I’m hoping this ground up almond + carrageen-free almond milk from Almond Milk LA is going to get me through my last week or so of The Whole 30 at breakfast time. Because I cannot eat one. more. egg. I’m struggling, I’ll admit it.

So here’s the thing. My day is usually spent like this: “Whooo! Feeling good. Focused. Even. Totally chill, dudes.” And then, “Christonacracker, WHY CAN’T I HAVE M&Ms???????? GIVE ME M&Ms!” What I’m trying to say is I’m a bit schizo here, but mostly OK. Because I do feel good, physically, mentally, and all of that stuff, especially in this last week of doing the Whole 30. Which is super exciting for someone who has been up and down for three years. And when I think about grabbing a bottle of bourbon and pairing it with  maple bacon gluten-free waffles, I know that I will not feel good about myself. Although that waffle combo needs to happen at some point in the future. Like, in 10 days give or take.

The big problem is I’m bored with meat, veggies, and the occasional fruit. Getting super bored.  Sometimes I’m just sad during dinner, especially because by the end of the day I can only look forward to water and more meat. So I’m doubling down on making new recipes I’ve never had before to keep me interested in eating and not at all homicidal. Like this –

The Lagasse girls know how to make a power salad, that’s for sure. This garlic pork with oriental salad number from their fab book, The Gluten-Free Table was tweaked to be Whole 30-friendly, and I can’t wait to go full-force with the sesame oil the next time I make it. I also substituted coconut aminos for wheat-free tamari, and sadly my store was out of bok choy AND radishes, so I bought a bulb of fennel and used olive oil and ate this all up. I love this salad with delish pork chops cut up all over it. LOVE.

I desperately needed to shake up my breakfast routine, and this sweet potato hash with a fried egg more than did the trick. I so totally dig Nom Nom Paleo’s recipes and this one came through with shining colors, yet again. I used ghee to cook the egg, and went to town. Really great, and it felt soooo totally different. Although, again, I’m wondering who I am as I sit here waxing poetic about eating freaking sweet potatoes for breakfast.

Now let’s talk about a substitution made out of desperation. I make barbecue sauce a lot. I love Stubb’s, for sures, but I also love whipping up this bacon version with thyme and I do it on the regular. Of course with the Whole 30 challenge I had to completely upend this biz. It was kind of good. I mean, I love BBQ chicken and this was yummy, for sures. But knowing how hard the sauce rocks it when I get to add brown sugar, molasses, and ketchup instead of tomato sauce, I got a little sad just adding extra onion and using apple cider vinegar instead of white wine vinegar in hopes of sweetening things up a bit. And pairing this with kale, well, that made me even more sad.

At the same time, yeah, I feel like my body is happy. My clothes already fit better, I don’t have energy spikes and dips, and my “getting gluten’d” moments are non-existent. Mostly because I’m not eating processed food and know every single thing that’s going into my body so there’s zero chance of gluten sneaking its nasty ass in there. Even once I’m reaching for the chocolate sauce again, this is a seriously important lesson I’ve learned. I really dig knowing exactly what I’m eating at all times. I’m a gal who takes a risk, but now it’s totally clear what a risk will cost me since I’m all sensitive and stuffs. Good lesson. I cannot wait to toast all my new habits with a glass of wine when this is all said and done. Can’t. Wait.