Saturday, March 14, 2009

:: MJ Meal Plan 03/14 - 03/20 ::

This week I am cooking out of Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions" cookbook. Considering I am a little under the weather this week - this will be perfect.

Saturday
=eat out=

Sunday
Grass-Fed Beef Stir-Fry Stew

Monday (Jay & Kat over for Dinner)
Stuffed Grape Leaves ~ Dolmas
Creamy & Crusty Beans (Heidi Swanson)
Spiced Chicken Breasts
Variety Salad

Tuesday
Cream of Vegetable Soup
Variety Salad

Wednesday
Cornish Game Hens, Indian Style
Indian Rice

Thursday
Red Cabbage, Dutch Style
Stuffed Onions
Algerian Wedding Rice

Friday
Leftovers
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Friday, March 13, 2009

Fight Back Fridays!

This is part of Food Renegade's Fight Back Fridays. I'm not sure if my post is even relevant or along the lines of what Kristin is hoping to get, but oh well! I apologize in advance if this is off-track. I am sharing a very personal post on "Gluttony" - a very recent rant about one of the most socially acceptable forms of sin in churches today.
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:: Day 69- 3/13/09 - Summary ::

Activities: 6am bootcamp, 499 cal, HRa 135 HRm 177 (Dorothy, where were you???)
Surprisingly, I didn't cough during bootcamp!

8am: Usual blend

Random snacks: Carrots, apple, papaya

Main meal @ Justin's Birthday Potluck
I'm in charge of spuds, raw veges and cooked veges!
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Thursday, March 12, 2009

:: Day 68- 3/12/09 - Summary ::

Activities: Still not fully recovered so I'm going to take it easy.

7am:
Woke up to a hot mug of lemon and honey drink. thanks mikee!!!


Breakfast blend: ya know, the usual.

Random snacks:
2 apples, 1 carrot, 3 dried apricots, 7 raw almonds, 1/3 banana


Main meal @ small group
Leftover cabbage rolls and fried rice
Heather's Quinoa/Brown Rice
Toasted pumpkin seeds
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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

:: The Primal Blueprint ::

The 10 laws of the Primal Blueprint for effortless weight loss, perfect health and peak longevity.

Eat Lots of Plants, Animals and Insects; - er not sure about the insects parts?
Avoid Poisonous Things; - Check.
Move Frequently At A Slow Pace; - Check.
Lift Heavy Things; - Check.
Run Really Fast Once In A While; - Check.
Get Adequate Sleep; - Check. (But catching up on 5 more hours of debt)
Play; - Check!
Get Plenty of Sunlight; - Check.
Avoid Stupid Mistakes; - Er....
and Use Your Brain. - Check. I hope.
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:: MJ Meal Plan 03/07 - 03/13 ::

I didn't actually plan my meal plan in advance this week so let's just see what happens!

Saturday
= retreat food =

Sunday
Avocado Papaya Lime Salad
Organic beef with carrots and onions

Monday
Grass-fed beef with carrots and onions on brown rice

Tuesday
Turkey Vege Meatloaf (own recipe)
Primal Cabbage Rolls

Wednesday
Leftover primal cabbage rolls on brown/adzuki rice
Kale Mushroom and Sausage Stew

Thursday
Heather's Quinoa

Friday
Grass-Fed Beef Liver Terrine (Laura's Recipe)
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:: Day 67- 3/11/09 - Summary ::

Activities: Continue to repay debt to National Bank of Sleep. 5 more to go...DEBT PAID!
6pm walk with hubby outdoors. fresh air!!!

7am: Breakfast blend by Mikee and a huge mug of lemon/honey tea


Rest of day: Random fruits like apples and papaya, many cups of hot lemon/honey

Main meal @ home
Fried Brown Rice
Kale Mushroom and Sausage Stew

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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

:: Day 66- 3/10/09 - Summary ::

Activities: Not much. I'm now paying the price for running low on sleep over the weekend. I averaged 4 hours per night of "bad" sleep. My body didn't like it. I started to cough a little bit and yesterday night I decided I need to repay my debt big time. I'm taking the day off to pay off 9 hours of sleep debt, with interest. I thought it fitting that son of a grok actually blogged about rest today. Don't underestimate the importance of SLEEP!!!


