#whole30challenge

Prosciutto egg cups with veggies and guac...sweet potato with ghee

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you know I've started a new food adventure called the Whole 30 Challenge (check it out here and maybe you'll join in).  I originally heard about it from my friend Carrie who embarked on her own Whole 30 journey recently.  I was so inspired by her results that I did my homework, read the book, and set a start day for the day after I returned from my field training (more about that in a minute). 

Some may be wondering why I've strayed from my vegan adventures into a clearly Paleo way of eating...the answer is simple.  I went vegan as an experiment...could I improve my numbers (blood counts, lipids, etc) with diet alone.  I did.  Everything looked better one year later.  Now I'm experimenting again...can I have the same numbers or maybe even better ones while following a Paleo diet?  I'm using my body as the ultimate guinea pig...plus there is another aspect.  For years I've struggled with horrible IBS and general GI issues.  I've been poked, prodded, and scoped with only minimal answers and prescriptions I refuse to take.  Gluten free eating has thus far been the BEST thing I've done for my body...but I still suffer on a daily basis.  Even while strictly vegan I was still miserable quite often.  The Whole 30 diet, however, makes some pretty great claims in regards to helping with inflammatory GI issues (essentially IBS is a problem of inflammation with no known cause).  So there we are...a new culinary adventure...and hopefully a cure to what ails me...we shall see.

So there is the background...now back to the fun.  I'm on Day 4 now and I'm feeling awesome!  I have yet to experience the "hangover" that they claim may occur.  I'm attributing that mostly to the fact that I don't eat that horribly anyway...but we'll see...my hangover may be coming.  Yesterday I hit up my fav indulgence Whole Paycheck (aka Whole Foods Market). 



I coordinated myself as well as I could considering I was status post noc shift...and spent way too much money on beautiful veggies, fruits, and fresh meats (I actually bought from the deli and butcher counters and I NEVER do that!).  I then caught a quick nap and woke to start some serious cooking (which I will be continuing today).  I started with Paleo chili...followed up with roasting some yams, beets, and brussel sprouts.  I made some prosciutto cups as well for quick breakfasts (see cover picture).



Today will be grilling chicken, boiling eggs, pulled pork, thai beef stew, and fajitas...all before work tonight.  But hey, the rest of my week will be so much easier!!

As for the above mentioned time in the field, I spent the last time up at Camp Pendleton at the Naval Expeditionary Medical Training Institute (NEMTI) at an exercise called Coiled Viper.  I spent the week learning field medicine skills with other nurses, doctors, and corpsman.  I skipped the Trauma Nurse Core Course (since mine certification is current) and opted to take the Tactical Combat Casualty Course with the corpsman.  It's not required for officer's but I'm so glad I took it...it was entertaining and I learned so much as well as getting to teach some clinical skills.  I also let someone put a nasal airway in me as well as a few IV's...took one for the team I guess!  Anyway, the pics say it all...I had a blast and truly love my other job as a Navy Reserve RN. 














Until later...time to nap.

XOXO

Jackie

First Foodie Pen Pal!

I am so excited to share my first Foodie Pen Pal experience!!

Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean created the program as a means to share the foodie love throughout the nation...well the program is now huge and I'm stoked to be a part of it...here are the rules...

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
- Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents. Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!
***If you’re in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!

 



 

Now onto my first experience...I was paired with Claudia.  She's a blog reader from right here in my area of San Diego.  I found out her preferences and sent her these goodies...

 

 



 

 

Yum, right??

 

Here is what she had to say after receiving the goodies:

 

Hi box came today and it was perfect! TJ's is one of my favorite stores and you found things I had never seen!  A colleague at my office saw my box and got so envious that she signed up to be a foodie pen pal!

All my best,

Claudia

 

 

I'm so happy she liked it all!

 

As for myself, I was the foodie pen pal to Jay over at www.jaytravis.com  He lives in New York and had to work to find me some gluten free/vegan goodies...but he excelled!  He found a local bakery called XOXO Vegan Bakery and sent me a fudge brownie, an "ice cream" pie, and another awesome find of black bean spaghetti.  Please don't mind that both bakery good are already partially eaten...couldn't help myself!  Seeing as there is a $15 price limit the contents may seem sparse but trust me...you can taste the goodness in these baked goods!

