Day 21 - My favorite invention, EVER

So, last night's pizza and cheese experiment was so-so. My desire for pizza was satiated enough that I will not cave tonight when I'm working, and everyone around me is eating Domino's. But I'm also content knowing that there are only 9 days left in this Cleanse, and I can have REAL pizza again soon.

The crust ended up too dry for my liking, but I'm guessing that gluten keeps bread items moist and chewy (in a good way). The flavor was good, though. The cheese? I think I'm too much of a cheese lover to be eating this fake cheese. I could taste the coconut. And the lemon. It didn't taste very mozzarella-y. All in all, I'm happy to have taken the chance and tried it, but I think I prefer no-cheese to what we ate last night. I'll likely end up tossing what's left in the trash.

Coconut butter, however, is DELIGHTful, and i'm going to be researching other ways to use it. Really, I just want to keep myself from consuming the whole jar with a spoon.

What made up for the lackluster pizza night was this morning's brunch invention: Pizza Eggs. I heated the leftover onions, green peppers, and sausage in a skillet, coated with olive oil. Once heated through, added two scrambled eggs, cooked them in, and put in a bowl, topped with leftover pizza sauce. SO GOOD. Would've been awesome to have added mozzarella and/or parmesan, but that's okay. They were great.

We also had a birthday in the house yesterday! Rhuby turned 2, so Pupcakes were made and consumed by all furkids in the house. 

I don't know what I'll end up eating later. I went to the store so I have lots of options, but I have to do a work thing tonight, so I'll end up eating before I go. I'll update with where I end up. 

Day 21: Menu

Brunch: Pizza Eggs

Lunch: Steamed Brussel Sprouts with Salt and Pepper, Sliced Cucumber

Dinner: Leftover "Pizza"

Resisted Pizza at work!!!

Day 20 - Pizza, Try Again!

I intended on coming home from work last night and making cheese, and then pizza. I went out at lunch and was able to get coconut butter, and nutritional yeast, and then I found some chicken Spicy Italian Sausage links at Trader Joe's, but I was on a manhunt for some Turkey Pepperoni. I went to Whole Foods and Trader Joe's at lunch, then on the way home I stopped at Fresh Market, and Sprouts. Despite all being listed as carrying it, none of the places I stopped carried any Turkey Pepperoni. I see now that Applegates Farms' website merely lists the stores that carry any of their products, and not this product in particular.

I did end up at Sprout last, where I found two beautiful New York Strip Steaks, and some bulk ground Chicken Italian Sausage. I decided that would work in lieu of pepperoni, and that our Supreme Pizza would be fine without the pepperoni.

They also had some chicken chorizo in bulk, which I cannot wait to try. I don't have any eggs currently though, so boo there.

I'm excited to try the Mozzarella cheese recipe I found, on the pizza. I've never made cheese. Mike is skeptical but I read reviews that seemed favorable. Mike will be the true test. Only 10 days left but if we can find some new favorites we like, that would be rad, too.


Breakfast/Lunch: Leftover Tortillas, heated and slathered with Almond Butter


Dinner: Paleo Pizza Margherita, Dairy Free Mozzarella
     Toppings: Chicken Italian Sausage, Onions, Green Peppers, Black Olives

Week 3 - Menus

Sunday:
Dinner: Leftovers

Monday:
Breakfast: 2 scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes and Green Onions
Lunch: Leftover Spaghetti Squash with Paleo Meat Sauce
Dinner: Coconut Curried Chicken Soup in the Slow Cooker

Tuesday:
Breakfast: 2 Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes and Green Onions
Lunch: Leftover Coconut Curried Chicken Soup in the Slow Cooker
Dinner: One Pot Chicken Drumsticks, Quinoa

Wednesday:
Breakfast: 2 Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes, Cumin, Chili Powder
Lunch: Leftover Paleo Beef Kebabs, Quinoa with Caramelized Red Onions
Dinner: Chicken Divan

Thursday:
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with tomatoes
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Beef tacos using Grain Free Coconut Flour Tortillas, Mexi Quinoa

Friday:
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with Tomatoes, Green Pepper, Cumin, Chili Powder
Lunch: Leftover Taco meat, lettuce, sliced cucumber, 1/2 avocado, 2 TBSP Salsa
Dinner: New York Strip Steak, grilled onions, roasted brussel sprouts

Saturday:
Breakfast: Eggs, scrambled
Lunch: Leftovers
Dinner: Paleo Pizza Margherita, Dairy Free Mozzarella
     Toppings: Chicken Italian Sausage, Onions, Green Peppers, Black Olives

Sunday:
Breakfast: Leftovers
Lunch: Leftovers

Week 3 - Groceries

Sunday Dinner - Sunday Lunch

(We had leftovers for Sunday Dinner!)

Staples: 
Almond Flour: 2 cups
Arrowroot Flour: 1/2 cup,
Baking Powder: 2 1/2 tsp
Basil: 2 tsp
Chili Powder: 2 tsp,
Coconut Flour: 1/2 cup
Coconut Oil: 1 cup, 1 TBSP, 2 tsp,
Cumin, ground: 2 tsp,
Curry Powder: 1 TBSP
Garlic, Minced: 1/4 cup
Garlic Powder: 4 tsp
Ginger: 1 TBSP
Marjoram: 1 tsp
Onion Powder: 3 tsp
Oregano: 3 tsp
Paprika, Smoked: 2 tsp
Pepper, Black: 1 1/2 tsp
Poultry Seasoning: 1 TBSP,
Salt: 3 1/4 tsp

Misc. Grocery
Almond Butter: 2 TBSP,
Almonds, Sliced: 1/4 cup
Chicken Broth: 6 cups
Coconut Butter: 1 Cup,
Coconut Milk: 4 1/4 cups
Curry, Yellow: 1 TBSP
Eggs: 14
Egg Whites: 1 1/2 cup
Lemon Juice: 2 TBSP,
Nutritional Yeast: 3 TBSP,
Quinoa: 1 cup, 1 cup
Salsa: 1/4 cup
Stevia, powder: dash,
Tomatoes, Crushed: 14 oz
Tomato Paste: 6 oz.,
Vitamin C Crystals (optional): 1/2 tsp

Produce:
Broccoli Florets: 4 cups
Brussel Sprouts: 8 oz
Lime: 2 1/2
Onion, Red: 1
Onion, Yellow: 2 1/2
Pepper, Green: 2
Spinach, Baby: 8 oz
Tomatoes: 5
Zucchini: 3

Meat: 
Beef, Lean Ground: 1 pound
Chicken Breasts, Boneless/Skinless: 3
Chicken Drumsticks: 1 pound,
Chicken Thighs, Boneless/Skinless: 1 1/2 pounds,
Chicken, Ground Italian Sausage: 1 pound
New York Strip Steaks: 2

Day 19 - Officially 10 pounds down!

Yup yup! I'm not doing it for weight-loss, but I'll take the fact that I'm down 10 lbs, with the SLIGHTEST of effort. I guess the effort has been a little more than slight, given all the ingredients to avoid, but I don't feel like I've been starving, I actually feel like I'm eating more. It'd be nice to lose 10 more in the next 11 days, but I'd be satisfied with 5. A pound a day seems a little extreme, but 1/2 a pound a day seems normal.

My no Zyrtec experiment failed. By 3p yesterday, my right hand had broken out in hives, and by the time I went to bed, (warning - TMI to follow), I was itching ALL over. Like, in my pants, itchy. So, I'm guessing I'm not yet clear of Candida, and if this continues AFTER the cleanse, I'm going to talk to my Gyn to order a true test, and see if she could give me an RX for Diflucan or the like. I'd prefer to go the natural route, but if it takes a prescription to get me baseline, I'm down for that.

