Day 22: Why I love Trader Joe's

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs

Lunch: Trader Joe's Chicken Salad

This Trader Joe's chicken salad is really great.

And now that we're in phase two, it's totally on the OK list. OK, well, we're allowed to have Omega-3 mayonnaise. If I'm being honest, I don't even really know what that means. But I'm gonna keep it that way. And assume that the small amount of mayonnaise in this chicken salad MUST be Omega-3.  I suppose I probably could have just made a chicken salad with omega-3 mayonnaise myself. But why would I do that when this one's so great? I do enough dishes already.

I simply put it on top of a spring mix tossed in apple cider vinegar and it was a great lunch.

Dinner: Carne Asada tacos and watermelon

The tacos were simply Trader Joe's carne asada, Trader Joe's corn tortillas, tomatoes, red onions, cilantro and lime.

I was in the middle of getting dinner ready and watching the presidential debate and helping Uriah eat his dinner. So I forgot to take a photo. But here's what I did take photos of before I started cooking--

Here are the ingredients to the corn tortillas from Albertson's:

Here are the ingredients to the corn tortilla's from Trader Joe's:

And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is why I love Trader Joe's.

Day 21: Today was not normal.

Today was not normal. Today my son slept in until 8:30AM. If you are reading this and you do not have kids, you do not care. If you do have kids, you understand. Today was not normal. It was glorious.

Because he slept in until 8:30, I quickly realized that his usual morning nap wasn't in the cards. We needed to take this opportunity to do something fun that we normally wouldn't get to do because his nap would normally get in the way. We went to the zoo!

But first--

Breakfast: Robeks smoothies

Interesting fact: You can request for Robeks to make you an all-fruit smoothie, meaning they just make it with the fruit, the juice, and some ice. While the juice might be a bit of a stretch for us, it was sure a nice treat today. We stopped at Robeks on our way to the zoo.

Lunch: Chronic Tacos

We stopped at Chronic Tacos on our way home from the zoo for lunch. It nearly killed me not to get their baja battered fish burrito--which is truly one of my favorite things in the world. But their basic tacos were great and also within the realm of our diet.

Dinner: Trader Joe's Maui Short Ribs and broccoli

I forgot to take a photo. I've made them before though, so oh well I guess. This is a great meal because it's very easy, with very little mess or clean-up to do.



I definitely enjoyed the break from cooking today. When you're cooking (and cleaning up after!) every single meal, AND YOU DON'T HAVE DISHWASHER, it begins to get a bit tedious. It was very nice not to do that today. Probably a great way to celebrate that we are now officially in the last half of this 40-day diet.


If you live in Orange County, you need to check out The OC Zoo. Located inside Irvine Regional Park, it's only $2 per person to get in. It's small, but it's great for young kids. It's only open from 10AM -3PM, which means on a normal day we have to take Uriah in the afternoon because of his nap schedule. The afternoon is no fun. All the animals are taking naps. But today was not normal. We went right at 10AM when they opened. And it was fantastic.

Day 20: A new level of old

Breakfast: strawberries and pineapple

Lunch: Beef stir fry and pineapple

Trader Joe's lean stew meat
red and yellow bell peppers (2 each)
1 red onion
butter
crushed garlic
Trader Joe's limeade
salt and pepper


This meal is super easy. Heat up a pan and melt some butter in the bottom. Add the garlic (however much you want depending on how strong of garlic flavor you want) and let them heat up. Add the meat and pour a bit of limeade over it. While them meat is cooking, dice the peppers and the onion. When the meat is almost done, add the onion and cook for a few more minutes, then add the peppers and cook for a few minutes more. Season with salt and pepper.

Pre-dinner: fancy cheese and an iced mocha

I went on a fancy cheese date with this lovely lady this afternoon. I'm saying it's OK because, technically, it was kinda like an appetizer to our cheat dinner. The Cheese Shop is amazing. I have no idea what we were actually eating. It's the kind of place where they rattle off all these cool names and terms and you just nod your head and say OK like you understand when really you are totally lost. But I do know that was wonderful. And of course, it had to be finished off with an iced mocha from Portola Coffee Lab.

