I'm Baaaacccckkkk ;)

Ok then - So, the day after the Whole 30, we decided we would have ONE 'cheat' meal and ONE Guinness - lol - and we did....

Yes, that was it - My hubby LOVES our local burger place, 25 Burgers - well, to be more accurate, he loves their Royal Burger - the one I've sort of replicated him with the fried egg and bacon :)

I chose to just have the bacon cheeseburger and no sides with an unsweetened iced tea - It was perfect, had I gotten fries, I wouldn't have been able to finish it. I'm not gonna lie, it was absolutely delicious!

And later I had my ONE Guinness - and it was GOOD! :P

We were a bit trepidatious about ordering something with so many ingredients we had been avoiding for a month, but there were really no ill effects to speak of - thankfully - That is not to say that I'm ready to just let it all go.

That was dinner - Breakfast was still 2 fried eggs and Lunch was my leftover Guacamole Chicken Salad  :)

Yesterday was right back on Paleo, there are a few things I'll be adding back in from the Whole 30, but I plan to stick to Paleo for a while and see how I do :)

Breakfast was 2 fried eggs again...

Lunch was myWild Planet Pole Caught Skipjack Tuna, homemade paleo mayo, organic tomato (chopped the end pieces and threw it in), organic dill relish, onion, chopped capers and fresh dill over sliced organic tomato

 

Paleo chili for dinner

2 Pkgs 93% lean grass fed organic ground beef, 1 1/2 onions, 1 organic red bell pepper, 1 can Muir Glen Organic Diced Tomatoes, 1 can diced green chilis,garlic, spices (chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, celery salt, pepper, a little cinnamon, a little cocoa powder, cayenne, dried cilantro....) and a carton of organic vegetable stock - topped with avocado and cilantro :)

Today I again had 2 fried eggs for breakfast - it's just so easy to fry them up real quick :) Also had coffee with coconut milk...

Lunch was leftover Chili :)

And dinner - Mmmm dinner!

Paleo crab cakes and Paleo 'Bang Bang' Shrimp

The crab cakes were based on this recipe, but I also added smoked paprika and bay seasoning and chives instead of green onions and I used cashew meal instead of almond flour - after the first batch that was coming apart a bit, I added a bit more cashew meal and didn't bother with trying to dust them with it, they were much better the second batch. I also used a combo of bacon grease, ghee and garlic olive oil for frying

http://www.paleocupboard.com/crab-cakes.html

For the shrimp, I based it on this recipe, I wanted to use chili garlic sauce (after checking the label), but to my surprise, we were out. I think it would have been better with chili garlic sauce, but it was pretty good - I did the shrimp on the griddle coated with avocado oil and tossed with the mayo mixture:

http://paleokitchensync.com/2013/01/23/paleo-bang-bang-shrimp/

It was a delicious Friday night dinner - And I only had 2 bites of the second crab cake and didn;t want any more, so it can be part of my lunch/brunch tomorrow! :D

Now for a drink or three! ;)

Day 30!

Last day! Sure, there may have been a time or 2 in there I technically should have started over, but frankly, I wasn't really looking at this as a 30-day thing, but a 30-day start and now I'll just be making adjustments :)

I was considering one meal tomorrow of anything we want, but we are a little trepidatious about the affects that might have on us. Hubby would likely want to order pizza, that might be too much...

I'd love to go out for Mexican! lol

Breakfast today was just 2 fried eggs - no pic of that.

Lunch was a quickly thrown together Guacamole Chicken Salad

Hubby's business trip was canceled and he hadn't eaten all day with dealing with the airport flight cancelations etc, etc and didn't bother to find something to eat, he didn't want the gumbo I had planned to try making AND the grocery store didn't have the shrimp (they said it's coming tomorrow - grrr), so to make him happy, steaks it was....

As Anne Burrell says, brown food tastes good! It's just not very photogenic ;P

Doing 4 steaks that barely fit on my griddle caused me to lose my nice char as they started to steam instead :( But, they were nice and rare like I like it :)  Free range, grass fed of course :)

We also had crab stuffed mushrooms again and roasted asparagus - yum! :)

Day 30 Success! :)

Day 29!

OK, so I've mentioned that Thursdays are my busiest work day each week - that is, with the exception of the first workday of the month... 

