Whole30 challenge

After our Walt Disney World trip I was longing for control.  Gosh, we ate so so much.  I missed how I felt when I was eating clean.  At first I thought I wanted to go paleo for the time being and I did start out that way.  However, as an avid fan of Miss Mustard Seed, I decided to join her an 1000 other people and take the Whole30 challenge.  Why not?  It's more fun to do it in a group.  A gang.  A gaggle.  Somebody needs to come up with a word for a krewe of people who join together on a blog for a greater good.  Something more interesting than "bloggers" or "followers".  You know?

Now, back to the subject.

I did some reading.  Found there are rules to doing the Whole30 challenge.  I am all about rules.  Definitely a rule-follower girl.  So that was exciting to me.  I felt like I'd found my people.

No sugar - check.  Just about already rid that from my diet.
No bread - check  My 2015 NY Resolution
No Barbie Themed Poptarts or Star Wars Eggo Waffles - check
No sweeteners - not even honey.  YIKES
No tastes, smidgens, half-a-slices.  You are only cheating yourself.

So the challenge began.  I started a trial run on the 10th.  January 10th.  I say "trial run" because my birthday was on the 14th and I knew….. I just KNEW……. and yep.  I ate a cupcake.  But Ironman made a special stop by the bakery to buy one carrot cake cupcake and dang it people, I wasn't going to be rude.  I ate the thing and it was DELICIOUS.

All that to say, I really started the Whole30 challenge on January 15th.

Before I get to the nuts and bolts of what I've been doing - both good and disastrous - I gotta tell you something.  My face is broken out like a teenager.  I've NEVER had a bad complexion.  EVER.  As it NEVER.  Not in Jr High, not in high school.  NEVER.  So this is brand new to me and quite upsetting.  In fact, yesterday I didn't leave the house.  I was hoping I'd wake up and it would be GONE or at least better but nope…… it's still there.  Red and bumpy and kinda like a rash and kinda like acne.  Somewhere in between.  I did some internets searches and even checked in on my Whole30 group on FB and there are plenty of women experiencing the same thing.  They say your body is detoxing?  Is that true?  All I can say is I haven't tried any new soap, lotion or cosmetics.  I haven't eaten anything new or weird or odd.  Just real whole foods.  So if you don't count Wednesday and the Birthday Cupcake - I've eaten clean food since January 3rd - pretty much.  I have to ease myself into stuff.

I'll let you know about  my complexion.  It's horrible.

Now……. on to the eating.   And cooking.

I have not made ghee as I don't have the right kind of butter.  However, I do plan on making some.  I'll let you know.

I did make the homemade mayo recipe.  WOW!  I couldn't believe how simple and how delicious.  Honestly………. you gotta try it.  I made mine in the food processor.  I read online that some people did not have a good outcome using their blender.  Ingredients seems to get too warm.  So use the processor or maybe a mixer.  You gotta try it.

 Ironman sat and watched as I whipped up the mayo.  I didn't know if it would turn out but I was feeling adventurous.  Except for the breakouts I have a ton of energy.  A TON.  Which is a good thing. Anyway the mayo DID turn out.  I watched it thicken before my very eyes.  I may or may not have done a happy dance.

On to the next "recipe"  Perfectly boiled eggs.  Now I've boiled eggs before.  I usually follow the Martha Stewart method which is very similar to the method I followed this morning.  The challenge with boiling eggs, as you well know, is peeling the boiled eggs.  It's pretty much hit or miss.

Want to see how mine turned out?
I decided to use these four eggs as my guinea pigs.  Because they fit perfectly in this little pot.

 The recipe said to poke a tiny hole with a pin.  I used a safety pin because that's what I had close by.  Much easier than I expected to poke a tiny hole.  So far so good.

 Fill pot with cool water.  Straight from the tap.

 Add 1/2 tsp of baking soda.  Something about the sodium carbonate………

 Bring the eggs to a boil.

 Then slide them off and let them steep for 10 minutes.  Told ya it was similar to Martha's method.

 After 10 minutes, I dropped them in an ice bath.  While the eggs are cooling, I gotta tell you about our ice maker.

 It died.  And ironman just pulled out the tray because it was in the way.  We do miss ice.

 Sonic Ice to the rescue.  Someone at work told me that the ice is $2.59 a bag.  Yes, yes it is.  And we buy it.  For now, at least.  Not sure we can go back to regular ice.  Can you be addicted to ice?

 Back to the eggs.  Uh……. yep.  That's how they looked after I attempted to peel them.  HOLY COW.  What happened?  Ugh.

 The good news is that when I sliced them they were done.  Not over done.  No odd grey color.

I'm going to use them in my tuna salad.  With my homemade mayo. So you are the only one who will know how ugly the peeling was.  Don't be spreading this all over the internet, m'kay?

And cross your fingers that my face will clear up.  I'm off to drink water.  Surely that will help.


Patti