Tag Archives: real food

Real Food – Day 10

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Yes!  We can do hard things!  One.day.left!

Yesterday:

High – Dave worked from home, and did SUCH a good job with all of the meals.  It would have been so easy to grab easy, pre-made food for himself and the boys, but he stuck to the plan.  <Beaming>

Low – I was gone from 8am to 8pm.  LONG day, and it was awful to be gone for both lunch and dinner.  Had to let go of a bit of control.  Grumble.

Breakfast was a very safe, tropical juicy.  The boys ended up having oatmeal instead of defrosted french toast.

Another day of class, and another day of tempting pastries.  Today: my kryptonite…pumpkin bread.  It was like even Salesforce was conspiring against me.  Jerks.

I ate a pb&j, granola, a pear and some carrots for lunch.  The string cheese did not make it into my bag, and I did not eat the Lara bar.  Dave was working from home, so he ate the spinach salad that I claimed he ate the other day.  Turns out it was not eaten, so that was an easy lunch.  I am so very shocked that he wanted to avoid the mac and cheese.  Odd.  The boys had yogurt, applesauce and avocado.  Trevor also had a pb&j.

Dinner was supposed to be pork chops, zucchini and sweet potato.  Dave did have all of the ingredients to make the pork chops, but the recipe required a bit too much prep and cooking time with two minions present while working from home.  Plus, the sweet potatoes that I thought were in the fruit basket were actually already used on Saturday.  He called an audible, and made zucchini, spaghetti with red sauce and some Italian sausage that I got at the farmers market over the weekend.  Both boys really enjoyed dinner.

Dave and I had our parent class, so our dinner was eaten in the car.   The snacks at class were acceptable.  Cheese and fruit mainly.  I again was the lady checking the ingredients.  Honestly, it is not embarrassing any more, and I know how to quickly scan for the prohibited items.  BTW, did you know that orange/yellow cheese is artificially colored?!?!  Some do use naturally derived colors, but still color nonetheless.  Why why why?

I am in day 3 of class today, so we have a “plan” again.  I am prepared for things to derail, and that will have to be ok.  Breakfast did go as planned though with juicy and french toast for the boys.

We have a combination of my mama and our sweet babysitter Whitney hanging with the boys today.  Fun fact: I babysat for Whitney and her brother when they were little.  I met their family and began working for them when she was only 4!!! #howamisoold  There is a list of items that they can eat for both lunch and dinner including banana, avocado, zucchini, pear, and the remaining pasta.  I even broke down and bought some “squeezers” in the event that the options run out.

Dave is scheduled to have a lunch meeting tomorrow that will be catered.  :/  Not sure if there will be anything provided that will work, but we shall see.  This type of situation is most definitely the biggest challenge when trying to make better food choices.  It is hard to know what is in or what is used to cook your food when you are away from home.  I brought an apple, more granola, a grilled cheese and my Lara bar.  Maybe I will eat it today since it has been in my purse for three days.

Dinner for us is TBD.  It may be one of those nights where you stand in front of the fridge for a few minutes looking for inspiration.  Who knows, I might go mac and cheese.  Ha.

Last real food recap will come tomorrow.  Did I mention that we can do hard things?!?!

Real Food – Day 9

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And then there were 2.  I can see the light.

Yesterday:

High – My sweet Lucas is WALKING!!!  I know this is not food related, but he is walking.  We are ultimately doing this to better our health for our boys, and so I think it totally counts.

Low – Really poor food choices at my training class.  No shock honestly.  I was glad to have come prepared.

Our juicy was a bit on the nasty side again.  It must have contained too much of something good for you.  Like beets or kale.  Normally I can hide the taste, but too few apples I guess.  Also, I was over generous with the chia.  It became a sloppy, goopy, chunky mess, and I had to fish out clumps.  Shudder.  Still learning clearly.  The boys had oatmeal.

Dave and I rushed out the door a bit later than ideal, and he dropped me off at my training on his way to the office.  Here is what I found in the classroom.  Fruit option was great, but paired with danishes and way-too-much-sugar juices.  If I am being honest, I got really close to the treats and inhaled deeply.

Day9

I gladly ate my sandwich, muffin and granola for lunch.  Somehow I ended up with Dave’s carrots, so I snacked on them also.  Over lunch I had a great convo with a co-worker that too is eliminating sugar from his diet, and trying to avoid processed food.  He also brought a peanut butter sandwich!  Refreshing!  Dave did not end up eating his pizza for lunch because he said the juicy kept him full almost all day.  He snacked on nuts and granola at work.  The boys had banana, veggie rice and strawberries for lunch.  About half of the crackers were gone, so I can assume that Trevor had those for snack.

