Day 4.

Well - I'm not sure if this is getting any easier. The dishes don't stop that's for sure. My grocery bill is thru the roof. 

For breakfast I had...chicken salad. Chicken, mixed with a little homemade mayo, quartered green grapes and a dice golden delicious apple. It was good. I meant to toss in a handful of chopped walnuts, but I forgot.

Sadly, before lunch I was starving. So I ate my 2nd container of chicken salad and then I went to BJ's to pick up some groceries. 

$149 (plus another $23 for gas)

• bag of frozen shrimp
• 6 pack of canned coconut milk
•  6 (or 8?) pack of canned black olives
• big bag of salad
• 6 pk of frozen veggies
• bananas (non-organic)
• a butternut squash
• tub of Kerrygold butter
• box of 16 mixed fruit cups (in 100% juice)
•  case of canned pineapple chunks
• bag of pitted dates
• bag of almonds
• small container of raw cashews (all the roasted/salted ones were done with soybean oil)
• 2 packs of Applegate hotdogs
• big basket of sliced mushrooms

The olives, almonds, fruit cups should see us thru the next 26 days. The Kerrygold is not compliant, but i'm 99% certain we will go back to using it after the 30 days (pretty sure I don't have a dairy allergy) and there was $2 coupon so I had to get it. It's in the freezer. It's almost $7 for a tub of butter so...

Back at work I refilled my favorite Tervis Tumbler with ice and water, nuked one of my pre-cooked sweet potatoes and drizzled it with ghee before sprinkling on some pumpkin pie spice! It was delicious. I also had 9 dates that I stuffed with raw cashews throughout the afternoon. 

I needed chicken stock (although I'm not sure for what now) and what I had on hand was organic, but not compliant. Getting to be a theme...so before work I tossed a bag of chicken thighs, some baby carrots, onion, garlic, bay leaves, parsley, salt and pepper in the crock pot and covered with water, left it on low all day. The house smelled amazing when I got home.

I fished out the chicken and carrots and put them in a ceramic baking dish and covered them with a marinade made from EVOO, garlic, spicy brown mustard, salt, pepper, lemon juice, rosemary, and balsamic vinegar. Threw it in the over at 375 for 20 minutes and tossed a bag of mixed veggies in the microwave. The house smelled even MORE delicious - I do love balsamic...the chicken was great - fell apart, melt in your mouth, moist and flavorful. 

Later this week I'll whip up another batch of the marinade and actually let some chickyboobs marinate in it all day and we'll toss those bad boys on the grill. I should have added mushrooms before tossing dinner in the oven tonight. Too bad I didn't think of it sooner.

I'm calling it a success. Twenty-six days to go.  Better sleep is one of the "side effects" of Whole30. Either I am actually sleeping better, or my husband of 15 years has finally decided he can get up, dressed and out the door in the pre-dawn hours WITHOUT turning on all the lights, closing doors loudly (really? you can't turn the knob first?) and waking me up. I wonder if I can have both....