7am: Cup of lemon and honey drink to soothe the throat.

8am: Morning blend made by mikee
blueberries, banana, kale, carrot, 1/2 apple

Random snacks at home:
Not much.

Main meal @ home with Sampson and Mikee
I've had beef two days in a row so wanna stay off for awhile.
Turkey Vege Meatloaf (own recipe)

Primal Cabbage Rolls

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:: Cow Face-Off ::

Last night, at approximately 7pm, the organic corn-fed ground beef faced off against the grass-fed ground beef. Here are the results...


Color:
Corn-fed beef was definitely darker in color. Grass-fed was much lighter, almost like turkey color.

Texture:
The corn-fed beef had more texture and was "harder" while the grass-fed beef was much much softer.

Taste:
I actually liked the taste of grass-fed better because it was just so tender and the juices seemed to squish out. I will say that one other tester preferred the organic corn-fed ground beef.

Price:
Organic-certified corn-fed ground beef $4.99/lb (costco price)
Organic-practicising grass-fed, pasture roaming ground beef $3.57/lb (Wholesale price)

Overall:
I honestly could've eaten either and would have been fine with it but overall, I have to pick grass-fed. I do have to cook it at lower temperatures but I enjoy the beef more knowing that they were once extremely happy cows living in happy surroundings and being taken care of by Kim and Dan.
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Monday, March 9, 2009

:: Day 65- 3/9/09 - Summary ::

Guys, I am severely sleep deprived. I currently owe the National Bank of Sleep 8 hours of sleep - which I intend to fully pay back with interest. This church retreat was supposed to be re-energizing :P but I feel more exhausted than I've felt in a long time. Mostly cause I can't keep up with the young guns running on 4 hours of sleep. Sigh....

Activities:
6am Bootcamp, 459 cal

Breakfast:
Usual juice blend

Random snacks:
1/2 papaya, carrot sticks, 7 almonds, 3 apricots, 1 apple


Main meal @ home
Going to make the same beef stir fry dish as yesterday so we can do a direct comparison.

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:: We did it!!! :::

I wasn't home when Dan arrived with the delivery but when I got home, I felt like I was a 5 year-old on Christmas morning. Yay!!! :) We did it!!! Here's a pic of all the lean beef we got from 1/4 of a grass-fed pasture-roaming cow!


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Sunday, March 8, 2009

:: Day 64- 3/8/09 - Summary ::

Our first delivery of grass-fed beef direct from the farmer arrives tmrw at 7am! We are soo excited! :)

Activities:
4pm Mission Peak Hike with Mikee and Dyl
Summit, 1:05:31 776 cal, HRa 165, HRm 176 I'm proud to announce that is my PB time ever!
Descent, 1:11:23, 458 cal, HRa 118, HRm 138

8am: Carrot apple juice blend, fruit salad, carrot sticks, scrambled eggs, sausages @ church retreat


6pm: Random dried fruit and nuts on the mission peak trail

8pm:
Dinner with Mikee and Dyl
Papaya and Avocado Salad


Sauteed organic beef with mirepoix base. Yum. Served on bed of soba or 4grain rice

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:: Day 63- 3/7/09 - Summary ::

I kept my goal very simple this weekend - No chocolate and snackies. It worked - everyone helped keep me accountable. I still ate more than I usually do but I was successful at my goal. :)

Activities:
7am Santa Cruz Beach run, 45 mins

9am:
random fruit, juice blend

1pm: 2 small bowls of chilli, some corn bread


Random snacks: Dried fruits and nuts, apple

7pm: Pesto Pasta, Fruit Salad, Carrot Fries

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:: victorious! ::

What I was up against...


Thank you to EVERYONE who kept me accountable... either in-person, via text messages or just thinking of me. :) By God's grace, this place had a blender! YIPPEEEE! I also made it a point to get up earlier than everyone else to prepare fruit salad for the day. I think it worked, I got the kids to eat a hecka lot more veges. With the leftover carrots, I baked carrot fries every day that were a big hit!

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