whole 20 + whole life.

you guys.

after 20 days, we decided to end our fabulous stretch of #whole30 living. 

basically we failed.

Eugene went out with some of his classmates and had soft shell crab sliders + a drink. I had a latte (intentionally, knowingly, rebelliously -- and I had no regrets. It was pure bliss.)  I also had become slightly lactose intolerant after abruptly stopping my daily milk intake and was advised to reintroduce dairy to prevent becoming lactose-intolerant for life! 

of course we are a bit disappointed. 

but to be honest, we are proud and happy of how far we had come and how much we learned and how much perspective we gained during our 20 days. although our whole30 ended up being a whole20 - we hope to continue living life eating nutritious, "whole" foods and making more intentional decisions about our food intake for the rest of our lives!

challenges

 If I am completely honest with you - I am a bit relieved that we decided to end early. i'm sure there is no "perfect" time to pursue this whole30 challenge. However, due to the nature of our day-to-day schedules, we realized that we frankly did not have sufficient time/energy/attention at our disposal to devote to this program.

1) Our days usually start really early (usually we are out of the house by 5:30am!) which makes breakfast a really tough feat. We can only eat scrambled eggs for so long -- and making over-easy eggs and storing it in the fridge overnight is usually not recommended due to risk of salmonella. 

2) In this current stage of life, eugene and I are rarely ever home.  Eugene is usually out all day for school, work, gym, tutoring sessions, etc. I am usually out all day because of work (12 hour shifts!), running errands, meeting with people, serving at church, etc. This means that I have to package most, if not all our meals in tupperware so that we can take our food to-go. not being able to make our meals fresh posed a challenge for me because I would have to meal prep for days at a time and food never tastes as good when it's been sitting in the fridge overnight!

3)  On my days off from work, I sometimes meet with people for every single meal and this makes it extremely challenging. Although there are a lot of excellent whole30-complaint ways to enjoy dining out -- it's really hard to do it without being that annoying customer who asks 1,000 questions about how they make their food and what kind of ingredients they use for every part of the dish. 

"What do you have in that cilantro-lime dressing besides cilantro and lime?"

"What oil do you use to cook the meat? or do you use butter? is it clarified?"

"Is there anything that I can substitute my bread for?"
"Can I have olive oil and balsamic vinegar instead of the creamy horseradish?"

i'm telling you...i was pretty annoying.

My lunch on the right was the Rib Eye Steak Salad with EVOO + Balsamic Vinegar from Marketplace Grill + Cafe.

4) the hardest part though was honestly trying to keep my always-hungry, huge-portion eating husband's stomach full with just veggies, fruits and meat. without major snacking. and with three-balanced meals a day rather than 5 meals spread out over a course of 19 hours. Because it was near impossible for us to eat whole30 complaint whenever we were out of the house, I would have to cook at least 6 hours a day on my days off (to prepare for the week) and an additional 3 hours after I came home from my 12-hours shift to prepare food for the following day. there were a few days when I would be so physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted that I would want to cry while cooking because I was so tired and there was a never-ending pile of dishes and pots and pans and cookie sheets in the kitchen sink. I cried twice. such a baby, i know! (just bein' real, bro..)

Swai + Tilapia fish on a bed of roasted kale and sweet potatoes.  // Tuna salad made with homemade mayo, tomatoes, avocado, olives and apples on spinach // Eggs, proscuitto, steamed broccoli and potatoes.

things we learned during whole30:

There were so many things we learned during our 20 days. 

• how to make whole30 complaint mayo and sriracha (with no added sugar or processed ingredients)
• butter lettuce + cabbage are fabulous substitutes for taco shells and tortillas

