Whole 30 Days 2-4

Eleven inches of snow have put Mr. Honestly Delightful and I on an unexpected mini stay-cation where we've unplugged, relaxed, and just enjoyed being together without the normal stresses of daily life. I have to say, it's been pretty nice! Playing Bananagrams and watching multiple (!) seasons of How I Met Your Mother, along with lounging around in pajamas and no makeup (the latter only me, of course) have certainly spoiled us both.

If there's one thing that wasn't perfect about being snowed in, it was the lingering feeling that I should be making cookies, brownies, or some otherwise sweet treat for us to enjoy, along with some homemade hot chocolate to warm us up (despite it staying a constant 73 in the house). That and the fact that Mr. HD was enjoying the taste of a refreshing beer and I was on the outs with only my water, sometimes fancied up with the squeeze of a lemon or lime. And I'm not going to say that it's been easy! But, knowing that I'm going to be writing about and documenting my meal choices, along with the knowing that I'm doing this for a reason (and hey, it's only 30 days {giggle/sigh here}) have helped a little. Not a lot. Just a little. It's probably my sheer stubbornness that still has me in this thing, but here I am.

So what have I eaten while being snowed in by 3 feet snow drifts? Well, it hasn't been exactly pretty, but I haven't wasted away yet!

Remember how I had that aversion to eating vegetables for breakfast? Well, surprises of all surprises, but when I woke up on Day 2, these leftover brussels sprouts were calling my name. Not even I would have predicted that! I again had 2 of those yummy egg rollups. Delicious!

Lunch was a salad with leftover salmon and mango avocado salsa (you'll notice the salmon as a common theme these next few days). It looked delicious but somehow set me on edge. Who knows? I think it was a bad texture combo with the soggy avocado and lettuce. I did eat it, but don't think I'll be featuring that combo again anytime soon.

Dinner was a conglomerate of leftovers featuring, you guessed it, salmon, brussels sprouts, and sauteed cabbage. It was delicious, but the appeal of the Costco salmon was waning.

Day 3 was kicked off with a yummy scramble of sweet potatoes, apples, and sausage. This had really great potential but I think I'm going to keep working on the recipe. When it's to my liking, I will post it with much better pictures. I promise! Of course, it was topped with a fried egg (my favorite).

On another note, I continue to struggle with having veggies for breakfast. I know, yesterday the brussels sprouts were calling my name, but every other day since then has been difficult, almost to the point where it's ruining breakfast for me. Breakfast has always been my favorite meal of the day, so this is really hitting me hard. I've searched endlessly on the Whole 30 forums and other Whole 30 blogs for recipes that could make eating 2 cups of vegetables for breakfast more bearable, but almost everyone says that you just have to tough it out and by the end of the 30 days you will magically crave vegetables for breakfast and not be able to think of having anything else. I'm trying to stay positive about it, but it is a daily struggle. If you have any ideas, please let me know in the comments!

Lunch was a created out of a desperate attempt to avoid the leftovers that were giving me the stare down in the refrigerator. I swear, Mr. HD could eat the exact same thing for all three meals for an entire month and not bat an eye, but not this girl. I'm all up for making extra so we can eat the same thing for lunch the next day, and maybe even another dinner, but days upon days of the exact same thing can make my stomach turn. It just loses its appeal! So, here you see a tasty conglomerate of things: hardboiled eggs topped with chopped pancetta, grape tomatoes, half an avocado, and an apple with almond butter (consumed last as my "dessert"). I know, I know, nowhere on this cutting board do you see 2-3 cups of vegetables, but hey, this girl was snowed in and tired of the cabbage in the fridge. Cut me some slack.

Dinner was a piece of salmon (notice it's again without the mango avocado salsa...that stuff was seriously not working with me), sauteed napa cabbage, and a big stack of roasted eggplant. The napa cabbage was just ok. (Lucky for me there are leftovers for tomorrow morning. Can you hear the lack of enthusiasm in my voice??) But the eggplant, oh the eggplant. It was delicious! I don't know if I'm just tired of cabbage (and really, who wouldn't be at this point) but this was some seriously fine eggplant. Absolutely amazing! I'll be having this stuff more in the future. And don't worry, I'll also post a tutorial on how you can have your own amazing eggplant. Yummmm...

Breakfast on Day 4 was seriously less than spectacular. So not spectacular that I refused to take a picture of it. What was it you asked? Well, I'll bet, considering that you know I had leftover cabbage and I've not made my love for fried eggs a secret, you already know! Yep, I had a big plate of leftover cabbage with 2 fried eggs on top. It was alright. I'm still struggling with this breakfast thing. But I refuse to give up!

(Cue heart-warming and optimistic music here)

Lunch was a salad with 2 hard boiled eggs, some grape tomatoes, and an avocado dressing that you should not try. No, I will not give you the recipe, nor even a clue about what was in it (other than avocado). Trust me, it's not worth it. Normally this kind of salad, sans the dressing, would be right up my alley; but for some reason, this just wasn't doing it for me. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's the amount of vegetables I've consumed in the last 4 days. Ya, WAY more than I normally eat. I'm still holding out that my body will get used to this and soon begin to like it. Heck, let's be real, I'm waiting for those vegetable cravings that I've laughed at heard about. But what's happening right now is that eating, something that used to be a joy, is starting to lose its appeal. Maybe that's what this whole thing is about. They make you eat all those yucky vegetables with every meal so that you start to hate eating and never want to do it again.

Whoa. I think that's the KILL ALL THE THINGS starting to come out. While I haven't wanted to kill Mr. HD or my sweet puppy, Lucy, I definitely am not having very nice thoughts about the creators of the Whole 30 program.

Moving on!

Dinner on Day 4 was again nothing spectacular. What was it? The LAST (FINALLY!!!) of our salmon and sauteed sweet potatoes (just cut, add some fat to the skillet, and cook; easiest thing ever). I also made Mr. HD eat the rest of the cabbage that was hanging out in our fridge.

What does that sound like, my friends?? A clean refrigerator??? YES!!!! Day 5 starts a brand new supply of (hopefully) yummy protein and veggies. I am beyond excited to try my hand at some new Whole 30-compliant recipe. Come back tomorrow to check it out!

Oh, and because this post isn't long enough, I thought that I'd share my major mishap, proving that we all can make mistakes. Costly mistakes. Yes, that's THREE, count them THREE, blocks of Kerry Gold butter that I tried making into ghee, then promptly forgot about when the Colts game came on.

I think my pan is ruined.

(Sad, pouty face)