Operation No Muffin Top: Days Seventeen - Twenty-Three

Whoa. Ok, so sorry for slacking on this - I would say I've been crazy busy but lets be honest, I'm never really that busy. Unless busy means watching weird documentaries on Netflix every night and being in bed by 8:30pm - in that case I'm sorry, I've been SUPER busy.

So I have to say that I've been pretty happy lately. I feel really good - well rested, energetic, clear headed - and now that I'm finishing up the 3rd week I think some good habits have finally formed. I don't miss drinking at all on the weekdays anymore, and my cravings for chocolate have gone down considerably. I even sometimes really just want roasted vegetables. Like that's what I truly want for dinner. I don't even know myself anymore.

Also, I know the last time I wrote I said I would tell you all another positive side effect of Whole30. One of the best ones that I've been keeping from you is that people - and I mean like 5 separate people from different friend groups in my life - have told me that my skin looks great. I have always suffered from a somewhat uneven and blotchy skin tone, but just a couple weeks into this diet it was looking considerably more even and clear, and you know what, I'll just say it - there's a glow. 

So that is a definite plus! Now if only there was a diet and exercise plan that could make my feet less gnarly, we'd really be in business.

On that note, here's what I ate!

THURSDAY

Breakfast:

Banana with Justin's Almond Butter, bag of cashews and raisins.
Lunch:
Leftover Oven Baked BBQ Chicken
Dinner:
Blackened Tilapia Lettuce Wrap Tacos with Homemade Chipotle Mayo

Delciousness:
These were fantabulous, and will definitely be going into the regular dinner rotation. They were so easy, fast, and filling - a triple threat! I just rubbed some pre-made cajun seasoning from WholeFoods all over the fish, pan fried it about 3 minutes on each side since the tilapia was thin, and threw it in a lettuce leaf with some red cabbage, spicy mayo, and avocado slices. Squeeze a little lime over it and it's ready to eat! #obsessed.

FRIDAY

Breakfast:

Banana and a bag of cashews and raisins.
Lunch:
I didn't have anything leftover for lunch, so I got some chicken and vegetables at a deli buffet by work. It was just eh - I spent the whole time I was eating it just really wishing I had made more of that delicious BBQ Chicken. Here's a fun game for all of you readers not doing a whole30 and enjoying alcoholic beverages - have a shot every time I write BBQ Chicken. You will be Lindsay Lohan'ed in no time, and can drunkenly order some BBQ chicken from Seamless. Now take 3 shots!

Dinner:
Roasted Vegetables in Red Pesto with Bacon.

Delciousness:
This is a recipe dreamed up by Chris's brother Adam, and it is one of my all-time favorites. This was my first time re-creating it on my own and somehow I feel like it didn't come out quite as good as when Adam makes it, but it was still good enough for me to have seconds, so it definitely was a success. And easy too! Just throw together a bunch of veggies - I used red, orange, and yellow peppers, onion, asparagus, and brussell sprouts - with about 4 diced slices of bacon, toss with a jar of red pesto (found with the jars of spaghetti sauce), and roast for 45 minutes or so in a 400 degree oven. Adam usually serves it with a dollop of fresh burratta on top, which is truly amazing, but I opted for 2 poached eggs since dairy is off limits. It was a delight.

SATURDAY

Brunch:

Slept in and had a late Diner brunch! Eggs over-easy with sausage and potatoes. Heaven.
Dinner:
Dinner out with family at our favorite Tapas place. We had shrimp, potatoes bravas, octopus, sausage, artichokes, calamari, and probably some other deletables I can't remember. What I DO remember is having iced tea while everyone else shared a massive pitcher of my favorite sangria.

SUNDAY (Day 20!!)

Brunch:

Scrambled eggs with bacon and sweet potato hashbrowns.
Dinner:
Fish tacos again! Are they my new BBQ Chicken? (drink!)

MONDAY

Breakfast:

Strawberry Warrior smoothie from the gym - banana, strawberries, dates, and almond milk. So good.
Lunch:
I didn't have any leftovers to bring, so I just got some vegetable soup delivered.