 

 

So there you have it!  My first foodie pen pal experience!  It was a blast!

 

I'll be taking October off since I'll be HAWAII for most of the month!  But I plan on being back for November and already have some tasty treats lined up for my next pen pal...will it be you???

 

XOXO

 

Jackie

 

Reflections...

It's been a busy month...

Wait...no...it's been a busy YEAR.

A year full of awesomeness the likes of which I never could have imagined on Jan. 1, 2012.

But here I am...September 29, 2012...and so much has happened.

I rarely take time to look back, but now I wanted to reflect a bit.  I've covered most of it in my blog so I won't bore you...but quick synopsis...

Figuring out issues with amazing little boy, finally following up on years of health issues and starting to tackle them, attempted an ultramarathon, deployed husband came home, baby girl started kindergarten, little boy started 3rd grade, hubby got a well deserved selection to chief petty officer, hubby went through 6 weeks of h*ll to be a Chief, started a food blog to track my successes and failures in my gluten free/ mostly vegan cooking life, and I was selected to the U.S. Navy Reserve Nurse Corps and commissioned as an Ensign.

I may have missed a few milestones...but those ones stood out for me.

And if you missed that last one...yes, it's true...I've gone and done it.  I'm in the Navy now! 

 

It's something I've always dreamed of doing...and I was further inspired by this song and video (yes I know it's for the National Guard but it's very applicable...



And when you are married to a man who loves the Navy almost as much as he loves his country it's easy to be inspired to do great things...

It will be a while before I start...but the very long process has finally been completed (minus some more paperwork...duh)...and I'll be off to bootcamp fork and knife school before I know it!

Tomorrow is the last tri of the season...Mission Bay.  It was my very first triathlon 5 years ago and as I toe the line float in the freezing cold water sans wetsuit to save some precious seconds...I'll remember how far I've come....

From the 24 year old girl who had no clue what she was doing...barely making it through her first tri...making so many mistakes...consuming mass quantities of calories in a short sprint race...barely jogging through the run...dying on the bike...feeling awful about herself...

To now...confident young woman who knows this sport and knows her body better then she ever has...knows her nutrition like the back of her hand...loves the run...flys through the bike faster then she ever imagined she'd be able to (still not as fast as the awesome women she races...but fast enough to be proud)...racing for a place in the top five...or even top 10...or really just faster then the last time...cause that's really all that matters...steady progress forward.

Relentess forward motion.

Learning from past mistakes.

Forgiving errors.

 

Planning for bumps in the road (proverbial ones or literal ones!).

 

Enjoying every, single, blessed moment....

 

Being grateful that she has the ability every day to go out and do it...to swim...to bike...to run...

 

And now...the ability to serve...

Serve her patients...and serve her country.

It's as American as gluten free/vegan apple pie (cheezy, I know)...or possibly as American as a hamburger on the grill...wait I don't eat hamburgers...what's a girl to do? 

Make one that fits the bill!  Most of the store bought ones are loaded with wheat and therefore off the table for me...and some others I've tasted taste like...well...grass...fresh cut grass...hmmmm...

So I made one instead...infused with a bit of Thai flavor (maybe I'll be heading to Thailand with the USNS Mercy or Comfort...who knows).  This burger kicks some serious boo-tay...not that I'm biased. 

Thai Veggie Burgers

by Jaclyn Trosper

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 5-10 minutes

Ingredients (8 patties)

• 1 C quinoa (I used red but any kind will do)
• 2 C water
• 2 cubes vegan "chicken" bouillon
• 2 C cooked lentils
• 3 gloves garlic, pressed
• 1 tsp red curry paste
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, grated
• 2 tbsp cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 C soy tempeh, crumbled
• 1 tsp miso paste
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1/4 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp curry
• 1 tbsp tamari (or other gluten free soy sauce alternative such as Bragg's)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch (needed to help bind the patties...trust me, they fall apart without it!)

