Day 29: Best Meal Ever!

Wow, one full day left of Whole30. And then what will I do with myself!? Probably eat the same ol' paleo stuff. :) I like love eating healthy... pretty challenging and fun and... healthy! I never worried about reading labels, but this diet has helped me to see all the weird things they put in food.

Meal 1: Sausage, spaghetti squash with spaghetti sauce
Meal 2: Chicken (a bite or two; gave the rest to Jimmy), then cooked myself a hamburger with riced cauli.
Meal 3: Grilled chicken with mango salsa. And Beanitos bean chips... which I probably shouldn't have had, but hey, we'll know what made me sick tomorrow. ;)

Just been snacking throughout the day... and, I know, my veggies have been lacking... I noticed that. There could be worse things. >.<

Finally went to Giant and bought more groceries. I brought Jae with me not realizing the time. Brought him during dinner time and he was starving and sleepy LOL! He was laying his head on the handle to the cart, so bored and so tired and so hungry. Poor! Joey wasn't fed when I got home, so Jimmy cooked a pizza for the boys and himself. Jimmy must have been having withdrawals and put a bunch of JUNK food on the list. I was bummed it actually all fit in the freezer(s) lol. Oh, well. He will never eat the way I do, but at least my kids can eat like me someday! :) Still working on Joey!

{mango salsa}

I have been wanting mango salsa for the past 24 hours. I'm glad I was able to go to the store today and buy a mango. Oh, my... this was DIVINE! I ate and ate and overate! SO good!
{recipe here}
I didn't add avocado because we didn't have any ripe ones. I did not add jalapeño. I did not add red onion, just used a yellow onion.

BTW, if you saw on the interwebz about eating raw onion leftover in the fridge is bad to eat... it's not. "Don't believe everything you read on the internet." --Abraham Lincoln

These are the Beanitos chips that Bonnie told me about. I once was at the health foods store and asked her if she needed anything. She wanted a bag of these black bean chips, but there weren't any on the shelf! Anyway, they are made of: Whole Black Beans, Whole Grain Rice (Brown and/or Long Grain White), Pure Sunflower Oil, Guar Bean Gum, Sea Salt. I don't think the Guar Bean Gum is Whole30 approved and I know the Rice isn't either. Oops. But, Jimmy even liked them! YES!

They also have Pinto Bean Beanitos. The Chipotle BBQ kind has sugar in it, but I probably wouldn't have bought those ones anyway. ;)

Good meal. I'm so satisfied! Nom nom nom!

Day 28: Boring

While I was taking a shower, the boys pushed a chair to the freezer, got the bag of chocolate chips (only 1/4 bag left), and ate the rest of them. Joey was caught with a brown goatee:

Meal 1: I don't remember! Hamburger maybe?
Meal 2: Hamburger with riced cauliflower. I got the recipe from Amber!
Meal 3: I don't remember, hamburger or chicken?

It did all consist of either hamburger or chicken, riced cauliflower or spaghetti squash, spaghetti sauce or salad.

The end.

{Recipe here}

Doesn't it look yummy!? It tasted yummy! I cooked mine in coconut oil and left out the spice.

Yes, I took that picture... I did a fantastic job! :)

Day 26: Spaghetti Sauce

Meal 1: 1 1/2 pieces of sausage, banana, and sauteed carrots in coconut oil. Man, those are my favorite! Nom nom nom.

Meal 2: Grilled chicken, avocado??, banana? I don't ever remember all my meals. >.< Oh, I had some pizza. That's cheating! I know it was against what my body wanted, but...... I just wanted to see what it'd do. LOL! I'm fine.. :)

Meal 3: Spaghetti squash, spaghetti sauce, grilled chicken breast and 2 slices of avocado. I made the spaghetti sauce! I'm so rad! 

Real Good Food FTW:

I made spaghetti sauce minus the meat because I want to be able to eat it with grilled chicken or with hamburger. I guess I could put pork sausage in there, but I'm not a fan of sausage in red sauce. 

{show and tell}

I guess this notice shouldn't apply to me since they don't even know how to spell my name:

Joey Bean is feeling a little sick. A little feverish and he slept a long time today. 2 naps which were both at least 2 hours long. I just thought this was so, so cute the way he was sleeping!

 Messy Face Joe:

Day 18: Good Day!

Meal 1: I believe I had Kalua Pork with some lettuce? I am stopping rice again. Makes me bloated, so I should probably add that in later. Ha--if only I would just stick to the Whole30, eh?
Meal 2: Curry chicken from the freezer that Bonnie made.
Meal 3: More Kalua Pork with Romaine lettuce and kale, tomato, balsamic vinaigrette I made (thanks to Amber's giving me the idea), and some sauteed carrots and onions in coconut oil.

Man. I love coconut oil! So good! I will eventually get to have more baked goods and this stuff is so yummy melted on top!

