Days 5 and 6: Tuna WARNING and New Recipe Experiment

BabyLove likes variety but, after yesterday, he says he is going to be more careful about what he wishes for!  Breakfast was eggs and lomi salmon, which he loves.  The lunch experiment was SB&J burgers with mango instead of strawberry.  He was VERY skeptical, so I made mine and let him try it before putting anything on his burger.  He was surprised to like my homemade sunbutter.  It was so simple to make!  I roasted a cookie sheet full of sunflower seeds, then put them in the food processor and added salt.  After about 10 minutes (on and off, or it will overheat), I added just under a tablespoon of avocado oil.  I could have added a little more oil to make it creamier but it was pretty darn good like that and I was afraid of adding too much oil.  I think what made it so good was that I roasted the seeds right before I made it, rather than buying pre-roasted seeds.  What BabyLove didn't care for was the flavor of mango (his favorite fruit) with the burger.  So I enjoyed my SB&J and he enjoyed his SB burger with lettuce and a side of brussels sprouts for lunch.  Dinner was one of our favorites: spaghetti squash with hamburger and homemade pasta sauce on top.

Today is a work day, so back to packing meals.  M1 was Aidell Chicken and Apple sausages and roasted red bell peppers and zucchini.  For lunch/dinner, I packed pork and carrots I had done in the crockpot, frozen normandy veggies, raw baby carrots, a pear, boiled eggs and nuts.  He has a training today, so hopefully he'll be home early!  If so, we'll have a real dinner instead of him snacking on eggs, carrots and nuts.

And now for the tuna warning: did you know that tuna in water may not be packed in just water?  It is packed in vegetable broth and has soy!  I did find SOME albacore tuna that really is packed in water and Kirkland Skipjack Tuna in water is also really packed in water. But every can of "regular" tuna I checked had soy! Just another lesson in reading labels!

Whole30 Day Four: Eating Out

As we were wrapping up my pet sitting job, I was trying to use up the foods we had in the fridge.  So M1 was chicken stir fry, using the garlic coconut amino acids.  We decided to reward all of our hard work with lunch at one of my favorite places in Kapolei: Kua'aina Sandwich Shop.  They have a pretty simple menu of burgers and salads, using local produce.  Everything is amazing!  But best of all, their salads are Whole30 compliant!  Crisp lettuce, shredded carrots, diced tomatoes, super thin slices of red onion, a pile of alfalfa sprouts and topped with your choice of meat or fish.  BabyLove LOVES the mahi, so I confirmed that it didn't have any sugars in the marinade/spice blend.  We also happened to be there for Halfsy Hour, so they were buy one, get one half off.  Of course, I bought an extra grilled chicken topped salad for home, so we had an even number of orders (our couch surfer was with us.)  Unfortunately, rush hour had started and we simply don't bother trying to get home between the hours of 3 and 7 pm, so we had to kill some time in town.  We got a lot of errands done and then hit Jamba Juice to hold us over.  Most of their stuff is NOT compliant but they do have some smoothies that are just fruit and veggie blends.  We sat around playing Phase 10 and drinking our smoothies until it was safe to hit the road.  After we got home, we shared the extra Kua'aina salad and called it a day. Gotta love it when I only have to cook once and yet he was able to eat yummy, Whole30 foods all day!

Day 10 is another day we'll be eating out, so I'm emailing the restaurant right now to check out a few specific menu items I think should be safe.  While eating out is definitely a challenge on Whole30, it CAN be done!  Here is what I wrote to them: (note - yes, there is a LOT more than sugar, wheat and soy that we are avoiding on Whole30, but those are the ones that are usually HIDDEN.  Anything else I can pretty much tell from the menu.)

"Aloha!  I'm looking for a place to take some friends this Saturday and am looking at coming to your Kaneohe location.  But we have some dietary issues, so I want to see what is available before we arrive (I don't want to hold up other people while we ask a ton of questions!)  The main things we have to avoid are sugar, wheat and soy.  Unfortunately, they are often hiding in spice mixes and marinades.  I'm specifically wanting to check out the sauteed garlic shrimp, seared ahi salad, Furikake Salmon and the beef stew.  If you could check the seasonings/sauces/etc and let me know by Thursday, that would be awesome!  Mahalo!!!"

