The Pitch

Over the weekend I was camping and visiting and generally enjoying life. Part of this included consciously making poorer than usual food choices. I had the option of eating cider donuts. Really really good. Really really fresh. After apple picking with friends. At minimum it will be a year before I get that chance again. Realistically it will be longer. And then I had cereal that had stuff I would really rather avoid in it because options were limited. I could have worked around this but I took the lazy way out. And then I had pizza. Very good, very bad for me pizza. It was lovely.

Then I sat in a car for in the range of I think 9 hours. And came home and passed out without an alarm set. I slept 8 hours solid, spent the morning unpacking and the afternoon trying to catch up on the things I missed on Monday.

I had headaches and general achy-ness all weekend. And after that first piece of pizza my body was already in what-have-you-done mode.

I. Am. Exhausted. I passed out on the couch. I don't do that very often. I've had zero umph all day.

So begins day one. I moved all my workout stuff downstairs so roommates sleeping and noise are not a factor. I cleaned out my cupboards last week before I left. Several of the troupe were supposed to get groceries together Monday night but we got in too late. So I have been scrounging my fridge thus far and that will take me a good long ways until I get the chance to shop.

I know I had more of a plan for what was going to go here. How I was feeling I think was part of it. I honestly don't remember. I know I am way more tired than I have been in a long time and I don't like it. The scale says I am 134 which seems high. But I will run with that because I don't really have another option.

The LT has decided to be much more on board than she originally thought. This will help me out tremendously and I am excited. SO` is postponing her start a few days because she got sick. I highly support her decision because being sick makes wholeheartedness hard and the first few days can be rough. I don't really know anything else at this point.

Jn- The wind up

Hello all you fine ladies and gentlemen. I am back. More or less. I was also never super gone. But a summer might have happened in there somewhere.

I am gearing up for another round of Whole30. This summer has been OK diet wise but I know I need to be doing a few things differently. I've been eating things I know make me sick because that was easier than explaining myself to people. But I have been doing it a little too often and I am starting to hurt all over again. It's been so much worse but it has also been much better. I would probably just tweak a little here and there but a handful of wonderful women I happen to know are interested in trying out the whole Whole30 thing. So I will join them in earnest.

LT is not going hard core Whole 30 with us but she is going to eat cleaner than she has been along side of us. Which...she and I both fall within the looser bounds of a paleo diet so she already eats pretty clean. I think she is completely uninterested in scanning every label for a hint of sugar. She also tolerates some foods better than me and she is WAY better at eating clean when she is with family. Her momma makes her GF pancakes and muffins and gets her veggie chips. I go out and get fried fish sandwiches with my dad and we eat chocolate covered Oreos for dessert.

Monday night at least a few of us are going pantry stocking shopping and we will start on Tuesday. A week from today if you are looking at a calendar and the day after the long weekend. I am going to bow out early at the end of the month because I am going to a wedding and proceeding to the other side of the country and perfection will be hard.

Last time around I went no caffeine. Not going to do that this go round. I am considering no caffeine after 1pm (which I am loosely doing) and no caffeinated coffee. Right now I will still slip in green tea if I make a mug right around 1 but otherwise no-caf and I only drink coffee on weekends.  The last couple of times I have had coffee though I have felt horrendous- crazy overkill jitters and heart flutters and blech. So...that needs to be addressed. That is a problem. My addiction is to making and drinking hot beverages though and as far as addictions go I am not in a hurry to bump this one because it is fairly benign. Caffeine happens to get in the way and cause it's own problems. That I will moderate.

On the other hand I do want a serious challenge. Something hard to fight through and to be held accountable for. This time it is going to be working out. How many times did no workout: unplanned pop up last time around. Too many times. And I am such a baby about it that a hangnail will keep me from getting off my butt and lifting a weight. So...here comes change.

I imagine you will hear from me again Tuesday.

Names to watch for upcoming: The LT (again), LE, SM, SO' and Indiana. Unless I get more creative.

-Jn

Day 40 - Jn

Almost done. This will be the last day of crazy finals. DONE!

Love came over for dinner which was nice because she is pleasant dinner company and it meant I had to make real food and not eat leftovers. And then we helped a friend move.

