Oh the sweet smell of fall

Many people's favorite season is fall. Why is that?  I believe part of it is relief.  It's kind of like the world is taking in a deep breath and saying "ok, we made it through the heat of summer." It is the in-between time of the summer activities as we look in expectation to the holidays.  For a lot of people it is the time to go back to school-as students or teachers, or people are getting back into a routine after traveling for vacations or weddings.

Living in Florida I have experienced seasons in a whole new way.  Essentially here there are NO seasons.  When you look out your window- no matter what time of year, it always looks the same.  There are no fall leaves. There is no snow. There is no burst of color in spring time.  Palm trees always sway in the breeze, and there are always people tanning at the beach.  Yes, the temperature does change, slightly, but in such a small amount that as soon as people aren't sweating-it is time for boots, scarves, hats, and all the fall fashion emerges- even if it is 70 degrees.  Since I didn't grow up in Florida-this is still new to me.  As soon as it technically is the next season (whether it SEEMS like it here or not), I crave every seasonal thing there is.  It is like I have to scrape together every possible experience and tradition there is to be able to feel like that new season is actually here.  If it's fall I want pumpkin spice lattes every day. I make pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin waffles, pumpkin cupcakes, apple crisp and butternut squash soups.  I decorate the house with fake fall leaves and pumpkins (because real ones just rot instantaneously here). It is almost like I am living in a false sense of reality, and I have to do everything I can to remind myself what is actually happening around the world so it doesn't slip by unnoticed.

Many of my favorite memories growing up have to do with holidays, celebrations, birthdays and traditions.  Decorating for every holiday, spending 3 days baking Christmas cookies with my mom every year, carving pumpkins, building gingerbread houses, driving to see Christmas lights, cutting down Christmas trees, caroling, cookouts in summer and pool parties, picking up confetti for hours while watching the Rose Parade.  These are memories I cherish, because they were spent with the people I love the most.  My parents always made us feel special on our birthdays and even though we weren't rich, the quality of time is always more important and memorable than the quantity of gifts.  

I know every family celebrates holidays and birthdays differently.  I try not to judge people who celebrate them differently, especially if they don't really celebrate at all.  However, I think it is important to do things together as a family and to let each other know that they are special and that you care about them-whatever your personal traditions may be.  Everyone in my family loves to eat just as much as we love to cook, so when we get together, we do just that- eat and cook and share with each other the new things we have learned to make.  You don't have to be wealthy to spend time together and make your own family traditions. There are so many free and inexpensive things to do together that will stay with you forever and create wonderful memories, as I have.  Driving through neighborhoods to see Christmas lights is free.  Carving pumpkins or dying Easter eggs together is a few dollars.  Making Christmas cookies and giving them to neighbors and friends as presents is pretty inexpensive.  But the memories made are priceless.  If you choose to spend time together as a family in different ways than we do- that is fine.  But please make the time to do something together and make your own traditions and memories.

In our world of technology and with everyone being so busy all the time, it is is easy for the days and months and seasons to just slip on by without notice.  We must make a conscious decision to slow down, put down our iPhones and tablets and spend time with the people we love the most.  Working in the ER is a constant reminder to me how fragile life is.  No one knows what tomorrow will bring, so today lets spend it drinking coffee with a friend, frosting cupcakes with some kids, or walking the beach at sunrise with your husband- which is just how I plan on spending my days.

The diet of a caveman

The Paleo diet stems from the Paleolithic period, otherwise known as the "Caveman diet".  The beliefs that the world is millions of years old and that cavemen existed are debatable, but even if you disagree with both of these beliefs, I don't suggest throwing the idea of the paleo diet out the window quite yet. Why is it a good idea to eat like a caveman? What would that look like?

1- Lots of vegetables and some fruits, preferably organic, in season, and locally grown

      Why? First of all, vegetables were ALWAYS "organically" grown (which means no pesticides, no dyes injected into them to make them more appealing, not genetically modified to repel insects or altered in any other way) up until sometime in the past 100 years or so. People just ate them how they were. The produce was picked when it was ripe and eaten very soon after.  Unfortunately,  choosing the best fruits and vegetables is not as easy today as it used to be.  So, according to the Paleo diet, you would choose produce as close to how they always USED to grow. We still don't know all the effects that these alterations are causing, but none of them are seeming to be beneficial to anything except some people's wallets.

2- Good quality meats aka happy animals

What does "Good quality" mean?  Well, to keep it simple, I would say this-
1- staying away from pressed meats into shapes (like chicken nuggets in the shape of dinosaurs). You have no idea what is in that, or if it is even meat.
2- Not consuming canned things like Spam. That is not meat. It is a highly processed substance with a lot of salt and preservatives (I also recommend staying away from nitrates, often in deli meats, hot dogs and sausages)
3- preferably things not breaded and fried, because usually it is fried in a low quality, unhealthy type of oil, which causes more inflammation in your body
4- Choosing meats that were organically fed- meaning they were not given genetically modified grains
5- choosing meats that got to eat what they were meant to eat (cows-grass not grain, chickens-bugs not corn...)
6- and, if you choose to care about how the animals were treated (which I personally do. And encourage you to educate yourself about the horrible living conditions and abuse of the majority of animals that Americans eat) find a local farm that treats their animals well, or find some way to get it

The cavemen would have eaten meats that roamed around outside in their natural environment (which I call "happy animals"),  not animals shoved into small, disgusting, cramped buildings that were fed things they never would have eaten in the first place.

