I realized I totally forgot to show you all the loot from Cabot Cheese and King Arthur Flour in yesterday’s post!
Veronica – that Sift magazine is glorious – as soon as I am done with it I’ll have to get your address and send it to you – you bake more than anyone else I know and I know how much you love King Arthur products.
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Earlier this week I had on my breakfast menu sweet potato pancakes, but for the life of me I could not find the sweet potato that I bought. I even checked my grocery receipt, and sure enough, I bought one. Then last night as I was pulling veggies out for dinner, realized it was in a veggie bag that was in the fridge. Doh.
Since I was just making two pancakes for my breakfast, this is all I used:
They were crispy on the outside, yet kind of tender and creamy on the inside if that makes sense. Although after I took this picture, I needed a bit more contrast to the sweetness of the sweet potato, and scooped over some of my salsa verde over the top and that was the perfect sweet/heat balance I needed.
It was kind of cloudy and looked like rain when it was time to go for my walk. I got a new fall coat at Goodwill last week – it looks brand new. It has a hood and it’s got a removable fleece lining – only $4.99! I brought it with just in case, and it started drizzling about 5 minutes away from my office, but I decided I wouldn’t melt, and a couple minutes later it stopped. Kym, you know I had to add some fall colors for you! The geese didn’t really give a shit about me walking down the street – didn’t even pick up their pace.
Lunch was basically the night before lasts chicken carnita salad turned into chicken and veggie lettuce wraps. Although logistically after one bite of trying to eat these wraps like a taco, proved very difficult and the whole thing basically fell out of my mouth back onto the plate. Klassy. So I ended up chopping it up into a salad. And this jalapeno wasn’t hot at all – I ended up cutting up a whole on and throwing it on top.
It’s awesome that when I said I was doing Whole 30 I’ve had people email me links, text me recipes, instant message on Facebook. Love. Julianne sent me a link for the cauliflower fried rice and it was too funny because when I saw the message when I woke up this morning I told her that it was actually on my menu for dinner that night! And I saw that my friend Helen had posted the Buzzfeed video on Facebook the other day too.
Let me just tell you when I suggested that I was making cauliflower fried rice for all of us, I think Hannah and Jacob were reaching for their phones to order Domino’s. I assured them that I would make them regular rice, and I did. I used this recipe for the “soy sauce” and while it was flavorful, obviously didn’t have the punch that soy sauce has. And I missed my beloved sriracha. The second ingredient in sriracha? SUGAR!
The verdict? It was just okay. I couldn’t think of any other seasoning that I could put on it that was Whole 30 friendly. Every bottled sauce I had, had sugar in it. And I think it was a texture thing too. Maybe I pulsed the cauliflower too much? I don’t know – but I know I won’t be making that again. Unless I can add udon noodles or rice to it.
So I thought I’d put together a quick “before” video of the progress of the house so you will get a chance to see the difference between where I am and hopefully where I will be in a couple weeks. All I know is I am ready to get this half of the house done so we can actually use it. I am sure I’ve said that sentence in at least a dozen previous blog posts, but it’s still true today. You can check out the video here.
I am having dinner out with my Momma tonight! I had to squeeze in time with her somehow because the next couple weekends are super busy for her and then she heads to Austin to visit my brother. Otherwise I wouldn’t see her probably until November! This will be a test. We are going to a place that not only is known for their wine, but they have amazing flatbreads on their appetizer menu, not that I would know anything about wine or flatbread pizza.
But I have a plan. Since I won’t be spending any money on my wine (sad face) I’ll be able to splurge on my beef – I plan on subbing out the Parmesan fries (weep!) for a plain baked potato, and having my beef with seasonal veggies and sautéed mushrooms. And I can watch my Mom enjoy a glass of wine. You know, because I am her favorite child and all, I just want my Momma to be happy.
So we now have made it all the way to Day 5 of Whole 30 and so far so good. They said not to weigh yourself before or take any before pictures, but I have my WI from a week and a half before and a before picture from a couple weeks before I started, so we’ll see what the comparison is at the end of 30 days. I also can’t weigh myself at all these 30 days which will be hard for me, but that’s part of the whole process of this Whole 30 – to get your mind off of the number on the scale and just eat real food. (but I do miss my hazelnut coffee creamer – sorry Jody!)
