Days 3, 4 and 5 ... At Least They are OVER!

According to the timeline in The Whole30, Days 4 and 5 are when we will want to "kill all the things". Being the impatient one that I am, this started happening to me on Day 3. In a big way. As in, one of my family members is only now speaking to me again, and just barely! It was rough, and honestly I do not know when I have felt so cranky.

Food-wise, I did fine--no slip-ups, and honestly, I do not think that will be an issue for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm having monstrous cravings, primarily for chocolate milk. And today I'm craving Texas Toast WITH my chocolate milk, because some evildoer made toast at work today and that was all I was able to think about the rest of the afternoon! Seriously, isn't the smell of properly cooked toast one of the best smells EVER?? However, I am so committed to this plan that I simply cannot imagine going off of it for even a single bite. (I must confess here that I almost took a mindless bite of some Italian bread crumb chicken tenders that my eldest daughter made last night. It was unintentional and I stopped myself before it actually reached my mouth, but I am guessing that this type of mindless nibbling is part of what put me in the spot I find myself in now.)

Physically, Days 3 and 4 were super hard as I felt achy all over, with a monstrous headache to top it off. Advil helped, and today (Day 5! Yay!) it is not bad enough to even need the Advil.

The other not-so-pleasant part of the past couple of days is that I spent SIX WHOLE HOURS in the kitchen on Sunday. Six. As in, 5 and a half hours more than I usually spend doing meal-prep. The upside is that I have had breakfast, lunch and dinner already prepared for this week, at least most of it. I will likely make a chicken stir-fry tomorrow night as a break from the other dishes. Here is what kept me busy Sunday:

1) Roasted an 8 pound chicken.
2) Prepped the chicken bones for 24-hours of simmering to make chicken stock.
3) Made chicken salad.
4) Baked spinach, egg & (compliant) bacon bit "muffins" to have for breakfast this week.
5) Cooked the delicious Chocolate Chili from Mel Joulwan's "Well Fed" blog. It may sound odd, but the combination of spices was spot on, and I made a double batch to have some in the freezer. Check it out here: http://meljoulwan.com/2009/02/22/my-favorite-chili-recipe/

The silver lining in all this cooking is that I am learning to think outside the box--or rather, outside the recipe--to make dishes that I know will taste better to my palate.

For example, while I appreciate the flavor that onions add to many dishes, I will almost always use a sweet onion instead of the standard variety, and for some dishes (like the cauliflower rice, which I've made twice now), plain old onion powder tastes just as good to me. I am not a natural cook the way some people are. Give my mother 5 ingredients and she'll come up with a wonderful, filling, healthy meal (is it any wonder that "Chopped" is one of her favorite shows??). Give me 5 ingredients without a recipe and I'm calling our favorite Chinese take-out place!!

Another plus is that I am trying new foods. While I had seen plantains in the grocery store, I had never actually bought any--I mean, what does one do with a plantain, anyway? Well, I bought two and sliced them up tonight, cooked them in coconut oil, and after blotting them when they were nice and crispy, added a bit of salt. YUM!! I've bagged them up to take to work. I know those bad boys are loaded with sugar, and eating too many or having them on a regular basis as a snack would definitely derail me. But to have a few as a side with a meal is not such a bad thing, especially considering the highly processed and chemically laden foods I was eating. So YAY!

And here is perhaps the best thing to come out of these past 5 days. I bought a pineapple at the store last night, and as I was slicing it up and putting it into a container, I tasted a small bite. OH MY GOSH, that was the SWEETEST pineapple I have ever tasted. I honestly believe that my tastebuds are able to appreciate natural sugars so much more now that I am clearing out all of the super-sugared foods. What a cool thing! So here's a message to you, oh giant sugar dragon: PREPARE TO BE SLAIN! I have drawn my sword and will not rest until you are defeated!!