Tag Archives: trader joe’s

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The Unofficial Official Last Day

It’s January 30th and that means I made it to day 30 of this Whole30. Well, technically I did cheat one day, so it’s not an official Whole30, but since this is my third(ish) time through, I think it counts. So in the words of Vicki Gunvalsen, Wooooohooooo!

I haven’t updated here for awhile because, well, things have been pretty routine. Cook, sweat, shop, sleep, repeat. We’ve been using our dehydrator a lot for fruit, which I think has saved us some grocery money. However, I’ve yet to find a good shopping routine. We plan to stick with this Whole30 way of eating for the foreseeable future (while allowing a cheat meal or drink once every two weeks) so I’m still eager to fine tune the shopping and spending. I was spoiled in California. Within 5 miles of our house we had several big chain supermarkets, two Trader Joe’s, two Whole Foods, a Sprouts and, my personal favorite, Whole365. I even went to Whole365 when we visited last November, for old time’s sake. Here, I have to drive about 20 minutes for Trader Joe’s and a little longer for Whole Foods. I can certainly find enough of what we like at the in-town supermarkets and the couple small, natural food stores. But the mark-up is all over the place. And don’t get me started on how hard it is to find a good avocado.

Sad lil guys

The good news is that’s forced me to try a few new recipes. On Monday I made this beanless chili recipe in the InstantPot and it came out great. On reheating, the sweet potatoes fell apart, but that didn’t affect the taste. I used ground beef instead of turkey and I doubled the Rotel. I also didn’t measure the spices because I like to live dangerously. I’ll definitely be making it again!

Pretty much the only thing I need to go to Whole Foods for is compliant dressings and mayo (yet somehow I always seem to spend $140 there…) so I think I finally have the kick in the pants I need to start making my own. Biff has been kicking around the idea of making another batch of Kombucha, but I’m ok with not having a living yeast culture on our counter.

So I’m off to workout and then to the grocery store today! Tomorrow I’ll weigh myself and maybe I’ll have a gluten-free cider to celebrate. And then, it’s right back into another Whole30!

 

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Uncategorized, Whole30 Journey

Tiger Blood!!!!! (maybe?)

Today marks one week since we’ve reembarked on the Whole30 journey and both the hubs and I have noticed a little pep in our steps. He got up at like 6am and made coffee and bacon. I got some gainzzzz at CrossFit and then decided to rearrange the living room before even taking a shower. I’m currently looking around and thinking about which household objects I can lift over my head. This could actually be a bad thing…

Whole30-ers call this burst of energy following the detox hump “Tiger Blood.” It usually happens a little bit later– maybe like day 10 or 11– for most people. But we seem to be on the Whole30 express train on this round. I slept like a rock last night, despite gale-force winds. Normally, I would lay awake, waiting for the chimney to collapse or for a tree to fall on my car. But last night, I only pondered my imminent death for like 5 minutes before falling asleep. Winning.

Yesterday, we visited the winter farmer’s market in our lil’ city. We got some great root veggies which Biff roasted for dinner along with chicken thighs marinated in Primal Kitchen’s Green Goddess Dressing. We also picked up some locally made chorizo which seems to be compliant, perhaps we’ll have that tonight! Ole! The guy selling it was very helpful. When we asked if some kinds of sausage had sugar he said “Yeah, but just a little.” A little is too much for the Bouses! I think one of the greatest benefits of this diet is the awareness about how much sugar is in everything– even if it’s just “a little.” The Whole30 is strict about sugar. You can’t have anything with added sugar/sweetener at all. Even if it’s honey or maple syrup. But fruit is allowed, and using fruit juice is ok as long as it’s in a recipe or just a splash in some soda water (basically, you can’t guzzle a glass of OJ). Sour Patch Kids are out. Free-basing Stevia is a thing of the past. No more Vodka-Crans.

So it’s nearly lunch time and I’m contemplating what to make. We really enjoy these Chicken-Lime Burgers from Trader Joe’s. They cook up fast and go well with a bunch of sides. You will need a chisel to break them apart when frozen, but it’s oh-so-worth it. I usually treat it like a bun-less burger and serve it on spinach with mayo, mustard, and whatever veggies I have handy. In the timeless words of Rachel Ray, Yum-o!

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Day 21: Tiger Blood?

Exercise: CrossFit
Food: Scrambled Eggs with Spinach, Onions, Tomatoes and Potatoes, Green Salad with Tune Fish, Egg Roll in a BowlIMG-4238

A lot of people report feeling a phenomenon called “Tiger Blood” around this time in their Whole30. It’s most commonly described as having boundless energy, mental clarity, and renewed motivation. I think I have it. I mean, physically I feel really good. Emotionally, I’m still a hot mess so I think my body is at odds with itself. But the tiger blood is trying to come out. This morning, a little cherub visited our bed around 3:45. He nestled in next to me, which was very sweet but not very comfortable. I fell back asleep but I was really restless. I finally gave up at 5am and got up (or really, went out to the living room couch). I was F’ing tired but not exhausted. After a little while, I made coffee, had two cups, and was ready to rock n roll.

I channeled that energy into my workout (even though I might have looked like I was moving slowly!) I went to CrossFit at 10:15am, and before the workout-of-the-day, we did some strength work. I’ll spare you the weightlifting terms that sound vaguely sexual and just instead say I got a PR on one of my lifts and it felt GREAT! It wasn’t easy, by any means, but I felt a lot more sure in my form and ability. I also had some small improvements during the workout: one being that I needed fewer resistance bands to complete pull-ups (the bands help pull you up to the bar if you can’t do a pull-up, fewer bands = less help needed).

