Whole30 Days 16 & 17 and a Little Bit about Salt

Day 16
Breakfast-Grapefruit, eggs and Coffee
Lunch-Leftover Chicken and Broccoli
Dinner-Grilled Pork Chops with Onions and Bell Peppers and Green Beans

Day 17
Breakfast- Leftover Sweet Potato Fries and Coffee
Lunch-Leftover Pork Chops & sides
Dinner-Steak and Broccoli

Evolution of My Salt Usage 

You know those people that can eat peanut butter straight out of the jar? You either are one of those people or disgusted by them. Well, I am one of those people but that isn't the point. I would eat salt straight out of the shaker. Just lick your finger and roll...

Publix Thanksgiving Shakers 

Well due to a variety of reasons I don't do that any more. And since I got married to a guy with blood pressure issues we limited our salt pretty strictly. It didn't really help.

Starting last year after following the low carb/paleo diets I have gotten much more adventurous with dumping a whole bunch of spices on meat at random. Husband has noticed that I have all of sudden seasoned everything perfectly. Turns out I wasn't using enough salt! I used to be worried about our salt intake but there hasn't been a raise in blood pressure since I stopped measuring. I guess I could be doing horrible damage and not know it but I imagine our sodium intake has dropped by dropping all processed foods.

I now have 3 kinds of salt in my spice cabinet. Regular Ionized Salt, Coarse Sea Salt and Fine Sea Salt.

I keep the Morton salt in my shaker and use sea salt when cooking. I love the Tones Sea Salt because its this perfect size between super fine and coarse. The Morton's fine sea salt is way to fine and it ends up making everything to salty for me. I have Morton's course sea salt but I really only use it on roasted veggies and sweet potato fries. 

The whole iodine in salt is something I prefer not to debate. I just use ionized salt 1/2 of the time and use sea salt the rest of the time. There is sugar in the Morton salt which is why I originally changed over to sea salt for the Whole30. But it isn't going to send you on a sweet beige because you used it.

I originally started to dry brine with steaks because of this article. I don't follow it exactly but we do let meat sit for about 20 minutes or longer if it is a really tough piece of meat. I usually don't wash it off because I don't use as much salt as they do in the pictures. Just take the shaker and shake until covered, you don't have to have a ton of salt piled on it for the brine to work. I pretty much do it to all red meat and pork chops. For chicken I do a wet brine. You can also do pork chops in a wet brine but I find the dry brine works well.  

Fleur de Sel

As far as fancy salt goes, I haven't ever tried any. I wouldn't be opposed to buying some but I don't think it is sold at the local HEB. Infused EVOO is my next gourmet item to try so fancy salt will just have to wait. 

Whole30 Day 10 and a Root Canal

I got a root canal! Half of one technically.  Normally someone might not be happy about that but after all the pain I have had I was more than happy to get rid of the nerve in that tooth. So yay! Hopefully I'll be back to eating raw veggies and meat in no time!

Breakfast-Apple but most of it was stolen by Trutles and Green Beans
Lunch-Leftover Quiche with Salsa on top
Dinner-Buffalo Wings and sauteed asparagus

Now I only cooked the wings, but Husband said they were really good. I forgot to take a picture because I was laying on the couch trying not to think about the pain in my mouth. We all know what wings look like so just use your imagination.

Ingredients: Aged Cayenne Red Peppers, Distilled Vinegar, Water, Salt, Natural Flavor and Garlic Powder

Buffalo Wing Sauce

1 cup Frank's Red Hot

2 T Coconut Oil

Mix in a sauce pan and simmer until it thickens (about the length it takes the chicken to cook). Pour Over Baked Chicken. 

I know I have put the recipe for this chicken before. So let me cut and paste for you just to make it easy. 

Chicken Drumstick Non-Spicy Rub

1 part Garlic powder (or crushed garlic)

1 part Onion Powder

1/2 part Salt

1 part Pepper

1-2 part Italian Seasoning (optional)

I rubbed the wings all over with EVOO and then tossed the seasoning on. I left off the Italian seasoning since I was doing wings. Baked at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. They turned out really nice and crispy. If you have a roasting pan or a rack for a cookie sheet I would use that. I can't wait to get one and try it out for even crispier baked wings!

Whole30 Day 8 and Our "Spaghetti"

So day 8 wasn't much calmer. It was full of Dr. appointments and a busy day at the office for Husband. I didn't manage to get anything on the table until 6:30p but it was a delicious easy meal.

Breakfast-Scrambled Eggs and tomatoes
Lunch- Egg Scramble with green peppers and green onions and tomatoes
Dinner: Rao's marinara with hamburger and sauteed onions and broccoli.

Our "Spaghetti"

Ingredients: Imported Italian tomatoes, imported olive oil, fresh onions, salt, fresh garlic, fresh basil, black pepper and oregano.

