My Experience with Whole30

If you aren't familiar with Whole30, check it out here. Basically it's a 30 day nutritional program that serves as a sort of metabolic "reset." Starting 30 days ago I completely cut out the following: grains, dairy, added sugar (everything but fruit), legumes. I also modified the fats that I was eating, so no vegetable oil, canola oil, etc.. I mainly used coconut oil for cooking, but occasionally used ghee, which is clarified butter. Think about this for a second: EVERYTHING YOU EAT AFFECTS YOU. I mean, duh, right? It's a pretty obvious statement, but how many times have you eaten a sandwich and thought, "how will this bread affect me?" Probably exactly zero times. The goal with this program (for me anyway) is to identify any foods that are causing problems, such as my lovely mid-20s acne or my constant joint pain. 

veggie casserole + sausage; fried eggs + pistachios; veggie casserole + fried eggs; veggie and bacon omelet

My goals during Whole30:

1. Clear up skin
2. Reduce joint pain when running
3. Improve overall energy levels
4. Lessen abdominal bloating

My skin didn't really clear up like I hoped. It may have improved a little bit, but it's been up and down over the last year, so I don't really credit Whole30 with the little improvement I've seen. Technically I was supposed to be getting grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, etc.. and I didn't. That might have been part of the problem because I would assume the acne is related to hormones. Now my joint pain DID improve. Prior to Whole30, I had taken a break from running to try to help my ankle heal, but it didn't help. I decided to resume running and just deal with the achy ankle. Well, turns out the pain went away shortly after I started Whole30. Hooray! I haven't had a lot of pain at all on my shorter runs, which is wonderful. Of course my knees still ache on long runs, but that's normal. Ok, energy levels. This is where I've been the most disappointed. People are always talking about feeling AWESOME during weeks 3 and 4, and just having so much energy! I didn't get that at all. Maybe I just didn't eat enough most days? I snacked on extra nuts or fruit some days, which helped increase calories, but I may have still been deficient most days because I did lose some weight (which I didn't intend). Ok last goal: bloating. This is something that did improve! Before I started I could poke my stomach out far enough to look like I was a few months pregnant (I'm not), and I felt like a balloon in the middle. I'm sitting here right now and when I relax my stomach, it doesn't bloat out much at all. Score! I know that seems like a dumb thing to be excited about, but when I'm sitting all day in jeans and my stomach is bloated, it's really uncomfortable. I'm anxious to see which of the food groups is causing that. I'll be reintroducing them one at a time, so hopefully I'll be able to figure it out.

I think part of the reason I didn't see a huge change in my energy levels is because I didn't exactly eat like trash to begin with. I have eaten relatively healthily in recent years, so it's not like I went from eating fast food 5 times a week to Whole 30. I think someone going from a horrible diet to Whole 30 would probably see more changes in the way they feel after the program. They'd probably feel like crap the first week or two though, from weening off all the junk!

tacos; hamburger; fajitas; porkchop + sweet potato

I have discovered some great modifications to my favorite foods that I can totally maintain even past Whole 30. For one thing, I didn't really miss the tortillas in tacos/fajitas. A piece of iceburg lettuce worked just fine! Same with the hamburger bun. Now, don't get me wrong, I am in no way going to continue fasting from bread. I have missed pastries like you wouldn't believe, but I'm not going to eat grains when it's not something I am going to drool over. Does that make sense? If I'm going to eat something outside of the Whole 30 approved foods, it's going to be something WORTH IT.

Another great modification I found was subbing salsa for salad dressing. Obviously that only works with certain salads, because salsa wouldn't go well on a spinach and berry salad. But lettuce, bell pepper, chicken and avo topped with some salsa is dang good! I was careful to get salsa without added sugar. Herdez hot salsa is my absolute favorite. The chicken was just cooked on the stove with tons of chili powder and whatever other spices I felt like adding. I also made this Tex-Mex Veggie Casserole that is probably one of my favorite dishes ever. I will definitely be making it again! Rhett didn't even try it, so I got a whole 9x13 pan of it to myself...twice. It doubles as a good breakfast with a couple of fried eggs on top. 

turkey burger; salad + blackened chicken; salad + chicken + asparagus and bacon; salad + nuts

If you're thinking "I could NEVER do that!" you need to silence that voice right now. Don't ever think you can't give up certain foods, because you absolutely can. It's 100% mental, so if you think you can't do it, you just need to change your attitude. I didn't think I could do it, but once I set my mind to it, I just handled it. Sure there were days when I teared up a little thinking about brownies, but I got over it. 

chicken tortilla(less) soup + avo; tuna and avo lettuce wrap; turkey "sandwich" + pistachios + cuties; bacon wrapped chicken + green beans + cuties

A few other things I learned along the way: I just can't do ground turkey, it's disgusting. You can keep your turkey burgers. I can totally do Whole 30 with a husband who has no interest in it. Not stuffing myself to the point of pain is actually a great idea...I should keep doing that. Sweet potatoes are literally the best vegetable. I can photograph a wedding without eating a piece of the cake (I previously thought this to be impossible).