I didn't eat breakfast - I know, I know - bad girl!

Hubby worked from home today and was nice enough to make us lunch so I could keep working and not stress over making lunch - I didn't even ask :)

He made us Paleo quiche

He didn't use a recipe, but it has a shredded sweet potato crust and I know he used coconut milk, his homemade Paleo sausage, broccoli, red onion and tomato - it was pretty good, but he was wishing we'd had almond flour or something as it did have a little too much coconut flavor - he did also use coconut oil, I told him he should have used the bacon grease I have in the fridge - next time! :)

Dinner was the same thing, but 1 smaller wedge and a good sized salad with kalamata olives, artichoke hearts and organic grape tomatoes - I did my same olive oil, red wine vinegar and Spike seasoning, but also with a splash of black cherry balsamic - yum! :)

Then this happened tonight ;)

Is it wrong to have a Bloody Mary in a Smithwicks glass? ;)  lol

And in case you're wondering just how nutty we are....

This is a tattoo I did on hubby this past weekend :P

And no, we are not tattoo artists - we're not artists - we're just a bit, umm, nutty ;)

Not bad for a total amateur, right? lol

(Of course we use stencils!)

OK, so Day 29 Success!

One more day to go!

Day 28! 

What a day - we slept in and watched TV in bed for a bit as we usually do on Sundays. Hubby got up to check on his flight and discovered it was canceled - ugh!

Not only was it canceled, but they had rescheduled him to fly out Tuesday - Not ONLY did they schedule him 2 days later, but they had him on a flight that would be landing in Detroit AFTER his still booked flight home! Umm, yeah, not really gonna work!

The weather wasn't even due to hit here until after his flight, so we have no idea why they canceled it.

He calls the airline to get it straightened out and their system tells him that they're very busy due to the storm in the Northeast and can't help him now, please call back later!!  He finally got through and is now traveling out Tues and coming back Wed - at least it's now only one night away, so silver lining there...

As usual, being the weekend, there were just the 2 meals today :)

Brunch was pretty quick and easy

Leftover sweet potato hash hubby made yesterday, scrambled eggs w/ salsa and 2 slices bacon 

I made 5 eggs total and gave hubby a little more than myself :)

Dinner was organic chicken breast roulade stuffed with duck sausage and a salad w/ dressed with olive oil, red wine vinegar and spike seasoning

I found the sausage at Wegmans and was happy to see the ingredients seemed to be all good :)

I wish I'd sliced the chicken and taken a picture of it sliced with the sausage running down the middle - silly me - Oh well, next time...

Only my younger daughter and I had this, hubby didn't think it sounded like something he wanted, so I just did his chicken as blackened chicken using Cajun seasoning and my older daughter's was just seasoned with salt, pepper and a garlic pepper grinder mix 

I also had a small handful of macadamia nuts sometime between brunch and dinner :)

Day 28 Success!

Day 27!

Today was easy - I didn't have to cook a thing :)

'Brunch' was leftover spaghetti squash from yesterday :)

Hubby made dinner!

Breakfast for dinner! :)

Grilled tomato w/ sautéed mushrooms, 2 fried eggs, his homemade paleo sausage, sweet potato hash browns and banana slices -- the sweet potato turned out to be a white flesh sweet potato that was quite good for this :)

The hash browns were delicious - he used this recipe, but used cashew meal for the gluten free flour - the patties were falling apart, which is fine with me, more crispy bits!

:)

Day 27 Success! :)

Days 25 & 26!

A couple busy workdays - Day 25 was a success, but was mostly leftovers, so no pics.

I had scrambled eggs with leftover steak and half a banana for breakfast

Leftover Thai Green Curry for lunch

Leftover Pork Tenderloin w/ Balsamic Thyme Cherries for dinner

It was nice not to have to cook on a Thursday, my busiest work day usually...

I have to work on not waiting until I'm actually hungry before I start making a meal, I'm not really feeling hungry until I start feeling a little lightheaded and shaky - That's not a good thing... 

