Whole 30: Day 4



     This has been an awesome day, and not just because I was not at work. I've had a lot more energy and a lot less pain. I was still really tired, but any amount of energy is an improvement. We're actually thinking about extending this way of eating past 30 days. The pros are that we'll spend less money on insulin, honey, maple syrup, and coconut sugar. We'll only use those things on special occasions. The cons are... I really don't see any cons. I love sugar, but I know it's just another addiction that is not good for my health.


     I had so much energy today that I did the majority of the cooking. I absolutely love to cook, but most days (even my days off), I just think about cooking, but never have the energy to get up and help. But this morning, for breakfast, I cooked pumpkin tahini porridge, while Ray chopped us up some ham.  This is a fabulous recipe that I got out of  Practical Paleo. I just omitted the small amount of natural sweetener and used full fat coconut milk instead of water. It added sweetness and creaminess.

     After breakfast, I mixed up a marinade for the bacon jerky we're having for snack tomorrow to give it a few hours to think about how tasty it was going to be. Meanwhile, Ray shredded carrots and got them started up fermenting.

While watching Adventure Time and looking through cookbooks, I came across a recipe for cashew cheese sauce. Since we can't have dairy, and it was still early enough to have time to soak the nuts, Ray went out and got us some raw cashews. While he was gone, I marinated some sardines in olive oil, lemon juice, dill, and paprika, so they'd be ready to fry up once it was time for lunch.

     Once he got home, I started pan-frying the sardines in coconut oil, while Ray mixed up olive oil with herbs and then tossed together tomatoes from our garden with olives and chopped up avocado. I then mixed the sardines in with the olive oil and herbs, and we poured this over our savory fruit salad. After lunch, I threw the bacon in the dehydrator, and we allowed the kids to play some video games while Ray and I got a nap. It was a truly pleasant nap while it poured down rain outside, and we could hear it on the tin roof of our home.

     As always with cooking comes the less fun task of cleaning, so we had to wash some dishes before we could make the star dish of our day. And mayo. Last year, when we first went Paleo, we started making our own mayonnaise. Then the appliance that we used to make mayo got dropped and busted, so we bought a different type of appliance. It was a better machine for some things, but not necessarily for mayonnaise. Then it got dropped and busted, so we replaced it. Then that one just snapped because apparently the brand we got has a weak handle problem. So we have been without mayo for a few weeks now, and I've been sad. We finally broke down and got the original appliance that we had, and now it's back to delicious, creamy mayonnaise again. I also used it for the cashew cheese.

     With all the cooking for the night (plus the breakfast, lunch, and snack done for tomorrow), it was time to settle down with the family and watched the movie that was picked this week by our youngest and eat some delicious meatza with a side salad and homemade ranch dressing. Now it is time for bed. Goodnight, everyone.