I also think I'm going to cut out cow's dairy, as much as possible, and to replace it with goat's. And even then, probably only on special occasions (weekends), and that's assuming I get the candida under control. We might even eat paleo during the week, as I'd still like to lose about 20 lbs. We shall see.

Hubs ended up making dinner last night, after I had to do some snuggly sewing. The tortillas tasted like delicious coconut pancakes, so I'm not sure I'd call them a win. In most of the other coconut-flour applications, the coconut flour didn't come through as much, so I'm actually wondering if he accidentally used the fine flaked coconut instead of the flour, but he's no dummy, so I'm sure he followed the recipe as it was listed. They'd be delicious covered in syrup, but I'm not sure that they serve well in place of a corn or flour tortilla. Nonetheless, taco meat is delicious.

What I'm MOST excited for is PIZZA TONIGHT!!! I mean, I should probably say, "pizza", as this is paleo/gluten free, and of course, no cheese (though I'm on a hunt for some vegan cheese that's candida-safe, so if I find that, then winner, winner, pizza dinner!). I think I'm going to go for a 'supreme' pizza flavor, assuming I can find some turkey pepperoni and Italian sausage. As always I'll keep you posted. I'm still on the hunt for something delicious tomorrow night for dinner, but may just end up getting steaks. Who doesn't love a steak?

**OOH! Found this recipe to try, to make "cheese" for the pizza. I'll keep you posted!

**Updated! I had to go on such a scavenger hunt looking for turkey pepperoni, that I didn't get home early enough to make the things for Pizza. We wouldn't have eaten dinner until 1130p. We had steaks and brussel sprouts, instead, and will make pizza and cheese tomorrow.

Here's the game plan for today:

Day 19 Menu:
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs, with diced tomato and green pepper, cumin and chili powder

Lunch: Leftover Taco Meat Salad, with cucumber, avocado, and 2 TBSP (no-vinegar) salsa

Dinner: New York Strip Steak, grilled onions, roasted brussel sprouts

Day 18 - Not a lot to say...

My day was off to a shit start, so I'm not feeling very wordy today.

Last night's dinner was okay - I bet the real version is delicious. The one with the mushrooms, cream soup, cheese, mayo, sour cream and bread crumbs. Maybe I'll make it once this cleanse is over.

I DIDN'T take my Zyrtec last night. Slept through the night. Didn't itch at all. I'm having some slight itchy hands today, but NOTHING like usual, and I think it's mostly due to dryness, because of it being winter and the heat being on. I'm going to apply lotion all day and see how I'm doing by tonight.

Note: I'm a bit upset today, and I tend to lose my appetite in this state, so I don't really have as much to eat as I usually do. If you're following my plan, feel free to add more, as I'm sure you're not having the shit-ass day I am.

Oh also, we do Taco Thursday at our house. Really, on Thursday night's we always have some kind of Mexican. I'm not following a recipe for the taco meat, as I don't use one, but I am posting the Paleo tortillas I'll be making. I hope they're good and not gaggy. I also just tried to scour the internet for a suitable "sour cream" type substance, but there doesn't appear to be one that's Candida-safe. SIGH. I guess I will just have to chill.

Here's today's game plan:

Breakfast: 1/2 avocado

Lunch: Leftover One Pot Chicken Drumsticks, Quinoa

Dinner: TACOS!!! Grain-Free Coconut Flour Tortillas

Day 17 - I take it back!

I added about 1/8 tsp of cumin and 1/4 tsp. chili powder to my eggs and tomatoes this morning, and it made them like a delicious Mexican treat! I'm not sick of them, yet. And Mike said this morning, "enjoy your fancy breakfast". "Fancy". As if. It's eggs and a chopped up tomato. I'm glad tomatoes are allowed on this diet - they're my favorite. Always have been.

In TMI, I did wake up SO gassy today! I have no idea why. We all know I've not had dairy in over 2 weeks, and that's usually the culprit. I'm not bloated feeling, like I would be when I had dairy in the past, so that's a good thing.

Last night's dinner was good, but a bit boring, in my opinion. Hubs didn't say it was salty, so that's a win, but overall, I was unenthused.

Looks pretty though, right?

 


I made the quinoa with that fancy broth I found at TJ's, but it still didn't have a lot of flavor. This truly tasted diet-y. I opted to bring leftovers from Saturday for lunch today instead, just to get them out of the fridge.

Not a lot happening other than that! Just work, as usual.  I did get a boost in dog sweater orders which is AWESOME. I'm saving up to get the Jamberry Trushine kit. I've done a real number on my nails in the past 6 months or so, and I think the Trushines will help get them healthy again. I LOVE my Jamberries, but due to the damage I've done to my nails, I've had trouble getting great applications lately.

Here's the game plan for today:

Day 16 Menus:
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with chopped tomato, cumin and chili powder

Lunch: Leftover Paleo Beef Kebabs, Quinoa with Caramelized Red Onions

Dinner: Chicken Divan (Dive In)
    Omit mushrooms, add spinach


Happy Wednesday!

Day 16 - I may be sick of eggs soon...

I have a tendency to find something I really, really like, and then eat it every single day, until I can't lay eyes or have it cross my lips again for an extended time. That may happen soon with tomato eggs. Or it may not. I wasn't a fan of eggs until college (the same time I decided I liked raw onions). Recently, as in the past sixteen days, I cannot get enough of them. Are eggs still bad for your cholesterol? It seems that that piece is offset by the fact that eggs contain lots of good stuff for you, especially protein, and Vitamins B12 and D (for which I take a weekly supplement). We'll see what the doc says later this year. I did throw a bit of a high cholesterol last year, but my doctor said it could be due to my birth control pill (TMI), which can cause elevated cholesterol. I'm NOT going on cholesterol pills at 37. No sir, thank you very much. But, I've also not had any dairy products in 16 days, so I would think that would work in my favor as well.

I'm actually wondering if I can keep the dairy out of my diet as a semi-permanent thing. I think I have a touch of lactose intolerance, so not having any dairy at all has really helped how I feel. I think that's what it is. I'll miss cheese most. But I'm sure there are replacement cheeses, right? Is it even worth it? I will have to splurge every now and then on grilled cheese sandwiches, my homemade pimento cheese, cheese grits, parmesan rice (I've always had stomach issues, and parm rice is one of my easy go-tos), and quesadillas.

Ooh and pizza. Oh how I miss thee, pizza. Maybe that's my challenge for the rest of the week - Come up with a "pizza" type dinner for Friday night.

Challenge accepted.

Last night's soup was ... okay. Mike liked it, but once again thought it tasted too salty (despite my not adding ANY salt). I had to add more curry powder, as always. I must like curry more than most people. I also added more lime. I'm wondering if the fish sauce I used was coming through? Usually it tastes good though. Maybe it will be better for leftovers today. You know how some foods are better the next day? Like lasagna. And chili. We will see.

The Sriracha turned out good, but I think the soup could have used a bit more. I'm also not sure why we added almond butter, and would likely omit that if I made it again.

And, holy buckets, I need a nap. So sleeeeeepy today. I've had two nights in a row of going to sleep after midnight, and that just doesn't work for me! I've had a boost in my Snuggly business, so tonight will be go home and cook dinner, sew snugglies for the mail tomorrow, bed by 9. The last part might be wishful thinking, but I'm crossing my fingers.

