A Visit from the Lunch Fairy!

Day 2: I wish...

Dear Shark Tank,

Please find a brilliant entrepreneur to invent some kind of humane "stun gun" which would mercifully allow young children to sleep past 7am. It would be much appreciated and I can guarantee mind-blowing success and billions of dollars.

Sincerely,

Every Mom in the World

 

 

Breakfast: I had my lovely breakfast casserole again today with a big bowl of berries and a cup of “beach coffee”. It was so pretty. So colorful.

There’s a chance I was shoving mouthfuls of it mindlessly into my face while I packed Buggie’s lunch and balanced Squish on my hip while singing a song about horsie rides and explaining why wearing rain boots and underwear is not an appropriate look for school. I’m not sure I tasted much of it. But if I had I know it would have been delicious.

Lunch: The best thing about cooking big meals at night is the blessed LEFTOVERS the next day! I absolutely hate making lunch for myself. If I had one wish in the world, it would be to have a lunch fairy who would come in while I’m putting the boys down for naps and make me yummy lunches. Seriously. Ok, maybe I’d wish for more wishes first but this would DEFINITELY make the top of the list. So today for lunch I tossed some kale in a pan with apple cider vinegar and put some of the leftover meatballs on top. It was seriously good!

 

Dinner: This little gem was one of my favorite recipes even before I started this Whole 30 thing. I don’t know if you guys like Gina’s recipes from skinnytaste.com, but I love her! I have used her site for years and I’m a big fan. This recipe literally takes 2 minutes to prepare. You throw chicken thighs in the crock pot with fresh salsa (read your labels if you buy it!), garlic powder and cumin. Let it cook for a few hours and then shred it up! I served it to the boys in tortillas like soft tacos but I made mine a salad with avocado and tons of lime. Sooooo good.

 

Here’s the recipe:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2013/10/embarrassingly-easy-crock-pot-salsa.html#more

So far I’m feeling great! I haven’t been craving any sugar yet but you know, it’s only been like 48 hours. Break-ups take time to process. I know I will need time to heal and move on once I’m feeling the loss.

 Day 3: If you need me I’ll be under a rock.

 Oh. My. Gosh. I’m tired. I’m tired and I’m freaked out that this is my body’s response to the lack of sugar and carbs. It’s like my limbs are rebelling against me. I have heard that sugar is more addictive than cocaine but who knew the detox would make me feel like a zombie?? I know this too shall pass but it’s going to be a rough chasing-my-kids-around-our-world day.

Breakfast: Still going strong on the casserole and fruit in the morning and it’s great! I actually ate sitting down this morning with Squish in my lap while reading a book to Buggie and begging him to “take one more bite of eggs right now, please.”

What is it with preschoolers and eating? It’s like trying to wrestle an octopus to get him to put a bite in his mouth. Some of you mommas out there are like, “he’ll eat when he’s hungry”… but the kid is so skinny I’m concerned he’ll evaporate during the night if I don’t force-feed him. So we coach him through every single meal and even set a timer sometimes since we would rather he didn’t graduate from high school with tonight’s broccoli on his plate.

We took a field trip up to Daddy’s office today because it was beautiful and glorious outside and we get approximately 3 of those days here in Texas. I packed a lunch for Buggie but just took a little snack for me since I wasn’t terribly hungry. Good thing I did, too, because by the time I got home and got them both down for naps it was past 2 and I was starved!

 

Lunch: Praise God for leftovers again. I put the shredded chicken over avocado and greens with tons of lime juice. Perfect, yummy and filling!

 Dinner: It was a crazy evening tonight so I threw together a roasted chicken breast over sautéed kale and mushrooms. I used a little balsamic vinegar on the greens and microwaved a sweet potato.

 

Then I settled down on the sofa after the kids were asleep and Hubby was out on an errand and watched a mindless show on TV with my dinner. It was peaceful. Quiet. It’s so crazy that life was always like this before we had children. I often think...what in the world did I do all day?? I remember a lot of movie nights and coffee dates and long walks with Hubby. But then I remember that tonight while I rocked Squish to sleep he put his little hand up to my lips and smiled like he had just won the lottery. And all the moments “before” were just leading up to this big, beautiful crescendo of our lives. And at the end of the day, this is REALLY my theme song. Their voices. Their laughter. Their joy. And the BLISSFUL sound of them sleeping.

 

Day 1: Let's Get This Party Started

Here we go! Day One! I'm feeling like Rocky at the top of the stairs! I'm excited! I'm energized! I will enjoy this high because the inevitable crash is coming!!
One of my biggest health issues is that I have never, ever been one to drink enough water! So part of this process will be focusing on drinking at least half my body weight in ounces through the day. I will not tell you how many ounces that is. Let’s just say I’m not exactly “dainty” these days, five months after baby #2.

