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Whole30 Week Two - I may have failed...epically.

2/22/2016

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I've made it another week into the whole30! I'm pretty proud of myself and it hasn't been too terribly difficult. The weekends are hard because that is when I generally eat out. But, my husband has been really good at motivating me and has stuck with me. We ended up modifying our meal plan this week but were able to stay on track until Saturday. My son turned two and we had his party. I tried to make whole30 options for myself but some things went wrong. I forgot that the wings I had planned would need to be marinated so we had to modify with a different recipe that was not whole30. Also, I was so busy that I skipped lunch and then when the wings weren't compliant I totally went off-road and ate a sandwich. I was starving. Then I felt like I had ruined it anyway and ate a piece of cake. That being said, the cake was paleo and used coconut flour, maple syrup and cream cheese so it was definitely not whole30 but was still pretty ok in the grand scheme of things. To be honest, I've lost some serious motivation  for a personal reason that I cannot divulge right now but is health related. (Don't worry, I'm fine and I'll tell you later.) But, anyway...I'm going to try to stick to it for most of my meals. I know I've ruined the idea but, I feel like I can still make good choices and avoid the artificial stuff and most bread and sweets. I'll still be using my week three recipes too.

Monday

I was off from work on Monday and stayed home with the kids. This was one of the hardest days so far for me because I had an unrelenting migraine and two kids to watch. The urge to dive into everything I shouldn't was strong and my willpower was not but, I did not give in. For breakfast I grabbed a hard boiled egg between making delicious oatmeal for the kids, refilling their sippy cups, picking up their messes and carrying my smallest while doing it all. 

For lunch I had leftover Easy Thai Chicken from our Sunday dinner. The recipe can be found in my free week one recipe download.

Dinner was plantain nachos (also in week one's meal plan) and it was really delicious. We made the taco seasoning ourselves to keep it compliant. One word of warning, when the recipe says, "green plantains", it means it. We burnt quite a few because we used a yellow plantain and the sugar content caused it to get a bit too crispy in the oven. But, we didn't end up with any leftovers which threw me off for Tuesday.
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Tuesday

Breakfast was the pumpkin custard. It is ok. I actually decided that I have no desire for a sweet breakfast and don't plan on making that a breakfast option again unless it comes with something savory. Again, it's ok. Not my favorite but not bad.

Lunch was difficult. I had no idea what I was going to do. We decided to go out but I can only go from 10:30 - 11:20. Not much is open at 10:30. We actually discovered a new hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant that opens at 9 and headed there for some fajita meat and lettuce. It was really good and will definitely be somewhere I return.

Dinner was egg roll in a bowl. It was ok but not that great. I mean it is basically cabbage, carrot and chicken stir fried so it was good for what it was but, kinda boring.

Wednesday

I had leftover custard for this morning but just couldn't bear to eat it. So, I had tea and then got so busy working I forgot to eat anything before it was lunchtime. Oops.

Lunch was leftover egg roll in a bowl. So, this is not the greatest day for eating. But, I didn't really feel hungry. I don't know what that's about. I did eat a larabar for a snack.

My parents were in town for a visit and we pulled out all the stops for dinner. We made the knock-off chikfila nuggets AND the tandoori chicken with pineapple rice. We already knew the nuggets would be good. But man, that tandoori chicken and pineapple rice was amazing! My parents even asked for the recipe!
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Thursday

 I had leftover knock-off nuggets for breakfast. I keep forgetting to make the other breakfast casserole. :( But, the nuggets were good and definitely a better option for me than the custard.

Lunch was leftover tandoori chicken and pineapple rice. It was just as good as last night. Yum. I also had an apple for a snack.

My husband took our daughter on a Daddy date so I was left to fend for myself while wrangling our two year old. But, I did manage to whip up a steak and a few eggs in coconut oil with a side of fruit and a glass of OJ for my dinner. Unfortunately, my eggs weren't as great as I would have liked and I made a bit of a mess. I cracked an egg all over the hot stove. Have you ever had to clean up raw egg? It's a nightmare. And, the part that got on the glass stovetop burned and made a horrible smell. Oops.

Friday

Breakfast was skipped in favor of a tea this morning. I just haven't been hungry. I know that skipping breakfast isn't a good thing. It just happened.

Lunch was a steak. I cooked two last night knowing that I would need something for lunch today. I paired it with an apple and a side of steamed brussel sprouts.

