Day 8 (of Whole30)

Today I was home. All day. With the baby, who is sick.  I am very grateful to have a job that allows me the ultimate flexibility, but it does stress me to no end to have my little baby unhealthy and know that work is piling up in the background.  Some day, when I have this eating thing down, I will write about my idea of "Supermom."  I will call it Redefining 'Super' and talk about how balance is the true definition of success, such that perfection in either work or family means failure in the other.  There I was, failing both!  Why on earth am I talking about this?  Because this.  THIS.  This feeling of failing but still having a chance to succeed very clearly created the strongest, most toxic urge to eat off-plan I have yet experienced!  I wanted to eat that stress like you would not believe.  (Why my stress is never manifested as a cucumber or piece of lettuce, I will never know.)  The cookies I baked the other day were calling my name.  The milk!  I HATE MILK!  But, even it was calling from my coffee cup.  Everything.  And, I am sad to say that if it weren't for my baby needing me to hold him pretty much every second of the day, I would have caved.  I know I would.  I heard my excuses starting in the back of my mind.  I felt myself thinking of loopholes and exceptions and backup plans.  But, my hands were in use (thank goodness), so I didn't do it.  And, the few moments of peace I had when the baby slept, I used to get a bit of work done.  Not exactly what I had in mind when I talked about balance, above, but hey--I'm not perfect!

Day 8 Breakfast: Asparagus & egg scramble + berries.

Day 8 Lunch: Leftover chili + apple w/ almond butter

Day 8 Dinner: Meat Sauce 

Given my essential failure of last night's dinner, which resulted in almost every (other) member of the family having bowls of cereal later in the evening, I felt compelled to go back to basics.  Behold, my spicy meat sauce!  I made something my husband loves WITH pasta (for them) and over baby kales for me.  We can all exhale now.  We have another winner.

My "recipe," is really simple (and below), if you care to try it.  I omitted the cheese and wine, but you can omit any of the spices here and it will still be good. 

Meat Sauce
1-2 TB olive oil
chicken broth (just some on-hand to prevent burning)
1 onion, chopped
1 lb ground beef
3 cloves of garlic, minced
salt & pepper
red pepper flakes (I use a lot b/c I like it spicy.)
canned no-salt chopped tomatoes (I'm trying to reduce salt; you can use any tomatoes, or fresh!)
fresh basil, chopped

Saute onion in olive oil until just translucent.  Add ground beef (and broth, as necessary, to keep from sticking).  Once beef is no longer pink, add garlic, s & p, red pepper flakes, oregano.  Stir for about 30 seconds and then add tomatoes.  Lower heat and simmer until all flavors are incorporated and texture is thicker.  I usually taste mine about 10 minutes later, then add spices as necessary.  Add fresh basil just before serving.  I served mine over baby kales.