Whole 30 Days 2,3,4

The past few days have flown by (thankfully) and have been much less painless than the last round I tried to do back in December. Days 2 and 3 I was pretty tired, and on Day 3 I actually took a nap. It was glorious. I have noticed I am already sleeping so much sounder at night. I am actually sleeping through the night. Well until the dog wakes me up at 4am, but I'm go back to sleep without any problem. Anyways, here's the quick of what I have been eating.

Quick side note: On Day 3 I was presented with a challenge. I had to attend a going away party at my mom's house. She had made chicken and sausage gumbo (which is not compliant) and many guests brought over lots of delicious looking appetizers, sides, and desserts. I made bacon "topped" dates so I could have a snack. I even brought my own dinner, but didn't end up eating it until I got home.

Breakfasts- 2 eggs scrambled in ghee, Pederson's sugar free bacon, and a piece of fruit (banana, strawberries, or an orange.)

Lunches- Leftovers of Chicken, red potatoes, and green beans

Snacks- raw pecans, carrot sticks and guacamole, or fruit listed above

Dinners- Garlic and Lemon Chicken with red potatoes and green beans. (Days 2 & 3) I used a whole chicken instead of the chicken breasts and doubled the rest of the recipe.

Day 4- Grass Fed Roast in the pressure cooker with onions, mushrooms, garlic, thyme, balsamic vinegar, a dash of ACV (to make the broth taste more like bone broth), and beef broth. Sauteed brussell sprouts and baked sweet potatoes with a small dab of ghee.

Whole 30 Day 1 (January edition)

After a fun, food-filled, alcohol-filled, and company-filled holiday season I'm feeling pretty yucky! AND we went to New Orleans to celebrate my brother in-law's big 4-0. We ate and drank, and ate and drank. AND I gained 2 lbs from that trip even despite all of the walking we did for 2.5 days.
Since Russell and I didn't make it past day 5 back in January, we both agreed that we would start again after our trip to NOLA. SO here we are again, day 1.

Breakfast for day 1 was beef and veggie (cabbage, carrots, celery, calabasa squash, potatoes, and zuchinni) soup that my sweet mother in law made us on Saturday. I can't seem to get enough of this soup over the past few days.

Lunch- more soup and sliced carrots with some of the premade HEB guacamole, and some sliced strawberries.

Dinner- Thai Basil Beef with Zoodles. (Russell's favorite.) 

Today I also made one of my favorite snacks, Beef Jerky. Here's how I did it. But feel free to add any spices you make like.
Grass Fed Paleo Beef Jerkey 

2lbs Lean Sliced Beef cut into strips
1/4 cup Coconut Aminos
2 dashes Red Boat Fish Sauce 
1 tsp Black pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder  (optional)
1 tsp onion powder (optional)
**Red Pepper flakes if you like some spice!

Combine all of the above ingredients in a mixing bowl. Cut the beef slices into small strips and add to the sauce you just made. Let the beef strips marinate for at least 2 hours. (24 hours is best but I rarely have that kind of patience when I'm making this.) 

Once you are done marinating, put your beef on the dehydrator trays. Make sure to allow some space between the pieces of beef. Turn your dehydrator on high and let cook for 5 hours.  Make sure to not over cook in the dehydrator.  You will get crispy beef instead of a chewier texture.
If you do not have a dehydrator you can do this in the oven. Cook the beef at 200 for at least 4 hours.