Whole30 Slacker is more like it....

Is there a label for people like me? Other than "loud" or "excited" or "embarrasses her husband in front of the neighbors" ?
I am a Whole30 flunkie. Here's the thing. I have revolutionized my family's way of eating. And I have discovered that I feel like absolute crap when I have refined sugar and stuff. LIKE FALLING ASLEEP ON THE COUCH TIRED. I just find that I am too easy on myself when it comes down to it. I blame my parents. They were super strict and I always followed the rules and so when I grew up,  I just realized I could break some of them and nothing bad would happen. Ok, I'm kidding about blaming them (though they WERE really strict).

Accountability is something every one needs. Leaders aren't immune. It's important in every aspect of our lives. I know I need accountability when I parent. Curtis and I balance each other with our parenting strengths. (As in, I enforce the rules and he lovingly bends them!) I know I need accountability in my walk with Christ. I know I need accountability with my cupcake addiction. (Guys, I haven't had a cupcake in like 3 months. Though I did have birthday cake in December) So, I am starting a clean eating challenge group and I have set us up for success by making it a 14 day challenge. Sounds much easier to commit to, amiright?

Here's the deal. As the LEADER of the challenge, I will be held to a higher standard. And I can't crap out on all my awesome people who are taking the challenge with me. So, while I won't be forcing the Whole30 req's on them, I will be personally doing a Whole14 and then pushing my way through from there.

Ya know what we all need more than accountability? Grace. It's ok to totally suck and fail miserably. It's a beautiful reminder of the grace freely given to us by our heavenly Father. So, while I am clearly a Whole30 Slacker, I am also completely loved and accepted every time I fail at something bigger than a clean diet. And that is pretty cool, if you ask me.

Recipe Alert! Asian Stir Fry and Cauliflower Fried Rice

I made this last night and the boys ate everything, including the cauliflower rice. And, they don't even like regular rice that much. This was a recipe that was pretty much my own making. I have used stir fry flavor before and I knew I could mimic the recipe in some form and keep it compliant. So, I just grabbed a few of the "popular Chinese spices" I had on hand and worked with those. One of the best investments when you're cooking everything yourself is to make sure you have a nice little spice collection. I love Trader Joe's because they have their spices for $2 in a pretty glass jar.

Anyway, without further ado, here's the (very simple) recipe.

Asian Style Stir Fry Sauce – Whole30 Compliant

¼ cup of Coconut Aminos

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp ground ginger

1 tsp Pink Himalayan Salt

3 tbsp water

Whisk together and add more salt if needed.

This made enough to flavor 1lb of cubed chicken and then I removed the chicken and steamed broccoli in the sauce as well.

Cauliflower Rice

1 head of cauliflower, cut apart and washed.

I used the food processor to pulse until the consistency of rice. You could use a box grater as well.

Since I was serving with stirfry, I salted and used olive oil to toss/coat the cauliflower rice in a bowl and then cooked like fried rice in the same pan I made the stir fry in.

It’s cooked the exact same way you cook fried rice, and after a couple of minutes I threw some more coconut aminos into the pan for extra flavor.  Taste test to ensure your cauliflower loses its crispness and it will become soft like rice. I cooked the whole head in two batches in the pan so that I could cook it thoroughly. Crunchy rice is just as gross when it’s cauliflower “rice”.

Let me know if you try it and how it turns out for you!

Jodie

Week One and Why I am NEVER taking my kids to the grocery store again

Alright, I kicked off my second attempt at Whole30 this week. I made it 3 days before I caved. Let me explain:

Tuesday I made a SUPER yummy crock pot chicken with carrots and purple potatoes. I found some vegetable broth that was compliant and sorta made a stew with it. I used a whole chicken and I think that was my first time doing a whole chicken in the crock pot. It turned out great and I pulled all the bones out and left the cooker on low after we ate some of it to keep the leftovers. (If you think that's gross, then so be it.) 

Wednesday morning I made an omelette with some leftover chicken. I was planning on feeding Curtis and myself leftovers for dinner and letting the kids off the hook and feeding them chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese (Annie's Organic). Yeah, I don't force the Whole30 on my kids. They had two compliant dinners in a row and then I usually give them a break if it's been a struggle to get them to eat it. And, let me frank here, getting my children to sit down and eat without a billion distractions is a miracle. Sometimes I need a little help from my friend mac 'n' cheese. (Since I can't get any help from my friend Prosecco right now.) They eat a well rounded diet and it includes dairy and bread. Though neither of them are big on bread. They're protein and fruit/some veggie eaters. And fruit snacks. They eat fruit snacks. 