I got home just about 5pm, and Dave was hanging with the boys.  They had already eaten some spaghetti and avocado.  Trevor enjoyed some yogurt, and Lucas ate some cheese before they headed for the bath.  Dave and I both had left over pizza.

Today, we went with another tropical juicy since she was our very favorite.  Apples, pineapple, oranges and a few carrots.    We needed a delish one after the past two choke.it.down mornings.  Took a ch-ch-ch-chia break as well.  The boys both had defrosted french toast that I made a few days back with some pear.

I brought granola, a pear, string cheese, carrots and I still have the Lara bar in my purse from yesterday.  Dave is working from home today and will dive into the left over mac and cheese.  I can only imagine he will add some salt and pepper, and maybe some additional cheese.  There are lots of options for the boys that he can make.  He may even try to share the macaroni.  I would.

Dinner is going to be buttermilk pork chops with steamed zucchini.  The boys will also have some roasted sweet potato.  Dave is finding the recipe for the pork chops, and I will link it tomorrow.

In closing, as this adventure nears the end of our 10 days, we are starting to discuss permanent changes to our diet.  We still have to work out what will be eaten in moderation, and what will be left out on purpose.  Some things are much easier to avoid than others, and I want to be realistic, not a fanatic.  More to come here.

Real Food – Day 8

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Three days left, and it is getting easier.  Yesterday in Costco, it did not seem odd for me to be reading labels.  BTW, BIG kudos to Costco for increasing their organic selections.  I am quite impressed.

The recap…

Our faithful juicy was a bit off yesterday morning  because I added two large grapefruits to the bounty.  SOUR!  Even Trevor was a bit slow to suck his cup dry.  Maybe just one next time.

After breakfast, Trevor and I hit up Costco.  We stocked up on juicy components as well as some bread (Honey instead of sugar, and 100% whole wheat flour!), quinoa, cheese, yogurt and butter.  The big win of the trip was that I bought a dehydrator.  Clearly I just went from a novice to a nut job.  Still, I am giddy about drying stone fruits this summer!!!

Lunch for the boys was avocado, wild rice with veggie sauce, and Trevor had some tangerines.  The tangerines we just got on Sat at the farmer’s market are amazing!  Dave and I had grilled cheese sandwiches.

After lunch, Trevor took a nap, and I took Lucas to Whole Foods to get the rest of the items on my list.  I planned to get to work as soon as we got back making a few things that would be used for the rest of the week.  Because I am going to a conference each day this week, I knew that I would have to get organized.

Between lunch and dinner, I made…

Granola!!!  This can be cereal, a snacky-type food, or something that is added to yogurt.  Trevor had a few bites, and he approves.  So darn good.

Day8

I also made some applesauce in the crock pot.  This is not a new task for me.  I have been making it in the crock pot for several months.  The end result was always worth the effort, so I endured the long and painful hour or so that it took me to cut and peel all of the apples.  Until…I got an apple peeler that changed by life.  Seriously.  Get one people, and make apple sauce.  You will never buy tree top or motts again.  I promise.  It is sweet enough that NO sugar is required.  We pop the finished product into ice cube trays, and then into the freezer.  It will last us about a month.

Before dinner, I prepped all of the items we will be using in juicy in the morning, and made the pizza dough.  It needed to sit in the fridge for at least an hour before baking.

Dinner for the boys was a total flop.  Trevor had whole plain yogurt, a tangerine, and some banana.  Lucas still has a snotty nose, so he mostly refused everything.  The main issue was that I tried to hide some kale in the zucchini, asparagus and pea sauce that they typically love in their rice.  EPIC FAIL.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that I tried to put this sauce on whole wheat spaghetti.  I know…it seems like I am new.  Even Lucas, who will eat anything, spit it out.  Well, pretty much the whole batch went into the fridge to try another day.  If I am being honest it will be in the compost shortly.  You win some…

Dave and I rolled out the pizza dough after the boys went to bed, and Dave made some pesto sauce.  He added some (not allowed but I totally spaced) canadian bacon with spinach and I stuck to the margarita pizza.  Here is how it turned out…

day 8

It was yummy, but I think next time I need to add more water to the dough.  It was a bit dry.  I think I also need to roll it a bit thinner.  Overall, it was a great first pizza from scratch.

Today, we had our juice, and the boys had oatmeal sweetened with applesauce.

