Shampoo and Warm Welcomes

How do you feel about shampoo?

I know, I know…that’s a terrible way to say welcome back to the farm blog.

WELCOME BACK! We are busier than ever at Pumpkin Rose Farm! I have been knee deep in science classes (more like in-over-my-head deep), and the Queen Mother has begun her journey to becoming a health coach! I’m hoping she’ll make a foray into the blog world and take over my little corner of the blog universe.

But, seriously: shampoo.

I will take any opportunity to use Chemistry Cat in a conversation.

How does shampoo make you feel? I have short-lived relationships with types of shampoo. I use one kind for a while, and before the bottle is anywhere close to becoming empty, my hair starts looking unwashed after IT’S JUST. BEEN. WASHED. 

I can remedy this by using globs larger than the state of Arkansas to create a ridiculous lather, but somehow, I know this is not the answer. I can move on to another bottle of shampoo, but it really gets old having to switch shampoos before I’m done with a bottle. 

Enter Maple Holistics Winter Blend Shampoo.

I love the idea of a winter blend shampoo because I love all things seasonal. Everything about me changes with the seasons, and now I can add shampoo to the rotation.

This shampoo has five types of minty goodness. I’ll admit that I was initially hesitant to smear 5x the mint on my head just to have 5x the mentholated agony of mint + wet hair + winter air. 

My fears dissipated quickly, for there was no mentholation to be had, even after letting the shampoo “osmose;” I love it even more because the bottle actually says to osmose. 

I don’t even mind letting it osmose on my head because of the ingredients it has—or doesn’t have. It even comes in a seasonal bottle. Did I mention how much I love seasonal things? For real, though. Tack a fall or winter picture on any ordinary product, and I'll most likely adore it.

Back to the shampoo. The best part is that my hair looks clean, and the amount of fly-aways has been reduced.

I can’t wait to try their other products. You can even try their products…FOR FREE! How? Just visit their site and fill out the form to request a free sample. It’s that easy!

Stay warm and healthy! Because this is a health-minded blog, I'll remind you to take vitamin C and zinc and elderberry and turmeric. Even better: eat them!

This post was made because of a collaboration with Maple Holistics, but all opinions are my own.

Blog Birthday

Hello, everyone!

This blog turned 3 years old on April 30! I don't know what gift you give to a blog...so happy birthday, little blog! Here's to a million more years!

It's honeysuckle season. That means mosquito bites and dirty fingernails. Who knew that pinching off honeysuckle could stain fingernails brown?!

This might look like a nice bowl of fragrant honeysuckle blossoms, but it ends up being a never-ending bowl of work.

Market is open again so come out and support your local farmers!

Post Workout Protein Snacks

Spring is here and the Pumpkin Rose Farm crew is once again transitioning from indoor farmers to outdoor farmers, which means the farmer's market will be open again soon!

Although planting season just began, there is no one set season for working out. Every month of the year falls during "workout season." Personally, I have a hard time working out when I'm cold (which has been almost all of the time), but if I can get myself through the first few minutes, then I warm up and am just fine. I guess that's why they call it a warm up!

Something that has been on my mind a lot lately is post-workout nutrition. Proper nutrition is a very important thing to me and it should not be thrown by the wayside after working out. So, what should we be eating after physical activity?

There is no "one size fits all" approach (with anything, really).

Training hard requires eating right for recovery. If you are a serious athlete, you probably already know what to eat.

If you're one of the rest of the workouters, you may not need to eat after a workout. The necessity of eating after exercise depends on the intensity and frequency of the activity.

Less often or less intense =  eating after not necessary

However, after activity, some of us turn into voracious creatures who are only concerned with EATING ALL THE THINGS. I once polished off a Quarter Pounder meal after a swim lesson and I was only 9 or 10 years old.

If you do need to eat after working out, my advice is to wait a little while. Stress turns off the digestion process and physical activity is a form of stress, so you'll want to give your body some time to realize that it can start digesting food again.

Protein after exercise is a good idea because protein is made of amino acids amino acids will aid in muscle repair. You can find the 9 "essential amino acids"--i.e., amino acids that our bodies don't produce--in complete proteins, which are mostly proteins from animal sources. Plant proteins are mostly considered to be incomplete proteins, which proteins require pairing with complementary proteins so that all essential amino acids are present.

Carbohydrates are also a good thing to add to any post-workout snack or meal. Carbs cab replenish muscular glycogen stores that might have gotten used up during exercise. Not all exercise taps into glycogen stores--you're more likely to see glycogen depletion with high intensity interval training (HIIT) or endurance activities, or even some serious farm work. Been there, done that. 

