Whole30: My morning drill

On day 3 of Whole30, all is going well. Monday was a reminder to always make about 50% more food than you think you'll need -- I was starving when I got home, and we ran out of sweet potatoes at dinner. Cardinal sin! Despite the -15 degree temperatures, I made an emergency grocery store run for more of, well, everything.

Now we're stocked, and all is well for a few days. I'm eating well, feeling good, and having fun. Here's the recap so far:

Monday:
Breakfast: Omelet with 3 eggs, kale, and pickled jalapenos, cooked in ghee. Roasted pumpkin. Black coffee.
Post-workout: Half a large baked sweet potato, roasted almonds, black coffee.
Lunch: Big salad (spinach, 1/2 roasted yellow pepper, roasted eggplant, clover sprouts, olive oil and balsamic vinegar), tuna salad (tuna in olive oil, celery, apple, sliced almonds, paleo mayo)
Snack: Almonds, rest of the sweet potato. Later, dried fruit and a few pistachio nuts.
Dinner: Polish sausage with tomatoes and cauliflower. I was going to eat another sweet potato but my 7 year old stole it.
After dinner: Jicama slices dipped in paleo mayo. Yum.

Here's my morning breakfast-making and lunch-assembling drill:
1. Start making coffee.
2. Start assembling lunch. For the salad, I start by filling a 5.5 cup container with lettuce or spinach (this is an OXO Good Grips -- I recommend the rectangular one, but not the square one, as the lid tends to pop off).

Pardon the blurry pictures; I'm still mastering this whole food-photography thing.

My general formula for salad is greens + 2-4 other things + olive oil + balsamic vinegar. The "other things" can include roasted peppers, roasted eggplant, avocado, leftover veggies, green beans, sprouts, or almonds. Today, I did roasted peppers, eggplant, spouts, and clementines. Therefore, my next step was
3. Roast anything that needs roasting. I do this directly on the burner of my gas stove, on the lowest flame setting. It takes 5 min or so. Watch closely so you don't set things on fire.

Pepper before...

... and after.

Eggplant before...

... and after!

 4. Assemble salad.

With oranges and eggplant...

... plus sprouts and peppers. Then I pour about 2-3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil and about 1 Tbsp balsamic over it, and it's ready to go!

 5. Meanwhile, microwave a couple of sweet potatoes.

The top one is a white sweet potato. Firmer texture (almost a little crumbly), and not quite as sweet. Both are good.

6. Pack tuna salad. I make a batch that lasts 3 days, using the following recipe:

Tuna salad (3 meals' worth)

Mix in a bowl:
2 cans tuna packed in olive oil, lightly drained
3-4 Tbsp paleo mayonnaise
2 stalks celery, chopped
Optional items (add one or many):
1/2 apple, diced
2 Tbsp sliced almonds or other nuts
1 green onion, sliced
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 jalapeno pepper, minced
1 Tbsp capers
8 kalamata olives, halved
Anything else that looks good

I often fill the rest of the 2.5 cup container with other veggies. Today, I tried frozen green beans (haricots verts from Trader Joe's) and some extra roasted pepper. It was pretty awesome!

Blurry but delicious

7. Coffee's done. Start breakfast! Melt ghee in the pan, and add a bunch of kale.

 Crack the eggs in...

 ... and break the yolks up with a spatula.

Add jalapenos. Cook till the edges are set and the greens are browning, then flip and cook a couple more minutes.

 8. Warm up some previously roasted pumpkin. I dusted it with smoked paprika and salt this morning, which was nice.
9. Breakfast!

Love it!

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Omelet with 3 eggs, kale, and pickled jalapenos, cooked in ghee. Roasted pumpkin. Black coffee.
Post-workout: Baked sweet potato, almonds, black coffee.
Lunch: Big salad (lettuce, a clementine orange, 1/2 roasted yellow pepper, roasted eggplant, clover sprouts, olive oil and balsamic vinegar), tuna salad (tuna in olive oil, celery, apple, sliced almonds, paleo mayo) with green beans and some roasted peppers on top. Almonds.
Snack: Dried fruit, almonds.
Dinner: Taco salad: Big bowl of lettuce and spinach topped with 1/2 avocado and about 1/4 lb ground beef cooked with onion, green pepper, cumin, and chili powder. Olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Taco meat!

Salad!

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Omelet with 3 eggs, kale, and pickled jalapenos, cooked in ghee. Roasted pumpkin. Black coffee.
Post-workout: Baked sweet potato, almonds, black coffee.
Lunch (planned): Big salad (lettuce, a clementine orange, 1/2 roasted yellow pepper, roasted eggplant, clover sprouts, olive oil and balsamic vinegar), tuna salad (tuna in olive oil, celery, apple, sliced almonds, paleo mayo) with green beans and some roasted peppers on top. Almonds.
Dinner: We're eating out! Probably at Brasa (aka paleo comfort food heaven).