Whole 30 experience: take 2 - - Day 2

Well, I'm not gonna lie. I was so hungry going to bed last night and felt so deprived. I was so proud that I powered through though you guys! I want to make a point that on the Whole 30 plan they reccommend you weigh in on day 1 and day 30 only, that said I weighed in on day 1 and 2 so far because I'm such a rebel and I lost 3 pounds in 24 hours. I'm convinced dairy makes me bloat and retain water and that just 1 full day without it helped me drop some pounds immidiately. Crazy. I feel a little grouchier today, this morning I really wanted a starbucks iced vanilla latte like nobody's business.I feel pretty tired again today but I noticed a big sleep quality improvement last night, the first night! I'm almost certain I didn't even move last night, I fell asleep and woke up in the same position like I didn't move. I was grumpy and hungry by lunch. I had an appointment in the next town over and had to run to the store with all 4 kids right before lunch. I smelled Subway throughout the shopping trip and I dont really like Subway normally but I wanted a toasted turkey bacon guacamole REALLY badly. Like, really badly. :( Instead I packed my items and children in the car and headed home. I didn't want to make dinner tonight but I did and fought the urge for a glass of wine today too. :/ I'll move on to the food. Breakfast: 1 russet potato fried in olive oil with seasoning, approx 1/4 peppers and onion, 1 large egg, 1 Tbl organic sugar free ketchup and about 3 cups of coffee. Lunch: 1 small slice of chicken breast with apporx 1/2 cup broccoli left over from a few days ago along with spaghetti squash with homemade meat sauce from last night. 24 ounces water. Snack: Apple and homemade roasted cashews Dinner: 24 ounces water, mashed potatoes, chicken, broccoli. 24 ounces water

Whole 30 experience: take 2 - - Day 1

Almost a year ago I participated in a Whole 30 challenge with some friends online. In about 30 days time, I lost approximately 18 pounds and felt amazing! I intended to continue eating a mostly Paleo diet moving forward but life has different plans. In January our 4 year old daughter was diagnosed with a Type 1 diabetes which is an autoimmune disease which requires constant monitoring and treating and currently has no cure. That big blow along with other typical life stresses sent me crawling back to junk food for comfort and I slowly started gaining some weight back. In early June my mom and I took a girls trip to Maui to relax and have some time away from all those typical life stresses and on our 2nd full day I slipped on a tiny little slope, rolled my ankle and broke my tibia AND fibula. Just. Like. That. I was unable to walk for 3 whole months. That was depressing which led to more junk food comfort and that paired with the whole not walking business led to more weight gain. So here I am, a year later and maybe only 2 pounds shy of my starting weight last year! At lease I didn't manage to gain back MORE weight! Silver lining people, there's always something to be grateful for. So here I am at 2:30pm on day 1... My first thought this morning was that I really should have prepared our pantry and fridge for this decision... The thing I was reminded of right away was the bizarre cravings I experienced last time. I'm craving things I don't even normally like. For instance, Oreos... I mean I don't HATE them but I don't love them. They're normally easy for me to pass up. Today though, man... I'd punch a stranger for an Oreo. I had a random craving for red wine, I love myself some tasty wine but I don't have random mid day cravings for it. haha I feel very tired today, I wish I was feeling a super burst of energy but I'm guessing I'm doing quite a bit of detoxing and that's good too. I do think although I am grumpy and dragging a little that my mood is more stable today, not quite so up and down and less irritable. I understand what I mean. haha Mostly for my own reference I'll be documenting my food choices. Breakfast: large green apple, small handful slivered almonds and about 12 ounces black coffee. (we were in a hurry and like I mentioned above I hadn't really prepared for this ahead of time. I'm super smart.Following our appointment I swung by an amazing local grocery that sells a lot of organic and local options for a few items.) Lunch: 1 medium russet potato fried in olive oil with seasonings, approximately 1/4 cup frozen onions and peppers, 1 large organic egg scrambled with seasoning and approximately 1 tablespoon organic sugar free ketchup. 24 ounces ice water Snack: 24 ounces ice water, banana, approximately 1 tablespoon fresh ground almond butter. (delicious and satisfying, IMO.) Dinner: Homemade marinara meat sauce over spaghetti squash, 24 ounces ice water. (while preparing dinner I really wanted a glass of wine. Drank water and fought the urge for the sake of health and knowing I can do this!) 24 ounces water