Look at this face. Who in the world cares about weight when you LOOK AT THIS FACE!!

So before I can eat or drink anything in the morning, one 8 oz glass of ice water goes in. It was nice. Refreshing. I feel far healthier already.

I call myself a coffee drinker, although I admittedly like more coffeemate in my cup than coffee. I am not one of those super-cool coffee connoisseurs. I don’t buy fancy beans. I don’t have a French press. We usually drink the grocery-store brand of regular old coffee and make it amazing by adding raw sugar and a flavored coffeemate. And it’s delicious. I have like 3 cups a day, because MOTHERHOOD and I don’t really like wine and it’s too early for that anyway, ok?

I was dreading giving up my coffee. Grieving it, really. I found a recipe about making a sort-of substitute but I just knew I wouldn’t like it. And I’m just not hard-core enough to drink my coffee black. I just can’t do it.

Here’s what I mixed up this morning:

One can full-fat, all-natural, no-sugar added coconut milk

One teaspoon pure cocoa powder

One dash cinnamon

I put it in my sweet little birdie cream container and it looked ugly. Brown. Not creamy or sweet or delicious.

 But OHHHHH MY WORD. It is so good!!! I was shocked. I sort of feel like I cheated already. It’s delicious! I had Hubby try it and he wasn’t a huge fan. He said it tasted like “drinking coffee on the beach” to which I responded, “and the problem is???”. You have to try this, guys. It’s super yummy. One little tablespoon in a big cup of coffee and I was good to go. So far, so good!

 

So BREAKFAST. I am an English-muffin lover to the core. I eat one every morning with a little greek yogurt and I love watching the little bit of butter melt into all the little holes. It makes me happy. You guys are like, “I thought you said you were a careful eater most of the time!” and I’m like, it’s not a donut, ok?

This may or may not have been my motto in the past...

I like eggs but I usually don’t make them for myself, even though I make them for Buggie every single day. I need something super fast in the morning that I don’t have to chop, bake or sauté with a baby on my hip and a child asking me to hold his monster trucks while he gets his plastic fishing pole. I found a recipe for a veggie-filled egg casserole that I could make ahead and eat all week long, and that sounded perfect to me!

I spent about 30 minutes of kid-free time prepping this, not counting the baking time. I made it in two 8x8 pans and put one in the freezer for later in the week. It’s filling! It’s delicious! I’m happy so far.

**Sidenote** I am crazy about cute dishes and I strongly believe that no two coffee cups should match. This is a life-philosophy here, people. However, I am not a food photographer so these from-my-phone pictures aren’t as pretty as I’d like. But just go with it.

 

 

Here’s the recipe:

http://www.wholefamilystrong.com/2012/12/31/lagniappe-casserole/

 

I replaced the ham with fresh turkey sausage. Make sure and read your labels! Many of the ones you buy in the grocery store have added sugar and ingredients you can’t pronounce. Look for the most basic, no-sugar-added one you can find. I plan to eat this every morning this week unless I get so sick of it I can’t take it anymore.
 

Lunch!
 

Surprisingly I was full until 1:00 this afternoon! Courtesy of all that protein and fiber, I guess. So lunch time rolled around and I put together this little beauty:

 

This is tuna, grapes, slivered almonds and half of an avocado tossed in… wait for it… HOMEMADE MAYO. You heard me right. I took a few minutes this morning to whip up my own mayo. I’m generally not a make-it-yourself person. People make things from scratch and I’m like, awwww… that’s cute. You know you can buy that, right?

 

But I couldn’t find a mayo that was Whole 30 approved, so I found this recipe and made it myself. It was super yummy all tossed together and I was totally full afterwards!

 http://whole30.com/2014/05/mayo/

 

Dinner:

I had a love-hate relationship with this recipe. As I was making it, spending FAR TOO LONG chopping a million vegetables and then baking the meatballs and then making the sauce and on and on, I thought, “This is absurd. Totally unrealistic. I will never do this again.” And then my house filled up with the most amazing smells and I thought, “Oh my word this smells incredible! I will do this every day!" I guess what I’m saying is, the prep is a beast but the result is delish. I served these over spaghetti squash and they were a hit! I forgot to take a picture because I WAS HUNGRY.

https://onceamonthmeals.com/recipes/paleo-crockpot-meatballs/

So Day 1 is complete and I'm feeling good! This is going to be great! Easy! Fabulous! Don't burst my bubble, people.