​Dinner was paleo pho. We didn't have zucchini to make the noodles because the grocery store was out so we used kelp noodles. The broth tasted pretty good but there was definitely not enough for two people. It was really upsetting and I do not recommend kelp noodles for pho. They are too crunchy. They might be good in a creamy sauce or something but they do not fool you. You know you aren't eating pasta noodles unless you eat yours uncooked. Crunch. Crunch. Also, apparently I was so famished by the time we ate that I forgot to snap a picture. You aren't missing anything though. Blah.
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Saturday

For breakfast I made the paleo egg cups from my Galentine's Day post. So, yummy! I also made a quick fruit salad and had a glass of juice.

Lunch, this is where I messed up. I ate a pretty big and filling breakfast so when I had time for lunch I wasn't hungry. Then, I was so busy getting the party ready that I didn't have time to eat. Then, when the party came, I made decisions that definitely were not whole30. But, in the grand scheme of food were not bad choices. I had a turkey and cheese sandwich (it was dinosaur shaped), a few honey sriracha wings (they were paleo at least) and a piece of paleo coconut cake. So, I failed but, I'm ok with that. I did survive two weeks and that included Valentine's day!

Sunday

Breakfast was a whole30 compliant meal consisting of a steak and egg dish that was delish!

Lunch was another fail, I guess I really lost my way after Saturday. But, not a bad lunch. I had an onion soup that contained rice noodles and a sparkling water.

Dinner was my greatest fail. I had a cheeseburger. It was five guys and it was super delicious. I will say that I didn't really care for the bun or the fries but the cheese was glorious!

Like I said, I plan on still cooking my meals for the week and will try to stay as whole 30 as possible with my weakened state of willpower. :(

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whole30 week three meal plan & recipes

2/19/2016

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whole30 week3 meal plan and recipes
I'm wrapping up my second week of whole30 and it has been more challenging than week one. I could definitely eat a pizza right now. But, I know that I can stick to it for two more weeks and a plan is a necessity for me to make it. So, below you can download my week three meal plan, shopping list and recipes! There are a few of our favorites from week one and two repeated but there are many new ones! Enjoy!
menuweekthree.pdf
File Size: 7144 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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How'd it go? - whole30 week one

2/16/2016

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whole30 week one how I survived
I've completed my first week and i'm feeling pretty good. I'm really proud of myself for completing the first week and I've seen some results. I weighed myself (even though you're not supposed to) and I've lost 4 pounds this week! That is major for me! I don't lose weight quickly as a general rule so, four pounds in one week is crazy!

I am also very proud of how well I did when eating out. I will say that I had no issues and thought it was super easy during the week until I went out to eat this weekend.  That was when I struggled. However, my husband was very encouraging and helpful and we managed to both stick to it! You can check out what I ate for the week below and also download my meal plan from week one here.

What I ate

 Monday
For breakfast I had sausage, sweet potato and apple hash with an egg on top and coconut chai tea. (It was only one egg but had two yolks.)
My husband made it heart shaped. Isn't he sweet!

For lunch I had a mustardy kale and sweet potato salad with bacon and an apple with a la croix pineapple strawberry sparkling water. It was a delicious salad and the apple helped cope with the absence of sugar.

I had a coconut cream pie larabar for a snack. (I eat lunch at 10:55 so a snack is a necessity.)

For dinner we had paleo pad thai using spaghetti squash for the noodles. It was so freakin' good! ( You can tell Derek enjoyed it.) And, we had enough leftover for our lunch the next day!

I ended my day with a cup of chocolate hazelnut tea! It's caffeine free and a delicious treat that is whole 30 friendly and calorie free!
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Wednesday
Breakfast was a repeat today of sausage sweet potato hash with an egg and a cup of tazo zen tea. It was just as good as Monday and took very little work after Sunday night since we cooked the hash and portioned it out that night. All we had to do this morning was cook some eggs.

Lunch was left over carnitas tacos. I enjoyed them just as much as last night. They are delicious!

For dinner we had creamy sausage and kale soup and went ahead and made the knock-off chikfila nuggets too. (We started marinating them on Sunday so they needed to be dealt with.) I was not a huge fan of the soup. It was a little too sweet for me but OMG those nuggets are the bomb! Soooooo yummy! Who'd of thought that pickle juice and paprika are the secret to fantastic and healthy nuggets!
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Friday
Breakfast was the hash for the final time. Still delicious. 