Dave brought pizza and a spinach salad with strawberries, almonds and a balsamic vinaigrette with carrots for a snack. I packed a pb and honey sandwich with a defrosted zucchini muffin, granola and a lara bar for snack.  I have no clue what the food options will be like this week for me, so it will be best for me to bring everything with me.  The boys will have their nanny loving on them today, and she has a list of things she can give them for lunch.

Dinner for the boys is up to Dave.  I trust him to make something yummy for them.  I will be having the rest of my pizza from last night for dinner, and I am not really sure what is on the docket for Dave’s dinner.  Mom/wife fail.

Until tomorrow.

Real Food – Day 7

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I propose that we get more than two days for every weekend.  Do I have a second?  I am going to a training class for work ALL week.  This means that I will have to get organized for our last three days since I will not be at home for any of them during the day.

Yesterday went well.  Although, I have lost my voice, and Lucas is still snotty.

High – We are ALL sleeping.  For the first time in over a year, everyone is sleeping really well.  It could be coincidental timing, but I feel like I am really getting rested.

Low – Dave wants cookies.  He misses them, and tells me about it often.  Actually, he told me yesterday he was over this “thing” we were trying, and he was quitting.  I did not relent.  We can do this.  We can do hard things.  Low #2 – Real food means TONS of compost.  Tons of stinky compost that needs to be emptied a few times a day.  It also means ants and bugs in the compost bin.  Ewwww.

Breakfast was uneventful except that Lucas wanted little more than a bottle and to go to bed.  He took a very long morning nap.

After lunch, both boys took marathon naps.  Dave and I rearranged the kitchen appliance locations to make some room for Juicy to have a home on the counter.  I was getting twitchy with no room to do prep.  Like NO room.

Dinner for the boys was sweet potatoes, cheese, applesauce and steamed broccoli.  We brought everything with us to the park across the street to watch cousin Dakota play baseball.  It was nice to be outside and let Trevor run around.  We came back, we got the rice started for our dinner, got the boys in the bath and then off to bed.  Once they were in bed, I broiled the scallops.  This was by far the best meal we have had since starting this real food adventure.

Day7

We used the chicken stock from the whole chicken cooked the other night to make the brown rice, and it gave it amazing flavor.  Honestly not sure I can ever go back to canned stock or even “better than bouillon”  stock.

After dinner, we made a really tasty dessert with sliced banana, peanut butter, and drizzled honey.  WOW!!!

Day 7

Today:

Breakfast was juicy for us with some chia, and defrosted pancakes for the boys.

Lunch will be veggie rice for the boys using the rice from last night, and zucchini, asparagus and pea puree for the sauce.

Dinner tonight will be homemade pizza.  Dave is planning to have a pesto pizza, and I am going to make a margarita pizza.  The boys will most likely have a cheese version.

I will also be spending much of the day cooking some items ahead to be ready for the remaining three days.

Off to Costco to stock up on goodness!

Real Food – Day 6

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Ah, the weekend!  So glad you are here.

Yesterday’s happenings:

High:  I went into the office and got a break from the kids.  Er…I was able to accomplish work-y things, and feel like a productive adult.

Low:  Real food molds too fast.

Day6

Breakfast yesterday went as planned.

Lunch was a bit of a sh*t show.  I left a bunch of things for the boys to eat, and told the nanny the rules.  Again.  When I came home, I forgot to ask her what they actually ate. Several of the items I had set aside were left uneaten on the counter.  Hmmm.  Trevor did have yogurt all over his shirt, so one can assume that he had some yogurt for lunch.  When I packed a lunch for me and Dave, I thought that I had packed enough for both of us.  Dave saw what I brought, and proceeded to ask me what I would be eating.  Sigh.  I packed two zucchini muffins, two rice cakes with peanut butter, two string cheeses, a hard boiled egg and a pear.  After half of that was gone on Dave’s snack at about 10:30, we decided to head to Whole Foods for other snackables.  We settled on a nut mix thing, and some honey sweetened granola after squinting to read the labels on the bulk bins for about 15 minutes.  We also got two Lara bars.  Those are pretty “YES please” btw!  In other news, Dave told me that he would not be eating any rice cakes in the future.  Ever.  I actually do not mind them, but he could not even choke down the two that I brought.

Dinner was sh*t show part two.  The mac and cheese was flavorless.  It needed WAY more salt and pepper.  Or bacon.  We have lots of leftovers.  :/  Lucas did not mind it, but Trevor only got a few bites down.  They both had avocado, and we made Trevor the ever so popular pb&j.  I swear he would live on those if needed.

