Cabbage and Chicken Soup

So when I first started this blog, I was saying how I wanted to get back to the old me.

One of the things I said I would like to do again, was create my own recipes.

Tonight I did just that.  I looked in our fridge (it is getting close to that time where we go and get groceries! the fridge is looking bare) and saw that I still had cabbage.  I honestly didn't know what I was going to do with it, but I figured I should use it before it went bad.  So I made soup.  This was the very first time I ever created a soup recipe.  It was the first time I ever made soup without following someone elses instructions very carefully.  It was a little saltier than I liked, but still yummy.  We had it for lunch, and again for dinner.  When I went to reheat it for dinner, I added in more water and it mellowed the salt to a perfect flavor!

Cabbage and Chicken Soup

1/2 a head of cabbage, torn up into pieces
1 large potato, skinned and chopped into bite size pieces
6 cups of water
1 chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
1 chicken bullion cube (I used 2... and it was waaaaaay too salty, so I am guessing 1 would be good, or more water)
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp black pepper

Put the torn up cabbage, potato pieces, water, bullion, oregano, and basil into a pot.  Turn on the burner on med-high heat until it starts to boil.  When it starts boiling, turn it down to low-med heat.  While it is heating up, cook the chicken breast pieces in a pan (or grill them, or whatever method you want to use to cook the pieces.  Or you could use cooked chicken and just tear it up).  Sprinkle the black pepper over the chicken while it is cooking.  Add to the pot when it is cooked almost all the way through.  It can finish cooking in the soup.  I let my soup cook for about 35-40 minutes.  My potatoes were tender, and my cabbage was perfect.

For fun I added some croutons to my soup, kind of like mushy dumplings lol.  I am weird like that, but I found them delicious!

The next time I make this, I think I will add a little garlic, some sliced carrots, and celery.  Maybe another potato as well.

It came out really great though, so for my first time, I am feeling very proud :D Josh had multiple helpings, and Evee stole some of mine :)

Seriously Vinegar

I love you vinegar... yes I do :)

Today I decided to try a foot soak I found on my pinterest.

I have left this link before, in my last post about vinegar, because I thought it was interesting.

I soaked my feet for a half hour in warm water, apple cider vinegar, and some peroxide.

My toes have never looked so great!  My feet are ridiculously soft too.  I keep touching them!  I was so amazed that I ran in to make Josh feel my feet also!  He is now soaking his feet in a fresh batch of the foot bath.  I highly recommend trying this!


Image from the Website

Cinnamon Butter Croissants

So this morning, I was thinking "I want to make my family homemade cinnamon rolls."

I was very disappointed to find that the only recipes that sounded really yummy, and not extremely time consuming, had to be made with all purpose flour.  I do not have any of that :( I buy wheat flour.  I have 3 different types of wheat flour, but no all purpose.  So I looked in my fridge.

What I did have, was croissants.  

So in a small mixing bowl I mixed the following

1/2 stick room temperature butter

4 dashes of ground cinnamon

1 tbsp of white sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Then I rolled our the croissants.  I wasn't sure what the most effective way to arrange them would be.  For the first couple, I pinched two croissant triangles together.  Then I put the butter mixture on them, rolled them up, and cut them in half.  They looked like cinnamon rolls.  For the next two I made them into little buns by just folding them up so there were no openings.  For the last of them, I just made them like a regular croissant.  On top of all of them, I put just a little more of the butter mixture on top.

I baked them at 375 for about 10 minutes until I liked the color they were.

They were delicious.  They did not taste like cinnamon rolls, but they were yummy.  They tasted like cinnamon toast, only softer.  I would eat and make them again.  I haven't decided which fold worked best.  They tasted the same to me, so it is all preference.  The ones that look like cinnamon rolls definitely took longer to make, so unless you are displaying them for someone, you might as well just roll them up like regular croissants.  

Yikes

So I expressed how I was feeling on Saturday, and why I decided to stop the diet.

I however did not have anything to say Sunday... because I was in the ER most of the day.

I woke up Sunday morning because of some cramping in my front right lower waist.  Below my stomach, near my pelvic region.

I thought maybe it was my IUD gone wrong or something, because I also had a little bleeding.

Turns out (after 2 cat scans, 1 vaginal ultrasound, 1 regular ultrasound, and over 6 hours laying in a bed on an IV) that it was an ovarian cyst, that had exceeded 5 cm and filled with blood until it burst. Leaving me very uncomfortable :/ but at least it was not my appendix.  Which is what we thought it was going to be.

I did have a lovely time on the pain medicine while I was there, and now I just take some motrin.  The thing that really bothers me though, is that after giving them a urine sample, they said "oh you are dehydrated."  Which shocked me.  But then, after getting some blood work done, they told me that I was EXTREMELY dehydrated.  I have 2 IV bags full, pumped into my body.