Sometime during the afternoon, Curtis threw some garlic cloves into the crock pot since he knew the kids weren't eating it. He loves garlic. He insists on putting it into and onto everything remotely savory that I make. He ate mushrooms and garlic cloves (fresh ones he peeled himself) sauteed in olive oil by themselves "as a snack" yesterday while I went to pick up Gage from school. I just asked him to not kiss me immediately after a meal like that. 

What he did not realize was that the jar of peeled garlic cloves in the fridge (read: I am too lazy to peel all the garlic this man requires) apparently had moldy garlic in it! And it's not even past its freshness date. And those are the ones he put in the crock pot. Very annoying. Shockingly, he refused to eat the moldy stew he made, so that was ruined. I ordered pizza, took a shower and cried, and then ate the pizza with my family when it arrived 30 minutes later. FAIL!

I reset and told my accountability group about it and started over on Thursday. I am now on Day 3 and I took my kids to the grocery store to get toilet paper and dog food and whatever other crap we needed. What you need to know is, I am pretty chill about the grocery store. When babies cry and your kid is throwing a tantrum, I am SO NOT judging you. And, I am the mom who will soldier on with my kids who might be a little obnoxious or wound up. They're kids. They are going to ask for crap and whine when I say no. As long as there is no Stage 5, DefCon-1 meltdown happening, I AM GETTING MY GROCERIES. 

So, we're getting bananas and chicken and I stop at the "healthy frozen" foods section and I am looking for Applegate sausages, trying to figure out if they're compliant (the frozen ones are a NO GO). And, the boys are hanging on the cart as they had been riding along when I was pushing it. All of a sudden, I hear it: THEY DUMPED THE CART, GUYS! My 3.5 & 6 year old sons tipped a grocery cart full of groceries on its side in the smack dab middle of the front of Kroger. I have never been embarrassed at the grocery store until now. Obviously, I checked the kids (they were both unharmed) and picked up the cart and put stuff back while hissing and whispering threats of beatings when we get home. You can imagine it was sorta like this, only no bags containing the groceries. Great memories being made here. 

We had two more items to grab, so we did and we left. And I promised my kids they wouldn't be grocery shopping with me again until they're 10. When we got home, I gave them each a spanking for acting too wild at the grocery store and sent them to their rooms. I fed them some lunch, then made them take a nap. They're still napping and I am wishing I had wine. I get why cavemen were fond of using clubs. Whole30 is like Paleo on steroids. Paleo is the "caveman diet". And, no sugar, wine, bread or dairy makes me wanna club someone too.  

Have any grocery store horror stories or any tasty recipes? Comment and let me know!

.......

Can I Get A Do Over?

Everyone starts fresh every day. It's Biblical! We're new every morning. We certainly find it easy to start new things over at the beginning of the year. I kinda get a double dose since my birthday is in December. I find it easy to reset with a new age AND a new year.

If you're here, you can easily read the few posts from November when I attempted my first Whole30 journey. I did OK, but I was pretty much going it alone, and I had no accountability. In fact, my dear husband taunted me with cookies last time! Once I realized no one knew if I was sneaking a pop tart in my pantry, I sort of lost my motivation. I had started at a lower weight because I had been sick the week before I started the 30 days, so I wasn't aiming for weight loss. I also knew the holidays were coming up and we had Thanksgiving, my older son's birthday, my birthday, Christmas and our anniversary all within a 5 week period. And half of that was going to coincide with the Whole30. I made my excuses and gave up.

I noticed my energy levels dropped and all the wonderful things I experienced when I was eating compliant foods were gone! Food is fuel for the machine that is your body. Why wouldn't we want the best kind of fuel?

Anyway, today I started over. I am doing it with an accountability group. And, as a fitness professional, I should have known accountability was the key to success! Good grief. It feels so much easier this time, knowing other people are doing it and posting recipes and asking questions. I mean, I am NO professional Whole30 gal. I only know what I have researched and experienced in one, partially completed round. This time, I am with a group of people who have done it once, or even a few times before. I feel like I will be a whole lot more successful on this round. Having people to support you and encourage you when you get off track is key!

I had my coffee with almond milk, no sugar. I prefer coconut milk, but I didn't want to open the can this morning, because we were rushing off to church. I ate a Larabar on the way so I wouldn't eat my children on the way home from church due to being hangy.

We had lunch at home and I made myself eggs with spinach and slathered it in guacamole. I took the boys to Sprouts and bought ALL THE PRODUCE. I love that place. I topped off my pantry needs with coconut aminos, coconut milk, nuts, lots of fruits and veggies and meat. We had chicken and broccoli stir fry for dinner. Simple foods that I know the origin of. Stuff my body recognizes as food and not overly processed junk.

I am more prepared mentally after having gone through the pains of breaking the sugar addiction once. I also feel like the hold sugar has had on me is a lot less strong this time. I want to feel the best that I can. I know that eating whole foods will be the only way I can do that.

So, what are YOU doing for 2016 that's different?