Day 13

Today was great. I think the burst of energy thing kicked in. I got up and went to Sprouts -- I had to find avocados, especially since one of the things I made for this week is a burrito bowl type thing, and none of the avocados at the grocery store here looked good at all, and I didn't see any at the farmers' market Saturday. Anyway, so I did that and came home and cooked and chopped veggies and cooked some more. I still didn't get everything finished, though. I haven't done the salmon patties I'm planning to do, or the sausage for the breakfast casserole, and the butternut squash is in the oven cooking now for the velvety butternut squash recipe. Also, somewhere in there I think I did three loads of dishes in the dishwasher. That still amazes me, that one person can go through that many dishes. 

Before we get to today's food, last night I posted my three meals, but then had to work several hours past supper, so I ate a snack. While snacks are not encouraged, it's understood that if you're hungry, you should have a mini-meal, with a protein, a little fat, and some veggies. I had a cup of tea and half a Larabar. Not really the right way to do the snack thing. And then this morning, after breakfast, I had the other half of the Larabar. I've decided Larabars are not good things for me to have around -- it's like having a candy bar in the house. Now that I've tasted them, and I know there's another one around, I just want them. (And frankly, if I'd bought four of the Cashew Cookie flavor, which is the first one I tried a few nights ago, I'm pretty sure I would've just eaten all four of them right then, it was that good.) Even if I'm not hungry, I think about them and wonder how the other flavors will taste (I'd never tried any of them before this). And then, when I have eaten them, I feel guilty, because I know that while they're technically not breaking the Whole30 rules, the way I'm eating them is going against the spirit of the thing. The way I've eaten them is exactly what I would've done if there were Snickers bars or ice cream around -- eating them in place of better choices that are readily available, replacing good nutrition with things that don't promote health. (This doesn't mean there's anything wrong with Larabars. If you can eat one, and stop, and not crave more, and you find that nutritionally speaking, they fit in your life, good for you. Apparently there are some people who do that with ice cream and Snickers bars too, but I'm not one of them. I wish I was, but it doesn't work that way for me.) Anyway, so since they're not a good choice for me right now, the other two that I have are in an envelope, addressed to my nephew, who I'm pretty sure will be thrilled to get something in the mail, even if he ends up not liking the flavors I've sent him. 

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, here's today's food:

Breakfast -- breakfast casserole, breakfast salad, grapes, coconut flakes.

Lunch -- Sweet Cinnamon Garlic Spiced Chicken, Mashed Cauliflower, and cucumber -- both of these recipes are excellent, and so easy to make. I cooked the chicken yesterday, but it wasn't quite done in time for supper last night, so I stuck it in a big glass bowl and put it in the fridge. When I went to get it out, it was a big, solid, gelatinous, bowl shaped thing -- I had trouble pulling individual pieces out. So if you make it, don't do that. Maybe try individual containers, or wrap a piece or two of chicken in foil and put the foil wrapped pieces all in one container and just save the liquid in a separate container to put over it, if you want. But don't just dump it all in one big bowl. Trust me on this one.

Supper -- burrito bowl with 1/2 avocado and part of a tomato -- this was also yummy, and I never thought to cook broccoli slaw, but it made it really good, as opposed to the sort of blah but healthy that broccoli slaw usually is.