• zoodles + spagetti squash is so delicious that you almost don't miss the actual noodles
• what you eat makes a tremendous difference on how you feel. our energy level was through the roof and we actually didn't even need to drink a cup of coffee every day to stay awake
• what you eat affects the quality of your sleep (i had the best sleep ever while doing whole30...partly because I was so tired from cooking for hours after working my 12-hour shifts!)
• substituting bread for cucumbers is actually pretty delicious and you don't miss out on much!
• ghee (clarified butter) is actually very delicious and we may never use regular butter again
• when cutting potatoes or sweet potatoes, it's good to cut thicker slices and apply EVOO generously
• almost all almond milk found in stores have added sugars and processed ingredients so the best way is to make your own!
• there is a lot of processed/un-natural ingredients that sneak up in the food we buy every day (I read every single ingredient list before I bought anything at the store and was so shocked to find out how much the food we buy regularly is heavily processed!)
• farm fresh eggs/cage-free eggs are worth the extra money you spend on them
• buying high quality meats, although more costly, has richer taste and you tend to eat less of it because you don't have as much (which is probably a good thing, too!)
• eating healthy fats (coconut oil, avocado, almonds/cashews) are good for you and very much needed.
• seed oils are heavily processed and hold very low nutritional value (i.e. canoli oil, sunflower oil)
• Healthy snacks to get you going through the day are good in moderation only. And this combo is basically one of my faves (avocado, nori and coconut aminos aka soy sauce substitute)

• COCONUT CREAM IS EVERYTHING.
• fresh cooked eggs  > scrambled eggs re-heated after being in the fridge. all day, err' day.
• when making soup or stews, a few leaves of bay leaves make a world's difference.
• korean barbeque (especially at home) can be enjoyed without rice!

• we eat a lot of unnecessary carbs and sugars throughout the day (especially for me at work -- on one of the days at work we had krispy kreme donuts, cookies and chocolate covered pineapples all in one day.) the struggle was real but I endured.
• even chewing gum and sucking on candy throughout the day has sugar! (eating onions at work was definitely not allowed since I couldn't even chew gum aftewards!)
• carbs should be eaten in the morning and during the day, and salads should be reserved for dinner (more time to burn off the carbs if you eat it earlier in the day)
• Sleepy Tea is the basically most important and valuable tea created for the well-being of mankind.
• I CAN drink my coffee black (although I realized through all of this that I honestly drink my coffee for the milk and sugar.. because black coffee truly does not give me any joy haha)
• In-N-Out truly makes your burger in any way you like. I so appreciated this whole-30 compliant way: Double meat, no cheese, mustard fried, no sauce, no ketchup, add mustard and extra pickles, extra tomatoes, whole grilled onions, protein style! (that's a mouthful - both literally and figuratively speaking!)

they accidently gave me bread so I had to throw it away. *sob

• one-pan/one-pot meals are the best. This breakfast in particular was fantabulous. and the prosciutto wrapped avocados have easily become my favorite breakfast item.

• No matter how beautiful and luscious and soft and chewy a piece of bread that is included with you dinner may seem, life is lovely without it and halfway through your salad you will no longer care for it. so either, ask them to leave it out or give it to a friend!

Honestly, this is just a fraction of what we learned during Whole20.
We hope to incorporate many of the things we learned into our day-to-day practice and hopefully change the way we eat for the rest of our lives - one day at a time! We may have only lasted 20 days on this round -- but cheers to a (hopefully) "whole life".

For the time being I will continue re-introducing rice and my beloved dairy...in moderations

Cheers to healthy living. and yay for lattes!

<3

{etsy shop : sweet whimsicality} downloadable prints!

// c l i c k    h e r e     f o r      t h e       e t s y   s h o p     l i n k //

this print is available for instant download for $5 -- link above.

* * *

starting this week...

I am hoping to post a new downloadable print {available for instant download} every week on the etsy shop! 

I had taken a bit of a hiatus (almost 2 months) to re-evaluate the shop's concept and plan. because I'm still working a full time job at the hospital and trying to be faithful to the other things God has entrusted to me (i.e. my family, my husband, my home, my church) - I didn't want this etsy shop to become a distraction or to consume too much of my time and energy.

I also had no idea how to work photoshop! 

fast forward 2 months and here we are - I have learned a few things here + there about photoshop, I purchased a wacom tablet to assist me with my edits, and I have practiced watercoloring and brush lettering in any small pocket of free time I could find. 

currently -- this shop is nothing more than a hobby for me.  a little thing for me to do on the side, when I'm not working at the hospital, doing laundry, cleaning the house, meal-prepping, or spending time with friends + family. I hope that someday in the future if/when we, God-willing, are able to have children of our own and I can stay at home full-time, this could be a fun and savvy way for me to keep busy and stay creative and make a little cash on the side. 

but for now, tis only a hobby and an avenue in which I can practice painting, watercoloring and calligraphy -- and hopefully, it can serve to bless people and their homes in the process!

cheers 

xo!

whole 30 | hello, day 10!

