Bake for 15-20 minutes, rotating the tray at the midpoint to ensure even cooking.

Step 8: Plate and serve immediately, or store in  an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

(or freeze them too, they freeze well.) 

CHEERS!! 

KEEP GOING!

This is what I have been telling myself all day! I've heard people tell me that when you go off of sugar or have a huge diet change, the third day is one of the hardest, they just might be right. It started off with just a little headache and then it grew and grew. I also had cravings through the roof and ate a whole bag of grapes by myself because of those cravings.....at least I stuck to grapes right?? :-) I just kept telling myself that you have to KEEP GOING!  :-) 

I think we each have incredible potential to be absolutely GREAT, to see all our dreams fulfilled, and be the best we can be, but I think the thing that keeps us from that greatness is that we give up too easily and too soon. When things get tough or are not what we expected, we are out! I've often thought that the hardest things in this life are the BEST things we will ever experience!!! I bet you, after this life, when we look back at our lives we will find that so many opportunities, and the successes we were so desperately searching for, were only one step away from where we had given up and turned back! KEEP GOING!!! I know that with GOD all things are possible and that He NEVER gives up on us, so why do we so readily give up on ourselves?? 

Wherever you are right now in your life, whatever dream or goal you're pursuing...KEEP GOING! I will keep on going right along with you! :-) 

Day 3: Dinner FAIL!

My attempt at making stuffed mushrooms was a FAIL!! The spices and everything in it were WAY to strong! Not quite sure where I went wrong...haha! I will not be sharing that recipe. :-)

Definitely will be trying a different recipe or trying to tone down the spices a bit.....cause the spices are just so overpowering. When I was done eating, this plate basically looked the same minus the salted tomatoes, at least those were good! 

It wasn't all that bad though, I'm not going to bed hungry, considering I was pretty full from eating a bunch of the veggie meatballs I made today to freeze and save for later....yeah....some of them didn't make it to the freezer! I will share that recipe later, that one is definitely worth sharing!! :-) 

Day 3: Purple & Green!

Lots of purple and green for Lunch!! :-)

Day 3: Breakfast....I've gotta go shopping!

Breakfast had to be put together really quickly this morning and I am running out of ingredients. I decided to have an Omelet....or at least I tried.  All I really had was orange peppers and shallots (an onion like veggie). I've GOT TO GO SHOPPING SOON!

 There you have it folks, my random, but yummy Omelet with a side of banana. Nothing fancy! 

I am definitely starting to feel that my body is detoxing at this point, its going 'WHOA...whats going on??' I woke up with a bit of a headache, but its going to be a good day!! :-) 

Day 2: Dinner SUCCESS!!

I could not figure out what I wanted to eat last night.....usually this is a BAD thing when you are trying to do something different then what you are used to, but I held strong and reminded myself WHY I was doing this! 

 While I was on the search for what I wanted for dinner, my little brother said something about how he was craving a tuna sandwich and VOILA.....it came to me.....I made a Tuna Salad with Homemade Mayo! Oh and don't forget the orange on the side!! Yum! 

 I LOVE all the COLOR, don't you?! 

Tuna Salad: 

1 Small Can of Tuna (1/2 C)

8-10 Cherry Tomatoes cut in half (or fourths, if you like them smaller) 

1-1/2 T Homemade Mayo 

Salad Greens (as much as you want....eat eat eat!!) 

Mix the can of tuna, tomatoes, and mayo in a bowl. Put all the Salad Greens you want onto a plate and then dump the tuna mixture over the top and ENJOY! 

Homemade Mayo:

1 large pastured Egg Yolk 

1/4 teaspoon Kosher Salt

1/4 teaspoon Dion Mustard

1-1/2 teaspoon Lemon Juice 

1 teaspoon White Vinegar 

3/4 cup macadamia nut or avocado oil 

Step 1- Crack an egg and separate the yolk from the white. Discard the white.

Step 2- Rather than using the cracked egg shell to separate the yolk, use your hand as a sieve--there's less risk of puncturing the yolk.

Step 3- Put the yolk in a medium-sized bowl, and...

Step 4- Add Salt, Mustard, Lemon Juice, Vinegar. 

Step 5- Whisk the mixture for about 30 seconds, or until the yolk thickens and the color brightens. 

Step 6- Measure out the oil.....

Step 7- Pour about one thierd of the oil in a slow, steady stream into the bowl while whisking the mixture vigorously (about 1 minute) to creat an emulsion. To keep the bowl in place, it helps to have an extra pair of hands. 

Step 11- After the oil is incorporated, slowly add half of the reaming oil and continue to whisk rapidly. Once it's emulsified, repeat with the rest of the oil. 

Step 12- When you're finished, you'll end up with mayonnaise that's thick enough to hold its own shape. 

Step 13- Pour the mayo in a glass container, stick it into the fridge, and it'll keep for days. (If you don't finish it off sooner, that is.) 

Step 14- YES, you are going to need some fast and powerful arm action to make this mayo, but trust me: I'ts well worth the elbow grease! :-)