Whole30 Day 3

We unexpected ended up pet sitting for an extra day, so I had to run to the store and get food last night for BabyLove's meals today.  The last couple of days have been super rough at work, so I decided to get him a steak.  I also LOVE squash but Costco hasn't had any for ages.  Since I was at a "normal" store, I went ahead and got both an acorn squash and a spaghetti squash.  I was working hard to get some variety into the my BabyLove's diet, so M1 was Baked Egg in Avocado and salsa.   It was super easy but I had to cook it longer than the 15 minutes.  And even though he got the whole avocado and 2 eggs, it wasn't filling enough so I quickly fried up 2 more eggs in the steak drippings.  It was a rushed morning, so I'll have to get a review of the recipe for  you when he gets home tonight.  Lunch/dinner was the steak, cut into strips and pan grilled, acorn squash, baby carrots, brussels sprouts, orange wedges, boiled eggs and nuts.  I think it is so funny that a day I'm totally "winging it" turns out to be one of his better food days!  But it was a frantic morning for me pulling it all together, and the kitchen is a disaster right now, so I think I'll go back to my meal plan as soon as possible!

Whole 30, Days 1 and 2

I don't expect to post daily (since I sucked at that plan last time) but we'll just see how things develop this time.

Yesterday's Meal One (M1) was eggs, green beans and a small amount of hash browned potatoes. The potatoes were Alexia Yukon Select with onion, garlic and white pepper that we got at Foodland.  Unfortunately, MOST hash browned potatoes have extra stuff added, so be sure to check the label!  Like I said yesterday, he won't have potatoes super often, even though they are allowed.  But I knew Day One would be a big transition, so I wanted to make sure he was full and ready to face the day.  For lunch/dinner at work, I packed him chicken seasoned with Montreal spices (be sure to check your spice blends for hidden sugars!), baby carrots, red pepper strips, frozen broccoli to heat up, mixed nuts (no peanuts!!), boiled eggs and a banana.  He was a little hungry when he got home, so he had some of the chai tea with almond milk from yesterday's recipe.  It wasn't the greatest, to be honest.  I'll probably play around with the spice blend and see if I can do better for him.  But part of the problem was that it was almond milk instead of dairy, so he'll just have to adjust to that.  He also had some more nuts.  We are pet sitting right now, which means our options are limited.  But I go home tomorrow, so I'll cook up some meats to have available for him if he comes home from work hungry (since doubling up on nuts isn't the best option for losing weight!)

Today, he had eggs, stir fry veggies (with garlic coconut amino acids in place of soy sauce) and half an avocado for M1.  Getting those healthy fats in is important!  For work (lunch and dinner) I packed Buffalo Chicken (combine 1 cup Frank's hot sauce and 6 Tbsp coconut oil, mix it with shredded chicken - makes several servings, of course!), baby carrots, red pepper strips, frozen broccoli, mixed nuts, boiled eggs (remember what I said about limited options right now?) and a fruit cup.  These fruit cups were a fun find!  They are Wawona Organic Mixed Fruit Cups and were in the freezer section at Costco, although this was the first time I've seen them there.   They have peaches, pineapple, mango and strawberries, in white grape juice.  No sugar, artificial colors or flavors.

I'm looking forward to getting back into my own kitchen and trying out some new recipes for him!  Next week's menu includes fun stuff like a variation of peanut butter and jelly burgers (since, you know, he can't have peanut butter OR jelly!) and Asian Lettuce Wraps.  I'll also be whipping up another batch of homemade mayo, so he can have some salmon or tuna salad.

A special treat as he starts Whole30 again

I was informed a couple weeks ago that there would be another round of Whole30 in January.  So here we are, on January 2nd, doing Whole30 Day One.  My BabyLove is wanting to focus on losing weight this time, so we are limiting him to only one fruit a day and very few potatoes (mostly just on days he works out.)  Although we really didn't have a lot of baked goodies around this year, I know it will be hard going from holiday splurges into Whole30.  So I wanted to have something tasty, special and compliant for him.  Enter Chai Tea Concentrate, which he will mix with almond milk.  I'm not a fan of chai myself but he enjoys it, so I am currently brewing him a batch.  I do have to admit, the house DOES smell lovely!  Here is the recipe:  http://myheartbeets.com/homemade-chai-concentrate/

I did it with ground ginger and cloves, as that is what I had available.  We'll let you know what he thinks of it!

Happy New Year!!

UPDATE:  Um, yuck.  If we do another round of Whole30 in the winter, I'll play around with it again.  But we didn't like this one.

