Sometimes, there’s the good, the bad and the ugly. Last week was ugly. This week, we work on recovery.
Remember that container of homemade chocolate bark I mentioned last week? I put it in the freezer. We’re focusing on no white sugar, lots of veggies and a variety of color this week.
I’m also focused on a pantry challenge. As part of a no-spend January, I am only allowing myself to spend money on fresh and frozen produce (and dairy for hubby). So all meat, pantry staples and the like must come from what’s already here. I’m also going to try to send food with hubby every day he’s going to be at his office for lunch. He sometimes does have to eat out due to site visits or client meetings, so we will allow for those days. But if he’s at his desk, the plan is for him to take lunch with him to cut down on eating out.
Sunday
Sunday began with me feeling very sick after waking up early. So I ate a very small piece, about two inches square, of uniced, plain vanilla cake to try to settle my stomach, which was a huge mistake. I went back to bed an hour later. When I woke up again at noon, it was very plain that I was going to have a bad day.
Through the day, I ate one ounce of dry-roasted peanuts, some ginger slices, and a large bowl full of carrots and hummus. Later, I had a big plate of scrambled eggs with onion, bell pepper, tomato and dairy-free cheese. I was finally feeling better and more stable by evening.
This day made me determined to get it together and to do better with my food and work hard to figure out my sleep issues, which has gone from only being 2-3 days around ovulation and my period starting to being constant the last three weeks.
This gave me carrot, chickpeas, rice, peanut, ginger, bell pepper, onion, tomato, and sesame seed.
Monday
Today began with a red apple and peanut butter at 5am. I was awake at 4:20, so I got up and had a snack while working on the blog until I felt sleepy again, then back to bed.
Once I was back up, I ate a bowl of rolled oats and black chia seeds soaked in almond milk overnight in the fridge. I wanted to make a compote to go on top, but I was out of energy.
For lunch we had chicken nuggets and roasted green beans. We had planned a savory New Year’s Eve celebration, but I didn’t have everything prepped in time, so we dropped it.
For dinner we did a big taco salad. That gave me pinto beans, black olives, lime, corn, cilantro and lettuce.
For a snack, I had two very small pieces of cranberry pecan bark that was homemade with cocoa powder, maple syrup and coconut oil.
Tuesday
I finally got a full night of sleep, more or less! I was awoken by fireworks at different points throughout the night, but was able to go back to sleep quickly. Now that I’ve stopped eating so much sugar, my inflammation is rapidly decreasing and I’m feeling a lot better.
After sleeping in, Tuesday brunch was waffles. Trey made them as he was the first one up. He is often an early riser who gets a jump on making breakfast, that way he gets to choose what we have. We snacked on them through lunchtime, so we didn’t have a formal lunch.
For dinner we had Hoppin’ John, our traditional New Year’s dish. Black-eyed peas, pork sausage, rice and veggies. I always use whatever veggies I have on hand for this dish. This gave me celery, onion, black-eyed peas, white rice, carrot, garlic, parsley, green onions and kale. We substituted kale for collard greens which is the traditional green for this dish. Trey helped serve the meal, and he forgot to add the parsley and the green onions until after I took the picture.
For snack I had a green apple with peanut butter, and 3 Smashmallow marshmallows. I drank ginger and turmeric tea with aloe and collagen and also had a cup of vanilla cinnamon tea. I also had several slices of ginger to help further decrease my inflammation and one ounce of peanuts at bedtime so I could take my supplements with something small.
Wednesday
Wednesday began with ginger and turmeric tea after a wonderful, blissful full night of sleep. Once the kids were up, we had hash browns for breakfast and dove into house work to be ready for our company arriving in the afternoon.
Lunch was leftover Hoppin’ John from New Year’s Day. So plenty of veggies to eat, but none that are new.
That evening, we had some teen guests over for dinner. So we had chicken nuggets and fries for the teens. Instead of fries, I made roasted broccoli, cauliflower and carrots for the adults.
For dessert, I had a couple of ginger slices and a couple of dark chocolate covered strawberries.
Thursday
I had sleep trouble during the night, as expected by where I am in my cycle. So my teens decided to cook breakfast for our overnight guests. We had pancakes.
For lunch, I ate a large plate of leftover Hoppin’ John in blissful silence. After our company left, my kids went to their grandparent’s house and left me with the leftovers in the fridge.
For dinner, hubby and I were alone, so he asked if he could make bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches.
Friday
I woke up voraciously hungry and I basically felt like I ate all day.
I began the morning with rose tea and cold, soaked rolled oats and white chia seeds soaked in almond milk overnight, with a fruit compote on top. That compote contained cherries, cranberries, elderberry, strawberry, a red apple and a green apple.
This was my first time using elderberries to make anything other than elderberry syrup. I found out that they need to simmer a lot longer than other dried fruits. In the future, I will put them into a half-cup of water and simmer until almost tender before adding the other ingredients.
For lunch, I had yet more Hoppin’ John. Since the kids haven’t been home or available to help me eat it, I wound up eating three of the four leftover servings myself.
For dinner, someone took me out to Chick-Fil A. It was a nice treat! I had the grilled chicken sandwich without the bun and the kale salad. That gave me walnuts, almonds, broccoli, kale, cherries, tomato and lettuce.
For mid-morning snack I had about an ounce of almonds and some ginger chews. My afternoon snack was a big plate of carrots and hummus. I had a handful of peanuts here and there all day, and a couple of Smashmallows.
Saturday
For breakfast, I had the other half of yesterday’s fruit compote over quinoa, with walnuts sprinkled on top.
For lunch, I made an omellete with carrots, white potato, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, green chilies, black olives, tomato, onion and green onion.
For dinner, I had two hot dogs and roasted broccoli, carrots and cauliflower. This meal wasn’t supposed to happen, so we threw whatever we had from the freezer together after a few hours of hassle. We were supposed to be at a wedding reception in another state, but were in a fender bender on the way out of town right after lunch which rendered the vehicle undriveable. So we missed the reception.
For mid-morning snack, I had a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Lara Bar. After dinner I had a Cashew Cookie Lara Bar. That gave me cashews and dates.
Final Tally
- Carrot
- Chickpea
- White rice
- Peanut
- Ginger
- Red Bell pepper
- Onion
- Tomato
- Sesame seed
- Red apple
- Oats
- Black chia seeds
- Almond
- Green beans
- Pinto beans
- Black olives
- Lime
- Corn
- Cilantro
- Lettuce
- Cranberry
- Pecan
- Celery
- Garlic
- Kale
- Green apple
- Black-eyed peas
- Parsley
- Green onion
- Turmeric
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Strawberry
- White chia seed
- Cherry
- Elderberry
- Hazelnut
- Walnuts
- Quinoa
- White potato
- Green bell pepper
- Green chilies
- Cashews
- Dates
Photo credits- wsilver, Robert Couse-Baker, Damian Gadal, and John Morgan on Flicker.
I'm 
Leave a Reply