 

I'll Have My Own Theme Song

 

 

I started the morning as I always do… chasing, tickling, changing diapers, pouring juice, bouncing baby, scrambling eggs, building puzzles, making bottles, starting laundry, emptying the dishwasher, drinking cold coffee, sending Hubby out the door with a quick kiss and a look of panic (DON’T LEAVE ME!!!!), reading books, wiping drool… you get the picture. It is my crazy, loud, colorful, amazing life. I love it. I love the sounds that wake me up in the morning. I love the skinny arms and legs and wild red hair bouncing into my room at exactly 7:03 every morning. I love the sounds Squish makes as he wakes up and waves his arms and legs around like a frantic little chicken greeting the day. I love looking around at the piles of toys, soaked through with Buggie's big imagination, strewn all over the living room and providing me with an obstacle course in my kitchen. I love that I belong to these little people and they belong to me. And I love, LOVE the incredible blessing of each. ordinary. day. It’s a miracle, isn’t it? That we might have all these beautiful ordinary days all sewn together?

It’s messy. It’s chaotic at times. It strips me of my desperate desires for “me time” and brings me to the foot of the Cross every day… sometimes in wild joy that I can’t even contain, sometimes in desperation and exhaustion, but always, ALWAYS in gratitude.

 

So it was an ordinary morning when I turned on the TV to start Pandora- our always-on-backgound-music that plays approximately 20 hours of our day…when I saw a story on a morning show (I can’t remember which one- I get the anchors confused, ok?) about this fad diet called “Whole 30”. I paused for a sec before going to the music menu because the screen was filled with pretty pictures of food. I like pretty pictures of food. And I listened. This Whole 30 thing sounded cool! Kind of hard but hey, I like a challenge! And look how cool I would be… all up-on-pop-culture-and-what’s-hip and all!! So I filed it away under “things I’ll do when the kids go to kindergarten” and started the Sesame Street Pandora station.

 

But during nap time that day I started thinking… when was the last time I felt really energized by doing something for myself? My life “BC” (Before Children) was full of personal challenges that focused on improving my wellness and endurance and intelligence and blah blah blah…And now my life is full of THEM and it’s better and more satisfying than it has ever been, but there’s a part of me that misses setting a goal and reaching it. So I Googled. And I read. And I thought- I CAN DO THIS! I’ve always been a careful eater (ok ok, maybe 80% of the time) but this was taking it to a new level. Here are the words that excited me:

Fresh Veggies!

Fresh Fruit!

Lean meats!

Clean eating!

 

Here are the words that terrified me and sent me into immediate depression:

NO SUGAR!

NO BREAD!

NO DAIRY!

 

Kill me now. No dairy??? Is this for real? What about my yogurt? What about my creamer? What about CHEESE FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE!

But still that little voice inside me said, “Hey. Let’s do this.” I’ve always been one who’s excited by a chance to do something crazy. I’ve bungee jumped off of a bridge in Africa. I’ve been skydiving and even dyed my hair jet black in college. I’m a thrill-seeker. A wild-woman. I can do crazy. And what’s crazier than GETTING RID OF CHEESE???

 

I spent about a week doing some research, gathering recipes, cleaning out my fridge and pantry (this was actually fun because I decided to eat most of what we had instead of throwing it away… aka: Nutella party). One of the things I kept reading about the program was that planning ahead is key, and I am a planner, so I’m already half-way there, right?? 

 

The basic idea behind Whole 30 is that it is a kind of cleanse or “reset” for your system. You strip away all the processed foods, sugars, grains and dairy and are left with sort of a “Paleo-to-the-next-level” diet for 30 days. It’s not intended to be a lifestyle, although it sounds like plenty of people just keep it up after the 30 days is over. From what I’ve read, I think the next step is to go into a Paleo diet when you’re done. These 30 days are supposed to help heal your gut, reset your cravings, and in my haven’t-done-it-yet opinion, bring you to the point of absolute despair and desperation. Sounds like fun, right?

 

Now truth be told I can’t get rid of ALL these foods in my house… I have a husband, a three-year-old and a baby to think about. Hubby eats yogurt and granola every morning for breakfast. That’s right, folks. Every. Morning. He’s a creature of habit, that one. So this little adventure will really only affect his dinners. He’s ok with that. My three-year-old eats whole grains and dairy but I am actually going to start to limit those more than I have in the past. He eats fairly well but there are far too many whole-grain goldfish swimming around in his tummy. We shall see how he handles this…

 

So, after a big, embarrassing dinner last night consisting of Rosa’s tortillas and cheese dip (come on, I had to say goodbye!!) I am taking a deep breath and jumping in. For those of you who do daily life with me, I apologize in advance for the sugar-deprived dragon you might meet in a few days. Feel sorry for her. Pat her droopy little shoulders. Dry her salty tears. And tell her she can do it!! Can you hear that??? That's my super-hero theme music, people!!!!