Whole30 Days 10-15

Oh hey there, remember me? It's that girl that is always showing you pictures of her food!

So sorry to be MIA but I've just been busy living my friends, living and eating. Let's go back and I can share with you what I've been up to on this little Whole30 blogging hiatus. 

First of all, my will to create meals is falling to an all time low. Please review the following:

 << A dinner of eggs and a buttload of mushrooms and onions, because I just could not fathom the idea of making anything more elaborate>>

<< My previous nights dinner of eggs meant that I just could not crack another the following morning so I made a gigantic fruit bowl instead>>

<< My aversion to meat reached it's peak when I made chips and dipped them in garlic aioli>>

I've been feeling incredibly lethargic and tired lately and I couldn't figure out why when I had been feeling so awesome and energetic up until now:

I did a little research and I think the culprit is a lack of carbs. I never ever thought I would say that since I'm in love with carbs on an Oprah level (I LOVE BREAADDD!). But here we are and I'm working on getting the carbs back in so I can feel alive again!

I have started to try to get my will to prep actually food back. On Saturday I made some burgers:

I tried eating a patty in a salad and it was decent. I mixed my aioli, ketchup and mustard together and it was not too shabby. The aioli is a bit oily so I felt a little weighed down. I had another burger the next day with potatoes and asparagus and it was a much more fulfilling meal.

Last night we made home made pasta sauce and spaghetti squash:

It was definitely not perfect but I've got some ideas to improve it for next time (including ground beef because it just ain't spaghetti without it!)

Today I am feeling some sort of major hangover type feeling. I do not know what I haven't been getting enough of but I need to find out fast. I think I need to simultaneously eat a ton of fruit, scarf a potato, eat a steak, and take a nap. 

Most importantly: today is my half way point! So.dang.excited.WOAH WE'RE HALF WAY THERE! WOAAAH LIVING ON A PEAR (get it, get it!?)

Tonight I'm rock climbing, making a full roasted chicken and hopefully sleeping a.freaking.lot.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown

Living on a Pear 

Whole30 Day 8 and 9

Day 8 was a glorious, victorious, magnanimous day because I MAAADEE KETTTCHHHUPPP (please yell that in your best Oprah voice.)

After almost a week without my beloved ketchup I finally procured all of the ingredients necessary to make my own.

I also added dill to the ketchup (and managed to spill it just about everywhere) because oh my god if you haven't tried dill ketchup then you haven't met the new peanut butter and jelly. Soul mates.

I immediately put my ketchup to good use:

If you're wondering what home made ketchup tastes like: the answer is that it has a much stronger vinegar taste but that's the price you pay when you take a whack load of sugar out. If you can forget what you think ketchup should taste like and just try it, it's actually quite nice and it's a welcome vacation from all the salsas I was eating!

I also made mayo but I'm not so sure it turned out so I've been too scared to try it as of yet.

It's a tad green due to the extra virgin olive oil. The problem with the mayo came when it asked me to emulsify the ingredients which is a fancy word for try to pour the ingredients in slowly while the blender is spitting raw egg and olive oil in your face. So no, I did not emulsify properly and thus have water mayonnaise.

In other news, I did the dishes THREE separate times on day 9 during one round of cooking, probably more on day 8. I do dishes like it's my job, except it's not because I have an actually job that I go to for 8 hours a day, then I cook and do dishes and oh my lantah why can't I hire a chef please?

If you weren't jealous of me before you're probably even less jealous now, I tend to have that effect on people.

What I haven't talked about lately is how I feel. Yes, let's talk about our feelings. Well I'm feeling pretty wonderful these days. I'm really enjoying the way my body works when it's not feeling blurred by so many chemicals and sugars. I mentally feel a lot better, I don't feel as fuzzy as I did sometimes in the middle of shift and I also feel that the more you eat better and respect your body the more you appreciate it and see it in a positive light. What I'm try to say is: I'm feeling myself (A la Nicki Minaj and Beyonce). 

For now that's about all I've got, the usual food photos with a small tangent on feelings, ending with a link to Nicki and Queen B.

