food

Whole30 – One day left

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foodTwenty-nine days in, we have just one day left in our Whole30 program.  Not once have we cheated, either one of us!  I’m really kind of proud of that.  My husband’s addiction to Monster Java Mean Beans is kicked, my craving for carbs has scaled way back.  I really think this is a way that we could continue to eat.

Over the last 29 days, I have dreamed of food more often than ever before, I think in my whole life.  One night, I ate three sandwiches in my dream.  I don’t even remember what was on the sandwich, I just remember slathering it with mayonnaise and two pieces of white bread.  I haven’t eaten plain white bread in years, but that night, that’s what I was eating.  It seemed so real.

Last week, my dream had me having a vodka/sprite…I was half way through it before I remembered I wasn’t supposed to have any alcohol and I went and poured it out.  It is weird to dream like that.  In real life, no sandwiches and no alcohol were consumed.

One of my favorite parts has been the recipes that I have found and fixed.  Pinterest is a God-Send for Whole30.  So many recipes, most need tweaked just a little, but they have been delicious.  I have yet to have a bad meal that I’ve fixed myself.  Some of the restaurant meals have been a challenge, but that’s the choices we’ve made.  Some of the restaurants just don’t get it.

So let’s talk great food…last night it was Herb and Citrus Roasted Chicken from The Comfort of Cooking – so good…I left out the sugar, used mandarin oranges and added sliced zucchini and yellow squash to the dish.  It was great, used the leftover chicken in the eggs this morning.

Last week it was Dairy free Seafood Chowder from Meatified, again, so good.  I added roasted salt pork, fresh clams and shrimp…put everything but the seafood and the coconut milk in the crockpot while we ran off to yoga.  I cooked the clams separately and added the other ingredients to the pot while I finished the clams.  Even my father-in-law, who loves clam chowder loved it.   For more meatiness, add canned clams as well.

My fallback meal is pork tacos.  Pulled pork is super easy, just add a pork roast to a crock pot, a can of green chiles, one of no-salt-added diced tomatoes and sprinkle heavily with cumin.  Done.  To make Whole30 compliant tacos, we dropped the taco shells and used cabbage leaves instead, dropped the cheese and crema.  A little Pico de gallo, green onions, and fresh tomatoes, Delicious!

We still don’t know what or how we are adding back foods, I think it will be subtle, I think it will be meal dependent.  I think it will be based on a restaurant we are in.  The next few days should be interesting…still on the fence about Whole30?  The food is easy, follow my Pinterest page for ideas.

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Day 52 – Eating in Chattanooga

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sofakingAnyone who knows us, knows that good food must be near by.  We are a family of eaters, and while we will survive on what is at hand, we love good food.  For a foodie, Chattanooga, Tennessee should be a destination place.  There is no shortage of good food in cool locations.

For breakfast we often go to the Chattanooga Choo-Choo for their buffet, the food isn’t spectacular, but it is plentiful and the atmosphere is awesome.  Right across the street, you will find The Terminal.  An odd shaped brick building built on an old siding in the shape of a wedge.  Three stories finds some home brewed beer and an incredible menu.  Start with the Ploughman’s appetizer, it’s delicious breads and cheeses to give you a taste of what is to come.  Plentiful food and great flavors will delight even the most discerning palette.

Another favorite is Nikki’s Drive-Inn, known for their onion rings, we also recommend the gulf shrimp.  Everything is battered and fried, but so very good.  There are a number of rules at Nikki’s, so watch yourself, no putting your feet on the seats, and don’t be trying to take a table if you are by yourself, tables require two minimum.  It’s worth it though, the food is great, and if mama is there, you will be treated to your favorite old tunes on the juke box, ending with Ring of Fire every night.

A newcomer on the block is Sofa King Juicy Burgers.  Only six months old, a sister to an old mainstay, Aretha Frankenstein’s.  Sofa King is just down the street from Nikki’s.  Now to all of you SNL  fans, I salute you, I’m sure you recognized Sofa King right away, I’m a little slow, I didn’t get it.  I thought Couch Potato, I was wrong.  If you are like me and are still wondering…say it fast, Sofa King…or maybe better written So-Fa King Juicy….so f**king juicy.  Like I said, I didn’t get it, like most blondes, I needed it ‘splained to me.  But the important part here, the food is delicious.  I had the hamburger salad, who knew it could be so good, and their milkshakes are made with liquid nitrogen, so they are cold, I mean, really, really cold!

There are a number of sites dedicated to food in Chattanooga, I found Chattavore to be my favorite, good reviews and pictures of some of the best, check them out, they’re local and can lead you to things we haven’t found yet, we only get here for a week at a time.

Day 310 – Random Travels

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Travel day – this one to Montana, all the way up the I-15 to near the Canadian border.  We planned lunch so that we could stop at our favorite little spot, Yesterday’s Calf-A, in Dell, Montana.  It was once a one-room school house, the hand painted sign says 1903 to 1963.  The chalkboards and books are still in place.  The tables are community based, so if the place is full, you may be eating with strangers.  I don’t think there are two chairs that match in the whole place.  But, the food, the FOOD, is really why you’re there.  All of it is homemade, the roast beef or pork roast (if available) is the best, and I don’t even like roast beef.  They serve it in a whole or half dinner, or as a hot roast beef sandwich.  I always go for one of the dinners because that comes with a homemade roll, and the rolls are awesome.  Let’s not forget the pie, there are always several varieties available.  What I like best about this place is that everyone is passing through.  There are only 35 people who live in Dell, so aside from the girls who work there, almost all of the customers are either headed North or South.  There is always lots of conversation about the condition of the freeway, and generally some talk about cattle.  That one I haven’t figured out yet, but it is always a common theme.

On an unrelated note, have you seen the new Coke machines?  Ok, maybe not so new, according to Wikipedia, they’ve been available since 2009, but they just got to the Mountain West.  The Freestyle machine combines your base soft-drink product with a variety of flavors.  I love Vanilla Diet Coke, which of course, they don’t bottle anymore, so I think the Freestyle is a great thing, the opportunity to make it myself.  Of course, it might be important to actually have Diet Coke available first, right Beef O’Brady’s?