Instructions

Cook quinoa, water, and bouillon in a rice cooker or according to package directions on stovetop (though a rice cooker is like $10 and soooo worth it!). Meanwhile combine all other ingredients in a large bowl and mix well, mashing as you go. Once quinoa is cooked mix into bowl with all ingredients. Mix and form into patties. Place in pre greased pan and cook 2-3 minutes per side until slightly browned. Remove from pan and serve regular style or over a bed of veggies if you are so inclined...both taste great!

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Enjoy your day...enjoy your weekend...

Enjoy life...cause it's short...and precious.

Until next post...

XOXO

 

Jackie

TILT - Sweet Snack Edition!

In this edition (edition #2 if you are counting) of Things I Love Thursdays I'll be giving you a quick peek into some of the awesome gluten free snack foods I've found and loved over the last 4 years of gluten-freedom.  I figured I'd focus on the sweet tooth side of the house...well, because currently that's what I'm craving!

Yay!!

Get excited with me!!

Ok, so it's not that exciting for most...but if you are new to the gluten free world and feeling lost without your fav snack goodies...then this really IS exciting!

So without further ado (and because I need to high tail my behind to bed before work tonight)...here are some of my favorite gluten free sweet snacks (note, they are not all vegan...I have gluten free kids too that are not vegan).

I was recently inspired by Heather at Kiss My Broccoli to take a closer look at the KIND granola I've been spying on the commissary shelves...finally, when I saw this flavor at TJ Maxx I knew it was kismit and had to pick it up...thankfully I did because it turned into this...

That would be fresh figs from my CSA that were delivered fresh to my door yesterday with some of this yogurt (also a fav snack)...

Along with some of this protein powder mixed in (great for snack-like smoothies!)...

There was also a banana and possibly a bit of this sprinkled on top...for good measure (great for snacking cinnamon toast with GF bread!)...

This healthful snack was sorely needed after I completed a long brick workout (meaning I rode my bike and then got off and ran...my legs felt like bricks, hence the name)...20 mile ride, 5 mile run...it was hot, I was hungry...but I feel ready for my race next weekend!

I also snacked on one of these bad boys along the way...get them, they are like crack...not that I would actually know, but you get the darn point!

After the grueling, hot workout I acted a bit juvenile and cooled off for a minute...can you blame me??

 

Ok...a bit offtrack...back to the snacks!!

These bad boys get me through many cravings for something sweet and quick...see, not just for kids!

They make gluten free grown ups happy too!

Another great cookie is by Enjoy Life...they make great GF treats but we love these little lemon guys, they are tiny and totally scrumptious!

Alright, lastly...again cause naptime is calling my name...my kiddos fav snack that I though was lost forever in gluten land...ice cream sandwiches!!  Before I figured out how to make my own I found these goodies at Whole Foods and was super stoked!!

 

Sorry about the sideways-ness of the pic...the tired girl is winning over the OCD girl here and I'm not turning it!  Besides, it doesn't change the flavor of these yum-o treats...so get to it already and buy some!


That's all for today folks...no recipe today since I'm still trying to perfect a few...I'll get some out soon!  Have a great day and this tired girl is heading to dreamland!

Jump for JOY!

 

 

Literally...I'm kind of jumping for joy.  My two nights of work are done (with no crazy mishaps) and I have two nights off (I've been doing only 1 night off for a while and it's exhausting!).  Annnddd...my juice cleanse is done!  I will admit I'm not a total fan.  But I feel lighter and a bit "cleaner."  It was an experience for sure but doing it while working was hard...except I did have the company of these two beautiful ladies to help me!
 

Showing off our white tongues as we detox...yum!

 

I may do a 24 hour juice cleanse monthly though just to keep things clean and detoxed.  Kris Carr in her book Crazy, Sexy, Diet advocates this idea as a way to periodically "clean house."  She does it weekly but I'll take baby steps.  As you may remember I have reason to keep things clean internally and not let the little cancer bugs back in my life...

 

Anyway, here is a little juice "porn" of the mixes I had for the past few days...

 

So much loveliness going into the juice!



