Whole30 - Days 12 and 13

I dream of junk food? No such dreams here....perhaps my work thoughts are more pervasive? I've never been a food dreamer no matter how deprived I have been in the past. I've been on plenty of DIETs in my lifetime....emphasizing the DIE part....clearly they worked but the same old eating habits kicked back in and the weight fell back on....But the whole30 makes so much sense....how could you NOT want this to be a new way to eat, for real? Other than adjusting to not having beans, rice, bread, dessert around....they just aren't needed, they are just calories!  If you do this plan right, you will not even WANT them. But the plan helps us find how these foods impact how our body works or more importantly how we FEEL.  I want to feel good, I am feeling better and loving how this plan is changing me....go to afterthoughts to see what!

Day 12:

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs with peppers and onions, 3 organic homemade sausage patties and some blackberries.

Lunch: Nuts, beef stick, Veggies.... bunch of snacks....was busy
Dinner: Leftover Pulled Pork, Confetti Cauliflower, Mixed Green salad, and strawberries.

Day 13: 

Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, 2 slices of bacon, cranberry kombucha
Lunch: leftover confetti cauliflower and roasted chicken, cucumber slices and seltzer
Dinner: Burger Night! Bacon Avocado Burger with a portabello bun and mixed green salad.

Second pic just in case you didn't believe there was a burger underneath those avocado slices! LOL
Please excuse the flashlighting.....We were hungry...

 I swear, I didn't miss the bun at all...I did want some cheese though!😪

Afterthoughts....This morning, I was looking at a candy jar that had a leftover mix of candies in it (about 8, some Mary Janes and two chocolate covered wrapped candies) and after looking at them for the past 13 days with no real feeling about them today I went to the jar- my head said 'Not even worth it" and threw them away. Although I walked by them looking at them all 2 weeks into this plan, like they were going to be some reward at the end of whole30....my brain just prompted me to get rid of them because I just have no interest in them at all. Other than a special night out where eating something like grains, cheese or sugar, I really don't miss having them in the house.

I got this!

Paleo Burger, but mostly Ketchup. HAHA

First some Paleo for you, then some Ketchup.  Err, I mean catch up. 

Paleo Mushroom Burgers 

by JennyMac's Lipsmack

4 portabello mushroom caps

1 pound organic ground beef

1/2 onion, finely minced

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh herb of choice (I used oregano)

salt and pepper

cheese

raw or precooked bacon

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Pop off mushroom stems and use a spoon to remove the mushroom 'gills' underneath the cap (this will make the mushroom render a lot of water and make it 'weepy').

• Mix ground beef with onion, garlic, herbs and S/P.
• Divide beef with hands into fourths.
• Pack each mushroom cap with one fourth of the ground beef mixture.
• If bacon is raw, criss cross top with two bacon.  If bacon is leftover and already cooked save it for later to garnish.
• Bake in oven for 20-30 minutes (until it is rare, medium or well done as you like)
• Cover with cheese and or bacon or both.

After my vacation post, life got crazy....

1.  When we returned from Va Beach, my friend told us that a neighbor had kittens that she was fostering that could be adopted.  It was about a year now that we put our 20 y.o beloved Tricksy to sleep.  We felt it was time and this was our sign...
There was only one left to adopt, the other two were spoken for.  We wanted two, for them to be companions, playmates.  They didn't necessarily have to be from the same litter.

 Here is a sample of her "Bikini" spots hence her now namesake.  So Gina our Foster Kitty Mom and neighbor found us another. 

He was two weeks older was black with ghost stripes like "Bikini" and he had a white spot underneath his belly between his hind legs...OMG.  His name has to be "Speedo"  So it was...

Bikini and Speedo.  Our lives were now changed.  Um....we had no idea....

I am now a week out of Hernia surgery and Speedo started to get sick.  Long story, short.  He had a kitty condition we never heard of- FIP.  Feline Infectious Peritonitis.  Rare. yet fatal.  He had him for only 3 weeks and now faced with decisions about putting him down.  Talk about devastation.  Now, Bikini was alone.  BUT our plan was to have TWO kitties.  We needed to do something fast.  We didn't want Bikini to get un-used to having another kitty in her life or cats in general.