3- Eating small amounts of only natural sugars-

Cavemen, and even people 200 years ago, did not have white refined sugar. The average person, up until 100-150 years ago ate a few pounds of sugar a year, probably mostly consisting of honey or maple syrup, possibly sugar cane. The average American eats over 100 pounds of sugar a year now!  I'm sure if you talk to any of your grandparents they can tell you that there are MANY more people that are obese, have diabetes, heart problems, cancer, depression, fertility problems, and dementia now than they did 70 years ago.  White sugar has absolutely NO nutritional value, yet is added to the majority of products sold today. It breaks my heart to see so many people that are SO sick, especially because most of it could have been prevented if they knew what foods they should eat, and chose to eat them.  White sugar should be avoided as much as possible, as it wreaks havoc on your body and has no use other than tasting good for the short moment after it passes your lips. Small amounts of honey, maple syrup,  coconut sugar and stevia are included in the Paleo diet, and can be even more enjoyable because they are delicious AND you don't have the mental guilt of eating something worthless, because you are actually giving your body some nutrients.

4-Eating healthy fats and feeding your brain-

Your brain is fat. You need fats in your diet to make hormones (which control practically your whole body), to make healthy skin and hair, and to help you feel full (among many other things). If you don't eat enough fat, you will likely overeat (especially sugar and carbs), and have a higher risk of being depressed.  The whole low fat trend is a relatively new thing. And what does our society have to show for it?  More obese, unhealthy, unhappy people. If you eat a half an avocado, you will feel satisfied and happily full. If you eat 5 donuts you will feel disgusting, but probably still hungry. It is SO important to eat enough fats, but only healthy fats. Avocados,  olive oil, coconut oil and organic butter and some nuts and seeds are all good options. Stay away from canola and vegetable oils, as they are highly processed and if you look up how canola oil is made, you will never want to eat it again. (I sure don't.)  Don't even get me started on margarine.  It is not a food! It is one molecule away from being a plastic. When I was little, my mom was frying an egg for breakfast. She had some margarine that said not to cook with it, but she put a little in the pan anyways. It bubbled up, had a little poof of smoke and turned into a piece of hard white plastic right before her eyes.  Lets just say I stay far away from it.

The cavemen didn't eat canola oil or margarine,  and we shouldn't either. It is not food.

5- What about dairy and grains?

Some people that follow the Paleo diet choose to eat small amounts of organic dairy if it does not make them feel bad or affect their digestion adversely.  The point is to eat what we were made to eat, to eat real foods, and figure out how you need to eat to feel your best.  If you don't feel your best when you eat dairy, then I would avoid it. You can make many wonderful things with coconut and almond milk.

If you believe in cavemen, it is understood that they lived before agriculture and farming. Which means they did not eat grains.  Now I'm not saying grains are of the devil. I'm not even going to say that they have absolutely no nutritional benefits.  I will say, however, that Americans eat FAR too many carbs- including sugar, grains and starchy vegetables.  Also, I will say that white flour has virtually no nutritional value because the germ (the little part of the grain that contains nutrients and good oils) has been removed to improve shelf life so the food doesn't get rancid. The majority of grain based products-bread, rolls, pasta, pastries, cakes... are all made with white flour and thus should be avoided. Why eat anything that has no nutritional value?  You are either helping your body or hurting it with what you choose to eat.

So, if you were to remove everything from the grocery store that was made with white flour, you would have greatly reduced your grain based food options. Now, if we are eating in a way that makes you feel your best, I would suggest taking a month and going gluten free. Many people react adversely to gluten and don't even know it. It can be affecting your digestion, allergies, mood, and many other things, but you won't know it until you take it out of your diet for a little while.  Even if you took away all white flour and things with gluten, you are still left with some grains. Are these bad? If you got your own grain and ground it up and made whole wheat bread, isn't that good?  Well, it is BETTER. But maybe not GOOD. Grains are harder than a lot of things to digest, and also are all carbs, which raise your blood sugar.  I will tell you what I personally believe, which differs from those strictly paleo. If I can eat organic quinoa, organic oats, and sprouted grain breads occasionally and still feel great (and as good as if I wasn't eating any), then I will probably eat them occasionally.  Could I go without them completely? Yes. Might I eventually cut them out completely? If I decide that I feel my very best avoiding them, then yes, I will cut them out. But for now, I am still experimenting. I never want to be so strict that if I go to someones house I can't eat the food that they worked hard to prepare for me.

(SOY- is avoided as it is highly genetically modified, unless it is organic, and it also raises estrogen levels, which is usually not a good thing)

This is not about perfection. This is not about some crazy belief that we need to eat like the cavemen. This is about being aware of how food impacts your body, about how you feel, and about giving your body what it needs so that you feel your best, and are able to live a healthy and productive life and to be able to be a blessing to your family and those around you.  That's why I encourage you to do some research,  to read food labels, and to just eat real food.

What CAN you eat on Whole30?

You may be wondering what exactly we ate on the Whole30.  Many bloggers write up their whole menu every day for the whole 30 days. While this can be helpful, and it gives you a lot of ideas, you may feel a bit overwhelmed by seeing so many different foods and recipes.  It is OK (and I recommend) that you find some good recipes and repeat them several times during the month, or even once a week. This way some of the pressure is taken off of you thinking that you have to come up with 90 recipes to get you through the month! I am going to share with you a few of our favorite recipes. All of these are on Pinterest and if you would like me to send you the pin with my notes added onto it, just let me know!

I think the hardest thing for me during the Whole30 was meal planning, and finding good recipes that we were able to eat. Please let other people do a lot of the work for you by using the recipes they have already tried out and don't eat the same thing every day, or you will go crazy!

Tuna/Salmon cakes-

These are delicious on top of a salad, and can be served hot or cold. You can make a Whole30 approved mayo or get a dressing (I had a lemon garlic dressing) that I put on top of the cakes. Just make sure to get them good and brown in the pan, to give them a little texture and extra yumminess. For the Whole30 use almond flour instead of bread crumbs. If they are a little juicy as you are shaping the cakes just squeeze them out a little bit.    