Having vegetable soup for lunch is basically like having some nice hot air. I was starving about 20 minutes after I finished it, so I had to go downstairs and get my trusty old raisins and cashews, plus another banana. No more vegetable soup on its own for lunch! Lesson. Learned.
Dinner:
Dinner out with our besties, John and Emily! They didn't want to drink either, so we had the cutest little sober dinner at Edwards. Chris and I both had our favorite warm frisee salad with some tea, and it all felt very healthy and relaxing.

TUESDAY

Breakfast:

Strawberry banana smoothie
Lunch:
Hale & Hearty Vegetable Soup with a Chicken Avocado Salad.
Dinner:
Rustic Chicken with Garlic Gravy (I used chicken broth instead of wine, ghee instead of butter, and Tapioca starch for the flour) with Mashed Cauliflower and Roasted Asparagus. So good!

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast:

Strawberry banana smoothie
Lunch:
Hale & Hearty Vegetable Soup with a Chicken Avocado Salad. 

Dinner:
Adam made us curry! It was seriously some of the best curry I have ever had...the sauce wasn't thin like it sometimes is when you order it and I didn't even miss rice or naan.

And that's what I ate! Sorry for waiting so long to post and then keeping it so short and boring. I promise to not go this long without writing again, especially since I only have ONE WEEK LEFT!!! Wahooo see ya next time!

Operation Stop The Chub Rub: Days Fourteen, Fifteen, and Sixteen

Hi Everyone!

I am happy to say that I am in a much better place than the last time I wrote. I made it past the halfway mark, and that alone has raised my spirits back up. Looking back on last week and analyzing the dark place I was in, I think I have figured out why those few days before the middle hump are the hardest. It's because on day ten you really feel like you have been doing this program for a while - anyone who has ever done a strict diet can tell you that one day dieting is like 3 days to the average legume, sugar-consuming person - and you still aren't even halfway done. So the weeks seem like they are just looming ahead of you without an end, and the thought of eating eggs on every single one of those days makes you want to cry. But I am happy to say that once you push through it, and force yourself to get past day 15, the sun miraculously comes out again. The rest of this Whole30 seems like a breeze now that I only have 2 weekends left before I can fulfill my dreams of enjoying a peanut butter nutella smoothie. Spiked with vodka.

Anyways, now that I'm no longer a danger to myself or society, I can actually tell you about some of the GOOD things I am experiencing. Due to the uncharacteristic and terrifying rage I experienced the last time I weighed myself...

I have decided not to step on the scale again until these 30 days are over. I am now just going to stay on the diet, keep going to the gym, and focus on how my clothes feel. Which is working! I am in a good mood today because I'm wearing a pair of pants I haven't worn since before Whole30 started and am pleased to report that they feel 10 times better. Last time I had them on they were actually kind of painfully uncomfortable, and now they are borderline loose. So...I guess we have all just solved the mystery and learned that the problem is my bathroom scale is broken beyond repair.

Another positive I didn't expect was that I feel so much more productive than I ever have before. When you're not drinking or going out to dinner, you go to bed early and get plenty of sleep. When you get plenty of sleep, it's easy to get up early and go to the gym. When you go to the gym in the morning, it gives you the whole night after work to try new recipes, do laundry, catch up on Homeland, read, and start knitting again. This can all be accomplished before 9pm when it's time to go back to bed and sleep 8 hours, until the next day when you have to find more shit to do with your neverending sober free time. I have basically done 3 months worth of endeavors in the last 2 weeks.

So there you go, a couple positives and I have a few more to tell you about the next time I write, just trying not to blow my load all at once here. Until then, here's what I ate!


MONDAY

Breakfast:

I went to the gym around 7, so I just had a banana before, and an apple with Justin's Almond Butter when I got to work. That didn't really satiate me though, so around 10 I had a bag of cashews and raisins as well.
Delciousness:
I desperately needed a break from eggs, so this was the best I could do. It tasted good but fruit just isn't filling, so I felt like I ate a lot more nuts than I should have.

Lunch:

Leftover Beanless Chili
Delciousness:
Pretty good, but without the beans it's not as filling as normal chili. I just realized I wrote about 2 meals not being "filling" in the past 30 seconds. Basically I'm just always hungry. Always.

But that just means it's working, right?

Dinner:

We ordered from our old favorite, Edwards. We both got the Warm Frisee Salad, which is frisee, roasted garlic, and bacon with a poached egg on top and mustard viniagrette.
Delciousness:
This is my favorite salad in the whole world, probably because the lettuce is the only vegetable. Seriously, it's amazing.