We could have gone back to DC for another adoption (easier I am sure, having already adopted 2 but a pain to drive to) so we went online hunting...when the place heard 'Kini was not tested for Feline Leukemia (which was DC's protocol - kittens often get false negative from Mommy cat's immunities).  We got "Kini tested and went to Petsmart while we waited for the results.  Almost didn't get approved went they heard about Speedo's passing from FIP....thank god that the director was smart on FIP it's exposure it not necessarily passed especially since he and Bikini weren't siblings.  So we found....

Scooter.  They said he was about 4 months.  No way, to be only 3 weeks older than 'Kini, he def was older.  Shortly grew his canine teeth.  Kini still has her baby canines.  It's fine his age is 'off' but more sad to not know his actual Birthday like we know Bikini's...but Wow he is such a Lovebug.  Medium Short Hair.  Tuxedo markings.  Highly playful like Bikini is....Great match.

Tending to two little kittens or trying not to whilst recuperation from Hernia Surgery...not fun.  That was a long month.  Here it is almost the end of October and we are still trying to get them to stop sharing the same kitty cold.  We had a scare with Scooter's eye that got scratched and discovered his eye rimming with pus one day.   We've been to the emergency vet at least once a month (3 times) and 4 mobile vet home visits.  

Bikini has something going on with her eyes being 'weepy'....can't seem to shake that and her sneezing.  One of my school friends compared this to being a parent with a 'special needs' child...I said NO KIDDING.  Although I can handle a special needs kitty/kitties.  My fear is anything becoming fatal.  The calici virus Scooter showed up in his gums after I thought it was strange for him to have bad breath at a young age.

So our life is waiting for our two kitties to be healthy at once.  However since they seem to have NO MANNERS (lol) to NOT sneeze in the face of one another....it seems it will be awhile.  Bikini will be 6 months on Nov 22 and some of these viruses won't shed until they are no longer are kittens.  We just have to keep them happy, fed and stress-free.  Will keep you posted.

2.  As for me and my 'recup' from surgery.  It's so hard being independent and have to ask for help for something stupid like picking something off the floor or  looking if there is salsa on the bottom shelf in the fridge.  Going back to work was hard for I felt dumb asking for help pushing my classroom tables around the room.  Although I am past my 8 week- no activity lockdown...I am still sore internally...a severe tightness.  A lot was done inside and was told I may be sore for 6 months.  If I am busy and sitting, I feel normal...however when I move, bend over, lift things, close a window, anything using my abdominal muscles....coughing- sneezing.  I feel 'things'.  Weird.  It's nice to have a flatter stomach (my incisional hernia jutting out got me accused of 'pregnancy' TWICE) however don't hold your breath for any bikini wearing. HA!  Will keep you posted.

3.  To Trinda- you asked me about why legumes were not allowed on the Paleo way of eating.  Simply put by Living Paleo blog:

"Legumes have a similar story to grains; they weren’t consumed by the paleo hunter-gatherer because they needed to be cooked in order to be edible."

A more complicated explanation is:  "Legumes also have similar traits to grains in their make-up; they contain phytates which inhibit nutrient absorption and cause inflammation. They also contain lectins and play with healthy hormonal functions."

As for you thinking about missing legumes.  That is possible.  It depends what your 'thing' is.  The 'cheat' for me that I miss eating is breads.  The crunchy crusty outside and the chewy moist inside.  You can't get those two things together with Paleo breads.  I've tried.  So I make do....save eating the yummy crusty stuff on special occasions if available...it's a treat.  Not deprivation.  Remember not diet....lifestyle.

