A Whole Lot of Shock and Discovery : A Whole 30 Diary

I had a huge breakthrough discovery for week 4 that you MUST know about before I continue!

It's slightly killing me not to have a coffee drink in my hand, complete with 2% milk or half and half, BUT, I have found a solution for the time being! When visiting Starbucks or Caribou, tea is truly the only thing (next to water) that will usually be Whole30 compliant. It's kind of sad. Even though Starbucks offers "coconut milk", it is chock full of a ton of crap and you just can't have it. Heck, if the ever delicious vegan Mudpie Bakery has to use sugar when making their coconut milk, it's just all a lost cause in my book. But, if you must step foot into a coffee shop during your Whole30 and if you don't want to drink black coffee, the best thing you can do is to do your research beforehand. Look up the menu on your phone prior to going, scope out what you are allowed to have, ask questions, and make a wise decision. That is the best way you won't fail or surrender under pressure. 

That being said, I'm a sucker for a fun coffee on the way home from church sometimes! For the past few Sundays, we have had ZERO donut fun or coffee fun, but my husband was in the mood for a campfire mocha from Caribou. Honestly, if you are familiar with Caribou and their chocolate obsession, it's like a glorified hot chocolate with a ton of mini marshmallows floating on top.

So....yay for Craig.
My order lacked chocolate, but I was pleasantly surprised with what was handed!

HOT CINNAMON SPICE TEA!

Don't ask me for the brand, just go to Caribou. It somewhat reminds me of a cinnamon red hot candy! The ingredients consist of a blend of black teas, three (three!!) types of cinnamon, orange peel, and sweet cloves! I'm telling you, it tastes like it has sugar in it! I've never had tea like it and I would get it again!

That afternoon, as I sipped on my tea and the last of my Z-pak was kicking my sinus infection to the curb, I was determined to have another successful week of meal planning! I still had several items from my Costco run the week before and I wanted to incorporate a few of the same recipes into the current week.

I may have incorporated a lot of the same snacks too : Hard-boiled eggs, avocados, pineapple, kiwi, apples, and bananas. As you can see, I also slacked on the vegetables (again), but hey, no vegetables is better than mindlessly munching on candy and chips in the break room at work. Because before my Whole30, I would do that all.the.time. Just saying.

To prepare for quick dinners, I made the last rotisserie chicken from my 2-pak of Costco fryers! Although this time around, I wanted to try my hand at homemade chicken stock--also known as bone broth. I'm that weirdo that would normally take a chicken bouillon cube, drop it in a mug of water, heat it in the microwave, and think I was sipping the best broth in the world. More recently, I've heard of many people making their own broth and the many health benefits to drinking it. Seriously, there is too much information on it and I encourage you to research it for yourself! After cooking the chicken, I shredded everything and left the bones, juices, fatty pieces, and carcass in the crock-pot. At this point, you could also throw in vegetables such as celery, carrots, and onions, but I chose not to use them. I instead sprinkled a little bit of kosher salt, black pepper, and onion powder over the bones, covered them completely with water (cover them until they're covered, don't drown them), and set them on low for 12 hours! You can simmer the broth longer if you'd like, but 12 hours worked fine for me! Guys. This was SO good! I even tried to make a second batch, but unfortunately, the bones weren't having it and it turned out a little too watery for my liking.

I must admit that after that little fun experiment, my dinners for 3-4 busy nights out of the week consisted of a variety of my healthy snacks, my amAzing bone broth, and/or shredded chicken with Frank's Red Hot sauce.

The second half of the week settled down and Craig and I were finally home together to eat dinner. So what did I do? You know I made fish tacos--AGAIN. You can head on over to my last post for the yummy recipe details! SO GOOD!

The weekend arrived and I was so thankful to have a Saturday off work! Craig had a busy week so while he caught up on some much needed rest, I jumped out of bed and started making breakfast.
Remember those pancakes I made in week two? You know, when I whined and pouted about dinner being ruined and ended up making those pancakes in anger? Well, I followed the same recipe, but I added two bananas, 1/4 cup of tapioca flour, and several shakes of cinnamon! I decided they needed a little something extra so I took a bag of frozen blueberries and warmed them up over the stove. I poured them into my Ninja, blended them until smooth, and we used the puree as a topping! It was tart, but it balanced well with the sweetness of the pancakes. Our plates were completed with fried eggs and sauteed spinach and breakfast was served! Aren't you proud? A vegetable before dinner...

To finish out the week, I used the last of my spaghetti squash and brought back the yummy Buffalo Casserole for the weekend meals! Unfortunately, I ran out of eggs by that point so I decided to make it without mayonnaise. I was a little unsure about the texture turning out right, but it turned out just fine and tasted just as good as before!

 Oh my word, I feel like all I talk about is food anymore!
This post has been the recap of week four, but as I type this, I am officially DONE--I truly can't believe I finished!! I did WHAT?! Thank you, LORD!

 I will be recapping my final few days of my journey, sharing some of my new-found realizations as well as some websites and blogs that helped me, and what I hope my mindset will look like after the Whole30! I'm also excited to post about my first day of "freedom" and how I'm feeling as I introduce certain things back into my diet. Stay tuned and hang with me for a couple of more posts! I promise this has NOT turned into a Whole30 blog. Haha! Can you imagine? I'm already overwhelmed thinking about it.

If you're curious as to what the Whole30 is or you would simply like more information before starting your own journey, head over to www.Whole30.com!