Month: October 2017

Whole 30 Day 14

I have nothing new to report today. I have a cold, but otherwise am feeling ok. I guess I’m feeling tempted a little to eat sweets, but I simply don’t want to start over so I’ll hang in there!

How are you doing? Please share in the comments!

Breakfast: one piece of overnight egg casserole (recipe in my book) and black coffee

Lunch: apple slices, almonds, deli turkey, carrots and cucumber slices

Dinner: creamy salsa chicken, spaghetti squash cake, sautéed okra

  • Please note that the creamy salsa chicken recipe includes a little coconut sugar so be sure to omit that for the Whole 30.

This is the spaghetti squash cake with some spaghetti sauce on the side.

The video of this dinner prep can be found on my YouTube Channel.

Whole 30 Day 13

I’ve made it to Day 13 and things are going well. As far as I can tell, I’ve followed the rules perfectly. I have eaten a couple Rx Bars as snacks, but that is allowed. Most of my meals are satisfying enough to not need snacks, but occasionally I need something (or just want something – I admit it) between meals and the Rx bars are definitely a treat. If you’ve never had one, try them. They taste amazing and are made with pure ingredients. And usually half a bar satisfies. My favorite flavor is maple sea salt.

I’m still not feeling any magic, but I feel ok so I have no complaints. Waiting for some boundless energy….

Breakfast: two fried eggs, bacon, black coffee

Lunch: one recipe of okra fritters

Dinner: Jambalaya, rice for my family, applesauce for DESSERT!

This jambalaya was probably my favorite meal of the entire Whole 30. I can’t wait to make it again!

And can we talk about the applesauce? I say this in the video, but it bears repeating:  if you’ve never had homemade applesauce, it’s something you must try. Even if you don’t have an Instant Pot, just make it on your stove. The flavor is the essence of fall!

Both of these videos are up on YouTube for you to watch the preparation. My channel can be found here.

Whole 30 Day 12

Is day 12 close enough to call this thing half way? Just kidding, I know it’s not, but sometimes I just need to play some mind tricks on myself to make it through.

I’m thrilled to have made it through day 11 unscathed. According to the Whole 30 Timeline, days 10 and 11 are the days you are most likely to give up, quit, throw in the towel. It was major temptation to have some cookies I made for another family sitting in front of my face, but I did not give in.

Some people have very motivating mantras they repeat to themselves such as: “You can do it!” or “You are stronger than this temptation!” But my mantra has been: “I do not want to start over.” Maybe not quite so inspirational, but true nonetheless. And it has worked for me and that’s what matters most.

I have yet to experience any of the Whole 30 magic, but I trust it’s coming.

Day 12 dawned with another headache and very hungry tummy. My plan is to work out from about 8:15-9:15 and considering that I woke up early, around 5:30, I knew I needed to eat something pre-workout. In my attempt to not have an “emergency” Rx Bar, I munched on just a few almonds with my coffee and am hoping that holds me over.

Here’s what’s on tap for the rest of the day:

Breakfast: a piece of overnight egg casserole from my book, Your Paleo Holiday

Lunch: Asian slaw with turkey and almonds

Dinner: grass fed strip steak, smoky sweet potatoes and asparagus – a totally grilled dinner, which I enjoyed making out on my grill as the fall temps set in!

You can watch the prep of this dinner over on YouTube.

Whole 30 Day 11

I had a headache pretty much all day yesterday and I’m not sure if it’s Whole 30 related or sinus related. It is time for fall allergies in my neck of the woods. I’m resisting taking tylenol and focusing on getting my apple cider vinegar each day. It does wonders for sinus issues, for me at least.

I’m finding that I’m snacking more than I should be and I think it’s because I’m just tired of preparing a meal three times a day. I know, I know: leftovers, but I can’t eat leftovers due to the histamine. You can read more about that here. When I’m not doing Whole 30, I do sometimes snack through the day rather than sit down to three proper meals, so this has become my fall back even on the Whole 30 and I know it’s not in “the spirit of the plan.” Even though my snacks are nuts, meat, raw veggies, or other completely compliant foods.

Today I’m making an effort at three real meals and no snacks.

Breakfast: eggs and bacon

Lunch: I tried a new recipe that just sounded good to me: Asian salad. It was tasty and was great leftovers too, according to my husband. I added some deli turkey and chopped, salted almonds to the top.

Dinner: Citrus chicken thighs, roasted veggies and a few bites of baked sweet potato with ghee, salt and pepper.

You can watch this dinner preparation here:

Whole 30 Day 10

This is a busy day for me so little time for anything but the basics. Overall, feeling fine. Not feeling any magic just yet, but no negative withdrawal symptoms either. I’m very thankful that I’m not feeling tempted by any sweets that are lingering around the house.

Breakfast: ground pork, eggs and kale saute

Lunch: salad with salmon, almonds and avocado, topped with ranch dressing

Afternoon Snack: black coffee, a few almonds and a few slices of pepperoni

Dinner: shake and bake chicken nuggets with a big salad of greens, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and non-sweetened honey mustard

 

 

Whole 30 Day 9

I think day nine means we are well into week two and that feels pretty good. I will admit that a bit of the novelty has worn off and I’m pretty tired of cooking, but that isn’t necessarily the fault of the Whole 30.

Breakfast: the last of that package of sausage plus two scrambled eggs and black coffee

Lunch: This was a problem today because breakfast was around 10, after my workout, and I had a dentist appointment at 2:00 and wasn’t hungry yet so I just skipped lunch. I put a lunch idea for you on the Weekly Meal Plan though.