I took 2 lbs of hamburger and browned it, drained it and then dumped the sauce in. Cook over medium low until everything is warm. I usually roast some zucchini and yellow quash to pour it over. Or even a spaghetti squash every now and then even though Husband isn't a huge fan. But tonight I didn't have any of that and I was to tired to make a salad so we just had frozen broccoli. It wasn't perfect but it hit the spot.

Multi-Vitamins and What Does a Plum Taste Like?

We went over to the Natural Grocers today to pick up a few things. It is always fun to look around and see what is marketed as a "healthy" food. Organic cookies anyone??

Anywho, we also needed to stock up on our Multi-Vitamins. We have been taking Vitamin Code vitamins for about 3 months now and it has been a positive experience. I picked these because of the probiotics in them for Husband. I also liked that there were no binders or filler. However you have to take 4 capsules a day and best taken 2 caps twice a day. It was a little much.

So today we picked up the same brand, just the one a day version. You are still getting quite a bit of vitamins just not in as high of a dose. I think our diet is pretty well rounded but after having 2 kids in 14 months I want to make sure my body is well replenished before baby #3! The box had a $5 off coupon so it was $19 for a 2.5 month supply.  I think that is worth it. Next time I may pick up the prenatal and see how they are. I have never taken a prenatal that didn't make me want to puke but then again I was always pregnant.

We also picked up some of Carlson's Fish Oil to combat some high cholesterol in Husband. I have taken these as well since we don't eat a lot of fatty fish (remember salmon is banned?). I do not have "sushi breath" afterwards, but Husband has said his burps taste like sushi. We could just eat Salmon.

After Natural Grocers we headed over to Sam's Club for our monthly round up. Stocked back up on some shrimp, cod and frozen veggies! We also picked up some plums since Husband said he wanted some fruit. I'm not a a huge plum person. The texture kinda kills it for me and I'm not a fan of anything with a large pit. So I casually asked him what a plum tastes like to him. He answers "Its like a soggy apple"

My New Nightly Hot Tea Habit

So don't laugh but up until recently I didn't know herbal tea didn't actually have tea in it. I just thought it had decaf tea. I'm not much of a tea drinker so this is a new area for me. Since starting the Whole30 I have tried to drink a cup after dinner to help make me feel satisfied as well as get in a little extra water.

I had the best tea at a friend house and when I went to the store they didn't have any! So I picked up another flavor and gave it a whirl. It was good but a 180 in flavors. I'd like to have both so I can enjoy both!

Ingredients: Cinnamon, roasted chicory, roasted carob, natural spice and vanilla flavors with other natural flavors, ginger, cardamom, black pepper, cloves and nutmeg.

This tea is very flavorful and has a great spice to it. It helped me feel full after dinner and since it was hot it was relaxing. When I finally find it I am going to blend it with some regular iced tea. I bet it will be a good summer drink!

Ingredients: Chamomile, hibiscus, peppermint leaves, rose blossoms, spearmint leaves, spice, orange blossoms

This tea was refreshing! The mint gave it a nice after dinner taste but wasn't overwhelming. It just hit you at the end. I had to let it seep for a while to get strong enough so make sure you start with really hot water so it isn't cold by the time you get to drink it. 

Whole 30 Survival-Drink Edition

I don't get people who don't drink water. My mom is one of those people and I can't understand how that works. Here in West Texas staying hydrated is everything. Turtle and Green Bean can easily suck down a whole water bottle before I know it. In the summer you will seriously regret leaving the house without water. I am more likely to leave without diapers than water.

 I know I get a lot of water just by drinking all day, but with meals I like to have something special.  My main two "vices" are Coke Zero and Peach Fresca. Haven't had Peach Fresca? Its amazing!

NOT Whole 30 approved

But while I do my Whole 30 I have to stay off the cokes (no artificial sweeteners) and I wouldn't mind kicking the habit altogether. So here is my list of "special" drinks for my Whole 30.

Iced Tea. Pure unadulterated iced tea. Flavored teas can have soy or gluten so be careful. If you want flavored, add it yourself by infusing it.

La Croix "sodas" are flavored sparkling water. They use fruit oils instead of artificial flavoring. It is my perfect replacement for meals. My favorite so far is the grapefruit. Other brands of flavored sparkling water are Whole 30 approved so feel free to shop around. Just read your labels closely!

Many people will infuse or add fruit to their water. Even just a slice of lemon will do. This is more work than I want to do, but I love it when someone else makes it for me! I wouldn't mind a glass of cucumber mint water right now...

So while we know water is the best it can be boring sometimes. So give these a try and let me know what you like!