**Update: I wanted to share this. I have a raging headache right now. I looked up Candida and ibuprofen, and found this hilarious study article, filled with words that sound like some sort of instruction manual. However, the last sentence confirmed that ibuprofen is okay to take, and can even be beneficial in fighting Candida. Great news!

Here's the dealio for today:

Day 16 - Menus:
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with tomato and green onion

Lunch: Leftover Coconut Curried Chicken Soup in the Slow Cooker, Celery, 1/2 avocado

Dinner: One Pot Chicken Drumsticks, Quinoa

Day 15 - Officially Halfway Through!

I really can't believe we've made it this far. And by we, I mean me. Hubs cheats, so it's not as hard for him. I have to say I was able to overcome two giant obstacles last night. First, I was at a bar all night for a burlesque benefit for a friend of mine (Rhuby's Aunt Jen, who has two of Rhu's brothers, Moby and Bunny). I spent the evening at the raffle/silent action booth with a lovely lady named Marnie, and we had a great time selling tickets. It was REALLY hard for me not to have a drink. Note: Not because I'm any sort of alcoholic, I just really like to imbibe like the rest, and it was really hard to see everyone having a great time drinking and hanging out, but I stuck to water. I *almost* got a vodka soda, but I reminded myself that that first drink Valentine's weekend in the mountains with Mike will taste SO much better when I've given myself the full 30-day cleanse. INCLUDING booze. Go me.

The second challenge was NOT stopping at Taco Bell (or Wendy's) on my way home. I ate dinner really early, around 515p, before I left for the event, and driving home at 1130p, I was STARVING. I persevered, and ate more leftover grilled veggies/quinoa/steak once I got home. No Tacos for me! Both decisions were equally difficult, but I feel good about where I ended up.

I'm 1/2# up from Friday, but given that I made cookies, and that I ate so late last night, I think it's okay. It's a marathon, not a sprint (right?).

Also, I have derby practice tonight, which is going to be a real struggle because I'm SO tired today after staying up past my bedtime. Yawn.

OH! Also! I made Paleo Sriracha sauce yesterday! I haven't tasted it yet (honestly I'm scared), but I will be using it in tonight's Curried Chicken soup, so I'll give you the results tomorrow. Hubs tasted it and said it was good. I'm not usually a fan of really spicy stuff, but Sriracha and Wasabi are two exceptions. I hope mine holds up.


Day 15 - Today's Menu:
Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with tomato and green onion

Lunch: Leftover Spaghetti Squash with Paleo Meat Sauce

Dinner: Coconut Curried Chicken Soup in the Slow Cooker
     Omit Carrots, replace Red Bell Pepper with Green

Week 2 - Menus

Sunday:
Dinner: Leftover Chili


Monday:
Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs with diced tomato

Lunch - Chili Salad (Chili over Lettuce, with Salsa)

Dinner -  Paleo Coconut Chicken Fingers, Baked Eggplant Fries
     - Use Coconut Milk instead of heavy cream
     - NO GOAT CHEESE DIP!


Tuesday:
Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs with tomato and garlic

Lunch - Leftover Chili Salad
     - Added Diced Green pepper and 1 TBSP Salsa

Dinner - : Crock Pot Thai Beef Stew (I halved this recipe)
        - Omit Carrots, Jicama, and Fish Sauce


Wednesday:
Breakfast - 2 Scrambled Eggs with Tomato

Lunch - Leftover Crock Pot Thai Beef Stew and Celery

Dinner -  Paleo Ginger Chicken, Quinoa with Asian Flavors


Thursday:
Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs, 1/2 avocado

Lunch - Paleo Ginger Chicken, Quinoa with Asian Flavors, Cucumbers

Dinner - Paleo Chicken Enchiladas (halved) made with Paleo Tortillas


Friday:
Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs

Lunch - 4 tsp Almond Butter, handful pecans

Dinner - Spaghetti Squash with Paleo Meat Sauce
          With these changes:
          - Ground turkey instead of ground beef
          - Omit mushrooms and red pepper
       

BONUS: Coconut Yum Yum Cookies

Saturday:
Breakfast - 2 Scrambled eggs with tomato, cumin, chili powder, and avocado

Lunch -  Leftover  Spaghetti Squash with Paleo Meat Sauce

Dinner - Paleo Beef Kebabs, Quinoa with Caramelized Red Onions
          With these changes:
          - Omit orange juice and red bell pepper


Sunday:
Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs with tomato, 1/2 avocado

Lunch - Leftover  Spaghetti Squash with Paleo Meat Sauce

Dinner: Leftover Grilled veggies, scrambled into two eggs, Salsa

Day 14 - TWO WEEKS!

Two weeks down! Really?! It hasn't been that bad. Now, I did "cheat" with the "chocolate" chips. But other than that, I feel like things are good.

I will say, I reverted to a bad, bad habit last night. I mentioned that I bought some almond butter. I'm usually good about consuming it sparingly, given its price, but last night. I did eat about a 1/4 jar in one sitting. I didn't realize I was missing this kind of thing, but it felt great to eat with a spoon out of the jar. I found this Barney Butter Bare Almond Butter at the Walmart Grocery (I know, shut up. Once I'm rich, I will avoid, but for now, they're good for my budget) by my house, and it is SO good. It's on my list to pick up more today. I think it was around $5.00 for 10 oz, which compared to Peanut Butter is CRAZY! It's another thing I will use, though sparingly moving forward, to keep on plan.

Tomorrow is the halfway point! Already! So I will confirm it' snot that bad, at all. I mean, it was hard to get used to, and I think hubby is still struggling a bit, though I'll say he's taking it like a champ, but I feel like it's really making a difference. I didn't take my Zyrtec until 330a last night, as we fell asleep on the sofa watching TV, and I felt zero itches at that point. Maybe I'll try to cut back to 1/2 a pill tomorrow, at the halfway point and see if I can make it through the night. That should help wean the sleep dependency, too, though last night, it clearly wasn't an issue.

As for meals today, it's all leftovers. There's a benefit tonight for a friend of mine who's in treatment for breast cancer, and has had an all around hard time of it lately. It's burlesque, which I LOVE to watch, but it's also at a bar, and will be really hard not to at least have one drink. I'll do my best.

Hubs will be on his own for dinner, so I'll leave him the leftover steak from last night, and will eat the grilled veggies in some form. Oooh, maybe scrambled in some eggs. IDK yet. Like I said, I need to get the groceries for this week today, and have an errand to run for the benefit tonight, and well, meals are going to take a backseat for once. So, I will provide a suggested menu, and what I would eat if I were going to take the time to be thoughtful about food today:

Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with tomato, 1/2 avocado

Lunch: Leftover Spaghetti Squash with Paleo Meat Sauce

Dinner: Leftover grilled veggies, scrambled into two eggs, Salsa

Week 2 - Grocery

Sunday Dinner - Sunday Lunch

Staples:
Almond Flour: 2 1/2 cups
Almond Meal: 1 cup
Arrowroot Flour: 5/8 cup,
Baking Soda: 1/2 tsp
Basil, Dried: 1 TBSP
Cayenne Pepper: 1/8 tsp
Chili Powder: 2 TBSP, 1 tsp
Coconut Aminos: 2 TSBP
Coconut Flour: 1 tsp
Coconut Oil: 3/4 cup
Coriander, Ground: 1/2 tsp
Cumin, Ground: 3/4 tsp
Garlic, Minced: 3 TBSP
Garlic Powder: 1/8 tsp
Olive Oil: 7/8 cup
Pepper, Black: 1 1/4 tsp
Red Pepper Flakes: 1 TBSP
Rosemary, chopped: 1 TBSP
Salt: 3 3/4 tsp
Onion Powder: 1/8 tsp
Oregano, Dried: 1 tsp
Stevia: 2 pkts
Thyme, Dried: 1 tsp

