Whole 30: day 9, 10, 11, 12

So life is getting easier. I definitely have more energy than before, but still not sleeping super well like I was promised. Cooking is also getting easier. In fact, some meals have taken me no more than 15 minutes to prep (which is nice when you're busy). Granted they were simple, but still healthy and sustainable until the next meal.

Day 9-Thursday
Breakfast:eggs, juiced veggies
Lunch: leftover "spaghetti"
Dinner: Chicken over salad

Day 10-Friday
Breakfast: quiche
Lunch: coconut Thai soup with sweet potatoes and spaghetti squash
Dinner: spaghetti squash with meaty sauce and a salad

Day 11-Saturday
Breakfast: eggs, grilled zucchini
Lunch: salad with chicken
Dinner: meatloaf with salad and yellow squash

Day 12-sunday
Breakfast: juiced veggies, eggs, and sweet potato hash browns
Lunch: leftover "spaghetti" and salad
Dinner: chicken with cucumber/tomato salad and grilled yellow squash

My easy tip for these last couple of days is to throw some frozen chicken tenders in a ziplock bag (I did 10), throw in some olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, the juice of one lemon, and some salt and pepper. Toss it altogether and allow to thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Then BBQ.
It's perfect for dinner or on top of salads for a quick bit of protein.

Life on Whole 30 day 6, 7, and 8

Looking back over those past couple of days, I'm glad I didn't post until now. I would have discouraged anyone from trying to start the gut healing, psychologically challenging cleanse. I didn't feel well, I had no energy and food made me gag. Well, we are mostly past that. I actually slept really well last night and woke up at 5:30 and just bounced out of bed. Hopefully the promised great sleep, more energy, and the gut healing continues.

The following meals were mostly ate by my husband:
Day 6-ACV elixir
B- breakfast casserole (aka crust-less quiche)
L-leftover soup
D-Mexican themed dinner of chicken fajita over cilantro cauliflower "rice" with guacamole and salsa.

Day 7-ACV elixir
B-quiche
L-leftovers
D-marinaded steak with grilled zucchini and a salad

Day 8-ACV elixir
B-quiche
L-leftover steak over a big green salad
D-meaty sauce over spaghetti noodles

Whole 30 Quiche
10 eggs (from my chickens)
1/2 water or coconut milk
3/4c. Mashed white sweet potatoes
1big all natural Italian chicken sausage
1/2 bell pepper
1/8tsp dried mustard
Salt and pepper to taste.
I also almost added some broccoli but totally forgot until it was already in the oven.
Mix all together and bake 350F for 30-45 min or until completely cooked.
Enjoy!

Apple Cider Vinegar

You may be asking yourself "why the heck is she drinking Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) everyday?." The answer is simple, its healthy. From what I've been reading, it seems like a good idea. I mean why not drink something that will help detox your body, give you an extra dose of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, make your skin clearer, help your digestion, and boost your metabolism.
It's also acetic acid, which is one of the acids found in kombucha. Right now my kombucha isn't too happy that the garage is freezing cold and it's jealous that the beer stole its heat blanket (yes, my kombucha has a heat blanket). So in the mean time, I'll drink my ACV.

ACV Elixir:
1 cup water (can be hot or cold)
2-3 tsp. raw, unfiltered, unpasteurized, organic apple cider vinegar (if you're not going to get this kind, don't even bother drinking it)
Honey (optional...but not allowed on the whole 30)
A splash of juice (optional)

You can drink this up to three times a day, preferably before each meal. However, I can only handle it once in the morning before I eat breakfast.

Cheers!!!

Meet Nelson!

Hi! My name is Nelson.  I'm the newest member of the Chism family.

I'm named after the Nelson Sauvin hop variety that creates an excellent IPA.   However, most people think I'm named after Nelson Mandela or even Lord Nelson since I'll grow up to be a strong protector of my family. 

I like to be held like a baby so my tummy can be rubbed.

I'm 3/4 lab and 1/4 golden retriever.  I'll be 8 weeks old tomorrow.

In the week and a half that I've lived here with my new family, I've gained 4 lbs!  Probably because I'm going to be a big dog like my dad (who weighs 95lbs).

I'm very fun and playful, but sometimes I act like a cat.

They are trying to train me to be a good dog, but I just give them the puppy eyes. 

Progress-Day4-5

I would have to say that one of the hardest thing about this cleanse is having no dairy.  I miss having some feta cheese in a salad or having an apple with some cheese for a snack, or even putting some cheese in my eggs.

The other hard part is not having any beer. Please don't take this the wrong way, however, when working on plans to start a brew pub, and Curtis and I both being certified beer judges, not having any beer is hard. For example, Day 1 we were emailed to judge a small competition that night. We had to turn it down because of THE CLEANSE.  When a friend is going out of town for three months, grabbing a beer at our favorite place would be nice. Instead we drink tea at night and watch puppy training videos. That's right, we have a puppy now. I'll introduce him soon.  Life's different, but i'll have to get used to this new different for another 25 days!