This upsets me because I love water.  I do.  I drink it all the time.  I even drank more than usual for this diet.  I don't drink soda, and I don't care for sugary drinks.  When I do drink iced tea, I have it unsweetened.  So what we think happened, was that during this diet, I didn't get enough salt.  I wrote about my diet on here everyday that I did it, and often I put a little salt on things.  But clearly not enough.  SO I urge anyone who tries this diet, to get some sodium!  It is very important.  I still can not believe that I can drink a gallon of water in a day, and still be told I am severely dehydrated the next day.  I did mention at the beginning that I was having to go to the bathroom more frequently, so it just was not staying in my system :( I am still getting over it all.  I will not be doing this diet again, just because I do not think my body can handle it.  If you do try it, I wish you luck!  Just please pay attention to your body, and make sure nothing is going wrong.

Diet day 6 :(

So I woke up this morning, feeling extremely light headed, and dizzy.  Whenever I stood up, I felt like I was going to fall over.  When I was sitting I still felt very light and weak, and especially shaky. So needless to say, I am off the diet.

I am very upset about this because today and tomorrow were the last days, and they were easy days in my point of view.  Why couldn't this have happened before the dreaded banana and milk day?

But the whole point of this diet was to see what happened, now I know :)

I do feel thinner overall, but not 10 lbs lighter.  I haven't actually weighed myself though.

Oh well, I hope others have better results :) It was a fun experiment to say that I did.  Well, almost did.  But overall, dizziness is not a good thing, and I was perfectly happy to have some real food today :D

Diet Day 5

I am sooooo excited for today!

I have 4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts in my fridge right now.
I have the oven on 350.  I am excited to toss them in with a little balsamic vinegar and garlic powder.  Today has been what I have been looking forward to.  Yesterday was the hardest day for me, but today and tomorrow will be the easiest and happiest :) We have to run to the store today and get the tomatoes, and the stuff for tomorrow and Sunday.  :D I am just so happy right now that I get to eat meat again, I have missed it so much!  Come on oven!  Preheat already!!!

Edit: So for meal 1, I had baked chicken with a little balsamic vinegar and garlic powder on it.  For meal 2 I roasted some tomatoes and then put them on some baked chicken with a little oregano :) mmmmm


Don't those tomatoes look good?

For meal 3, I had a leftover baked chicken breast from this morning, and dipped it in a little mustard (the woman from the main site I got this diet from, said mustards okay!).

Then I have had 3 tomatoes since then, lightly sprinkled with salt, and sliced up :) mmmm.

I just did about 25 minutes of yoga and I am wore out already :/
This doesn't please me because just the other night I did the same video for an hour and didn't have any problems.  Today, everytime I stood up, I got the dizzies and a little blackness around my eyes.  That used to happen because of iron based anemia that I had, but seemed to go away.  I haven't had to take pills for it in a long time, I guess maybe because I just eat iron rich foods normally?  Anyways, we went and got a gummy type of multivitamin, and we are going to see if that helps things, because almost passing out when you stand up, is no good.  If it isn't better towards the end of tomorrow, I don't think I will do the last day.

I really hate to do 6 days and then not do the last one, especially since I already bought everything for it, but... I think almost passing out is kinda serious and probably shouldn't be ignored :) hopefully it doesn't come to that though, since I am almost done!

Diet Day 4

Today is day 4.  I have not eaten yet.  I am honestly, really dreading this day.

All I can eat are bananas.  I really hate bananas :(

I am going to make that smoothie, but to do that, I need to wash the blender >_> I don't want to do dishes lol.

Edit:  I ate 3 bananas on their own, and finally the 4th one I made into a smoothie.

I found it much easier to eat that way :)

Here was the smoothie recipe if you are interested.

2 bananas
3 cups skim milk
4 dashes of cinnamon
1 dash of nutmeg
ice to taste (I prefer mine a little more liquidy so I only used about half a tray of ice, but if you prefer yours thicker, add more ice, or another banana).

blend to desired consistency.

Weekend Trifle

So I supplied the dessert for last Sundays family dinner.

I couldn't get any good pictures :( but luckily someone else did :)

She just sent me the finished product!  So I would like to share with you my trifle

Here is what you need

1 pkg of graham crackers (not 1 box, but just 1 pkg from in the box)
1 container of low fat whipped topping
1 pkg of oreos
1 pkg brownie mix (I used triple chunk)
1 large pkg of oreo pudding
1-2 bananas
butterscotch chips (optional)
white chocolate chips (optional)

Here is what you do!

