1/31

The Homeworks

Superbowl Sunday has never been a "dangerous" day for me.  When I was younger, we were always left at home with a babysitter while my parents went out to a party.  While I love me some football, I'm more in to the college scene, and since my beloved Nittany Lions won't be playing in a bowl game for a couple years, I'm safe from the lure of my own dips and nachos.  On top of that, I'm an old person, and enjoy sleep more than staying up for a game I'm not that interested in.

That said, I try not to turn down social opportunities with friends who also eat Good Food, so I will be heading over to Mary and Tim's to enjoy the festivities and nom noms with other nutrition program friends.  Luckily they only live one block over!  I'm tossing some ideas for food around in my head, including a repeat of the chicken caprese bites, stuffed mushrooms, or trying my hand at a compliant spinach-artichoke dip.  I'll figure something out!  (And my inner advertising nerd is in love with the advertisements)






Things that have gone surprisingly well: my energy levels came up and stabilized more quickly than last time.  My "theory" about this is that since I had just finished a whole30 in November and ate clean for probably half of December, my body wasn't as effed up as it could have been so it recovered a little faster.
 


Thing that has gone surprisingly not well: my cravings are a lot worse this time.  I'm going to blame it on my hormones sorting themselves out and doing their thing moreso than last time, but it sucks.  Just fighting through it.

1/30

The Coconut Shrimps

I made a dipping sauce using the olive oil mayo with these.  They're lighter in color both because I didn't overcook them and because there are zero added seasonings (I was being lazy).

Always-Been-Compliant Coconut Shrimp:

Defrosted shrimp, deveined and peeled.  (I prefer to use raw but you can use cooked)
Egg -- 1 for 1/2 pound of shrimp, 2 for more.
Coconut flake
Salt
Black Pepper
Garlic Powder
Paprika
Cayenne (optional)
Coconut oil or parchment paper


If your shrimp need any prep work like peeling, go ahead and do that.  Pat them dry with a paper towel.

Whisk your egg(s) until beaten.  Sometimes I will add a splash of coconut milk in this step to help the coating adhere, that's optional

If your coconut flakes are really chunky give them a whirl in the food processor first, the smaller the chunks the better it will cling to the shrimp!   Whole Foods sells a brand that is very fine, which I prefer.

Combine the coconut flakes with the salt, pepper, garlic, and paprika on a plate.  I use about a cup of flakes to 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, 1 tsp+ garlic, and 1 tsp paprika.  Mess around with it and find what you like.  If you like things spicy, add a dash of cayenne.  You can also make these without adding spices to your coconut but I don't think they turn out as tasty.

Dunk your shrimp in the egg wash, then coat them in the coconut mixture.  I think it's faster to do them all at once but you can also do them as you go.

Two options for cooking: pan-frying and baking.

If you're going to pan-fry, heat up some coconut oil (no need to submerge them, maybe 1/8 to 1/4 inch deep) and throw the shrimp in.  Don't get too ambitious with your ability to keep up with a bunch of shrimp, especially if they're small -- small batches can be better.  When they're appropriately golden brown, maybe 4 minutes (just lift one up and check) flip them over.  Be extra-careful not to overcook pre-cooked shrimp!  You can also turn the heat up a little higher, throw them in just to golden the outsides, then bake the rest of the way.

If you're going to bake, line the pan with parchment paper and bake for about 10 minutes at 375, maybe adding some time under the broiler at the end (watch carefully for burning!)

These are slightly overcooked, but I still ate them.

1/29 (aka, what day is it anyway?)

Last night I laid in bed running through cravings for pasta and chocolate and really just a big bowl of pasta with cheese because I felt like I had been punched in the stomach and just wanted comfort food.  Of course, I didn't really *want* it, I was just craving the feelings I associated with it.  If I had actually broken down and eaten it (I didn't), I think I would have felt like somebody had punched me in the face and the head even more.

I slept like a train wreck when I eventually fell asleep, and my alarm didn't go off this morning.  Turns out that was because I didn't set my alarm.  Oops.  Sun woke me up around 8 with a start, I threw my pre-packed meal in my bag and found a skirt and top that kind of went together, and out the door I went.

In news related to hormones and cravings, I felt comfortable bringing down the dosage on my blood sugar medicine again.  I don't monitor my blood sugar with a monitor, but I think after 5+ years of struggling with this I'm pretty in tune to my body's reaction.  Sometimes I think if my metformin dose is too high, it impedes my ability to lose weight.  It's finding a sweet spot as my diet allows my body to heal and react more naturally to food and life.

Will report back.

Broccoli, leftover sirloin, coffee with coconut milk. Injured wrist supplies and expense reports make a cameo in the background.

Same lunch as yesterday.  No regrets.

Not really sure what happened with the avocado dip but it was good.  The asparagus was amazing. Cameo by my oly shoes.

1/28

1/27

1/26

Post-win meal!!

1/25

1/24

1/23

Week 3!

The thought of eggs, again, was too much. Healthy, fatty, protein-y swap with salmon and some TJ's power greens.

1/21

1/20

Inside of omelet/omelet.

1/19

Overstuffed fail-omelet. I might need 3 eggs to hold this thing together next time. 2 eggs, spinach, mushrooms, crab, a slice of proscuitto.

Pre-packed my 5-year-old lunch since I'm going to be in Lorton: Applegate turkey rolled around avocado, raw veggies.

I made crab stuffed mushrooms and caprese chicken bites (adapted from Big Red Kitchen by ditching the mozz and doing a green basil-cilantro-vinegar marinade on the chicken, as well as added proscuitto crisp ribbons on top) to take to Barge's.  Forgot to take pictures of those, but they were all gone, so they went over pretty well.

some of what I ate.  got busy eating, forgot to take photo.