Day 15...What a Relaxing Day

This morning I threw a whole chicken in the crockpot with balls of foil on the bottom to lift the chicken from sitting in its own juices while it cooked. It actually crisped the bottom of the chicken. I used a BBQ season rub. Easy peasy!

I had a little bit of coffee and then started my day of chit chatting and chilling with Lisa. We drank iced tea (she's my fellow diet coke free friend) and snacked on some macadamia nuts and rosemary almonds (both from TJ's).

It really seems that when I get together with Lisa we always find a way to R.E.L.A.X.  That's it! That's what we do. That's who we are! We are relaxers that love to chat and chill. Today, we did so in the pool. It was a beautiful day.

After our relaxing was over, I got ready to go to physical therapy and ate some dried mangos and more nuts on the way. I also ate a bar from TJ's that is made of only apples and mango, that's it! It was yummy.

As planned, I went to the grocery store to buy some fruits and veggies. I haven't cut anything up yet, but I did made the Strawberry Jam (2 cups strawberries, 2 TB chia seeds & 4TB agave blended & refrigerated overnight).

                        

                               Strawberries, agave & chia seeds

The pre-chilled finished product of strawberry jam. 

My chicken was done and I bought some pre-made GF beans and rice from the deli and made some gravy with the chicken juices. I don't feel good about what I served, but I got home pretty late and didn't have a bunch of time. I didn't eat the rice and beans, instead, I had cottage cheese with avocado with my chicken and gravy. I wasn't pretty, but it was good and filling.

Crockpot Chicken n Gravy with Avocado and Cottage Cheese

Tomorrow, I plan on cutting up some bell peppers, onions and will try to figure out how to cook lemongrass. I bought some lemongrass. It's totally new to me.  My brother and nephew are coming over for dinner so I will BBQ some steak with yummy potatoes (in foil) and a salad. I'm excited! I love my brother!

Until tomorrow,
Angela

Day 14...I Love Cobb Salad

Another boring day from a cooking standpoint of the Marler blog. The only thing that I made was breakfast for me and the kids. It was my normal sautéed onions in scrambled eggs with cottage cheese, avocado, tomatoes & bacon leftover from Brian's breakfast. He was up early and made a little breakfast for himself. The kids and I are never awake during that time. The leftovers aren't always appetizing when they've been sitting so long. We like to sleep!

Breakfast ala Marler

For lunch, Mackenzie and I ran some errands and decided that we needed to eat so we went to Rattler's Bar B-Que. We both ordered salads. She ordered a tri-tip grilled salad and I ordered their cobb salad without bleu cheese crumbles. Are you sensing a theme here for my love of cobb salads? I can't get enough of them. I ordered it with ranch dressing. We both had iced teas (still diet coke free) and had a great lunch.  

We got home had some of my homemade vanilla ice cream. It was really good. This was the first time I tasted it and I only did so because Mackenzie was in love with it. She couldn't believe that it was homemade.  After eating our ice cream, we figured we didn't need dinner. 

Mikey came downstairs and said he needed food to survive! LOL! There was food for him. He never wants to go with us or hang out with us, so he doesn't benefit from going out to eat. He is a teenage boy and we must have cooties. His options were leftovers, fruit, veggies, nuts, cereal and eggs. For some reason, when he is hungry he just can't find anything to eat. If it isn't a fresh meal, he starves. Ugh! He will learn to be creative or at least learn to eat leftovers. Geez! 

Brian came home from softball early tonight and ordered some Ameci's. I guess I have a hard time cooking on the weekends. There is some sort of opposition to it. It is wired into me. MUST. NOT. COOK. 

Cobb Salad w/o Bleu Cheese Crumbles. 

For dinner, Brian, ordered GF pizza and an antipasta salad. I ate some of the salad with my homemade italian dressing and called it a day. I'm glad I didn't have any GF pizza. I'm trying to stay away from foods that might give me heartburn. I've been having acid reflux issues and taking meds for it.  I recently found out that I am magnesium and B12 deficient (could be a side effect of the heartburn meds), so I am trying to stay away from heartburn medications and things that might cause me heartburn. I think my homemade lemonade might have been a contributor, but I know there are more trouble makers.