I think I want to maintain a Whole 30 compliant diet at least 80% of the time from now on, but I'm glad to be out of the "reset" phase so that I can feel ok about eating popcorn at the movies and putting cream in my coffee. And just to be clear, this is NOT A WEIGHT LOSS PLAN. I didn't plan to lose weight, but I have been increasing my mileage and running frequency, so it translated to weight loss. I also ate far less on Whole 30 just because bread usually accounted for most of my calories. It was a side effect, but not a reason to do Whole 30 (in my opinion).

I'd love to hear from you if you've done Whole 30! I probably didn't do it exactly right because I didn't read the book, but I think I got the gist of it down. Also, feel free to ask me questions about it, and I'll do my best to answer them. 

Exit 87 BBQ Stand Photos

After doing a Hello, Jackson post on the Exit 87 BBQ stand off I-40, they asked me to take some photos for a picture menu they needed. I was SO EXCITED! The photos will help non-English-speaking customers pick what they want visually. We used a really simple set-up in a pile of wood with a red and white picnic cloth. I can't wait to stop back by there soon and see the pictures on display!

aaaaaaand now I'm hungry...

Summer Eats: BLT

One of my favorite moments of every year is when I get my first home-grown tomato of the summer. My step-dad has had a garden ever since I can remember, so we always celebrated and cherished the first tomato harvest. The store bought ones are just never as good! I think my favorite way to enjoy them (besides just in slices with a dash of salt) is on a sandwich Harriet the Spy style. A close second would be adding them to a BLT. It doesn't get much more classic than a BLT! Toasted bread, crispy bacon, lettuce, and a fresh, juicy tomato (and ok, I admit it, I add mayo). My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

I promise I've cleaned my stove since frying that bacon. I cook most nights, and I'm not one to completely clean after every meal. Once a week is good enough, right? (Hopefully my mom doesn't read this) Anyway, moving on. My friend Sarah had given me those huge lettuce leaves, so I used that on my sandwich. She got it in her CSA, which also included some dill, so the lettuce had a bit of a dill taste. It was actually kind of good! Who knew?!

Confession: I wanted to do this post primarily so that I could take pictures of this magnificent sandwich. Can you tell I like BLTs? They are definitely in my list of top 10 favorite foods. I think they are a bit too light for Rhett, so if I make them again this summer, I'll probably make them for lunch. If you've never had a BLT, I highly recommend you make one! Just make sure you use good tomatoes. A mealy tomato will ruin it.

What are some of your favorite summer foods? Hopefully you're all enjoying the endless supply of summer fruits and veggies as much as I am!

Recipe: Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes (Pretend it's Fall)

Ok, mine DO NOT look as good as the one's from this post. I'm still learning, so ya know. Anyway I love love love pumpkin recipes, even when it's not Fall. It's definitely harder to get a hold of pumpkin when it's not close to the holidays, but if you stock up ahead of time, you're good to go. I found the recipe online (here) and thought I would give it a shot for dessert one night.

stuffs for the crusts 

 line cupcake liners with the graham mixture

mixing up the filling in my poorly lit kitchen

Here is what you need for this recipe:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1⁄4 teaspoon table salt
• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 8 ounces light cream cheese, softened (approximately 1 cup)
• 1 cup plain canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

And here's what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a standard-sized cupcake pan with 12 liners.
2. In a small bowl, toss together melted butter, salt, and graham crumbs. Use a tablespoon measure to spoon 1 heaping tablespoons crumb mixture into each liner. Press down with back of spoon to flatten. Bake crusts for 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
3. Combine cream cheese, pumpkin, brown sugar, eggs, and pumpkin pie spice in a medium bowl. Beat on high with mixer for 2-3 minutes or until smooth. Spoon batter evenly into cups and bake for 20-25 minute or until set. Serve warm, room temperature, or chilled. Cheesecakes may be made up to 4 days before serving.

THIS CONTENT IS FROM THE BB&B WEBSITE. IT IS NOT MY OWN RECIPE.

