Pork Chops

It is rather late to be cooking but I was sitting on my bed working and remembered I had pork chops that needed to be cooked.

I was going to look for a marinade when I bought them but obviously never got around to it. So if anybody has a good Whole30 pork marinade… or chicken recipe– please send them my way!

This is what I did instead.

Cut one medium onion in quarters and put them on the bottom of the crockpot. Added maybe 1.5 tbsp of granulated  garlic and 1 cup chicken stock plus 1 cup water to onions ( I only had 1 cup of stock left). Added 5 pork chops sprinkled with Trader Joe’s Everything Bagel Seasoning, added 2 dollops of Ghee and plugged her in. I have no idea if they will taste good and no idea why I added ghee… I will just have to wait and see when MY alarm to turn off the crockpot wakes me up at 3:30am.

I really need to get back to one prep day and not this crock potting at night business.

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…

Long Days!

The second half of this week has been long and hard! I am so glad it is over and I only have one more work day until a few days off… My president of the day experience got postponed until Thursday which means next week I will have 2 DAYS OFF IN A ROW! After the past couple days, I really need those two days!

This week was also a hard eating week. I got so tired of eating the same foods since last Friday when I cooked it. Sometimes I just didn’t eat because I was bored of the food. AND, I was massively craving french fries again. 

Making the large wok full or crock pot full recipes is not working for me right now. I need a variety so that is exactly what I did tonight. I really, honestly didn’t think I would even have time to cook this week so I am glad I had an extra hour tonight. I will still need to eat leftovers once a day to clear out the freezer a bit, but at least there will be a variety now!

I found a turkey breakfast sausage that had no added sugar or ingredients besides spices. YAH! It tastes pretty good and while it was cooking it even smelled like Thanksgiving. I just whipped up some eggs, added the sausage, and some of the Healthy 8 vegetable mix from Trader Joe’s and TA-DA, I have breakfast!

At the suggestion of Emese I coated some chicken in eggs, rolled it in unsweetened coconut and instead of frying it I used the George Foreman grill. Combined with brussels sprouts makes me super excited to eat this dish! I couldn’t find smaller shavings of coconut so I will try this again for appearance sake.

I also George Foreman’d some all pork chorizo sausage from Whole Foods. Once again  no added sugar or unnecessary ingredients. I then sauted some vegetables in the chorizo drippings.  See those extra brussel sprouts? Only had a few left so I included them here. To add a little sweetness, I threw in a plum.

Lastly, once again using my good ol’ friend George, I grilled up some steak and put it on top of green beans and a handful of the Healthy 8 Vegetable Mix.

So much more of a variety!!! It makes me incredibly happy.

I also found a really good seasoning mix at Trader Joe’s I used in the steak and vegetables. I will take a picture at another time to share it!

All through the night!

Last night I slept all through the night! I don’t remember the last time I did that! Even with sleeping pills I would wake up. I think the reason is because I was eating unhealthy foods in my sleep… and my brain just wanted to enjoy it.

I am kind of proud of myself this week. This has been a hard week! A busy week. A stressful week. And I stayed strong. I don’t think I was ever fully tempted to eat something I shouldn’t but I did have thoughts like, “Hmmm… I am stressed. Wouldn’t French fries be nice right now?” It was just a thought though and could easily be pushed out of mind.

The next four days will not quiet down for me. I will have tomorrow off to spend with family, have to go into work on Sunday, repair shop on Monday, and dental appointment on Tuesday. It doesn’t leave much time for cooking. So, I did my shopping after work and cooked  tonight.

I made a Whole30 chili and made a random recipe up.

Trader Joe’s did not have my bacon today so I omited the bacon in the chili and added squash I chopped and froze way in the beginning. I am thinking maybe I will throw it on top of a sweet potato and top it with cilantro and avocados.

I also made this random dish. It has a variety of spices, coconut aminos, ground turkey, red onions, green peppers, zuchinni, and cauliflower rice. It is good… tastes healthy, but is good.

Well, I should probably head to bed. My eyes are heavy and I am tired. I need to wake up early to do laundry and pack my food up for the week. Oh, and I am making breakfast for my roomie because I have food I need to cook or throw out.

Sweet Dreams World!

Sunday Funday

Yah! It is my Friday! Today was a good food day. At the beginning of the Whole30 I felt like I needed to snack in between meals. The past couple of days not so much. I packed pistachios and tomatoes today and didn’t touch them. I have noticed a big difference in the days I get up and cook versus the days I eat the RX Bar. (Confession: Apparently I didn’t finish my RX Bar yesterday, I found half the bag in my work bag! OOPS!)

Breakfast was DELICIOUS! I had an egg white omelette with raddichio, radishes, walnuts, dill, carrots, and red onions. I know it sounds like an odd combination but it tasted so good! I had one slice of Apple Smoked Uncured Bacon from Trader Joe’s and some fresh blueberries.

Lunch was the dill salad that I tried to make yesterday but failed miserably on the mayonnaise!! I just put the dill salad on top of kale. I decided I am not a fan of raw kale though and therefore ate around the kale.

Dinner was by far my favorite! A basil curry chicken… YUM! I ate this over steamed kale and cauliflower rice. It was so good, but once again I left most of the kale behind. This portion was too much. I will have to pack less next time! The recipe calls for this to be made in a crock pot but my crock pot was in dispose with another recipe.

Today I am feeling better about eating and food. And just because I can, I will even share a selfie from some glasses we found at work. I am kind of fond of them!! Only because they are rose gold and look at that hair sticking up!!

 

 

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!

My Newest Journey

Is re-journey a word? Today I begin the Whole30 Challenge! I have been so unhappy lately and I know it is because of weight gain and just not feeling healthy. I am not going to blame it on illness, or stress, or any other life factor. It is my fault I gained weight and now I am taking back control! So, you can follow along with my journey or just ignore it, but by being open and vocal about my successes and failures I hope my “community” will hold me accountable.

This Whole30 Challenge does not scare me at the moment. I feel like there is enough options that I can successfully manage this phase with “real” food. What does scare me? The word diet…. I don’t want to eat too much or not enough… I don’t want to get bored with what I am eating. What if I fail? What if I disappoint my health coach and friend (and coworker)? Obviously none of those are a goal. Today I vow they will not happen.

Last night after work I did my grocery shopping and even better came home and prepped. I chopped up vegetables and froze them for breakfasts, prepped a crock pot beef stew, and made a plan.

Here is my food for the day:

Egg white scramble with squash, onions, peppers, and herbs

A handful of unsalted pistachios

1/2 cup red grapes

No-name salad

No-name salad? I don’t know what to call it. But here is how I made it.

I love Trader Joe’s. Whenever I am trying to be healthy this vegetable mix is a must-have for me. I put it in soups, in salads, and when I could eat quinoa, steamed with quinoa. It includes broccoli, carrots, green bell peppers (with an occasional red pepper piece snuck in), green and red cabbage, jicama, radish, and celery.

1 cup Trader Joe’s Healthy 8 chopped veggie mix

1 small avocado, chopped

Two 2″ patties of pork sausage (I mixed the spices by hand, and steamed the meat to a crumble)

A splash of olive oil

2 tsps apple cider vinegar

A shake each of garlic powder, ginger powder, onion powder

2 shakes of chili powder

Stir and enjoy. I only ate half of the prepared dish. I probably could have eaten the whole amount but feared that over eating.

It was delicious!!!

Tonight for dinner I am excited for crock pot beef stew!

Tuesday, I begin the physical fitness which I truly feel will be the hardest part. More to come soon including my “why”.