Have a great weekend – my floors are starting to get installed on MONDAY! Eek!
What a cool video and how lovely to hear your voice, you have a beautiful voice.
Aw, you are so sweet Fran! I hope to do more videos in the future – just need to figure out how to edit them – that’s a winter project of mine 😀
I enjoyed the video and outdoor facilities can be a nice feature at times. I know I have went crazy driving by my neighbors house for ten long months hoping everyday the toilet and trash would be removed. It made me smile to see the snowman plaque on your door and made me giggle when you said it is up all year. I have several penguins up in my house all year.
I would love the walk on the street with all those fall trees. Fall colors soother my soul.
oops…soothe my soul.
The only good part is that the way the deck is situated, you couldn’t really see all the garbage if you drove by the street. I have several snowmen around that never get put away – glad you got to see one! 😀
Trader Joes’s has a great frozen cauliflower rice, if its not sold out again. Since you eat eggs you could add them. I usually season with Italian spices etc and serve more as a side, although I have been tossing around the idea of using it in a salad with apples, raisinst etc but still need to give that a whirl. You’re doing awesome!
Kris – check out this recipe!
http://www.marthastewart.com/945243/cauliflower-and-apple-salad
I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you in a video before! You’re so cute! Hope everything goes smoothly with the rest of the projects!
I don’t think I’ve done one before – it was fun 😀
I love that video! You were great on camera. I’d love to see you do cooking videos. 🙂 Looking forward to trying those sweet potato pancakes! Yum! 🙂
I hope to do some videos in the winter when we are house bound – it was fun! It was just an off the cuff idea, but I wanted to be sure and document the before so we could see how dramatic the after is 😀
Thanks for the house tour! You might just have a second career in this…your hosting abilities are great! OMG, the orange carpet in the bedroom made me remember the rust-colored carpet in our house in San Antonio…it was EVERYWHERE. I was so happy when the bathroom flooded and we got to replace it.
Glad you liked it Shelley! It’s funny because someone left a comment on that youtube video that said I had such a cute accent. Um, I didn’t realize I had an accent?! Your thoughts?!
I make cauliflower fried rice pretty frequently. I don’t pulse, I shred the raw cauliflower. The longer threadier pieces cook up much more like rice. Way better mouth feel.
Have you tried coconut aminoes in place of the soy sauce? Not cheap, but the taste is very similar without being as salty and there is no added sugar. I use it when I need to cook for friends who are gluten-free.
Kathi – great idea about using the shredded – I agree the mouth feel would be similar to rice.
1) I TOTALLY used sriracha my second day of whole30 and had to start over, but I think you knew that from my updates 2) Frankie loved grilled chicken lettuce wraps during whole30, but I struggled and had to turn them into salads consistently for myself 3) COCONUT AMINOS! <- whole30 approved equivalent of soy sauce. they're semi-pricey but totally worth the investment in my eyes. I think I have a link to the ones I used in my tips/tricks post!
xoxo SO PROUD OF YOU.
I feel like I failed you Ashley because I have decided enough of “diets.” You were very inspiring though and I appreciate all the info you had on your blog about the Whole 30! 😀
Thanks for the fall pictures. So beautiful. Truly miss fall.
And the video, what an ordeal you have been thru. Can’t wait to see the after pictures.
Thanks for posting that!
Glad you liked the fall pictures Bonnie – yep, things are starting to get put back together – so exciting! 😀
Haha! Your description of the cauliflower “rice” is exactly what I was trying to say in my comment the other day – it’s NOTHING like real rice and I have tried pulsing it every which way. So now, I don’t even sub it for rice. I actually made a big batch of it last weekend and sauteed some zucchini and onions and put that over the cauliflower. Makes a great vegetarian/Whole 30 lunch but it’s JUST NOT RICE. I don’t expect it to be though so I know what I’m getting.
Also? Way back when I did the Whole 30 no potatoes were allowed so I think you new fangled 30-ers are spoiled 😉
Thanks for the link but it was not me who posted that video lol!
I actually probably wouldn’t mind that “rice” as a side dish, but not as actual rice. And I think in 2014 they allowed ALL potatoes in Whole 30 😀