Less Stress!! Have Fun!!

November was good!  I have been working towards less stress and more sleep, and it is really making a difference.  None of our circumstances have changed, it's just the way we are reacting to them.  And we are making a point of having FUN together - something that got neglected as my health was in decline. So today's post is about having fun!  And this really isn't off-topic, as stress affects the hormones in our body, which affect how we lose/gain weight!

Sometimes we play games at home but I LOVE to go sit at a restaurant or coffee house and have someone refilling my coffee cup while we play.  Obviously, we are selective about what restaurants we would do that at but, so far, our waiters and waitresses have never gotten upset about it.  They usually ask if they can join us!  Of course, we also make sure to tip VERY WELL and would never stay if the tables were starting to fill up around us.  Hopefully that all goes without saying but I'll say it anyway, just so no one comes and yells at me.  

Here are some of our favorite games to play out and about:

Guillotine: The Revolutionary Card Game Where You Win By Getting a Head!:
This one is new to us and very simple to learn but we really enjoyed it.  You can't plan ahead, as things change with every turn!  You do need room to set up a row of 12 cards, so a 2-person table will get very crowded.

Sequence: This is a combination of a board game and a card game.  It is simple to learn but strategy definitely comes into play!  Using the cards in your hand (which each correspond to 2 spots on the board), you try to form a sequence of five chips in a row.  But some jacks can be used to remove the other person's chip, so until it is finished, nothing is certain!

Phase 10: Probably my favorite card game (unless you are getting a group together to play Nertz!!), this is 10 mini-challenges.  For one hand, you'll need to collect a run of 5 cards, for another you'll collect two sets of three, etc.  Everyone who completes the challenge before someone goes out, moves on to the next challenge.  But if you don't make it, you have to try that challenge again while the others move on.

Bananagrams: Similar to Scrabble but you are each building your own crossword grid, in a race against the other players.  As you get more tiles, you have to rearrange what is already there to fit them in.

We also usually have SKIP BO or Uno in the car, just in case we find ourselves with time to kill.

Another way we are having fun is with a "mystery date night."  It seemed like we would play the "I don't know. What do YOU want to do?" game until neither of us wanted to do ANYTHING.  So I came up with several mystery date night packages.  I ordered stuff (Black Friday sales on Amazon for the win!) and wrapped them in brown paper, with red lipstick kisses rubber stamped all over.  Each one got a number and any important information on the outside of the package.  For example, #4 needs advance notice and involves a day out.  Unfortunately, I can't tell you all the ideas yet, since I want them to stay a mystery until we do them!  My BabyLove IS one of my only readers, after all! ;)  But the one we opened and did so far was White Mountain Puzzles Beer Bottle Caps - 550 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle.  We had a nice, relaxing evening together and got it finished before bed (um, don't ask what TIME we ended up going to bed, ok?)  Now he wants me to Mod Podge it so he can hang it in the man cave.  Well, sure!  I didn't know I was picking out decor when I started this but I'm glad I know what my BabyLove likes!

Oh, and the "more sleep" part?  I'm getting that with my new hammock in the living room! Having support along my entire spine lets me sleep well and wake up pain free.  It's amazing!! Yeah, not the solution for everyone, I know, but it sure works for me!  And that is another of my main messages: when it comes to YOUR health and YOUR weight, you need to do what works for YOU!



Just so you know, yes, those are affiliate links.  That means that you pay the exact same price but I make a very small percentage of your purchase in commission. But I promise that if I EVER post a link to something that I don't already use and LOVE, I will let you know up front!!  For example, if there is a piece of workout equipment I want to try but can't afford yet, I may link to it for you to see but I'll let you know I don't use it/haven't tried it yet.  I will never, ever post something just for the sake of a sale!

Granola bars

These are NOT, I repeat NOT, a "diet" food.  We don't do diet food here (well, other than using stevia in place of sugar in my drinks.)   We do whole food and eat sweets in moderation.  But my BabyLove works a job that has him gone 14 hours a day and only gives him one meal break.  So I need to pack "extras" to hold him over.  My granola bars have been a favorite way to do this (as well as nuts, raw veggies, fruits, "hippie popcorn", etc.)  I typically do a "granola bar blast" every 2 or 3 months and make enough to carry him through.  For one thing, this gives him a variety of flavors at all times.  Secondly, and just as important, I can use the same bowl, measuring cups, etc, over and over.  So I get 5 to 7 batches of granola bars for just ONE mess.  These don't need to be refrigerated if they will be eaten within a week but if you are making a bunch, I would recommend keeping them in the fridge or freezer (especially if they have banana, pumpkin or applesauce.)  Since I'm baking for 2 months or more, I freeze mine.  When I pack them in his lunch, they have defrosted by the time he is ready to eat them.  This recipe is inspired by one of my favorite blogs, Kitchen Stewardship.  Here is her recipe:  http://www.kitchenstewardship.com/2009/06/16/recipe-connection-homemade-granola-and-granola-bars/  But I realized I've changed enough of it that it is easier to post my recipe than to post hers and tell you all my changes.