Stuff still tastes bitter but it is getting better. Brassica veggies and apples are still the worst. I thought it was all sweet things but I had an orange and it tasted normal. Something about apples.

No Workout- unplanned 
Breakfast- LO Huevos, Frozenables fruit salad, 50/50 OJ, decaf coffee
Lunch- LO chicken on spinach with balsamic vinaigrette, more coffee
Dinner- Burgers with broccoli slaw thai something veggies, 3/4 of a pumpkin soda that Love did not care for as much as I did.
Work out - Move boxes for 4 hours
More food- finished off the apple bake from Sunday.

Rough Recipe: Broccoli Slaw Something
I make this all the time. 1 bag of Broccoli Slaw. Dump in to skillet. Add some olive and/or coconut oil and saute for a few minutes. Dump in some combination of lemon juice, orange juice and coconut milk. Add something like garlic, onion powder, ginger, coriander, curry, pepper, basil and/or mustard. This time I used jar garlic and cut up a green onion with scissors. Saute the whole mix until veggies are tender.

I have also done this with cider vinegar celery seeds and more Italian style seasonings and mixed mayo in when it was finished. That blend goes really well with fish.

Day 39 - Jn

Everything still tastes bitter. It was 2 before I got around to eating anything. Why would I want to eat if everything tastes gross. Anything apples is the worst. Ask yourself how often "apple" something comes up in my meals. :(

Also it's gonna be a LONG night again.

Lunch- LO chicken apple sweet potato skillet, 50/50 apple juice, decaf coffee
Snack- an apple and some mac nuts
Dinner- frozenables- Chicken with a sweet potato and a spinach salad, 50/50 apple juice, more decaf coffee
More food- frozenables- LO chicken apple sweet potato skillet, MORE coffee...with coconut milk in it this time.

Day 38 - Jn

I have no idea what I did all day. That's a bad sign.

The LT and I were supposed to go to Cheeburger Cheeburger to celebrate finishing a month last week but we had to reschedule. Then at the last minute we rescheduled again for today. It was fun but everything still tastes bitter.

No Workout- Unplanned
Breakfast- LO Huevos, frozenables-fruit salad, 50/50 apple juice, black tea
Lunch- the rest of the pepper slices
Dinner- Cheeburger- Mine was topped with garlic, mustard, and bacon and I had fries.

Day 37 - Jn

Awake, arise, go forth and accomplish much...Or something.

EVERYTHING TASTES BITTER. EVERYTHING! It's about the uncoolest thing ever. Web MD thinks I have cyanide poisoning. So I asked myself, "Self," I said, "do you feel like you are dying of cyanide poisoning?" But seeing as how I don't rightly know what dying of cyanide poisoning I couldn't exactly give myself a satisfactory answer. I checked the interwebs again later and clicked on a crackpot looking site because if I was going to die anyway it probably wouldn't hurt me. Seems I am suffering from cacogeusia which is as legit as it is obnoxious and apparently its a new thing? Sigh. I might not eat again ever. Oh yeah...it's from pine nuts, which are in the stir fry..which I have eaten for 3 days. Merrrrrr..... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20049580

No workout- planned
Breakfast- LO Huevos, frozenish fruit salad, 50/50 apple juice, TJs duchess grey tea
Lunch- Chicken Stirfry, peppers, Mate
Snack- Mac nuts
Dinner- Frozenables-Stuffed pepper, 50/50 berry juice, lavender tea

Day 36 - Jn

Thus begins the last week of finals before freedom. I am not off to a racing start.

My blood is all wonky. Hopefully that settles out. Also my skin is absolutely freaking out. Which... I am going to connect all this to the tempura Oreos. Hmm...I don't know if that was worth it. I am still deciding.

Also I took a timed exam last night and my body dumped a ridiculous amount of adrenaline into my system for no good reason. I donno what that is all about but I was wicked jittery for a while after the exam.

