Cooking Frenzy.

 I've learned from living 38 years as me, that my creative energy tends to ebb and flow, and that I just need to go with it. Sometimes, I feel like I can work on a project all weekend without looking up, but then for several weeks I'll have no inspiration. Right now, I'm on a roll. Luckily, it's a slow time of year for me at work and I have no clients needing a house in the next few days so I'm left to my devices (Anderson is at camp...from 8-5!). I have some house projects (redecorate mantle and entry, paint an accent wall(s) in living room or get crazy and paint the mantle yellow...) but for now I'm putting some energy into cooking. I'm not back to 100% yet from my illness, but better. I think I had possibly my worst WOD ever this morning, and I think I will take tomorrow off to make sure I am well for classes resuming next week.

On to breakfast. It was quite honestly one of the best things I've had in a long time and I'm running on abbreviated taste due to congestion. It was more time consuming than a bowl of cereal, but if you make extra potato you can have it for a few meals quite quickly. First I shredded 1/2 a large sweet potato after peeling skin. I did this in my food processor which made it really easy. Then I seasoned with S&P, melted some coconut oil in a pan and plopped a big handful in. I let it get nice and crispy on the bottom before flipping it over and popping a cover on it. Let that sit while you work on the egg.

I poached 2 eggs, which was easy, but they didn't turn out beautiful. Put about 2 inches of water in a pan, crack eggs into little bowl, bring to just before a boil when you see bubbles but not rolling, pour eggs in while stirring water with spoon to create a whirlpool. This will help pull the whites into the center. Let go for a few min and take out with slotted spoon. Put on top of the sweet potato, put your prosciutto in the same pan you cooked your sweet potato in, no need to add more fat, it will crisp up in just a min. Layer it all up and enjoy! Something about the coconut oil with sweet potato is so good, then with the saltiness of the prosciutto....omg.

A food stylist I am not.

mayo

I then made mayo following this dudes tutorial.
I used olive oil.

 I also prepped dinner. We are having cod cooked in parchment. I know there is a French term for this, but I don't feel like googling it. It's our favorite way to prepare fish in our house and it's really easy.  Cut a rectangle of parchment like you are going to wrap the fish up as a present. Take a lemon and slice it up, put your fish on top. I add fresh herbs (thyme and rosemary from yard), a pat of butter (just evoo on mine), a drizzle of olive oil, S&P, and some garlic. Then, just wrap it up and secure. You can staple the packet, or just fold really good. I used a toothpick today. I'll bake it in my favorite kitchen gadget ever my Breville Convection Oven (more on this later) for about 20 min.

I think I'm done cooking for the day. Mission accomplished!

No Grains, No Dairy...Oh No!

I read this yesterday (in bold) in "It Starts With Food"... I think it is a good reminder of why we do this Paleo diet in the first place. It's not about looking good, it's about feeling great and nourishing our bodies. I know I feel better than I ever have after going Paleo. The funny thing is I didn't even realize that I didn't feel good before. I thought it was normal to feel sleepy at 3pm every day and to feel bloated regularly.

Also, I kinda always fumbled at the "But where do you get calcium?" question from people. The book goes into a very specific explanation on the importance of calcium, where we get it on a Paleo diet and how much is really needed and in conjunction with other foods.

That is all.

Before Pics and Day 1 recap

Kale, pomegranate, butternut sq, chicken, avocado, almonds

Day 1 went by without a hitch. I felt better in terms of my cold, but still pretty sick compared to how I usually feel. This may have helped with my appetite, I wasn't very hungry, so I didn't miss any foods and didn't have single snack. I had a great salad for lunch, and made a pounded lime and coconut milk chicken cutlet for dinner with some broccoli.

Here are my before pics. I had my hubs cut my head off because I was so sick and looked like hell. My starting weight on this is 130.5.Not too bad, but I really want to lose the fat on the sides and would like to see more definition in my back. Is it possible that I feel leaner already? It's probably just psychological, but who knows.

This morning, Day 2, I went to a free WOD at CC. I am certainly not 100% and couldn't put in 100% effort, but I made it there. Back at work today, planning for 2013 and getting personal stuff organized since Anderson was sick for a week before break, travel and then my sickness. I feel like I'm not exactly on top of things like usual.

I hate coconut milk in my coffee.

Happy 2013....here we go!

Looks like today is the day. Day 1 of The Whole 30. Unfortunately, 2012 did not end like I had hoped due to a massive head cold, severe sore throat and general lack of energy. After winding the year down with a big bowl of Tom Ka soup, antibiotic and hitting the sack at a whopping 8pm last night, I feel much improved. Nothing a netti pot can't handle.

Since I went shopping a few days ago, I feel prepared for the next few days in terms of food prep. I'm going to try a chicken cutlet recipe tonight, have a salad for lunch and some eggs for breakfast. One of the biggest challenges for me is not being able to use dairy milk in my coffee. This is something I do even when I am trying to be "strict" paleo b/c it just tastes so much better. The Aerolatte frother from Williams Sonoma really helps. I stick a couple of tablespoons of coconut milk in the microwave then froth it up with this guy. Still tastes like coconut milk, but the consistency is like a latte.

I did some prep work over the last couple of days too. One of the things I found was that any chicken stock I wanted to buy at Whole Foods had a bunch of non-Whole 30 approved ingredients. So, I bought a rotissiree chicken, cut it up and put the carcass overnight in the slow-cooker. This serves 3 purposes: chicken for me, broth for stocks, food for dogs. When the carcass is cooked for that long, the bones and remaining meat become very soft and doggie friendly. They were happy!

*I'll be posting "before" pics later along with my weight.