Remember those "Chose Your Own Adventure" books?  I loved them!!  This is a "Chose Your Own Ingredients" recipe! There is a "base" recipe - but even that has options - and then you add whatever you want!

1 cup oil
1 cup liquid sweetener
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
4 1/2 cups rolled oats (not quick)
1 1/2 cups flour
2 cups of add-ins

First, put 1 cup of oil and 1 cup of liquid sweetener in a bowl and mix well.  For the oil, I use 1 cup of coconut oil OR 1/2 cup coconut oil and 1/2 cup of applesauce, pumpkin puree, mashed banana or even peanut butter.  You could also use softened butter.  For the sweetener, I typically use honey (not my expensive local raw honey because hey, this is going to be COOKED!) but will sometimes replace part or all with maple syrup (grade B) or blackstrap molasses, depending on what flavor I am trying. And when I am using applesauce or banana, I'll often go just under a cup of sweetener.  I've started using my immersion blender to mix this together and it works really well.

Next, I mix in 1 tsp of vanilla and 1 tsp of baking soda.  Up next, 4 1/2 cups of rolled oats (not quick) and 1 1/2 cups of flour (whole wheat is best but do NOT try to use "alternative" flours: brown rice, coconut, etc.  Also, don't try to use less flour.  The bars will NOT hold together.)  Stir it all together.  Next is the fun part: add-ins!  Add a total of 2 cups of whatever fun stuff you want to put in.  My husband LOVES the ones with chocolate chips, so pretty much every batch has a cup of chocolate chips and a cup of something else.  After you have the add-ins stirred in, put it all in a well greased 9x13 pan.  You need to press it in really, really well.  I grease my hands and use them but then I'll also take the back of a spoon and beat it down.  Make sure to push the edges down so they don't burn.  Bake it at 325 for 18 to 25 minutes (mine take the full 25) and then let them cool in the pan before cutting into squares (or any other shape, if that floats your boat!)

Because I'm doing multiple batches, I  use two 9x13 pans.  I make room in my fridge so I can put one in there to cool before removing them from the pan.  So once I get going, I have one pan in the oven, one cooling in the fridge and the next batch mixed in the bowl, ready to go in the pan when it comes out of the fridge.  The cooler the bars are when you remove them from the pan, the better they will stay together.  

So now, the fun part!  Some flavors I have done:

Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip: pumpkin puree in place of half the oil,  nutmeg, cinnamon, 1 cup soft/stale cinnamon apple chips (just cinnamon and apple!) and one cup chocolate chips (because husband,)

Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip:  1 banana (equaled half a cup) in place of half the oil, 1 cup broken up walnuts, 1 cup chocolate chips

Banana Raisin Chocolate Chip: 1 banana (equaled half a cup) in place of half the oil, 1 cup raisins, 1 cup chocolate chips

Cinnamon Apple Chocolate Chip: applesauce in place of half the oil, cinnamon, 1 cup soft/stale cinnamon apple chips (just cinnamon and apple!) and one cup chocolate chips.

Coconut Mac Chocolate Chip: 3/4 cup of chopped macadamia nuts, 3/4 cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes (I get mine from Amazon)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip: unsweetened, creamy peanut butter in place of half the oil, 1 cup chocolate chips, 1 cup peanuts

Pecan Maple Chocolate Chip: use maple syrup as liquid sweetener, 1 cup chopped pecans, 1 cup chocolate chips

Toffee Butterscotch Chocolate:  we had some leftover/slightly melted/going stale Heath bars after Halloween last year.  I chopped up 1 cup of them and also added 1 cup of butterscotch chips.  They were, needless to say, a HUGE hit and the guys at work wanted Dan to share any time he had them in his lunch!  At least this is healthier than eating plain Heath bars, right???