Happy Wednesday friends!

From desk of:

Taylor Brown
Queen T

Whole30 Day 5, 6 and 7

Has it seriously been a week already? It feels like no time has passed at all, but also, like I have a long way to go.

Are you sick of seeing pictures of my food yet? This post probably won't help because that's about all I have.

Friday started off pretty well. It's amazing the things you can get done before 9am. I woke up early, made some chicken breasts, cleaned the kitchen and made this delicious breakfast...

...all before Tessa showed up for an early morning visit. We spent the morning chatting over tea before I had to go to work for the day (womp womp).

Saturday was a weird day because I had to work again (I reiterate: womp womp). It was actually an interesting day Whole30 wise since I had to face my first struggle with eating out with people who are not my family. Work was ordering in lunch, which gave me instant anxiety, until I found out we were ordering Subway. I still had to work around it though. I knew there was no way I could eat their salad dressing and I didn't trust their chicken so I made my own and ordered a plain salad loaded with veggies.

I used this salad dressing recipe. Double the garlic and you'll be in heaven, just make sure to carry around an extra toothbrush with you for everyone else's sake.

After work we went right out for drinks with friends which was so wonderful but I actually ended up in me not eating until 10pm! That's the struggle of Whole30, it's pretty hard to find things to eat out. Surprisingly I wasn't starving though. I feel like I've been eating a lot of high protein meals lately so it's done me some favours when it comes to being out with nothing I can order.

Sunday I finally got to take some time to myself, which of course I spent at the grocery store and prepping meals. I didn't mind because it gave me a chance to exhibit what I call "Grocery Belt Pride." Do you ever put all of your things on the grocery belt and feel like "dayuummm I am so healthy, this is incredibly impressive. Everyone check me out!"? No? Well I do soooo....yeah.

For lunch I had some shishkabobs and they made my entire day. For dinner I went to Swiss Chalet with my family and was forced to order some bland chicken and vegetables. It's so much better eating at home for the Whole30. At least I can have some salsa at home!

And that is my recap for the past three days. Hope you're enjoying the mass amount of food photos, I'm sure you don't see enough of those on instagram already. But just in case, here's a picture of my kale socks, I know instagram is probably lacking in pictures of people's feet as well:

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Grocery Store Snob

Whole30 Day 3 and 4

Here is an accurate depiction of how I felt on Whole30 Day 3:

I was pretty much living the life of a Hawaiian goddess thanks to the copious amounts of pineapple salsa I had taken to consuming. It is the perfect pair for basically any meat dish.

I had a pretty great day and felt full all throughout. I had dinner out with my family for my Grandma's 80th birthday and that's where my true willpower was put to the test. I ordered a grilled chicken breast, steamed vegetables, and a plain baked potato. It all seemed like an incredibly boring order but it was actually delicious.

There's definitely a lot less of a chance for excitement when you're dining out because you have to be so cautious of what you're eating and what's been added to it. I was wishing I had some pineapple salsa to add to my meal so people would stop looking at me like I was torturing myself. Then I could be like "see guys, I'm happy! I swear!" Regardless, I did have a really great meal with a group of really great people.

I came home and immediately began slicing and dicing to make some long awaited salsa:

Ehh...needs pineapple.

Now, to how I'm feeling on Whole30 day 4:

Today I'm feeling a little bit more of the hangover that I read that I would be feeling around this time. (Full disclosure: I'm not 100% sure whether I actually feel this way or whether I read that I would and began having a bad case of hypochondria). Nonetheless, today just feels a lot better when I'm sitting down.

I'm starting to dream of some new recipes I'd like to try once this week is out and I'm mentally adding the ingredients for a chili, or maybe even a roasted chicken??

So far my life has been spent in the kitchen or the grocery store but it hasn't bothered me yet. I think I need to acquaint myself with the art of food prep.

And that's where I am with this thing called the Whole30 so far. Until next time!

