A Gut Healing meal

Technically yesterday was the first day of our challenge, but this will be my first meal post.

I didn't plan my groceries very well, and there's basically nothing left in our fridge. We get our Heliotrope veggie bin on Thursday, so we just had a few random things left from the last one.

For supper I thew together:

- Farm eggs with a neighbour's tomatoes, local garlic and rosemary; topped with leftover homemade salsa verde (Heliotrope tomatillos, cilantro, hot pepper)

- Leftover Lebanese cauliflower (cumin/garlic/lemon juice)

- Home pickled beets and onions

- Heliotrope 'lemon' cucumbers with flower salt

One of the challenge requirements is diversity by eating 30 different types of plant matter every week. Well this meal took care of 10 for the week!

Heal Your Gut Challenge 2014

We are doing another challenge at the gym. Read up on it here.

My dietary goals for this challenge are to cut out goat cheese and sweat treats. I don't think any of the other challenge requirements will give me grief.

Physically, I'd like to see gains in bodyweight movements. I've been focusing on gymnastics this Fall, and shedding a few pounds is a sure way to improve your pull ups and push ups!

I've measured myself up again and pulled my old numbers from way back in summer of '11 (just for "fun"!):

*September 23, 2014*

Bicep: 11 1/4

Bust: 34
Rib cage: 29 1/4

Waist: 27

Hips: 34 1/4

Butt: 38 1/4

Above knee: 16 1/2

Calf: 14 3/4

June 10, 2011

Bicep: 12 1/2

Bust: 34 1/2
Rib cage: 31

Waist: 27 1/4

Hips: 33 1/2

Butt: 38

Above knee: 17 1/2

Calf: 15 1/4

February 16, 2011
All on the left side:
Bicep: 12 1/4
Bust: 36 1/2
Waist: 31 1/2
Hips: 35 1/4
Butt: 40
Above knee: 18
Calf: 12 5/8

new house, new ideas

The original "house ideas" post is no longer valid because I didn't end up closing on that home.
Hence "new house, new ideas".

I still love black & white and want to make my house a canvas to build on, but it is pretty much move-in ready, so all the renos I do will be purely aesthetic.

• Benjamin Moore Moonlight White (matte): all white walls/ceilings
• 
Benjamin Moore Simply White (satin): white trim/woodwork
• Benjamin Moore Soot (matte): black walls for accents
• Benjamin Moore Toucan Black (satin): black stairs what is under the new carpet?
• 
Olympic Knight’s Armor (eggshell): black for bathroom?
• Benjamin Moore Black Beauty (satin): exterior black trim

Bathroom

Fairly large and nicely done. White and robin's egg, with subway tiles in the bath surround.

• I don't have to replace the toilet right now, but eventually I would get a dual flush toilet like this one TOTO Aquia® Dual Flush Toilet, 1.6GPF & 0.9GPF
• A black & white bathroom really appeals to me and pennyround are amazing Nemo tile pennyrounds
• Plain old white subway porcelain tiles (3 x 6) for the bath surround and walls - DONE!

Kitchen 
Will be perfectly serviceable as-is, although I don't love the "exposed brick" (brick tiles) or the wood cabinets.

• I'll most likely paint the brick white and the cabinets black and/or white.
• There is no back splash right now, so this will be my first project! I'm excited to do some tiling.
• 3 x 6 white porcelain tiles (American Olean)
• black/grey/charcoal grout

• It doesn't need replacing yet, but one day I'll put in an apron front sink or farm sink (Rohl Shaws Lancaster Apron Front Fireclay Sink) 
• Good prices on faucets and sinks (fixtureuniverse.com)
• Open shelving + raw & reclaimed material: Blake Avenue Shenadoah Wall Shelf, seen in situ in Door Sixteen's kitchen.

Living room

• Wall-mounted track shelving:
• Inspiration (Almost Makes Perfect)
• Instructions (This Old House)

Exterior

•  Modern house number (I just realized that I can get anything I want laser cut at work!!) inspired by these photos.

I can do anything I want with our laser cutter!!