Tuna Cakes

Spaghetti-

Spaghetti squash is your new friend if you have never tried it. Pick one up from the store and poke a few holes in it. Place it on a cookie sheet and bake at 350○ for 20 minutes and flip it over (so it doesn't get too brown on the side touching the pan) and cook it another 20 minutes.  If you have a big squash you may need to cook it a little longer. Just keep checking it by poking it with a fork. The skin is tough but the fork should go in pretty easily. You can press on it (wearing the oven mitt of course) and it should feel a little soft but not mushy. Take it out and let it cool a little bit before cutting it. You are going to cook it again in a pan, so its better to undercook it a little bit than to over cook it. 

While the squash cools, get a pound of grassfed beef and fry it in a pan with one minced onion and 2 cloves minced garlic. Once your meat is brown, add in some Italian spices and pour in a jar of spaghetti sauce (make sure it doesn't have sugar in it!) Turn the heat down to medium-low and let it simmer while you get the squash ready. You want the sauce to thicken a little because the squash has more moisture than regular noodles and you don't want it to be soggy. 

Now time to cut the squash! It's probably still hot so hold it with an oven mitt and cut it in half with a large, sharp knife. Scoop out the seeds with a spoon and throw them away or save them for roasting later. Now get a fork and scrape the inside of the squash, which will be stringy like spaghetti.  If it is overcooked it will be mushy and not as stringy, so you know for next time not to cook it so long. Heat up a large frying pan to medium and add a little coconut oil or ghee (clarified butter), put in 2 minced garlic cloves. Once they are slightly brown, add in all the squash and stir it around. Add a little salt, pepper and Italian spices. Now serve it up with the sauce, some fresh basil and broccoli! 

Frittata-

A frittata is an egg casserole, similar to a quiche with no crust. They are a wonderful breakfast, especially if you are cooking for a lot of people or want to make it the night before, you can have it all ready to go at night and then just bake it in the morning. This particular recipe is amazing, and we actually served it at my bridesmaids brunch! Everyone who has eaten this has loved it.  

Southwestern Frittata

It is delicious just as is, but I discovered these fresh Andouille sausages from the meat counter at Whole Foods and thought I would try it with them. I didn't think the original recipe could get any better, but it did!  The sausage is SO flavorful, so you don't have to add in any of the spices, jalapeno or salsa that the recipe calls for.  Just get 4 of the sausages, cut open the casing and fry up the ground sausage meat in the pan, like you would ground beef. Fry it up with the onion just like the recipe says.  I also add in one grated carrot, and some chopped spinach once the meat is brown.  

You can also make a avocado cream sauce, which is similar to guacamole.  I used avocado, cilantro and lime juice, with a little salt, pepper and garlic powder. Just add stuff in a little at a time til you like the taste because everyone likes a little less or more cilantro (or none at all).  You can mash it all up with a fork or blend it (I used my immersion blender to get it really creamy).  Or, just serve it with a slice of avocado.

 Two more of my favorite Whole30 recipes are:

 General Tso's Meatballs 

Use Coconut Aminos (a Paleo alternative to Soy Sauce, found at Whole Foods by the Chinese foods, or order online) and use freshly squeezed orange juice instead of the honey.  These are one of our favorites, and have made them many times. You can serve them with cauliflower, broccoli and sugar snap peas, or pretty much any other vegetable.  Baking them is easier, but you get them more brown in a pan, just flip them all around until they are brown all over and not really smushy anymore. (probably about 8 minutes in a pan on medium) (always cut into one of the biggest ones and make sure it's not pink if you are using ground chicken or turkey so you don't give anyone food poisoning :)

Coconut Curry Chicken 

This is one of the simplest dishes you can make that is packed full of flavor.  Use boneless skinless chicken thighs (they have them at Whole Foods), or you can use the ones with bones if you can't find them.  Marinade them overnight if you can, or at least for a few hours, so you get a lot of that flavor to stay in the chicken as they cook.  You can cook them in a frying pan, or on a grill or George Forman type indoor grill. I haven't cooked took much curry yet, but this is really easy, and you can get the green curry paste in a little jar in the Chinese/Thai food section at the store, and also the coconut milk in a can in that same section.  

I recommend planning to make extra every meal so you have leftovers.  All of these things keep well for a 2-3 days in the fridge. It is SO important to have things ready to eat so when you get hungry you can just eat, and not be tempted to order a pizza or make a Taco Bell run.  And this way you also can take leftovers to work with you. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments! 

How Whole30 changed me-inside and out

I can't believe all that has happened in these past 30 days.  We (my husband and I) have truly embarked on a journey through the realm of food this past year.  As you can tell by my previous posts on my blog- 2011 and 2012, our eating habits have changed considerably.  My mom has been interested in nutrition and health since I was born, and over the years has purged our pantry and fridge of many things consumed by the typical American.  However, everyone must resolve to go on thier own journey.  I always thought I ate pretty healthy.  I never drank much soda, tried to stay away from a lot of really fake, fried or artificially colored things.  I've always been a water drinker.  Even in the school cafeteria I usually chose grilled chicken and salad.  And I've always considered myself "pretty healthy."  Of course, I did have those things that are annoying that "everyone has."  Things like headaches, dry skin, acne, tiredness, and the hangry-ness that came from getting hypoglycemic and cranky after I went a few hours without eating.  (That is hungry/angry for those not familiar with the term).  

Over the years, I have tried to take normal comfort foods and make them healthier in some way.  By trading white flour for whole wheat, cool whip for organic homemade whipped cream, or using stevia instead of sugar, I tried to make the foods we crave healthier in some way.  

My brother introduced me to the Whole30 a few months ago.  I spent many hours on their very thorough and intriguing website, as well as many other Paleo food blogs, trying to truly understand what I was considering getting myself into.  I read dozens of testimonials and began experimenting with recipes.  After a couple months of cleaning out our cupboards, finding recipes that we liked and gathering as many tips and tricks I could- we dove head first into our Whole30.  This is how it changed me.  I welcome any comments/questions, but will begin by saying that everyone will have a different journey. Everyone's body reacts a little differently to foods, and everyone has their own list of health problems that may require a slightly different approach.  I recommend that everyone do their own research in their search for health.  