Day 26 Breakfast was again scrambled eggs, with leftover steak, mushrooms and onions

I had the scrambled eggs with a small sliced organic vine tomato :)

Lunch was spaghetti squash with organic grass fed beef (mix of 93% and 85% I set aside the other day from our burgers), onion, organic orange bell pepper, baby bella mushrooms, a couple artichoke hearts and Wegmans organic pasta sauce

I love spaghetti squash prepared like this - I might try a pesto next time though to mix it up a bit :)

Dinner Taco Salad - I used 93% lean ground beef seasoned with chili powder, granulated garlic, paprika, cumin, celery salt, cayenne, salt and pepper and 1/2 a small onion diced

I made the avocado cilantro lime dressing again; an avocado, juice of a lime, handful cilantro, walnut oil, a little water, salt & pepper

I tossed the greens w/ some of the dressing, topped that w/ the meat, salsa, diced onion, organic tomato, black olives, salsa, a little more dressing and cilantro 

Tasty dinner and made the hubby happy :)

Days 25 and 26 Success! :)

Day 24!

Busy, busy work day - Breakfast was 2 (4 halves) deviled eggs - again :)

I'll switch it up more if/when I get tired of them :)

Lunch was Thai Green Curry

I didn't take a picture, I was shaky hungry by the time I got it made with work and my daughter cooking herself lunch before she had to leave for work

Lots of veggies, homemade chicken stock from the carcass of the chicken I roasted a couple days ago, 2 cans coconut milk, green curry paste, a sliced in half piece of lemongrass, a little lime juice and leftover roasted chicken.

Dinner was something I've made a few times previously and love :)

So glad it's Whole 30 friendly :)

Pork Tenderloin with balsamic thyme cherries - This time I used organic frozen cherries from Costco, so they are much darker, but the dish was still just as delicious - I just think this is a beautiful and elegant enough for company dish :) 

I was very happy with my perfectly cooked, not a bit dry, pork tenderloin :) I just mixed up coarse sea salt, pepper, granulated garlic, crushed garlic, dried rosemary and dried thyme with some avocado oil to make a paste and rubbed that over the tenderloins (2 in a pkg) and roasted at 400 for about 30 minutes, until it reached 150 at the thickest part. We had this with roasted asparagus

Based on this recipe - I've never added the honey and never thought it needed it, cherries are plenty sweet enough --- http://www.nlrockrecipes.com/2009/07/grilled-pork-loin-chops-with-balsamic.html

Happily, I have both leftover curry and the other pork loin tenderloin with the rest of the cherries for tomorrow, typically my busiest workday of the week, so I may not have to cook (though I may save the curry for Friday and have spaghetti squash instead since I set aside some of the ground beef from last night for that and it may need to be cooked up or frozen...)

Anyway, I'm calling it!

Day 24 Success! 

Day 23!

OK, so today was a sort of weird food day...

Breakfast was just 3 boiled eggs, I wasn't feeling great and didn't feel like making them into deviled eggs... 

I didn't even really have lunch, nothing sounded good, so I had a handful of nuts and some olives and a Larabar :o

I need to get some freezer meals prepared as soon as I have some freezer space!

Hubby wanted burgers for dinner - yes, AGAIN!

I didn't take a picture of his (same as before w/ the egg and bacon), just mine....

Back in the day in Michigan there was a cheap, drive thru only burger joint called Hot 'N Now - It's not there any more and hasn't been for many years. One of their burgers was a double olive burger and that was my favorite, so every so often, I decide to do olive and mayo on my burger - yum! 

One package of ground beef wasn't going to be enough for 4 burgers, so I used 2 pkgs, both organic grass fed, but one was 93% lean and the other was 85% lean - I didn't bother with weighing it this time and I set some aside to use in the next couple of days for Spaghetti squash and meat sauce or meatballs.

I also made chicken stock today - It'll most likely be used tomorrow for a Thai Curry for lunch :)

So, Day 23, Semi-Success!

Day 22!

I was glad this morning that I had decided to boil enough eggs last night for Hubby's lunch for today and tomorrow and for me to have deviled eggs today and tomorrow :) It sure made for a quick, easy breakfast this morning - I didn't take a picture since you've seen my deviled eggs a couple of times now.

I packed Hubby's lunch and added a Larabar to make sure it would be enough for him, especially since he typically eats lunch about noon and I knew he'd be home later than usual and it would be 6:30-7 by the time we had dinner.