Lunch was another repeat. We had the sweet potato and bacon kale salad with mustardy dressing. I also had an apple. 

Dinner was paleo alfredo. I was really excited about this but I shouldn't have been. It was so garlicy (is that a word?) that my mouth was burning and I felt a little high. I actually googled "Can you get high from too much garlic?" and the answer was kinda.  I found this post that discusses various scientific studies on garlic and they found that it can cause a feeling of euphoria in high amounts. Crazy right? Well, I guess if you did some major manipulation to this recipe you could make it palatable but, as is, not good. We did not keep the leftovers. I will say that the zucchini noodles would have been good in some other sauce so that is a win I guess. I also snapped a pretty sexy photo of Derek spiralizing the zucchini.

I was still hungry and couldn't get the taste of garlic out of my mouth so I ended up snacking on a larabar, macadamia nuts and root chips. The taste was still there.
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Sunday

I planned a Galentine's day brunch for my friends and cooked some amazingly delicious stuff that was also really easy! I made bacon wrapped egg and asparagus cups, chocolate mousse and fruit salad (I just tossed some apple, strawberries, blackberries and raspberries in a bowl with little orange and lemon juice and a sprinkle of cinnamon) with the optional mimosa. (I used sparkling water instead of champagne.) Let me tell you, those egg cups were soooooooooo good! You need to make them like yesterday! They were ridiculously easy and very satisfying. 

Lunch was another difficult decision. We met Derek's parents for his Dad's birthday and to pick up the kids at a Mexican restaurant. Derek and I held strong and ordered mixed fajita minus everything but the side of lettuce and added guacamole. I also brought our leftover jicama "shells" from the pork carnitas. It worked really well and we both left satisfied. We were also able to turn down the birthday cake!

Dinner was something we had skipped from an earlier night, easy Thai chicken and cauliflower rice. It was so good! After the alfredo debacle, Derek had declared that he was done with cauliflower for awhile (it was a cauliflower based sauce) but this changed his mind. It was really easy to make as all you do is "rice" the cauliflower with a grater and then fry it in coconut oil. It had a really nice nutty flavor and the texture was perfect. The Thai chicken also had a lovely flavor and all of the elements I love in Thai food. Two thumbs up!
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Tuesday
Breakfast was a grain free banana nut muffin (I was so eager to eat it that I took a bite before my photo. Oops!) and two small hard boiled eggs with tazo zen tea. The entire time I as eating the muffin I was in awe that it contained NO grains or added sugars/sweeteners! It was so. darn. good.

Lunch was leftover paleo pad thai and a la croix pineapple strawberry soda. The pad thai was just as delicious as the night before!

For a snack I had an apple and a handful of whole 30 compliant root veggie chips and more sparkling water.

For dinner we had slow roasted carnitas with jicama taco shells topped with avocado and lime. They were divine! Seriously, I don't think I ever want to eat tacos with a tortilla ever again. The jicama added a nice crunch with a hint of spicy sweetness. So yummy!

​I ended my night with a cup of cocoa mint 
mate tea and another delicious banana nut muffin.
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Thursday
Breakfast was another repeat of the banana nut muffin and boiled eggs with zen tea.

Lunch was leftover soup and nuggets. The nuggets were still amazing but I did have to force my way through the soup. Derek said he thought the soup was super good both times so, you might like it. To each his own.

Dinner was supposed to be nuggets (we jumped the gun on that one) so we had to substitute with something. I went with our Saturday breakfast plan (I knew we wouldn't have the kids on Saturday and thought they'd enjoy the pancakes.) The banana pancakes were almost too sweet for me but the kids did enjoy them. I decided I was too lazy to do anything special with the strawberries like the recipe stated so I just cut them up and placed them on top of the coconut cream. The coconut cream was pretty ok. The kids were not a fan and had real whipped cream. Obviously they enjoyed it.
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Saturday

This is where things started to get difficult. It was Valentine's Day weekend so we sent the kids to Grandma's and planned our Valentine's for Saturday. Our go to breakfast is Starbucks. Their double smoked bacon and cheddar is amaze-balls. But, not only is that out of the question but so is my usual toffee nut latte. So, we chose to go to our other favorite spot, a local coffee house that we knew would be more cooperative with a picky order. Derek did depart from the whole 30 train a bit and ordered their special of the day, huevos rancheros. It included two tortillas, hash browns and sour cream. Although, he didn't eat the sour cream. However, he did end up ordering two! I stayed strong and had three over medium eggs, bacon and a bowl of fruit with a pot of mint tea. It was good but it was pretty difficult to skip out on their special and I felt a teensy bit hungry when we left as I was craving some toast.

