Food

Sometimes I feel like all I do is cook! But it has been such a blessing eating healthy and prepack food. Last week one of my employees called in sick and it was a RUSH to get out the door. If I had not had my food prepacked… I would have been in trouble. The extra time, work, and energy to be prepared really pays off.

Being with friends this weekend I did not prepack food. I instead threw a quick meal together of broccoli slaw, pineapple, spicy chicken sausage, garlic, and some coconut aminos at their home (while I made acorn squash covered in butter and brown sugar for Uncle Les). I think my “niece” and her boyfriend were shocked the healthy food could taste good too.

I also made lettuce cups with ground chicken, garlic, ginger, onions, water chestnuts and a sauce made from rice vinegar, coconut aminos, almond butter, sesame oil and chili sauce. I topped it with cilantro… because I love cilantro… and scooped it in Boston Lettuce cups.

Lately I have been craving pesto sauce. Most pesto sauce in the store has Parmesan cheese in it. Yesterday I took Paula grocery shopping and could not find basil. Today I went back to the store… to many stores… Carpinitos, Nature’s Market, Fred Meyer’s, Target, Safeway, Trader Joe’s. I was starting to think satisfying this craving was not worth the effort. Thank goodness Trader Joe’s delivered (And thank you Leslie for suggesting it!)

In my ninja I put a 4oz package of fresh basil (stems removed), 1/2 cup pine nuts, lemon juice from one lemon, a squirt of minced garlic, and some olive oil… and a little cilantro (because as I have already mentioned… I ❤️ it!). It tastes so good! I also baked a spaghetti squash, mixed 1/3 of the pesto sauce with it and topped it with fried chicken and pine nuts. My Chicken was easy to make and tasted pretty good… Paula will agree! I mixed 2 eggs with 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard and mixed it well. I twice dipped my chicken in the egg mixture and a mixture of coconut flour, dried parsley, dried oregano, dried basil, paprika, sea salt and garlic powder and browned it in the wok with a little olive oil. I then finished it off on the George Foreman Grill. Because I will be staying at Tracy’s house tomorrow night, I packed two days worth of lunch and dinner… and a chopped RX Bar for Thursday morning.

Downside to all this cooking… I still have to finish the dishes…and clean the kitchen…

Two AM Wake-up Calls

Today was a tough day. If I had my brain on straight I would have washed my face before I cut garlic and jalapenos and onions instead of after…. My eyes are pretty red, but at least they aren’t burning anymore. I also tried making Whole30 approved mayo and I failed miserably. It was looking great and then it just went back to liquid…. I have a feeling I will be going through a lot of eggs and olive oil trying to perfect it!

Today was also tough eating day again… I think it is just stress but I really did not eat at all. I needed the extra rest so I tried another RX Bar. Chopping it into little pieces and eating it on the way to work is really the way to go. It lasted the whole commute. I drank my water, went on with my day and then as Saturdays at work go, it got crazy!! One of my coworkers had to leave for a couple hours and the care managers didn’t make it to relieve me in the dining room in time which meant no break for me. This also meant no lunch because the front desk was so busy after lunch. On my quick trip to get supplies for the residents I picked up some carrots and celery, cashews and La Croix. And that was all, until I came home and started cooking. Not good today but could have been way worse. A week ago if I was stressed I would probably have stopped and got French fries extra crispy for the drive home.

An awesome thing about dieting is that I am trying new recipes and foods I may or may not have tried (like radicchio, which I know I have probably had but not intentionally and planned). I have been craving Pad Thai and Mexican food so I made recipes reminiscent of both. I have to thank my health coach (who is also the Director of Life Enrichment at Aegis, who better to hold me accountable than a direct supervisor and someone I fear letting down?) for sharing yummy looking recipes with me.

In the crockpot, but not pictured is a Mexican style chicken. I should have written down where it came from, but I didn’t and now I can not find it…. It has chicken, Ro*tel, chicken broth, Whole30 homemade Worcestershire sauce, and a medley of spices… OH MAN! I just realized I forgot to put oregano in the crock pot, I need to go add that…. A similar recipe has it atop a sweet potato. I will keep looking for the recipe I used and make sure to update this post when I find it.

I also made two other recipes but I will spread them out as to not bore you all!

Because I started the crockpot at 7:00pm, I will be getting up at 2:00am to turn it off. I probably could have planned that better but because I am working tomorrow I will not have my normal meal plan day and I ran out of the food I cooked for this past week.

 

Cheat Day

This morning I just needed extra time to get out of bed. I woke up to my alarm but definitely needed extra time to wake up. I should have known that sleeping through  the night Tuesday night would mean having a hard time falling asleep Wednesday night. Needless to say, I will not be cooking breakfast  this morning. I am taking a “cheat day” for breakfast. By cheat I mean I am not cooking. I am opting for an RX Bar from Trader Joe’s instead. Trying something new BUT most importantly it is Whole30 Compliant!!

I have also struggled with even skin tones and with how I perceive my skin. I don’t think it is any secret that a guilty TV pleasure is watching The Bachelor/ette. I even listen to some podcasts by the contestants. Many of them advertise for Bioclarity. I can honestly truly notice a difference between my twice a day ritual of using Bioclarity and just using soap. I am sold on it! I have always felt it selfish when I spend extra time on frivolous things like a face wash routine, or make up, or extra time on hair. I felt like there may be more important things to do than spend this time on myself. This is ridiculous. It feel it is just fine to spend this selfish  time. I don’t need to feel guilty on something so stupid. Plus, as my parents have quoted,  “Even a barn door looks better painted.”

So today on my journey, I have decided it is okay to take extra time for myself… it is okay to eat a bar for breakfast instead of cook (every once in a while). It is okay to spend time twice a day to make myself feel beautiful. I deserve it!