Whole30 Day 2: Knifecapades

You'll recall I recently confessed to a chopping hatred. And so when someone in a Whole30 Facebook group I'm a part of posted a link to this simple chopping machine, I said "oh heck yes" and added it to my Bed Bath and Beyond list ... right next to "French Press." (Priorities, people).

And so after cutting, cutting, cutting carrots for soup, food for salad and fruit for kiddos, I asked Luke to please sharpen our knives, which he did ... and then I broke out that bad boy chopper to demolish some onions (my least favorite food to dice).

But to use it I had to cut the onion in half. With the freshly sharpened knife.

(Can you see where this is going?)

Thwump, the onion slipped from under the knife and kwop, the knife cut into my two fingers instead -- not badly, but enough for me to stand there gasping at the fact that I had just managed to slice myself. Because I'm awesome. And I've got skillz.

Luke helped me to bandaids. And then finished the onion business for me in addition to doing a bunch of other things that one cannot do when one cannot get one's hand wet ... like washing dishes (if you didn't know better, you'd think this was simply anti-dish antics! Bwahahah).

Today has been another big day of cooking, mostly in preparation for not having to cook later. I really dislike spending this much time in the kitchen, and frankly doing so is not sustainable. I have a job. And kids. Hopefully I can figure out a way to multitask making breakfast ahead of time while cooking dinner each night.

Before I get to the grub, though, let's talk about how we're feeling mentally and physically. This is the second day of no processed carbs and no sugar, and Luke is definitely feeling some cravings. He told me today that for breakfast at work he normally eats two slices of toast (on the way to PT), two packets of instant oatmeal and two bowls of cereal (all after PT). He really wanted a sandwich for lunch, but confessed that the shrimp salad creation he concocted up was excellent. He also said he is feeling low on energy, even though he's eaten a ton today.

Dave has complained about being hungry, but this is likely more because he hasn't been eating what I put in front of him. Poor kid misses his nutella sandwich. He seemed completely pleased with a banana dipped in almond butter, though.

And me? Well, I'm definitely getting the cold the boys had mid-week. I took an hour long nap and feel better rested but in no better health. Sneezing. Runny nose. The works. (Awesome). Even though it looks like a VERY sunny, comfortable day from this window, the high was 37. A run was not in the cards for me thanks to this cold, but that's OK. I'm happy for an excuse to stay in. I'm not missing my morning latte -- more a comfort item than a caffeine need -- thanks to my coffee maker and (starting tomorrow) my french press.

And we all managed to resist temptation, including free (gasp!) girl scout cookies in the mall AND left over Valentine's Day candy in WalMart AND the wafting scent of Auntie Anne's.

Now, back to food we ARE eating. First what I prepared today for later and then what we're eating for meals.

Prepared:

Since I gave up on finding ghee in this area, I clarified my own butter. It was time consuming, but hopefully will last a long time. Find the recipe and instructions here.

I made bone broth using the chicken carcass from Thursday. I used this broth as a base for the soup I'll talk about in a second. I used this recipe.

Tomorrow's lunch will be carrot soup (which you can find here). The recipe made a giant bowl full -- plenty for main course Sunday lunch and a side serving over lunch for a few days. The soup is creamy looking and taste tests reveal it needs some serious salt/pepper. Making it was EXTREMELY labor intensive, and I don't see me doing that again. (Chop the carrots, roast the carrots. Chop onion/garlic, sauté onion/garlic. Boil broth with ginger/thyme. Boil carrots, onion/garlic with broth. Blend it all up. = too many dishes). Luke is unlikely to be happy about soup for lunch, so I'll probably thaw a chicken breast for him. I'll be happy with it served next to a hard boiled egg or two.

Now, here's what we ate today (or are eating for dinner -- which is about 45 minutes away):

Breakfast:
Leftover frittata from yesterday for me and Huck
Coffee with coconut milk for me
Fried eggs and sweet potato hash for Luke, Dave and Huck
Snack not long thereafter of banana and almond butter for Dave ... since I only cooked him two eggs instead of his normal three, and he refused to touch the hash.

Snack:
Small handful of almonds for me since I was dragging (unclear whether dragging caused by getting sick or being hungry -- but it did make me feel better).

Lunch:
Roast chicken salad for me, this time topped with this vinaigrette dressing. I'll be using this one over and over again because I like vinaigrette and the recipe made a ton.
Spicy shrimp salad for Luke, using his own concoction of peppers and raw shrimp leftover from last night. He cooked it up and put it on the salad with raisins and the same dressing recipe we used yesterday. He said it was delicious. But you could tell he still wished it was a sandwich.
Yogurt (this is our only non-Whole30 allowance ... and it's only for the boys who I think need the extra source of fat and, frankly, a meal that's EASY for me to "prepare" around lunch) with fruit and avocado on the side for Dave and Huck.

Dinner:
Fresh roast chicken (same recipe as Day One) and crockpot baked sweet potatoes (just stick those bad boys in the crockpot on low for 8 hours and you're good to go). We'll probably have a side of fruit as well -- strawberries? -- and we'll be using the clarified butter on our potatoes. Leftover chicken will be popped in the freezer and I may make more bone broth with the carcass -- haven't decided yet.

And with that, day two is a wrap!