Instead of buying graham cracker crumbs, I used some I already had and just crumbled them up myself. You just put them in a bag and basically pound on it. It's quite a stress reliever! haha

Sorry this is kind of out of season, but I just love pumpkin recipes, I couldn't resist! Maybe you can just save it for later this year :) I hope you're all having a wonderful week!

Easy Mexican Pork Wraps

Now that it's finally Spring, and Summer is around the corner, I'll be getting busier. I feel like I'm always busy in the summer, even though it's really the most relaxing time of year (work-wise). Since I'm always busy though, I like to have some easy-ish recipes to fall back on when I don't have time for a big meal. Mexican pork wraps (above) are one of my favs! There are several different recipes you could try. I used one from my Better Homes and Garden cookbook. You can pretty much just add whatever you like to it, and that's what makes it so easy! I might make some guacamole to go along with it next time.

Mexi-Pork Wraps

Ingredients-
8 ounces lean boneless pork, cut into thin bite-sized strips
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 cup frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
1/2 cup chopped roasted red sweet peppers (I left mine raw and they were fine)
1/4 cup sliced green onion
3 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional...we always put a little extra cayenne!)
1/2 cup refried black beans (or buy regular black beans and mash them)
9-10 inch whole grain tortillas
1/2 cup shredded romaine
1/2 cup chopped tomato
(sour cream, optional)

1. In a skillet cook and stir pork strips and garlic in hot oil over medium-high heat for 4-5 minutes or until pork is no longer pink. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl stir together corn, red peppers, green onion, 2 tbsp of the lime juice, cumin and cayenne. In another smaller bowl combine black beans and the other tbsp of lime juice.
3. Spread 2 tbsp of black bean mixture down the center of each tortilla , top with pork strips, corn mixture, romaine and tomato. Fold bottom edge of each tortilla up and over the filling. Roll up tortillas around filling.

You could also do this with chicken! I honestly don't measure out all the stuff like the spices, lettuce, tomato and onion. I just kind of use however much I want. Other easy dishes along the same line include tacos (duh), beef enchiladas (which we enjoyed last night. Used a recipe on the back of a can of enchilada sauce), and fajitas. Fajitas are a bit more work as you have to do quite a bit of chopping.

I'm looking forward to Summer a lot now that it's finally getting warmer! I really hate when it gets super hot, but I still prefer it to the cold. I will be outside a lot this year now that we have Chipper. He just loves to play in the back yard and go for walks! I can't believe how fast he's growing up. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend planned. We're looking forward to a trip to the zoo with Rhett's family! There are several grandchildren now, so it should be interesting. haha

Recipe: Lavender Lemonade

I mentioned back in my wedding posts that I served lavender lemonade at my reception. I used lavender as much as possible in the wedding because I LOVE the smell. I thought I would share how to make the lavender lemonade on here, even though it's so easy I almost feel like it's not worth sharing! Hopefully some of you will be inspired to try it :)

I bought a kit on Etsy from a seller who appears to have switched focus to vintage toys (? don't ask me...). I don't think you need a kit AT ALL though. All you need is stuff to make lemonade, some culinary lavender buds (angustifolia is what I used) and patience. The first thing you need to do is soak your buds in a covered container in the fridge for about 10-14 days. Do 1/8 cup buds to a 1/2 gallon of water (cold water is preferable. Using boiling water will expedite the process to less than 10 days).

That's all I took pictures of because I was so busy getting everything done for the wedding! It's been almost 5 months now. Wow does time fly! Ok, that's off topic, so back to the lemonade. Once your buds have soaked, you can start making the lemonade. I would do this a day or two before you plan to serve it, so the flavors have time to mix. Make the lemonade by combining 1/2 gallon of water and 2 cups of sugar (or less if you don't want it overpoweringly sweet). This is where hot water is nice because the sugar will dissolve quickly for you. Once the sugar is dissolved in the water add 1 cup of lemon juice and stir.

Finally, pour the 1/2 gallon of lavender water (with the buds strained out) in with the 1/2 gallon of lemonade and mix well. You'll have a little bit of lemonade left over because you added that cup of lemon juice, just drink it plain or toss it. Refrigerate immediately and drink within 3 weeks. It's delicious!

You can also experiment with your amounts of sugar, lemon juice and lavender to get the perfect taste for you. It's a really fun drink to make, and I promise it will be gone within a couple of days if you're anything like me. I can't get enough of the stuff! Let me know if any of you give it a shot! I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend so far.