No Workout- Unplanned (hoping this isn't a theme for the week)
Breakfast- Huevos LO, grapes, Irish breakfast tea, 50/50 OJ
Lunch- Frozenables-LO stuffed pepper, an apple, generic lame black tea
Dinner- LO garlic chicken stir fry, pepper slices (no I did not eat all the pepper slices pictured)

Day 35 - Jn

Might be weird to keep counting days, especially since I probably need to reset to 1 after the cheesecake yesterday. Whatever. This is working right now.

I was in bed by 2 am. This is early considering. I went to visit the CSA farm with one of the roomates and we got plants for me to put in the dirt and apples for me to put into a dessert. I did both with great success.

And like all Sundays the Union Hill HC came over for a discussion and dinner. And it was (as always) the best meal of the week. Surrounded by family and good food. Nom.

No Workout- planned
Breakfast- Huevos Leftoveros, decaf coffee
Lunch- a pork chop and an apple while sweeping the floor.
Dinner- Garlic Chicken Stir Fry (I skipped the rice), Salad with green leaf lettuce, spinach, strawberries and mandarin oranges, Baked apples with a nut crust.


Rough Recipe: Baked apples
This one is more rough than normal because I was pretty much completely winging it.
"Crust"- Mix together slivered almonds, chopped hazelnuts, almond flour, coconut flour, half a stick of melted butter, cinnamon, nutmeg and some coconut sugar. Press into a crust in the bottom of a glass baking dish. Bake for 15 min at 350. Peel and core ~10 apples and cut into chunks. Toss with cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla and some more coconut sugar. Dump in to dish containing crust. Cover with foil and bake ~30 minutes until apples are tender.

Day 34 - Jn

Guess who didn't sleep again? Well I slept some. But not like a normal human. My body got back at me later and I passed out on the couch while I was working. It seems I am not invincible. I can't wait for this semester to be over.

Lets talk about how I was well behaved and brought my own coconut aminos to sub in for the soy sauce and got only rolls that were crap free (save the rice) and then I at tempura fried cheese cake and fried oreos. But the rolls were amazing and are my new favorite. And so far as I can tell the binge didn't do any major damage. I also got this fun little seafood salad with nondescript seafood and cucumbers soaked in rice vinegar, sesame oil and vinegar. Good and interesting but not an every visit favorite.

Lunch - California Rollin with VW (not my car although my car got me there) - Sunomono Salad, Rainbow Roll (salmon, swordfish, and tuna), Pacific Ocean Roll- smoked salmon, bacon and avocado, Tempura Cheesecake
Dinner- Frozenables- Pork chops, spinach salad.

Day 33 - Jn

I know there are reasons why humans don't stay awake for 36 hours and sleep for 12 but MAN do I feel amazing this morning. Actually I fell asleep in the process of trying to set my alarm but I woke up when I wanted to 11 hours or so later. And I felt like I could wrestle a bear...and win! Then I pulled a muscle working out. Lame.

I was supposed to be eating new food for the next few days but the blended together yesterdays screwed me up. So I started pulling frozenable leftovers out. Lest you think this is premature I have 4 finals to complete in the next 2 days (I am writing here to avoid this) so I will actually have more time in 3 days when finals week actually starts AFTER all my finals are due. Hrumph.

Workout- Planned
Breakfast- Huevos Leftoveros, strawberries, 50/50 OJ, some random flavor of black tea that is weak and disinteresting
Lunch- LO shepherds pie (THE END!- Phew)
Dinner- LO Chicken Sweet Potato Brussle sprout skillet yumminess (frozenables!), 50/50 veggie juice, decaf earl grey

One of my roses exploded...so I ate atop rose petals and felt regal. 

Shepherd's Dog's Food

Why don't I like the shepherds pie? There was a lot of it. It got old fast. And I really don't like lamb. I just don't. And it was actually pretty fatty...because of the lamb. And it stunk...like lamb. And more than anything else because of the weird lamb taste and smell and I think the inclusion of the peas it reminded me of the homemade dog food that I made for Rent-A-Dog when I was in ID last. Granted my uncle almost ate the dog food because it looked like people food. And we had 3 piles (People, Dog, Garbage) for the meat so what went in to that dog food was still pretty high quality. Probably better quality that the ground beef most people buy actually. But all this week every time I heat up my food I feel like I am eating dog food with added onions (cause dogs shouldn't eat onions). I called it dog food in my head. I will probably make it again but with ground beef or poultry only and without peas. I think it would be worse with ground game. Oh well. 

