Easter Eats, Old Friends and Beginning Re-Introduction

I've not been intentionally neglecting this little blog, but our preparations for Easter seemed to end up consuming far more of my spare time than I'd anticipated. And speaking of Easter, I thought I'd write a little about how we ate yesterday.

My husband's Whole30 happened to end today, meaning he'd either have to stay squeaky clean in the midst of Easter feasting or wrap things up after only 29 days. We discussed it for several days, tossing around a few ideas. We had, for a while, decided that it wouldn't be so bad for him to end just one meal early, and be able to enjoy something extra at Easter dinner with his family. In the end though, we decided that we could enjoy a Whole30 Easter dinner, and that he would complete his 30 days.*

*Since I finished my Whole30 some time ago, I did enjoy about half an ounce of dark chocolate while the kids napped yesterday. YUM.


Breakfast - The kids feasted on coconut flour pancakes and for the grown-ups I made a bit of a hash - browned Italian sausage, shredded sweet potato, kale and onion cooked in coconut oil, then covered with whisked eggs and scrambled together. Delicious!

Lunch - Enchilada Chicken Stew

Supper - This was the tricky one, since we were eating with the whole extended family (on my husband's side). My mother in-law was cooking a turkey, and the rest of us divided up what would go with it. We volunteered to bring a salad and roasted broccoli and cauliflower. Other than that, the menu consisted of cheesy (white) potatoes, bread-based stuffing/dressing and dinner rolls. I decided to make some sweet potatoes to bring as well - I roasted them then mashed them with diced onions (which had been sauteed in coconut oil - and I added the remaining oil from the pan to the potatoes as well), a little garlic and some curry.  And then there's dessert. I know, not really Whole30-kosher. But on day 30 and Easter Sunday, well - I don't really feel this needs any defending at all. :) I made this cake but baked it as cupcakes, which I then topped with the thick part of a can of coconut milk whipped with cocoa powder. The first bite was disappointing, I think because the whipped coconut milk really looked like chocolate frosting. (I even piped it on with a decorative tip.) But after the initial un-sweetness wore off, they were sublime. Seriously, the cake part was incredible! (Obviously I made the extra-banana-honey-free version.) We may or may not have eaten more than one cupcake yesterday. Possibly more than two. Shhhhhh....

In between lunch and the family supper, we dropped by to visit some old friends from our former church who always have a large gathering on Easter. (We've been eating with them on Easter, Thanksgiving and just after Christmas since before we were married.) We hadn't seen them for many months, as our lives have been busy, and even a 30 minute drive seems inconvenient when it messes up my kids' naps. Speaking from a purely vain perspective, it was a great boost to hear from them how much I've changed over the recent months. While it was nice to hear how much smaller I look, the absolute best compliment was when one friend commented on the muscles in my arms. You see, it's never been my intention to become skinny. That's not my build, and I would have to do unnatural, uncomfortable and unhealthy things to achieve that with my body type. What I'd like to be is athletic-looking - with visible muscles, but not "ripped". Make sense? In any case, that was confirmation to me that what I've been doing over the past year is working.

Finally, we are beginning our process of re-introducing foods as of supper tonight. Things we haven't missed will wait until the end (if we bother at all), but there are some things we're really looking forward to trying out - like cheese! Tonight we'll feast on pizza and garlic fingers, made on coconut flour crust, with sugar-free sauce, veggies and unprocessed meats - but with mozzarella ALL OVER IT. Can't wait. :) I'll post tomorrow to let you know how it goes!