TUESDAY

Breakfast:

Scrambled eggs.
Lunch:
Leftover Beanless Chili
Dinner:

Oven Baked BBQ Chicken made with Homemade Smoky Hot BBQ Sauce, with mashed cauliflower and a spring salad. Homemade applesauce for "dessert".

Delciousness:
Oh my god, this is the best thing I have eaten in a while. That barbecue sauce is SO GOOD. And the recipe makes a ton so we can have this for dinner for weeks if we want to! It was also super easy and only took about 30 minutes total. I am obsessed.

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast:

Went to the gym again, so had the same breakfast as Monday - banana before 7, then apple with almond butter and a bag of cashews & raisins once I got to work. I really need to relax on the nuts.
Lunch:
Leftover Oven Baked BBQ Chicken.  I seriously think I could have this every day. And you will really believe me soon because...
Dinner:
I made the BBQ Chicken again!!! I couldn't get enough. Chris was out at a hockey game so I thought maybe I would use the opportunity to eat something he doesn't like but I do, like salmon, but I decided my true craving was for more of that delicious chicken. So trust me, make that for dinner asap. You won't be disappointed.

Aaaaand that's what I ate! Hope you enjoyed it because from here on out I will be skipping the portion of the blog where I tell you my meals, since you can just know that they will all be barbecue chicken. Just kidding! Kind of. See ya next time!

Is This Stupid Diet Even Worth It? Days Ten, Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen

Hi! Ok, I'm sorry for taking so long to post again, but I have been super cranky over this diet and haven't been in the mood to write fun, uplifting, funny posts. I was going to just wait it out until I felt better but then my friend told me this is exactly the kind of thing I should be writing about, so in the interest of full disclosure, I will get super real with you right now about my struggles. If you are thinking about doing a Whole30 and don't want to read a few paragraphs of venting without a happy ending, maybe just skip this post.

So. I have been on this diet for almost 2 weeks now, and I'm just not seeing the results I was expecting. The first week was great with my 6 lb weight loss, but this week I not only tried to cut back on the bacon and watch my portions, I also worked out 5 times, didn't cheat at all, and somehow gained back 2 lbs!  HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE??

And what is really annoying me is the fact that I haven't even had one sip of an alcoholic beverage. It's not the food that is becoming cumbersome (although that kind of is, too), it's the fact that I can't enjoy a glass of wine with my friends at dinner, or have a beer while I watch the Superbowl. I actually have zero desire to overindulge with drinking at all, I just want to have one or two socially like a normal person.

A boozy brunch!! I look back on this and am
reminded of a time when I used to smile and laugh.

Basically, at first this was fun because it was new and changes in my body were happening rapidly, but now that I'm in the thick of it and not much is happening it really sucks. Don't worry, I'm not going to quit or anything - writing this blog is making me accountable to see this through - just know that if it wasn't for you readers I would be living out my current fantasies of drunkenly doing kareoke while eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a king-sized drumstick ice cream cone simutaneously.

So once again, I'm sorry to be such a downer after a long wait for a blog post. I'm sure this is just a normal part of detoxing and my sparkling personality will bounce back soon.  Until then, here is a list of everything I ate so you can know my pain.

THURSDAY

Breakfast:

Scrambled eggs
Lunch:
Leftover Soy Glazed Roast Chicken with leftover Cauliflower Mash and Roasted Broccoli
Dinner:
Chris cooked! He made his own Red Thai Curry. 
Recipe:

Garlic – 3 cloves chopped

Ginger root – thumbsized bit chopped

1 medium onion chopped

1-2 tbsp Red Thai curry paste

Olive oil

1 lb Chicken

1 can Coconut Milk

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 cup Pineapple

Veggies – I like Peppers, Water Chestnuts, bamboo shoots

1 thai chilli (birdseye or finger are other names)

Heat wok or other large skillet on medium-high and add olive oil. Add chopped garlic and ginger and cook for one minute. Then add the red thai paste and cook off again for another minute - this heats the paste & starts to release the oils etc in the spices. Add the onion and cook again for a minute or two, then add the chopped (and de-seeded!) chili pepper, followed by the chicken and cook until the chicken is cooked through, stirring occasionally to make sure the chicken doesn't burn. Finally add the coconut milk, the fish sauce, a little thai basil & kafir lime leaf if you have it, and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Then add the veggies and pineapple and let them simmer as well until they are heated through, but not soft. Serve by itself or over some cauliflower rice.