Dog Food

Not Dog Food

Day 32 - Jn

Someone you know might not have slept.

Merrrr....

So one day bleeds into another and things get a little fuzzy. Then they get a lot fuzzy. But I got everything done and survived being awake for 36 hours with no major incidents.

Middle of the night things at various times- 50/50 juice, Gunpowder green tea, pistachios, coconut flakes, dried apple rings, apple sauce, grapes

No workout - Planned
Breakfast- LO Shepherds Pie, water, very strong and very dark decaf coffee (I could not conceive of eating eggs)
Lunch- LO Shepherds Pie, 50/50 juice
Dinner- LO Shepherds Pie, 50/50 veggie juice
More food- Chocolate cake with strawberries during class.

At some point during the day I also had some grapes. And the coffee....I nursed 2 cups of very strong coffee slowly throughout the course of the day and I stopped drinking it around 3ish. When I got to the last half of the last cup I topped it off with coconut milk too.

I would very much like to be done eating Shepherds Pie for at least 5 reasons. Tomorrow.

Day 31 - Jn

To celebrate I ate a whole pizza and a tub of Ben and Jerry's cookie dough ice cream for dinner! I'm so proud of myself!

Actually doing that might kill me. And I am in the death throws of finals. Crashing hardcore like that would be a HUGE MISTAKE. Lets keep things close to the new normal so I don't have any major issues until I am on the other side of finals shall we. Or possibly for forever. Good.

Work out- planned

Breakfast- Huevos de leftovers, strawberries, 50/50 OJ, Green Roobis tea, earl grey tea (yes 2 teas in one meal. get over it)

Lunch- Shepherds Pie, grapes, Cashews, hard boiled egg, 50/50 cranberry juice, black chai tea (I was HUNGRY)

Dinner- LO Venison Stew, spinach salad with strawberries, 50/50 veggie juice, white tea
More food- LO chocolate cake

Rough Recipe: Shepherds Pie
Original Idea: My roommate
Recipe quantities from here: http://civilizedcavemancooking.com/entrees/poultry/caveman-casserole-shepherds-pie/
And mostly the LT and I just made things up as we went along.

Brown 1lb each ground beef and ground lamb (2 lbs of ground meat...be creative. Try ground walrus!) When meat is almost done add in 1 stalk of finely chopped celery and 1 chopped onion and saute with the meat until translucent. Drain the meat reserving the juices. Dump the meat in a 13x9 baking dish. Add the juices back to the pot and saute a chopped green pepper (or 1 green and 1 red would be better) until peppers are crisp tender. Spread peppers over the meat and add half a bag of frozen peas. Peel and chop 2 medium sweet potatoes and spread those over the rest of the dish. Cover with foil and bake until the sweet potatoes are as tender as you want them to be. Makes at least 6 servings.

There will be a story about this later. When I am done eating it. Which is 4 more tupperwares.

30 Day Recap

The results are in. I lost 2 lbs. I know this isn't perfectly true because I weighed myself somewhere in the middle and I'd lost 5lbs and I know for a fact that I can swing 5lbs in a single day sooo I am going to say I am the same weight. Which is fine because I'm a healthy weight anyway. What I wanted to change was my body composition. When I compare before and after pics I think I look bigger now than before. But I know full well that I can do more and I have more stamina than at the beginning. And the issues with my hips popping out of place are calming down as I am strengthening the neglected core muscles that hold my joints in place. That's huge for me.

What else has changed/improved/calmed down. most of that list of maladies I posted here. The crazy depression, the mood swings and persistent crankiness, the ringing in my ears, the sugar spikes and crashes, the inability to feel full (now I know I am full and keep eating- this is still not good but very different.)- all of these things are gone. I know what I am craving and I may or may not give in to it depending on the type of craving. (Blueberries on a spinach salad- good idea, corn chips and salsa- bad idea). Sleep is better- still not great but better. My insides are much happier, the pain and bloating and other related unpleasantness is gone (Except when I eat something like 1 lb of kale and 3lbs of Brussle sprouts and some broccoli in a week. Oops). The generic pain all over and acute pain in my knees was gone in a week.