Misc. Grocery:
Almond Butter (no sugar): 2 TBSP
Chicken Broth: 4 cups
Coconut Milk: 2 cup, 1 TBSP
Coconut, Shredded: 1 1/4 cup
Eggs: 16
Lime Juice: 1 tsp
Pecans: 1 pkg.,
Quinoa: 2 cup
Red Curry Paste: 1/4 cup
Tomato Paste: 1/2 cup
Tomato Sauce: 4 oz.
Tomatoes, Crushed: 24.5 oz,
Vanilla Extract, No-Alcohol: 1/2 tsp

Produce:

Broccoli Florets: 1 cup 

Celery: 1 bunch

Cucumbers: 2

Eggplant: 1 med or 2 small

Ginger: 3 TBSP

Lettuce (I like Romaine): 1 sv.

Onion, Green (Scallion): 6

Onion, Red: 2 1/2

Onion, Yellow: 4 

Tomato: 4 

Avocado: 2

Pepper, Green: 3

Squash, Spaghetti: 1

Squash, Yellow: 1
Zucchini: 2

Meats:

Beef, Sirloin Steak: 2 pounds, 

Beef Stew Meat: 1 1/2 pounds

Chicken Breast, Boneless/Skinless: 2

Chicken Legs, 1 1/2 pounds

Chicken Tenders: 1 pound 

Turkey, Ground: 1 1/2 pounds, 

Day 12/13: Weather Emergency, But Not Really

I didn't get to my post yesterday, as I was sent home from work as soon as I got there, due to impending winter weather. Nothing actually started until 9p, but I think we all have PTSD from the storm two years ago when we were all stuck in our cars for a million hours. These little dustings always make me miss the real stuff up north, but I always remind myself that come March, when we're in the 70s and there's still snow up north, I'll be ever so happy.

My schedule got all messed up yesterday so eating was weird. I made a couple of stops on the way home from work, because I decided if I wasn't going to be drinking, as is customary during a Georgia "Snow Storm", I would do my best to make safe cookies at the very least. What I came up with satisfied my longing for a "sweet treat", but hubby was less than enthused. I picked up Peanut Butter for him, and some safe almond butter for myself, and that helped.

A note about the ingredients: I was in a rush to get the ingredients and found that my selection was limited. I ended up getting Stevia in the Raw, which contains dextrose which can feed your candida. I've stated before that I weigh out options that I feel like work for me. If eating a tiny amount of Stevia with dextrose keeps me from drinking a beer or glass of wine, I feel like it's worth it. I also got Enjoy Life Chocolate Chips which contain evaporated cane juice, and now that I've read more realize that this is basically eating sugar. I used exactly a TBSP of the mini chips, so I don't feel HORRIBLE about the decision (again, better than sugar-filled alcoholic adult beverages), but I'll be saving these to use again once I'm past the 30-day mark. In the meantime, I've updated the recipe below, omitting the chips. I also added that lovely coconut I got from Sprouts, which I think helped with flavor.

A note about the recipe: It wasn't perfect. And I'll be trying to make them again to see if I can fix the main issues which were 1) Being much too crumbly/dry, and 2) needing more sweet and a bit of salt. I'll update the recipe as I learn more, but basically, this is my jumping off point:

Here's the recipe (adapted from the recipe here)

Coconut Yum Yums

Ingredients:
1 cup Almond Flour
1 cup Almond Meal
1/4 cup Sprouts Shredded Coconut
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
2 packets Stevia (I used In the Raw, but find one that is pure Stevia)
1/2 cup melted coconut oil
1/2 tsp No-Alcohol Vanilla or Almond Extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line your cookie sheets with parchment or foil.
In a medium bowl, combine almond flour and meal, coconut, and baking soda.
In a small bowl, combine egg, melted coconut oil, Stevia, and extract, if using.
Pour wet ingredients into dry, and mix until combined.
Scoop dough onto cookie sheet(s), and bake in oven for 12 minutes, or until they are brown around the edges.
Let cool before removing from pan (they stay together better once cooled)


If you read this, and try them, please let me know what you think, or any feedback you have. Thanks!

Okay, now for meals. I'm on a constant search for things that aren't one food mimicking another. But I made an allowance for Spaghetti Squash, since it appears that its intended purpose is to mimic spaghetti. Funny about the meat sauce though: The cap fell off the basil top, so we ended up with REALLY basily sauce. I'm not complaining.

I guess I should also get to the store for this coming week's recipes! I guess that's what I'm going to do today, as long as the roads clear up. We shall see.


Day 12 Menu:
     Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs
     Lunch: 4 tsp Almond butter and a handful of pecans
     Dinner: Spaghetti Squash with Paleo Meat Sauce
          With these changes:
          - Ground turkey instead of ground beef
          - Omit mushrooms and red pepper
          - Note that my squash only yielded 4 servings. Definitely 8 servings of sauce though, so modify as needed


Day 13 Menu:
     Breakfast: 2 Scrambled eggs with tomato, cumin, chili powder, and avocado
     Lunch: Leftover  Spaghetti Squash with Paleo Meat Sauce
     Dinner: Paleo Beef Kebabs, Quinoa with Caramelized Red Onions
          With these changes:
          - Omit orange juice and red bell pepper

Day 11 - What's a Girl Gotta Do?

Our potential winter weather never materialized yesterday. At all. It was just rain. That's the difference between living down south and up north: Here, just the TALK of snow can send everyone into a panic, dashing out for gas, bread, milk, eggs. Up there, they're all "It's gonna snow", and people are like, "well duh, it's January." The up north in me still longs for the white stuff every time they threaten us with it. More often than not, nothing happens. SIGH. We may be due for some tomorrow night, so in order to avoid long lines after work, I'm going to do my customary weekend grocery shop tonight after work. That means I've already picked dinners through Saturday night! And it's only Thursday!

I've been down in the dumps for the past 24 hours or so, and I can't quite shake it. I know it's not diet related, but I had my first full on panic attack last night, and that was the first in a while. I'm not panicky anymore, but I feel just kinda blue, and wish I could go home and sleep all day. But grown-up duties call, so here I am. Hopefully it'll turn around at some point

I went to Trader Joe's yesterday at lunch to pick up the Candida Safe broth I mentioned yesterday. It was $1.69 a carton for the organic free-range chicken broth. There IS a difference in the ingredients, and the non-organic one, which runs $1.49 is NOT safe for our purposes here. I think it would work for just Paleo or Whole 30, though. I also picked up a pack of raw pecans. They're truly my treat each day. I may have eaten half the pack last night before bed. There are worse things. The broth was very tasty and worked great in our Quinoa.

Short post today, as I'm getting a late start, but here's the game plan:

Day 11 Menus:

Breakfast: 2 Scrambled Eggs, 1/2 avocado

Lunch: Leftover Paleo Ginger Chicken, Quinoa with Asian Flavors, Cucumbers

Dinner: Paleo Chicken Enchiladas (halved) made with Paleo Tortillas

Day 10: I sense some progress!

So, I'm down 7# since I started. 7# in 10 days seems super healthy and normal, and I feel like I'm making progress!