Eat Up: Parmesan Potatoes

One of Rhett's favorite foods (possibly his #1) is the potato. It's not the most nutritious vegetable, but I like them too, so I enjoy cooking them. I went to Trader Joe's with my friend Emily and she introduced me to the teeny tiny potatoes. They're so adorable! I went ahead and bought a couple of bags then searched for a recipe to try with them. In my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, I found a recipe for parmesan potato wedges. I used the little potatoes cut in half instead of wedges and they turned out awesome!

Here's what you need:

• 6 medium baking potatoes (about 2 pounds...or in my case a couple bags of teeny tiny potatoes)
• 1/3 cup of butter, melted
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning, crushed

First you line a 15x10x1 pan with parchment paper (I used foil). Cut each potato however you want (wedges, halved, etc). In a large bowl stir together butter, garlic, Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper. Add potato wedges and stir to coat. Place the potatoes on the pan. 

Bake, uncovered in a 425 degree (F) oven about 30 minutes or until tender. 

I served them with some tilapia filets and it was a good dinner! Of course you'll notice there is a lack of non-starchy vegetables. I realized that I've been slacking in that area a few weeks ago, so I've been trying to be better about having greens and other veggies with our dinner. Some of our favorite options are okra, green beans, salad, and peppers (mainly in soup and chili).

If you guys like potatoes, you should seriously try this! It's super easy and really delicious. I put ketchup on some of them :) 

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

Yesterday was our office holiday breakfast party! It's something we've done the past few years (except sometimes it's lunch) and I've grown to really love it. We all bring a dish and meet at someone's house to eat and play games. This year I decided to make pumpkin cinnamon rolls, and I was really pleased with how they turned out! I'm planning on making them again for Christmas morning.

It's not a particularly easy recipe for me, but I really enjoyed the process anyway. You basically make the dough, then make the cinnamon mixture for the middle. You flatten the dough into a rectangle and spread the mixture on before rolling it all up. Slice, bake, drizzle on the glaze you mix up and you're done! I woke up at 5:45 to get started....so it wasn't quick. You can make the roll ahead of time though and just do the slice and bake right before you need them. Here's the recipe if you're interested: http://kneadtocook.com/?p=2225

I didn't make the healthy substitutions...mainly because I don't think substituting something fake for butter is healthy. It might save you some calories, but there's no sense in using something more processed if you don't have to (if you have to because you can't do dairy, that's a different story). I also used whole milk because that's what Rhett drinks.

I would love to know if any of you try this recipe! They turned out really delicious, in my opinion. At first I thought they might have been a little too doughy, but I didn't mind. I might add an extra few minutes to the baking process next time though.

Wedding Talk: It's all in the Details

I promise this is the last batch of wedding photos! I really hope you've found them at least slightly interesting :) These are some of the details from the wedding. There are a few things that I didn't get pictures of, so I might try to recreate them at hope and get some shots. That first shot is (obviously) my dress. I think I've already mentioned it, but it was made for me by my friend's mother, Debbie. I basically sent her a picture and she took off! She wasn't able to do the top as we originally planned, so I told her I trusted her to make it look good. She didn't disappoint! I love what she did with the texture around the neckline and down the bust. It's just perfect. My favorit part of the dress is the skirt. I don't know what those little gathers are called, but I wanted lots of them so it would flow really well. I seriously couldn't be happier with my dress! It's 100% totally me, and there's not a duplicate out there :)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I LOVED my flower arrangements. You all know I have a ton of milk glass, so we put it to good use. I actually started collecting it to use it for my wedding, so I guess I fulfilled that dream! We used a huge variety of milk glass vases and containers for the centerpieces on the banquet style tables. Each centerpiece was placed on a table runner that was either vintage or handmade by me and my maid of honor (or bought...a couple were bought).

These are my favors. They are magnets, and each one has a little wooden piece with our initials stamped on. I made about 160 of these things, which took FOREVER, but it was fun. I also put little tags on that say "You're Magnetic!" on one side and "Thanks for Coming." This was probably the thing I put the most time into. I wanted something different, that hopefully people will use. I made sure and used strong magnets so they will actually hold things up on the fridge :) I also have a lot left, so if anyone wants one, shoot me an email kristimcmurry@gmail.com.

Went all out on the road signs (sarcasm). Turns out things look a lot bigger in your living room than they do on a country road! I think most people didn't even notice these.

I mainly posted this picture to show the frames along the left wall. I designed 6 typography posters using lyrics from love songs and had them up at the reception. Once I get my studio painted, I plan to hang them all up there!