If you have used up glycogen, a good carb choice would be a starchy fruit/vegetable (sweet potato, white potato, plantain) or possibly oatmeal.

Sometimes, it isn't possible to eat a snack made up of meat and vegetables. That's when we look to more convenient options, like protein shakes, protein bars, etc.

.

Nuts.com has some great pages about healthy snacks and high protein snacks. They have great info and some delicious-looking recipes, in addition to being a source from which to buy nuts and similar items. Check it out!

Happy snacking! Do you have any post-workout snack tips or recipes? I'd love to hear them!

2016 Whole30 Week Four and Review

Day Twenty-Two-
Breakfast- Ham egg cups
Lunch- Vegetable beef soup

Dinner- Meatballs, fries

Day Twenty-Three-
Breakfast- Breakfast casserole

Lunch- Leftover chicken meatball kale soup

Dinner- Pork over sweet potato with homemade BBQ sauce, smash potatoes, homemade coleslaw with an Asian twist

Day Twenty-Four-
Breakfast- Casserole

Lunch- Taco salad with avocado lime dressing

Dinner- Dinner was skipped because we were out taking care of farmer's market business, but we each had a Larabar later on

2016 Whole30 Week Three

Day Fifteen-
Breakfast- Fried eggs, Aidell's sausage, "fried potatoes"

Lunch- Egg salad, cucumber, avocado oil chips, banana

Dinner- Hamburger, sweet and white potato fries, avocado

Snacks- Apple with almond butter

Day Sixteen-
Breakfast- Egg cups

Lunch- Potato soup (a healthified version of a family recipe), salad with grilled chicken

Dinner- Chocolate chili over sweet potato

Snacks- Apple with almond butter

2016 Whole30 Week Two

Day Eight-
Breakfast- Sweet potato hash, fried eggs, sausage
Lunch- Ham on lettuce, hardboiled egg, pickle, apple, coconut oil chips

Dinner- Spaghetti sauce over spaghetti squash, salad, fried plantain

Drinks- Sparkling water

Day Nine-
Breakfast- Scrambled eggs with hash, monkey fruit salad
Lunch- Leftover lettuce wraps with avocado and olives

Snack- Smoothie with frozen strawberries, frozen banana, kale, spinach, coconut milk, almond butter, ice, water

Dinner- Spaghetti sauce over sweet potato, steamed broccoli, sauteed onion and zucchini

Drinks- Sparkling water

2016 Whole30 Week One

Day One-

Breakfast- Scrambled eggs with sausage

Lunch- Chicken broccoli casserole, monkey salad with cinnamon, olives

Dinner- Grilled pork chops, roasted brussel sprouts, carrots, and sweet potatoes

Snacks- Clementine

Drinks- hot water with lemon upon waking (me)

Day Two-

Breakfast- scrambled eggs with olives (me), scrambled eggs with ham, peppers, olives, avocado (mom)

Lunch- Chicken salad with homemade mayo, fresh dill and thyme, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder, apple, pecan, olives, on a bed of lettuce with avocado, sliced Seckel pear

Dinner- Chocolate chili over sweet potato

Snacks- Banana, clementine, pear, sunflower seeds

Drinks- Iced Citrus Tazo tea

Let It Snow Ice Cream

During the night, several inches of snow fell on us. I think the only thing that would be better than the sky dropping down snow is if it would snow ice cream. Since it doesn't, I'm content to just make snow ice cream.

 Normally, I would rush out to grab a large bowlful of snow and drench it in milk, vanilla, and sugar and then  proceed to devour the entire bowl.

 Last year I tried making snow ice cream with honey and that did not work. Not even a little bit. This year, I should have just gone the Laura-Ingalls route and tried the maple syrup snow treat, since it would be technically more Whole30-friendly than what I'm about to confess that I did.

Snow waiting to be sculpted..into ice cream

I made snow ice cream with sugar. *embarrassed face*
 Before you pooh-pooh me for disrupting the Whole30 for the sake of that dread abomination, sugar, let me tell you what else I put in the ice cream.

Snow with vanilla and sugar

I tried my hand at what a lot of people already do on a regular basis, but is something I don't do often: experimenting in the kitchen! And it was fun! The Queen Mother suggested that I try a dairy milk alternative, so I did. Two, in fact.

Into the first bowl went full fat coconut milk. Into the second bowl went cashew milk. By the way, I'm kind of liking cashew milk and might try making my own soon.