4.  We got a new stove.  I bought this house 6 years ago (in December).  It was a 'flipped' home with newly renovated kitchen.  However the stove was a bottom of the barrel GE stainless steel gas stove.  It did not self clean and no bells or whistles.  Worst, it heated up the upstairs so badly we could only use the grill and microwave in the summer.  Last year, the oven went 'cuckoo' before T-day so we had no oven for me to make a turkey.  We got a repairman who replaced the thermostat.  A few weeks ago the thermostat conked out again.  Didn't even make it a year.  I told K-man...that's it!!! We aren't fixing this crappy stove again.  This is what we got:

Yes,  the double oven!!! I was so excited!!!  I was a good girl and did my research to see WHICH I wanted.  This is a Whirlpool (hope she doesn't feel weird amongst all the other GE appliances) flat grate on the burners...no open space for a spoon rest (I don't miss it).  K-man was trying to talk me into the 5 burners and I told him MAYBE on a big cooking day I may use 3....I can't see needing 5 now.  And those griddles are a joke.  My electric griddle is much bigger and the reviews all said that pancakes took forever.  I like how the knobs are not vertical on the front nor horizontal on the surface of the burner.  They are at an angle so I won't get 'caught' on them.  I decided against spending the extra 1,000 for a convection oven.  It wasn't going to really make me a better or faster cook.  The good news is that the oven does not heat up the kitchen...therefore there is no heat to rise up to the upstairs.  Love it....stay tuned for our next appliance....Fridge on top and freezer on the bottom model.

Last Catch up...

5.  K-man and started dating 6 years ago in December.  We got engaged last December and so much harassment for a date....sheesh!....Since we are older we have no desire for the pricey pomp and circumstance of a formal wedding and reception.  We want it just us and special.  So finally we set a date: 12-12-12.  Just a formality downtown to make the date permanent- our more fun, emotional and spiritual part will occur this summer.  Will be nice to NOT have a last name that people ALWAYS mispronounce!  And my name Googled will cross reference with a celebrity.....HAHA!  

Consider yourself all Ketched up!

Quesadilla Burgers!

It's grilling season KIDS! We wanted something fun and original to kick off the season. "Nacho" ordinary burger HERE!.....

Quesadilla Burger
JennyMac's Lipsmack

1 lb pound lean ground beef
1 cup salsa, drained of liquid
1 tbsp. McCormick's Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 tbsp. Taco seasoning
8 oz. Pepper Jack Cheese (yes, they make lower fat version now!), sliced
1 tomato, sliced
shredded lettuce
2 large tortillas
extras, ketchup, mustard, mayo

Mix ground beef, salsa and taco seasoning in a large bowl. Press into one LARGE burger* (slightly larger than your tortilla) Sprinkle steak seasoning on both sides and grill until center is the temperature of your favorite (medium, rare, well done). Place cheese on burger for last minute to melt and the tortillas on the upper rack to 'warm and toughen' up a bit.

Place tortilla on cutting board, then tomato, burger, lettuce and finish with tortilla. Cut into quarters or sixths with a serrated knife.

We just dipped our burger quarters in our ketchup. This keeps the tortilla from sliding all around and making it more messy to eat. These were fun and Tasty!

*I realize that a large burger will be difficult to handle for you. If you have a pizza peel (we have a metal one) putting it on the grill and flipping it is a breeze. But if you don't, chill burger until firm before you put it on the grill and put it on with TWO hands. Use two turners to lift it onto a plate. Invert it onto another plate and slide it back on the grill.

OH before I sign off....Looky what I found in my tortilla bag....

Do you know what you are looking at yet?

Someone in the Mission Tortilla factory wasn't paying attention! When they changed from whole wheat dough to flour dough.....the quality inspector blinked or sneezed or something....

and missed this SPECIAL tortilla. Half flour and half low carb. My package was for 8 tortillas. THIS WAS A BONUS or 9th tortilla. How fun. I am sure there are some unappreciative people out there who would call/write and complain about this error to the company.

I said "SCORE." I kinda don't wanna eat him either....I could put it up on e-bay next to the Virgin Mary toast....

Enjoy,

Slider Redux!

I have posted about White Castle Sliders and they were ROCKIN'!!!!

Then one day you find yourself with some leftover small dinner rolls. You start thinking about the mushrooms in the veggie bin and remember that you have some swiss cheese hanging. BOOM, you get the CRAVING......