Tomorrow, I need to get to the store to get some fresh veggies to cut up to have for quick snacks. I'm going to make some Strawberry/Chia Refrigerator Jam and will have almond butter at the ready for my boy to think about making a sandwich...of course I still need to get him some sort of bread that he can/will eat. 

Until tomorrow,

Angela

Day 13...Happy Birthday to Malik & LT

Today was a busy day spent getting a surprise birthday party set up for Malik and LaKarlos Townsend. I got to spend the day with Rachel and Kaylana.  There really wasn't much time for eating though we did manage to stop at Subway for a double chicken spinach salad. It was yummy and boy was I hungry.

I didn't eat anything else until the party around 8:30pm when I had some meatballs in marinara. lupitas (Filipino wonton of sorts)  and lots and lots of sangria (smirk). It wasn't a great eating day. But, I hit my 10,000 steps (thanks fitbit) and didn't have pizza or pasta.  So I really consider it a win. No beer or diet coke either. SUCCESS!

I enjoyed great conversation with my friend, Lisa, and great company with all of the Townsend friends and family!  Sorry this is so short, but I need to go to bed, I'm tired! G'Nite!
Until tomorrow,
Angela

Day 12...Clean Eating

Today was a much better day! You were all so supportive of my set backs. I really appreciate your kind words and suggestions on future issues with solutions. What would I do without you? I shutter to think about it. :)

I was able to spend some great time with my friend, Lisa, and together we went to CPK and had a yummy chicken club salad and NO diet coke. Lisa is diet coke free now too. It's not easy, but we are supporting each other and that makes is an easier pill to swallow. 

CPK Chicken Club Salad with beets and ranch dressing. 

The day went by pretty fast, as it always does when Lisa and I get together. We had a great lunch, chatted it up and then I went to physical therapy. That takes 2 hours so by the time I got home it was time to start cooking dinner.   Tonight was Italian sausage, roasted summer squash, brown rice pasta and homemade pesto sauce.  I got a little heavy handed with the fresh garlic cloves for the pesto and ended up having to counter it with avocado, then marscapone. Nothing really tamed it, so it was a very rough condiment for my pasta. My mouth still smells like garlic. Of course, I was the only one to attempted to taste it. Oh well, live and learn. This was another time where Chopped helped me to try different things to counter the bitterness. But, when you use almost a whole garlic head in your sauce, no TV shows will help you. 

Italian sausage, roasted summer squash & brown rice pasta.

After making dinner, I decided I was going to try my luck at ice cream again.  The kids didn't like my  first batch since I used coconut milk with chocolate, so I decided to make vanilla ice cream with almond milk, vanilla extract & agave. The mixture tasted pretty good, but I haven't tasted the finished product yet. 

Vanilla ice cream in the making. 

 I've been reading up on lots of recipes and ideas for keeping my cooking fun for me and tasty for my family. In my readings, I've learned that I'm really not doing Paleo because I eat dairy and GF grains, so I decided to refer to my way of eating as plain old clean eating. Trying to stay away from foods with a barcode, except for dairy. It really isn't changing anything about what I am doing except for what I call it. Just wanted to share my findings. I know it may not be pure clean eating either, but I am learning as I go and creating my own as I go with only our health in mind.  

I have to say that Mikey is already showing signs of clean living. His body is changing right in front of my eyes. Yes, he is tall. Yes, he is stalky.  But he is now sliming down and looking good. I know he feels good too. He doesn't love this way of eating, but he is doing it. He just needed me to be strong and enforce it, to not give in to fast food and processed snacks. I am finally doing what I should have been doing all along for him.   I know I talk a lot about what he likes and doesn't like, but that is just because Mackenzie is very happy about this way of eating. She has always tried to be a good eater and couldn't understand our poor choices in the past. Now, she is excited to have it in the house as a rule, not an exception. 