Left: Coconut milk ice cream
Right: Cashew milk ice cream

Cashew milk ice cream with added cocoa

They were both good, but I preferred the mildly-coconut-flavored coconut milk ice cream since it tasted more like the original snow ice cream. The cashew milk gave the ice cream a stronger flavor so I added cocoa powder and looked that a bit better.


So... Even though I'm almost done with the program, I still deviated from it...and I'm not sorry that I did. I chose to consume sugar rather than send out stress hormones from not being able to enjoy this snow day. I think that sometimes we can make things too complicated and we end up in a worse state of things.

But I'll get off my soapbox and on my sled.
Stay warm!
Soon I'll have more Whole30 posts up, so come back!

Whole30 Round Two

Hello! I can't believe it's been almost 5 months since I did a blog post! How embarrassing...

The Queen Mother and Princess Me are doing another round of the Whole30. I am so much more relaxed this time around. However, I can see that, just like last time, the biggest obstacle will be retraining my brain to not just grab something and pop it into my mouth! Hopefully there will not be any cornbread hallucinations or scary food dreams this time.

Come back for the recaps--and better food photography. I've been practicing.

Stay warm!

A Cold Day in August

I've decided that it will be a cold day in August when I sell out in one day.
Well, guess what, folks? I'm wearing a jacket today! That means y'all need to come out and help my dream come true!

The finest tomatoes on any side of the Mississippi

Challah bread and photo cards

Back view of herbal and floral bouquets

Come and see us! (Bonus points if you know what local commercial I quoted that from)

Another Saturday at Market

Hello! We're celebrating Summer at the Conway, AR Farmer's Market!
Produce has come out in full force, which also means that the jams and jellies are in abundance! I try to use local fruit whenever possible.

Current flavors

• Honeysuckle jelly
• Basil jelly (use in cooking!)
• Vanilla peach jelly - NEW
• Strawberry peach jam - NEW
• Ginger peach jam - NEW
• Strawberry fig jam - NEW
• Zucchini peach jam - Back by popular demand
• Spiced peach butter - NEW Will knock your socks off!

If you're in the area, come check us out!

Whole30 Week One

Breakfast Casserole

Hello, patient readers! I have decided that if I share any of my Whole30 pictures, it will be later, when I share some recipes. Seriously..I'm that ashamed of my pictures. May I blame it on the detoxing that was happening at that time??

Day One

Breakfast: Breakfast Casserole with eggs, kale, coconut milk and sausage; Rooibos tea

Prepped: Crockpot applesauce; Marinated chicken (for later grilling) in olive oil, lime juice, salt, seasonings.

Lunch: Chicken lettuce wraps with avocado; fruit salad with strawberries, blood oranges, pears, pineapple, apples

Snack: Monkey salad - the normal version with sliced banana, cashews, flaked coconut (we used Bob's Red Mill)

Dinner: Chocolate chili with sweet potato shreds added

Snack: Monkey salad, shared

Day Two

Day two began what would become a regular pattern during the Whole30 and beyond: reheating something that was made the day before. The ideal way to do this is on the stove or in the oven. I mentioned that we had to start a bit earlier for each meal in order to use this method of reheating, but it's well worth it if it means not using a microwave. However, sometimes you have to use a microwave and that's okay. 

Breakfast: Leftover casserole, leftover fruit salad with added blueberries

Lunch: Leftover lettuce wraps

Snack: Leftover fruit salad with added nuts and coconut flakes; celery

Dinner: Homemade spaghetti sauce with ground hamburger meat over baked spaghetti squash; roasted broccoli and cauliflower

Day Three

Breakfast: Leftover casserole (the recipe, when made in an 8" x 11" baking pan and cut in sixths, feeds two people for three days); Leftover fruit salad (I kept adding to the mixture)

Prepped: Homemade Mayonnaise; Cooked marinated chicken breasts (look at the size of these beasties; we purchase from Zaycon) in Nu Wave oven

Lunch: Green salad with grilled chicken, avocado, cucumber, black olives, blueberries, homemade ranch, and peppers on Mom's salad 

Snack: Monkey salad with blueberries and cinnamon [recipe from Pumpkin Rose Farm]

Dinner: Leftover spaghetti over spaghetti squash

Snack: spoonful of almond butter for me, a HB (hard-boiled) egg and a banana for Mom

Day Four

Breakfast: "Smoothie" with spinach & mixed greens, beet greens, whole beet (peeled), carrots, apple, pears, bananas, juice from thawed blueberries, almonds, water

Lunch: Somehow I ended up skipping lunch and the Queen reheated something for herself