Then we headed to our first movie of the day, Hail Caesar. But, we made a stop at starbucks for coffee. I ended up ordering a tall pike place with steamed coconut milk! I was really excited but leary of the flavor. It was delicious and I stayed on whole30! In fact, it was a little too delicious. So, I decided to do a little research on the contents of their so-called single origin coconut milk. Here is what I found. It contains sugar and all sorts of other fillers! Bummer! So, even though I tried I did not stay on the wagon like I intended but, it wasn't my fault!

After the movie we were ready for lunch and headed to our favorite sushi spot. But a 30 minute wait was not in our plans so we headed to another sushi place nearby. The traffic was terrible and we were both getting grumpy. When we finally pulled up to the second restaurant we found that they had just closed until 5. So, we ended up heading far from the busy mall and theater area and went to ANOTHER sushi place downtown in the hopes that all of the Valentine's day craziness would not be there as it is more of a nightlife spot. We were right! It was basically a ghost town and we managed to stay on whole30 with seaweed salad, onion soup and sashimi for two. 

Then we headed to our next movie, Deadpool. It was also really good! We left and went to the grocery store to buy our groceries for the next week as well as a quick trip to Target for a few necessities and I squeezed in a visit to Forever21. Hehe. By the time we got home it was 9:30 and we had to put the groceries away as well as clean up the mess that was paleo alfredo. (I was lazy and didn't clean it up Friday night.) So, by the time we were done it was 11pm. I ended up eating a few root chips and drank some water but skipped a real dinner. Not the best but I wasn't really hungry so it was what it was.
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I hope this has inspired you to take the whole30 challenge or to at least try some of the amazing recipes! We are heading into week two now and have even more deliciousness in store as long as I can resist the desire for dairy! I'm definitely feeling the loss of my beloved cheese!
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Whole 30 plan: week two

2/12/2016

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whole30 week two meal plan and recipes
I've made it to Thursday on my first week of the Whole 30 challenge and realized I should plan for next week. I'll post about my feelings towards my first week and all the details on how it went when it is officially complete. But, I can tell you that I feel great, haven't had a single migraine and don't find myself in energy slumps after meals. I can also tell that I've lost a little weight. It's also been really easy in that I haven't felt like I was torturing myself. 

Now, for my second week I've made a few modifications to my overall plan from last week. I will not have a special lunch everyday and will instead eat leftovers from the night before. This worked really well last week and is a lot easier than preparing something special. My snacks will not be special either. I found that I was totally satisfied with a piece of fruit, some veggies or a larabar. So, I'll be using those things as snacks. 

I did change the dinners keeping a few that were absolutely amazing like the knock-off Chikfila nuggets and paleo pad thai. OMG! So good! So, you can download my meal plan, shopping list and recipes below! Good luck and let me know how it goes for you!
menuweektwo.pdf
File Size: 7091 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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Planning a Whole 30 galentine's party

2/10/2016

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Valentine's Day is less than a week away but I've decided I need a little one-on-one with my favorite gals so I'm hosting a Galentine's Brunch! I've sent out the invites to my best ladies and have made my plan. You can see what I plan on doing as well as access my invite on canva to create your own Galentine's Day Brunch! 
galentine's day party brunch invitation
I'm planning on a small party with just a few close friends. This way I can make it extra special! I'm going to make a few simple decorations for the table including some tissue paper poofs, a table cloth, some sparkly items like confetti or glitter cardstock cut into xoxo or hearts and a photo area. I'm going for something like this party found on pop sugar.
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I also plan on placing a small gift at each place setting similar to the one below found at the tom kat studio. I even created my own version of their tag and you can print it here.
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Since I am currently doing the Whole 30 diet, I selected recipes that are whole 30 compliant but still feel luxurious and taste amazing. I'm planning on serving:
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- bacon and egg cups with asparagus
- chocolate mousse
- sunshine fruit salad
- coffee & tea
- mimosas (I'm just going to add sparkling water to mine.)
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I'm pretty excited about the party and will update with a new post as soon as it's over!
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Taking the Leap - The Whole 30 Challenge