Day 4-Apple Cider concoction
B-Curtis had leftover breakfast casserole and went on a 50 mile bike ride. I still felt like a truck ran over me and couldn't stomach anything until 10:30.
L-Salad with lots of veggies, 1/2 avocado, and chicken (with some homemade dressing)
D-Hardy chicken veggie soup (made from the bones from Day 3 Chicken)

Day 5-Apple Cider concoction
B-Juiced spinach, carrots, kale, and an apple, plus ate 2 eggs and natural bacon. YUM!
L-Salad with lots of veggies, 1/2 avocado, and chicken (and of course some dressing)
D-Its Sunday. I'm lazy and didn't cook...so we had leftover soup.

Still feeling tired. Apparently that is normal. Hopefully this promised energy, better sleep, and less food problems come true soon.

After Christmas Cleanse-Whole 30

Its that time of year again where I band with a couple of people and do a cleanse.  Normally I only do the cleanse of my choice for two weeks, but this year I'm upping it to the Whole 30 cleanse.  You guessed it. We will be doing it for a full 30 days.  Two years ago, I got my husband to join me for two full weeks. Afterwards, he said he felt great.  This year, when I suggested a 30 day cleanse, he happily agreed...sorta happily agreed, but still agreed.

What the Whole 30 entails: No sugars, dairy, grains (of any kind), and alcohol.  So basically we can eat veggies, meat, and good oils (I only have olive oil and coconut oil on hand but I'd like to add some others)
Day 1: Started with a cup of water and 1 TBSP Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
B-eggs with 1/2 avocado
snack-apple
L-Salad with chicken
snack-some raw almonds
D-Thai Beef over mashed sweet potatoes and a salad

Day 2: 1 cup water with the apple cider vinegar
B-Fruit smoothie (banana, blue berries, strawberries, spinach, and kale)
snack-cashews and an apple (I should not have had that much fruit but it was easy to grab when leaving for work)
L-Leftover Thai Beef dinner with a salad (ate lunch at 2, so didn't need a snack)
D-Roasted lemon dill salmon with green beens

This was delicious and I didn't even miss some kind of carb to accompany the meal.

Today is Day 3.  I, for some reason, don't feel good.  Apparently its called "carb flu" and is cleanse induced. We shall see how much I get done today. The planned menu is:
B-Egg casserole I made last night (eggs, leftover sweet potato mash, bell peppers, and natural chicken sausage)
L-Last bit of the left over Thai Beef
D-Roasted whole chicken with brussel sprouts

See you later readers!

Fig Jam

Problem: A friend of mine has a fig tree but decided she didn't like figs.
Solution: Go pick all of her ripe figs and make fig jam!

I've never made fig jam but after spending only 2 hours from start to finish (aka the kitchen was completely cleaned up), I decided that so far it is the easiest thing to can.  Why? It only took me 5 minutes to prepare the fruit! I followed this blog for instructions.

Clean figs and cut off stems.  If the skins are soft (which they should be
since that means they are ripe), they do not need to be removed. 
I ended up with 2lbs of White Figs, which turned out to be 7 jars (8oz each).

Cut the figs into quarters (you'll blend them later so it doesn't need to be perfect).

Mix 1/4 cup sugar with 3 TBS No Sugar/Low Sugar Pectin
Note: Regular pectin can be used. However, the using pectin that requires less sugar turns out better, you can taste the fruit more, and its not overly sweet

Put the figs in a pot with the sugar/pectin blend, 1/4 cup lemon juice, and 1/2 cup water.
Cook until the fruit is boiling.

Add 4 1/4 cups sugar.  Using an immersion blender, blend figs until it is all one consistency.
Note: Blending at this time helps smooth out the sugar lumps as well.
Cook until it become a vigorous boil and then boil 1 minute. 

In the meantime, you should be sanitizing your jars.  I use a big pot of water, put in all my clean jars and lids, and let it boil.  By the time I'm done making the jam, I not only have sanitized jars, but also a pot of boiling water ready to give my jam a water bath. 
Using a jar gripper take out jars, fill them with jam to 1/4 inch from the top,
put on lids, and screw on rings. 
Once all the jars are filled, put them back into the pot of water
(the water should cover the jars by a couple of inches).
Boil jars for 5 minutes if you are at sea level.  I did mine for 7 minutes (most pectin boxes have specific instructions).
Using the jar gripper again, remove jam from water and allow to cool. 
Note: you can smile to yourself every time you hear a POP! because that means you've succeeded!

I plan on enjoying my fig jam as an appetizer with my homemade bread, a slice of Romano Cheese, a bit of fig jam, and a glass of wine for a ladies' night!