I finally found a turkey lunch meat that is Whole 30 friendly!  Wegmans Organic Turkey Rolled up with uncured salami in the corners of his salad, some quartered organic grape tomatoes, kalamata olives and sliced boiled egg - top layer has organic blackberries, pepperoncinis, pistachio nuts and then some walnuts and a dried apricot filling in the spaces, plus his Larabar.

BTW, if you eat Larabars and have Stop and Shop grocery stores in your area, they have them for $1 each this week - wish I'd known that before we paid $1.49 each.

I had a much simpler and quicker lunch

I couldn't quite finish all the tuna (used a whole 5 oz can)

Wild Planet Line Caught Skipjack tuna, homemade mayo (last of it, need to make more...), onion, dill relish, capers and fresh dill over organic tomato slices :)

Have I mentioned how much I love Roasted Chicken, well, really roasting meat in general :)

I roasted the organic chicken over rutabaga/yellow turnip, carrots and onions - I made a gravy with pan drippings after removing the veggies using coconut flour - I served it on the side, just in case, good thing since Rob didn't care for the texture (a little 'grainy') but I was ok with it and thought the odd texture was barely discernible with the meat 

For the gravy, all I did was remove the chicken to a platter to rest, tented with foil and then scooped the veggies out into a serving bowl. I then poured the dripping into a heavy bottomed skillet (Revere wear - it was a wedding present and I still use it :) ) over medium high heat and whisked in a spoonful of coconut flour, whisking as I sprinkled the coconut flour into the drippings, it wasn't quite thick enough, so I added another spoonful and that thickened it nicely, then I seasoned with salt, pepper, a garlic pepper grinder blend and a little sage - I thought it had pretty darn good flavor :)

I really wish I could find larger organic (or humanely raised) chickens for feeding the 4 adults in this house and still having leftovers to use for my lunch the next day - They just have to eat more sides if it's not enough :P

I also had 1/2 a Larabar and a small palmful of macadamias today :)

Day 22 Success! :)

Day 21!

So, by now you've picked up on my sleeping in/watching TV in bed for a while weekend routine and that I typically have 2 actual meals most weekends... Today was no different :)

Hubby's been wanting sausage and I have yet to find a Whole 30 friendly breakfast sausage, so I picked him up some ground pork and he made sausage patties this morning, we each had one and we froze the rest.

It was pretty tasty :)

I scrambled us up some eggs - hubby likes his scrambled eggs plain, nothing mixed in, so I just topped mine with avocado, Muir Glen Organic Salsa and a few dashes Tabasco sauce. I also grilled some tomato sliced on the griddle with some sausage and added a few of the castelvetrano olives :) 

He used this recipe for the sausage - As always, I thought it needed a bit more salt, but otherwise, pretty darn good:

Be sure to check out the blog - looks pretty useful!

Primal Palate Paleo Breakfast Sausage

Ingredients

• 1 lb 1 lb Ground Pork
• 1 tsp 1 tsp Fennel
• 1 tsp 1 tsp Garlic
• 1 tsp 1 tsp Paprika
• 1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp Sage
• 1/2 tsp 1/2 tsp Salt
• 2 Tbsp 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil, Organic
• 1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
• 1/4 tsp 1/4 tsp White Pepper

Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

1. Combine pork, garlic, and all spices in a mixing bowl, mixing until it reaches an even consistency.
2. Form pork mixture into 2-ounce patties (approximately 8 patties).
3. Heat a skillet to medium heat with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil per 4 patties.
4. Cook the patties for approximately 3–4 minutes per side.
5. Each side should be golden, and the center of the patties should no longer be pink.

Hubby also made beef jerky today - It isn't grass fed, beef, but at least it's a snack for him that is better than other choices :)

He used coconut aminos instead of soy sauce and only a couple dashes of the bitters since it does have sugar. We also didn't have onion powder, so he put some onion slices in the marinade instead -Next time I say more salt (coconut aminos are not as salty tasting as soy sauce) and maybe a bit more hot sauce -- based on this recipe:

Beef Jerky

I didn't take a picture of dinner as it was basically the same as last night, only my steak was done much better and not overcooked and was DELICIOUS :)  

I think we'll be trying out some Scotch Eggs with homemade sausage very soon - we are big fans of the Scotch Egg  :)

Now, if only we could figure a way to Paleo-fy Haggis ;P  haha  :)

Day 21 Success! :)

Days 19 & 20!