Thank you so much for being there for me. I hope, one day, that I can return the favor.

Until tomorrow,

Angela

Day 11...Not the Best Day.

Today Brian decided to work from home. It was a great day to do that since USA was playing Germany in the FIFA World Cup. I made Mackenzie a gluten-free bagel and Brian and I went out to seek a place to watch the game. We ended up at Schooners in SCV hoping to get breakfast while watching the game. Well, since they aren't normally open at that time and only opened early for the game, they were not making breakfast. Not a whole lot of choices for me so I decided on their potato salad. It was all fresh, no mayo and had mustard and honey. It was really good, but tasted more like a side dish than a main course (even though it was listed in their salad section). Thinking back, I probably should have made some adjustments and made one of their other salads work for me. But, at  9am in the morning, I really didn't want a salad.

Brian had a beer and I had a nasty ice tea that I ended up swapping out for ice water. Still Diet Coke free!  It wasn't very easy to be in a bar that we normally drink beers and eat poorly, so I really wanted to get out of there. 

As the day went on, I had some dried mango, macadamian nuts and left over mashed potatoes from last night. I think I am having a love affair with potatoes. That needs to stop.  I wasn't feeling great today so I took a nap and woke up to dinner that Brian got for us. He ordered from Ameci's in Castaic.  He got a bucket of salad, GF pizza and eggplant parmesan for me. He was so sweet to get me the eggplant parmesan knowing that I love it so much.  The hard thing is that they make it breaded. When I make it, I don't bread it, so I don't think he knew it was going to be a poor choice. I didn't want to be a pain in the a$$ and it smelled so good, so I ate it. It was good, but the guilt I feel for eating it is astonishing. I told him about how I was feeling when I sat down to write this blog and he said, "Well, just think of all of the beer you could have had this morning during the game. You didn't do that bad!" He is sweet and I appreciate him understanding my struggles. 

Tomorrow is a new day and I won't harp on my sadness for having a "not so good" day. I've been slacking a bit on my preparations of my food, so I will get on that again tomorrow and get ahead of the game again. That is the only way that I am going to succeed. 

Until tomorrow,

Angela

Day 10...Just Say No to Diet Coke.

I woke up this morning with energy and a desire to make a yummy breakfast for the kids. Drank a cup of coffee and got to it. My timing was perfect because when it was all done, Mackenzie walked in the door from summer school at College of the Canyons. I'm glad she was able to get a nice warm breakfast.  Mikey was happy too, but he wasn't too excited about the raw cheese I put on the eggs. He'll learn to like it. 

Scrambled eggs, bacon, cottage cheese and avocado

Today was a pretty boring cooking day. I only prepared and ate 2 meals. Late breakfast and early dinner. Dinner consisted of sautéed chicken to brown and then baked, asparagus sautéed in the chicken browning juices with left over bacon from this morning and mashed potatoes mashed with butter and half & half. The potatoes weren't the best choice, but it made the family very happy. Dessert consisted of leftover chocolate chocolate chip ice cream from yesterday.  :)

Chicken, asparagus and mashed potatoes.

The one thing that I have been really enjoying is my homemade lemonade. Meyer lemons, stevia in the raw and lots of water.  It really helps with the desire to be diet coke free. There is a guy at physical therapy that bet me that I couldn't be diet coke free for 60 days. What? That's it? I can do it without any issues. He, on the other had, is a diet coke addict and won't admit it. :) Being diet coke free for 10 days has really been a huge eye opener on how healthy I can feel. How great my skin is feeling and how happy I am that I am doing good things for my body. Thank you so much for reading. I love writing to you and am always so thankful for your support. 

Until tomorrow,

Angela

Day 9...I Made Ice Cream

Woke up late today and had some coffee. Pretty boring morning until Mackenzie texted me that she wanted to go to lunch. I did some chores and got myself ready to go to lunch. I was starving while I waited for Mackenzie to be able to meet me, so I ate some dried mango from TJ's. Ingredient: Mango. It was good and filled the need. 

