The oddity, wit, whimsy, and creativity of this soul...

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

A Whole Lot of Vitamin C and Ice Cream : A Whole30 Diary

I have just gotten over a terrible head cold turned sinus infection that I've been fighting for the last couple of weeks, which in turn, made the Whole30 torturous during week two! Meal planning was on the fly, nothing sounded good, and when I was hungry, I wanted pizza, non-compliant soup, and toast.

I'm not going to break down the week for you like I did in my first Whole30 post. Being sick made me tired and I was not keeping up with a detailed food diary each day. It was Craig's birthday week so we had a couple of birthday outings, but for the most part, I ate a LOT of fruit (all in the name of Vitamin C!), plain guacamole or sweet potato mash here and there, drank a lot of Tazo hot tea, and had a few Apple Pie Lara Bars. Nothing sounded good at all and I was having too much drainage to actually feel hungry. It was definitely not a balanced Whole30 week at all, but I am still extremely proud of myself that I didn't cave!

I took a trip to Trader Joe's on Monday morning (stocking up on those plantain chips), but my main reason for heading out that way was to pick up one of Craig's birthday treats! My husband LOVES macarons and has always been picky to find and eat the best ones! We are slightly limited in finding fresh and amazing macarons here in the city, but I found Luluboo Macarons through a Google and Yelp search! Yelp offered a little bit of back history on Rachel and her business of Luluboo Macarons. She had visited France a few years ago and fell in love with the sweet and delicate treats! After returning to the states, she spent two years perfecting her own macarons before opening up her business so I knew they must be good! I ordered a box of 12 for Craig and couldn't wait to give them to him! Needless to say, he loved them and we'll definitely be repeat customers!




After running my errands, I decided to make his birthday "cake" ahead of time. He loves Dairy Queen ice cream cakes (who doesn't?!), but unfortunately, they don't make mini cakes, and I was not about to buy a huge cake if I couldn't eat any of it! That looming monster of goodness in my freezer--are you kidding me? So instead, I found a fun and easy recipe on Pinterest and proceeded to make the cutest mini ice cream cakes. You need a half gallon of ice cream (whatever flavor you like!), an 8 oz. container of Cool Whip, one package of Oreos, and a mini cheesecake pan (like this one)!

As promised to my Whole30 rebels, the full recipe for the ice cream cake(s) can be found here.

After such a tempting, sugary afternoon, we had tilapia and steamed, lightly salted broccoli for dinner that night. Glamorous, right?

Tuesday was Craig's actual birthday, and after much research to find a restaurant that could cater to my restrictions, I had finally decided to make reservations at Houston's on the Plaza! We loved the candlelit atmosphere! The menu was full of items that sounded SO good (they are known for their spinach artichoke dip), but I was already determined to choose the rotisserie chicken (sans the apricot glaze) with a side of broccoli instead of couscous. It was literally half of a rotisserie chicken! I felt better knowing that I was getting a lot of protein since my week wasn't starting off so great. As I've said before, it can be extremely frustrating to eat out during the Whole30, and some choose to ask their server a multitude of questions, but I am not too picky about organic or grass fed meat. I choose the menu item that is the most compliant, substituting a few things if I must, and that's that.

  When we got home, I removed two of the mini ice cream cakes from their molds, drizzled them with Hershey's dark chocolate syrup, dressed them up with sprinkles, and a stuck a candle in one of them! They looked so good! Craig loved them and has been eating them every night after dinner. I make sure to decorate them for him each time too! Guys, we are huge Masterchef fans so we like to practice and show off our "plating skills" from time to time, haha! I made him save me one, and once I'm done with this Whole30, I'll be sure to take a picture of my very own ice cream cake and post it!

Like I said, meal planning was so haphazard for week two and that alone felt like failing. Meal preparation is such a huge part of the Whole30! I was getting frustrated at not finding organic fryers to make my own rotisserie chicken, our stove was acting wonky so I wasn't using it and couldn't make hard-boiled eggs, and aside from making fried eggs, I felt at a loss for protein. Eggs, eggs, eggs. Blah. I was so frustrated at one point that I went ahead and bought a rotisserie chicken at Price Chopper while doing some on the fly grocery shopping! I checked the ingredients and it seemed better than the Costco rotisserie chickens, but it still wasn't up to the Whole30 standard. I ate a small amount of it until I finally found organic fryers at Costco towards the very end of the week!  
 My frustrations didn't end with the lack of protein. I had planned to make fish tacos one night and it actually sounded so good and I was excited! Ever since we had them in Vegas, it's one of my favorite dinner items to make and we love them! It's usually such a quick meal to put together, but being on the Whole30, I had to find an alternative to our normal store bought tortillas and make more homemade mayo for the coleslaw. I quickly found a compliant recipe for the tortillas and started to make the mayo. I had already made it during my first week of the Whole30 and my first attempt was a success! Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky my second time around. Or my third. Or my fourth. I tried making that mayo THREE times and each time it separated on me! I got so frustrated and had to scratch the whole dinner because it was taking too long! Believe me, our store bought tortillas and my jar of normal mayonnaise were screaming at me from the fridge! I could've easily whipped out both items and been done with dinner in half the time! I considered caving, but I didn't. I won't lie. I kinda pouted. Craig was not at a loss for food, but I felt like I was! Again, due to my lack of meal planning, I didn't have much to work with, but I had to eat something! I was about to become a magician with my one ripe banana and my trusty eggs. Thank goodness I found a compliant recipe for almond flour banana pancakes (found here). They are a good idea for something to make in a pinch, but honestly, my heart wasn't in it that night---and I was still sad about those non-existent fish tacos.

To finish out such a crazy week, Craig's Christmas (New Year?) party was held downtown that Saturday night. Normally, I'm excited to see what kind of food is catered to these kinds of events, but I was right in assuming I probably wouldn't be able to eat any of it. Hello, water---and lots and lots of noise. Perfect for my head cold. At least I had a hot date!

I am currently in week four, but dang, that head cold did me in good. Not only did I have a crazy week two, but I obviously lagged behind on getting these diary posts up on time! I promise to have week three posted later this week---trust me, it was WAY better! I even got to make those amazing fish tacos, thank the LORD. Be sure to check back in a few days!




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