Another successful week on Whole30!

This week I made crab stew and Josh LOVED it! I started by chopping up a small onion, 4 stalks of celery and 1 cup of carrots. I cooked all of this in coconut oil over medium heat until the onions turned clear. I then added 4 cups of chicken stock and my seasoning (salt, pepper & "Slap ya Mama" Cajun seasoning- no worries... it's Whole30 safe). I then added 1 cup of coconut milk and 1 lb of crab meat (we used 1/2 lump & 1/2 claw). I let it cook for about 15 more minutes and then we enjoyed it with our delicious Mahi Mahi!

Thursday night we celebrated my Daddy's 60th Birthday with the BEST custom cut 1 1/2" Greenwise Ribeye Steaks from Publix! It was delicious and I think he enjoyed his little "birthday party"!

Last, but not least... Josh has apparently been watching too many infomercials lately and has purchased us some new kitchen gadgets. Our 1st is a Jack Lelane Juicer (which he used this morning to make some  concoction he called breakfast- it was the juice from a grapefruit, apple, celery & carrots. It was neat to see what it did, but I'll admit I was not willing to try the fancy new drink.

The second is a Rotisserie so we can cook chickens and Boston butts! I'm a little excited about this one. I think we're gonna try it out tomorrow!

Our last "official" day on Whole30 is rapidly approaching! Our 30 day mark is Tuesday, but we planned to finish out the month full force since it's only 2 extra days. After that we plan to enioy the weekend "diet free" and start back Monday (with one cheat day per week) through Easter. :)

A day FULL of good eating!

THIS is what my hubby cooked for dinner... and it was fabulous! It seems to me like we've been eating an awful lot of chicken these days,  so a beef flank steak was a nice change! He marinated it in dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, apple juice, & garlic all day and then grilled it tonight. It was awesome accompanied by spicy steamed veggies!

A little bit of chicken FRIED!

Julie is staying with us today and she and Elle are BIG fans of chicken legs! Since that's what they wanted for lunch and we're still "whole30-ing" in this house they had my version! I finely chopped almonds in the food chopper and then added flax seed meal and salt & pepper. I soaked the legs in coconut milk (I added eggs and a little dijon mustard to our mix to make it "stick" better) and then rolled the chicken in the almond/flax batter. For the legs I "fried" them in olive oil, but it was hard to tell when they were done AND most of the batter fell off, so for ours (we used boneless, skinless breasts) I baked them in the oven at 350ºF for about 35-40 min. Looks like Elle Belle enjoyed it! :)

New Table for the Beach!

I'm so excited about my new table! My sweet cousin Ann gave us a new table and we've decided to use it for our dining area at the condo. This gorgeous iron table belonged to Ann's parents, my Uncle Cecil and late Aunt Fletcher. It is absolutely fabulous and I am in LOVE with it! Family heirlooms have a special place in my heart and now a special place in our condo too! Thanks so much Uncle Cecil & Cousin Ann for the precious gift!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day from the sweetest two little babies on earth!

It's just getting easier...

Although we're a little disappointed to be missing out on the "Fat Tuesday" splurging, I think we've decided to carry the Whole30 on throughout Easter (but we are going to allow one "cheat" day per week after the actual Whole30 is over). It's been fun coming up with new recipes and eating together at home as a family, so here's to trying to keep it up a little longer than originally planned!

As I said, the salmon patties REALLY helped me with the mundane eggs for breakfast routine, so we decided to venture out on a limb and try something different for dinner too! Tonight we had shrimp scampi (we just cooked it in coconut oil and garlic) and crab cakes! They were delicious!!! I took our "leftovers" to Mom & Dad and they were quite impressed as well! They were just as easy as the salmon patties, although I changes things up a bit- I used sweet potatoes instead of carrots- chopping them finely with the food chopper. I also added onions and peppers (red, yellow & green). I mixed in a small tub of lump crab meat and 2 eggs and added salt, pepper & cayenne pepper for seasoning. I then pan fried them in coconut oil and they were to die for! Josh even commented that he wondered why restaurants didn't make them like this, since they're so much healthier and taste just as good!

Elsie had her 1st Whole 30 day too. She ate dinner with us last night which was a crock-pot chicken with carrots and mushrooms and since she LOVES chicken legs so much, we sent the leftovers for her lunch today, along with some mandarin oranges (in water), pure fruit gummies & a cashew cookie Lara Bar. I asked her after school how it was and she said, she didn't like the gummies, but everything else was good. After school she wanted Chickfila, so I took her and got her nuggets grilled (they still have MSG, but at least we're trying) and a fruit cup and although she complained at first, she finished it all with a smile on her face. She also seemed to enjoy the shrimp we ate for dinner, so it looks like we have another little lady on her way to eating more healthily.

For anyone considering trying this, especially right now as Lent approaches, I totally recommend it. I can totally tell a difference in all aspects of my life. I feel better overall and I am sleeping better, I can tell I have lost some weight, but just feeling better and having more energy is totally worth it and the diet is not nearly as hard as I imagined!

Made it through the hardest week!

This week was incredibly hard for me to be on Whole30 as I had Kelly's Kids parties galore! I was gone Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday nights and so I wasn't home to make meals to take for lunch either. Thankfully, we had turkey and made "Paleo Chicken No Noodle Soup" last Monday, so that helped fill the gaps. Also, the BBQ restaurant next door to my office has been so sweet to show me their seasoning so I could check for "banned" ingredients and thankfully I can have it! Anyhow, thanks to my Mom & Josh helping with the crazy kiddos, I made it through! Now, the plan for this week is to keep on keeping on AND start some kind of exercise!