2/3/2016

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whole 30 meal plan free
I have not been happy with my body since having my son, Arthur, almost two years ago. With my daughter, I went to the gym 6 days a week and was in the best shape of my life only 6 months after her birth. However, I've not found it as easy this time. I find it hard enough to give them both the attention I feel they need without exercise. When I toss that into the mix it seems impossible. I've been dedicated to working on it since Christmas and have managed to squeeze in a workout about 5 times a week. But, I've not been going to a gym like I did with my daughter and have not seen the results that I want. 
My husband has always been a fan of restricting his diet, sometimes a little too drastically, to achieve his body goals and he has seen great success. I've always been of the kind of person who will kill themselves at the gym and then go eat a cheeseburger (Not every time of course but, if I want a burger, I eat a burger.) I do use moderation when eating and am not actually a big fan of sweets but, maybe it is going to take a little more this time around to achieve the body goals that I have in mind. I did turn 30 this year and everything I hear says that when it all starts going downhill.
"Established by Dallas Hartwig and Melissa Hartwig (of Whole9) in April 2009, the Whole30® is our original nutritional program designed to change your life in 30 days. Think of it as a short-term nutritional reset, designed to help you put an end to unhealthy cravings and habits, restore a healthy metabolism, heal your digestive tract, and balance your immune system." 
​So, I've decided to try the Whole 30 Challenge. If you're not familiar with the challenge, it is a way of resetting your body and giving it the chance to detox from food that isn't all that great for you by following their food guidelines for 30 days. It also gives you the ability to see how certain foods effect you in way of your body and your mood. It is similar to paleo in that you don't eat carbohydrates or refined sugars but it is even more severe because you also omit dairy and anything artificial including sweeteners. Basically, you eat protein, vegetables and fruits and nuts in that order. I plan on not only doing the challenge but also keeping up my exercise regimen of at least 4 tabata/interval style workouts each week at home using the Nike Training App and the Tabata Trainer app.

After reading about the program I realized that the key to succeeding is to plan. Just like any diet, if you fail to plan you are planning to fail. So, I began to scour the internet for recipes that I felt would help me not only succeed but actually look forward to the food I would be eating. I will say that they suggest not creating whole 30 friendly food bread knock-offs like pancakes and muffins but, I am using them. The ingredients do follow the whole 30 guidelines. I know myself and if I'm not allowed to have something every once in a while that resembles bread I might not make it. My plan also includes doing A LOT of prep before we start our week including pre-cooking and preparing breakfasts, prepping veggies and organizing ingredients in ready to go "kits". I'm thinking about making a homemade version of HelloFresh boxes by pre-portioning everything in a box giving us very little prep work on our weeknights. But, that might be too ambitious so I guess I'll find out Sunday what is achievable.

My plan includes recipes like knock-off Chik-fil-A nuggets & Mustardy Kale Salad with Bacon and Sweet Potatoes, Paleo Pad Thai and Paleo Alfredo with Zucchini Noodles. I even get my chocolate fix with Chocolate Banana Coconut Chia Pudding. I'm pretty excited to try them all!

I have included my meal plan, shopping list, Sunday night prep plan AND recipes for each of the meals I will be making for week one so that you can also give the whole 30 challenge a try if you like. I'll let you know how it goes and post week two as soon as I'm finished. I plan on starting on Monday (today is Wednesday). Wish me luck! I've also included a blank menu planner if you want to do your own thing.
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*My shopping list does not include a few key ingredients for seasoning and cooking because I already had them. Make sure you double check for things like coconut amino acids and coconut oil. :)
whole 30 one week menu free
whole 30 chikfila nugget recipe
free menu planner
menuweekone.pdf
File Size: 8562 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

menuplanner.pdf
File Size: 73 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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    meet rachel

    Rachel is a mother of three, elementary Spanish teacher and part-time blogger who loves crafting, creating fun and engaging activities for her children and students and hanging with her friends and family. She blogs about what she's doing and her interests at any given time which vary. She's a little OCD and always looking for her next project. Her husband calls it, "focusing her crazy", but she just calls it fun. 

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