My Whole 30 Experience: Day 28

I want to start with a couple of things I had noticed by day 12 that I forgot to mention in my first post about my Whole 30 experience were that my nails are much healthier, growing faster and stronger... Virtually no more pealing which has always been an issue for me with my nails. Another is that I have basically had no gas at all, I didn't think I was super farty before this but holy moly, there is like almost none now. So, ya... There's that. You're welcome. haha Ok, Day 28?! Day 28!! I really didn't expect to make it this far in the challenge and now I'm nearly done! What have I noticed between days 12-28? All the same benefits I noticed earlier on I am still benefiting from. I was holding out for the change in tastes, no need for an alarm clock, reduced chronic neck pain and a magical cure to my bumpy arms. The past couple of days when my alarm has gone off I have hit snooze but not fallen back asleep, I don't know if that really is a result of the diet change or a fluke but I'll take it. I also had an apple today and it tasted more amazing than normal, maybe it was just an amazing apple. lol I can say definitely that my chronic neck pain is reduced/not as debilitating as before I started but not gone and that my bumpy arms are not magically cured at all after 28 days. In reading the book it is clear that if you came in to the challenge hoping for specific results that you haven't received by day 30 that you should continue on, maybe your body needs a Whole 45 or Whole 60... I have dabbled with the idea of continuing but I don't really want to! haha I am going on a short cruise in November and really want to know how things affect me before then so I am prepared for other foods and know what to expect. I am going to follow the 10 day fast track reintroduction and I am going to actually take the optional extra days and reintroduce gluten free beer first! Woohoo! At this point, day 28, I really have 2 weeks not 2 days left... I am excited for the changes in the next 2 weeks though. I am excited to plan the meals I get to experiment with. After my reintroduction I do plan to stick to a Paleo diet for the most part afterward, not as strict and with wiggle room for fun. I hope that I can handle that, I'm not really a gray area type of person. A couple of extra thoughts on day 28: My emotional cravings have reared their heads a few times throughout making sticking to the plan difficult but I'm proud of my ability to push through. I can fit in jeans that I haven't been able to wear for months. I am actually excited to measure and weigh in 2 days and see how far I've come! Watch for my post about my reintroduction! Thanks for reading, Casey

My Whole 30 Experience: Day 12

I just finished reading another bloggers recap of her experience with The Whole 30 program and it motivated me to document my own journey, if only for my own personal viewing pleasure when I am done. I am on day 12 and today I am surprised that it seems a little easier than it did yesterday and especially last week! I'm almost half way through. Some pros and cons so far... Pros: I cheated and weighed after week one and was down 5 pounds (water weight I'm sure but still...). My clothes are fitting better. Cravings are less and less as time goes on. I feel like my hunger and full signals are already starting to regulate and know the real difference from craving and reality. I have definitely noticed a better sleep quality through the night, from day 1. My anxiety has decreased, I struggle with social and generalized anxiety and I can say with certainty my generalized anxiety is less. I've already learned a lot about my cravings and how what I thought would be the hardest to go without, hasn't turned out to be the hardest. Cons: I didn't read the book entirely before starting so that was a con I put on myself. It's important to know what you're doing. haha It's expensive to feed a family of 6 these kind of dinners! I'm tired of lettuce, and eggs. I'd love a beer or 2 with my Seahawks games! Other thoughts: I love chicken and potatoes. I love compliant chicken sausages. I miss the ease of certain foods like pasta and bread and the tastiness of cheese. That's all I have for today. Thanks for reading! Casey

Inventory of my growing cast iron collection (addiction)

My cast iron collection started with a desire to eat healthier. The more I learned about healthier cooking, the more I learned about how unhealthy traditional nonstick cookware is.
My husband and I decided that instead of purchasing a new set of non stick we would purchase cast iron pieces one at a time until we had a set.

My first pieces were an enameled dutch oven and an enameled skillet.

 This one is an 11 inch Fancy Cook, made in china :/ I don't use this a lot, everything seems to stick to it. I do like it for small amounts of spaghetti sauce as high acid foots can strip the seasoning on seasoned cast iron.

 This is a 6qt (necessary for my big family), Lodge, American made (yay!) dutch oven. These are easy to clean and maintain. I like this for chilli and spaghetti for the high acidity reason I mentioned.

After these two purchases and my unpleasant sticking experiences with the skillet, I wasn't in love with cast iron. I joined a couple groups on Facebook and learned a little about buying used and cleaning and restoring plain old cast iron. This peeked my interest again because I love all things vintage.

My first fixer upper was this little guy, I got him at a second hand shop at half off for only $2.50.