Mushroom and Swiss Sliders

1/4 cup dried onion (but I used 1 cup frozen chopped onion)
1 Tbsp. minced dried garlic
1 lbs of ground beef
1 Tbsp ground black pepper
salt to taste (approx 1-1/2 tsp)
1 pint chopped mushrooms, sauteed
swiss slices
pickles
ketchup
mustard
dinner rolls (I used Sara Lee)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees


Line cookie sheet with foil and sprinkle with onions and garlic. Press ground beef on onions and season with salt and pepper.

Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Saute your mushrooms.






Blot beef with paper towels. Count out how many rolls and the size you need and take a pizza cutter and cut out the squares. These photo made 10.

Sprinkle sauteed mushrooms on cooked beef






Top with sliced cheese (yes, you see some American....I didn't have as many of the swiss cheese as I hoped!) You will need 6 -8 slices. So stock up!


Return to oven for a minute just to melt cheese. Since you already cut beef all you have to do is use a spatula to lift each piece. Cutting through the cheese will be very disasterous!




Load up your bottom buns with two bread and butter pickles. Lay down your loaded mushy and swiss beef patties. Squirt a little ketchup and mustard, and the top bun.



BANG! Slider time!



Enjoy!

And the challenge begins....

No beef, no bread....lots of protein and only about 10 veggies are unlimited. This will be a challenge. If anyone finds what I created somewhat interesting or tasty....I will be stunned. LOL

My GINORMOUS turkey burger would have had a top 'bun' of portabello but I felt this was going to be too much as it was....so I shared with K-man.

As you know ground turkey can be very dry and tasteless. I used many herbs and about a 1/2 cup of minced veggies to help moisten it and it WORKED!

Topless Turkey or Faux Turkey Burger

1 lb. ground turkey (I used the 93%- mostly white meat)
1/4 small onion
1/4 cup pepper medley (you know the frozen pepper strips)
1 tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
Portabello Mushrooms (either one per burger for 'topless' or two for a 'faux' burger)
Cheese Slices (of course, fat free)
bagged cabbage mix
Salad dressing of choice

Put ground turkey in a bowl and add seasonings. Grind up onion and peppers in a mini chopper if you have one or a knife will do. Add finely minced onion and peppers to turkey and mix well. Shape into burgers. Cook burgers on griddle or grill with portabello mushrooms. Burgers are done when thermometer reaches 180 degrees.

Put cabbage mix in a bowl and add your salad dressing of choice until coated. I used a dressing mix included in my plan called 'carribean splash'....it was slightly sweet, chili sauced. Definitely needed salt....but sigh...
Lay mushroom on plate place cheese slice and then burger. Add another cheese slice and pile on cabbage mix and add a mushroom topper or eat topless with a fork and knife. This was pretty hearty and flavorful...I was pleasantly surprised. I couldn't finish it all.

K-man had a regular double burger with real cheese on a bun. He added his mayo and ketchup. He also had a side of sweet potato fries and his cabbage had ranch dressing.

By the way...I got the idea for making a burger with portabello 'buns' from a recent Biggest Loser episode. I may be checking out their site for other recipes.

Enjoy!

Perfection vs. Hockey Pucks

I think many of us have different 'gauges' on the grill for when things are done. I know I tend to take things of the grill earlier to check it and I know about the 'carry over cooking' thing. Not many men can cook things to perfection on the grill everytime. Sometimes K-man hands me the grilled stuff thinking it's perfect but after it sits in the kitchen when I am prepping the plates....the carry over cooking killed the pink that WAS in the steak/burger earlier. It happens every so often. I was reminded of my Cooks Illustrated Foolproof Burger recipe when we caught a America's Test Kitchen TV episode on it. I had totally forgotten about this recipe!

The concept here is to add moisture/flavor to the burger so IF you happened to ACCIDENTLY over cook your burger to well done, it will still be flavorful and JUICY.

So I dug it out and made some.

Here's how you do it:



Make a slurry of bread and milk.












Add your seasonings and steak sauce. Mix well.