•  The brown cedar siding is in good shape, minus a few missing shingles, but I'll probably stain it in 2014 or 2015? I'll have to look into this, but I'm guessing that I'll need an opaque stain that I can colour to my navy blue/grey of choice.
  Something like this Benjamin Moore premium exterior stain or this Olympic stain and sealant in one.
•  The window frames could use some TLC. The white is peeling in some sections. I might get to that this fall? First step is buying a ladder... Then getting some white paint like Aura exterior in Satin.
•  There is one MAJOR project that needs to happen... a new roof... The shingles are at least 20 years old and have lived they're life to the fullest.
  One thing I learned from my house inspection is that this type of construction (1 3/4 storey) has poor soffit air circulation. Because a large portion of the roof is actually on the living section (3/4 living, 1/4 attic) it gets very hot and causes the shingles to curl sooner than on an all-attic roof.
  One thing that will help is putting a "whirly- bird" vent instead of the passive vent that I have now.
  Another solution is going with a different type of roofing material that is more durable and less susceptible to heat wear than asphalt shingles.
  Guess what the best material is? Metal! Galvanized steel! (that isn't fake enthousiam, it is by far my favourite roofing material) It costs more - a lot more - but it last 50-70 years, which is twice the time of shingles. And it looks the same on day 1 as on day 18,250.
  The best part is that I much prefer the look of a metal roof over asphalt shingles.
  I know it costs more, but I don't know what that number looks like. I'll book some quotes for when I first get possession and see when I could realistically undertake this project.

New house, new project

If anyone out there actually reads this blog, you may be wondering what ever happened to the new house project.

Well the inspection didn't go as well as planned (much more expensive work to be done than anticipated), but I was still very interested in buying this project home - for the right price.
I went back to the seller with a much lower offer, which he turned down.

So I was back on the market!
My plan was to keep looking for another home, but keep my eye on the Montague project and make my low offer again, after it had been sitting vacant for a good long while.

Well, I found other houses! Many others! I made another offer (which wasn't' accepted) for a small, funny looking house on Osler Street in General Hospital.
It was very cute, very old, very unique. But, it had no garage and a small-ish lot. So I was not too heart-broken when I didn't get it. (It's still on the market by-the-way)

And then, oh boy, then a house went on the realtor portal (private site before it hits the general public on MLS.ca) at 3pm on July 23. I immediately asked my realtor for an appointment. It looked too good to be true; great location, good size, just the right price, pretty, no stupid renos that can't be undone, etc.
We got there at 6:30, and there had already been 2 showings and 2 more were scheduled after us.
I looked around, I love it, I thought about it for a few hours, and I put an offer in $5,000 above asking. An other offer went in at the same time as mine (hence the $5,000 extra), but they either put weird conditions or a low offer, because I got it!

Yay! I still need to get it inspected and all my financial paperwork done up, but this one is looking good!

Next up, find a roommate.

Inspections, mortgage brokers, cleaners & numbers

I'm now at the part where people tell me all that's wrong with my house... Yippee?!

My realtor recommended:

• Reiney Walters of Calibre
• Victor Teece of Expertise Home Inspection
• Jim Nichols of House Master

And these two for the sewer inspection:

• Atlas Sewer
• Barry's

The general inspector will then tell me if anything else needs to be looked at further. Like if he doesn't feel comfortable giving the okay on electrical, he would recommend an electrical contractor to come check things out.
I'm hoping I get good people to look over the house. That they give me a comprehensive list of what needs to be done and when. And maybe even an approximate price tag on all the fixes for me to plan out my spending for the next 25 years...

I'll review the service I get from the inspectors later.

I also have to go back to my mortgage broker (Claire O'Donnell) who I haven't seen since getting pre-approved at the end of April.
She was recommended to me by my lawyer/family friend Glen Dowling.
Claire is great; easy to talk to, smart, friendly, didn't shut the door in my face for showing up single, under 30 and with a 5% down-payment.

The house is a total mess; dirt on the walls, peach pits and cough drops smushed into the blue shag carpet, nails and screws on every surface.
I emailed an ecologically friendly cleaning service in Regina (EcoClean) to see how much it would cost to clean from ceiling to floorboards, in cupboards and closets, windows and walls. I got a quote back for $336 + GST - really?! I thought it would be soooo much more.
Mind you, they haven't seen the house...

My original offer was $19,900 under list price and it was countered with an extra $5,000 - which I accepted, granted they clean the place. I'm not expecting a miracle (hence the cleaning crew I want to hire), but it should be a good start.

to be continued...

Ideas

Just a dumping ground for house ideas:

Bathroom

This will be the first major project (apart from tearing out carpet) and a total gut & re-do.

I can't decide if I want to go stark and modern or stay true to the era of the house...

• I've always loved console sinks, and apparently they're very 1950 appropriate (the year of the house) Essex Chrome Metal Console Lavatory
• I don't know if I'll have to replace the toilet right now, but eventually I would get a dual flush toilet like this one TOTO Aquia® Dual Flush Toilet, 1.6GPF & 0.9GPF
• A black & white bathroom really appeals to me and pennyround are amazing (and an appropriate vintage) Nemo tile pennyrounds
• Plain old white subway porcelain tiles (3 x 6) for the bath surround and walls

Black and white paint:

• Benjamin Moore Moonlight White (matte): all white walls/ceilings
• 
Benjamin Moore Simply White (satin): white trim/woodwork
• Benjamin Moore Soot (matte): black walls for accents
• Benjamin Moore Toucan Black (satin): black doors and stairs if they are wood under the vinyl
• 
Olympic Knight’s Armor (eggshell): black for bathroom?
• Benjamin Moore Black Beauty (satin): exterior black trim

Kitchen

I don't think I'll need to redo the kitchen right away, but I've always loved apron front sinks or farm sinks (Rohl Shaws Lancaster Apron Front Fireclay Sink)

Good prices on faucets and sinks (fixtureuniverse.com)

Wall-mounted track shelving:
Inspiration (Almost Makes Perfect)
Instructions (This Old House)

So I may have bought a house

WHAT!?

I bought my little car exactly one year ago, and last night I put in an offer on a house!

What massive life-changing event will happen to me June 15th, 2014? (don't answer that)

The sellers countered with $5,000 above what I offered, and I accepted conditional to them cleaning, and getting a roof/furnace/house/sewer/gas line inspection done.

Little cottage in a forest

Now my head is spinning with ideas and I need to start documenting or I'll forget all my brilliant plans!

Professional work:
Outside

• Shingles (rotting boards?) and ice-damming prevention
• Eaves
• Grate around house and take out tree that's growing in front of living room window

Inside

• Bathroom plumbing/electrical?
• Moisture-proof subfloor and walls
• Install new bath + tiles

DIY:
Inside

• Rip up carpets
• Pull out the bazillion nails/screws that are all over the walls (FREAKY!) inside/outside/trees/basement
• Wash walls, ceilings, windows, cupboards, closets, etc. (there are peach pits in the entrance that the selling agent is supposed to take care of)
• Demo bathroom - I can live with a weird and outdated kitchen (once sanitized), but I can't shower without sandals on in that bathroom...
• Refinish hard wood? We'll see what it looks like once the carpet comes up
• Paint EVERYTHING white - I need a blank slate

Outside

• Scrape paint off wood siding/window ledges/soffit
• Paint wood siding/window ledges/soffit

Stuff to buy:

• Washer & dryer
• Fridge? Maybe... depending how old/energy efficient the current one is. And how clean...
• Windows? When a good sale with financing comes up perhaps

Slow cooker chicken with dried fruit

Whole30 followers abstain (because of the sugar):

You'll need:
Pieces of chicken with bones (something about overcooking if it's boneless?)
Old dried fruit (doesn't have to be old I guess... I had old dates and even older raisins laying around)
Onion
Ginger
Pepper
Chicken broth or water
Honey
Apple cider vinegar

Chop up 1 onion and stir into slow cooker with 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar, 1 cup of liquid (water or broth), grated ginger to taste, pepper and 2 tbsp of honey.
Toss in some old dried fruit! I used about 1 cup of dates and raisins.
Add chicken. I used 2 skinless thighs.
Set to low and leave for work. (about 9 hours?)

Take the lid off, stir, pull out bones that have fallen out of the meat.
I'm not eating the bloated fruit, but you could puree them into a gravy of sorts?

Non-dairy "cream"

Not that there's anything wrong with using REAL dairy, but this seems like an interesting (and delicious) alternative from Following My Nose.

Coconut creamer

Combine in blender:
1 can of coconut milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons of coconut oil
vanilla

Refrigerate.

I'm doing it again?

A new Paleo challenge is starting at the gym. Am I going to do it?
Of course I am... I need someone breathing down my neck to make good food choices.
Not that I'm normally a terrible eater by modern North American standards, but some days I am pretty gross.

Read the details here.

And get ready for 60 days of food pictures.

Cashew Milk with cinnamon and agave

Makes just under one quart of milk:

• 1 1/2 cups raw cashews
• 3 cups of water for soaking
• 2 cinnamon sticks ground to a powder or 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 cups filtered water
• 2 tablespoons agave

 

Place raw cashews in a clean bowl and top with 3 cups of water.  Cover with plastic wrap and let sit overnight, or for 8 to 12 hours.  Once soaked, place the cashews in a fine mesh strainer and run the softened cashews under cool water until clean and the water runs clear.  Set aside.

 

In a spice blender (mine is a clean coffee grinder), grind cinnamon sticks, one at a time, to a fine powder.  Place in a small bowl and set aside.  If you don’t have a spice grinder, measure 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon into a small bowl and set aside.

 

Combine cinnamon, cashews, filtered water, and agave in the bowl of a blender.  Cover tightly and blend on low speed, increasing to high speed, until smooth.

 

Place a fine mesh strainer over a large bowl.  Pour half of the cashew mixture into the fine mesh strainer.  With a spatula, work the liquid through the strainer.  The harder you press the cashew mixture, the more liquid you’ll release, and the more cashew bits you’ll get in your milk.  I happen to like this milk to be thick and slightly chunky.  Continue to strain the milk until all of the liquid has passed through the strainer.  Place cashew meat mixture in a bowl and set aside.

 

If you’d like a smoother milk, feel free to pass it through the strainer once more.

 

Store in an airtight container (I used an old one-quart milk jar) and place in the fridge.  Shake well before enjoying.

 

Milk lasts, in the refrigerator, for up to 4 days.

 

Inspired by this recipe.

Get your shit together

The Whole30 was like a fad diet for me. I ate well before I started, went hardcore for 30 days, and then fell into a bottomless pit of gross eating habits.

It makes me feel sick, but it's like I'm defying authority or something - a weird thrill? To hurt myself?
Gawd, what's wrong with me?

I sit here, typing this, as my gut churns and bubbles from the crap I ate at work today.

So I need to get my shit together. I need to do the Whole Ariane. Meaning, my whole body will feel good if I eat whole, good food. Makes sense right? Not complicated, no rules to abide by. Just whole food. Plain and simple.

I am really good at following a plan. I like the challenge, but I also like to break the rules.
Hence the failure of Whole30.
I did awesome, and then snap, terrible - breaking the rules is fun, right?

So I'm cooking.
I'm having a glass of wine if I want to. Because if I have a few drinks at a birthday party, I'll have fun, be happy, and won't want to break the rules! Magic.

This is the plan. It's a good plan.

Starting now, I'm Whole ArianeTM.

Butter chicken - again.

I made a butter chicken recipe while on the Whole30, but modified quite heavily and made some silly decisions along the way. It turned out mmm-okay. (see original original post)

Because I cut up the chicken it ended up over cooked. Because I used whole spices and hand-ground them, I had to strain the whole thing.

But this time. Oh boy - it's good!

• 2 Cool Springs Ranch chicken legs & thighs - whole
• 2 onions diced
• 1 clove garlic minced
• chunk of butter
• dollop of oil

In a slow-cooker with:

• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp mild cayenne powder
• 2 tbsp tandoori masala
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1 cup full fat yogurt
• 1 small can of tomato paste

 Mix gently and cook on high heat 4 hours.

I was on fire last night and also made a potato and leek mash and blanched some rainbow chard with kale.

I have 3 prepared meals with all of the above, plus an extra serving of butter chicken.

lunch!

I'm pretty proud of myself.

Whole 30 Results & Conclusions

Well, this is it. I completed my first Whole30.

I can't say that I feel all that much different. I think the success of this program banks on incredible transformations, but those are experienced by people who go from McDonald's to this -cold turkey.

That was not my case. I've been Paleo for approximately 18 months, at some times more lax than others, but it wasn't a big change to strictly live by these few rules:

Eat real food;
Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial;
Do not consume alcohol;
Do not eat grains;
Do not eat legumes;
Do not eat dairy;
Do not eat white potatoes.

In addition, no Paleo-ifying dessert or junk food choices.

The last point is the only one that I broke a few times. I don't really think that my apple muffin recipe should be considered "junk food", but for extremists, maybe it is.

I will get my calliper measurements done this week and compare them to my last test. The numbers don't lie, right?

Before & After pictures up soon. I can't really see a difference; maybe the gut has shrunk a bit? I'm still wearing the same clothes in any case.