Today:

We rocked a tropical kind of juicy this morning with pineapple, kiwi, oranges and apples.  It was SO good.

Day 6

The boys had banana and oatmeal.  After breakfast Trevor and I headed to the local farmers market to replenish our supply of fruits and veggies.

Dave and I had some defrosted chicken enchiladas from the other night.  (That night, I made a small, loaf pan size, serving with the remaining ingredients and popped it into the freezer.)  The boys had sweet potatoes for lunch with rice and beans.

For dinner, the boys are going to have some steamed broccoli, applesauce, and the rest of the sweet potatoes.  The adults are having some sauteed scallops with wild rice and broccoli.  Hope it is delish!

Happy Saturday!

Real Food – Day 4

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Uh huh.  Day 4.  Wait….we are ONLY on day 4?!?!

Yesterday’s recap:

High – While I am tired from all of the planning and prepping, my energy level is much higher.  Dave mentioned that he also had more energy the last few days, and that is even with him being sick.

Low – I am VERY irritable.  Perfect timing given the three sick and whiny boys in the house.  Yesterday, after hour number 3 of Dave’s hiccups (I am not kidding), under the guise of being a caring wife, I told him that he should go lay down and rest since he was not feeling well.  He called me out on my passive aggressive attempt to get him and his noisy hiccups out of my general area.  I then told him that I would rip his throat out if he kept it up, and it was in his best interest to remove himself.  As you can imagine, it was quite a proud moment for me, but this caused him to laugh so hard that the hiccups went away!  Lucky for him.

Breakfast went as planned with pancakes and strawberries for the boys.  We added a few antioxidants to our juicy to boost immunity.

For lunch Lucas had beans and rice with pear and blueberries.  Trevor had a pb&j with a side of crying and throwing a fit.  A nap followed VERY shortly after lunch.  Dave and I were pretty full still from breakfast, so I snacked on the remainder of Trevor’s sandwich, a pear and crackers with cream cheese.  Dave had carrots, apples with peanut butter and some pistachios.

Dinner prep was horrendous.  Everyone was hungry, and in my way.  The boys ate sweet potatoes while the enchiladas warmed up in the oven.  Lucas loved the enchiladas, and Trevor had another helping of whining after his sweet potatoes.    Dave and I both thought the enchilada sauce could have used a bit more seasoning, but it was still good.  We also had a side salad with cucumber, almonds, avocado, shredded carrots, pepper and olive oil.  I need to make some yummy salad dressings.  I just ordered this cool tool to help with dressings.

Day4

For today, adults did juicy and coffee.  Dave also had a hard boiled egg.  Boys had whole plain yogurt with some maple syrup and pears.  We kept Trevor home from school today since he has a raspy voice and cough.

Dave packed a pb&j, rice and beans and a pear.  I will have an egg with some toast and tangerines.

Dinner will be left over enchiladas.

Score card:

I have lost 1 pound, and Dave has lost 6!  He thinks that he was wearing really heavy clothes when he first weighed himself, so we will see if he keeps losing, or if it levels out.

Real Food – Day 3

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Someone thought this was a good idea.  This no sugar/refined oil/processed food thing.  Then, somehow I was convinced that they were right and decided to drink the kool aid.  (Or, the juice as it were since kool aid is technically ALL sugar.)  And that is how I feel on day 3.

Yesterday’s recap.

MAD rush in the morning to fire up juicy, and whip up banana pancakes from scratch.   All while attempting to shower, get two kids fed and get Trevor to school by 8:45.  SO awesome.

Got home from the school shuffle about 10:30, and found Dave eating a peanut butter and honey sandwich.   Clearly the juicy did not satisfy this time, so we may have to consider something more in the mornings with our juice.

Lucas loved his refried beans and rice, and had some avocado too.  Trevor went for a staple of whole plain yogurt, avocado and a few bites of beans and rice.

Since Dave already ate (ish) I packed up the left over fish and rice for me to take to work.  Forgot the dang lemon, so it was just as amazing as the night before.  (Insert sarcasm)  Left the cut up veggies/ranch for Dave to snack on since he was home not feeling well.

When I got home from work, the chicken was warming in the crockpot, and falling off the bone.  SO good!  We made salads with a small amount of chicken, egg, avocado, shredded cheese and homemade ranch.  Dave and I had a parenting class to attend in the eve, so we ate our salads in the car.  Lucas had cheese, chicken and sweet potatoes, while Trevor had banana, cheese and sweet potatoes.