I did have an incident last night - I realized when hubs was snoring next to me in bed that it was 1130p, and I wasn't at ALL tired. It then occurred to me that I didn't take my Zyrtec before bed. The good news is, I had only a very slight itch on my left foot, and I did fall asleep, but I was awakened when hubs got up to pee at around 2, and was WIDE awake. I took a Zyrtec and moved to the sofa.

This is yet another reason I need to get off the Zyrtec. It appears as though I'm a bit sleep dependent on it. I don't like to depend on anything, except maybe coffee, so this is super unacceptable to me, and yet another reason why I'm sticking to this cleanse, and hope it solves this itchy problem.

Let's talk Arrowroot again! I mentioned yesterday, I was only able to find the tiny spice-sized portion at Sprouts, for $4.99 (it may have been more like $4.69, but close enough). I had to run an update on my machine at work, so I went for a quick trip to Whole Foods (aka Hell on Earth) hoping to find it in bulk. They didn't have it in bulk, but they did have the Bob's Red Mill 1# package for $5.99 (and as I'm typing this, I realized I forgot my dang coupon!). So for now, that will do. I'm super excited for all the possibilities, and a little nervous I'm assuming I can do more stuff with this than is realistic.

I'd also like to discuss Chicken Broth! Now, it's been used quite sparingly thus far, but after a convo with a friend, I checked the ingredients in mine, and it contains BOTH sugar, AND MSG! Not good! So I'll be purchasing an alternative to use for tonight's dinner. I did some research, and these are the brands I'll be looking for:
     Imagine Foods Organic Free Range Chicken Broth
     More Than Gourmet Chicken Stock
     Trader Joe's Organic Free Range Chicken Broth

You know me - I'll stand in the broth aisle for like 20 minutes reading all the labels, and will let you know what I learn or if I find another alternative that is suitable. I'm sad to ditch my Mexi-broth though! I loved the convenience of the powder. Oh well.
  
Short post today, I know, but we may have impending winter weather possible, so I wanted to get this out, and get some work done, in the event we are sent home early to watch it rain (we freak out down here a bit with this winter stuff. My inner Michiganer/Pennsylvanian thinks it's redic, but the reality is that Georgia doesn't have the proper equipment to pre/treat the roads, and it can become a mess very quickly).

OH! I do want to say last night's Crock Pot Thai Beef Stew was SO good. Mike said he thought it was salty, but I've been CRAVING salt lately, so it didn't bother me any. I'm actually wondering if it was the Red Curry Paste that was salty, but I actually added double the coconut milk the recipe called for, so I would think that helped some. At any rate, if you find it to be too salty for your taste, chop up 1/2 a zucchini and toss it in when you add the broccoli. That should take some out (the way a potato does, but we all know potatoes are no-no right now).



Day 10 Game Plan:
Breakfast: 2 Scrambled Eggs with Tomato

Lunch: Leftover Crock Pot Thai Beef Stew and Celery

Dinner: Paleo Ginger Chicken, Quinoa with Asian Flavors (Assuming I can find suitable broth)

Day 9: Been slacking on the TMI...

So let's talk #2! Now, if you know me in real life, you know that I'm not really one to talk about stuff like this. Poop, periods, peeing, any of that stuff just grosses me out. But given that I'm a 37 year-old woman (REALLY? How did I get so OLD?! I still feel 19!), let's be adultish and talk about some TMI.

I noticed last week that my trips to the bathroom for #2 had decreased to only once a day! I figured that had to due to the diet changes I made, but I have to say, that all went out the window after I had that popcorn on Saturday. Fiber? IDK. But I assume it'll continue to even out as I progress through the diet.

Got that shit out of the way. GET IT?!

Let's talk Coconut Chicken and Eggplant Fries!

A couple things about the chicken: It was really bland. I added salt, but I think it needed even more. It also needed twice the time listed in the recipe, and turn them over halfway through (I'll add that to the recipe notes). Hubs dipped his in a sweet/spicy condiment we have at home, and I was tempted to try it, but the first ingredient listed was sugar! No ma'am! I think I will save this recipe to try again when we're not sugar restricting, and add some sugar and salt to the batter. I got this AWESOME coconut from Sprouts that worked out perfectly for it, and now I'm DYING to make a coconut cake. It's like the perfect consistency to use on the outside and the inside. Coconut cake is my FAVORITE.

Speaking of Sprouts, you know I was on a mission yesterday to find two things: Almond Flour that was less than $12.99, and Arrowroot powder. I stopped at the Walmart Neighborhood Market on my way to Target, and found they carried Almond Flour for $10.48! I had it in my paws to purchase, but alas, they didn't carry Arrowroot, so I elected to keep shopping.

This is of note about Walmart Neighborhood Market: The same brand of Red Curry Paste that I purchased at Publix for $4.50 sells for $2.50 at Walmart. I shall be doing a trip to Wally from now on, for packaged items,  before I go to Publix for meat and produce. Every penny counts!

A new Sprouts market opened in our area just last week, so I took yesterday as an opportunity to check it out. I LOVED it. LOVED IT! However, I was less than pleased with the people shopping there. Weirdly, they're the same group of asses that I normally shop with, however, this kind of organic, hippy-shit brought out a level of impatience and pretention I just couldn't handle. I realized I live in one of the snobbier parts of town, but Jeezus, these people really like to sniff their own farts. You know the kind of people that couldn't be bothered that they're taking up an entire aisle to pick out which kind of gluten-free chip to purchase? Or to wait in line while the cashier rings up my THREE items? If I ever go again, it will be at 8 or 9 in the morning, as I cannot handle the snobby asses that I ran into on a more frequent basis. Note: The same reason why I won't go to the Trader Joe's in my neighborhood.

Sprouts had that LOVELY coconut I mentioned above, but I was also able to get almond meal for $5.99! And I'm pretty sure they have it in bulk, which I will check out the next time I go. I also got Arrowroot, however, I wish I'd paid closer attention to the amount I needed for my recipe. I got a spice-jar size, and really, I need to get like a pound of it. I'm going ot make a trip to Whole Foods at lunch today to see if I can find in bulk there (Read: another one of my least favorite places to have people be pretentious asses). I paid around $4.00 for that jar, and I'm hoping I can find it at a better price point, but will do what I have to.

I should also mention that the Eggplant Fries were GREAT. Not great as in my hubs liked them - he still didn't. He doesn't like it when foods try to masquerade as other foods. I get it, but really, I like a lot more foods, especially veggies, than he does. I LOVED the "breading" on the outside. Although they didn't really get crispy, I think the almond flour breading gave them a fantastic consistency. I dipped them in some leftover sauce from the meatloaf, which tasted a bit like ketchup, and all in all, it worked for me. Call it Fancy Fast Food?









I also did all my prepping for the week yesterday. I was fortunate to have the day off, because otherwise, I'd have had to do it all on Sunday, and there wouldn't have been movie time. Got my snacks (not SNAKES, WTF?!) for the week made:

And I ate breakfast, which is a rarity when I'm at home. I do SO much better when I'm at work. Scrambled eggs with Tomato has become my favorite breakfast of late. I've never really been the biggest eggs fan, but I've always loved tomato. Look how cold it was in my house when I took this picture! I forgot that the thermostat was on the weekday mode, and we've had quite the cold snap lately! We may even get "winter weather" tomorrow!