Dinner: Black Angus Campfire Feast

We have officially reached a new level of old. We went to Black Angus. On a date. With a coupon we got in the mail. And we liked it. In fact, we looked forward to it all week. I'd love to say that was because of the date part of this, but I'm pretty sure it was also due to the coupon plastered on our fridge all week. We have sunk to a new level of parental old-ness.

I'd like to point out how proud this coupon is to inform you that you will be spending LESS THAN $20 PER PERSON. As in, you're only spending $19 dollars and 99 and a half cents. That half cent is apparently the kicker. Honestly, it's right there on the coupon. Who can pass that up?

To be honest, after eating two little pieces of that delicious bread, I was pretty much full. Could have gone home and called it a night. But that bread was followed with a sampler platter (yes, we got a sampler platter. shut up.) of fried zucchini, potato skins, buffalo chicken and shrimp. Which was followed by a Ribeye steak with garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli with cheese. Which would have been followed by a dessert; but by that point we were both already feeling like we were going to burst. So we got a cheesecake to go and brought it home for Andy's dad, who was at home searching the house for stuffed rats with Uriah.

We have seriously reached a new level of old. And I can't say I don't like it.

Back on the wagon tomorrow.

Day 19: Sad and pathetic

Breakfast: Coffee. Lots of coffee

There's a reason for that. I flew out the door just about the second I could get Uriah up and ready to get out to some garage sales. It paid off. I got a TON of fun toys for only $30. Probably my best find was this little beauty:

He actually came as part of a "set". There were ratty stuffed animal versions of Donatello and Leonardo that the 20-ish kid who sold them to me insisted be kept together. I told him that I only wanted the Rafael; but he insisted they had to find a home together and that he would throw them in for free. The way he was looking at them I half expected him to snatch them back and run into the house crying. I kinda felt bad when I threw them in the dumpster when we got home. I'm sure his mother would thank me.

Lunch: Sad and pathetic turkey rolls

In theory, these sounded like a great idea. Roll some lettuce, tomato and cheese up in a couple of slices of turkey lunchmeat. Totally makes sense. I'm pretty sure I did it successfully last time we tried this diet. This time? They were super pathetic. I think it mostly was because the turkey was kinda "shreddy" (not really a word, but I'm pretty sure it's the best word to describe this turkey). We ate them, but I don't think I'll be doing this one again. They were about as sad-looking as the kid who sold me the Ninja Turtle.

Dinner: Mahi fish tacos

I melted some butter in a pan, added a little crushed garlic, Trader Joe's limeade and cilantro, then grilled some Trader Joe's frozen mahi mahi filets. Once they were cooked, I sorta broke them up into taco-sized pieces in the pan.

I put them on a corn tortilla with shredded cabbage, tomatoes, red onions, cilantro and lime. Not too bad.



Not gonna lie, looking forward to dinner tomorrow night. It's gonna be go big or go home.

Day 18: Honoring my husband makes me sick

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and peaches

I finally remembered to take a photo of breakfast. Aren't you glad?

Lunch: Uh oh

I believe that's it's truly important, as a wife, to respect your husband's decisions and honor his opinions. So if my husband decides that we must have The Habit for lunch, then I guess we really must. I'm just trying to be a good wife.

Funny thing is, last time we had The Habit, we didn't feel sick at all. This time, we both felt like we were gonna burst. I felt gross most of the afternoon. We both got exactly the same thing as last time--except for the fries. Last time we both got sweet potato fries. This time we got regular fries. Interesting, I guess.

And yes, that is a chocolate milkshake.