We decided on Panera Bread because I knew we could get fresh salads there. I got a cob salad and didn't eat the bread (of course). I realized that I probably shouldn't have had the bleu cheese crumbles but the dressing was a vinaigrette, so it was fresh and yummy. The drink station was very appropriate for my new ways.

  


   No Diet Coke/Pepsi and 3 types of unsweetened iced tea.

Cobb with Avocado Salad from Panera Bread

After lunch I went over to Pavilions to get some coconut milk and rock salt so that I can make some ice cream since my ice maker arrived in the mail today. After figuring it all out, I was pleased with the outcome. 

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Ingredients:
 2 cans of coconut milk
2 TB of raw honey
2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/4 cup of cacao powder
1/4 cup of chocolate chips
Mix well and add to ice cream maker.

Dinner was a roasted pork roast (sparkled with salt, pepper, garlic powder & turmeric) with homemade gravy, one bite potatoes (purple and yellow) and a fresh salad with homemade italian dressing. It was really yummy.

Yummy and filling!

I have to say that this way of eating is pretty easy and it really makes me feel good. My body feels good and my heart feels good knowing that I am offering good things to my family. I really appreciate you for taking the time to read this blog too. You keep me motivated and happy to succeed. Thank you! 

Until tomorrow,

Angela

Day 8...Trader Joe's

Woke up this morning and got on the scale. I was down 2.9 lbs. That made me pretty happy considering the week wasn't looking too good on the scale. My body's adjustment to this way of eating has been slow. Aside from the weight loss, I have noticed that skin seems healthier. Don't know it is because of the great way of eating or the lack of diet coke and more water. Regardless, I'm happy. Good things are happening.

After my excitement from the scale, I came downstairs and had some oatmeal and coffee. It was yummy and I was happy. As I do every day, at this time, I tried to figure out what I was going to make for dinner. I decided on Sole. My plan was to figure out some veggies and sauté it on the griddle.   While I was thinking about dinner, I remembered that I wanted to make my dogs some biscuits. They turned out pretty good. The dogs love them. Good because I was out of anything else to give them for being my sweet babies.

The boys in my family are showing resistance to my new meals, so instead of drawing a line in the sand, I decided to go to Trader Joe's and buy some gluten-free food that they could have while still staying GF, even if it isn't Paleo. So, I bought some gluten-free breads, some frozen GF pizzas and some frozen GF eggplant parmesan and a couple of GF sweets. I made the mistake of having a handful or 2 of some GF corn chips (can you say acid reflux?), but Mikey enjoyed them with some of my chili from last night so that's good.


After putting the groceries away I noticed that I still had a pack of cut up veggies that I bought for juicing. It was a pack from Whole Foods. It had parsley, kale, red cabbage, ginger, orange, apple and I added chia seeds. It was very thick and NASTY! I choked most of it down and had a huge glass of water. I am still burping parsley. Ew!

I named this Green Madness 

Mackenzie was in and out of the house all day and since I was making fish for dinner (she hates fish, except for sushi...go figure), I warmed up the TJ's GF eggplant parmesan with some cottage cheese for her. For the rest of us, I sautéed up the sole with salt and pepper and heated up some TJ's grilled eggplant/zucchini frozen veggies. It was good, but there wasn't much fish to go around so I added cottage cheese to the plate.

I have to say that I felt very guilty about eating those corn chips, even if they were GF. I'm glad it bothered me. Plus, I am not feeling well this evening, so I don't know if it is the Green Madness or the corn chips. I'm gonna go with the corn chips being the culprit.  Bad, Angela, Bad! 

Well, that is all for today. Oh yea, I made Paleo Brownies last night. If you ask me, they turned out yummy. If you ask my kids, they would give you a disgusted face. They aren't fans.


Until tomorrow,
Angela

Day 7...Craving Sweets

I was able to sleep in today and just move in slow motion. I like days like that. Brian and Mikey were out the door in the morning to go to Mikey's golf tournament, so it was just me and Mackenzie. I made us some veggies and scrambled eggs with cottage cheese.