Finally, I also made the Paleo Tortillas I've been talking about, and what I needed the Arrowroot for (Though the eggplant fries also called for Arrowroot). I think it's a bit of a stretch to call these tortillas, but I'm interested to see what they add to the enchiladas on Thursday. It's quite a versitle recipe actually, depending on how thick you make them. The recipe claims to only yield three tortillas, however, if you make them smaller (picture below, upper left), I think you could easily get 6 out of the recipe. If you do them bigger/thicker, (like the upper right below) you'd only get 3. If you do them thicker, they'd EASILY pass for pancakes, or crepes. She even says you can modify the recipe to add vanilla, for a sweeter treat (though you need to get non-alcohol vanilla extract, for our purposes). I definitely want to try to make these again, and if I'm able to score some bulk arrowroot, I will! I'd love to wrap my egg scramble in one of these bad boys some time soon.

Okay, let's talk plan! That's what you're here for, right? We're on day NINE! Can you believe it? Only 3 weeks left! I think the no-booze piece is going to be the hardest part. Friday night hits me like a ton of bricks. Only 3 more sober Fridays left, and then my liver will be back to work!

Day 9 Menu:
     - Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with Tomato and Garlic. Breathing Fire.

     - Lunch: Leftover Chili Salad: Added diced green pepper and 1 TBSP Salsa (non-vinegar).

     - Dinner: Crock Pot Thai Beef Stew (I halved this recipe)
        - Omit Carrots, Jicama, and Fish Sauce

Have a great, short week!

Day 7 / 8: The weekends are HARD!

I knew this weekend would be a challenge, in more ways than one, but I managed to make it through, and I'm STILL down 4# from when I started. This week is a super special one because I'm home from work today (Monday), so I have time to do stuff at home! Don't worry - I have a list of stuff to keep me busy all day today, and the jury is out on whether there is derby practice tonight. If not tonight, then I will go Thursday for sure. Our first bout is in two weeks, and I need to get more skate time in before then. Get my "land legs", or in this case "track legs" back after off-season.

I did get this week's menus through Friday done, and made it to the grocery store, but I still have a couple of things I need to get today, so I can fully prep for this week.

First, I found Almond Flour at my Publix grocery, but it was $12.99!! Now, I'm fully aware that eating well cost more than eating poorly, but I figured since I paid $5.99 for the Coconut Flour, the Almond Flour would be around the same price. WRONG. I did print a $1.00 coupon from the Bob's Website, but I got home, and did some research and found that I can get it at my nearest Target for $9.79, then, dollar off coupon, and my 5% Red Card discount, and that puts me at $8.35. That's a savings of $4.64. I call that a win. 

Next, I'm on a mission to find Arrowroot Powder. I thought it would be with the Bob's Red Mill stuff, but, alas, I couldn't find it. After researching the Almond Flour online, I did the same for Arrowroot and it turns out you find it with the spices! Durf. Lesson learned. 

One of my fun things for today, after I get the appropriate supplies, is to make Paleo Tortillas. I've been using the heck out of my Coconut Flour, but I was wondering if I would get a better result, especially from "baked"/pastry items if I used Almond. So, I'm going to give tortillas a shot today for enchiladas on Thursday. 

Yesterday I went to the movies with my friend. I ended up sharing a large popcorn with her, no butter. I know it wasn't my smartest move, but I also felt like I deserved a treat. It was worth it. Though, I have to say, my left hand, middle finger, broke out in a rash last night, and I couldn't help but wonder if it was due to "feeding" the candida. I took my Zyrtec a little early last night, and applied a coating of cocoa butter before bed, and it's not itchy anymore, just sore from the feelings last night. So weird. 

As far as Menu for yesterday, I really just ate leftovers and seeds/nuts to snack on. I put together the entire plan for last week here, so you can see what Sunday was like for me. You'll see I'm finishing off the chili today for lunch. I hope you can make your leftovers go as far as we apparently can!

A note about salsa: I stood in the "Ethnic" aisle at the grocery store for 10 minutes looking for a salsa that doesn't include vinegar. That's nuts, right? I think I'm going to challenge myself to make a homemade, vinegar-free salsa recipe that holds up. In the meantime, the Herdez Salsa I found does not contain vinegar. It DOES contain Citric Acid, which is also not allowed on the Candida diet. I'm going to pick my battles and again, rely on my supplements to counteract any negative issues with the citric acid in the salsa, of which I'll use about 1 TBSP. I think I can allow myself this small joy. 

I'm also excited for Dinner tonight, though I'm hoping not to be let down. No Spoilers. Keep reading

Here's what's up for today (which I need to get a jump on!): 

Breakfast: 2 Scrambled Eggs with Diced Tomato - This has become a favorite

Lunch: Chili Salad - Chili over Lettuce, with NO-VINEGAR SALSA 

Dinner: Paleo Coconut Chicken Fingers, Baked Eggplant Fries

     - Use Coconut Milk instead of heavy cream

     - NO GOAT CHEESE DIP! But you knew that, right? 

One week down, and three to go! And this all ends in our epic Valentine's Day Weekend! YAY!

Week 1 - Groceries

Here's the grocery list for my first week. Note: This is groceries for Sunday Dinner - Sunday Lunch. Pay careful attention to the "buy by" dates, especially when buying the meat, to make sure your meat will still be good when you play to use it.

Staples (Items I have on hand in my pantry, you may too!): 

Apple Cider Vinegar*: 1 1/4 cup

Baking Soda: 1/2 tsp

Basil, Dried : 2 tsp

Basil, Fresh: ~20 leaves (or sub dried)

Chicken Stock: 2 1/2 cups

Chili Powder: 2 2/3 TBSP

Cocoa, Unsweetened: 1 tsp

Coconut Aminos**: 3/8 cup

Coconut Flour: 1 1/4 cup

Cumin: 4 tsp

Garlic (I get the minced, jarred kind): 3/8 cup

Garlic Powder: 2 tsp

Ginger***: 3 tsp

Olive or Coconut Oil: 1.25 cups

Onion Powder: 2 tsp

Oregano, Dried : 3 tsp

Paprika: 2 1/2 tsp

Parsley, Dried : 2 tsp

Pepper, Black Ground: 2 1/2 TBSP

Red Pepper Flakes: 1 1/2 tsp

Salt: 1/4 cup (est.)

Thyme, Dried : 3 tsp

Turmeric: 1 1/2 tsp

*Get Organic ACV with the "Mother", like Bragg's.

** I purchased Coconut Aminos on Amazon, because I couldn't find them anywhere. I use SPARINGLY because it's expensive!

***I get the tube of ginger, in the refrigerated section.

Misc Grocery: 

Canned Pumpkin: 1 cup

Coconut Milk: 1 cup

Eggs: 18

Pecans
Pepitas
Sunflower Seeds
Quinoa: 4 cups

Tomatoes, Crushed: 28 oz

Tomatoes, Sauce: 48 oz.

Tomatoes, Stewed: 58 oz.

(Remember that Pomi brand is ONLY tomatoes!)

Produce: 

Avocado: 3

Brussel Sprouts: 8 oz

Cabbage, Head: 1

Cauliflower, Head: 2

Celery: 1 package

Cilantro: 1/2 cup

Cucumbers: 2

Lettuce/Mixed Greens: 2 cups

Mustard Greens: 4 c

Onions: 9

Onions, Green: 6

Peppers, Green: 4

Rutabagas: 2

Spinach, Baby: 8 oz

Squash, Yellow: 1

Tomatoes, small: 12

Zucchini: 6

Meats: 

Beef, Ground, Lean: 4 lbs. 

Chicken, breasts, bone/skinless: 1 lb

Chicken, thighs: 1 lb.

Steak, Flank: 1 lb.

Turkey, Ground: 1 lb

Find your weekly menus HERE. 