Add your ground beef to your seasoned slurry. (I try to use a fork instead of my hands. The heat of your hands can melt the fat in the burger that can make a burger tough.) Mix well.











Form into patties. If I am going to the effort of making this, I like to buy a couple of pounds and make several burgers to keep in the freezer for a quick meal.









Put your individually wrapped burgers in a ziploc bag for the freezer. Put aside your fresh ones for dinner tonight!








Here's the recipe:

Foolproof Burgers
from Cook's Illustrated Magazine also known as America's Test Kitchen from TV

1 large slice white bread, crusts cut off, broken into pieces
2 Tbsp. whole milk
3/4 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. black pepper
1 medium garlic clove, pressed through garlic press
2 tsp. A-1 sauce
1-1/2 pounds of 80% ground beef

In a large bowl, mix your bread pieces with milk. Mix with fork until it's a pasty slurry. Add your seasonings and A-1. Mix. Add your ground beef and mix with a fork to keep your warms hands from melting the fat. If you are a 'hands-on' kinda person...go ahead. Form into patties.
Keeping in mind that pound of beef will give you 4- 1/2# burgers. I can't see forming patties with anything less. They'd either be too thin or too small for the bun.

Don't forget one important point....when you are ready to put the burgers on the grill make sure you put a 'dent' in the center of each patty. If you noticed how the burgers swell in the middle as they shrink in the cooking process....this 'dent' will make your burgers form a flat surface rather a humped middle.


Suggested Extras as seen above/below:
Crusty kaiser rolls
Bacon
Queso Blanco
Ketchup
Sliced Onion
Tomato Slices
Lettuce
Mayo

Sorry, the pix bites here, but it was one of those last minute. Let's eat, oh god I need to take a blog pic...cut burger in one hand (mouth drooling) and snapping with other hand, turn off camera quickly and CHOMP! I squeezed a bit here so you could see that it was still juicy despite the pink pretty much gone. Great flavor too!

Cook's notes: I had some of these great big crusty kaiser rolls for these....when the burgers cooked they were so small compared to the bun, about an inch short all around. I should have snapped THAT pic. LOL If I had used the regular hamburger buns from the grocery the burgers would have fit fine....but these were super kaiser bakery ones....and they dwarfed the poor burger....it was so funny. Oh well, it tasted great and once you close those buns together with all those toppings who could tell my burger was a bit on the small side?

Don't forget to enter my FIRST giveaway, just a quick comment gets you in the running! Last day to enter Sunday August 30...

Enjoy!

Run for your life! There's a monster....

Thank God for Arnold's Sandwich Thins or I'd never been able to get my mouth around this monster! I needed to put some olives for eyes on the edge/side of this burger to have given it a face for the lettuce on top kinda looks like hair....LOL.

Honestly, this was NOT intended to be so huge. I had prepared 4 nice and thin 1/4 lb. turkey burgers. K-man was in the mood for a 'man-food' kinda burger. I gave him some options.

1. Cook two patties and have two burgers.
2. Cook two patties and make a double burger.
3. Put some cheese slices on one and pinch the two together for one 'monster' burger.

His eyes grew wide. Of course, you KNOW what he chose!

Now for the recipe:

Monster Turkey Burger
adapted from Bob Green's Best of Life Diet Cookbook also on Oprah.com

1 pound ground turkey breast
1/4 onion , ground in a food processor (omitted and just doubled the green onion)
1/4 cup finely chopped green onion (scallion)
2 slices whole wheat bread , toasted and processed in a food processor for 1 minute to make crumbs (do this before the onions! I just used 4 halves of the Arnolds Whole Grain Sandwich Thins)
1/4 cup Better 'n Eggs or 1 egg , beaten
2 cloves garlic , finely chopped
1/8 tsp. ground mustard
Black pepper to taste
Vegetable oil cooking spray
4 whole wheat hamburger buns (about 115 calories each, again I used the Arnold's @ 100 cal ea.)
1 Tbsp. mustard
8 leaves lettuce
8 thick slices tomato
4 slices red onion (omitted for I thought the onion in the burger was enough)
2 oz of 70% reduced fat White Cheddar (1 ounce per burger- this is not part of Calorie count below)

Thoroughly mix the turkey, onion, green onion, bread crumbs, egg, garlic, mustard and pepper to taste in a large bowl. Form the mixture into 4 patties.