Kitchen Gear: Coffee

I do love coffee, but I'm far from a purist. Coffee snobs are like wine snobs; they must tell you every note and how it is made and the best way to brew it.

I'm going to give you a quick review of my two coffee machines in my kitchen. 

Good ole Mr. Coffee. Traditional drip kind where you just put the water in, put some coffee in the filter and let it brew. This one is fancy because it lets you set a time to brew. Like before you get up. So its ready when you get out of bed. Happy dance right?

Well anyways, its dependable and makes good coffee. Just clean it with white vinegar every now and then and it will keep chugging along. My favorite coffee to use with it is...

Or for those of you in Texas (Amazon sells it as well)

Next up the the Keurig Single Cup 

Now I'm sure most of us have seen these. Basically you select a flavor of coffee, place the k-cup in the machine and hit brew. Now it is by far not the best cup of coffee you will have ever had, but there are a few instances where it works quite well. 

1. When you have a ton of family in the house that all drink coffee at different times. Dad in the morning, Mom and lunch, Grandma at dinner and Brother all day long. I don't like to leave my Mr. Coffee on all day so this works out well. Everyone gets a fresh cup when they want it. They also can have a choice of different flavors depending on what you got at the store. 

2. When you forgot to set the Mr. Coffee and are running out the door late to work. It brews in about 30 seconds. 

Overall I like the K-cups. They have lots of flavors to choose from and offer tea and hot chocolate as well. Two things to keep in mind

1. It will cost more than a lb of ground coffee

2. Some K-Cups are instant coffee not grounds like in the above picture.

To offset the cost, some people buy a reusable cup and fill with their own coffee. My own experience is that it doesn't make the coffee strong enough and if I'm going through the trouble to fill my own k-cup, I might as well use Mr. Coffee. 

Get yourself a great mug and enjoy an afternoon cup of java!

The Well Stocked Laundry Room

I know, I know. This is the quintessential domestic housewife post. BUT everyone has clothes to be washed, so it really is relevant to everyone. I'll make it quick and painless.

For everything.

For sensitive skin. I wouldn't use unless you have to because a clean smell to your clothes is a good thing. I did however use it for the babies clothes for about 6 months and on cloth diapers.

Splurge for those special things. Mainly, any women's clothing you would wear out of the house and their accompanied underparts or Men's dress-wear  Once again it is a splurge so not necessary but will help your clothes look better longer. Not worth the cost for kids clothes!

1 scoop each load for kids clothes or soiled adult clothes. If heavily soiled let them soak in the machine before shutting the lid. 

1/2 a cup for each and every load. Makes your Tide or Woolite more efficient and helps with stains. Also helps to get rid of odors which is good for sweaty clothes and potty training pants. I add to every load.

Only buy the blue version! It works for getting grease stains (even those that have been in for 5 years since you had that hamburger in college). Just squirt directly onto stain and let set for at least an hour. I usually treat and then throw into the basket so sometimes it sits on there for 3 or 4 days. 

I rarely use this, but on occasion I find something I want to pre-treat. I also like Resolve and Tide's stain remover, but not a huge fan of Shout. 

I do not use one, but friends swear by it so it is worth a mention. I don't let my kids wear much white so its not a huge problem.

For white towels, socks, undershirts, and underwear. Use only if necessary as it does ruin the fibers making clothes not last as long. Run one empty cycle after using to make sure you don't transfer onto any color clothes.

If you ever make a mistake, don't dry the clothes. Rewash with the color catcher and it should be able to reverse the damage. 

I like Bounce dryer sheets the best. I use the lavender flavor but sometimes I will break it up and try something new.

Now all you need is a deluxe laundry room! Right, I wish too...

Did you make it through all of that? Good for you! One last tip though. If your brand is on sale go ahead and buy multiple bottles. I have found their are sale cycles and I stock up for enough for 3 months. It won't go bad so just stock it up in the pantry, closest or under the bed if you have to. 

My EVOO

A friend posted an article about Extra Virgin Olive Oil purity on Facebook a while back and it got me thinking that buying store brand for everything may not be the way to go. I can't find the article again but the point was the majority of imported Olive Oils on American's grocery store shelves have been blended with a cheaper type of oil (soybean, canola, etc). After reading another 101 articles off of Google I found that some of the most reliable EVOO comes from California. Specifically, California Olive Ranch. Now I am no purist but if I'm making the effort to eat EVOO I might as well get the benefits!

 California Olive Ranch EVOO comes in a green bottle that keeps light out to keep the oil fresher longer. It also makes it easy to spot. Saving me time and offering a quality product. Way to go California Olive Ranch!

And even if they don't advertise it on the website or bottle it is 

Which means it is also using less energy to get to your grocery store. So you can feel good about that too. In all seriousness, it is worth the extra few bucks to pick up a brand you know to be pure and tasty.