Week One Update

Update on our health journey, the rest of week one…

We made it through the first week.  My family of 6 had various symptoms pretty much according to the expectations.

Day one really was a breeze.  We were excited, open to trying new things,  and everything was fine.

Days 2-3 were really hard for my kiddos and hubby…. Turns out sugar withdraw is no joke.  There were headaches, diarrhea, tears and general misery.  I skipped hang over symptoms and went directly to “Kill All the Things”.   It’s work. A lot of work. So much freakin work.  Chopping, sautéing grilling, dicing, slicing, blending, grinding.  Cooking with whole foods and fresh herbs is like a whole new deal.  I went from feeling pretty comfortable in the kitchen to feeling like a contestant on the “Worst Chefs in America”.  I over steamed, under seasoned, over seasoned, kind of burned, you name, it I did it. 

 My precious family choked down the food and couldn’t decide if it was terrible because of what was in it, or because I botched it.  I’m not used to screwing up so many things at once.  It was a major blow, and a real discouragement.  There’s a learning curve, that’s for sure.

 On Day Six I had much success with home-made larabars!  They were a big hit. So much so, it felt like cheating.  We have to be extremely disciplined to not allow these bars be a substitute that satisfies our sugar dragon.  However, as a portable snack, or emergency food situation it’s great.  We’ll be having Chocolate Coconut Macaroon bars instead of wedding cake this weekend.  Brian was pretty sluggish this day, but he started mixing in ghee and coconut oil in his coffee and noticed a dramatic difference!

At this point, we were all feeling better. Physically here are things we’ve noticed:

• ·      Runny noses and allergy symptoms have stopped
•      The scoop on the poop:
•     Those pooping too much aren’t
•      Those pooping not enough are daily doers now
•     Middle Little has quick complaining of her chronic stomach pains
•     Little Little is sleeping through the night
•     Day time crashes and fatigue aren’t occurring any more, even though coffee consumption is about half of what it was

Non-physical observations:

We talk more at dinner.  We talk about what we’re eating and why we’re eating it.  We’re looking up things like “heal benefits of sweet potatoes”.  We’re making choices to consume more protein and fat, and allow our bodies to derive energy from that.  Brian and the kids are now, in week two enjoying things they wouldn't typically like.  Alot.  They're excited about scrambled eggs with veggies, fruit salads and all kinds of different things.

Previously, I stumbled out of bed, to the coffee and wasn’t able to form words until I’d finished a cup.  Over the course of the day I ate little, but drank 2-3 more cups of coffee.  I was exhausted by six or seven, but so wired from caffeine relaxing was a challenge.  I considered it a win if I made it to “wine time” every night. I'd pour a glass when the kids went down, and then another.  When I finally fell asleep it was restless, I was parched from the wine, and often woke during the night to get a glass of water.  I woke up feeling as bad as I had when I went to bed the night before. I thought the wine would be the hardest thing for me, but it really hasn't been.

I’ve realized through this process that I did a poor job taking care of my body.  When I was tired I used caffeine to stimulate and when I couldn’t relax I drank wine.  When my usual “go to’s” are largely removed, I find myself really paying attention to how I feel, and giving my body what it needs.  As a result of properly fueling, I’m not so tired any more. I’m having much easier time feeling energetic as I navigate my very busy life. 

Being present in the life, with my job and my family, and spending so much time in the kitchen make for good, full days, and I feel ready to relax at bedtime.  No wine necessary.  My sleep has been more peaceful, and restorative. I wake feeling ready for the day, and don’t even make that first cup of coffee for an hour or so.

I don't want to go back to how I felt before.

Whole 30 Recipes Part 3

Larabars (AAAAAMAZING) Each recipe makes about 3 bars I made 36 bars total...

Chocolate Coconut Macaroon

·       1/3 cup salted cashews

·       1/4 cup Seedless/Pitted whole Dates

·       3 tbsp 100% Cacao Coco

·       1/4 cup shredded coconut

Blueberry Muffin

·       1/4 cup dried unsweetened blueberries

·       1/4 cup Seedless/Pitted whole Dates

·       ½ cup cashews

·       1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

·       1/4 tsp cinnamon

Banana Bread

·       1/4 cup dried unsweetened bananas

·       1/4 cup Seedless/Pitted whole Dates

·       ½ cup cashews

·       1/2 tsp finely grated lemon zest

·       1/4 tsp cinnamon

Breakfast Muffins

Crust

Cauliflower

½ Cup of Coconut Flour

2 Eggs

Salt

Pepper

Muffins:

Bacon

Spinach

Peppers

Eggs

Salt

Pepper

For Cauliflower Crust:

Process one head of cauliflower in food processor until finely ground.

Mix Cauliflower, ½ cup of coconut flour, two eggs, salt and pepper.  Combine/kneed until dough like texture.  Spray muffin tin with coconut oil spray. Press dough into bottom of muffin tin cups.

Bake at 350 for 8-12 minutes until firm, but not thoroughly cooked.

Partially cook bacon.

Wrap one slice of bacon around the sides of each muffin tin

On top of crust, layer shredded spinach, peppers, crack an egg on top

Salt and pepper to taste

Bake at 350 for 15-20 min until cooked

Favorite Breakfast

1 Lb of Compliant Breakfast Sausage

8 Eggs

Spinach

Kale

Peppers

 Brown Sausage. (I cook 4 lbs at a time, and freeze in one pound bags)

Sauté Veggies in bacon grease.  Add cooked sausage.  While cooking beat 8 eggs.  I used my kitchen-aid to get them really full of air.  Pour eggs into pan, and scramble together.