For our guestbook, I had blank cards for people to either write their name or give us some advice. They would then file their card under the letter of their name in this vintage file drawer. I don't remember where I saw this idea. It may have been a combination of a few different ideas, but I thought it would be really fun! Since it was raining, we didn't get notes from everyone, but I absolutely adore the ones we did get! This is now in our living room :)

I loved my cakes! We kind of messed up the icing on the purple one, so my aunt Lisa fixed it up with some of the flowers we had left over. I think it turned out cute! This cake was chocolate with mint...I think it might have been my favorite.

My plates were another one of my favorite parts of the day! I collected 199 dinner plates from all over the area and carefully washed and packed each one. I also had mis-matched plates for the cakes. I got this idea from a wedding I shot a few years back, and I fell in love with it! Now I'm selling some of my favorite plates on Etsy. I actually really enjoyed collecting these, and if the Etsy shop does well, I might keep looking for them. I think I'd eventually love the have enough that I could rent out sets of them for other events in the area. It would save other brides and planners the trouble of searching for them!

The desserts were displayed on this headboard I found at Goodwill and painted. It had a sliding door, so I put apple pies on one side and pumpkin on the other. I was really pleased with how it turned out!

I have this friend, Lisa. Lisa is the most talented baker I have ever met! She can make a pie that will knock your stinking socks off. I knew I wanted to do little individual pies in jars as my main dessert, and since Lisa is so awesome, I asked her to bake them. I bought all the jars during peak canning season, so I got some good prices. She made two kinds, cinnamon crumble apple (pardon my while I dry up this drool on my keyboard) and pumpkin cheesecake. Both were incredible, but Rhett and I still discuss the apple pie...we kind of wish Lisa was our roommate. She does bake smaller batches though, if you want some for Christmas dinner! The minimum is 6...but if you go in with some friends, you could just get one or two. Check her out here: garnerpies.com.

This is my lavender lemonade! A major theme of the wedding was lavender. We used a lot of it in the floral arrangements, and we used it as our "toss" item. Everyone tossed the lavender on us as we left the ceremony. Anyway, I made the lemonade a couple of days before the wedding. I'm hoping to do a recipe post on that soon. It's delicious!

I'm also going to do another post on my invitations and programs. I designed them all, and I was pretty proud of them! I am kind of a minimalist when it comes to design, so they are very simple. If you can't read it here are the songs we used: Processional was the instrumental version of "Little Wing" by Jimi Hendrix. I walked out to my friend Brian singing a verse of "Not Fire, Not Ice" by Ben Harper (it was lovely), and we left to Otis Redding's "Cupid." I couldn't be happier with our song choices! I should probably also share our reception playlist soon too, because it was quite awesome. I also had my good friend Stephanie read a letter that Paul Newman wrote to his wife on their wedding day. It is so sweet, and I even had it printed in our wedding album.

I guess that's it! If you are a bride who found this post and have questions, let me know. I'd love to share how I did things :) I have to say, even though the weather was super crappy, I did have an amazing day. I poured my heart and soul into preparing for the wedding, but I never let myself get worrisome. I can remember one or two times when I started getting worked up about things, but I was always able to talk myself down. I think that's super important when you're planning a wedding, especially if you're doing most everything by yourself and with family! If you don't feel like something is going to come together in time, you just have to step back and ask yourself if that detail REALLY matters. Most of the time it doesn't. Here's what matters: you, your groom, your officiant, and your guests show up. You don't even have to have enough chairs for everyone :) Just as long as they are there...it will be a splendid day indeed.

Surprise Brunch for Margaret

With all the busy-ness of the last few weeks, I have put off posting these photos from Margaret's surprise party. Better late than never! It was such a wonderful time with friends. A while before Margaret's birthday, Josh decided he would try to throw her a surprise party, so he enlisted the help of Ben, Margaret's man candy (Mean Girls...did you catch that?). We each brought a brunch dish and set up in this adorable little garden area downtown. It's next to a photography studio and they rent it out for just like $50 a day. It's a steal! I actually got my senior pictures taken there when I was in high school.

I made muffins! 

Josh sure knows how to set up a table. Everything was delicious, especially those scones and mini BLTs. We mingled around with each other for a little while and waited for Ben to bring Margaret out. He told her he wanted to take her someplace special downtown, but didn't tell her where. So he just walked her right up to us, and we surprised her with a fun birthday brunch!

with the bff 

with the bf 

Like I said before, it was SUCH a fun day. I met some new people and got to spend time with some good friends. I am sure Margaret felt the love that day. If anyone deserves a top-notch celebration, it's her. I hope you had a happy birthday (forever ago), Margaret!