Dinner: Chicken tostada nacho thingys (again)

We wanted something a little on the lighter side for dinner after our terrible lunch. So I used the leftovers from lunch yesterday to make a few more of these. Chicken, raw organic cheese, tomatoes, red onion, cilantro and lime. These are great and quite easy to make. You will probably see these again over the next few weeks.


We are almost halfway. Good thing, because we've already wanted to quit a couple times. One of the things that makes this tough is that I really enjoy eating out. It's one of my favorite things to do. Especially the sitting and lingering after the meal, just sipping on what's left of your drink and relaxing. Eating at home every meal means that as soon as we're done, there are dishes to do. Bleh.

On the plus side, I lost another 5 pounds this week for a total of 15 from the start of the diet. Not sure if that trend will continue. Supposedly the weight loss is supposed to taper off after Phase I. So we'll see.

And, of course, I probably gained another 5 pounds back after those fries today.

Day 17: There's a weird announcement at the end of this one.

Breakfast: peaches, blueberries and pears. And coffee. Lots of coffee.

So apparently I'm really bad at remembering to take pictures of things in the morning. Oopsies. 

Lunch: Chicken tostada nacho pizza things

Clearly I don't really know what to call these. The package said tostadas on it. But I always thought tostadas were bowl-like. These were more or less just hard corn tortillas. Exactly the size of corn tortillas, but round.

Anyway, I simply sprinkled some raw organic cheddar cheese and some cooked, diced chicken on them, put them in the oven at 350 for about 5 minutes (just until the cheese melted), then added tomatoes, red onion, cilantro and avocado on top. Then I sprinkled lime juice over them. They were a great experiment. Something a little different than a taco, and not quite nachos (which Andy won't eat).

Dinner: Baked chicken with a spring salad and fruit

We had a meeting at church tonight, so we had to take our dinners to go. I chopped up some baked chicken, tossed it on top of some spring mix with apple cider vinegar dressing, then added some grapes and pears. Not the most exciting meal ever, but it was quick, easy and transported well.


Wanna know something weird? Ok, so I guess you don't get a choice. I'm gonna tell you no matter what you answer. I guess you could stop reading....but that would be no fun.

Andy and I both have had a huge decrease in the amount and frequency of bowel movements. I tried to say that the mature way. I feel like it sounded pretentious. Let's try again: We aren't pooping very much.

I'm gonna assume that's because our body is producing much less waste, the food we're eating can all be used, etc. Either way, I can't complain. :)

Stay tuned for another fun experiment for lunch tomorrow.

Day 16: Facing my fears

I conquered a fear today. More on that in a bit. First--

Breakfast: Yup. An omelette. We did have some peaches with it though, so that was something new.

Lunch: Cobb Salad

Romaine, tomatoes, red onions, eggs, avocado, turkey, turkey bacon and red onions; tossed in apple cider vinegar dressing. The recipe for the dressing is in one of my posts from the first week.

We were hardly even hungry, to be honest. I only ate about half of the salad I'd made and had get rid of the rest. As odd as it sounds, it's truly freeing not to be so dependent on eating all the time.

Dinner: Spaghetti Squash with meat sauce

I have always been terrified of spaghetti squash. It intimidates me. It scares me. It's weird. But my hunger for spaghetti drove me to face it.

And it was WAY easier than I thought. Here's a fantastic video explaining everything you need to know about making spaghetti squash. The only complaint I have is that it made cutting the squash in half look easy. It was not.

For the sauce, I simply used Trader Joe's Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce.

There's a little bit of added sugar, but other than that we're in the clear on that one.

I started by cooking up some ground beef (yeah, I know, it's supposed to be sausage, but that's not how MY mom always made it) in a sauce pan with some salt, pepper and garlic powder. Once the beef is cooked, add the marinara sauce and simmer until it's warm.

After preparing the squash, I simply dumped the sauce on top. It was really good. And very filling. I was pleasantly surprised. Uriah actually seemed to like this more than regular spaghetti. I will definitely be making this again.