Delciousness:

The thai food was amazing and it was so nice to have a break from the kitchen! If you are craving something healthy but sick of grilled chicken and a side of vegetables, then this is it!

FRIDAY

Breakfast:

Scrambled eggs
Lunch:
Leftover Soy Glazed Roast Chicken with leftover Cauliflower Mash
Dinner:
We ordered in!  It was FREEZING on Friday night and I didn't feel like going to the store, so we had Indian food delivered.

Delciousness:

I bet a reason I am so cranky is that I kept eating that damn Soy Chicken even though it sucked!  Also, the only Indian food I really like is tikka masala, which unfortunately is cream-based, so I had to order a normal curry. It was good, but without rice and naan to soak up the sauce it was kind of unsatisfying. We also branched out with some vegetable sides we had never tried before, and they were underwhelming. I really miss carbs.

SATURDAY

Breakfast:

Banana before the gym, then an Equinox smoothie after that had a banana, strawberry, almond milk, and flaxseeds. I actually was that person that asked to see the almond milk they used to make sure it had no sugar or soy. It was embarrassing.
Lunch:
Brunch at Edwards! I had the cobb salad without cheese and a coffee. Kristin had a glass of rose and an omelet with cheese and I was in serious danger of causing a scene, I was so jealous.

But on the plus side, Chris stuck on the diet with me and had a virgin bloody mary which he called a "bloody shame", so that made me lol. Also my salad was scrumptious - if you're ever looking for a casual lunch in Tribeca, go to Edward's, it's a gem.
Dinner:
Saturdays seem to be a challenge for us when it comes to dinner. Once again, we couldn't agree and ended up making separate meals. I was STARVING and hadn't had eggs yet that day so I was craving a big breakfast for dinner, and Chris wanted something "light, like a salad." So I said F that and made myself a bomb breakfast dinner of poached eggs, sweet potato hash browns, and bacon. It was everything I had hoped for and more.

SUNDAY

Breakfast:

I had the exact same thing I had for dinner the night before with some roasted asparagus as a welcome addition. I was actually in a good mood on Sunday morning, as you can see.

Lunch/Dinner
Since it was the Superbowl we had some people over and made a ton of food, so I didn't really sit down to a separate lunch and dinner. Here are some things we had:
Beanless Chili
Dry Rubbed Ribs
Hot Wings (ordered in)

Delciousness:

The chili with olives instead of beans was surprisingly good! It had a distinct Mexican flavor and I served it with some guacamole on top which was new for me, but so delicious I will continue to use guac instead of sour cream even when I'm not doing whole30 anymore. Hot wings and ribs were great too - they felt like a treat. What didn't feel like a treat was drinking iced tea while everyone else had beer and wine and cheesy dip with french bread. That was the opposite of a treat.

Sigh. That's enough negativity for today. I'll write again tomorrow about Monday & Tuesday, and promise to give you some positives! Plus, I will officially be at the halfway point! See ya then!

Operation Not Have An Anxiety Attack Because You Have To Give Your Weight To The Ski Rental Employee: Day Nine

I can't believe it's already Day 9! This is probably the longest I have gone without chocolate in my entire life.

But want to know something cool about not eating chocolate and sticking to a diet that everyone and their mother knows about? Besides the obvious health benefits, you also become the most popular girl in your office! I used to be popular when I was single because dating stories are crowd pleasers, but ever since I've been in a solid relationship my entertainment stock has plummeted. Not anymore though - thanks to Whole30 I'm back on the map! I am literally the topic of conversation everywhere I turn, and if you just give me a few more days I bet I can get a rumor or two started about me.

I also heard she eats bacon every day.

Seriously, after the news of my 6 lb weight loss made it's way to Julie the office gossip, people all of a sudden started stopping me as I walked down the hall to congratulate me, shouting "Hey Skinny!" every time they saw me, and just generally making me the Homecoming Queen of the cubicles. It has been f-ing awesome.

Replace those dudes with women aged 30-60 and
that's pretty much my workday. 