Dinner: My dental work left me with a very sore, and mostly numb mouth. So I scrapped my original dinner plans and served the family leftovers. I grabbed a piece of salmon out of the freezer, cooked that in the skillet real fast, reheated some leftover vegetables and added in some of the remaining pesto from Day 5’s Pesto Shrimp and Zoodles. I was in such agony, I didn’t take a picture. I’m sorry. Although I can assure you, everything was cooked really, really well so it would be soft for my sore teeth and was very unappetizing looking. There is no video of today’s preparation because I looked very bizarre. 🙂

Whole 30 Day 8

I am having some little inklings of sweets cravings today for the first time, but I just keep telling myself I do not want to start over. I do not want to start over. I am almost 25% of the way done with this thing.

There are all sorts of fall treat recipe ideas swirling around in my head and I want to start testing them, but I know I can’t test no-no recipes while on the Whole 30 because I can’t resist tasting them. And I shouldn’t resist, really. I can’t exactly post a new recipe here if I’ve never even tasted it! So all that treat creating has to wait.

Thankfully, it’s Sunday so I’ll be at church all morning. It’s the first day of Sunday school for the semester and I know there will be Krispy Kreme donuts. I can’t eat those anyway, but it’s a bummer to have to smell them. Oh, well. There are worse things.

To fill up my tummy this morning, I had:

Breakfast: sausage and eggs, black coffee

Lunch: family ate the leftover chicken pot pie, but I know I cannot eat leftover chicken so I had a little “nosh” plate of deli chicken, green apple, pepperoni and pistachios. I know, I know. No vegetables so far today. So sue me.

Dinner: Grandma’s Beef Tips with mushrooms and oven “fried” okra. My family had rice; I did not.

You can see the video of my beef tip preparations here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9KcIwCPal8

This recipe is only available in my book so if you don’t have that yet, you’ll have to watch the video for instructions.

Dessert: peppermint tea. The “keto breath” is descending and it’s driving me crazy not being able to chew gum. A girl only has so much time to brush her teeth! Normally, I choose lemon ginger or orange tea, but it’s peppermint today out of necessity.

Afternoon snack: It goes without saying that I am having coffee in the afternoons. Still black. I think I have forgotten to include this little bit of information on my other daily posts.

Whole 30 Week 2 Meal Plan

You probably figured out from the Week 1 Meal Plan that I can eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch pretty much every single day. If this does not work for you, please mix things up. Eating leftovers for lunch is a brilliant idea, I just can’t usually do it because of my histamine intolerance.

One of my favorite lunches is what I call a nosh plate. A couple slices of turkey, a few almonds, some apple slices, a few miscellaneous raw veggies, such as cucumbers or carrots. I feel like I’m on a picnic and it makes me happy. This is obviously a super simple “meal,” and one that is very adaptable. You can change out the various components, add some dipping sauces (all Whole 30 compliant, of course) and make lots of different combinations of nosh plates.

It also should go without saying that I am having coffee every morning. I enjoy my coffee black. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. I’m debating whether cream in my coffee or a big piece of gluten free cake will be my first reintroduction at the end of my 30 days. 🙂



I also have a cup of black coffee in the afternoon. Sometimes I have tea instead, but usually, it’s black coffee.

This Week 2 Meal Plan is full of some of my best old recipes, like Citrus chicken thighs.  This is an easy, weeknight dinner that my family raves over.

But jambalaya is our new favorite meal. I couldn’t believe how well this turned out. My family ate their servings over white rice, but I simply ate mine in a bowl like soup and was perfectly happy and satisfied with that.

There were lots of great meals during this second week! These can be some of the toughest days, so plan, plan, plan for some amazing meals so you have something to look forward to.




This week saw the introduction of a most heavenly “dessert:” homemade applesauce. This is the perfect use of your Instant Pot.

Here is the Week 2 Meal Plan. Remember that recipes highlighted in pink are available for free here on the website and recipes highlighted in blue are available in my book, Your Paleo Holiday.

[pdfviewer]http://ourpaleofamily.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Whole-30-Meal-Plan-2-1.pdf[/pdfviewer]

Whole 30 Day 7

Honestly, I’m almost afraid to say anything because this Whole 30 is just going so well. I really can’t believe it.

My husband has been gone since last night (will return tomorrow afternoon) and usually when he’s gone I am very tempted to snack mindlessly. But this time it has been a-okay. I’m really not sure what the difference is this time around, but I’ll take it.

I don’t feel any sort of magic yet, but I don’t feel bad either. Just hanging in there.

Breakfast: black coffee pre-workout (I may sometimes forget to mention it, but I always have black coffee in the morning, first thing.) Following my workout, I had two eggs and some sausage.

Lunch: quarter of a sweet potato, taco meat, salad, avocado, salsa “cream” sauce – just leftovers of last night’s dinner.

Dinner: Chicken pot pie. THIS IS SO GOOD! If you enjoy comfort food (and who doesn’t?), you must make this. Whomever you are feeding will love you.

You can watch me making the pot pie over on my YouTube channel. This is a more involved recipe so pick a weekend night or some other day when you have more time so that you can enjoy the process. Cooking really is fun!

 

Whole 30 Day 6

All’s well in my Whole 30 world these days. How is yours?

It’s busy around here today, so I’ll keep it short and sweet and get right to my meals for today.

Breakfast: two fried eggs, sausage and kale

Lunch: okra fritters

Dinner: quick and easy taco meat (see video), served over half a baked sweet potato, big pile of greens, topped with quarter of an avocado and salsa cream sauce (salsa and mayo mixed together).

I don’t have a recipe written up for the taco meat (It’s just ground beef, chorizo sausage and salsa), but you can watch the preparation in this video: