Meat Month: Days 5-7

Welcome back to Erica's House of Meats and Carb-Withdrawl-Depression. I continue to be on a diet overhauling my lifestyle. It is now Day 8. The (as far as I know completely mythical) thing where my body shifts to burning fat for energy has apparently not kicked in yet and I am having...brain...slowness. And body...encased-in-molasses-ness. Actually, I feel pretty terrible in general. But look at the timeline! I'm supposed to feel better really soon and/or right now! It's kind of weird how long the murdery phase is lasting!

Anyway, when I really get down (55 minutes out of every hour), I remind myself of what was happening exactly a year ago and how, strangely, this is somewhat easier and also more optional. Seriously, do you remember the Turkey Burritos of Sadness? I'll take a meat muffin (IT'S NOT DIRTY IT'S A THING) any day. Also, I've gotten a couple of comments about willpower and I just want to go on the record with this correction: stubbornness. I will resist every brie cracker shoved in my face out of stubbornness.

A bright spot in this bleak, bleak time of cravings and meat-sweats: the food really is pretty good. I whipped up some Egg Foo Yong the other day, which I sold to Anna as an "egg and chicken and cabbage pancake" with some success. I also made two sauces from the cookbook: Spicy Secret Sauce (good) and The Best Stir-Fry Sauce Ever (not really for me, since all I ever taste in Chinese Five Spice powder is anise, and yuck). Anyway, look at the beautiful little circles of savory griddle-y goodness!

BEHIND THE SCENES: this was mostly an aesthetic disaster and took foreeeeeever. Next time I won't try to replicate the awesome cookbook picture and will just make a giant yummy omelet.

It's heartbreaking when eggs betray me this way. See also: crepes.

And then I made A MEATZA. A meatza! MEAT-PIZZA, Y'ALL. And here you thought I was waiting to do the crazy vintage recipes.

Pizza sauce and olives go a pretty long way for me, but without mozzarella this really only provides wistful echoes of pizzas past. Confession: I rather liked it. But it was also the first time since meat muffins that I seriously wondered to myself, What on earth am I doing?

And I say that as someone who put chia seeds in her limeade because a magazine told her to.

I was pretty excited to realize that a recipe I already use and like very much was Whole 30 compliant as long as I used all mayonnaise instead of yogurt which is the reverse of normal and not something I ever could have envisioned. Anyway, tuna-cabbage salad is crispy and fine, especially if you really drown it in black pepper like I did (and do everything).

If you had told 31-year-old Erica about this mayo/yogurt reversal, she would have laaaaaaaaaaughed and laughed.

Finally, last night we had a nice bowl of Coconut Curry with chicken, cauliflower, and squash. I love curry and this was a gently spicy one. This is a meal that I would actually keep in my normal, pre-lifestyle-overhaul rotation.

Also a warm, comforting way to remind the weather who's boss around here.

Anna had a bit of a deer in the headlights thing happening with her First Day of School pictures.

FIRST DAY OF WHAT, NOW?

But then I realized she just had some very specific ideas about props and staging.

There's that cool confidence. Girl just needed her wheels.

Remembering to check her blind spot. All growed up!

Ivy is eagerly lapping up all the wisdom en-schooled big sister has to offer.

Anna has no idea how to use this DS, but she's excellent at propping it up in various places.