 He's the perfect size for one fried egg. After going through cleaning methods and seasoning methods and feeling unsuccessful, I was ready to throw in the towel with cast iron.

My good friend, fellow collector and enabler (hehe) encouraged me to keep trying and assured me that after the learning curve I'd be in love.
Shortly after that conversation she gave me this little dutch oven for my birthday!

 This one has no markings and I'm not sure what it is. It's a smaller dutch oven. I'm assuming Asian made. But it is great for boiling noodles, making small portions of things, oatmeal, etc...

A couple months later we celebrated our friendshipversary by having breakfast together and she surprised me with this guy!

 This one is another modern Lodge, American made. Can be tough to clean but It grills a mean pork chop. :)

I think at this point I became a full on addict. I looked for and found a second hand larger skillet. I think I paid $10 for this one from an individual.

 It's a 10 3/4  inch skillet, modern Lodge. It's a great first pan if you're looking to try cast iron. Lodge is American made and even sold at Walmart already seasoned.

I would look for cast iron at second hand stores.

 I picked up this vintage Lodge biscuit pan at a thrift store for about $6.

My dad recently passed away and in his belongings was this treasure.

 This skillet is about 10 3/4 inches, it's a "3 notch Lodge", you can see the 3 notches in the heat ring. The 8 is the size number indicating the size hole it fit in to on a wood stove and the makers mark right above the 8 helps date this lodge to the 1940's. This wasn't only my dad's, it was his mom's and maybe even her mom's or mother in law's. I love using this pan.

Since my dad passed I have been understandably sad. Thrifting and finding treasures makes me happy. Needless to say, my collection has grown quite a bit since then. :)

 I found this along with the next few items at a local second hand shop. I don't know much anything about this company, I can't find info online. I do think it is pre 1960 because as I understand it in 1960 the government required the country of origin to be on cast iron. I had been wanting a cornbread pan and was excited to find this one.

 I learned after picking up this sauce pan that sauce pans are harder to come by in cast iron. That made it an even more exciting find! There are no markings and I think it may be Asian made. Again, I believe this is pre 1960 because of the lack of country of origin.

 This is a campfire dutch oven. Post 1960 Lodge based on the markings.

 This one is a small "3 notch lodge" dating it to the 40's. Single fried egg size.

We also replaced a teflon electric griddle with this modern Lodge reversible griddle/grill for the stove top.

 This was a learning curve, it sits over 2 burners and it takes some trial and error to figure out how to regulate heat. We are still figuring it out but it has made us a lot of bacon!

I think my next purchase was a set of modern Lodge that I got a good price on on Amazon.

 I LOVE this round griddle. This is one of my most used pieces. Great for quesedillas, warming tortillas, would be good for making nachos in the oven, pancakes... the possibilities are endless!

 This is just another fried egg size.

 Another dutch oven.

 Another basic sized skillet.

I picked up this smaller dutch oven at Ross for a good price. Plus, it's beautiful!

I don't remember the brand, Green something... But it did say made in USA.

I picked up this beautiful trivet at Cost Plus World Market (anyone else LOVE this store??).

My husband loves and also enables me in my collecting (I love him!). On one adventure I found this Wagner and paid $15. I was pretty excited!

 This dates 1935-1959. Big range but lovely. This is about an 8 inch skillet.

I have 4 of these Asian made little pans. I bought them at Walmart with dessert mixes with them. I thought they'd be good for homemade personal pizzas!

My hubby came along with me to an antique mall in Reno we had never been to recently and I found several pieces I had to bring home!

 I believe this trivet to be from the 1950's.

 This one was so gunked I couldn't see all the markings. After I got it cleaned up it was clear it was an unmarked Wagner, pre 1960.

 This one is a vintage Canadian pan. I read online that it is considered the "Griswold of Canada", so I think this is a unique find.

 I love the shape of this one! Based on the help of other collectors I believe this one to be a post 1960's unmarked Birmingham Stove and Range (BSR).

 And this one I believe to be an unmarked Vollrath. Pre 1960.

The same day I picked these up at thrift shops in Reno. I got each of these for about $4 a piece!

 I got this snowman biscuit pan, unknown maker and origin.

 Other collectors helped identify these as unmarked Wagner corncob cornbread/biscuit pans. I picked up 2!

 This is just and Asian made fajita skillet but it was fun and the price was right.

I have more that are being cleaned so I can re season them, I'll list them in a separate post.
Here is a picture of my collection taken this morning, I'm overwhelmed with pride!