Everybody's Doing It...

A lot of people are doing it.  I feel like I often read about people who are just beginning it.  On occasion, I have heard people cursing it.  And now, we are doing it too – a Whole30!

We are not new to challenges, back in February we completed our own 45 day paleo challenge.  The primary differences between our challenge and the Whole30 are that we included gluten-free alcohol and paleo substitutes (like ‘paleo pancakes’) on our list of acceptable foods.  These are foods that are not acceptable for the Whole30, which we are sticking to 100%!

Today is Day 14 of our Whole30 and so far so good! 

A few things about the Whole30 that make me smile:

• I’m creating complete menu plans again, meaning I plan and try new recipes and everything tastes wonderful – and there are delicious leftovers for lunch!
• I feel good, real good.  I am going to sleep early and waking up with lots of energy.
• I feel leaner, that makes me happy.
• Everyone around me at work is sick, I am not.

A few things that are challenging me:

• I miss my occasional glass of wine.
• I am realizing how most of our social gatherings focus on food and drink, and when I can’t have the food, I would normally at least have a drink – now I can’t have either and don’t know what to do.
• We have eliminated our occasional cup of decaf coffee, I miss it.

Overall though, it feels great and I'm happy to be getting back to the basics!  Now I just hope that we don't get in trouble when we go to the bar to meet friends to watch football and only order waters.

Our Guide to the Green City Market

This summer we have finally taken advantage of our close proximity and become regulars at our farmer’s market, The Green City Market.  It took a few visits, but we now have our favorite stands that we frequent every week, which provides us with consistently high quality foods at fair prices.

Meat

We sampled meats from ground beef to lamb to bacon, as well as eggs, from all the farmers providing grass-fed/pastured animals.  Our favorite turned out to be Meadowhaven Farms.  They have a great selection, good prices and are pretty nice too.  They also offer the crossfit meat box, which we have been loving!

Veggies

I am easily overwhelmed, especially at the farmer’s market.  It is always busy and there are so many different things to look at and consider – and there is the smell of baked goods driving me to distraction.  Anyway, when I don’t know what veggies to buy, or haven’t properly menu planned – I dive into the Green Acres stand and load up on greens.  They have a huge variety of leafy greens; all types of kale, chard, collards, lambs quarters, bok choy…everything!



Majestic Farm pick your pint tomatoes



Green Acres leafy greens



I’ve also been loving the make your own pint cherry tomatoes from Majestic Nursery – the dark orange ones are my favorite.

Fruit

The Flamin’ Fury Peaches people get me every time.  They sit there in their bright shiny stand right at the entrance to the market, forcing there samples on me – their super ripe and sweet samples – and I inevitably end up buying something.  I’ve tried their peaches and various berries, all pretty good. 

Dairy

We generally do not eat dairy.  It was actually finding this grass-fed butter from Nordic Creamery that led us to introduce it back into our diet in the first place, and all has been well.  Have not noticed any adverse side effects from either their butter or on a very rare occasion, goat cheese.  I mainly like to use the butter for frying eggs – and the occasional goat cheese crumbled in a salad, hmmm – now I’m hungry.

And of course, I always find it near impossible to leave the market without buying some fresh cut flowers...so many to choose from!



Tuberose, my favorite - smells like heaven



Best BBQ Rub Ever

This rub is so good, Stacey caught me licking it off the spatula while grilling.  It's perfect.  It's spicy and tangy and works with just about anything.  I've put it on burgers, fish, and so far it's my favorite on pork chops.  It's no wonder that it's called Magic Dust.  We found the recipe here, and we're glad we did.  Their note at the bottom of the page is right, it keeps well, but it won't last long.  You'll want to put it on everything!

Magic Dust

• 4 tbsp paprika
• 2 tbsp kosher salt, finely ground
• 1 tbsp mustard powder
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp granulated garlic
• 1 tbsp cayenne
• (2 tbsp sugar) we omit the sugar, but it's in the original recipe

Here it is on Swordfish, with a side of Japanese Yams (topped with coconut oil) and grilled okra:

The Meadowhaven Crossfit Box

MEAT!

Sometime mid-Summer while we were ordering an absurd amount of grass fed beef, and pork from the guys at Meadowhaven Farm at the Green City Market, they looked at the amount of food we were buying and asked us if we'd heard of their Crossfit Box.  We had, but we weren't quite ready to spend $200 at one time.  A few weeks ago we gave it a try, and found it to be a pretty decent deal.  We had enough meat to last us about 2 and a half weeks.  High quality, grass-fed, delicious meat.  This weekend we bought the Crossfit Box #2, which has more pork than the Crossfit Box #1.

It seems so much easier to meal plan when we know we have a steady stream of quality meat coming out of our fridge.  Plus, our trips to Whole Foods seem that much less expensive!

Crossfit Box #1

• 10lbs. Ground Beef
• 2 Beef Roasts
• 4 Whole Chickens
• 1 Package of Leg Quarters
• 1 Package of Wings
• 2 Packages of Bacon
• 4 Various Ground Pork Products
• 2 Packages of Pork Chops or Steaks

Crossfit Box #2

• 10lbs. of Ground Beef
• 1 Beef Roast
• 2lbs. of Stew Meat
• 1 Package of Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 Package of Leg Quarters
• 1 Package of Wings
• 3 Packages of Bacon
• 2 Packages of Pork Chops or Steaks
• 1 Pork Roast
• 4 Various Ground Pork Products