Dinner: Chicken No-Tortilla Soup (the more complicated version that we created) [recipe by Pumpkin Rose Farm]

Day Five

Breakfast: Aidell's chicken apple sausage, cooked in the oven (these things are DELICIOUS!); scrambled eggs, oven roasted white potatoes

Snack: Fresh pineapple

Lunch: Leftover chicken soup

Prepped: Made coconut butter using Wild Oats brand flaked coconut and the instructions from Mark's Daily Apple

Dinner: For me, baked sockeye salmon (part of my Elf4Health prize!!) with chopped parsley, minced ginger, lime juice, garlic powder, olive oil [recipe from Pumpkin Rose Farm]; for Mom, chicken fajitas and guacamole salad at a Mexican restaurant

Snack: Me, celery with almond butter; Mom, pear, apple with almond butter

Day Six

Breakfast: Smoothie with kale, beet greens, beet (not going to peel them from now on), carrots, orange, blood orange, fresh gingerroot, frozen bananas, frozen blueberries, almonds, water

Lunch: Green salad with grilled chicken, strawberries, black olives, hard-boiled eggs, cucumber

Dinner: Hamburger patty on lettuce with tomato (for me), 1/2 baked sweet potato

Snack: Homemade almond butter cups [recipe by Pumpkin Rose Farm]; apple

Prepped: Chicken salad made with canned chicken, homemade mayo, spices, apples, black olives, grapes, on lettuce leaves (I made these for the next day's lunch and carried them in my awesome Easy Lunchboxes); fruit salad with coconut; almonds; HB egg for Mom

Day Seven

Prepped: Carnitas in crockpot

Breakfast: "Fried eggs" cooked in a pan with coconut oil; 1/2 sweet potato; fruit salad

Lunch: prepped meal

Snack: Larabar, shared; apple

Dinner: Carnitas on lettuce leaves; baked sweet potato; roasted broccoli and cauliflower; black olives

Whole30 Week Four

Deconstructed Gyro

The final week. Can it be? Can it really be? Maybe I'll miss being on the Whole30.


Day Twenty-Two
Breakfast: Breakfast casserole; pineapple
Lunch: Leftover BBQ, sweet potato, coleslaw
Snack: Shared pear
Dinner: Cauliflower enchiladas with avocado and black olives

Day Twenty-Three
Breakfast: Breakfast casserole
Lunch: Leftover cauliflower enchiladas; salad
Dinner: Coconut-breaded chicken strips; roasted white potatoes; pan-fried kale

Day Twenty-Four
Breakfast: Breakfast casserole; smoothie with kale, carrots, celery, apple, banana, kiwi and water
Lunch: Green chicken salad with leftover chicken strips
Dinner: Hamburger vegetable soup

Day Twenty-Five
Breakfast: Omelette with sausage and blueberries
Lunch: Deconstructed Gyro Salad [from Well Fed 2] with cooked chicken, tomatoes, black olives, kalamata olives, cucumber, parsley, mint, and a homemade gyro/kebab sauce [also from Well Fed 2] (This is another FANTASTIC meal!)
Dinner: Simple Chicken No-Tortilla Soup [recipe from Pumpkin Rose Farm] with avocado; baked sweet potato (You wouldn't think that such a simple recipe could be so delicious, but it was!)

Day Twenty-Six
Breakfast: Fried eggs; Aidell's sausage; pineapple
Lunch: Leftover deconstructed gyro; Monkey salad
Dinner: Chicken patties; avocado; sweet potato; pear

Day Twenty-Seven
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs; Monkey salad
Lunch: Smoothie
Dinner: Hamburger on lettuce; avocado; roasted potatoes

Day Twenty-Eight
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs; Monkey salad
Lunch: Potato soup [inspired by a beloved recipe from my beloved Amma]; fruit
Dinner: Potato soup

Day Twenty-Nine
Breakfast: Breakfast casserole
Lunch: Chicken lettuce wraps; avocado

Day 30
Breakfast:Egg casserole
Lunch: Lettuce wraps
Dinner: Carnita meat over sweet potato with BBQ sauce

The end. We made it. Were we the better for it? I think so. Stay tuned for the recipes that I'll be sharing!

Whole30 Week Three

BBQ on sweet potato with coleslaw

Having two weeks under our belt was a good feeling. Having two weeks ahead of us was not a good feeling. Yin and yang, if you will.