'Brunch' for Day 20 was leftover crab stuffed mushrooms and a fried egg :) Yum! I love crab stuffed mushrooms! :D

We did some shopping at Costco and Wegman's - It was good to have hubby with me to choose things for his lunches etc. He's not following the plan as strictly as I am, but I am proud of him for trying as much as he is :D Since Costco's Organic Ground Beef doesn't say if grass fed or pasture raised, I buy it at Wegman's - they have a 3 pack (1 lb each) 93% lean Organic Grass Fed Ground Beef for $14.99 - I also got their pork tenderloin and a couple different sausages hubby wanted (and a duck one I wanted to try!)

We also ended up deciding to pick up some Lara Bars - I had never had them before and was surprised there really wasn't ANY crap in them! Hubby even opted to buy the 16 pack of the Apple Pie flavor for his lunches - Packing him lunches is probably the hardest and costliest part of this (seriously, I finally found a good organic turkey deli meat at Wegman's - I think the package is only 6 oz and it was $6.49 - I'll split it into 2 lunches and fill it in with other stuff...

At Costco we picked up organic whole chickens, organic chicken breast, a fortune's worth of nuts, apple chips etc.

I was so thirsty I went up to get a bottle of water from the machine, next to their cafe and man, I have to admit, the smell of their hot dogs made me salivate :P I've always loved the hot dogs at Sam's and Costco :o

(I don't like to buy bottled water, but I was really thirsty! :P)

We also got strip steaks, though they're not grass fed, but hubby wanted a nice big steak and all the grass fed stuff was tiny. I'm so tempted to look in to buying a 1/4 or 1/2 cow this year...

Hubby bought some salad dressing packets so he could make it with better oils, downfall is they ALL have sugar - he has opted to use them anyway and just use as little dressing as he can stand (that's huge for him, he's used to drowning his salad in dressing!), so while I had sauteed greens and mushrooms with onion & garlic, he had them with organic spring greens as a salad instead.

I was really happy with the crust I got on our steaks, too bad I overcooked them :(  I decided to finish them in the oven, I usually don't do that - I obviously should have either had the oven lower and/or had them in much less time (I like very rare, hubby usually orders medium rare).

Later I tried the Coconut Lara Bar - It's funny, you open it up and really, let's face it, it looks tiny and insufficient if you're hungry (I wasn't particularly hungry as I just wanted a little snack and wanted to try the Lara Bar) - But man, it felt like it took me forever to eat it, it's very compact and requires a good amount of chewing.

Day 20 Success! :D

Day 19 Breakfast was leftover Deviled Eggs and Kiwi again, so no pic...

I decided to order Sashimi for lunch - and here's where I messed up!

No, I did not use the soy sauce - I did, however, use the pickled ginger (I love that stuff!) not even thinking it probably had sugar in it -- I realized this later when my stomach started to hurt a bit; I'm betting it was the sugar in the pickled ginger :o

My favorite sashimi/sushi is Salmon - Raw salmon has the buttery, nutty kind of flavor to it that I just love, so I ordered the sashimi lunch and an a la carte salmon (3 pieces) - I'm sorry, but Coconut Aminos just didn;t cut it for me here; After the 30 days, I will definitely be getting tamari and making that exception to the no soy (tamari is fermented and is gluten free)

Since hubby was coming home this evening, I wanted to make us a nice dinner - I had my daughter pick up wild caught sea scallops that were in the ad for Acme - I was expecting larger, less wet scallops (Had I realized, I would have told her to get the dry sea scallops that were $4 more per pound - after all, I paid for a lot of water in these scallops!). So much for nice seared scallops, even draining for a while and blotting with paper towel, they were still way to full of water for a sear, all they did really was steam/boil :(  I also thought they tasted more like Bay Scallops - I'm not a big fan of Bay Scallops myself...

I had seen a recipe for sea scallops with an apple cider balsamic blaze, so after I removed the scallops, I added apple cider (1/2 c) and balsamic (maybe 3-4 Tbs) and simmered it down into a syrup consistency - I decided to serve it on the side for dipping so we could choose whether or not to use it - I used it...