         How Whole30 has changed me, my health 

                                   and my mind-

                              I'm not hangry anymore.  Just plain hungry-

For those of you who know me really well, you know that if I am frustrated, upset, irritable or angry I probably am hungry, tired or both.  For years I have known that I get hypoglycemic and thus have been trying to eat a good amount of protein and fiber and also eating small meals several times throughout the day. I have also taken Chromium in attempts to stabilized my blood sugar and my moods.  All of these attempts I feel did help, but the irritability still came-especially at my high stress job.  Over the past weeks on the Whole30, I have noticed a drastic change in that the "hangry-ness" seems to have vanished.  I am just plain hungry!  I don't have a bad attitude, I don't feel irritated, I just think- oh, I am hungry- I should eat something!  I know a whole lot of people (mostly girls I think) that find that hangriness is part of their daily life.  Who likes being irritable, angry and frustrated, when you can be calm, happy and just plain hungry?  This change alone is significant enough for me to want to avoid sugar and high carb things (for the most part) for the rest of my life.  Having these mood swings even makes me more upset with myself because I get frustrated that I am frustrated!  And if you think "oh, she is not angry." I may not look like it on the outside, because I try to hide it, but on the inside I may be very frustrated over little things.

                          An increase in confidence and motivation-

Now what I am about to tell you may seem like I am stretching the truth or making this a bigger deal than it is because I am trying to get you to do the Whole30.  I am by no means making any of this up. I am telling the straight truth of what changes I have noticed in myself due to my diet changes these past few weeks. 

I feel more motivated to get things done and to make positive changes in all areas of my life, not just with food.  I have found the daily e-mails from Whole30 to be encouraging, inspiring and they really have helped me to take a look at what things I can change in my habits, my diet and every part of my life to be able to live a healthy, well balanced life.  I am very much of an extrovert and love doing things with other people- even to the point of not wanting to do things or not getting things done if I have to do them alone. For instance- we live in a safe neighborhood and for the past year and a half I have told myself I should go running outside.  But I never got around to it, because I didn't want to go by myself. The other day I actually WANTED to go for a run by myself- and I did! I don't know if this is from some type of hormone imbalance or some strange kind of mild depression that hindered me from wanting to do pretty much anything alone, but I promise you- there has been a change in my mind in these past weeks, that is different than how I have felt for the past many years.  

I frequently have not wanted to read because I feel alone. So I put on music or TV or movies or get on facebook or do most ANYTHING that keeps my mind off the fact that I am home alone and awake all night (due to my night job, I mostly am nocturnal all the time.) These past weeks, something changed inside my brain that just makes it seem OK to have alone time. I have read more than I have in a long time. I feel fine going shopping by myself. I generally think of myself as pretty independent, adventuresome and outgoing, but like doing everything WITH someone.  Even if I don't say anything, I really did not enjoy going to the mall by myself, being alone all night or anything like that.  I always tried to make the most of it anyways and tried to tell myself that I should not feel lonely.  I don't really know how, or what exactly changed these past few weeks inside my head, but something obviously did.  I know people have gotten over depression from Whole30, as things balanced out in their brain, hormones were balanced and so on. I don't think I was depressed, just lonely sometimes, but somehow that seems to be fixed!  As I said before, I am not trying to find things that aren't there, just so I have my own "Whole30 story."  I am telling you strictly what has changed in my life. Things that I didn't like the way they were before, and didn't know how to fix them- and how Whole30 obviously did SOMETHING good.

                   Looks aren't everything, but they sure are something-

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." "She is beautiful on the inside." "She has a great personality."  These types of comments, are kind of the worst types of compliments.  Its pretty much saying that they are a nice person, but they don't look good.  They don't do anyone any kind of good.  Every single girl in the universe likes to hear (and NEEDS to hear) that she is beautiful- on the outside as well as on the inside.  Yes, integrity, and compassion, love, happiness and  faithfulness, all of these things are very important, but if you don't think you look good, it impacts you on the inside as well.  It impacts your confidence. It impacts how you feel especially if you are around someone you consider to be gorgeous.  If you are not happy with how you look on the outside, especially if you don't have a lot of energy, or just don't feel healthy or have illnesses, that is going to impact how you view yourself on the outside as well.  When you feel good, awake and healthy- you automatically feel like you look better.  When you actually ARE healthy- your skin is going to show it, you hair and nails will look healthy and you will just feel happier.  (And a smile makes anyone look better)  Over the past few weeks on the Whole30, I have noticed several things in my appearance:
1-My skin is clearer and less dry
2- My stomach may be the flattest it has ever been (along with losing 6lbs)
3- I just feel healthier overall and more confident with myself because I feel better, more awake and more motivated to get things done

Other tidbits:

-I believe I only had ONE headache all month, when usually I had been having probably 1-2/week
-My husband stopped snoring!  At first I was checking to see if he was still alive, because I couldn't even hear him breathing!
-I do not crave sweets or carbs anymore. Even though I love bread and brownies, I don't feel like I MUST have them.  I can easily see someone else eating them and say no.
-I have gotten a lot more creative in my cooking. When there are so many things taken out of your diet, it pushes you to be resourceful and to try new things in  new way.  It gives you a new outlook on food.
-This month I have really realized how much crap is added to foods.  Why must there be sugar added to chicken broth?  Why is there yellow food coloring in some pickles? Why are oranges injected with food coloring to make them appear more appetizing?  Why do restaurants make breads with dozens of ingredients (and a lot of times) use more ingredients in the American version of their same foods that they sell in Europe and Australia?
-Why do so many Americans (myself included in the past) blindly eat things without having any idea of what they are ingesting or even care to know?

During this journey I have been inspired.  Vani Hari, author of FoodBabe.com has inspired me with her food blog and has shown the world what a difference one person can make by researching the American diet, informing the public and using her influence to make huge changes in our realm of available foods.