Day Fifteen

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs

Lunch: Sausage, kale, and potato soup

Snack: Those Chocolate Pumpkin Cups *shudder*

Dinner: Chocolate chili over a baked sweet potato and topped with avocado

This is when I had hallucinations of cornbread; I thought I saw it and I'm pretty sure I smelled it. You can be sure that my tastebuds never wanted cornbread more than they did at that moment!

Day Sixteen

Breakfast: Fried eggs; Aidell's chicken sausage; zucchini-sweet potato latkes with applesauce (yes, I know that's awfully close to the "No Paleo-fying unhealthy foods such as pancakes" rule

Lunch: Leftover Potato Soup; baked sweet potato

Snack: Strawberry coconut butter  that tasted like those strawberry shortcake ice cream bars that I just so happen to adore. The recipe was for truffles, but I just ate it out of the container.

Snack: Banana; pear

Dinner: Coconut-flour-coated pork chops; mustard Brussels sprouts; baked sweet potato; salad with a funky little avocado ranch dressing that I tried to make...tried...

Day Seventeen

Breakfast: Fried eggs; Blueberry sausage patties; roasted white potatoes; homemade ketchup

Lunch: Leftover chili over baked white potato

Dinner: Taco salad with hamburger meat, lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, salsa, and a better version of avocado ranch dressing

Day Eighteen

Breakfast: Fried eggs; zucchini-sweet potato latkes; blueberry sausages

Snack: Shared a Coconut Cream Pie Larabar

Lunch: Fajita meat; salsa; guacamole; Leftover Chicken No-Tortilla Soup that was gotten from the freezer and reheated

Snack: Baked Plantain Slices

Dinner: Coconut chicken patties; roasted carrots; Coconut Cauliflower "Rice" with pineapple, cashews, peas, and carrots [inspired by two different recipes]

Day Nineteen

Breakfast: Smoothie with kale, banana, pineapple juice and coconut milk that I'd frozen in an ice cube tray, kiwi, macadamia nuts

Lunch: Salad with leftover taco meat and leftover carnita meat, avocado, salsa; baked sweet potato

Dinner: Leftover chicken patties and cauliflower rice

Day Twenty

Breakfast: Fried eggs; Aidell's sausage

Snack: Smoothie with kale, apple, banana, raspberries, pummelo, macadamia nuts, coconut milk, and water

Lunch: Salad (yep, that's all I wrote down)

Dinner: The Whole30 Saturday Tradition AKA Hamburger patty on lettuce; leftover chicken patty; roasted sweet and white potatoes

Day Twenty-One

Breakfast:Scrambled eggs; shared banana

Lunch: Chicken salad on lettuce; pears, apples, flaked coconut, almond butter

Dinner: BBQ Beef [from Well Fed 2] with homemade barbecue sauce (from the ketchup that I'd made) over baked sweet potato (have I mentioned that this is the best meal EVER?!); homemade coleslaw [from Well Fed 2]

I tried to make some snow ice cream with honey and coconut milk, but that did NOT work like I'd planned.

Whole30 Week Two

Chocolate Chili

Wow. We made it through an entire week. No real changes yet and I'm not sure how to feel about that.

Day Eight
Breakfast: Breakfast casserole
Lunch: Carnitas on lettuce w/ avocado (This recipe is a real keeper, whether you're doing a Whole30 or trying to feed a man :P)
Dinner: Fajita salad w/ avocado ranch dressing
Prepped: Cashew Larabars

Day Nine
Breakfast: Breakfast casserole
Lunch: Fajita Salad
Snack: Smoothie with yellow grapefruit, pineapple core (where the bromelain is!), pineapple juice, kale, banana, orange, kiwi, water
Snack: Homemade Larabar
Dinner: Beef stew over mashed sweet potato (mashed and mixed with coconut oil and coconut milk)

Day Ten
Breakfast: Breakfast casserole; baked sweet potato
Lunch: Chicken Salad with avocado dressing, apples, grapes on lettuce leaves; steamed squash and zucchini
Snack: Homemade Larabar
Dinner: Beef stew over mashed sweet potato
Snack: Monkey salad (no nuts)

Day Eleven
Breakfast: Smoothie with kale, carrots, fresh gingerroot, beet, apple, banana, frozen mixed fruit, water
Prepped: Spice mixes from Well Fed 2
Lunch: Mustard Lime Chicken; garlic creamed spinach [from Well Fed 2]; mustard Brussels sprouts [from Well Fed 2]; tomatoes; mashed sweet potato; applesauce (gotta love using up all the bits of leftovers in the fridge!)
Dinner: Bison-pork meatballs (yes, bison is pretty delicious); garlic mayo for dipping; pan-fried kale; tomatoes; baked sweet potato