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Owner of a Mounting To-Make/To-Eat List

Whole30 Day 1 and 2

Whole30 day one started off pretty promising:

I woke up pretty excited about the journey ahead and was even feeling optimistic when my coffee didn't taste as great without sweetener (I blended it up with coconut oil and a dash of cinnamon) or when I realized I needed to make ketchup or salsa ASAP but didn't have the ingredients.

I felt pretty full all during rock climbing that morning but when we got home mid afternoon I got seriously hangry. My hanger stemmed from the fact that I was starving and I knew that I had to actually make something. The hardest part I've found so far is that there isn't very much grab and go with the Whole30, not unless you want to subside on Larabars and fruit. I tried to keep myself happy with some almonds while I made this abomination for lunch:

Literally just potatoes and onions. Jordan keeps making fun of me because I love ketchup and I keep making things that go so well with ketchup. I'm making things harder on myself, I know.

Dinner didn't help much either since we were all having dinner at my mom's house and I had to special order a plain chicken breast and vegetables. The secret to my family's amazing cooking is that they put butter on everything. Eating the pre-buttered vegetables that I had to request made me realized that there are some veggies I don't actually like when they don't have butter on them. This is something I realized while staring at a mountain of turnip, still feeling hungry but unable to bring another bite to my mouth. Life is tough my friends.

Mostly I just felt hungry all day long yesterday. I tried to stave it off with snacks of fruit, cups of tea, and activities like making almond milk:

I still felt the need to be slightly miserable yesterday. Luckily Tessa is going through this with me and I had her to complain to/relate with (thanks for listening to me gripe, Tess!)

Today was a better. I woke up and was pretty dang happy. I mean, how could I not be:

Look at that scene guys, freaking fantastic.

I spent the morning cooking because this is my life now. I made eggs again, this time with onions because right now that's the only way I can think to add flavour. I started making chicken meatballs until I found out the ground chicken was still frozen so I tabled that until later tonight. With nothing to eat for lunch/dinner and since I knew I had to be well prepared today since I'm working 12-8 I got to work making the worlds most amazing pineapple salsa:

I don't know if this looks like much to you guys, maybe it even looks gross but I'm having an internal revolution right now. I'm actually not that big a fan of meat without ketchup, I know, I'm the worst. But I know I need to eat it or I'll never feel full again without wheat or dairy so I've gotta find ways to eat it and this salsa is everythinggggg.

For lunch I had two hard-boiled eggs wrapped in prosciutto. I don't know if that's weird but it was a great combo in my books and a seriously amazing source of protein. I've also been snacking on fruit and almonds to keep me going.

I'm feeling pretty positive on day two over here and I'm on my way to the grocery store after work which should only make things better.

Here's to the next 28 days, which by no means, do I think will be smooth, so prepare yourself to hear about that.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Recovering Ketchup Addict

What is the Whole30?

In a previous post I mentioned I would be doing the Whole30 and you were probably life whaaaaaaaaattttt?

So here's the basics:

That's right my friends. For 30 days I will not consume any sugar of any kind (probably the hardest part! Ahhh!), grains, legumes, dairy, or alcohol.

You're probably like "WHAT'S LEFT!?" I know, I know, but think about it: we've got all meats,seafood and eggs, all fruits, all vegetables, nuts and seeds. Basically this will be thirty days of clean, clean eating.

So, why do they ask you to take these specific foods out of your diet? Commonly these are highly inflammatory foods. Meaning, they tend to reek havoc on your digestive system, and without actually being diagnosed with lactose intolerance or celiac disease, we have no idea what they're doing to our bodies. NO I'm not saying that we should all be gluten and dairy free, and either is the Whole30, since foods with gluten and dairy have great nutritional value, all of these goods just generally cause body issues that we don't notice because they are either slightly minor, or we have been living with them so long that we categorize them as normal. It's only by taking these foods out of our system that we find how they effect our bodies. For more information visit: here, here, here, here, and here.

What am I doing the Whole30?