If I can encourage you to do one thing it is this:

Do your own research. Read food labels, and know what you are putting into your body.  Unfortunately, our world is getting bigger and sicker, and most of this could be prevented.  Whether you chose to do the Whole30 or eat according to the Paleo diet is totally up to you, but let me encourage you to just EAT REAL FOOD!  Your body will love you for it, and you may be suprised (as I was), what kind of positve results you see in your mind and body.

And check out these stories from other people who finished Whole30!

Whole30 testimonials

What is Whole30?

So, you may have seen me posting a lot this past month about the Whole30.  What is it exactly?  There are so many diets out there, what makes this one different?  This is not a diet (though some may still call it that.)  The goal is not to count calories, its not even to lose weight. It is actually discouraged to weigh yourself during the 30 days, only at the beginning and at the end.  This is a 30 day journey of learning how to eat real, whole food and discovering what kind of effects food is having on your mind and body.  To read the Whole30 rules go here:  Whole30 rules

This means cutting out ALL processed foods, artificial additives (MSG, food coloring, preservatives), and just eating food just how it has been eaten for the past thousands of years.  This may be described as an extreme Paleo diet.  Paleo is short for Paleolific or caveman diet. Some people get confused, and wonder why we are eating like cavemen?  Well they didn't eat mac and cheese out of a box, or red food coloring with sugar that we call "fruit punch".  Many of these "normal" foods of our society are causing a lot of health problems that people don't even realize are being caused by the things we eat every day.  Someone might say "I don't have any food allergies." And that may be true.  Your throat doesn't swell up when you eat peanuts, and you don't start itching after eating seafood.  But what about food INTOLERANCES?  What if your headaches, digestive problems and skin issues are coming from food? What if your moodiness, hormone imbalances, moments of hypoglycemia and constant tiredness are things that could be prevented?  I feel like so many things like this peope just consider "normal," or attribute them to getting old, being stressed, or say "these things just happen to EVERYONE."  Well what if they don't have to happen? Really the only way to find out what kind of effect food is having on you is to cut out all the potential "problem foods." This is what Whole30 does. It cuts out inflammatory foods, and all foods that cause people the most health problems.  It cuts out all gluten (as many people have gluten intolerances they did not know about), all added sugar-AND any added sweeteners (natural and artificial), for the reasons of:
1- cutting out sugar can greatly help those with diabetes, and hypoglycemia by balancing blood sugar levels
2- cutting out all sweeteners for a month gets rid of sugar cravings and re-trains your tastebuds and brain to not NEED to have something sweet after meals or when you get stressed
3- it makes you become a lot more creative in your cooking and makes you aware of how many products we eat have sugar added to them

It also cuts out dairy which can cause a lot of people digestive problems.  Not everyone continues eating according to the Paleo diet after finishing the Whole30, but many are inspired to change their diet in many ways because they are more aware of what our foods are made of, and how foods affect how they feel.  Some people have digestive problems but by doing the Whole30, they give their GI tract a rest, and allow it to heal itself.  Many, many people have noticed improvements in their health by eating these non-inflammatory foods, and are able to break food addictions-especially to sugar.

Whole30 teaches you to eat to live, instead of living to eat. Many people run to chocolate, ice cream or junk food when they are stressed, upset or lonely.  This really only makes the problem worse, as sugar causes spikes in blood sugar which quickly crashes-leaving a person tired and often cranky.  When you cut out all sugary things, when you are feeling down, you have to go to meat, vegetables or fruit- which nourishes your body and actually helps you to feel better in the long run.

Many people have said to me this month- "why are you on a diet? You don't need to lose weight!" Although most people DO lose some weight (obviously those who have more to lose will lose more), like I said before-this is not the point. The goal is to learn how to eat so that YOU feel the best. Everyone will have different results, and learn different things about themselves on this journey.  I'm not going to lie- it is a challange.  I don't really find coffee that enjoyable without it being at least a little bit sweet- so I pretty much avoided it all month.  Although you CAN eat at some restaurants during Whole30 (they give guidelines on the website of which questions to ask, and what to request if you go out), it can be very difficult to find a dish that is compliant with the rules.  You have to be strong and be able to tell yourself NO. To graciously decline when you are offered foods you can't eat when they are offered to you.  Sometimes you just don't want to cook anymore, because you have been making every single thing from scratch for a whole month, and you feel like you don't have any more creativity inside of you.  But it pushes you as a person. It shows you that you CAN go a month without chocolate, fries, pasta or bread. And once you cross the finish line- you will be glad you decided to set out on this life changing journey.

Planning ahead- meal planning and food prep

One of my goals listed in my previous posts is:

4- to plan wisely and not spend all of my "free time" with food, but find ways to be creative to prepare things in advance, especially for the busy days

which is what I will be talking about today.  By no means am I the "master chef" who has everything all together. There have been plenty of nights that I am running around like crazy stuffing food in my mouth while I'm getting ready to dash out the door to work. But as I learn, and as I get used to cooking a lot of these new foods- these crazy nights are occuring less often.  I am going to share some things that have helped me, and feel free to offer any other advice that you have found helpful!  We are all learning as we go, and though sometimes I get discouraged, or start thinking I'm not doing a good job, I tell myself "live and learn." "Just live and learn."  NOW I know that you can't defrost a whole chicken in the fridge over 2 days, but you have to soak it in cold water for up to 5 hours! Or you have to cook it one and a half times longer at a lower heat.  

I think one main thing to remember is- 

     If you are using an ingredient you've never used before, making a recipe you have never used, or trying a new technique- GIVE YOURSELF EXTRA TIME!

One thing I have noticed that has happened more times than I care to admit is I plan on trying out a new thing and under-estimate how much time it will take me to make. Since I work nights, I sleep during the day, get up and cook dinner- also making enough to have leftovers to take to work that night. I like my sleep, and a lot of times I will hit the snooze button one too many times, and then am rushing around like crazy, doing too many things at once, and get frustrated when I burn the pecans that I'm toasting.  