Beet, apple, cucumber

 

Carrot and ginger (my fav)

Greens (kale, spinach, cucumber, celery, parsley, romaine) and apple, plum on top of carrot 

But now it's back to real food as I wind down with some green smoothie love and some veggies...luckily my kids wanted in and had some smoothie love with me (they specifically requested lettuce in theirs)

 

Tomorrow is a full day off and I'll spend it training to my little hearts content and then cooking up a storm as I whip up some new recipes I've been thinking over...let's just say I've been super inspired lately by the fabulous woman behind Sprint 2 The Table and her amazing recipes...so look for some carrot loving coming your way soon (not in this form...more of a muffin, but inspiration is inspiration)...

 

Speaking of inspired, I was majorly inspired recently as I gazed longingly on an Almond Joy bar that I couldn't bring myself to eat...so much crap included.  I KNEW I could improve on that...so I threw some things together...

 

 

...and VOILA!!!

 

Jump For (Almond) JOY Bars!!!

 

It's a revelation for me!!  I LOVE Almond Joy bars and these are a great substitute...they even got the hubby's seal of approval.  Enjoy until next time!

 

 

Jump for (Almond) Joy Bars

by Jaclyn Trosper

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: N/A

6031646

Ingredients (10 bars)

• 1/2 C coconut flakes
• 1/4 C dried tart cherries
• 2 tbsp unsweetened carob chips
• 1/2 C raw almonds
• 1 tbsp raw coconut crystals
• 1 tsp maca root powder
• 1 tbsp chia seeds
• 4 tbsp agave
• 1 tbsp coconut oil

Instructions

Mix all ingredients in a food processor until well mixed.  Keep scraping sides of bowl to thoroughly mix.  Use extra coconut oil to well grease sheet of parchment paper.  Roll out mix onto sheet and cut into 10 small bars.  Place in fridge to set.  Devour as needed to feel amazing!

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Ctrl-Alt-Del

Kale, spinach, carrot, apple, cucumber, romaine lettuce, and ginger

You know when your computer freezes up...won't work...and you have to reboot it?

CTRL-ALT-DEL

Yeah, that's what I'm going to do with my body.  Summer is over...I had some dietary fun over the last few months and it's time to clean house a bit.  I was also uber inspiried by this to embark on this challenge.  To start that I'm going on a 3 days juice cleanse (though I messed up already and made 1 smoothie!!).  No more...straight juice...for 3 days.  Wish me luck.  I'll complain blog about it when I'm done for sure!

For today though it was another life milestone in our family...like I said...summer is over...

The kids went back to school!!

Shanne (my big 3rd grader) and Addy (my whittle kindergartner)

Not only that, but my baby...my Addy...started kindergarten!!

Not gonna lie, I shed a few tears.  But I'm also super excited to be able to have entire free days to train, shop, cook, blog...whatever I want!!  Holy cow that's exciting!!

Today's free time was utilized properly with a 3500 meter swim as I prep for Nautica Malibu Triathlon on September 15th.

It was a great swim on a beautiful sunny day...but now it's nap time as I prep for 2 more nights of work (and hopefully no more mishaps!).

But first I'll leave you with a new recipe created yesterday as I had 2 little children clamoring for different meals for breakfast...Addy wanted a PB&J sandwich and Shanne wanted pancakes...what's a mama to do?  Make PB&J pancakes of course!

Quick, easy, tasty.  I semi-cheated and used Bisquick GF mix (kiddos are GF too).

And I finally got to use my new PB2 that I found at the commissary of all places!

But the end result was still fabulous and eventually I will make it from scratch...but for now this works!  Enjoy and have a fabulous beginning of your week!

PB&J Pancakes

by Jaclyn Trosper

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

 

6031512

Ingredients (Serves 2 hungry kiddos (8 smal)

• 1 cup GF Bisquick mix
• 1 tbsp flax meal
• 2 tbsp warm water
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• 2 tbsp agave
• 1 cup almond milk
• 2 tbsp PB2
• Fruit preserves/jelly (I used organic strawberry)
• Warm water to thin

Instructions

Mix bisquick, oil, agave, almond milk and PB2 in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl mix flax and warm water. Add flax mixture to large bowl. Mix until well blended. Spoon onto hot griddle coated with cooking spray or coconut oil in dollops. Flip when bubbly on edges.