Hooray!! 

We are already on day 10 of Whole 30. It's been an amazing experience so far. It's definitely a lot of work prepping meals - but we feel great and are loving it! It's been surprisingly easy to stick with our restrictions -- besides the random cravings for sweet iced vanilla lattes and ice cream, my cravings have been relatively under control. Eugene has been craving frostbites like crazy - so random! 

The best part about this so far has been that we're learning that we can live without eating certain things everyday. I can drink my tea without honey. I can function without coffee (!!!) I can eat pho without noodles. I can eat at a sushi restaurant without rice! I'm also slowly getting used to black coffee (sorta, maybe, only iced though!!) 

It's definitely providing us with a lot of perspective and helping us to think more about the food we put in our mouths. 

Even though meal prepping is a lot of work, it's been a lot of fun! I'm slowly learning how to cluster certain dishes to minimize dishes/groceries but still keep the recipes versatile and interesting. The slowcooker and my oven have been my best friends. 

Roasting veggies is probably the easiest (and yummiest) way to maximize your meal prep. I usually stick these trays in while cooking other things. Optimal temperature for our oven has been 400 degrees for 15 minutes. We're trying eat all the colors of the rainbow but also lots and lots of green! 

I've been trying find interesting breakfast ideas. (We can only eat scrambled eggs and chicken sausage for so long...) I found a great idea to do Mini Frittatas in Prosciutto Cups and and Omelet Pie on Sweet Potato "crust" using the same egg + veggie mix. The two recipes cook at the same time and provided breakfast for both of us for 3-4 days! We packed it with a lot of different veggies so it was really flavorful and filling - and cooking it in two different ways kept it versatile enough for us to stay happy. Yay, totally scored with that one! 

I also made homemade mayo using Whole30-compliant ingredients! It took a few tries to get the technique just right. Thankfully I found the perfect recipe and will post a video (!!) sometime soon! 

Of course I mixed some of the mayo with my homemade Sriracha and made spicy mayo. hehe :)

The spicy mayo paired perfectly with our sweet potato fries on our burger night. you guys -- this burger was amazing. we made our own beef patties with grass fed ground beef, and served it with roasted eggplant slices, whole grilled onions, roasted bell peppers, guacamole and arugula on top of a portobello "bun". Eugene is already requesting for another burger night so we are obv gonna do it weekly. :) no complaints there! 

The hardest part of doing whole30 is not being able to eat out. When I meet with people throughout the week, I have to be pretty careful about choosing a place that has something that we can actually eat. I had brunch twice last week and I ended up coming to Panini Cafe both times because this was so good! 

This is my favorite breakfast item on any given day, but thankfully it was easy to make it whole30 too! it was a veggie omelet without eggs, roasted potatoes and cucumber slices instead of bread. This place uses farm fresh eggs so it's perfect! 

I also met with my cousins for sushi because we had family visiting from Colorado (Hi, Sylvia!) and I was so excited to eat sushi but was wondering how I would do without my beloved rice. It was actually not too bad! I also brought my coconut aminos since soy sauce is not allowed. it was a worthy substitute and it definitely fulfilled my sushi craving. :) 

To commemorate our first 10 days, Eugene let me buy a new set of tupperware. I was so excited so of course we had to take a picture!! 

Yay! 

Cheers to our next 20 days!! 

xoxo

whole 30 | meal prep and veggie frittata recipe

Happy Day 3! 

To be honest, yesterday was tough. It was my first day at work on whole 30 and it was temptation central. Apparently, people usually experience the "day 2 fog" and I definitely felt it, too! My cravings started to kick in and I couldn't get out of bed without craving my vanilla latte and (strangely + randomly) a vanilla ice cream cone from Mcdonald's. I had headaches all day until the moment I went to sleep. At work, I battled hunger all day with very limited choices for snacks in the hospital cafeteria. I actually ended up eating a boiled egg with fresh squeezed lemon juice, salt + pepper and some slices of cucumber. 