The days that I stay up a little later when I get home from work and start some food prep (instead of watching Food Network or getting on facebook), I notice that cooking dinner usually goes much more smoothly.  For those of you who are on a "normal schedule", this would mean doing some prep work the night before for breakfast or lunch (and possibly dinner depending on what it is).  If you are making frittata or french toast in the morning, you can mix it all up at night, throw it in the fridge and then in the morning you have a clean kitchen, and all you have to do is toss it in the oven while you get ready for the day.  You can also put something in the crock pot and let it cook all night while you sleep- which I do quite frequently.  

You can also do "weekly prep". Something I learned from Michelle Tam in her excellent and beautiful book- NomNom Paleo.  She marinates meat, even cooks up a bunch of ground beef and grills a bunch of chicken, and slices fruits and vegetables on her days off, so they always have things in the fridge to eat.  One main potential problem is when you stop eating packaged and prepared/processed foods- it means you pretty much make everything from scratch.  When you open your fridge and see a whole raw chicken, a bunch of whole fruits and vegetables and cartons of eggs, and you want something to eat NOW- what are you going to do? Well, if you are me- you will probably get tempted to run out and get some quick, highly processed food (even though I don't do it- I still am tempted).  But what if you already had a delicious andouille sausage frittata staring up at you? Or a big pot of homemade chicken and vegetable soup that was just longing to be heated up and enjoyed?  It would be a lot easier, wouldn't it?  And this is where the planning comes in.

If you plan to plan- you will have food. If you don't plan to plan, you will be holding the fridge door open, staring blankly at a ton of un-prepared food saying "I have nothing to eat!"  

Last year I started meal planning a week at a time.  But I realized this wasn't good enough. Food was going to waste, I was going to the store about 3 times a week, and especially if I worked several days in a row at the beginning of the next week- we ended up eating frozen pizza and quesadillas because I hadn't yet planned what we were going to have.  After reading a LOT of food blogs- everyone seems to do a month plan.  This makes sense to me. Yes, it takes a little time (probably a few hours the first time you do it), but it will get easier every time.  This is what I have found to be helpful:

                                                           Plan to Plan

1- Take an inventory of what you already have. Make a chart of the proteins, produce, frozen things, canned and boxed items- (all the main stuff you have in the house already that you would make meals out of, so you don't buy stuff you already have, and so that stuff doesn't go to waste.)

2- Look at the list of products you just wrote down. Do you have things already that could make up a whole meal? Chili? Soup? Spaghetti? Or do you have ingredients that contribute to meals? Write down those ideas

3-Think of other good, healthy meals that you already know how to make. Write them down.

4- Ask your family some things they would like to eat.

5- Look at coupons and sales and write down ideas from that as well.

By now you should have a good amount of meals.  If you have more than 30, great! You can start planning for next month too.  If you don't have quite 30, then plan to have leftovers some days, or make the same thing twice.  Its OK to repeat the same meal a few times a month!  This way you will really master the recipe, get better and faster at making it every time.  As the months pass- you will find this easier and easier, because you will have (hopefully) found some really delicious recipes that you and your family enjoy, and you can plan on making those every month- and on the days you have more time- you can experiment with new foods.

                                           Make a list and check it twice

1-Get your recipes together.  If you have Pinterest and some device that you can get an app on- I really recommend the app -"Pocket".  Either that, or you can make a whole new board for recipes for that month so you can have them all in one place. 

2- Make a grocery list. Obviously if you are using canned or boxed things you can buy them all at once at beginning of the month, so during the month you only have to buy fresh produce and eggs/dairy. I also recommend buying in bulk- but ONLY things you know you will use before they go bad. This should save you quite a bit of money.  Keep nuts & seeds and extra butter in the freezer.

3- Go SHOPPING!  Use as many coupons and deals you can find. If there is something that you use often and its on sale (especially if it's something that keeps well or can be frozen- stock up!) 

4- Prepare food. You can make meatballs, taco meat, meatloaf and marinate meats and freeze them.  Then as you need them, you take them out the day or 2 before and let them defrost in the fridge. Roast a chicken and a bunch of vegetables and make chicken broth. 

5- Chop fruits and vegetables for the week. I have noticed that food gets eaten if it is ready to eat! If it's not easy to grab, it may sit there for a while and get bad. Prepare toppings for salad, roast nuts, boil eggs, and bag up snack bags of baby carrots or fruit for people to grab to take to work.  

Yes, it takes time. Yes, it takes practice- but is it worth it? YES! If you take a few hours a week (and maybe half a day at the beginning of every month) You will be going to the store less often, making fewer messes in the kitchen, stop stressing out and asking yourself "what are we eating today?", and probably wasting less food because you are consciously using what you already have! Don't give up.  Don't expect to be perfect the first month, or even the third. Make little steps towards a goal and give yourself a high five every month that you did a little better.  As you cook more, plan more, and prepare in advance more- you will have less stress, become a better, more organized cook, and have more fun in the kitchen!  

So go now- tie on your apron, and COOK! 

                           "Food is essential to life, therefore make it good."

                                    -Truett Cathy (founder of Chick-Fil-A)

Wait, wait. HOLD UP. All this talk about making my own chicken broth and doing a meal plan for a whole MONTH?!  I don't even know what I'm going to eat tomorrow!  Ok, so I know all of you reading this are not all on the same comfort level in the kitchen.  And that is OK!

             For the Novice Chef- (or anyone who wants a little extra help)

As my sister-in-law just blogged about "Start Where You Are."  Don't compare yourself to me, to your mom, or to anyone else.  Everyone had to start somewhere, and maybe today is your day.  I have some resources to share with you that can really help and encourage you along your journey.

If you eat out 5 times a week, try this week to only eat out maybe 4 times, and cook one of those meals.  Even if it's something simple. Every week try to add a little new thing. Make one meal a little healthier with fresh whole foods, instead of packaged, processed stuff.  Ask a friend what one of their favorite healthy recipes is and see if they can teach you how to make it.  Little by little your knowledge will grow, as will your skills, and your ability to make things without a recipe because you understand how flavors go together.  Just start where you are right now.

