Sunday and Monday

What is today even? Tuesday? Good Lord. I don't know what is going on with me but I am exhausted.

Sunday- It rained. Hard. I went to the gym in the morning and did some cardio. Jeremy and I went to Uwajimaya later. We spent $8 on a can of coconut milk, a large bottle of rice wine vinegar, a huge can of energy drink, and a melon flavored Ramune for Winter. Got soaked to the skin on the way home. Was awful.

I did a bit of cooking. Blueberry and apple compote with ginger, homemade granola bars with peaches, pears, plums, dates, pecans, sunflower seeds, teff grain, and oats. They are magical. Also made chicken fajitas pizza with cornmeal crust for dinner.

Breakfast: homemade granola bar (ginger and almond one), fried egg with a slice of cheddar between two pieces of GF toast
Lunch: plain Greek yogurt with blueberry apple compote and pecans
Dinner: chicken fajitas pizza
Snacks/desserts: dark chocolate, homemade granola bars (mixed fruit and pecan kind)
Beverages: water


Monday- Busy day at work. Felt very snacky. Much more than usual. Spent $4 on frozen yogurt at Menchie's. Ate all of the things when I got home. Decided I need more fiber. Ate way too much fiber.

Breakfast: fried egg and cheddar between two slices of GF toast, homemade granola bar
Lunch: left over chicken fajitas pizza, clementines
Dinner: leftover bean and veggie stew with a little bit of leftover quinoa and wild rice mixed in, leftover toasted grainy seedy bread with cherry preserves
Snacks/desserts: plain frozen yogurt with strawberries and blackberries, homemade granola bars, Korean BBQ rice crackers, dark chocolate, dried apples, apricots, and plums
Beverages: water

New month, new challenges

So I have been having some problems for a while with pain in my legs, and after doing some reading I may have possibly pinpointed what could be causing the issue. So in an attempt to help with the pain I am trying an anti-inflammatory diet, starting now, or at least as soon as I could. I plan to follow it as written for a month or so, and if it helps I will try reintroducing foods that are not allowed one at a time to see how I tolerate them.

The diet is fairly restrictive. Wheat, dairy, and sugar being the three biggest things I shouldn't have that I normally eat, and the alternatives are all pretty expensive. I'm going to do the best I can to just eat things that are already free from wheat and dairy rather than buying special gluten and dairy free foods. A few things, like milk and bread, will be pretty hard to live without though. At least the Alpha-Bits cereal I got for my birthday is wheat free, and ok in moderation!

On top of that I have noticed huge price jumps on many produce item a lately at QFC. Green lettuce has gone up from $1.99 to $2.99!

Jeremy went to Grocery Outlet yesterday morning and spent $10. He bought eggs, 6 bottles of Mio, a big box of Boo Berry cereal, and two grape flavored Chobani yogurts.

On my way home from work I went to QFC and bought:

Green lettuce
Two bell peppers (red and yellow)
1 lb strawberries
4 bananas
A head of broccoli
1/2 gallon coconut milk
2 frozen pie crusts (I thought they were GF but they were just in the same section of the case. Grr.)
Olive oil mayonnaise

I spent $17 total. I made curried lentils with carrots in the crock pot and had some for dinner when I got home.

Breakfast: protein bar
Lunch: peanut butter and jelly sandwich, apple
Dinner: curried lentils with carrots and fresh cilantro
Snacks/desserts: banana with peanut butter
Beverages: water

Chicken, veggies, and rice with peanut sauce recipe

not much color, but plenty of flavor

1 1/2 cup cauliflower florets
8 oz can bamboo shoots
8 oz chicken breast, cut into large chunks
1 cup brown rice
1 T olive oil
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup lite coconut milk
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 t low sodium soy sauce (you can add up to 2 T if not restricting sodium)
1 t chili garlic sauce (add more if you want spicy, or add some red pepper flakes)
1 clove of garlic, crushed or pureed
1 t sesame oil

Start cooking rice. While rice is cooking, whisk together peanut butter, coconut milk, vinegar, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, garlic, and sesame oil in a medium sized bowl. Set aside. Heat a large skillet on high heat. Add olive oil when pan is heated. Add cauliflower and bamboo shoots. Saute for a minute or two, then add 2 oz of water to the pan and cover for a couple more minutes until the cauliflower is steamed, but still a bit crunchy. Add the chicken breast and move stuff around just until the the chicken has no more pink on it. Turn the heat off. Fold the peanut sauce into the chicken and veggies, and cover. Let the meat rest for 5-10 minutes or until the rice is done. You can mix the rice directly into the pan once it's finished cooking, or serve them separately. The nutrition info is for 1/4 of the recipe. One serving is around 1 1/2 cups.