Scrambled eggs with lots of veggies and cottage cheese

After breakfast, I started to look for a recipe for something sweet to cook today. Since I bought a Big Boss frozen dessert maker, I thought I could make ice cream. I found a recipe and then learned that the dessert maker was for frozen fruit to make a sorbet of sorts. After making a complete mess, I did made a chocolate/banana (I used the linked recipe, but added frozen bananas for it to go through the machine without dripping) treat. Can't beat something so messy and yummy being good for you. 

I know this looks like a mess, but it was tasty! 

I did find a Paleo recipe for brownies, and I still might make it tonight. I'll post it later, if I do. In the meantime, I made the promised Paleo Crock Pot Chili that I told the boys I would make for them. I made it on the stove, instead of the crock pot but it was still really good. I simmered it for a while throughout the day. Mikey was hoping for some bread or biscuits today to eat with the chili, so I "attempted" a biscuit.

Easy Paleo Biscuits

I made the mistake of smashing the biscuits too thin, so they really didn't turn out the way I expected. They are, however, pretty tasty. They are made with almond flour. Just to help "move" the family a bit more, I reduced the almond flour just a bit and added psyllium husk to complete the amount of flour needed. You can't even taste it! Tee hee!

For dinner, I put a biscuit on the bottom of the bowl and then added my chili and topped it with freshly grated raw cheddar cheese. It sure did have a kick. It was spicy! I liked it, but then again, I am willing to welcome in new flavors during this journey. 

Paleo Crock Pot Chili

I know this new way of eating is a huge transition for my family, but I will keep plugging along and hope that they will soon find dishes that they like and are excited to eat. Mackenzie is pretty easy. Brian is willing to eat good. Mikey? That is where I have my issues. He's a teenage boy, enough said.  He did like the pesto with quinoa/brown-rice pasta, so that is a plus. I am waiting to hear the verdict on the chili. :) Fingers crossed.

While the chili was on the stove, I spent the rest of my day hanging out in my pool listening to the USA vs. Portugal FIFA World Cup game. It was exciting. I hope you are all enjoying your Sunday! 

Until tomorrow,

Angela

P.S. I am still diet coke free! Yay!

P.S.S. All recipes or food eaten will be either Paleo or Gluten-Free. I feel silly noting it for each recipe or food item, so please assume it is unless I say otherwise. :)

Day 6...Korean BBQ

Today, I really didn't cook anything. It was a day of running around and putting my "geek squad" tendencies to work for my mother-in-law (MIL). With a big cup of sun tea green team in hand, Brian and I drove to visit my MIL and I ate some of my leftover homemade oatmeal on the way.

We were visiting until about 2pm, so when we left I was HUNGRY. I told Brian and I needed to eat and I needed to eat soon. We were going to go to Chili's but, Mackenzie said she would meet us, so we went to Gogi House Korean BBQ. It is a place were you BBQ your own meat. That was a good alternative for me with this new way of eating. We had Kalbi beef and some apple pork and some Korean wine. I also had this different type of  rice dish that is called Bibimbap that was mixed on the table in a stone pot. It was really yummy. Now, I will find a recipe for it and make it at home, maybe with quinoa, yes, that's a thought. 

Bibimbap in a hot stone pot

Mackenzie and I went shopping to stock up on some more fruits and veggies. I'm gonna make some paleo chili tomorrow for my boys. That will keep them happy for a couple of days.

Dinner for me consisted of a bit of Mikey's baked potato and some turkey keilbasa sausage. After dinner, I squeezed a huge bag of my MIL's meyer lemons to make some homemade lemonade with stevia in the raw as the sweetener. It is really yummy and it will be a great alternative to the green tea. 

Tomorrow I will make a huge pot of paleo chili for the boys while the boys are at a golf tournament and my baby girl is at a bonfire. 

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Until tomorrow,

Angela

Day 5...Green Beans are Yummy!