I also made Crab stuffed mushrooms - yum! 

I'm really wishing I'd had my daughter pick up 2 cans of this crab meat (wild caught) for $9.99 for a 1 lb can - I didn't realize what a great price it was...

To make them, I cleaned and de-stemmed 15 baby bella/cremini mushrooms and used a tiny spoon to scoop out the center of the mushrooms, reserving the stems and what was scooped out - I diced half a small onion and used the chopper attachment to my immersion blender to chop the stems and center bits of the mushrooms and sauteed the onions and mushrooms in bacon grease and garlic olive oil. I let that cool while I measured out 1 c crab meat,  picking through to double check for shells pieces, I added a good spoonful of my homemade mayo, maybe a Tbs or two cashew meal, I added a little paprika, thyme, granulated garlic, sea salt, pepper and some old bay seasoning and mixed that all up. 

I filled the mushrooms in a baking dish and drizzled them with a little melted gee and sprinkled a little cashew meal on top and baked at 375 for about 15-20 min -- SO GOOD! :D

I also roasted organic rainbow carrots and asparagus (the asparagus was overcooked, I should have started the carrots and then added the asparagus after 10-15 min.) - Hubby loved the roasted carrots, I guess I need to roast carrots more often :)

I guess after the pickled ginger, I can't quite call Day 19 a Success... :o

Day 18!

So.... Thursdays are my busiest workday - had I been smart, I would have made something ahead or just done quick fried eggs, but I didn't really feel like fried eggs and wanted deviled eggs, so I get the water boiling and get them all boiled up, but the phone and emails just.won't. stop. for 5 minutes for me to peel and make them real quick. Seriously, it was noon by the time I had them done - So, it became brunch instead...

So, there you have it - boiled eggs and kiwi and I had a few pistachios after this.

I had gotten an offer for free tickets to a comedy show tonight, so I called for those, but then being tax season, last minute and most of friends being a bit too far away for a last minute invite, it wasn't in the cards. My daughter considered going, but is getting ready for the Wicked Faire Con this weekend, so she didn't really want to go and I wasn't going to force her.

So, I decided to make a fairly quick and easy dinner just in case we went (it was ready when she got home) and I wasn't seeing anything I wanted that I could make work on their menu.

I was VERY tempted to order sashimi - maybe for lunch tomorrow...

Organic chicken breast browned in avocado oil, once browned, I moved them over to one half of the large skillet, added garlic olive oil to the other half then sliced mushroom, sauteed for a minute and then stuck it in the oven at 375 for about 15-20 min until the chicken was done. In the meantime I made the tomato basil salad, just organic grape tomatoes, basil, salt, EVOO and balsamic and heated pre-cooked organic beets from Costco

Dinner - Done!

Feeling a bit emotional this evening - lack of sleep, missing hubby (so glad he comes home tomorrow and a bit earlier than planned) and not getting out (who wants to go out alone?!). Working from home can be tough sometimes...

I also had an Ocular Migraine this afternoon - I get them occasionally and we have no idea what causes them... Thankfully, mine rarely come with actual pain, just the vision problems: No peripheral vision, 'shimmery' vision, etc. The first time I had one it freaked me out, I had never heard of Ocular Migraines!

They usually last about 20 min or so.

Day 18 Success?!

Day 17!

Today I decided to mix things up a little :)

For breakfast I had leftover Thai Red Curry (no pic)

Lunch was leftover meatloaf and a salad

The salad is organic greens, organic tomato, a few castelvetrano olives, red wine vinegar, avocado oil and spike seasoning - ate this about 2:30ish and wasn't hungry until 8ish!

I had planned to have kimchi with my dinner, but then I read the ingredients and it contained sugar :(

Deviled organic cage free eggs (homemade Paleo mayo, yellow mustard, salt, paprika, capers) and organic grape tomatoes and this was plenty :)

Hubby is still traveling and trying to be on plan, but he's sure the salad dressings aren't good and he can tell by the way he feels now that they contain sugar... 

Day 17 Success! :)

Day 16!

I still don't usually wake up hungry (unless I sleep in late, like the weekends), so I know I eat a little later than I should...