Have I mentioned that the unreasonable and scary depression is gone? That took 2 weeks. And I turned that corner when there was a blizzard outside so it certainly wasn't the return of the sun that did it. That alone is enough reason for me to pay attention to what I put in my body.

Going forward I will stick as close to this diet as I can. And if I put things back in and start feeling sick again I will have no problems going back to this to hit the reset button. I told the LT that I need to stop pretending that soy is ok for me. It really isn't. It really does make me sick. If I tell people otherwise I am lying. Potatoes and rice will come back in I'm sure in part because it makes it easier for other people to feed me. I might finally be over my love affair with corn of all types. I miss corn/rice chips with salsa but I would pick rice chips over corn any day. I stopped liking bread ages ago and I really don't miss other grains at all. Same for beans. And for dairy I really only crave cheese on burgers or pizza. (Pizza. In 3 weeks I will eat way too much Mexican pizza from 2nd Avenue Pizza in Sandpoint ID. It will make me very sick. It will be worth every bite. I know this from experience. And I won't have pizza again until I do the same thing in October.) The more I think about milk the grosser it seems. Sugar will go back in but not nearly as much in things I make for myself...and I didn't use that much anyway. More like I won't avoid brown sugar in Bacon and maple syrup in sausage because it's very hard to find it otherwise. I am going to add caffeine back in but I am waiting until the finals crunch to brew a cup of coffee. But tea...Ima drink what ever kind of tea I want and no one can stop me! I'm such a rebel with my Earl Grey. (Please note that the only Earl Grey I own right now is decaf.)

I intend to keep working out because I feel better when I do and I sleep better. I would love to find something else to do as well. Like something where I am getting exercise disguised as fun AND meeting people. Roller Derby is my first choice (yes seriously)...but I need health insurance first. There are lots of other interesting things I could do, I just have to pick one. (Krav Maga? Rock Climbing? Kickball?)

I still need to work on the sleep part of life. Part of it is just the discipline of going to bed at a regular time every night. You would think that would be easy. Not sure what else I can tweak but I am working on it.

I will keep posting regularly until I don't any more. The chances of me keeping this up while I am in Idaho are slim. That is also going to be where the desire to cheat is easy and the ability to not cheat is hard. But I am already making plans. We will see how it goes.

DAY 30! - Jn

I woke up thinking today was Wednesday. All day I have acted like it is Wednesday. I keep almost telling people I will see them tonight because I will see people on Wednesday. I do't leave the house on Tuesdays so I don't see anyone except for the backs of my roommates as they leave for work. TUESDAY. Say it with me TODAY IS TUESDAY. It's a miracle I didn't skip class accidentally. I also didn't eat what I was supposed to today. Here is what I DID eat.

No Workout- Planned
Breakfast- Egg Casserole, sauteed apples, 50/50 OJ, green rooibos Tea
Snack- pistachios
Lunch- LO Meatza, ginger tea
Snack- Cashews and applesauce
Dinner- Fake Shepherds Pie, ginger tea
More food- LO chocolate cake with strawberries- the LT gave me the idea. I think I like the cake the best when it is cold. Also some Kava stress relief tea

(Have I mentioned that I will forget to eat without a reminder if I am working in my room. I will eat more when I am working in the living room and I will eat WAY MORE if I am working at the dinning room table.)

Rough Recipe: Huevos de leftovers

I mixed the peppers and onions from the extra meatza topping with LO chopped up pork chops from the other night and the LO sauteed mushrooms I still had kicking around with about 6 slices of cut up (uncooked) bacon. I split this mixture between two smaller glass baking dishes. Then I scrambled 18 eggs and dumped them over top. I baked at 350 for who knows how long because I completely forgot about them. The top is toasty brown but thankfully not burnt. This will feed me for at least 11 breakfasts. One of the dishes has a lid so it gets thrown in the freezer for later. It's a nice system.