Today was a pretty quiet day. Woke up and found that my dog, Bucky, ate my anti-snore/grinding mouth guard. I guess I spit it out during the night. :( Makes me sad because it seemed to really prevent me from snoring, hence I was getting a better night sleep. I better get me another real soon.

That leads me to the fact that I was extra tired this morning. So, I had some coffee and made some homemade GF oatmeal for me and Mackenzie. It was yummy!

The rest of the day was pretty boring. Lunch consisted of leftover pesto quinoa/brown rice pasta and sausage with peppers and onions. It was so good with lots of yummy garlic.

The fun thing about today is that I had a visitor for dinner tonight. My friend, Rachel, came over and joined us for dinner. BBQ Chicken Thighs made with homemade BBQ Sauce and green beans seasoned in my special way that I have done as long as I've been making green beans. The kids love it and Rachel did too. Olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic salt is all you need to make some yummy green beans.

This was taken from the recipe website. I forgot to take pictures today! :(

Red wine, and great conversation with my friend made for a great night! I even got to spend some time with her precious daughter, Kaylana. Tonight was a good night!

This weekend will make for an entirely different experience with me and my diet. I really hope that I am able to make good choices. Being accountable to this blog and YOU helps me a great deal. Thank you!

Until tomorrow,
Angela

Day 4...Chia Seeds

As I stated yesterday, Mikey had 2 friends spend the night with the plan to go to the beach today. We all woke up and I made the boys, Mackenzie, and myself smoothies. As per normal operating procedure, I added chia seeds to the smoothies, thought it would be good for the boys to get some good fiber.

My friend, Lisa, arrived and we were off to the beach. Carpinteria was our destination. Whoop-Whoop. Stopped at Subway on our way because Mikey says that his friends won't want "my food." I ordered one of their salads and it was really good. Double chicken. No diet coke for me. I brought my sun tea green tea. I couldn't believe how many times I wanted a diet coke today. It is like a comfort food to me. It is truly an addiction for me.

On the way to the beach, the boys were assaulting our noses with their "chia" toots. Yes, the chia seeds, backfired on me, literally. The windows going up & down during the entire ride to the beach was not very good for the hair!

The day was beautiful at the beach. Good company, great conversation, I love my friend! When we decided to leave, we stopped at Robitaille's Fine Candies like we always do and I was good! I bought a pack of dark chocolate covered espresso beans and as I type this, I still haven't had even one. Yippee for willpower!! To be honest, this blog helped me to make good decisions today. I didn't think anything bad was worth it. To have to tell you that I cheated? Nope! This blog is doing the job! 

Everyone headed home and now it was time for me to start dinner. Oye! I was tired, couldn't someone make it all for me and serve me while I sit on the couch and watch Chopped? I found some motivation and made dinner.  It consisted of Italian Sausage, sautéed orange and red bell peppers/onions, and quinoa/brown rice pasta mixed with homemade pesto. Mackenzie surprised me and made a kale salad. It was great to be in the kitchen with her. She loves all of this yummy, healthy food. The dinner was a hit. Mikey had 2 servings of the pasta/pesto and salad too. 

Doesn't this look yummy! Feeling full and happy!

Why is it when you sit around all day at the beach do you feel tired when you get home? I'm sleepy now! Watching House with my girl and will be hitting the hay soon! 

Until tomorrow,
Angela

Day 3...Feeling Good!

I had a lot of energy today! Woke up, made the girl some breakfast before she left for school (summer school at COC) and then started my day of lots and lots of cooking. It was nice to sit down and eat breakfast with her. We had eggs scrambled eggs with mushrooms, red bell peppers and onions, with cottage cheese and avocado. Coffee was better today, but I only had one cup. I enjoyed it while I went to visit my friend's dogs while she was out of town. I am very easily distracted by dogs, especially these dogs with their "smiles!"

