Day 8 -Jn

Tiring day. Woke up before my alarm but stayed in bed too long, worked out, breakfasted, shopping listed, shopped and made food with the LT, dropped her off at UV, surprise picked up GK at the train station, fought with my fridge and freezer for a solid hour to make everything fit, called it a day.

Worked out. Procrastinated for a while but did it eventually.
Breakfast- Last of last weeks eggs, leftover charoset with another apple and a handful of hazelnuts nuked for 2 minutes, peppermint tea that I nursed all day
Snack- Half an orange
Lunch- White meat chicken chunks, Weggies frozen roasted veggies
Dinner- Stuffed Pepper
Snack- Handful of Macadamia nuts and some pepitas
Somewhere in there I had chocolate peppermint roobis tea which is amazing.

Rough Recipe:

I'm thinking Charoset would make a great breakfast accompaniment if the proportions were shifted. Our ratio was 6 apples to 1/4c cinnamon. Cinnamon is supposed to be good against insulin resistance but my tongue kind of tingled after breakfast. But chopped up apple with nuts and cinnamon. Score.

Rough Recipe: Breakfast Casserole 2

Coat baking pan with oil of some type. Slice up 2 zucchini and an onion to dump in. (We should have sauted these but we were lazy and that was a mistake.) Mix in 1/2 a bag of spinach. Slice up 12oz andoulli (sp?) sausage with casings removed and probably 2 handfuls of left over chicken. Mix everything together and pour 24 beaten eggs over mixture. Bake at 350ish for half an hour ish. (Ours was way too liquidy and the top dried out and browned when the insides were still gooey. We had to put it back in. )

Rough Recipe: Stuffed peppers
We made 10.
Wack tops off of peppers and parboil for 2 minutes.  We used 1lb each ground chicken and ground beef-saute. Add Italian style spices and lots of yummy garlic, smoked paprika if you have it. Slice up pepper tops and an onion and saute with most of a bag of frozen broccoli. Once everything is cooked mix in 1 BIG can of tomato paste and some balsamic vinegar/water to get the consistency right so everything is coated but not drippy. Arrange peppers in baking pan and shove goodness in peppers. Bake at 350ish for 20ish minutes until the peppers get browned. Yum.

Day 7 - Jn

Had my light set on the timer and didn't realize it. Timer went off at 6 and I woke naturally at 6:45. Love that it works. Don't love that I fully intended to sleep longer. But I am up and accomplishing things. Yay things!

Went to get last minute foods for the feast at Wegs and had a blood sugar crash in the store. Bought a Lara Bar for a quick solution. Started cooking when I got home with a break for a tossed together lunch. I actually saved the beet tops from the beets I was using in another recipe and made those a part of lunch. Pat's self on head.

I did lots and lots and was joined by a roommate and we did lots and lots and then the family showed up and we finished getting everything ready to put stuff in the oven/eat and then suddenly my new family was around the table in my dining room. And I smiled like an idiot for most of the night. The night lived up to every bit the excitement I put in to it and I get to do the same thing next Sunday. Score! We had help cleaning up and then we unwound by talking. Such a good day. And we also completely spaced and forgot to take pictures of the big meal.

No workout- planned. 

Breakfast- LO egg casserole, an orange, 50/50 water/OJ, peppermint tea

Lunch- Tuna with broccoli slaw and beet greens 

Snack- Roasted pumpkin seeds. 

Dinner- Passover Seder with the #6 family! - See below:

1. Seder Plates contain the following items. 

• Charoset - mixture of apples, walnuts, cinnamon, grape juice and honey 
• Baytzah - hard boiled egg (We didn't eat this- it was all show)
• Zeroa - lamb shankbone 
• Karpas - cilantro
• Maror - horseradish root
• Grape juice - (I probably had way too much of this)

2. the Meal (WITHOUT LEAVEN)

• Lamb (We used this recipe and it was AMAZING  http://paleomg.com/easter-weekend-herb-encrusted-leg-lamb/ )
• Salad (no croutons) - I made this dressing and everyone who tried it loved it but me ( http://masteringtheartofpaleocooking.com/2012/03/11/avocado-cilantro-salad-dressing/ )
• Oven Roasted Veggies (Purple Carrots, Beets, sweet potato, parsnips, Brussle sprouts tossed with olive oil, garlic powder and dill) - SOOOO good

Rough Recipe: Lemon Beet Greens
Roughly chop beet greens from 2 beets and saute/steam in olive oil and lemon juice.
(I liked this but I dumped it in the tuna/broccoli slaw because that needed help. It was tasty.)

Day 6 - Jn

Was up late so I woke up later than I should have. (But earlier than I could have.) I did a mini workout while TF worked on the house and I have generally spent the whole day noticing that I worked out my legs yesterday with every step I climb. And we have a lot of stairs and I have climbed them more than normal because I've been shuffling things around and getting ready for tomorrow. First meeting of the #6 house church in this house. So much to do. So much more interesting than homework. Oh. Crap. Homework. :(

Workout: mini, planned, less angsty about it than yesterday
Breakfast: last of the chicken and onions scrambled in with a pair of eggs, way watered down OJ, rooibos tea
Lunch: Left over venison roast and carrots, an orange
Snack: Hard boiled egg (got indigestion==weird), cinnamon tea (Supah GROSS)
Dinner: Left over venison roast and carrots, Cranberry hibiscus tea

Neither of this pictures looks appetizing. Some foods don't photograph well.

