New horizons

I may be a little too excited, but the Whole 30 is not only a diet restart, for me it's about resetting the way I think about food.  Not only have I reconsidered food combinations (especially for breakfast), but I'm also enjoying coffee with coconut milk (the canned is way better than the "beverage" in the tetrapak) - what's the point of buying good beans if your going to mask it with cream and sugar? I feel as if my taste buds are being awakened.

Additionally, because I have to plan for breakfast, lunch, and dinner I can avoid making bad food choices when I'm hungry.  I just have to get better with having snacks in the car.  I'm also hoping we can stay the course during cookie season - which starts tomorrow - so there will be lots of cookies in the house and I'm hoping we will not yield into temptation.  As of now, I have no desire to thin mint and I hope it stays that way.

Out of desperation, I tried a new cooking "technique."  I was at the dentist when I realized that I forgot to take out the ground meat for the meatloaf.  The hygienist was talking about her crockpot and gave me lots of great ideas to make prepping and cooking easier.  She blew me away when she said she puts the meat in the crockpot straight from the freezer...perhaps I'm the only person in the world that thaws the meat, seasons, and then slow cooks.  Well I had no choice but to cook frozen meat today because I couldn't leave my family to fend for themselves and risk sabotaging our diet reset.

I returned and had 30 minutes before I had to walk out of the door.  I poured some diced tomatoes into the pot and mixed with garlic paste.  Then I lade down two stalks of celery to serve as a rack for the meat.  I sprinkled a few dashes of worcestershire sauce (and as I'm writing this I realize there's likely hidden sugar in that condiment), some seasonings, and topped with some sliced onions and more tomatoes.  I spread a half head of cabbage around the meat, seasoned that, then topped the whole thing with a bag of broccoli slaw, which I also seasoned.  Then I poured on a bit of chicken broth and walked out the door.

I was literally shocked when I spoke to my husband and he was raving about the flavor and tenderness.  I had a sample when I came home and it was indeed delicious.  I think this frozen meat idea might help me to streamline my cooking.