I took the boys outside today. Just on some playground equipment around our apartment. The first one we went to was just some steps to a slide that NEITHER boy went down. :|  Then we walked a little further to another playground and the boys went down the open slide. For some reason they don't like the tube slides.

I did laundry and should probably finish folding it and write my Thank You cards. I have pictures to post, but I don't know where I put my camera. I'll post them tomorrow!

Day 16: Not Much Energy

Meal 1: Sausage, sauteed veggies in coconut oil, and a piece of Paleo bread. (Which I have now discovered that almond flour doesn't do my body good, so I will try almond flour at a later time.)
Meal 2: I can't even remember what I had for lunch..
Meal 3: Turkey meatballs and spaghetti squash. Unfortunately I didn't have time to make any tomato sauce for it. Gross, I know.

I was very tired today, my guess is some thyroid issues. Who knows? :) But, I was able to get a good night's rest!

We went to the park today and the boys had fun! The weather was beautiful! Jimmy played tag with Jimmy and then I had zero energy to play tag with Jae when he asked me to. I walked, but somehow that was just enough for Jae. :)

This pic won't flip, but I really love Joey's shoes! They used to be Jae's and I think they're the cutest things:

Day 14: Tired

My meals haven't been "on schedule" today as we were out and about. We spent the day at Gettysburg (Gbg) and went to the Outlets. I fell asleep on the drive home, though!

Meal 1: Soup from Rie! Mexican/Thai creation. So yummy! And some rice. >.<

Meal 2: Hamburger and.. rice again. Eep! (Don't worry, it's almost gone. I just need to make some mashed cauliflower or riced cauliflower and keep it in the fridge for a nice "base".) And, some orange!

Meal 3: Hamburger (it had to be eaten today; failed to put it in the freezer). Sauteed peppers and onions in coconut oil. Romaine lettuce and kale. Avocado dip.

{Gbg}

We drove on South Confederate Avenue, which includes Little Round Top and Big Round Top. It was cold and I wanted to go back in the car. Joey loved it! He hated getting back in his carseat when it was time for the next stop. Here are just some pictures of Gbg:

Commemorates Alabama's 16 infantry regiments, 1 infantry battalion, and two batteries who took part in the battle. 1933. Confederate lines facing Cemetery Ridge.

This tower is to commemorate the regiment designed to be Ellsworth's Avenger's. 1893.

Commemorates the Union state. 1910. Cemetery Ridge.

Jae and hand dryer. 2013. Bathroom at Gbg Outlet Mall.

{i need sleep}

I seriously need to stop blogging every night if I want to get more sleep! Arrrgh!  But, I had an eventful evening with a friend who could help me understand more about listening to our bodies; how to know what your body needs; how to help my kids with reactions to certain foods, etc. Thank you for taking the time to educate me and to help me gain the desire to learn! xoxo

{symptoms}

tired

energy!

Day 5: Mixed Emotions

Meal 1: I don't remember. Chicken and applesauce maybe? (I really need to go grocery shopping; this is getting repetitious. But, I probably wouldn't prep anything even if I did go shopping.)
Meal 2: I made almond flour pancakes and fried a prosciutto. I may or may not have cheated on this one. I can't remember what's a cheat and what's not. Killed me making those things, though. My legs hurt somethin' fierce today. Maybe it was the rain; no joke. Jae LOVED these! Joey, not so much.

(last bottle of Gatorade. Promise the boys will go Paleo when I have more energy or get my act together. Whichever comes first.)

This is a rare occurrence from Jae: 

Meal 3: Trying to think of what I could eat. It's 9:47pm and probably too late to eat dinner anyway. I've been a bit.. emotional.. as they say.. didn't have an appetite for anything.

{my day}

Today was awesome, though! Happy day, sad evening.  This morning, my friends were able to help me out.. a lot! They came and cleaned my kitchen! Like, deep-cleaning cleaned. I crawled around the living room tidying up as much as I could. Jae went to friend's husband to play and I put Joey down for a nap, so he slept while we were all cleaning. I am so grateful for their service! I know my friend may feel the works of her labor tomorrow morning, so I am very grateful to her! When my friend dropped Jae back home, he had a flower for me! Apparently before I got to the door, Jae told her he wouldn't eat the flower. LOL! She took him to the floral shop and he picked out the flower. So, so sweet! Girl, you sure know how to brighten one's day! Ok, and Jae! :)

i < 3 my gerber daisy!

As I was getting lunch cleaned up, I hear Jae calling for me. "Mom! Come hewe, come hewe! It's an emewgency!" (How does he know how to use that word?!) I went over to the pantry and there was Joey.. throwing jarred baby food (why do I still have those?) on the floor. The carrots broke open, so I put him in his crib so I could clean up the mess. Jae was so cute and wanted to help, but I told him it was dangerous with the broken glass. (Ha ha, how'd you know? Here comes a YouTube vid..)