Since I made a roasted chicken last night, I decided to make a chicken/potato soup with the carcass. I let it boil in water until it was reduced a bit and then took all of the bones out of the broth. Chopped up some of the leftover chicken from last night, some fresh onions, potatoes and carrots and let it simmer all day. It was very flavorful since my chicken and all of the au jus from last night had all of that yummy Old Bay Seasoning in it. My boy loved it! He loves soup and this one was healthier for him. Yay!

Homemade Chicken/Potato Soup

Dinner tonight was baked pork chops with fresh sliced apples baked on top AND sautéed zucchini with red onions in bacon fat. Yes, bacon fat!! I was reading that it is a great use of oil. Not as healthy as coconut oil, but I thought it would be a good flavor with the pork chops. It was!

Zucchini and red onions before it was all simmered down in bacon fat to create massive deliciousness.

Now, I have 2 boys coming over for a sleepover with my son. My girlfriend, Lisa,  and I will be taking them to the beach tomorrow, so I am not sure about how much cooking I will get done. But, it will be a fun, relaxing day. I plan on eating well. I'll keep you posted.

Day 3 of no diet coke. I did it! I had green tea, sun tea today. I just read an article on Facebook about a lady that drank 3 liters of water a day and after 1 month looked 10 years younger. She did! She took pictures as the weeks went by. It makes sense that we need that much water/fluid to be hydrated enough to make our bodies healthy. Our organs need water.  Our skin is our biggest organ. Cheers to my green tea! I shall keep drinking it and water and I will feel even better than I do today! Can't wait!

Until tomorrow,

Angela

Day 2...Cooking, Cooking, Cooking!

I woke up this morning feeling great with a mission to get our house stocked up with food at our fingertips. Eating P/GF is not easy to do if you are not prepared. When food is not at my fingertips, I cheat, that's it, plain and simple.  I'm a cheater, a food cheater! But, that is going to change because it is Never Too Late to Get Healthy! <enter goofy smile!>

After I had my coffee with coconut milk creamer, yes, they have hazelnut flavored coconut milk creamer by Silk. It was fine. I made it work, I am excited about doing well and I am not going to let yucky coffee bring me down. It won't kill me to cut down on my coffee anyway. 

Once the coffee kicked in, I popped some quinoa in the rice cooker, the eggs in the oven (yes, I baked the eggs in their shell...325 for 25 mins) started making breakfast for my babies. Breakfast was made with onions, red pepper, eggs and Old Bays Seasoning scrambled together (I told you about my love affair with this season, right?), bacon, avocado and cottage cheese. Cottage cheese isn't exactly Paleo, but it does great things for me, and my kids eat it so it will continue to be in our fridge as an easy snack and plate filler. :)

Eggs were baked, quinoa was done and all was put away in nice little containers on my fridge shelves.  Now, it is time for me to figure out what I am going to do for dinner tonight so I don't have to get all "Chopped" in the kitchen again tonight.  I had lots of time, so I slow roasted a whole chicken at 250 for 4 hours. It has lots of yummy seasonings for a rub (the Old Bay was getting jealous), I put some butter the skin, chopped up some onions and grabbed some rosemary from my plant to stuff inside the cavity. My house had an amazing smell all day long!

Roasted Sticky Chicken Rotisserie Style

OK, so I have quinoa and a yummy roasted chicken but I feel that I am missing some veggies, so I roasted some eggplant (olive oil, salt pepper and garlic salt 450 for 30 mins).

Roasted eggplant, the finished product.

I saw a heart and "Mac" in the seeds, so I had to share!

Since Brian and Mackenzie are at the Dodger game tonight (I didn't trust myself to eat well yet), Mikey (my boy) and I will enjoy this yummy, healthy dinner and then I will have a glass of red wine! Yup! Red wine is GF and accepted in Paleo by some, so it is accepted by me! Cheers!

Until tomorrow,

Angela

P.S. Day 2 of no diet coke was a success. Sun tea is my new best friend.

