Meal plan, or what we ate this past week.

SundayI made short ribs braised in red wine and tomatoes (plus onion, bay leaf and lemon peel), and Mark Bittman's ricotta gnocchi. My parents were supposed to come down to visit and it was their wedding anniversary, hence the luxurious meal, but my mom woke up with a cold so we toasted them in their absence instead!



Monday: I made those swiss chard pancakes, plus carrot salad and yogurt sauce and fried eggs. Tasty!
Tuesday: tuna melts! Thanks, Adam.
Wednesday: that Melissa Clark roasted shrimp and broccoli situation, but a huge batch of it. I have the last leftovers for lunch today.
Thursday: Bolognese out of the freezer over cauliflower "rice" and garlicky sauteed greens.
Friday: takeout. Either Tasty Burger or Tasty Momo; Adam has coworkers coming over to play D&D and it'll depend what the group is in the mood for.

This coming week will be my last "regular" week for a while. I'm starting a Whole 30 on Monday, February 1st. It's definitely going to be an adjustment, but I'm excited to try it. Essentially I'll be eating nothing but meat and vegetables, with occasional fruit, nuts, and seeds.... for 30 days. No dairy, alcohol, grains of any kind, beans or legumes, no MSG, no sugar (not even natural sugars), no carageenan as filler, no soy (so no tofu, no soy sauce no miso). It's going to be an interesting month. The point of the challenge is to change your relationship with food; it's a strict elimination diet to see if you are more sensitive than you think to certain food groups. After 30 days you reintroduce things a little at a time to see how they make you feel. I don't know what to expect, but I am hoping to break my pregnancy/breastfeeding induced sugar habit, and I'd like to curb some of the insomnia I've been dealing with lately. I've seen a little weight creep since  starting my new (100% desk) job, too, even though I'm walking 3 miles to get there in the morning.