Day Twelve
Breakfast: Sausages, eggs
Lunch: Smoothie with kale, carrots, banana, cranberries, almonds, kiwi, pineapple, pineapple juice, coconut milk
Dinner: Carnitas; salad with balsamic vinaigrette (Confession--I freaked out after realizing that the balsamic vinaigrette was made from wine and thought that I'd ruined my entire Whole30. Turns out it was safe after all...)
Snack: Pumpkin Coconut...stuff. It was this recipe I'd tried to make and it didn't turn out too well. I tried to save it by turning it into pumpkin-coconut butter cups, but that was even worse and eventually made me want to vomit. Even the thought of them makes me want to vomit.

Day Thirteen
Breakfast: Smoothie (by this time I was tired of being so detailed with my record-keeping that I became less specific, at least with the repeat meals)
Lunch: Green grilled chicken salad
Snack: Homemade Larabar; pistachios
Snack: Rest of smoothie
Dinner: Burger on lettuce; homemade ketchup [from Well Fed 2 but I was not super thrilled with the taste]; mustard (an excellent Whole30 companion); roasted white and sweet potatoes

Day Fourteen
Breakfast: Eggs; fruit
Lunch: Green chicken salad with strawberries, grapes, pear
Dinner: Carnita meat (this was a fend-for-yourself-too-tired-to-make-much night)
Snack: Monkey salad (my monkey salads usually consisted of banana, coconut and cinnamon, though sometimes I'd throw in some blueberries)

Delays and Construction

Hi, folks!

I just wanted to pop in to say a couple things.

First, I'm sorry for the delay in posting the weekly Whole30 menus. I've been trying to get the photos edited, though with not much success. I'll get it all up soon!

Good news...I'm trying to make the blog look more professional! I started the blog because we had started selling at our local farmer's market and I wanted to include a website on my jam and jelly labels. I've decided that it's high time to turn my blog into a more professional-looking site. I'm working with a very talented artist friend to create a business logo and banner.

Happy Spring!

Whole30 = Conquered

It's over! What's over? The Whole30! 

 Two-thirds of the faculty of Pumpkin Rose Farm recently finished their first Whole30! Princess Me and the Queen Mother decided that we would try the Whole30 program, beginning February 2. 

First things first: about the Whole30. Basically, it's a reset for your body, achieved by cutting out dairy, grains, legumes, alcohol and sugar. Also off-limits are carrageenan, MSG, and sulfites (which are found in processed foods). The last big rule is not to recreate baked goods, junk food, or treats (such as Paleo pancakes, etc).

Yes, it's hard. No, it's not impossible. If you're interested, you can find all the information at whole30.com.

I feel the need to share a disclaimer concerning my food photography. I started out by taking pictures on my point-and-shoot camera, then ended up taking the rest of the photos with my phone. After about the first week and a half, I didn't try very hard to make the pictures look professional (or even semi-professional). This was mostly due to the fact that by the time the food was ready, I didn't want to try to have to "pose" it and take beautiful pictures. I just wanted to eat it. Then, I looked back at the pictures and discovered that some were blurry. Too late...the food was already a distant memory. I won't be posting all of the pictures that I took, partly because of aforementioned blur. Hindsight is 20/20....

Although we didn't see much improvement in health conditions, I did notice that digestive disturbances were fewer than before. Also, some pounds and inches were lost.

I think the biggest benefit that I've seen is the mental change. We've better learned how to plan meals and how to make healthier substitutions and wiser food choices.

It also makes me want to work harder on the farm gardens this year. I can think of no better place to get vegetables than from one's own garden (if possible). 

I learned that you can overcome food temptations (even though at the time it felt like the hardest thing in the world). One afternoon, everyone around me was eating some pizza from a local pizza place that makes delectable, unique pizzas. Once I smelled the dessert pizzas, I thought that I was done for! However, I made it through with two plates of salad. I was thankful for the green olives and sunflower seeds on the salad bar because they amped up the taste and made dressing unnecessary. 

My favorite moment of the month was on Day One, when we sat down to breakfast and the Queen exclaimed, "I forgot the monkey salad!" We began the program knowing that a monkey salad would probably make many appearances and, sure enough, it did.

Another disclaimer: I know that smoothies are somewhat of a bone of contention in the health community and that the Whole30 program generally frowns upon the making of such beverages which, quite often, turn into sugar bombs. However, I do believe that when in had in moderation (everything in moderation!) and when made with proper ingredients in proper ratios, smoothies are fine.

