Day 1

DAY ONE~

May 4, 2015

My 45th birthday was 3 days ago.  Thank goodness my husband and Jesus love me just the way I am, but I don't love the belly I have grown over the last 5 or 6 years.  Where did it come from?  I never used to have one.  Even after having 3 children.  In fact, it is really embarrassing to say, but I am hoping it will motivate me...I am the same weight I was when I was 9 months pregnant with my first child.  Geez girl !!!  Get it under control!!!  

So. I re-read this book last week that I bought back in December...okay, so I have actually read it like 5 times now.   I even tried to implement the rules in January.  It was hard.  I gave up.  I did however somehow, someway, manage to do one thing out of the book correctly!  I gave up diet soda.  After almost 29 years of drinking it faithfully.  I switched over to green tea and ice water.  Best thing I could do for my wallet, my teeth and my health!

I experimented some more and gave up alcohol for Lent.  It was hard too, but I realized I could do hard things that had to do with drinks I love.  Now time to do it with food.  I having been considering going back to school to be a nutritionist recently, and I thought, girl, you need to take care of yourself first!!! How can you teach others without getting yourself in line.  This time I am blogging to help me stay motivated and responsible for my actions.  If it ends up helping someone else down the line, I think that would be amazing. 

DAY ONE~BREAKFAST

I bought this delicious ground beef from Kroger~$7.49 lb, but so worth it because of all of the wonderful stuff you ingest when you eat grass-fed meat that you can't get any other way. (More on that science stuff later.)

I went straight to the book for the first meal.  Page 263, Ground Meat Skillet Recipes: Almond Beef.  These are great guidelines on how to start cooking differently...and cooking in a new way for me, means without cheese and white potatoes in everything :)  So I cut up a cup of celery, a cup of green pepper and a cup of sweet onion.  Sauteed those in ghee.  (Once I run out of ghee though I am going to use coconut oil for about everything~the health benefits are outstanding!)  Threw in a little garlic at the end, salt, and Mrs. Dash to spice it up.   I fried up the meat in some ghee in a separate pan.  That is how they do it in the book.  Not sure why though?  It seemed like a waste of time and dishes to me, so I will probably do it all together next time.  I put the two together in one pan.  Add a few more shakes of spices to my taste.  It wasn't bad, but a little dry for me, so next I added a can of chicken broth (No MSG kind please!)  While I let that simmer down and meld together,  I dry toasted some slivered almonds in a small frying pan on medium heat until all sides were a pretty brown.  I removed the almonds and used the same pan to fry some cage-free eggs in olive oil.  I chopped up a red pepper, because I usually eat a big breakfast and I also love pretty colors on my plate.

It was yummy!  My husband was eating his cereal and muffin and OJ and wanted to eat my food.  I gave him a bite and he said it tasted good too.  My drink was ice water.  I only drink that and green tea all day with everything.  I am grateful that it works for me after years of needing "bubbles" in my drink.

I was full for several hours after this.  I paid bills, answered emails, managed my Etsy shops, filled orders and did my grocery shopping at Aldi's and Kroger's without thinking about food.  While I was prepping the dinner for the family, I did start to get a rumble in my tummy.  I finished off the other half of the red pepper I had with breakfast.  I love the sweetness and the crunch of a red pepper.  It is very satisfying.  A big cup of tea, and I was okay for another hour.

I found this grass-fed, antibiotic free roaster chicken at Kroger!  It is fresh, but you could freeze it if you want to.  It is about 4 lbs.  It cost $9.99.  They also have a pre-cooked organic chicken in the deli for $8.99, but I don't think it is as big.  It would save time though.  This guy took 90 minutes total baking time.  But it was so worth it!  Moist and absolutely delicious!!!  After getting all the meat off the guy, I froze the skin and carcass to make bone broth with later.  

I made the family one of their favorites, white chicken chili.  None for me however.  It is filled with beans and cream and corn and topped with cheese.  I did obviously try a little of the chicken before putting it in the chili and I had another serving of what I had for breakfast.  I was a little sad, but not too bad.  It is only day one, and you have to get into a swimsuit in July girl...just keep reminding yourself that food is for fuel.  I have had many years of food for enjoyment :)

After dinner, we all went to church.  I did get hungry again just before bed, and enjoyed half of a grapefruit.