But if I have learned anything over the years, it's that this kind of Office Fame is finite, and cannot live on forever. So I am going to enjoy this as much as I can for now, until I get actually skinny and all those bitches turn on me.

Until then, here's what I ate!

Breakfast:

Guess :)

Deliciousness:

Bacon and eggs you sexy duo, you.

Lunch:

Leftover Polpette alla Fiorentina.
Deliciousness:

Snack:
I had my first real snack on Whole30! The program frowns upon snacking so I tried to avoid it, but yesterday there were so many cookies and cakes and bagels and brownies around my work (for real, I didn't make any of that up, that's what I'm dealing with here every day) that I needed to kill my 3pm hunger with something better than tea. So I went to the convenient store downstairs and got a bag of raisins and cashews. The sweetness of the raisins definitely helped to hold me over and stop my hand from involuntarily grabbing a cookie and shoving it into my mouth, so I'd say it was a success.

Deliciousness:

I mean... it's raisins and cashews. How delicious could it really be.

Dinner:

Soy Glazed Roast Chicken (with coconut aminos for soy sauce, and I left out the brown sugar)

Cauliflower Mash

Roasted Broccoli

Deliciousness:

The cauliflower and roasted broccoli were perfect, but the chicken was not my favorite. It had potential and I would try it again, but with some major tweaks. First of all, either marinading the chicken for a couple hours and/or making the sauce significantly thicker would help. As the recipe had it, the sauce was too thin to really influence the taste as much as I would have liked. Also, I would use only one shallot and more garlic, with some green onions added, and maybe some crushed red pepper too. Basically this recipe needs a complete update. So...

I promise to try this again within the next 20 days and will see if my newfound cooking skills can help liven this chicken up! Probably not, but lets find out the hard way.

Well that's it for today! Thanks for reading and make sure to check in tomorrow for the Day 10 update!

Operation Say Goodbye To My Double Chin: Days Seven & Eight

Hi Friends!

Sorry for another double post - yesterday was a snow day and I took full advantage of the excuse to be lazy. Between catching up on my favorite Bravo series and a Fixer Upper marathon, I just couldn't find the time to sit down and write a blog post. You understand.

But now I'm back! And I haven't forgotten that I promised to update how much weight we lost. I am so excited to report that as of Monday, which was 6 days on Whole30, I lost...

6 and a half pounds!!!  Thats ever so slightly more than a pound a day, which is even better than I hoped for. And of course Chris lost 12 which is insane and proves once again that it's f*cking great to be a man. However, to be fair, Chris had been doing something I hadn't that first week, which brings me to a topic I hate but must be discussed...

Working out.

Everyone that knows me well knows that I. HATE. EXERCISING. I have never enjoyed it, and most likely never will. My body doesn't produce these "endorphins" you all love to talk about it, which by the way I'm fairly certain don't really exist and have been fabricated by the billion dollar treadmill industry. I also have very poor hand-eye coordination and suck at pretty much everything involving movement, so risk of injury and/or embarrassment is always at the forefront of my mind.

But, I understand it is a necessary evil and I need to man up if I want to stop that damn jiggle. So, to keep my weight loss momentum going I am now promising myself that I will work out at least 5 days a week. It doesn't have to be anything crazy - if I really don't feel in the mood then just running a mile counts as something, but I still have to actually go. 5 times. Within 7 days. For the rest of Whole30 (and hopefully after). No excuses!

I started on Sunday and it went ok. I used to be an alright runner but haven't ran farther than the distance from my couch to my fridge in about 4 years, so I started small and did some intervals followed by some weights. I went with a friend who claims to experience those "endorphins" to make sure I stayed on her schedule and actually did something worthwhile instead of just walking on the treadmill for 10 minutes and heading to the steam room.

That's actually a pretty solid ab workout in my book.

It felt good after, so I went again on Monday, and even got off my ass for an hour on Tuesday during the snowday to pay Equinox another visit. Therefore, so far so good! I am hoping this will influence my weight loss even more and also that I don't tear a ligament.

Now onto the food!

MONDAY

Breakfast:

3 poached eggs over wilted spinach

Deliciousness:

The poached eggs were perfection but the spinach with it was kind of gross and slimy. I keep trying to add spinach to breakfasts and it keeps not working, so I am letting that damn leaf go back to its original consumer.