Things I liked about the Whole30  

• The new perspective on food and nutrition. Mindless snacking became a thing of the past because, if I wanted to eat something, more often than not I had to make it. Meals had to have protein, fat, and vegetables and really needed to be able to keep us satiated for a while. As a result, I looked for ways to bulk up meals.
• I was forced to make foods that I probably would have never gotten around to making. Last year I tried my hand at making homemade mayonnaise and the result made me never want to attempt to make mayo again. Then, I found instructions for making it with an immersion blender; no slower-than-slow drizzling of oil or room-temperature ingredients required. This mayo changed my life, or at least my food life. I now make the mayo almost weekly and use it in many ways that I would have never used store-bought to make. We didn't even eat mayo before. Another food-prep obstacle that I overcame was making coconut butter and Larabars.
• We learned to think ahead so that the microwave didn't have to be used. Since most of our meals had to be eaten over two or three days, we started each meal's reheating process sooner and were able to use the oven or the stove.

Things I didn't like about the Whole30

• I started out feeling too controlled by it. I was so scared that I would accidentally eat something that was off limits and then all my efforts would be ruined. In the first couple of weeks, we learned how easily we would grab something and pop it into our mouths, just because it was there. I spent my nights dreaming that I'd accidentally eaten something that was off-limits. Thankfully, those dreams stopped about halfway through the month.
• Snacking was discouraged, therefore, I always felt bad if I ate just a Larabar or something in between meals. There weren't many convenient snack options, since there are very few Whole30-compliant packaged foods. That's all fine and dandy, but I didn't always want to make something and I sure didn't want to have to come up with a mini meal, with the protein-vegetable-fat rules.  

Tips for Your First Whole30

• If you like sweet potatoes, make them one of your closest friends during the Whole30 (and beyond). For us, they appeared in almost every form imaginable and at every meal. The best way to eat them, in my opinion, is to bake them and spoon some extra virgin coconut oil on top, with salt and pepper. You can also add cinnamon or a homemade spice mix. 
• Coconut, in all forms, is a must in your Whole30 pantry. Coconut milk in a can makes a great substitute for milk in many recipes!
• Add as much food (preferably vegetables) as you can to each meal. I changed my plan of attack during the last half of the month and started eating more at meals. Instead of having a monkey salad or some fruit a couple hours after a meal, I added it to my meal. Most of the time, I ate everything on my plate and, occasionally, I finished off the Queen's food, too.
• BE PREPARED! This might seriously be the most important thing you can do in order to succeed. Have at least a week's worth of meals and snacks planned and the ingredients on hand, if possible. I'm so grateful for all of the other Whole30 participants who have shared their recipes and menus! Lindsay from The Lean Green Bean has some excellent tips for food prep. I highly recommend checking it out.

Best Recipes

Carnitas

Deconstructed Gyro 

Creamed Spinach 

Simple Chicken No-Tortilla Soup 

Chicken Patties 

Chocolate Chili 

BBQ Beef meat or Carnita meat over a sweet potato with homemade BBQ sauce drizzled over. Seriously, this is one of the best meals I've ever had.

That's all I can think of...for now. I'll share the menu, pictures, and some recipes in my next posts. I hope to get those up this week. Please check back!

Things to Come

Hi, all!

Just wanted to pop in to say I haven't forgotten about the blog and that we're in the midst of a Whole30 program. Since blogging from my phone it's a difficult task, I will make this post short.
However, I plan to do a review at the end of the 30 days, complete with photos!

Tune in at the beginning of March!

Elf 4 Health Recap

Hello, all!
I said that I would try to do a summary of week 1 of the Elf 4 Health. That didn't work.
Then, I said that I would do a summary of each round. That didn't work, either.
I have now decided to just do a summary of the entire program. I didn't have any other options left.

Round 1, Week 1
Day 1: Go meatless -- I almost accomplished this one, but, as it turns out, sick chickens have the ability to mess up all of one's plans.
Day 2: Unsubscribe from unnecessary emails and printed publications -- I manually unsubscribed from several emails and still am unsubscribing when more pop up in my inbox.
Day 3: Try a new workout -- I tried a new workout that included bursts of jumping rope so I had fun trying to take a picture of my shadow while jumping.
Day 4: Share a new book, blog, etc. -- Thanksgiving Day! Shared several of my favorite blogs and recommended a book that I haven't actually read yet
Day 5: New veggie smoothie -- Okay, so it was a new smoothie recipe that only had spinach as a vegetable.
Day 6: Treat yourself -- Got to sleep in and watch some movies.That's a treat in my book!
Day 7: Meal plan & prep -- I love meal planning, especially planning new uses for Thanksgiving leftovers.