1. I want to change my relationship with food
One of the main things they mention about the Whole30 is that it will change the way you think about food. Right now, I doing feel that I am very mindful with what I eat. I try not to eat more than three times a day, I try to avoid foods that are bad for me, but beyond that, I don't give it much thought. I want to think about how my food fuels my body, why I'm eating when I'm eating, why I'm eating what I'm eating and change my relationship from something that I either find myself over-indulging in, or eating in resentment (because it's healthy, but I would rather something tastier), to focusing on what the foods can do for me.

2. I want to kill my sugar addiction
Sugar is in everything and I find that sugary foods, when I'm not being mindful, can become kind of compulsive to eat. If I don't really think about what I'm eating I can sometimes find that I'll automatically reach out for that sugary treat at work or after dinner without a thought and regret it later.

3. I love a good challenge
I never played any sports when I was a kid but I have found that I do have a competitive side so I like to compete with myself and see if I can show everyone what I can do.

So Monday February 15th this thing is on my friends. There is a day-by-day guide in the book that I will be following and writing posts based on how I feel compared with how they told me I would so stay tuned for that, and maybe some whining, or even some mental breakthroughs.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Whole30 Participant

Greetings from the Capital

Last weekend was Tessa's birthday and when someone turns 25, you need to do it right. We took Friday off work and drove the 5 hours up to our Nations Capital for one of my favourite weekends to date.

Fridays drive went by surprisingly fast and we got into Ottawa around 7pm. We relaxed for a little bit while waiting for Erika and Ty to show up before going out for dinner.

Apparently the City of Ottawa is not scared of a little ice. That paired with the fact that Tessa took us off the beaten path on our way to the restaurant meant that I fell (to everyone's amusement), and everyone else used the ice to slide down hills along the way. What a mess we are.

The next day we spent the afternoon at Winterlude looking at ice sculptures and walking around the Byward Market while waiting for Nathan to arrive on his bus.

Once he arrived we quickly ate dinner before heading out to a Craft Beer and Art Gallery Tour. It was a great way to spend the night with friends in a way we wouldn't usually (even if we didn't quite understand everything we looked at).

After that we went down to a pool hall to spend the rest of the night embarrassing ourselves with our lack of skills.

The next day led to a slightly rough wakeup, followed by a much needed breakfast, and finished up with a very sleepy car ride.

All together it was a completely amazing weekend. I had so much fun with some of my very favourite people on the planet. Maybe next time we go the city will have thawed a bit.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Ice Monster

Chop Chop

Once upon time my hair was long:

Yup, that's three years of work right there. Not for the faint of heart.

The original goal was something evocative of a Victoria's Secret Model but due to my extreme lack of skill in the hair department, coupled with a lack of will to deal with that amount of hair, I generally just started hating it and dreamt of the day when I could chop it off. With a wedding on the way I held back, but 7 days after said wedding I rocked this:

And now I can't even stop taking selfies because I love it so much. That's not vanity, that's just bliss my friend.

Look how happy this head is:

I've also learned how to actually do my hair, as opposed to rocking a cycle of straight hair and ponytails.

In other news, learning how to do my hair means also that for each time I have curled my hair I have given myself a serious burn. Being a girl is no joke guys, I'm talking the instant blister kinda burn. It is not pretty...but my hair is.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Burn Victim

Wedded Bliss

Jordan's brother got married a couple weeks ago and it was ah.maze.ing.

We were both in the wedding party so we got to be right on the front lines the whole time, which was so much fun.

The night before the bridal party went out for nails and dinner, and the boys got together to hang out and have some drinks. The next morning the boys basically ate all day while the girls had to head out bright and early to the salon for hair and makeup. We basically spent the whole day getting ready and Jordan told me that the entire group of groomsmen got ready in 15 minutes. So unfair but honestly... so worth it. Nobody looks at the boys anyways due to the fact that basically every suit looks the exact same. At least we get to have some fun with our outfits.

Exhbit A: My Hair

I know. I know. I was a milkmaid/bridesmaid and it was a dreammmm.

Once the wedding was over we drank, and then we danced and had a really, really, really good time.

<< Classiest humans to ever walk the Earth>>

<<Look at this bride, people!>>

I was so glad to see those two get married. It was a true treat.

From the desk of:

Taylor Brown
Dance Enthusiast