OR: Slice of two thin slices of low fat cheese and place on top of one burger. Lay another burger on top of the cheese and carefully pinch and seal the edge.

Heat a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat.

Lightly coat the pan with cooking spray and place the patties in the pan. Cook
until the pink just disappears in the center, about 4 minutes on each side, or until a
thermometer inserted into the center of the burger reads 160°.

Slice the buns. Spread each top with mustard. Place the lettuce, tomato, onion and a
burger on the bottom bun and cover with the top. Serve.

Nutritional Information:
Per serving, about: calories: 367; protein: 29 g; carbohydrate: 36 g; dietary fiber: 6 g; sugars: 3 g; total fat: 13 g; saturated fat: 3 g; cholesterol: 143 mg; calcium: 118 mg; sodium: 487 mg


Can you get over how that was two little thin slices of cheese? They were barely 1/4 inch thick.

I highly suggest you dip your burger in your ketchup, mustard etc. If you put it on your toppings and bun will slide all over the place. Just the bit of light mayo under the lettuce and the juicy tomatoes made for a slippery burger! K-man liked this burger but I could see in his slightly sad eyes that he'd wish it was BEEF. "Sometimes we eat healthier at home so going out for a burger is a real treat, right hunny?" Uh huh he said.....

LOL

Restylizing your fun meal...

My post has multi-purposes....

a) I went to the farmer's market two weeks ago...I really needed to get rid of the tons of green onion I still had left. We are going on vacation in a few days and I didn't want to think of what I was going to come back to if I still had green onions left....

b) It was our last day of school today and I wanted to have a fun meal to celebrate.

c) We had multi types of bread (also wanting to use up)and I could use it in a fun way using this recipe....

d) I got this idea from Big Red Kitchen and thought I could use it with my adaptions to fit all the above!

White Castle-ish Sliders and Hamburger Dogs
adapted from Big Red Kitchen

2 lbs of ground beef (80% for flavor purposes)
1/2 cup dried onion (but I used 1-1/2 cups fresh chopped green onion)
1 Tbsp. minced dried garlic
1 Tbsp ground black pepper
salt to taste (approx 1-1/2 tsp)
cheese slices of your choice
pickles
ketchup
mustard
buns (slider buns, hot dog buns, evil biscuits)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Line your small cookie sheet or 9X13 pan with onion (of choice)



I didn't know they grew red/purple scallions. I figured since I was using fresh onions...I'd use the dried garlic as seen here!






Press your meat onto onions and season with salt and pepper on top.



Yes, Plenty of pepper. And look at those hearty flakes of kosher salt!









Bake for 25 minutes



Blot with paper towel










Layer cheese slices and let melt. (Sorry forgot to snap this pic....we were hungry.)

Cut burger into pieces to fit your bun of choice. (I got about 15 squares plus one 'hotdog' length) Here is the onion side in case you were wondering....









Assemble on buns with pickle, ketchup and mustard

Angelic ...................................and the......................................Evil

Now you KNOW after my last post with my evil biscuits....this biscuit was IDEAL for a slider....burger with bacon and cheese built in? PERFECTION!

I also cut the beef to make:

Hamburger Dog

Of course no burgers would be complete with out Fries!

But we eat Sweet Potato Fries here! We love them! We put our newly purchased bacon salt on these...yummy!

Making sliders the 'white castle' way was so easy, fun and very tasty! I highly recommend making yours this way. Thanks Robin Sue for the idea!

So did you check out that platter in the beginning of the post? K-man loved this meal so much that he ate the Hamburger Dog, an Evil Slider and 3 of the regular sliders (and 2/3 of the fries)!!!! For me, one slider was perfect and after a handful of fries...that last evil slider was very tough to finish! K-man is excited about tomorrow's lunch of the same meat between two toasted pieces of rye bread.....a kinda "patty melt."