Lunch:

Leftover Herb Crusted Roast Beef with a side of
Roasted Cauliflower (just put some cauliflower on a cookie sheet, spray with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast in the oven for about 30 minutes until browned on top.)

Deliciousness:

Yum!! I ended up having to eat the roast beef like an animal with my hands since a plastic knife wasn't cutting it (literally! haha), but other than that it was lovely.

Dinner:

Polpette alla Fiorentina (or as Chris likes to call them, "Meatballs Amazeballs")

Deliciousness:

This is one of my absolute favorite recipes! They take a little while to make but are so worth it - you don't need to serve them with a side, and they have such amazing flavor. Also they only get better with time in the fridge so they make awesome leftovers. I completely forgot to take a picture of the finished product but did take one of the ingredients all together in the mixing bowl, so you can see how much goes into it to create so much more than your average meatball!

TUESDAY

Breakfast:

Leftover Sweet Potato Bacon Patty with 2 poached eggs on top, with a side of fruit.

Deliciousness:

Mmm mmm mmm.

Lunch:

Leftover Polpette alla Fiorentina followed by some Homemade Applesauce.

Deliciousness:

It's making me hungry again just thinking about it now.

Dinner:

Dinner at Marta for Johnny's birthday! I had Lamb chops and Chris had Spareribs.
Deliciousness:
It was really good and so much fun, but definitely put Chris and I to the test when it came to not having a sip of wine, piece of bread, or bite of the birthday cake. Luckily it was such a good group that sitting around drinking water and eating tofu would be the best time ever, but I really can't wait for these 30 days to be over so I can enjoy dinners out again! And by enjoy dinner I mean drink ALL THE WINE.

And that's what I ate! Thanks for reading, I promise to post again tomorrow!

Operation Not Have My Hunter Rainboots Suction-Cup To My Calves: Days Four, Five, and Six

Hi Everyone!!

Ok, first of all, so sorry for not posting over the weekend. My computer at home sucks and won't let me post gif's, which is obviously a necessity.

Second of all:

I said BRR, it's cold out here!!! At first I was really excited for the snowstorm because I always think that I love the snow and it's going to be beautiful and I will be appropriately dressed and become one with nature and look like this:

Expectation.

But then I went to leave this morning and couldn't find my hat and my puffy coat wouldn't zip so I had to wear my lighter one and I forgot my scarf and it was pretty much exactly like this:

Reality.

Basically, this weather is stupid. Unless shivering burns calories? Someone look into that and let me know please - if so I will be out there in a bikini just chillin. Literally. Hehe.

Moving on. So I had my first weekend without any alcohol in probably...12 years? At least. Is that bad? Whatever it is, let's just say it had its ups and downs. Friday night watching tv with a mug of tea even though I could sleep in the next day was definitely a downer, but luckily it was a first season of Homeland marathon, and Brody's torture scenes really put any wine desperation in perspective so I chilled the F out. Plus, waking up on Saturday morning without even a hint of a hangover was glorious. In the past, weekend mornings with nothing to do = might as well be hungover!

But waking up on Saturday fresh as a daisy with a whole day ahead of me was a beautiful thing. I walked the dog, made coffee, made breakfast, cleaned the kitchen, and got a mani/pedi all before noon. Then Chris and I took a stroll to Soho where we enjoyed a lovely booze-free lunch at a cozy restaurant, walked around and did some shopping, then came home to relax and make dinner before going to bed at a reasonable time for a deep 10-hour sleep.

Everything was shining, shimmering, splendid...until Sunday when things got a little harder. With Whole30 every turn is a surprise. Sometimes the cravings and hunger are indescribable feelings. Ok, I will stop that now. But so Sunday we had friends over for lunch and it was awesome. Everyone was so fun, the food turned out great, and I was actually totally fine drinking tea while they had wine, which was unexpected. It wasn't until after they left that Chris and I had simultaneous temper tantrums about being hungry but not wanting anything we could eat. I didn't want meat and he didn't want vegetables so we just stared at each other with hatred for about 20 minutes.

Eventually we both had some applesauce and put down our weapons. Seriously, if you are going to do a Whole30 make the Homemade Slow Cooker Applesauce, it's a life saver when sweet cravings come to town. I honestly felt like I came back to life after a few spoonfuls. But it was a rough night...only made better when we weighed ourselves the next morning and realized it's all worth it. But you have to check in tomorrow to find out how much we lost!!