One of my all time favorite cookbooks is made by the FoodNetwork.  It's called "How to Boil Water."  Please don't be insulted by the title- because it is an excellent book that doesn't assume you already know how to baste a chicken, julienne a carrot, or flour a pan.  It tells you AND shows you with excellent pictures.  At the beginning of the book it shows you how to stock your kitchen with the most important spices, condiments and tools to make most anything with the most basic of things.  It also tells you how to make things like oatmeal, hard boiled eggs, and how to chop up difficult fruits and vegetables.  Things you kind of need to know, but most cookbooks just assume you already do.  You can get it here:

How To Boil Water

For those of you following the Paleo diet- here are a few very helpful sites that are filled with tons of great recipes, beautiful pictures, and most of them have an app or you can find a lot of the recipes on Pinterest: 

http://stupideasypaleo.com

http://nomnompaleo.com

http://www.primalpalate.com

I hope all of this is helpful! Please feel free to ask questions any time. I am not perfect at any of this-but am learning as I go, every day a little bit. 

Whole Foods vs. Greenwise Publix

This week I went on an investigation to compare Whole Foods (WF) to Greenwise Publix (GWP). I wrote down a list of foods that we usually eat, (meat, produce, canned things, frozen items, etc...) and carried my bright green clipboard up and down the aisles to see which store would win the competition in "least expensive foods."  I did my best to match quality of ingredients as closely as possible.  Many of you may not have a Greenwise Publix near you, but essentially it is a regular grocery store with extra healthy things, more organic produce and a section of bulk items like quinoa, oats and flax seeds.  They do have more specialty items and have cooking demonstrations on a regular basis as well as a lovely bakery and area to get prepared foods (think extra big/gourmet deli- with fresh pizza and other ready to eat foods).  Our Whole Foods and Greenwise Publix just happen to be right across the street from one another, so it made my investigation that much easier.  These are the results of what I found.  If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask-as I may forget to write absolutely all of my observations.  

My goals for shopping & cooking- so you know more of what I'm looking for:
1- to provide nutritious foods that nourish and help the body to perform to the best of its ability- for everyone that dines at our table
2- to make delicious foods that are appealing to the eye that make you WANT to eat it-even if it's something you originally thought you didn't like
3- to stick within our set budget for food, and always be on the lookout of how to get good deals and be wise with our spending
4- to plan wisely and not spend all of my "free time" with food, but find ways to be creative to prepare things in advance, especially for the busy days
5- to find a good balance between making everything from scratch and finding what things are worth letting someone else make for me
6- to frequently make things that are easy enough for even the beginner chef- so as to encourage others that they CAN eat healthy at home too

This is a constant learning experience, and I have by no means achieved all of these goals-but this is what I am striving for.

                                                          
                                                                          

I will do my best at organizing these findings in the most logical of ways:

1- Ease of finding ingredients/products:  WINNER- Whole Foods

I prefer WF to GWP because I am able to find what I am looking for without searching quite so much. I have found that almost everything at WF is "healthier" to regular foods in some way.  Yes, they do have Oreos, but they are organic. Yes, they do have canned crescent rolls, but they don't have a bunch of artificial things in them.  GWP has the regular brands, as well as some of the organic/non-GMO/more natural brands, but do not have as big of a selection as WF.  This means you have to do a lot more sorting through things that you may not want to eat.  I also find that in general WF labels their foods more clearly- so you know what you are getting without having to guess.  WF has a much wider selection of organic foods and it is much easier to find things that pertain to certain strict diets- i.e. gluten free, paleo, etc... 

2- Cost of food:  WINNER- WHOLE FOODS!

This decision is based on a few factors.  First of all- this is ONLYcomparing GWP and WF.  I have not yet calculated the differences between these and the produce at the green market, at small local produce stores, or a buyers club or co-op.  Pretty much everyone I talk to always says "whole foods is so expensive."  And yes, it may seem like that, compared to what you are getting at Walmart, or if you are comparing the prices of organic to conventional produce.  But what are you gaining by eating organic foods without artificial substances injected and sprayed on everything?  I personally do not want to eat oranges that have been injected with orange dye.  Yes, they may LOOK more appetizing, but what is that doing to our health? 

I have decided that in general- it IS worth it to spend the extra money to eat as close to nature intended things to be.  I want to eat chickens that were out in the grass living a good life, and eating bugs, not GMO corn.  I want to eat pork that got to root around for truffles in the dirt who weren't living in their own poop in a little cage their whole life.  I am most certainly not a vegetarian, but I believe that animals should be treated properly and have a good life, even if it means paying more for it. I do believe, however, that following the "clean 15" and "dirty dozen" guidelines when it comes to which produce is more important to buy organic is a good way to save some money.

I want to save money just as anyone does. If you know me- I rarely ever buy anything that isn't on sale if I can help it, and want to find the best deals possible, which is why I'm doing this investigation.  I do try to buy more of the things WF has on sale, and I take advantage of their coupons- which you can print out online and use as many as you want (one per item. If you print out 2 of the same coupons, and get 2 of that product you can use both at the same time). 