Day 29 - Jn

It was a food prep day. I have gotten in to a late night stay up cycle. Bad Jn. Sleep. Stay! Oh well. I woke up with not enough time to work out and I was later than I wanted to be...but with leftovers in hand from Sunday and an organized shopping list, me and the LT managed to get all the food prepping and eating done with time to sit down with TF and talk about life for half an hour before running off to Hebrews. He is one of the most encouraging people I know so that made the day that much better. I have breakfast for 11 days (some is frozen) and LO food from several meals. The finals crush starts tomorrow bright and early but most of my cooking for the next 2 weeks is DONE! We also took a pair of cake pieces to a pair of differently abled eaters from our family tonight when we went to Hebrews. I love sharing amazing and interesting food with people.

No workout- UNPLANNED :(
Breakfast- soft boiled eggs, ham, sauteed apples, 50/50 OJ and ginger tea
Lunch- Cake (Lt and I each had a piece and that held us until an early dinner...it's no ordinary dessert.)
Snack- a few strawberries
Dinner- LO venison stew, spinach salad with strawberries and balsamic vinaigrette, some cake crumbs, 50/50 OJ
More food- too many pistachios and cashews and some 50/50 juice

Flowers make every breakfast better. And this is already a fantastic breakfast. 

Day 28 - Jn

It's my birthday and I will lick the spoon if I want to. It's also Sunday which means a meal with family. I made venison stew and a Whole 30 friendly (sort of since it is still dessert) cake. Yay! I got a text around 1:30 (we meet at 2:30) saying 5 extra people were coming. I made more food in a hurry. Then 3 people didn't come. Then 5 people left without eating dinner. And we were 5 with enough food for 15. Needless to say we have plenty of leftovers. It was a wonderful day.

No workout- Unplanned
Brunch- I had stuff to make scrambled eggs with veggies and ham. All I wanted was soft boiled eggs and ham. What I have been eating all week. I love it. Also some sauteed apples.
Lunch- I made bone broth over night with oxtails and I picked at the meat and veggies when I was packing it away.
Dinner- Venison Stew, Spinach and strawberry salad, (made garlic bread for the other humans), CHOCOLATE CAKE!!! (I had 2 pieces cause...um...it's my birthday!! Get over it).



Rough Recipe: Venison Stew

Kill a deer. Process it in your dining room. Freeze it and drive it across the country in a homemade freezer. That's the hard part.

In a large skillet heat up some coconut oil. Brown the deer chunks on all sides and toss in a slow cooker. Peel and chop parsnips, an onion and some carrots (or a sack of baby carrots) and add to the pot. Season with garlic, Italian seasoning, and a few bay leaves. Cook on low for 8 hours.


Real Recipe: Chocolate Cake!!!
Original ideas: http://paleospirit.com/2011/chocolate-paleo-snack-cake/
http://www.fitnessinanevolutionarydirection.com/2012/01/paleo-chocolate-chip-cookie-dough.html

I made 2 patches of the cake and put them together in a bigger pan because I am feeding many people
Ingredients

• 10 medjool dates, pitted
• 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup coconut oil (heated so it is a liquid and easier to work with)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine celtic sea salt
• 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee

Instructions

1. Place the medjool dates in a food processor with 1/2 the applesauce and pulse until completely pureed.
2. Add applesauce and continue to pulse until pureed and combined with the dates.
3. Add the fruit purée to the bowl of a stand mixer, add the eggs, vanilla, coconut oil and coffee and mix on low-medium speed until well combined.
4. Combine the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix on low-speed, scraping down the sides, until you have a smooth batter.
6. Grease a 8×8 glass pan with coconut oil, pour in the batter and smooth it with the back of a spatula.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean.

Makes 9-12 servings

“Icing” Ingredients:

2 T raw cacao powder
2 T Almond butter 
3T Cashew butter
2 T coconut oil

Day 27 - Jn

Woke up 2 minutes before class was supposed to start. Due to technical difficulties on the professors end I had time to whip together breakfast and wolf it down while he was intro-ing the class. Wrote an 18 page paper in an afternoon. This sounds amazing but only 4 pages was paper. Most of the rest of it was figures because I can do that.

