Day 3...Yippeeee??

Day 3

Breakfast:
Sweet Potato Hash with Onions, 2 Fried Eggs and a Black Coffee (I was hungry so I remembered to snap a photo after a few bites, but it was GOOD!).

Snack:
Monkey Salad

Lunch:
1/2 Pork Loin, salad with diced mushroom and avocado.  Homemade dressing (evoo, mustard, salt and pepper)

Snack:
Frozen Grapes and a handful of cashews

Dinner:
4 Asian Meatballs, 1 scrambled egg and mini carrots.

How am I feeling?
Today I had a headache all day...felt like I was hungover.  My sister and I did a lot of meal planning last night and made some great go-to's like the Asian Meatballs, but this morning I felt like we drank two bottles of wine while cooking.  But according to the Whole30 site I am right on track for how I should feel so that's good I suppose.  I guess it just really shows the detox your body goes through while you ween off sugar and carbs!

Day 2

Breakfast:
Spinach, diced onions sauteed with coconut oil the added 2 fried eggs on top and a cup of black coffee.

Snack:
Frozen Green Grapes

Lunch:
Left over Pork Loin on top of spinach with diced mushrooms and homemade dressing (brown mustard, evoo, chopped basil, salt and pepper mixed really well).

Snack:
Monkey Salad (1 banana, coconut chips, and raw almonds)

Dinner:
Cashews and dried apricots (I was working)

How am I feeling:
Day two wasn't as bad at all.  I really have to get used to having a hot meal for breakfast as I was a smoothie for breakfast kinda girl for years.  That also means I have to get up a bit earlier to prepare, but I just throw those things in the pan and get ready until the food is ready.  So it's really not that bad!
My dinner was a bit lack luster, but it is really hard to figure out what to eat when I am with clients so luckily I was able to snack on the appetizers we had prepared for them and network through dinner with a soda water and lime in hand.
Honestly I am REALLY grateful for my fitbook!  It is really useful to be able to write down all my meals because I know in the later weeks I am going to have to figure out what it was that got me through the first week.  Also it keeps me accountable for my workouts because I hate leaving that side of the page blank.  For instance I was journaling in bed of all the things I ate today and realized I hadn't worked out...so I put on my shoes and went and ran stairs 5 times so that my "cardio" section wasn't left blank!

Jumping on the Whole30 Bandwagon

When most things in your life feel a bit out of control...one thing you can control is what you put in your mouth.  So therefore I decided with the encouragement of my roommate to try out this Whole30 "eating-plan" (I do not want to say diet because that messes with my brain).
To be honest I am doing 28 days, because on the 28th day I will be a bridesmaid in a wedding, and will not pass up on the festivities of this day and couldn't start 30 days before because I was in Napa...and I mean really, not drinking wine in Napa HAS to be a sin.

Day 1 (travelling back from Napa):
Breakfast: Consisted of 1 Organic Banana and 1 Cup of Black Coffee

Lunch: On the Plane...my only real option?  Black Coffee and a water please

Dinner:  1 Pork Loin cooked on a frying pan in coconut oil, with a side of organic applesauce.
A large portion of mushrooms, asparagus, and onions sauteed in coconut oil in a Wok.  Delicious!

How am I feeling?:
I knew that today would be rough because I was travelling, had to get home to shop and meal plan, but from all my indulgence over the weekend I feel like today was not as bad as it could have been.  I was ok until I started cooking dinner and then realized how hungry I really was!
I wanted to get a head start on the week, so I made some Turkey and Pumpkin Chili, froze some green grapes, and cooked an extra pork loin so I felt a bit more confident in having some go-to's.
Day One Done, WHEW!

spare the chook eat more red meat!

I just want to mention how much I heart 17th street. Not only is there a yogurtland (which in itself is a whole other blog entry), and what I think to be by far the best frozen yogurt in the land, but I just saw another great store opening early 2010!
As I was walking to the shops as I do on 17th I noticed the old Pasta Bravo was now covered by a sign that said "The Counter". I am instantly excited and actually took a picture of the "opening early 2010" sign and bbm'ed it to my roommate and my friend Michael who share the love of The Counter with me.
This is a build it yourself burger restaurant that also specializes in micro brews and plasma screen tvs which play the current sporting events. This isn't any normal burger joint though, it has a type of glam and flare that makes it a little more classy than any other burger joints.
I would strongly advise you look at their website, just the page makes you hungry for one of their custom burgers!
Looks like the next 6 months are going to be an exciting one on 17th!!

Summer Lovin

So now that summer is around the corner (as well as my bday) I have been trying to come up with cute ideas for summer dinner parties or a cute cocktail idea. Also fun things to do with the little ones during those hot SoCal days. So the other day I went and checked on to see what Martha would say.

Yes we all know martha, the crazy lady with lots of crafty ideas, the lady who went to jail for investment fraud, but really the lady is amazing! Check out some of these ideas for the summer, super duper cute!

Yummy to do with the kids, a scoop of ice cream rolled in sprinkles!

Very classy way to dress up a candle, wrap around some string or rope and pop in a flower and you have a very attractive center piece!

One of my favorite ideas. Decorating a vodka bottle from the outside. You can use fruit, flowers anything you decided. So fun!

So Creative

I was on the plane on the way to Nelson, New Zealand to visit Mum's side of the family and found these in the Air New Zealand Magazine. Kiwi's are so creative, little ginger cookies dipped in chocolate in the shape of a spoon. Yum! Don't be surprised if you see these for your next birthday present or Christmas present as I think they are darling!

Universal Language

Note the Kosher sign below it.

Kosher Hamburger with unleaven bread cause of passover. It was interesting for sure.

Yogurt land can you believe it!! I didn't go there though because I didn't want to have it taste different and ruin my love for froyo!

This is where we got the furniture, but the weirdest thing is that is was so expensive there, not the typical IKEA we are used to!

A Salad Sounds Good

My first meal in Israel was at a lovely resturant at the top of the Legacy Hotel in East Jerusalem. I decided to order lamb since I love it so much and I knew it would be good as it is a popular dish here. The waiter asked my uncle if we would like to share a salad before our main course. He ordered one and I thought that would be nice to get some greens before my meal.

Reality check, Amanda you aren't in America therefore "salads" and other foods might have the same name but can actually be completely different. This being the case here. What he in fact ordered was a "Meeza Salad". If you are unaware what this is, like myself at the time, it is actually group of dished such as; a plate of hummus, a plate of tabbouli, a plate of chopped up onion, tomato and herbs, a plate of pickled grilled cauliflower and a big plate of pita bread. Seeing as I am in a new country I told myself to try new things and went for it.

The meal was actually really lovely (though quite filling) and I decided that I should eat more middle eastern food. Though I don't think I am going to eat the pickled colliflour again I was proud of myself for trying something new. Anything with warm fresh pita bread? Sign me up! Below is an example of what a Mezza Salad is, imagine getting this before your main course!