Before Whole 30 - February 6, 2012

After Whole 30 - March 6, 2012

My main goal was to work my way down to the 63kg category, and in that respect, Whole30 was an epic fail. I stayed at pretty much the same weight.

Sigh.

Whole 30 Day 30

March 5 - Day 30:
I guess it's my last day?
It makes me feel old when I think gosh, time sure does fly by.

Breakfast: eggs and decaf coffee
Lunch: butter chicken with rainbow chard
Supper: more butter chicken and... kale? (and rainbow chard; steamed)

The last supper.

Thirty days are done.

Whole 30 Day 29

March 4 - Day 29:
Brunch with Grandma, snacks at work (yes, that's overtime on a Sunday) and leftovers for supper. Lady gang supper; Blair is an amazing cook and she whipped up some delicious soup and salad for us all to enjoy.

Brunch: scrambled eggs with salad
Snacks: nuts, clementines, coconut water
Supper: kabocha squash, ginger and apple soup and garden salad with spinach, avocado, cucumber, tomatoes and walnuts.

1 day until March 5.

Whole 30 Day 28

March 3 - Day 28:
Big birthday celebration day. Birthday brunch, birthday supper, birthday ping-pong party.

Brunch: frittata du jour from Table 10; with ham & broccolini, side salad and fresh fruit
Supper: steak with seasonal grilled vegetables (asparagus) from La Bodega
Party snacks: apple muffins and bubbly water with lime

Mock Oly meet was today. Snatch was terrible; hit 107lbs and then failed at 112lbs repeatedly. C&J was significantly better. I didn't squat (shame on me) but got 130lbs, 135lbs and 140lbs, which is a PR.
2 days until March 5.

Whole 30 Day 27

March 2 - Day 27:
I've been super busy at work; hence the 3-day late blog update.
And when I get busy, I don't eat. It's not a good habit, but it's hard to break. I eat breakfast at home and I pack a lunch, but I get so caught up in work that I go right through my lunch break without noticing.
It makes me really antsy and probably very disagreeable to work with.

Breakfast: eggs and some tasty apple muffins
Lunch: -
Supper: butter chicken that was meant for lunch.

Last Oly session before mock meet.
3 days until March 5.

Whole 30 Day 26

March 1 - Day 26:
I'm tired! I blame it on the dried fruit I at yesterday; it tore through my gut all last night - quite unpleasant.

I made a butter chicken recipe yesterday. A stated previously, I can't seem to follow instruction when cooking. I decided to make my own spice mixture instead of being "lazy" and using a pre-mixed, properly balanced and ground garam masala. Have you ever tried to grind 10 different spices in a motar pestle and have it come out fine? Ya, it's impossible. I thought of using cheese cloth in the slow-cooker, but I forgot to buy some, so... it's filled with spice chunks. Which is kinda gross.
I picked out bits of chicken for my lunch today, but I think I'll have to strain the rest of the sauce if I want to actually enjoy this recipe.

Breakfast: fried eggs with apple slices, decaf coffee
Lunch: butter chicken with steamed broccoli, cauliflower & rainbow chard
Supper: strained butter chicken

I didn't lift yesterday and I'm already feeling rusty! I'll try getting a snatch session in at lunch and some squats right before coaching tonight. We have a mock Oly meet scheduled for this weekend and I don't want to embarass myself! I've discovered that it takes me a few sessions of snatch and C&J to get "warmed up". Friday is ususally terrible, Saturday is okay, and I hit my stride on Sunday.
Can't wait until the new Flux space opens and I can start going to the mid-week Oly class again.

4 days until March 5.

Whole 30 Day 25

February 29 - Day 25:
Coaching at 6am means getting up before 5am, making coffee, cooking breakfast, feeding cat, finding clothes, and being chipper before my alarm clock normally rings. Phew, quite the morning. All that, followed by a dentist appointment and a visit to the chiro.

I bought all the spices for the butter chicken recipe - trying that tonight!
I also went a bit crazy with the fancy nuts and dried fruit at Bulk Barn. It's hard to last til lunch when you had breakfast at 5:15am!
Update: too many dried fruits in my belly make it hurt.

Breakfast: eggs, decaf coffee
Lunch: the very last bit of shredded pork, butternut squash, blanched spinach & rainbow chard
Supper: stovetop version of the butter chicken that's in the slow cooker; with broccoli, rainbow chard & cauliflower

lunch

supper

5 days until March 5.