So, in the end. These were my findings regarding prices differences:

1- In general WF and GWP had very similar prices.
2- WF had MORE things that were cheaper than GWP of the close to 50 items I compared, however there were many more things on my list (other than the 50) that WF has and GWP did not have (which means that I could get everything I needed at WF, but not near everything at GWP)
3-WF has a MUCH better selection of fresh meats and has them very clearly labeled so you know exactly what kind of environment the animal grew up in
4- GWP did have some things, i.e. Organic hemp seeds and flax seeds in their bulk section (which WF does not have) that were cheaper

For example- these are a few price comparisons:

                                                     Whole Foods:                                                      Greenwise Publix:
Ground beef:                          $6.99/lb (often on sale for $5.99)                                $5.99/lb
Nitrate free bacon:               $0.50/oz                                                                          $0.68/oz
Frozen organic broccoli          $0.16/oz                                                                       $0.23/oz
Organic fresh spinach            $0.42/oz                                                                         $0.59/oz
Real Maple syrup                      $0.62/oz                                                                      $0.94/oz
Canned coconut milk                $2.29/can                                                                     $2.69/can
Organic cane sugar                  $0.12/oz                                                                        $0.17/oz
Organic apple sauce- 6pk        $3.29                                                                             $4.29

Things that were the same (or barely any different):
Ezekiel bread, organic sweet potato, organic strawberries, chuck roast, Applegate deli turkey, asparagus, organic rainbow chard, organic plain whole fat yogurt, organic oats, organic milk and KIND bars. 

I hope this was a helpful overview for you! Please let me know your thoughts/ideas/tips of what you have learned.  We can all help each other on this quest for health in our highly processed world.  Let me encourage you to just eat REAL foods! Things that our ancestors have been eating for the past thousands of years, not things that have been in a box for the past 10-20 years.  Many of the "fad" foods, or latest convenience foods have not even been eaten for long enough to know the impacts they could be having on our health. 

I am on the search for the least expensive, readily available, fresh, organic REAL foods.  I will continue my search and share those results with you, and if you have any other ideas please send them my way!

Man vs. food

Since getting married 3 months ago (to the most awesome guy EVER), I have learned something that I never really thought about before.  Yes, I know guys generally eat more than girls, and I definitely knew that my husband eats more than I do.  What I did not consider, is, that when we got married, my eating style would change drastically.  It is one thing to cook a few meals a week for your boyfriend/fiance, and then a totally different beast to conquer when you feed him 24/7.  I feel like I go grocery shopping all the time now!  You buy groceries, expecting them to last 2 weeks, and they last 1.  You make a meal that you think you can get 4 servings out of it, and it turns into 2. maybe 3.  the food just disappears right before your eyes, and an hour after dinner when he told you he was full, he is back in the fridge looking for a snack! 

When you are trying to cook healthy, inexpensive meals that do not take a long time to prepare, it definitely takes some planning.  I have been inspired by all these women who cook for a day, eat for a month. Though I haven't started doing that yet, it sure seems like a good plan, and I'm going to try maybe to cook for TWO days and eat for a month, since our freezer is not that big.  It also is difficult to buy fruits and vegetables and eat them all before they go bad, which is something I'm working on.

Before we got married, sometimes I wasn't all that hungry, so I would have a protein shake, or some oatmeal, or some eggs or something like that. Yeah, my husband will drink a protein shake, but then he says "where's the meal?"  umm.... that WAS the meal (I'm thinking), but that is not an adequate answer for his belly. lol

These are some of the few challenges that we take on when we (girls) get married to our best friend, and though it can be frustrating sometimes (I'm sure I'm not the only one), who wakes up and thinks "I don't feel like cooking a meal before I go to work..."  I'm sure there are some things that I can do to make it easier and plan ahead so it's not stressful. I love to cook, and I don't like it when it becomes a chore.  As I find helpful tips I plan on posting them on here, for anyone else who may have this challenge as well. 

Pasta- good enough for a restaurant

Pasta- such an easy way to please people.  Especially when you need to cook for a lot of people, it's easy to make a lot of it.  + Pesto- the best thing ever made with fresh basil.  Although this is not the cheapest recipe on my blog, if you are cooking for a special occasion, or want to make something that tastes like something you'd eat sitting at a gourmet restaurant, then tie on your apron and get ready to cook my Pesto Pasta!

Ingredients (amounts will vary on amount of people.  This is for 4 servings)

Pasta- you can use any kind, but I used 2 packages of fresh linguini found in the fridge section
Chicken- 3 raw chicken breasts chopped in nugget sized pieces and marinated in a little olive oil, lemon juice, minced garlic, salt and pepper
Prosciutto- 3 slices from the deli- sliced into small strips (it may look raw, but because of how it's cured you don't need to cook it.)
Pine nuts- toasted in a pan until golden brown
Pesto- you can buy this fresh in the fridge section by the pasta, or feel free to make your own if you grow basil!
Sun dried tomatoes- grab a jar of them that are in olive oil, they are more moist and flavorful.  Chop several into thin slices

Cook pasta, fry chicken in pan til golden brown and cooked through.  Toss pasta and pesto together.  Serve on plate and sprinkle with chicken pieces, prosciutto, pine nuts and sun dried tomatoes.  The thing about this dish is that everything adds a little something to it, a different texture, and a different flavor, but everything goes so well together! 

Strawberry Pretzel = Magical

One of our family favorites at holidays is what we like to call Strawberry Pretzel (or Strawberry Pretzel Salad). It may sound strange at first, but it will change your life when you put that first bite in your mouth.  Just as a clarification too- this is not a dessert, but a side dish.  Jello salads are always a side dish.  Now please prepare to have your tastebuds changed forever!

This is from my Aunt Kathy:

2 cups crushed pretzels

3/4 c melted butter

1 (8 oz. ) pkg cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

1 (8 oz. ) cool whip

2 small or one large package strawberry jello

2 cups boiling water

2 (10 oz.) packages frozen strawberries (I get the frozen sliced ones)

1. Mix crushed pretzels with melted butter.  Spread in 9 x 13 inch glass dish.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Cool completely.
2. Mix softened cream cheese, sugar, and Cool Whip with hand mixer.  
3. Spread over cooled pretzel crust.  It is essential to spread to edges and make a “seal” over the pretzels.  Otherwise the jello will seep down and make the pretzels soggy and yucky.
4. Cool in refrigerator.
5. Mix Jello and boiling water, add frozen strawberries. Cool til room temperature. Pour over cream cheese layer.
6. Chill until jello is firm.
7. To serve, cut into squares.
8. Enjoy!    YUM!