For breakfast, I made my usual scrambled eggs with potatoes. Today, I topped with salsa for a little extra kick.

I had to run some errands in between the gym and when I had to pick up my son from school, so I put off lunch until later. Mistake. I was pretty hangry by the time I ate, and all I had the mental strength to make was a salad with veggies and tuna fish.

And for dinner, we went to our ol’ standby: Egg Roll in a Bowl. The first time I made it, I used Trader Joe’s Broccoli slaw and I did that again this time because I really liked how it turned out. It came out nicely again and it was filling and satisfying. Score!

So…takeaways from today: I would like to sleep a little longer tonight; who needs drugs when you’ve got Tiger Blood?; don’t sacrifice lunch to do stupid errands, you’ll be sorry.

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Day 12: Supermarket Sweep

Exercise: Going to the Grocery Store, Family Walk
Food: Fried Eggs Over Hash Browns with Peppers, Onions and Bacon, Big Ass Salad(again), Egg Roll in a Bowl (again)

I mentioned in yesterday’s post about how nice it is to have a variety of grocery stores nearby. The newest one is quickly becoming my favorite. Whole Foods opened up a Whole 365 just about a mile from my house. That’s their more affordable brand. Some say it rivals Trader Joe’s. I say not quite– the produce, for example, is all organic so you don’t have the option to choose cheaper, non-organics there. But the quality is great. And I want the organic stuff anyway. Plus, it’s all shiny and new and the tweakers who like to hang out at my local Safeway haven’t discovered it yet. I spent about $165 and I think my haul will last most of the week. I’ll probably need to do another trip to get stuff for my son and maybe restock a few Whole30 items. So, I’d say I’ll probably spent about $225/$250 on groceries this week. That seems a little high for a family of three, but we’re also not eating out or buying booze (kill me now!!!!!) Oh and today’s total included cat food and cat litter. The organic kind. #whole30cats

I continue to feel better and better each day. I’m still sleeping like a rock, and waking up feeling refreshed. A lot of times I’d feel the need for a nap (my mom always took a 20 minute nap after work growing up. I thought “who only naps for 20 minutes?” Until I found myself doing the same thing.) But lately I haven’t. Boom! No workout today because I still felt a little stiff from yesterday’s. We went for walk/skateboard/bike ride as a family instead.

For breakfast, I spiced things up a little and did our potatoes as hash browns. They didn’t get as crispy as I wanted but that was probably due to my impatience. I topped with onions, peppers and fried eggs. A little bacon on the side and life was good.

Lunch was another salad of turkey, bacon, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, onion, spinach and romaine. We dressed it with Primal Kitchen’s Ranch.

And for dinner, I made Egg Roll in a Bowl again, mostly to use up some ground pork. I added some extra cabbage this time. I also learned that I’m not quite ready to poach eggs on my own. Biff had to rescue the operation. He did say the eggs might not have been right to start. I’ll go with that!

So…takeaways from today: try to look a little bit presentable when going to the grocery store because you’ll probably bump into a friend (I did!); ain’t nobody got time for naps; I might not know how to poach eggs after all. Bike ride

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Day 11: All Work and No Play

Exercise: CrossFit, Doing an Art Project with 12 Kindergartners
Food: Scrambled Eggs with Potatoes, Spinach and Avocado, Big Ass Salad, Chicken Breasts with Potatoes, Onions, Garlic and Chipotle Mayo

Steam Workout

Things got steamy during our workout. (They’re all in the witness protection program)

Today was a day of a million little tasks. After dropping Atticus off at school, I had to work on a newsletter, then shower, eat lunch, volunteer at Atticus’ school, take him to a dentist appointment, try to finish the newsletter and then try to get to the gym. I’m really glad to have a few, go-to dishes that I can make easily. But man, I hate having to rush when I’m eating. I pretty much only do it three times a day, I wanna enjoy it. If I can’t have wine, give me this at least, cruel world!

Despite going to the grocery store daily, we’re somehow really low on food. I need to do a big produce replenish tomorrow. (Would “Produce Replenish” make a good band name?) I’m so glad we have so many good grocery stores nearby. I keep reading about people on the Whole30 Facebook group who live two hours from the nearest Trader Joe’s. Is that any way to live?!

I went to the gym in the evening because of the busy morning schedule. It was a great workout today, the only issue is that it’s been foggy all day and the sport court we run on was pretty slick. I still ran my normal, slow pace but I made it seem like I was only running slow because of the conditions.

Breakfast was a boring mash-up of what we had on hand. So eggs and potatoes it was! I scrambled in some onions and peppers and spinach and topped with avocado. I really like to use this Italian seasoning blend I got from Trader Joe’s in these breakfast dishes, it’s especially lovely with the potatoes.

For lunch I made up a salad, also with whatever we had around. That wound up being tomatoes, avocado, turkey, bacon and Green Goddess dressing.

And for dinner, I had figured we’d have the Bolognese sauce from yesterday over carrot noodles. But Biff isn’t the biggest fan of those, so while I was at the gym he improvised a nice chicken dish.

So…takeaways from today: being busy makes eating just one more thing on the to-do list; run gingerly if it’s wet; plan meals your spouse doesn’t like so he’ll cook instead. Genius!

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