Now for a normal day

Whenever I start something new, I always start off with grand plans and high expectations of exactly how it's going to go.  The hubs thinks this is one of my worst habits.  I set the bar so high there's no way I can actually keep up with things and then I get upset when life kicks in and I can't do everything just the way I planned in my head.  I've always been that way, but I blame Pinterest for how bad it's gotten.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Pinterest, but it does have a tendency to make me want to turn into Martha Stewart overnight.  Anyone else have this problem?  There really should be a support group for this... 

In the last post, I gave you an idea about how grand I started off with my Whole30 adventure.  That isn't even half the things I found and "wanted' to try.  There are some AMAZING blogs out there completely devoted to Paleo eating and Whole30 with more incredible, overachieving recipes.  I have some of those pinned on my Pinterest page, so follow away.  For now, I'm going to give you a glimpse into what the "normal" for me was during this process.

Breakfast - EGGS!!

This was my "go to" breakfast that I ate almost every morning.  Scrambled eggs or a quick omelet mixed with whatever meats and veggies I had available in the fridge.  It became a great way to use up extra produce that didn't get eaten the night before at dinner too.  Most mornings I paired my egg creation with some fruit and that was that.  It was quick, easy and kept me full until lunch.  Which was good since snacking is frowned upon in the Whole30 as well.

Lunch - SALADS!!

For this, I reverted back to my teaching days and made 4 or 5 salads on whichever day of the week I had some extra time and kept them in the fridge as a quick and easy lunch.  Top your salad with as many veggies as you like, fruits too if you desire and don't forget a little protein.  Since I had left over chicken salad from my overachieving days, I would add that to some lettuce and call it a day.  My favorite was to pick up some pre-sliced salami from the deli at the grocery store and throw a few slices on the salad.  I must admit that I missed my ranch dressing, but a well seasoned balsamic vinaigrette goes a long way too!

Dinner - Tortilla Free Tacos

I know what you're thinking.  What's a taco without a tortilla?  However, if you season everything really well, sooner or later you don't really miss it...that much.  After all, it's only strict for 30 days, and then you can adjust as you would like.  For these tacos, I sliced a yellow pepper into long strips.  I cooked the hamburger meat mixed with a store bought taco mix...with no mystery ingredients in there and sautéed the peppers in olive oil, salt and pepper.  To top it all off, I made a batch of super quick fresh salsa while everything else was cooking and viola, dinner.  Quick, easy and best of all, delicious!  Here's what you'll need for the salsa:

1 T olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1/2 red onion; cut into chunks
1 jalapeno pepper; seeds removed (or left in for more heat...I'm a wimp when it comes to spice)
3 T fresh cilantro
2 large tomatoes; cut into chunks
2 T lime juice
salt and pepper

*Quick note - There are 2 ways to make this salsa, the fast way and the not so fast way.  If you want a chunkier salsa and have the time, mince the garlic, dice the onion, mince the jalapeno, mince the cilantro and dice and seed the tomatoes.  Mix all ingredients by hand and you have a nice, fresh salsa. 

But on a normal night, who has time for all that?  Pull out the trusty food processor and do the following:
1 - Pulse the olive oil, garlic and red onion together until minced.  Add in the pepper and cilantro.  Pulse again.  Add the tomatoes and lime juice and pulse until everything is mixed.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. 

So what happens when a day is anything but normal?  Find out tomorrow...