No workout - unplanned
Breakfast- Lame microwaved poached eggs and microwaved ham...and strawberries
Lunch- LO Meatza, dried apple slices
Dinner- Pork chops, sauteed apples (that were supposed to be breakfast), mushrooms

Day 26 - Jn

Another hard to wake up for day. I went to bed later so that is allowed to make more sense. I got a fantastic amount of learning SQL done in an afternoon.

Workout- planned, begrudging to start but great once I got into it
Breakfast- ham, eggs, strawberries, blueberries, red rooibos tea, 50/50 OJ (I seriously love this breakfast)
Lunch- Last of the Greek venison roast
Dinner- Meatza!

Real Recipe: Meatza!
Original sources: http://imperfectlypaleo.com/?p=136
http://paleomg.com/fajita-meatza/
Crust
2 lbs of lean ground beef
2 Eggs
7 oz can of diced chili peppers
1 Tbs cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder 
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

Mix all the above ingredients in a large bowl into all the spices are incorporated into the meat.  Spread the meat mixture evenly into a standard sized cookie sheet (with sides).

Bake 8 – 10 mins.  When done CAREFULLY remove from the oven and drain the liquid (I repeat carefully) from the pan.  Let the meat sit for about 5 minutes before you add the toppings.

Toppings
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
1 green bell pepper, cut into strips
1 yellow onion, 1/2 diced, 1/2 cut into strips
6 slices of bacon in small pieces

While the meat is baking, saute the bacon and set aside. Then cook up your fajita veggies in the bacon grease. Pull out a large skillet, add a bit of fat to it and add your sliced veggies in along with 1 teaspoon of taco seasonings. Mix around and cover to let some steam work it’s magic.

Sauce
1 6oz can of tomato paste
½ pt of home canned hot salsa
Mix well and spread on top of the meat crust.

Finish
Once your meat is cooked through, top the cooked meat with sauce and your fajita vegetables

Cook for about 5-8 minutes or until the topping are cooked to perfection.

Day 25 - Jn

Welcome to day 25. I went to bed early last night. I really really did. But I could NOT get out of bed this morning. I turned my first alarm off instead of snooze which is fantastically hard to do when you are awake. And then I hit snooze on my backup alarm for...an hour and a half. Seriously. And man was I dreaming weird stuff. Hopefully this is another successfully busy day.

No workout- planned
Breakfast- Ham, soft boiled eggs (that were perfect today), blueberries, strawberries, 50/50 OJ
Lunch- LO Roast and frozen veggies, macadamia nuts (which I could not stop eating)
Snack- lots of apricots. too may apricots. said with a long A
Dinner- LO Roast and frozen veggies, 50/50 veggie juice, red chai tea
More food: Red chai tea during class. And I whipped up some of the paleo cookie dough/pudding and only ate half

Day 24 - Jn

I went to bed way earlier last night and it was harder to drag myself out of bed than it has been in a long time. I slept poorly. I don't know why. I dreamed all over the map too. And all day I have just felt worn down. But I did get a crapton of school stuff done.

Work out- begrudging and slow...but it happened
Breakfast- softboiled eggs, ham, strawberries, blueberries, 50/50 orange juice, green rooibos tea
Lunch- grilled chicken on a salad with tomatoes and cucumber, balsamic vinaigrette, an orange, red chai tea
Dinner- LO turkey fajitas over spinach, 50/50 veggie juice, red chai tea

 

Normally I only eat 3 eggs but one broke and wasn't really a full egg any more so I added another one. 

Day 23 - Jn

Woke up way too tired cause I stayed up way too late. You'd think I would know better by now. Hopefully that means I will be in bed earlier instead of later today.