On the way home from our class, we stopped to get some more kale and oranges for juicy, milk and half and half.  There is not enough space here to describe my acute LONGING for coffeemate.  Another day…

Lesson learned from day 2.  It is ill advised to begin your 10 days of real food adventure the day after Easter.  You will find that every place you turn, someone is trying to pawn off their left over candy and chocolate eggs.  They will be left in the break room at work, or brought to your parenting class for “snacks.”   Must.stay.the.course

Today’s plan…

We started with juicy and defrosted zucchini muffins for the big kids.  The minions got left over pancakes and strawberries.

Juicy!

Juicy!

Dave is home sick again today.  He will be sipping on some chicken stock that cooked all night in the crockpot, and we also plan on eating some refried beans/rice, and possibly a pb&j.  We will see how the day shakes out.  Something delish for the kiddos.  NO clue what…

Dinner will be chicken enchiladas using the remaining chicken from last night with a side salad.  I found some great whole corn tortillas at whole foods, but  I am SUCH a flour-tortillas-in-my-enchiladas kind of gal, that I hope I am not in for a huge let down.  I plan to feed the boys the enchiladas too with some sweet potato, but that may be a dream.

Staying flexible and determined.

BTW: Super excited about my new CSA delivery!  You can even have them deliver eggs, meat, cheese and dairy products!  New box will be on my porch first thing in the morning.  YAY!!!

Real Food – Day 2

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I want to begin by recapping how we fared yesterday.

The juice kept both of us quite satisfied until 11ish when the snackies began. I came to work equipped with carrot and celery sticks, so we were able to stay away from the vending machine and bowl of candy sitting at the reception desk. Dave and I work together, so it makes it easier to only pack one bag.

For lunch we ate our cute little quiches along with a pear and some strawberries. I used the link for the recipe, but made mine in cupcake tins which allowed me to bring a few, and save a few for later. They also freeze really well.

I was doing ok until a meeting with my boss in the afternoon. Another bowl FULL of candy in her office. I covered it with my notebook. Out of sight…

Dinner was just meh. The fish was good, but the rice was drrrrrryyyyyy, and the asparagus was slightly undercooked. I like my veggies crispy, but these bordered on raw. Mental note to whip up some sort of yummy sauce next time. After dinner, I usually have something sweet, so instead I had a few strawberries.

On the docket for today.

Juice in the morning again, and the boys got whole wheat pancakes with sliced pear. I may or may not have swiped a pancake.

20130402-092723.jpg

Lunch for the adults will be left overs from dinner with a fresh lemon squeezed on top to add some flavor. Dave stayed home today with a bit of a cold, so I brought rice cakes with peanut butter, as well as cucumber and carrots with homemade ranch for snacks. The boys will get some refried beans that cooked overnight in the crock pot, with avocado and cut up asparagus.

After a quick washing, the crock pot was put back to use for tonight’s dinner. Whole chicken (purchased from a local farmer at the farmers market) will cook all day then get shredded for chicken salad tonight. The remainder of the chicken will be used for chicken enchiladas on Wednesday. I also plan to steam some artichokes. No mayo for dipping. Sniff.

In related news, we both weighed in last night. While the starting weights will not be shared, I will certainly be sharing any poundage that is shed.

Let’s hope I can avoid the candy bowls today.

Real Food – Day 1

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And so it begins…

It seems like I have been prepping for weeks.  Both with actual food prep, and mental preparation.  I hear that it is all about being organized, and planning.  We shall see if I have done enough.

To help with breakfasts, I purchased a new shiny toy!  Behold…JUICY!

Day 1

This morning I used juicy to make breakfast for me and Dave.  It included apples, pear, cucumber, kale, spinach, celery, carrots, kiwi and an orange!  Oh, and I slipped in some chia seed.  The boys both had (previously frozen) defrosted zucchini muffins, banana and Lucas also had whole plain yogurt sweetened with homemade applesauce.  Off to a good start right?!?!  I can say that at 9am on Day 1!

I tried my best to explain to our nanny that the boys are going to be on a bit of a modified diet today, and that all snacks would have to be fruit or triscuits.  Yes, triscuits are an OK real food option surprisingly.   She seemed to understand.  :/

For the boys’ lunch, I made brown rice with veggie sauce containing pureed asparagus and zucchini.  They both really like this dish.  For me and Dave, I packed cut carrots and celery with hummus dip, strawberries, pear and cute little individual cheese quiches made with whole wheat crust.

Day1

We made some flounder last night sauteed in lemon, butter and garlic, and will have that tonight for dinner with brown rice and steamed asparagus.

Wish us luck!