Meanwhile mix preserves with warm water until desired consistency is reached. Serve over hot cakes.

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Eye See You!

Yep, that's me on the left...and my buddy Alli on the right

I'm an ICU nurse.  More specifically I'm an MICU (medical intensive care) nurse.  There are many "dangers" that are part and parcel of my job.  I've been kicked, hit, spit on, poked (literally by my own fault), yelled at...you name it, it's probably happened to me.  I take care of the sickest of the sick when they have no where else to turn.  And I love every minute of it...usually.

Let's segway a bit and talk about my coworkers.  They are truly the best ever.  They are my second family and some of my best friends.  We all have a sense of humor that no one else would understand.  We help each other, we support each other, we laugh at each other, we are just THERE for each other.

See, we really like each other!

We also potluck with each other...ALOT.  MICU has a reputation for potlucks.  I remember when I came to night shift, the first thing they said was that I needed to always participate in the potlucks...they are mandatory.  This sounded great...except for the fact that for someone who is gluten free (and later vegan) the early days of our potlucks were a nightmare.  I could usually only eat what I brought.  Through time, education, pestering, and trust they started to come around.  Potlucks became healthier with way more gluten free options.  People caught on.  They learned what I could and couldn't eat...and more importantly they cared.

Jenny and I doing our 'thang

Ok, now back to my story.  It was potluck night.  I made a fabulous salad (hold your horses the recipe is at the end of the story).  I was so excited to eat it!  It was a night set aside for a "healthy potluck."  Right up my alley.........

Then life happened, my job happened, the ICU curse happened...

It was awful...

I got unmentionable "stuff" in my eye...my right eye...IN my right eye.

This is our OMG!  EWWWW face...

OMG.

For SERIOUS.

EWWWW!

Yeah, I told you my job has inherent dangers.  I made my way begrudgingly downstairs to the ED (emergency department) to have my eye washed out after standing in the eye wash (aka the freaking jet blast of water directly into your eye!) for 2 minutes.  I had no idea what to expect.  Once there they lead me to a quiet little room where they proceeded to tell me that they would be numbing my eye with drops, then attaching a contact lense type suction cup directly to my eyeball and washing it out with 2L of NS (normal saline).

Ummmmmmm...what??

I am a girl who wouldn't wear contact lenses if my life depended on it.  I hate touching my eyes...geez, I hate OTHER people touching their own eyes.  And you want to do what????

Fine, whatever...don't expect me to be happy about it, just get it over with quickly.

So I laid there...looking like this...

Seriously...not cool (well actually it was freezing)

For TWO hours!!!!

Yeah, you read that right, 2 hours.  And to top it all off I was soaking wet and cold...that 2 liters of fluid had to go somewhere so it soaked directly into my scrub top.

Not so happy face after I'm done

Oh...and I was missing the potluck...my healthy potluck...and my salad!!

So once I was done a mere 3 hours after I left the unit I headed back to work...I looked awesome.

But I got to eat...and my eye was clean...really, really clean.

It was time to enjoy my Eye See You Quinoa Lentil Salad...now you get the name??  Pretty fitting huh?  Don't worry, it's not bad luck...I ate it again the next night and all was well.

Eye See You Quinoa Lentil Salad

by Jaclyn Trosper

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: N/A

Keywords: side entree salad vegan vegetarian gluten-free potluck

Ingredients (serves 10)

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 cube vegan boullion
• 1 package cooked lentils or 2.5 cups cooked lentils
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 1/4 cup basil
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup artichoke hearts
• 4 small cooked beets chopped
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes
• Balsalmic vinegar, salt, pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook quinoa in water with bouillon according to package directions (I used a rice cooker). Once cooked and cooled mix with remaining ingredients in a large bowl (preferably one you can take to a potluck!). Stir in balsalmic, salt, and pepper...now you are ready to rock your potluck!

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Enjoy!