Food Log 1/13/12

Friday the 13th has always been good to me. So far so good this year.

1:30PM:

-egg salad (HB eggs, Kamille's homemade mayo, sea salt, paprika) in cabbage leaves

-smoothie (banana, frozen berries, kale, flaxseed, almond milk, coconut milk, and a small splash of bellewood acres apple cider)

The smoothie I will probably be sipping on for the next hour at least, probably more like 2 hours. That's just how I drink things. I think it's better for my insulin anyway. Smoothies are not my best choice as far as insulin, but I love them, and I haven't had one in ages because I didn't have a blender. I just got a blender, and I will probably have one a week or so...

Didn't actually eat much else today. Around 5:30 I had a small egg salad wrap with the leftovers, a few leftover pieces of deli turkey, and a few bites of the Public Market bulk Lara bars. Then as I was cooking my breakfast and lunch for tomorrow (around 10:30) I had two spoonfuls of salsa and a bit of almond butter.

Food Log 1/12/12

12:30PM:

-2 over easy eggs with salsa

-1 link isernio's hot italian sausage

-i leftover anni-cake

-hot berries with small dollop of coconut milk and cinnamon

-roibos tea

(I was super hungry, don't hate)

7:15PM (post WOD):

-small haldful of deli turkey

-a few chunks of coconut/date bar things (kind of like bulk lara bars, from the Public Market)

8:00PM:

-beet pistachio salad

-mushroom garlic herb salad

-sesame eggplant salad

I know I'm a little lacking on protein tonight, but I'm just not hungry anymore. I might gnaw on a chicken thigh later...

Food Log 1/11/12

9:00AM:

The usual breakfast...

1:30PM

Lamb, raisins, carrots, brussel sprouts

7:00PM (post WOD)

-half an avocado

-a few slices of nothing added deli turkey

-small handful pecans

8:15PM:

-simple salad with vinaigrette

-roasted carrots

-roasted chicken marinated in coconut, coconut milk, and coconut aminos

On a side note, today is the 2 year anniversary of my first Crossfit WOD :D

Food Log 1/10/12

10:00AM

-hot berries with coconut milk

-2 Anni-cakes, exactly the same as yesterday

-1 HB egg

(forgot to take a picture until after I'd eaten a few bites of berries and one of the cakes)

3:00PM

-coconut cream pie lara bar (in the middle of something at work, couldn't take lunch break yet, so hungry)

3:30PM

-2 chicken thighs

-salad, exactly the same as yesterday

Going to have dinner with a friend now, I think she said something about Salmon; I'll update later.

Hokay. Yes, dinner was salmon :-) With smashed avocado (can't call it guac because I didn't add anything) and steamed/sauteed brussel sprouts and onions... and a drizzle of lime juice over it all.

(I've tried uploading this picture 4 times and it keeps uploading sideways)

Food Log 1/9/12

I kept a food journal the first time I did a whole 30, and I'm going to again, though in a different manner. Coach Em encouraged those of us who've done it several times to do so, and many of my friends have started blogs and photo albums to share their 30 days of clean eating. I thought about starting a new one, but since I've already got this and I've been meaning to use it more anyway, this makes more sense. I originally planned on doing a mostly picture based log, but seeing as I forgot to take a picture of anything I ate today... Ah well.

Without further ado...

8:30am:

-2 medium sized "Anni-cakes" comprised of eggs, sweet potato, kale, red pepper, and bacon

-Hot mixed blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries (aka, "Anneka's berry soup" at work)

Oh, it turns out I do actually have a picture of part of breakfast, from when I made it last night.

2:00pm:

-2 baked chicken thighs

-spinach salad with tomatoes, red pepper, avocado, pecans, and homemade olive oil vinaigrette

3:00pm:

-handful of pecans, cashews, and coconut flakes (all raw and unsweetened)

7:00pm (post WOD):

- 2 Five Guys bacon burgers (no cheese, bun, or sauces) with lettuce, onions, tomatoes, pickles, jalapenos, mushrooms, and bacon (duh)

So that's it. Well, of course with water throughout the day, and a big cup of jasmine green tea in the morning.

Boudoir and Fashion Shoot

I had a shoot last month and part of it was boudoir... I love boudoir but it's so different than high fashion and editorial. I guess I feel awkward being sexy. With fashion, I feel a bit like I'm inhabiting someone else. Boudoir is so painfully... just me.

Not saying I didn't like it, but it was different... More comfortable with things like this...

As you can see, I'm still working on decreasing my midsection. The holidays definitely did not help. But I'm starting another whole30 tomorrow (my 4th) and that should be a good way to kick off the year.

Anni-cakes

I really didn't know what to call these. It started out as a hash idea, but it's not really a hash. So until I think of something better, Anni-cakes it is. I'm starting my 4th Whole30 on Monday, so I've been browsing pinterest (addicting) for new cooking ideas. This was inspired by the picture of cooking hash browns in a waffle maker; contemplated buying a cheap waffle maker at Target today, then thought what the heck, I'm sure the George Foreman will work just as well. It did, save for one aspect which you will see later. Anyway, this is the process. All ingredients and measurements are quite flexible.

~.75c grated Japanese purple sweet potato (not packed down, a fluffy three quarter cup!)

~.75c grated yam (ditto)

~.75c chopped kale

~.25c chopped and cooked bacon (uncured and nitrite free of course)

2 eggs

~2Tblsp egg white

Grate your sweet potato and/or yam and microwave for about 2 minutes. (I have a pretty weak microwave, I did 2:30) I suppose you don't HAVE to microwave it, but they wont be on the grill long enough to really cook, so it might end up a bit crunch if you don't.

This picture is totally unnecessary, but what is a food blog without pictures.

Chop kale and mix it in with the partially cooked sweet potato.

Chop the bacon into small bite size pieces, removing the majority of the fat while doing so (if you're chopping anyway, you might as well. I'm a huge fan of dietary fat, and firmly believe the low-fat diet is a huge part of what is wrong with Americans, but bacon fat is not ideal). I chopped it first and then cooked it in the microwave (because hey it's 10:00pm and I didn't feel like doing more dishes), but whatever method you prefer works just fine.

Add the cooked bacon to the mixture, along with the eggs and egg whites.

Doesn't that look like Korean hot pot? Yummm, so good. But it's not, so don't eat it yet. Mix it all together and if you feel like it (I did) you can add a dash of olive oil. Heat up your George Foreman or waffle maker, or griddle or skillet, whatever. I made two medium sized cakes the first time, then one slightly larger one afterwards, but however you want to do it. Each batch only took about 2 minutes to cook. This is where the slight disadvantage of the George Foreman comes in as opposed to a waffle maker or something. The grill is slanted (for all the fat to run out with most things you grill), and eggs are runny.

See all that wonderful egg running off the cakes and into the drip tray? I poured it back into the left over batter, and for the next batch propped the grill up so it was mostly level. If you go that route, be careful, the bottom of the grill is hot. I burned my finger. But despite some of the eggs running out, they turned out great!

I might make a few changes next time. I think I would try to use a bit more kale and yam with the same amount of egg, or possibly not add the extra egg white. They were a bit eggier than I was expecting. You could also use spinach instead of kale, ground sausage instead of bacon, add onions, garlic, spices... Really whatever you have on hand that you might put in a scramble. Even without any salt or spices it was quite delicious, I ate the bigger one for a late dinner, and I'm taking the other two with me to work tomorrow for breakfast.

As I was cooking them they reminded me of the crab cakes my mom always makes on Christmas morning. This past Christmas we tried baking the crab cake batter in small muffin tins and it worked out great. Might be a good option for this as well :-)