Day 5 - Jn

I slept ok. I woke up in the wee hours and absolutely had to pee or there was gonna be no more rest. But I am feeling better every day. Lets keep this up. No adrenal failure relapse. Ready. GO!

Things to rant about...
- One-A-Day contains soy. Are you even serious? WHY?!?!?!?!?!, I already knew the fish oil capsules I had been taking had soy in them and I swapped those out for the real stuff that requires refrigeration. Lets be thankful that in theory if I am eating REAL FOOD that I won't need a multi any more either. The iron I take has some questionable ingredients but I am gonna keep taking it. I was still anemic on full contact, all go, no quit paleo. I am THAT bad. I need to chew on rusty nails.
- Good Earth tea contains artificial flavors. No freaking way. What about the good part? Why the heck do you need to artificially flavor something if you honestly believe the wonderful herbs that come out of the earth are good.

Things to rave about...
- Looks like all of the food to come in the Passover Seder is fit for Jn consumption. Ok the charoset has honey in it but I am going to eat it anyway. (This works because nothing is leavened....NO BREAD! HA!) Seriously though, I am wicked excited about this meal. It is the first time we will meet as the new family. I am making some whole 30 approved side dish to go with the meal but I haven't figured it out yet.

Work out: Yes! Begrudgingly! But I did it.
Breakfast: Eggs, Strawberries, red chai tea
Snack: artificially flavored crap earth tea and anger
Lunch: Leftover fishes and chards and half a sweet potato
Late Snack: while walking around Home Depot, An apple and a coconut lara bar
Dinner: In a super hurry the last of the chard and some of the chicken and onions all stirred together and consumed with extreme haste.

And I stayed up way to late...but I had fun.

Day 4 - Jn

I slept well! I think! I feel more refreshed than I have for a while anyway. I'm still not acting particularly productive but my mind seems to be more clear. Watched a lot of pre-recorded lectures instead of doing brain intensive homework. But I got work done! And I talked to KC who was all the way in Indianer. She learned lots about eating healthy on her trip so expect a downpour of information coming from her in the next few days.

Also have you figured out that the posts are coming a day after things were eaten? Cause that really makes more sense. And they will come every day until they don't.

Breakfast - Huevos and strawberries again. Watered down OJ and Red tea.
Snack - An Apple
Lunch- Baked Tillapia with lemon and dill, left over rainbow chard, half a sweet potato, Red Chai tea
Snack- small handful of hazelnuts, small handful of almonds
Dinner- Venison Roast and Carrots with really finely chopped onions to flavor the juices (from my deer- I killed it, cleaned it, packaged it, cooked it and ate it. YUM!), also Good Earth Original tea.

"Dessert"- roommate was making something that smelled baked and sugary and wonderful so I felt sorry for myself and went on the advice of a blog and mixed a scoop of almond butter with some coconut milk and some fruit Cherries in my case. Turns out this was gross. I am unlikely to do this again. Dessert = bad idea. AND Roommate made roasted almonds with cinnamon and olive oil and salt. Which is super tasty and totally edible.

I had oh at least 5-6 mugs of tea today. I am back to normal tea consumption only sans the caffeine.

Day 3 - Jn

I got up "early" to work out and ended up Skyping with a friend who currently lives VERY far away. And then I took another friend to the train so she could go somewhat far away. And then my brain decided it was far far away and so I spent the day slowly plodding and mostly distracted. Not sure the source of this funk. SAD (take your pick on standard American diet or Seasonal Affective Disorder)? Burnout from school? Not sleeping well? Dropping sugar? Dropping caffeine? Fingers cross that it is not my adrenals again but if this persists through the month I am going to be highly suspicious.

Breakfast- Leftover Eggs, Strawberries, Peppermint tea

Snack- Half a roto chicken, a handful of carrots. I know it was more like a meal. 

Lunch- Sauted chicken and onions over a spinach and multicolored pepper salad.

Dinner- Pretty much the same as lunch minus peppers and plus olive oil and lemon juice as a dressing

Day 2 - Jn

Today was not a great day for reasons unrelated to current food consumption. My back/hip/both is out. This used to be an almost constant problem before I started eating healthier and working out. While this has still happened occasionally in the past year it's been like once a month. I know. That sounds like a lot. I am working on it. At any rate I was moving slow if I was moving at all and stupid clumsy all day.

In theory the plan for the month was to eat what the LT was eating because we are working together on this and it would be easier logistically. 1 day in this is clearly not going to happen.

Planned no workout
Breakfast: Eggs made yesterday. Strawberries. Almost ate a moldy one- yuck. Peppermint tea
Lunch: A few pieces of leftover roto chicken, a coupla handfuls of carrots and some olives. Peppermint Tea
Dinner: Left over burgers topped with sauted mushrooms and my version of the rainbow chard/savory like we made last night. Lemon Ginger Tea.
Snacks: Cashews, An apple.

The LT had leftover burgers and chard for lunch and if all went well a wonderful roast when she got home from work.

Rough Recipe - Citrusy Rainbow Chard
- Heat oil in LARGE pan (cause green leafies start big), I use coconut or olive
- Dump in the whole 1lb sack of Chard (Kale would also be tasty)
- Pour 2 or 3 splooshes of orange juice and coconut milk (or add extra oj)
- Season with black pepper and or garlic or whatever makes you happy
- Steam until the leafies get soft.