This morning has been my best yet! I am SO sick of eggs! I have had them every single way imaginable for breakfast and I just needed a change, I remembered my Mom used to make Salmon Patties for breakfast when I was younger, and although I'm not a fan of Salmon cooked any other way I loved those patties. So, I "invented" my own Whole30 approved version. I used the food chopper to finely chop about 15 organic baby carrots and 1/4 of an organic onion I then combined that with a can of Alaska Pink Salmon, salt, pepper & a dash of cayenne pepper. I mixed it up well and then added 2 eggs (I probably could have used one) and mixed it in as well. I heated about a Tablespoon of Coconut oil and then dropped in 2 "patties" by spoon and browned them well on both sides, they were DELICIOUS! AND... I still have the mixture in the fridge for the next few mornings! :) I must say it's quite exciting and satisfying to create these amazing, healthy meals!
I also FINALLY tried coconut milk in my coffee and WOW what a difference it makes. It looks kind of gross, but tastes so much better than black coffee! This is getting easier and easier!

On another note, Josh & Elle had a very special day yesterday. In preparation for the big event last night, Josh took Elle for a Spa Day and SoYoung Salon & Spa to get her hair and nails done. She came home looking like the most beautiful little princess in the world. We got her dressed and ready and I wanted to cry at how big my little girl is getting! She and her Daddy looked so sweet leaving to go to their 2nd "Daughter Daughter" (Daddy Daughter) Dance! Here's a couple of pics...

Home & A Whole30 Recipe from Last Week

We made it home today after another successful dining out experience! We decided to try one of our favorite restaurants at the beach Bayou Joe's. This is one of the kids' favorite places because you basically eat out on a dock so you're completely surrounded by water and boats. Elle LOVES that they encourage feeding your leftovers to the fish too! The cook was extremely accommodating and we had fish, shrimp & green beans prepared with olive oil and salt and pepper only and it was delicious!!! Thank HEAVENS for the 2 awesome seafood favs this weekend who were so kind to help us stick to our plan!

I also mentioned sharing some of the recipes from last week, so here's my favorite one so far!

Pot Roast with Balsamic Onion Gravy
Here's the link... Pot Roast with Balsamic Onion Gravy followed by what I actually did! :)

Ingredients:

- 3 pound Chuck Roast (preferably grass fed)
- Sea Salt & Ground Black Pepper
- 1/2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Sweet Onion
- 4 to 5 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
- 3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
- 1/2 Cup Balsamic Vinegar
- 2 Cups Beef Broth
- 2 Bay Leaves
- Organic Baby Carrots

All I did was to mix the Olive Oil, Garlic, Tomato Paste, Vinegar & Beef Broth in a bowl and whisked them all together. I added the Coconut Oil, Roast, Onions, Carrots & Bay Leaves to the Crock Pot and then poured the liquid mixture on top. I set the cooker on LOW and let it cook all day (from around 8am-5pm). It was delicious and even better the next day as left overs!

Back in the blog-o-sphere & Intro to our Whole30!

It has only taken a lovely 8 months to adjust enough to having 2 little rugrats around that I feel like I might be able to squeeze in a minute or two every now and then for a little blogging update! Life with 2 kids is quite the adventure, but such a fun ride! We're loving our new little fellow and he fits right in with the three of us... Elle has made sure she's broken him in well!

So as for life right now, Elle is in school 3 days a week and loving everything about it. She is learning all kinds of things and amazes us each and every day with her personality and spirit! Thatch is going to work with me every day and keeps me hopping! We're currently living in the "cabin" since the house was hit by a tornado 12/20/12... it's a bit cramped but we've made it our cozy little place for the time being!

Josh and I have just started (well, we're officially 6 days in now) a Whole30 program. I was extremely nervous to even think about trying this concept since we had trouble following the weight watchers program and this is by far the most strict eating plan I have ever seen! My biggest fear was (and still is) not being able to have convenient meals on the go and out at restaurants. The Whole30 plan basically promotes extremely healthy eating in the form of organic (if and when possible) meats, veggies, fruits & fats and totally bans processed foods, sugar, dairy, grains, MSG, etc... It's supposed to be a sort of "reset" button for your eating habits. You have to follow the strict plan for a minimum of 30 days with NO cheats or screw-ups, and if you do cheat or misstep, you have to start all over! :/ SCARY stuff! Well... we're almost a week in and doing AWESOME! We have eaten in every meal except 1, which was tonight. We went on a huge grocery shopping trip last Saturday and spent lots of time reading labels and putting things back on the shelves. After we got all we needed we were able to cook breakfast, lunch & dinner ALL week and remain complaint with the guidelines. We decided to come to the beach this weekend, and gave eating out a chance tonight. Thankfully, we had a fabulous waiter at The The Boatyard who was extremely accommodating and kept us on the straight & narrow. We still have 24 days to go (the actual plan is to finish out February, so 26) so here's to hoping blogging about it will make us a bit more accountable! 

We've had some awesome recipes this week, so I'll try to share some throughout the next few days, but for now I'll leave you with a few pics from our beach weekend! Check out these PRECIOUS babies!!!