Week 1 - Menus

Here's a straight-foward guide to what I ate Week 1, in an easy to use list. I'd love to hear your feedback and comments!

I grocery shop on Sunday afternoon and Friday on the way home from work, so my plan goes Sunday Dinner - Sunday Lunch. It just works for me, because we only have so much storage space for ingredients both in the cabinets and refrigerator. You'll also notice, on the weekend, I tend to try to eat up any leftovers we've got hanging around. I've combined all of the ingredients into one list for ease, and apologize if it doesn't work perfectly for you and your family:

MEAL PLAN: Sunday Dinner - Sunday Lunch

Sunday:
     Dinner - Paleo Cabbage Rolls, Mashed Rutabaga
         With these adjustments:
     - Boil the cabbage longer than 2 minutes - I think like 5 should work. You want the inner leaves to get cooked, too. I had to put the inner part of the cabbage in the micro to get them to steam. Not ideal.
     - Cut the thick spine out of the cabbage leaves before stuffing them. Pro-tip from my hubs, the expert.     - Use toothpicks to keep the rolls shut, if needed.      - Cover with foil before baking: my leaves got a little charred. They should be more "steamed" than broiled.     - You should only need about 1 1/2 hours to bake them. They were done at the 1 1/2 hour mark, even though the recipe said 2 hours.

Monday:
     Breakfast -  2 scrambled eggs with garlic and spinach.
   
     Lunch - Leftover Paleo Cabbage Rolls and Mashed Rutabaga
     - I picked the beef out of the cabbage.
   
     Dinner - Paleo Crock Pot Lasagna
    -  Do not add honey to the marinara. I added an equal amount of ACV instead.

Tuesday: 
     Breakfast -  2 scrambled eggs with garlic and spinach.
   
     Lunch - Leftover Paleo Crock Pot Lasagna
     - I added a 1/2 a takeout portion of salt.

     Dinner - Easy Paleo Chicken Curry, Quinoa
     - Omit the mushrooms to be candida-safe
     - Use coconut oil instead of ghee 
     - Add 1-2 tsp of Curry powder


Wednesday: 
     Breakfast -  2 scrambled eggs with garlic and spinach. 
     
     Lunch - Leftover Easy Paleo Chicken Curry, Quinoa

     Dinner - Dinner: Steak with Cauli "Rice" and Mustard Greens (scroll down to find this recipe)
     - Omit Pineapple Juice
     - Marinating as one whole piece, and will cut into strips before cooking.
     - Use coconut or olive oil instead of peanut oil
     - My grocery didn't have any mustard greens, so I used collards. You can also use kale.

Thursday: 
     Breakfast -  2 scrambled eggs with chopped tomato, and 1/2 an avocado

     Lunch - Leftover Paleo Crock Pot Lasagna, 1/2 an avocado
     - I added a 1/2 a takeout portion of salt.

     Dinner: Chicken Fajita Bowl, Mexican Quinoa
    - Use only green peppers - no red or yellow (they contain more sugar, supposedly)
    - Top with a sliced avocado instead of making the cream. 

    - Omit aminos.

Friday: 
     Breakfast -  2 scrambled eggs with chopped tomato, and 1/2 an avocado

     Lunch: Leftover Chicken Fajita Bowl, Mexican Quinoa

     Dinner: Paleo Italian Meatloaf, Mashed Cauliflower, Roasted Brussel Sprouts
     - Sub Green Pepper for the Roasted Red Pepper
     - You may use coconut flour instead of almond flour. 
     - Add 2 TBSP warm coconut milk to cauliflower in food processor.

Saturday: 
     Breakfast: Leftover Steak with Cauli "Rice" and Mustard Greens
     - Picked the steak out and only ate that.     
     
     Snack: Hand full of seeds (sunflower/pepitas)     

     Lunch: Leftover Paleo Italian Meatloaf
     
     Dinner: Chili, Paleo Cornbread
     - Use 1 lb lean ground beef, and 1 lb stew beef
     - Add 1/2 c. diced celery and 1 diced zucchini to step #1
     - Add 1 t. unsweetened cocoa in step #3
     - Simmer for about 2 hours.  

Sunday: 
     Breakfast: Leftover Mexican Quinoa

     Lunch: Treated myself at the movies, and had popcorn, no butter. Not on plan. Oh well.  

     Dinner: Leftover Chili


**Note: I also kept celery sticks and cut up cucumbers on hand for snacks throughout the week. Snacks are where I fail on diets, so it's vital to my personal success to have these on hand, along with seeds and nuts, or I will fall off the wagon entirely. I've included these in the grocery list, but swap out as you see fit.

Get your grocery list HERE.

Day 6 - Almost One Week Down!

Happy Saturday, friends! I'll confess: I slept in way later than usual. I must've needed it. I woke up when Rhuby, our 2 year old pup, woke up, but then went back to bed an hour later, and slept until 1130a. But, it's the weekend! So who cares?

I've been worried about being able to sustain through the weekend, especially since I'm going to the movies with a girlfriend tomorrow. But, I bought sunflower seeds, pecans, and pepitas, and I'll take those and accidentally leave them in my purse to resist delicious, delicious, horrible-for-you theater popcorn. Corn isn't on the plan, so I will resist the urge. Really, I told myself that I would have SweetTarts the next time I went to the movies. Mike and I saw the new Star Wars (no spoilers) on the Monday night before New Years, but ate dinner right before, so we didn't get popcorn. I had to get something, and when I went to the counter for SweetTarts, they didn't have any. I got sour Skittles instead. Not the same. I have been figuring that I would be in the theater next for our Valentine's Weekend Kick-Off Deadpool (Hubs' super favorite favorite comic character), but I forgot I have a date with my friend Amy to go see Sisters. I WILL treat myself to SweetTarts for Deadpool, but I past the 30-days, and in the reintroduction phase. I still have 24 days left, so that's very much in the future. It's nice to have one more thing to look forward to!

Last night's meatloaf was pretty good. The taste was great, but the texture was hard to get over. I realized that the texture reminded me of the vegan lentil loaf I made once during my stint as a vegetarian. It's denser than "real" meatloaf, but not bad.

I loved the Cauli Mash, but hubs was not the biggest fan, even after he added cheese. I feel like it was better than nothing. And I have to keep remind him/myself that this is temporary (20% complete!) I "burned" the brussels, but honestly, I like them extra crispy, so it really didn't bother me any.
The sauce on top of the mashed cauli is what was left in the bottom of the pan. I made two mini-loaves of meatloaf, so Mike and I shared one, and we have one leftover.

Also, I mentioned yesterday that I was reading mixed things about buying canned tomatoes, but I found this brand Pomi, and both the tomato sauce and chopped tomatoes have "tomatoes" as the only ingredient. I think that satisfies our requirements! I would trust any of their products to be safe for our purposes here. Check it: Pomi Company Website

I'm writing this at 3p on Saturday afternoon, and since I slept so late, I have only had the leftover Steak and Cauli Rice/Greens. And really, for some reason, I only wanted to eat the steak out of it. Who knows. I've also been SO thirsty today, and I'm not sure why. As of this moment, I've had 70 oz. of water, and I'm about to refill my glass. Can't be a bad thing, I suppose. So weird. I'm excited for chili, and I'm going to start it as soon as I'm done documenting this (my leftover meatloaf lunch is in the micro right now, too.)

Here's the what on plan for today:
Note: I do much better in the week when there is structure to my day. I eat weird on weekends.

