update and chicken salad : )

How am I doing? Pretty good I think! I am a little disappointed my skin doesn’t feel or look better yet, but there are still 15 days to go : ) I am not weighing myself because I really don’t care about a number, just how I feel about myself. Someday, I hope to post before and after pics of myself, but not now.

 I am now shopping a lot at the local healthy/organic foods store. I love it. I love seeing the variety of foods that are available. I love learning about new products. I do not love spending all my money there, some items are super expensive! I applied for a job though! And supposedly I would get 20% off my purchases!! Woohoo! I missed the famers market this morning. My next task then is to find where I can buy grass-fed meats and how much I will spend.

Foodwise, things have been going good. No ridiculous cravings- though around 3pm every day I get crazy for snacks. That is the usual time I would carb load. But now I have to decide if I am even hungry. If I am, then I grab veggies and if I am not, then I just drink water. That has been going well. Meals are pretty easy since I’ve been doing ‘low carb’ for such a long time, usually they are just meats and veggies and some fruit. I have been missing fruit still. Honey crisp apples are coming out and those are seriously to die for! Amazing! To help with other minor sweet cravings I bought cacao nibs : ) They are crisp and crunchy cacao bean pieces. They smell amazing and are a little bitter, but delicious! I did get some goji berries too! They are also on the approved foods 21 day list. In my opinion they taste a little licoricey. They are chewy but definitely sweet. And I guess you can add them to anything, teas, salads, muffins… you name it! So that is cool.

I finally purged all my old habit items. A friend graciously took them off my hands. All my white flour, refined sugar, organic cane sugar, whole wheat flour, oats and powdered sugar are no longer in the house. That felt good to get rid of that, knowing how terrible it really is for you- now I can’t even make something with it if I wanted. : ) My poor husband is worried he will never have homemade cookies again. I think he will be ok. I did buy coconut flour and made my mug cake a second time with it. It was very good. I’m sure later on in my life I will be able to make a chocolate chip cookie again following paleo rules, but not for a while if I want to lose any weight. I know for my body, just because honey, bananas and maple syrup are approved foods for the paleo life style, they are not good for me- they have too much sugar in them. I can’t just go and make a bunch of paleo cookies or cake and think that will get me where I want to be. Blah.

I’m not sure if there was anything else I wanted to say… I am looking forward to finishing the 15 days. I will probably come up with a new recipe in there. For now I will just leave you with the amazing chicken salad I had for lunch – sorry no pic, I ate it before I remembered to take a pic. (single serving size)

-1 small romaine lettuce head
-1/2 avocado sliced
-1 tablespoon fav dressing (I used parmesan peppercorn-very low sugar)
-1 chicken breast
-2 teaspoons chia seeds
-1 teaspoon coconut oil or other natural oil
-salt, pepper and seasoning (I used Sunny Paris and Fox Point from Penzeys- YUM)

First, to prepare the chicken, heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a pan on medium. Season one side of the chicken with salt and pepper, place seasoned side down in oil. Season the other side with salt and pepper. Let sit for about 6-7 minutes. Then flip. Let sit for 6-7 minutes. Season one side with other seasoning. Flip and let sit for 1 minute and season other side, flip and let sit for 1 minute. While that is going on, wash and tear the lettuce into a big bowl. Pour dressing over top, add avocado and sprinkle chia seeds around. After chicken is done, slice or cube and add to salad. YAY! : ) 

so far so good!... / mug cake

Ok, I am on day 4 and so far so good!!!! The first day was by far the worst! I haven’t had any more headaches and overall, I feel great! I really feel like I could do this much longer than 21 days! – hahaha, we will see! I am really starting to crave fruit. I see my son eating berries or an apple and my mouth just waters. Shows me how much I love sugar though and would love to get a fix wherever.. ha. I have given in to my sweet tooth by making a no sugar added pumpkin mug cake. Don’t freak out though.. it was 21 day approved! Here is the original recipe… and it was interesting. Definitely gave me the feel of cake, but I didn’t finish it all. Tonight I modified that recipe and made a truly satisfying treat!!!!!!! Seriously, it was fantastic!!! According to the 21 day detox I am following, I am allowed to have ½ cup serving of yams (sweet potatoes) per day. They really satisfy and are very delicious. I used them in this new cake I made, and seriously, it was fantastic!!! Here is how I made it : ) (pic is to the right, I took it with my phone, I know I am not a food photographer! It was super moist and cakey!) 

-1/2 of small avocado
   -after mashed use 2 full Tablespoons
-1 small sweet potato (save the remainder for snack tomorrow)
   -after mashed use 2 full Tablespoons
-1/4 teas baking soda
-1/4 teas cinnamon (you can use more)
-1/4 teas ginger powder
-1/4 teas vanilla
-1 egg
-2 Tablespoons canned coconut milk (+ a splash extra for avocado)
-1 and ½ Tablespoons almond or coconut flour. (I used almond)
-optional – 1 teas shredded coconut
-1/2 Tablespoon unsweetened coco powder
-1 Tablespoon canned coconut milk

I first cubed up the sweet potato and microwaved it for about 6 mins. Our microwave is from the 50s, seriously, so the time may differ, just make it fork tender. I also added about a pat of butter- probably a no-no for 21 days, but def low carb so it is fine by me : ) While that is cooking away…

I put the ½ avocado into the Ninja with a tiny splash of coconut milk and pureed.

I put together the almond flour, baking soda, egg, vanilla, ginger, coconut milk, cinnamon and avocado puree.

After the sweet potato was done cooking I put all of that into the Ninja and pureed. I scooped out what I needed and added it to the mixture. (I don’t do wet and dry stuff, I just throw everything together- don’t judge)

I poured it into a mug and microwaved for 3:20. And remember, your micro may be different, but the usually mug cake time is 2-3 mins. BE CAREFUL, it comes out super hot!

While this is cooking, mix together the coco and coconut milk – add coconut if you want : ) You could also mix in some peanut butter at this point!- microwave the peanut butter first to make it more drizzly.
It should dump right out, so you can eat it in a bowl or on a plate. And top with the coco topping!