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Whole 30 Days 5-7 - The Weekend Challenge

Hi everyone, I'm back with another update on how I'm doing on my Whole30 challenge.  Happy to say that I made it through the first week without too much effort!

Friday was the first time that my wife and I ate out - but I'll get to that in a moment.  The morning was pretty typical, though I did have some black coffee after a late night waiting for my son to fall asleep (he's autistic and very impulsive, so one of us generally waits to hit the sack till he's out so that he doesn't get up and do something that we're not in favor of, like crawling out onto the roof).  Sardines with tabasco...yadda yadda yadda.  

Lunch was another pork chop, this time with a salad that I picked up from the local Kroger salad bar (which is surprisingly good.  I eschewed the bacon I normally get because I suspect that it was cured with sugar, but had plenty of great veggies and some hard-boiled egg.  Again I used my balsamic vinaigrette.

When I got home, I had a handful of macadamia nuts, since I knew that my wife and I were heading out for the evening and I didn't know what would be available food-wise.  But I was in luck.  

We were at a fund-raiser for my son's school, and a lot of high-quality local restaurants in Columbus were there (Columbusites - places like Rigsby's, the Refectory, G. Michael, some local breweries and distillers, things like that).  And though the food was all sample-sized stuff, I was able to find some options that were absolutely within the Whole30 framework.  Rigsby's, in particular, went above and beyond with their Sicilian meatballs with pine nuts and olives, and made with 100% grass-fed beef.

Another really interesting option was the Farm Raised Alpaca Terrine with Pistachio. Made with some other meats like bacon and chicken, it was sort of a finely minced and re-formed square of meat that was delicious.

The Refectory was serving up "Lamb Lollipops" which were served up by G. Michael, I think.  Basically these were lamb chops but they were very rare and nicely seasoned.  There were also a couple of seafood/scallops options.

The night was a little heavy on the meat but that was okay, obviously.  I avoided the many beers, wines, and liquors that were available and had a good time with my wife!

Saturday was slightly disappointing on the food front.  I woke with some bulletproof coffee with coconut oil and then had some fried eggs later, also in coconut oil.  That stood me well for our trip to the Ashville Viking Festival - at which I was sure there'd be some great meat options.

Oh well.  The turkey legs that the barbecue food truck was advertising were not forthcoming, so I ended up with a combination of sliced lamb and pulled pork (sauceless) that was... okay.  I suppose it was particularly disappointing after the awesome food of the night before.  So I was slightly hungry that day.  A small package of almonds helped tide me over for the ride home, and then we grilled out that night - turkey thighs on the grill with some salad.  I also made up some guacamole and ate it with carrots.

Sunday was more laid back.  More bulletproof coffee and fried eggs (with some leftover guacamole on top), and a dinner of turkey legs and salad.  Lots of turkey this weekend but after the Viking festival and my mouth watering at the thought of multiple turkey legs, I needed that fix.  :)

So it's Monday, I'm ready to go, and I'm on Day 8 of my Whole30 challenge!

Lesson learned - number one is to make sure you bring your own food when you go out for the day, don't assume that you'll be able to find something suitable.  At least I remembered to bring a water bottle so that we didn't have to buy water.  I need to work on that one.  

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