Day 1...Stocking Up the House

Last night I made some chia pudding (almond milk, chia seeds & honey) for my daughter,  Mackenzie, since I wouldn't be up when she left for football practice at 5:00am (she does Sports Med and takes care of the Varsity Football boys at Valencia High School). It looked pretty good so I made one for myself as well. All in all, it wasn't too bad. I added overripe bananas to it for some added sweetness, and probably won't do that again.  Mackenzie liked it too, but misses her oatmeal. She is my oatmeal queen. I bought some GF oats today, so she will be getting some of her favorite breakfast real soon.

Today was a good day, a busy day, but a good day. I went to Whole Foods or is it Whole Paycheck? Wow! That was a big bill, but I had to get some staples. I am so glad that I emptied the fridge yesterday because it sure did make unloading groceries a cinch (I despise unloading groceries, it makes me grouchy).

I had to go to PT (physical therapy) today, and since it is close to the local Smart & Final, I decided to get some more veggies, fruits and mixed nuts. Boy, I am going to get in trouble this week with my excess shopping. I hope it pays in the long run.

Dinner tonight was my "Chopped" version of dinner. Brian (husband), bought shrimp, scallops and steak to make for dinner last night, but since it was Father's Day, I wanted to go out. I didn't think he should cook, and I don't really cook on the weekends, so off to the local Mexican restaurant we went. That just side tracked me, sorry! Now, I had those ingredients to make for dinner tonight but didn't really know what I was making. I had a fridge full of veggies, but still no ideas, so I just started throwing stuff together. Sautéed butter for the shrimp and scallops, added some steak. Then, sautéed some onions, mushrooms and spinach with the Bays Seafood Seasoning (my new best friend). Added the proteins back to the sautéed veggies and cooked up some fresh green beans on the side with pine nuts.  I didn't know what to put on the plate to round out the dish, so I threw some yukon potatoes in the microwave. I served the proteins on top of the baked potato with the green beans on the side.  It was very flavorful and oh so filling!!!

I know some of these items are not exactly Paleo, but as long as it is not processed and is gluten-free, I will use it. Does that make sense? Does it sound like I am making this up as I go? I am.

Another change I am making for my health is eliminating soda. I am a diet coke addict. It is a problem. So, in addition to starting this new way of eating, I also eliminated soda (Day 1).  I have some pomegranate/blueberry tea outside making some sun-tea, as I type this. Yummy!

Mackenzie came in to tell me that she likes our new way of eating. She gets to eat all of the things that she likes (she is my veggie and fruit baby), and it will make her feel good too.  Also, Chia works! LOL!

Now it is time for me to get myself ready to sit down to watch The Bachelorette.

Until tomorrow,
Angela

Tomorrow is a New Day!

Yesterday, I was at the bookstore looking for a book on the Paleo diet since I've heard so many good things about it. There were many books on the topic, but this one caught my eye:

Practical Paleo: A Customized Approach to Health and a Whole-Foods Lifestyle by Diane Sanfilippo 

This book really broke down the reasons why changing our diet will be helpful to me and my family. Why our current food choices are hurting our health and how we can reverse it all with this diet. I couldn't get enough information, I was thrilled to see a book that addressed my health issues (thyroid and fibromyalgia). Needless to say, I am very excited to get started. 

I'm Angela and tomorrow my family and I will adjust our diets with the Paleo/Gluten-Free mindset! This means that we will be eating foods in as close to their natural state as possible. The reason that I say Paleo/Gluten-Free, is because I plan on adding some grains that are gluten-free, but not exactly Paleo (no grains) as I will be adding brown-rice and gluten-free oats. 

Today, I went through our pantry and refrigerator to get rid of and/or box up all of the foods that we won't be eating in this new way of eating. I put the non-perishable items in a box for an emergency (I live in earthquake country).  Tomorrow, I will be heading off to Whole Foods to fill my fridge and Pantry with all of the foods that we can eat. This food will fill us up and heal us. I am very excited to get on the road to health and happiness (because I am healthy).

I'll be back tomorrow to let you know about my successful shopping adventure.

Until tomorrow,
Angela