Day 6 Menu:

Breakfast: Leftover Steak with Cauliflower "Rice" and greens. Picked the steak out and only ate that. Don't know why.

Snack: Hand full of seeds (sunflower/pepitas)

Lunch: Leftover Meatloaf from last night.

Dinner: This is a special treat for myself and hubs. I like for him to feel like he's not being punished. We will see if it works. Beans are always my favorite part of chili, but I think the extra meat will help:
Paleo Cornbread
Chili, adapted from this Food.com recipe, with these modifications:
     Use 1 lb lean ground beef, and 1 lb stew beef
     Add 1/2 c. diced celery and 1 diced zucchini to step #1
     Add 1 t. unsweetened cocoa in step #3**
     Simmer for about 2 hours. I will probably end up going longer.

**NOTE: caffeine has been shown to boost your sugar levels, and is not recommended for candida diets. This is the one, small area where I have given myself some leeway. I've reduced myself to ONE cup of coffee a day (But haven't had one today yet), so I don't feel like adding this tiny amount to the chili will hurt. In my head the supplements I'm taking make up for it.

I'll post the past week's menus and grocery list tomorrow! I'm going to make it Sunday dinner - Sunday lunch, since I go to the grocery on Sunday afternoon. I'll likely go on the way home from the movies tomorrow and I haven't even BEGUN to think about meals for next week yet! I'll likely get that figured out while chili simmers.

Day 5 - Made it a whole work week!

Happy Friday!

I have to start off by saying, I made MEXICAN QUINOA last night, and it was awesome! I didn't follow a recipe, so I think this is my first, did it myself recipe invention, though really, I just modified our Mexican Rice recipe.

Here it is. AND LOOK, PICTURES!

Mexican Quinoa
**Notes: I made this in my rice cooker, but you could just as easily do it stovetop, in a lidded saucepan. Also, I don't measure the Mexican spices, so I did my best to estimate. Feel free to modify to suit your taste.

1 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 cup diced tomato
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 cup quinoa
2 cups chicken broth (get organic/yeast free)

Heat oil in a small skillet over med-high heat. Once heated, add onion and tomato, and sauté until onion begins to turn transparent. Add spices, and stir well for about 30 seconds. Add mixture to rice cooker. Add quinoa and broth to rice cooker, stir, cover, and cook.


That's it! It tasted like our favorite Mexican rice, only without rice. Magic! Also, the Chicken Fajita "bowl" was delicious. Love it and I'm excited to have it for lunch today.

I'm thrilled to have made it a whole week. Now, I must confess: I have not cut out coffee. I have allowed myself one morning cup, and none at work, only herbal tea and water besides. I think my goal for next week will be to cut the coffee, too, as I know it contains "mold", but I figure since that's the only yeast-feeding thing I'm consuming, my probiotic and supplement can balance out any "feeding" it's doing. Right?

Now for the bad news: I have no idea what we're having for dinner tonight. I have an idea what I want to make, but I need to see if I can find suitable recipes to make it work. I'll update this post with where I land later today.

Picked dinner! See below!!

Day 5 Game Plan:
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with tomatoes and 1/2 an avocado

Lunch: Leftover Chicken Fajita Bowl.
    I didn't use the coconut aminos or avocado creama. Used Mexi quinoa instead of plain

Dinner: Paleo Italian Meatloaf
     Sub Green Pepper for the Roasted Red Pepper
     I'm subbing coconut flour for the almond flour, because it's what I have at home.
     I've read mixed things about using tomato sauce, so I'm going to read some labels, but general rule of thumb is no sugar added and no vinegar. I'll keep you posed on my success or failure rate.
     Mashed Cauliflower - I'm skeptical about subbing this for mashed potatoes, but one does what they can, right?
     Roasted Brussel Sprouts - I love these, diet or not. Yum.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

**Oh yeah! It's also the eve of a 3-day weekend, for those of us lucky enough to have Monday off, to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thank you, sir, for your work toward racial equality. Our country still has a way to go, but I can say confidently that I'm surrounded by people with open hearts and minds, who accept people based upon the quality of their character, and not the color of their skin. We owe you our gratitude.

Day 4 - It's getting easier...

Day 4! I didn't weigh today, as I don't want to become number obsessed. This is not why I'm doing this. I feel pretty great, and every night gets easier. I've managed to satisfy my late night snacking with a handful of pecans, so I feel like that's a win. Though, after I put myself to bed upstairs (ie, away from the kitchen where mindless snacking occurs), and I hear hubs making himself snacks, I get kinda jelly. But, I have to remind myself that he's got a different metabolism than me, and has different nutrition requirements than me, given that he's a man, so I have to just be happy with what I have. And, I have a lot to be thankful for.

Let's start with last night's dinner! I couldn't get enough. I almost finished off the leftover portion, in fact, so much so, that there wasn't enough to bring for a full lunch portion today (but I have curry again, so that's a win in my book). As a reminder, we had Steak with Cauli "Rice" and Greens
Changes I made:
    I marinated the steak as a whole piece instead of already cut into pieces. I cut it into strips before cooking.
   No pineapple juice. But you know that already.
   I subbed collards for the mustard greens, only because my store didn't have mustards. They turned out great, though I really only put two handfuls of it in there. I was afraid that they would be too "firm" to eat, but they turned out delicious.
   I used beef broth instead of chicken. It only made sense to me, since it contains steak. I also doubled the quantity (I doubled the recipe as it was for one serving), so I ended up putting in a cup of broth, as I wanted to make sure the greens got enough liquid. I did have to simmer it a little bit longer to get the extra liquid to evaporate, but it made the cauliflower rice taste delicious, so I think it worked out great.

I will happily eat the leftovers for a snack this weekend.

Also, I'll say that I made it to the gym last night! It'd been a long, long time. I did 15 minutes on the bike, and 30 on the treadmill.

I'd like to take a moment to rant about adults that bring their kids to the gym, during it's busiest time, and allow them to take up the gym equipment that grown-ups want to use. I had to wait 15 minutes for some 10-year old to quit playing on the treadmill before I could use it. There are no less than 20 treadmills there, and since I went after work, the gym was packed. Um, does your kid REALLY need to be running on the treadmill? I think it's rude as hell, and totally annoying. So glad I pay my gym fees not to be able to use the equipment I want. So totally rude and lame. Go to the kid's area. That's what it's there for.

Okay! Here's what's on the game plan for today:

Day 4 Menu:
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with chopped tomato and 1/2 an avocado (I love avocados)

Lunch: Leftover Chicken Curry.  I'll also have another 1/2 the avocado, because why the hell not?

Dinner: Chicken Fajita Bowl
    Modifications:
    Only green peppers - no red or yellow (they contain more sugar, supposedly)
    I'll be eating over romaine lettuce. Mixed greens are my least favorite flavor of yard trimmings.
    I'll make tortillas for hubs. It's traditionally Taco Thursday at our house, and I'll just eat mine in bowl form instead.
    I'll just slice an avocado. It doesn't need any fixing!
I anticipating it not tasting like "diet food" and instead tasting like stuff we eat already all the time. I may even try to doctor up the quinoa some to make it more like "mexi-rice", but I'll keep you posted on that development.

Happy Thursday, friends! Thursday's always been my favorite, because the next day is Friday. It's always been about the build-up to me, apparently.

Also TWENTY-EIGHT DAYS UNITL OUR VALENTINE'S DAY MINI-VACATION! I'm beyond stoked for it, and even better, is I know I should be mostly off this restriction by then. OOH maybe I'll make our dinner reservations! :)