It was almost 10 (I got up at 8:30) by the time I started making Breakfast.

I decided on scrambled eggs with sauteed mushrooms, organic power greens and onions and then added 1/4 chopped avocado when the eggs were almost done. I had them with a little Organic Muir Glen medium salsa.

Lunch was just leftover Thai Red Curry from last night, so no photo of lunch :)

I love Thai Curry :)

I've been wanting to try making a Paleo/Whole 30 friendly meatloaf, so I decided tonight would be the night - Hubby usually just asks why not just burgers when I want to make a meatloaf, so I figured I'd do it while he was away (I'd rather have him home! :P)

I was a little worried about making a meatloaf that held together, especially since I prefer to use a loaf pan and not a freeform loaf, but it held together well :)

I used 2 packages Organic grass fed ground beef (one 93% lean and one 85%, that's what I had in the fridge) and added 2 eggs, 2 grated organic carrots, a little liquid smoke, granulated garlic, sage, thyme and cashew meal (I didn't measure, so maybe 1/3 cup or so) and then added sautéed onions, chopped mushrooms and organic celery - then for the last 20 min or so in the oven I topped it with a mixture of organic jarred tomato paste that I mixed with some salt, apple cider (real pressed cider from a local orchard, not the stuff that's really apple juice labeled as cider ;P) and hot sauce.

My usual roasted asparagus sprayed with garlic olive oil and sprinkled with salt and granulated garlic 

Even my older daughter ate it and said it was good and she doesn't like mushrooms - I was surprised she even tried it (It's more the 'idea' of them that she doesn't like I think)

And I have leftovers for lunch (or maybe even breakfast!) tomorrow :)

I also had just a few pistachios and a couple olives today also :)

Day 16 Success! :)

Day 15!

Halfway through! :)

I really really didn't feel like eating this morning, but finally forced myself to fry up 2 Organic Cage Free eggs and had those for breakfast.

Lunch was my last serving of Beef & Sweet Potato Chili that I topped with 1/4 avocado cubed :)

Hubby is out of town again :(

The only slight plus of that is that I can make whatever I want for dinner...

Thai Red Curry for dinner tonight 

A frozen mix of broccoli, water chestnuts and snow peas, then I added organic cauliflower, organic eggplant, half an onion sliced, red and yellow organic bell pepper, asparagus, bamboo shoots and a good large handful of broccoli slaw, 2 cans coconut milk, homemade chicken stock from the carcass of the organic chicken I roasted a few days ago, red curry paste, a squeeze of lime juice, cilantro and basil and the meat picked off the chicken before making the stock

My daughter made the stock and picked the meat off the carcass for me :)

I also had some pistachios here and there.

Day 15 Success!

Day 14!

So, after last night's fun, we slept in and then watched some TV in bed before dragging our sorry butts outta bed to get ready to go home. It was too late to grab breakfast and I felt fine until we got to the train station - I considered the egg white options at Dunkin Donuts, but quickly decided there were too many unknowns of the preparation for my taste. I then considered a fruit salad bowl at one of the shops in Penn Station, but decided against that as well. Then I saw the packages of nuts and another little deli shop and settled on nuts to tide me over until we got home. The cashews had peanut oil, so they were out. I ended up with pistachios and almonds and ate just enough to feel like I would be ok until we got home and I made us something healthy to eat :)

At dinner last night, Hubby liked the kale and commented that he thought it might be good in an omelette - I had purchased the big bag or organic power greens (baby kale, chard and spinach) at Costco last week, so I decided to go for the omelette idea as a quick meal (plus bacon for hubby)

I sauteed the power greens in bacon fat with garlic, salt and pepper and set them aside while I started on the eggs, I also used bacon grease to cook the omelette. Made for a decent little 'brunch'

I didn't really have a plan for dinner and hubby suggested I use the 2 organic chicken breasts I had in the fridge for blackened chicken - I have cajun seasoning in the spice cabinet, so why not :)

First I prepped the brussels sprouts and coated them in garlic olive oil and seasoned them with granulated garlic, salt and pepper and put them in the oven. Then I coated the chicken in the cajun seasoning and browned them in pistachio oil on each side and put them in the oven to finish cooking. After about 20 minutes, I sauteed organic power greens and organic beets (also purchased pre-cooked at Costco) in walnut oil with garlic and seasoned with salt and pepper.

