Day 1: Monday, May 11, 2015

Yesterday was Mother's Day. On Friday, I knew that I was ready to start this journey, but I knew that the days before Mother's day were not the days to do it, and I was right. I love breakfast food, especially breakfast sandwiches and on holidays, MIMOSAAAAAAAAAAAS! Super Hubby did not disappoint. He augmented his usual "Sunday Morning Bacon-Makin'" by adding sausage patties, english muffins, hashbrowns, coffee from this amazing little place on the Southside of Chicago, Bridgeport Coffee, and yes: MIMOSAS.

In the afternoon, we headed north to Playland, where we enjoyed cheap beer and Nathan's Famous. Oh, and Carvel ice-cream. And maybe some funnel cake. 

However, knowing that Monday was coming and that I was going to start THIS THING, I spent a lot of Friday in preparation. I made about 7 freezer meals to throw in the crock pot on busy days to keep myself from the trap of ordering in. I hard-boiled (steamed, really) eggs for a quick go-to. A friend pointed me toward Science Friday's method of steaming the eggs and let me tell you: 12 minutes of steaming and the shells practically dance off the eggs when you peel them. I brewed a huge pot of "Damn Good Chili," a recipe with which I fell in love last year during my Whole 30. Folks, I used to make pretty good chili, but this recipe trumped mine by a landslide and it's loaded with veggies and bean-free. Many of my friends have tossed their old chili recipes in exchange for this one after sampling the goods at my place. It freezes well too, so I knew this would be a good place to start.

This brings me to today. Even with an arsenal of back up food in the freezer, I still don't trust myself to not get lazy, so I am using my zealousness and set up the crock with my tried and true pulled pork. I don't know from whence this recipe came, but I still have the scrap paper I jotted it down on when I came across the recipe online one day. It's stained and worn, as any much-loved recipe should be:

 I thought about tweaking it to omit the brown sugar, but... nah. I'll skip the roll and just use less brown sugar, throw together a side of broccoli slaw and BAM!

Is the recipe perfectly paleo? Nope. Am I going to make my own mayo from scratch for the slaw? HELL TO THE NO. But I still see this as a small step in the right direction and that's what the journey is about. Small steps going the right way.

Until next time, I wish you joy in the journey!



Ridiculously Delicious Crock Pot Pulled Pork
1 tsp. coconut oil
1 3-4 lb. pork loin roast
1 C. Stubb's BBQ Sauce
1/2 C. Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 C. water
1/2 tsp. Better Than Bouillon Organic Chicken Stock Paste
1/8-1/4 C. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. yellow mustard
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1.5 tsp. dried thyme

1. Pour coconut oil in the bottom of the slow cooker. Place roast into cooker. Mix all other ingredients together in a bowl and pour over the roast.
2. Cook on high for 5-6 hours.
3. Remove meat, shred, and return to cooker and juices.
4. ENJOY!