Until then, here's what I ate!

FRIDAY

Breakfast:

3 scrambled eggs

2 slices crispy bacon

Deliciousness:

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. This breakfast makes me so happy.

Lunch:

Leftover Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken with leftover Brussels Sprouts and Bacon Salad

Deliciousness:

This prosciutto chicken really lasted! It got better every day when the flavors set in so I would highly recommend making at the beginning of the week and using for lunch with some roasted veggies on the side.

Dinner:

Rustic Chicken with Garlic Gravy (I used chicken broth instead of wine, ghee instead of butter, and Tapioca starch for the flour)
Wilted Spinach Salad with Caramelized Shallots

Deliciousness:

This chicken is one of my favorite things I have made so far. That gravy is BOMB. My one suggestion would be to buy garlic already peeled if you can find it, because I couldn't and my hands still smell from that fool's errand. Also, I would have loved to have paired it with mashed cauliflower since seriously, that GRAVY, but when I got home I realized I was out of my bff cauliflower which like, never happens. But I had spinach and shallots so I found a recipe online and it turned out so well that I'll definitely make it again, but I think it would have paired better with something more like a steak. Overall though, it was a total success.

SATURDAY

Breakfast:

Poached egg on a Sweet Potato Bacon Patty with a side of spinach and fruit.

Deliciousness:

Omg, so delicous. And filling!!  I had a ton lefotver since I had planned on having 2 but could only finish one. The sweet potato batter stays in the fridge for a couple days as well, so you can have it for breakfast more than once! Which trust me, once you taste this you will want it like every day.

Lunch:
Food at an actual restaurant, my stars! Chris and I shared the grilled calamari to start, then I had the grilled veal and vegetables and he had a steak salad.

Grilled Calamari

Steak Salad

Grilled Veal

Deliciousness:
Really good! The calamari was amaze-balls - it had some sort of spicy viniagrette on it and I ate my half in T-.2 seconds. The entrees were on point as well - the only bad part was not imbibing. We both  had coffee and water. It was weird. I noticed we were the only people in the entire restauarant without drinks and I felt unnecessarily bad for our waiter, but we left feeling fantastic!

Dinner:

Lettuce Wrap Tacos. The easiest dinner ever - just ground turkey (or beef) with taco seasoning and onions, put in a lettuce leaf with salsa and guacamole. Just be careful with your taco seasoning - I had some from WholeFoods which was fine but a lot of them have a sh*tload of preservatives. If you can't find any that work in your grocery store, just know that Cumin is the ringleader and Paprika, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, and Salt are its groupies. Just throw them all in with the meat and adjust to taste, and you will probably end up with something better than store-bought.

Deliciousness:
This is a favorite in my house, because it always tastes good. I didn't take a photo though because as hard as I tried there is no way to make lettuce wrap tacos look appetizing to the eye who has never tasted. So just make your own and take my word for it.

 SUNDAY

Breakfast:

3 scrambled eggs

Deliciousness:

I mean, it's fine. But it was definitely missing something.

Lunch:
Herb Crusted Roast Beef
Recipe: I got a 4 lb Roast since I was serving 7 people and also wanted leftovers for lunch on Monday. I put a bunch of salt, pepper, 4 cloves crushed garlic, and chopped thyme and rosemary in a bowl and rubbed it all over the meat, before roasting it for about 2 hours at 350. It came out perfectly.
Mashed Cauliflower
Roasted Brussel Sprouts - just cut them in half, spread on a rimmed baking sheet, and spray with olive oil. Add a generous amount of salt and pepper and roast at 400 for about 30-35 minutes until crispy, taking out once halfway to shake around.

Deliciousness:

My friends were super impressed.

Dinner:

This is when we were having our temper tantrums and I ended up having a few bites of leftover Rustic Chicken with Garlic Gravy, a leftover Sweet Potato Bacon Patty, and a bowl of applesauce. 

Deliciousness:

Totally random but it got the job done.


And that's what I ate! Check in tomorrow to see how we are faring during a snowday with no hot chocolate, wine, or take-out. Should be depressing interesting. Leave comments to cheer me up!