Pretty easy dinner :)

Hubby goes out of town again tomorrow and doesn't get back until Friday :(  I hate these longer trips and am not as used to him travelling as I was years ago (I have trouble sleeping when he's gone, especially the first night), but he took on a client in MI, requiring more travel than he's done in a while... I am still very proud of him for sticking to plan as best he can while travelling - I'm a lucky woman :)

Day 14 Success!  :)

Day 13!

So last night was our big night out in the city - Hubby had gotten tickets to something that he wouldn't tell me what it was - Got us a hotel room and all :)  <3

The weather was HORRIBLE and the meanie made me walk from Penn Station to the hotel, about 3/4 mile away - the exercise is good, but in that weather and prior to a show and all, I was not a happy camper by the time we got there - We took a cab this morning, though the weather was nicer, but the sidewalks in that area were pretty bad...

So the show... It was Sleep no More :)

http://sleepnomorenyc.com/

And there was a lot more walking throughout that as well

So anyway...

Since I slept in, got ready and packed before even coming downstairs, I didn't have breakfast - Lunch was my beef and sweet potato chili again.

Dinner was at the hotel restaurant La Piscine - I think we were overall pretty successful :)

We started with the crab tartine appetizer (we didn't eat the bread) - My only concern here was the aioli, I didn't get to ask if it was made with a commercial mayo or if it was homemade as Hubby ordered it as a last second decision, but we'll let that slide... It was delicious and I think I may try to replicate it at home soon :)

Our entree was the grass fed New York strip steak with kale - it was supposed to come with pommes frites and a Bearnaise sauce, so we asked to leave those off and maybe more kale - asked to have the kale sautéed in olive oil rather than butter - they were very accommodating and the waiter asked about the plan...

I'm pretty sure our steaks were revered and hubby got my rare and I got his medium rare, but it was still yummy :)

We won't talk about the drinks last night ;P  lol

Overall, I'm calling Day 13 Success!

Day 12!

My breakfast was simply 2 fried eggs today, I wasn't really hungry and could easily have only had one, but that just didn't seem like enough.

Lunch for me was the same sweet potato and beef chili with guacamole I had on Wednesday.

Rob, however needed a lunch packed for him so here's his lunch from today

Tuna w/ dill pickle, onion and homemade mayo, organic tomato slices, pepperoncinis, organic blackberries, almonds and Boston lettuce leaves for the tuna.

I got a bit too much tuna in it and with the tomato, it got a little watery, but he said it was good :)

This may not be a fancy dinner for Valentine's Day, but it definitely is a meal after hubby's heart - he could eat steaks and burgers every night!

I didn't think to take a picture of Rob's with his fried egg and bacon, but it looked pretty much the same as last time, as does mine 

My Whole 30 friendly bunless burger - Shredded organic iceberg lettuce, organic tomato slices, a smaller 4.83 oz (raw weight) 93% organic grass fed ground beef this time, spicy aioli using my homemade mayo (new batch, used lime juice this time and less an...d used garlic olive, avocado and walnut oils), tabasco sauce, cayenne, cumin and smoked paprika, then finally sautéed mushrooms and onions with uncured bacon mixed in --- 

I made a seasoning for the burgers since my Montreal Steak seasoning is not Whole 30 compliant - I mixed up course sea salt, celery salt, pepper and granulated garlic - it added just the right amount of seasoning 

This was friggin DELICIOUS again! I did not miss the bun in the least! The smaller serving was better for me, I was stuffed last time, this time, it feels about right 

Last night/this morning, I had a dream that I was sipping a Guinness - I might be missing that - lol ;)

I'm not feeling the muscle fatigue so much now, thankfully and seem to feel a little better each day.

Though I'm really not hungry at mealtimes...

Tomorrow we spend the night in the city and will have dinner out; the first time for me since starting - I hope it isn't too challenging (no idea where we'll end up for dinner...) - then we're going to a show (a surprise for me, I have no idea what it is, but it's not until midnight! :o)

You may remember if you've been reading that I do still drink vodka and whiskey while doing the Whole 30 and I know drinks will be flowing tomorrow night - just sayin' ;)

Day 12 Success! :)