Yes, the little stinker even smiled and said, "cheese" for the camera.

By the time I got that cleaned up, I was exhausted! I went to go take a nap and let the boys mess up the living room. >.<  Then, a little later, there was a knock on the door. It was another friend! Oh, crumb! Totes forgot she was coming to cut Jae's hair. Ha ha! I'm glad she remembered! How awesome and what a great service! It was fun to visit with her while she cut Jae's hair.

I'm so humbled by all this service! Relief Society is such a wonderful organization! I'm still trying to figure all this food out, but I'll get there! In the meantime, meals, haircuts, cleaning, and babysitting have helped me so much! I'm not the best in receiving service, but I love to give service!

Before Jimmy got home from class, I locked myself in my room and had a little crying fest, ha ha!  Just over-analyzing things. And then, Kristina called me! I had been texting her earlier. It was great talking to her--we were roommates for a little while at BYUH. I guess I just don't think to call people because I never have minutes. >.<  We both have 2 boys about the same age and it was a treat to actually talk to her. And then I texted/chatted with Amy and Amber and all my problems seemed so small. Time will do what will happen with my health. In the meantime, I hope this is my only cry-fest for the next 2 months. ;)

{next}

Jimmy let the boys in the room and we all hung out before bed.

Brothers :)

(I was actually trying to get a pic of Jae because he is so handsome w/ his new haircut and Joey decided he wanted in, too):

(Well, this was as best I could do. He doesn't hold still for very long.)

Tomorrow will be a great day of rest for me! A sister in the ward is going to take the boys for me for a couple of hours. How wonderful!

And... This is the song you were thinking of, too--right?!
{symptoms} leg heaviness tiredness lightheadedness etc. :P

Day 4: Energy for 2 Minutes

Guys, it was awesome! After Jimmy left for York, I actually got out of bed, got the kids fed, got something for myself, and then I got super tired. For 2 minutes I had energy; it felt great! It's like a teaser, though. Ha ha! I actually was able to get the dishes done and cook a meal (instead of resulting to leftovers). Still tired and legs heavy/tingling, though. Here are a few pictures of our day:

Jae admitted to taking my yarn and doing this to Joey's crib. I don't even know WHEN he did this! Could've been last night when they weren't sleeping or this morning.

Jae is getting a haircut tomorrow.

Jae wanted to make a flower. So cute! Instead of telling him, "after I sleep," I made him a flower. I also let him glue some googly eyes on a piece of paper. I was preparing dinner, so didn't see how much he used. Pretty sure all that glue could cover the whole piece of paper. I think you can see it in a picture later on.

 Dinner was some kind of glazed chicken. Ha, too lazy to go check the recipe book. (Yes, that is a picture of out of the book in case mine didn't turn out so well.) ;) They turned out great, BTW!

This is Joey dumping his water on toys and on the carpet.

This is what my living room looks like on a daily basis. Unless we know someone is coming. Because we all know that you clean the fastest and the most is 10 minutes before somebody comes over. Jae likes to "droy duh touwch" and the boys love to climb all over and play on them. Pick your battles, right?

 This is what you DON'T see in pic posted above. It's just what happens when you're so tired.

I feel bad I'm not one of those wifeys that clean up before the husband comes home. It gets too crazy: you can have dinner or you can have a clean apartment. It's too much to keep up. I think I clean up the living room once a week.

What I look like when I hear the front door unlock and the house is a mess:

 This is how I feel inside about not cleaning:

But, at least hubby has dinner!

Yep. You know you love me.

Dinner for the boys was Pillsbury crescent rolls (they were in the fridge and needed to get eaten), Jae is having peaches, and some shredded chickens. (Yeah, Jae doesn't use his fork; he pretends he's a crane. Someday I will teach him table etiquette! I did, but then he got obsessed with cranes.)

Joey wasn't dressed for this occasion so I won't post the picture, but he had rice, applesauce, and shredded chicken.

Here is my Meal 3.. lettuce, shredded chicken, and peaches. I ended up throwing away the lettuce because it was frozen. (And, there is Jae's glue with paper.) 

Meal 1: chicken marrow broth with shredded chicken. I think I had a piece of fruit, too.
Meal 2: Pears in my salad with shredded chicken.
Meal 3: Peaches and chicken. And some mac nuts.

I'm pretty horrible at these meals and I'm not supposed to be eating that much fruit I don't think. I'm going to do a meal plan for a week and do the shopping and prep some stuff if i can. It will be a long process, so until then, I'm just eating chicken. I need more beef!

It was a better day than I've had in a while. Still tired, but doing pretty well considering! I got another call from a ward member and she is taking the boys on Wednesday morning. How awesome will it be to get some decent rest? I love service, I love people who serve, and I love to be the one receiving service even though it's harder to accept than give.