Round 1, Week 2
Day 1: Handwritten note -- sent a little package to my Elfie and a card to another friend. My Elf sent me the best package! You can read about it here: http://pumpkinrosefarm.blogspot.com/2014/12/best-elf-ever.html
Day 2: Eat the Rainbow -- My birthday! And my dog's birthday, so we "ate the rainbow" by having rainbow-colored birthday candles.
Day 3: Go makeup free -- Did this so easily...since I am pretty much makeup-free every day.
Day 4: Do a buddy workout -- I was going to do yoga with a dog, but instead did it with Yoga Cat.
Day 5: Leave an Operation Beautiful Note -- Planned for this one, but my sticky notes weren't sticking. However, I'll be leaving notes from now on!
Day 6: Pantry and fridge purge -- This had (somewhat) happened recently, so I didn't do it.
Day 7: 20 things gratitude list -- I made the list in my head, so that will have to count. On the list was my new Elf friend, which brings me to...

There is a winner at the end of each round and I was so excited to read who it was, because it was going to be my Elf, of course. I was certain that no other Elf could have been as fantastic as mine. I was in for quite a surprise when I read that I HAD WON! HOLD THE PHONE! ME? THE WINNER? I honestly am not yet over the shock. This shock will surely increase exponentially when I receive the prize pack from the sponsors.

Round 2, Week 1
Day 1: Fastest mile challenge -- I was looking forward to seeing how fast I could do a mile, but when this challenge came around, a painful shoulder kept me from running. This challenge will happen, though.
Day 2: Pay it forward -- I did a couple things here and there for people--some for strangers, some for family and friends.
Day 3: Pack a healthy snack -- I didn't go anywhere on this day, so there was no need to pack a snack!
Day 4: Take some you time -- I took a little bit of "me time", but not as much as I would have liked. ;)
Day 5: Do a circuit workout -- Didn't accomplish this one because I still was dealing with pain in my shoulder area of my back..yuck!
Day 6: 3 food groups per meal -- This was fairly easy since most of my meals contain at least three food groups.
Day 7: Clean out your closet -- I had already done the bulk of this a while back, but I pulled out a few more things. I also rounded up several coats and we dropped them off at a local coat drive.

Round 2, Week 2
Day 1: Read, write or meditate -- I got up early and read Psalm 119; yes, it's a bit lengthy, but it's a beautiful chapter and very encouraging, especially when you're just starting out your day.
Day 2: Push-up challenge -- I prefer super-slow pushups, where you take ten seconds to go down and ten seconds to go back up. However, I decided to only do one of this, the first pushup of the day. Then, I proceeded to 149 more pushups during the day; I did regular pushups and pike pushups and some pushups that I accidentally made up and a few modified pushups when my arms got tired. I even did one diamond pushup...whew! Pushup total = 150
Day 3: Share your expertise -- I'm not really an expert at anything, but an opportunity arose to share some of the knowledge that I've learned about Vitamin D3 and Vitamin K2. (Long story short: you need to take D3 and then have K2 with it; the vitamin K gets the vitamin D where it needs to go!)
Day 4: Veggies with breakfast -- Breakfast juice/smoothie with kale and carrots, plus a few other ingredients.
Day 5: What you love about you -- Eep! I was supposed to share 6 things that I love about myself, but instead I opted for making a list in my head that only contained four things.
Day 6: 2015 fitness goal -- My goal for 2015 is to become healthy (two words: adrenal burnout). Unfortunately, my fitness plans will be limited to mostly yoga for a while. Fortunately, I love yoga and so does my cat, hence the nickname, "Yoga Cat."
Day 7: Make a donation -- This was one of my favorite daily challenges. Earlier in the week, I got thirteen inches of hair cut off. I sent it to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths Foundation and so that was part of accomplishing this day's challenge.


This Elf 4 Health program was so much fun! I have a new buddy (hi, new buddy!) and am about to have some awesome prizes (thanks mostly to my new buddy).
Thanks to Elle and Lindsay for hosting this program!

Happy holidays from Pumpkin Rose Farm!

Best Elf Ever

Buddy the elf must now assume the title of Second Best Elf Ever, because there's now someone in first place: my Elf for the Elf4Health program, Stefanie.
Stefanie fooled me into thinking that she was going to send me a birthday card, but she sent a whole package, full of goodies--and care.

She even sent an elf hat.
Hey, Stefanie? You rock. Thanks