Today I feel a lot better! Yay!

If anything, the biggest change I feel so far is my sleep. I fall asleep faster, sleep depper and wake up easier in the morning (almost without an alarm at 5am today!). I'm definitely starting to feel my energy level increasing throughout the day and felt really good today :) 

I'm realizing how crucial meal prep is for this program. On Monday I had to prepare enough food for 12 meals (3 meals/day x 2 days x 2 people) because I was scheduled to work all day Tuesday and Wednesday. Skipping breakfast is definitely not an option, so that had to be included in the meal prep as well. 

Our meals for the two days were pretty much the same:

// breakfast //

• Vegetable Frittata with sweet potatoes and some garlic+herb sausage for Eugene

// lunch //

• Steak and grilled peppers salad with avocado, sprouts,  tomatoes and balsamic vinegar + EVOO

// dinner //

• Tuesday - Vegetable stir-fry with thin beef and + pork slices, served with my homemade Sriracha and cilantro 
• Wednesday - Salsa Verde Chicken in a ziplock bag. We threw the salsa verde chicken in the crockpot yesterday morning and had it packed for dinner today! I served it with some more baked sweet potatoes mashed with ghee + grilled asparagus

My husband, as lovely as he is, has a terrible habit of eating anything/everything he sees regardless of the time of the day. Sometimes I'll make him pot roast or braised pork to eat for dinner and I'll see that he ate it for breakfast (what?!). Since we have to be pretty strict about eating 3 balanced meals throughout the day, I had to label all of his meals so he could eat the right things at the right times. (lol!)

Doing breakfast is actually the biggest challenge for me. 

I have to pre-cook breakfast on most days since I have to leave the house for work by 5:30am - so preparing on the day-of is nearly impossible and almost unrealistic. We usually love our eggs over-easy or sunny side up, but those kinds of eggs don't sit well in the fridge overnight. We were kinda getting sick of scrambled eggs (already, I know!) so I had to spice it up with a frittata/quiche dish. Thankfully, we already had the oven on for roasting sweet potatoes so I was able to easily slip this in. Multitasking at its finest :)

I decided to just do a vegetable frittata because I had a lot of loose veggies leftover from other recipes. In this particular dish, we are using chopped onions, red peppers, lots of garlic, zucchini, asparagus and spinach (which makes it appearance a little later!) Make sure your skillet is oiled up (I used coconut oil) 

Beat the egg and add it to your skillet when all of them veggies are sautéed up and sweaty. 

Spread it all out evenly so each bite will have a variety of different flavors in the mix.
Salt and pepper that baby up. Garlic powder/any additional seasoning is optional. :)

Before the egg sets, throw it in the oven for about 10 minutes.
The egg should set and separate easily from the sides of the skillet. 

Cut it up with your spatula and serve. 

No cheese for this recipe. Dairy is not Whole30 compliant :) 

We miss cheese but this was tasty without it, too! 

Veggie Frittata Recipe

Serves 4

1 medium sized zucchini, thinly sliced 

5 spears of asparagus, thinly sliced

1/2 bell pepper, duced 

1/2 onion, diced 

2 handfuls of spinach

6 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon coconut oil

8-10 eggs

salt + pepper to taste

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 F
2. Chop/dice all vegetables into bite sized pieces. Beat eggs. Heat skillet on medium heat and add oil.
3. Saute all vegetables (except spinach) until sweaty. Add spinach and allow to steam. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add egg to skillet and gently mix to even out egg + vegetable portions evenly. Pepper that baby up!
5. Put skillet in oven for 10 minutes. Check to see if egg is done - if the egg is not completely set, heat for 1-2 more minutes until egg is cooked throughout
6. Allow to cool for 1 minute and gently separate edges of frittata from the skillet pan
7. Cut in portions (6-8 pieces) and serve immediately. Garnish with chopped green onions, fresh tomatoes or cilantro if desired!

Bon Appetite! 

XOXO