The Kid's First Birthday!

Today our kid turned ONE! We had family and friends over to celebrate with a sweet potato bar and biscuits for lunch, and apple cake & ice cream for dessert. It was all super yummy :-D

Wanted to post the cake recipe before I forgot it, because I made many adaptations. I think the batter itself could be adapted with all kinds of fun flavors...

FOR THE CAKE

Mix together:
1.5 c butter (room temp or melted)
1.5 c sugar
3 eggs
2 T vanilla

Sift together:
3 c flour
1t salt
1t baking soda
1t cinnamon
.5t cloves
.5t allspice
.5t nutmeg

Mix dry and wet ingredients.

Fold in 4c finely diced apples.

bake in a jelly roll pan at 325 for 45 minutes

After the cake cools frost it with this:
4oz Cheve
4oz greek yogurt
1 bag powdered sugar
.5t cinnamon
1t vanilla

Whole 30 Endings

hello there, I kind of fell of the blogging truck at the end there. We did end our Whole 30 a few days early sue to various work events surrounding food. Still, we tried to add in things not all at once.

The first day, we visited Proper Pie (yum!) for savory meat pies and a shared blueberry apple pie (we each actually only had one bite of dessert-it seemed super sweet to me!) Right after lunch I got irritating itchy bumps on the insides of my cheeks. What I noticed later that day was that I had some acid reflux issues, also I didn't sleep as well that night.

On super bowl Sunday we took a veggie tray with guac to avoid chips, but I couldn't resist dipping carrots and cucumbers into the spicy cheese dip. Having grown up in Texas, I have a soft spot for queso. What I noticed in the hours that followed was an uncomfortable bloating and fullness. The next morning my stomach was not in a good mood.

We've had a few bites of sweet treats and have noticed a filmy feeling in our mouths.

After eating yogurt, my sinuses were irritated.

Overall, I think we'd like to keep eating this way most of the time, it just feels better. We both noted that we didn't need to use advil in January, we slept well, we had energy, and we snacked less between meals because the food was filling longer term, we both also lost a little over 10 pounds. As far as I'm concerned, that's a success. It's also weird because I'm not craving the desserts and cheese in the ways I was a few weeks ago (maybe because they could technically be allowed now, but I know how they make me feel?)

so in our kitchen for tomorrow morning I have chicken marinating in blood orange juice, coconut oil, and some spices. Tomorrow I'll bake it to serve on a salad with beets, orange slices, avocado, and some toasted nuts.

Whole 30 - Day 22 & 23

Ok, there's definitely something to this thing. After the potluck my belly was blargh! And last night we went to a dear friend's for dinner. I snacked on sweet tater chips that were cooked in some kind of veggie oil. Did not sleep well at all last night, super gassy, woke up at 3 am, and grogily got out of bed in the morning with a headache. I will definitely keep cooking with the fats we've been using this month. Of course, it's hard to control what you eat in other places, but since we eat 75% of the time at home, I think it will still be helpful.

Monday's Menu

breakfast: green smoothie and an attempt at sweet tater cakes that failed

lunch: leftover soup

dinner: roasted veggies, salad, fruit, chicken

snacks: clemmie, sliced turkey, olives, sweet tater chips (at a friend's house--not W30 approved)

Tuesday's Menu

breakfast: green smoothie and soft boiled egg

lunch: kale, turkey, avocado salad and an orange

dinner: ginger, chard, mushroom, & chicken soup

snack: frozen cherries, olives

Whole 30 - Day 19, 20 & 21

Our life has been busy with non food related things so the food program has been in the background. I took two ordination exams on Friday and resisted bowls full of candy. We went to a friend's house for dinner last night and I managed to not eat chocolate cupcakes or mac & cheese. It does get obnoxious to have to communicate with the people who love you what you are and aren't eating. Today we went out with church folks for lunch and tonight we're going to a pot luck.

It's harder to do this when you want to go socialize with people or you have work events that feed you. We are actually considering stopping at the end of January, which will be day 25 for us. We have several social occasions and work events coming up that will involve food that is definitely not on program.

I do think we can see differences in our health, bodies, and energy levels from this challenge, and I think we're going to try and pay attention to the way the foods we add in affect us. As people who lives often center around table fellowship, I'm not sure this way of eating is something we could keep up consistently, but I'm glad we're done it.

Friday's Menu

breakfast: green smoothie and soft boiled egg

snacks: mandarin orange and dehydrated fruit (the one thing they had at the testing site that didn't have added sugar, grains, etc)

lunch: leftover kitchen sink soup

dinner: frittata, salad, and chicken sausage

Saturday's Menu

breakfast: frittata, sweet potato pancakes, fruit salad, apple sauce

lunch: leftover roasted veggie and hazelnut soup

snacks: banana, soft boiled egg, chocolate cherry mousse, mandarin oranges, frozen cherries, coconut butter (my attempt to make this didn't work out that well, it was super grainy--I guess some thing really do require a vitamix)

dinner: shredded pork and carrot sticks

Sunday's Menu

breakfast: green smoothie and soft boiled egg

lunch: salad with grilled chicken and grilled veggies

snack: mandarin orange and some prunes

dinner was a potluck and we can't be sure of the sugar content in the things we didn't bring. I ate: ham, turkey, roasted veggies, curried cauliflower, salad (scooped trying to avoid the crunchy noodles and cheese), and mixed fruit

Whole 30 - Day 18

it's a hungry all day kind of day... probably because I'm supposed to be studying.... Also because I'm tired of leftovers... Also because I really want some gooey, melty cheese, and maybe a toasted hunk of a baguette. Nothing we're eating tastes like that.

Today's Menu

breakfast: green smoothies

lunch: leftover moussaka

snacks: toasted pecans, a few prunes, a boiled egg, some of that delicious coconut-chocolate-cherry-banana mousse (yes, I made more)

dinner: kitchen sink soup (veggie broth, carrots, onion, celery, rutabaga, tomatoes, chicken sausage, kale)

Whole 30 - Day 17

I'm tired when I don't eat enough protein. Also, I had to pick up a lasagna for our potluck that had been given in someone's honor. Driving with a hot lasagna and loaf of fresh bread was tough, especially as I'm still experiencing cheesy bread cravings... but I didn't cave, so there you go!

Today's Menu

breakfast: purple smoothies

lunch: leftover soup

dinner: tonight was church pot luck. we brought salad with apples, dried cherries, pistachios, almonds, and tuna. Also ate a deviled egg, ham from a ham biscuit, broth from a bean soup, and a few pieces of fruit. Hey, you work with what you have.

snack: a clemmie, a handful of nuts

Whole 30 - Day 16

All day I've been craving a grilled cheese sandwich and I wouldn't mind following it with a warm from the oven chocolate chip cookie. I love dairy and bread-y type things, it's true. Still, eating this way seems to be good for me-- my pants fit better, I'm not hungry between meals, I find myself feeling less fatigued. Still, on February 6, I think I'll eat a grilled cheese :)

I do notice that not eating much protein at breakfast and lunch made me headache-y this afternoon and I had difficulty focusing. Interesting thing to notice...

Today's Menu

breakfast: green smoothies

lunch: leftover hazelnut veggie soup topped with almonds and prosciutto

snacks: marcona almonds, an orange, warmed coconut milk with cocoa powder

dinner: moussaka