Food • Photography • Life
Day 16 on Whole30 was full of stress, an emotional roller coaster, but full of on-target eating nonetheless.
Breakfast
My typical weekday breakfast – one of my DH’s green smoothies. These days, we’re eating them sans banana and plus the juice of 1 lime. Yum.
Lunch
The last of the leftover bastard chicken curry.
Post Lunch Snack
Bet you’ll never guess … almonds!
Dinner
Spicy turkey mini meatloaves.
Post Dinner Snack
As much of an orange I could get away with not feeding the dachshund.
Day 15 on Whole30 was smooth sailing, even though we ate out.
Breakfast
My typical weekday breakfast – one of my DH’s green smoothies. These days, we’re eating them sans banana and plus the juice of 1 lime. Yum.
Lunch
Leftover chicken curry from Friday’s dinner.
Post Lunch Snack
Almonds – what else?
Dinner
Burger with avocado, mushrooms & onions – and no bun.
Municipal art
I realize this is not the best photo, nor is the most exciting dish out there – but it did do make a little dent in the craving I was having one night.
I love salsa, guacamole, lime juice and tacos – I could live off of them happily. Sadly, tacos (at least tacos with corn tortillas + the tortilla chips they come with) are a no-go on Whole30.
One night it was just me for dinner and I was having a wicked craving for salsa. Like full-blown nothing else would do in my life craving – but I had no W30 tomato products in the house but tomato paste, and that’s not happening. I briefly considered picking around the corn and beans in the jar of salsa I had – but a: that’s cheating, b: that salsa wasn’t what I wanted, and c: the bean and corn to tomato ratio was too high.
And since I’m lazy and it was arctic cold out, I decided to rough it out with what I had in the house. I’m happy to report, that while this dish isn’t beautiful – it did fit the bill.
Almost-As-Good-As-Having-Salsa Sweet Potato Bowl
1 medium sweet potato, baked (pierce with fork, bake @400 for 45 minutes – bake a few at once so you don’t have to go through that drama again when you want a quick dinner)
1/2 an avocado
1 tsp. aleppo pepper
2 tsp. lime juice
pinch cumin
pinch garlic powder
pinch onion powder
1 burger patty
Reheat your sweet potato under the broiler if it’s a leftover; bake if not. While that is working, cook your burger to your liking – I do 3 minutes per side in a medium-hot pan.
When the potato is done and cool enough to handle, slip the skin of however you can. Add to a bowl and mash. Add the avocado and spices and mash some more.
Top with the burger patty and go to town.
Serves 1 for dinner
Ever have one of those days?
Day 14 on Whole30 wasn’t bad. Had a busy day running all over town and forgot to eat before hangries were knocking at the door, but I managed. Too light on vegetables, though.
Breakfast
Steak & eggs from the diner again with coconut milk in my coffee.
Lunch
Skipped lunch.
Dinner
Cuban mojo and garlic marinated pork – without the rice & beans or table bread.
After Dinner Snack
Gluten-free, no sugar added veggie & fruit leather. Ingredients: organic apples, carrots and ginger.
Hey, lookee there: 1/2 a serving of vegetables.
She looks beautiful tonight.
Day 13 on Whole30 was wall-to-wall beef. Oh, darn. Can’t you tell how distraught I am?
Breakfast
We went to the diner again – I had my steak & eggs + salsa this time and I remembered to bring my little container of coconut milk for the coffee. Yum.
Lunch
No real lunch – I snacked on an ounce of almonds.
Dinner
Today we celebrated my husband’s birthday – at a steakhouse. I had the NY Strip with chimichurri, a side of grilled asparagus, and raw oyster starter. Leaving the espresso martini, big glass of Pinot, truffled mashed potatoes and grilled bacon app behind was painful. But only until my 12 ounce steak came. 🙂
I also had lemon verbena tea in lieu of espresso brownie bites. This particular restaurant had a fresh fruit plate available, but I was actually really very full and totally didn’t need it.
A note about steak restaurants: I am all for steak restaurants, especially when doing Whole30. Having said that, most (pretty much all) of the places I know to get a steak do not serve grass fed beef. The restaurant we visited tonight (and a lot of higher end steakhouses I’ve found across the country) proudly serve corn fed beef – and wear that as a badge of quality. I eat about 95% grass fed at home. I also use grass fed butter. Steakhouses do neither of those things. I understand the want to eat as healthy and well-sourced as possible, and I agree with that ethos – to a point. I refuse to let my food nazi outrage over meat sourcing dampen my enjoyment of a steak out – especially not when celebrating a special occasion with loved ones.
Were I at Outback (which is one of my favorite go-tos when I’m on the road or in desperate need of some beef for dinner), I would certainly order my steak grilled and plain with a plain steamed veggie side. But at a nicer steakhouse? I think I’ll keep my butter. Whole30 police arrest me – but you’ll have a fight.
Day 12 on Whole30 was full of tomatoes. And they were delicious.
Breakfast
My typical weekday breakfast – one of my DH’s green smoothies. These days, we’re eating them sans banana and plus the juice of 1 lime. Yum.
Lunch
Italian Sausage and Zucchini Ragout with a Fried Egg – from the recipe posted earlier today.
Dinner
A mostly-bastardized/partially made up chicken coconut curry.
But …. But …. You *have* to cuddle me – I’m chilly!
Gastography 