This is by far the family favorite. And, probably the easiest breakfast to make.

Sweet Potato Hash

Sweet Potatoes

Spinach

Onion

Peppers

Avocado Oil

Salt

Pepper

Fried Eggs

Sauté Veggies in oil, Fry Egg and Serve on top

Balsamic Cucumber Tomato Salad

English Cucumber

Tomato

Red Onion

Balsamic vinegar

Sea Salt

Use spiralizer to make cucumber “noodles”.  Dice Tomato and red onion.  Toss with Balsamic Vinegar and salt to taste.

Cilantro Lime Chicken, Shrimp 

1 Lb. Peeled Shrimp

2 Lbs Chicken

 1/4  plus 1/8 t ground cumin

Kosher salt

 2t evoo,

5 garlic cloves crushed

 2 T lime juice

3 to 4 T fresh chopped cilantro

Season shrimp with cumin, salt, pepper to taste, heat non stick skillet over medium, add t of oil and 1/2 of shrimp, cook them until opaque throughout, and then turn, add remaining 1t of oil and shrimp, cook throughout, add first batch of shrimp and garlic, mix well, sauté another 2 min and remove from heat, squeeze lime juice over shrimp, add cilantro, toss well and serve over zucchini noodles.

Garam Masala Chicken

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut to pieces

1 T garam masala (I got this on amazon, I couldn't find it anywhere else, but check the labels to make sure there isn't any added sugar)

 1/2 t curry powder

1 t cumin

1/2 t ground coriander

2 t salt

1/4 cup olive oil /avocado oil

14 oz crushed tomatoes

2/3 cup coconut cream 2-3 T oil for skillet

In a large Ziploc add everything except cream, toss to coat and let sit for 10 min. Heat oil in skillet, add chicken and cook for a few min. Add Tomatoes and cream and cook for 5-10 min till chicken is done, serve over rice. 

*I thought this was bland.  So I dumped in a bunch more cumin, curry and garam masala.  Which resulted in a delightful spicy Indian flavor. Which my kids said put their mouth on fire.  It took Noah 1 ½ hour to finish it, and there were tears so many tears.  Whoops.. too much cumin!

Balsamic Pot Roast

3-4 lb Roast

 1 Med. Onion Diced,

six cloves garlic minced,

 1/2 cup beef broth,

 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar,

2 T coconut aminos,

pinch red pepper,

sea salt

Pepper

Place roast in crock pot fat side down, add remaining ingredients over top of roast, cover and cook on low for 8 hours, remove from crock pot, blend remaining juices and onion/garlic in an immersion blender to desired consistency, serve with gravy. I served this with garlic mashed potatoes and a side of cucumber and tomatoes.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

2-3 lbs. beef chuck, cut into pieces

1 lb. carrots, cut into 1" pieces

8-10oz button mushrooms, halved

1 large sweet onion, or 1 lb. pearl onions, peeled

1 T balsamic vinegar

2 t Dijon mustard

2 cups beef broth (I prefer bone broth, or you can use water + 4-6 t Beef Base)

2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary

salt and pepper, to taste

olive or avocado oil

To thicken: 2 T arrowroot powder

Put all but broth into freezer bag.  Freeze Stew.  Add frozen freezer bag to slow cooker with broth.  Cook stew in slow cooker on LOW for 8 h.

Shred beef, use Arrowroot and 2 T of water to thicken.

Cook stew in slow cooker on LOW for 8 h. Serve when you're ready!

Cauliflower Rice (Pictured with Steak and bacon):

1 Head Cauliflower

Ghee

Process/Pulse Cauliflower in food processor until it resembles a rice like texture.

Sauté for 5 minutes in non-stick pan with ghee.

Barbeque Chicken

1 (14.5oz) can no-sugar added fired roasted diced tomatoes \½ cup no-sugar added tomato sauce

½ cup raw apple cider vinegar (we use Bragg’s)

1 cup water

10 medjool dates, pitted

½-¾ tsp red pepper flakes (depending on how spicy you like things)

1 ½ tsp onion powder

1 ½ tsp ground mustard (yellow mustard will work fine too)

3 cloves garlic, roughly diced

1 lemon, juiced

1 tbsp coconut aminos

Salt & Pepper, to taste

1 lb boneless chicken breasts

1 lb boneless chicken thighs

In a blender, blend the water and pitted dates until smooth (looks a little weird but don’t worry, when you mix the sauce together it looks and smells just like regular BBQ). Combine the date purée in slow cooker with all remaining ingredients except chicken. Stir well. Add chicken breasts and thighs and cook on low 6-8 hours. Shred chicken with a fork just before serving.

* This wasn't our favorite.... I'll be looking for a different BBQ recipe! However, I served it with bacon wrapped green beans and baked sweet potatoes with cinnamon. Delish!

Steak

I seasoned the steak with coconut aminos, garlic, sea salt, and pepper.  My family acted like it was the best steak they'd ever had. I cut it up and served it with fried bacon over cilantro lime cauliflower rice. Yum.