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!