No workout- planned
Breakfast- Ham, Eggs, Blueberries, Strawberries, 50/50 OJ and Chocolate mint tea
Lunch- LO fish, salad w/ balsamic vinaigrette, LO berry dessert, ginger tea
Dinner- Wegs frozen veggies (carrots, green beans and peppers), "Greek" spiced venison roast (which made the day amazing by default. More about that here: http://jnkcmd.blogspot.com/2012/04/why-i-do-what-i-do.html), lavender tea
More food- macadamia nuts and an applesauce during class, lavender tea

Rough Recipe: "Greek" spiced roast
Original idea here: http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2010/05/greek-spiced-spareribs-slow-cooker.html
I have no idea what consititutes Greek anything but the original names it that so I did too. Sort of. I actually measured the spice quantities too which should tell you something. You need a decent sized roast and at 4qt (ish) slow cooker. Mix together spices. Rub all over the roast. Add ~1/2c orange juice and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve with juices dumped on top.

Spices:
1/4 cup coconut sugar (I know. Not Whole30. Get over it) 
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon anise seeds
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns (leave intact)
4 whole cloves (leave intact)

Day 22 - Jn

It was a food prep day! It went well. We are getting better at getting stuff ready ahead of time. I even had time to work on a resume (not mine) and show up early to Hebrews. Woah.

Work out - planned
Breakfast- Oh TODAY was when I finished off the chicken sweet potato brussle sprout skillet. My bad.
Snack- Half a cashew cookie lara bar
Lunch- Turkey Fajitas, salad, LO berry desert thing
Snack- honeydew and cantaloupe
Dinner- Salmon and a sweet potato

Rough Recipe: Turkey Fajitas
Slice 2 turkey tenderloins in pieces, Slice 2 red and 2 green (small) peppers in to strips. Slice one onion in to strips (?). Cook the turkey pieces in olive oil until they are mostly done. Add the pepper and onion. Add garlic and cumin and cayenne pepper and coriander and smoked paprika and oregano. Saute until peppers are tender. Eat over salad.

Rough Recipe: Salmon
Cover baking sheet with tin foil. Spread olive oil on sheet to prevent sticking. Put fish on the sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Spritz with lemon juice. Massage with cheater garlic from a jar. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Bake for 20 minutes at 350.

Day 21 - Jn

Did not write up anything. Whoops. That was my first day to complete bail on writing something down.

Breakfast- I swear I ate LO Chicken, sweet potato brussle sprout stuff but this picture says it was taken that morning and I ate the last of the sweet potato sausage skillet. : / I'm confused.
Lunch- Foreman chicken with rainbow chard
Dinner- Foreman chicken on a salad (while everyone else ate lasagna and bread and I kept my opinions to myself and was quite content), 50/50 apple juice 2x, and this berry dessert thing that I cannot pronounce that I thought was lovely and I don't know if anyone else enjoyed it. I did.

Berry Dessert Recipe from here: http://www.janssushibar.com/?p=13221

Day 20 - Jn

Have spent most of the day in planning mode. Finals is pretty much here. I have a big project due at the end of the week, my exams start getting published at the beginning of next week and everything has to be turned in by the 12th. So long as I can keep my schedule I will survive this mess. And I will save things more regularly than I did last time. And I will not save over a paper moments before I go to turn it in. That was a mistake.



Mini Workout- Planned
Breakfast- Sweet potato, sausage, poached eggs
Lunch- LO Stew, LO Rainbow Chard
Dinner- LO Chicken apple sweet potato skillet, 50/50 veggie juice

I nursed a cup of red velvet tea all day. And then I went out and bought mint chocolate tea and finished the day off with that (I bought other groceries too).

Day 19 - Jn

Woke up much earlier than usual and worked out. My friend who is currently in Ethiopia was online and Dad called and both of those derailed my schedule but not nearly as bad as last time on either count. I also hennaed my hair. Now I smell like spice cake. Or whole 30 friendly spice muffins :)

I was supposed to make dinner at some friends' house tonight but plans fell through. So I made dinner at my house and made a metric crapton of food. Which is ok because did I mention I am freezing leftovers for finals week so I don't have to cook? Look at me go.

Workout- planned, some feet dragging but not much
Breakfast- Sausage, sweet potato, poached eggs, green rooibos tea
Red chai tea
Lunch- Stew, last of the kale chips, 3 strawberries, Lemon ginger tea
Snack- a few grapes, an apple, some macadamia nuts
Dinner- Chicken apple sweet potato skillet, 50/50 vegetable juice, red tea with lavender
More food- Cashews, dried apples