Make the oreo pudding, and the brownies, according to the boxes.
When you are done mixing the oreo pudding, put it into the fridge.
When the brownies are cool enough to, put them in the fridge also.
In a food processor, chop up the graham crackers.  Mix them with the whipped topping to make a sort of "crust."
This crust goes on the bottom of your trifle dish.  Spread it evenly.
Next put the brownies (cut them up first!) in the food processor.  Pulse it just a few times (or just tear into chunks if you want, mine were still warm so I used the processor).  Put them on top of the graham crust.
Next take some oreos, and twist them apart.  Decorate them around the edge of the trifle dish, pushing them inbetween the brownie pieces and the trifle dish.  This makes a pretty display :)
Now within the oreo walls, pour the oreo pudding!
Then take a banana (or two) and slice it up into little round pieces.  Put those on top of the pudding. It is a fun hidden surprise that no one expected, but everyone loved!
Put the remaining oreos into the processor, and then sprinkle on top.  I decided it was a little boring looking all black, because you can't see the pudding, so I sprinkled the top with different chips that I had in my pantry.  If I were to make this again, I think I would do a layer of ice cream, and another type of pudding, maybe white chocolate?

It was delicious, and we had no problems giving away the leftovers (since we were starting the diet on Monday, so we couldn't take it home with us).

Diet day 3

I made a mistake last night :/

I completely forgot I was supposed to have a baked potato with butter on it.

I am not sure how this will change things.  I wonder if I should eat it today, or if that would only further mess things up.  I am going to email the original posters of the diet and see if I get a response.  I realized my mistake, while trying to fall asleep.  I was full though, so I could not have eaten it.  Plus I didn't want to stay up another hour.  I haven't eaten yet today, because Evee is still sleeping, and I want a smoothie.  I don't dare run the blender though.  My plan is a blackberry and blueberry smoothie :) (water, ice, blackberries, and blueberries) and I think it will be a great breakfast, then doing some leg lifts.

Edit:  I ended up doing strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries for my smoothie.  mmmmmmmm it is yummy.  I wish I could have put some honey in it though.



Edit 2:  Midmorning snacktime!  White Grapes mmmmmmmm.
I have not gotten an e-mail back from the main site about whether or not I should eat the potato today :/ so I won't unless I hear otherwise.

Edit 3: Ugh, why do you always want what you can't have?  I swear, Monday I am having turkey burgers, salmon, and whole wheat pancakes with honey and berries on top.  I am craving all these things so badly!  I also really want a doughnut.  Last night we went on a walk, and saw one, swarming with bugs, on the sidewalk.  It made me want one.  Which is sad and weird.   Hehehehe :) but I am trying so hard not to lose it.  Maybe I should dig out some celery and snack.  I wish I had more carrots left, and maybe some tomatoes.  I would make a little soup if I did.  I still have heard nothing back about the potato :( Oh and I had cooked broccoli for lunch.  Evee stole some of it :)

Edit 4: I had cantaloupe for my dinner tonight.  Evelyn stole a ton of it :) she really liked it.  I had a lot!  I feel full, but I still have some cravings. *sigh* please someone out there have a cookie for me :)

Edit 5: I had grapes for a late snack, and now I am feeling pretty tired, so I will be going to bed.
I am dreading tomorrow, because I hate bananas.  I think I will start my morning with a banana and skim milk smoothie, with a little cinnamon and nutmeg though.  Hopefully that will turn out edible :)

Diet day 2

So far today (and I will edit it, as the day goes) we have had our veggie breakfast, and lunch, plus a snack.

My morning started with a light snack of carrots.

For lunch I made steamed carrots and mushrooms, with lemon pepper.
Don't have a steamer?  Me either.  I put my metal strainer on top of a pot of boiling water.

They were delicious (sorry about the lighting!)


This wasn't really enough for both of us to eat (plus whatever Evee stole from us hehehehe) so I also sauteed some mushrooms and orange peppers, with balsamic vinegar.



It was really good, but it felt like it was lacking something :/  like chicken.  I will probably make this again this weekend when I get to the poultry and veggies day.

Right now I have our mid-afternoon snack in the oven.  I am letting it bake for an hour or so, then I am going to put it in the fridge for easy reheating later.

Cherry tomatoes, red pepper, mushrooms, cilantro, and a little garlic powder.  It smells so good right now.  Normally I would add some italian dressing to it, but I can't do that today :/ silly diet!



UPDATE: I decided to turn the tomato mixture into a salsa, by pulsing it with my food processor.
It is in the fridge cooling right now, and we plan to use cucumbers as "chips."

I added some basil, and oregano to it as well, and it smells soooo good.

UPDATE 2:We sliced up the cucumbers and used them as "chips" like I said previously.  The "salsa"came out more like pizza sauce though, or spaghetti sauce. It was good, but only made me want pasta and pizza haha.  We have some left, so I will try to get a picture before we eat it all.

Right now my carrots are finishing steaming.  I just did an hour of yoga, after going on a walk with my family to the park.  Evee loved the swings :)

But after that, and the stairs to our place, I am just pooped and starving.  So this is my final update for tonight.  Day 3 is tomorrow, and it is fruit and veggies.  yay!  I feel like I can do more with both maybe?

Day 1 on diet

Okay, so yesterday (Monday) was day 1.
We survived!

For breakfast I had grapes and strawberries.  I snacked throughout the day on blueberries, blackberries, and grapes.  I had cantaloupe in the evening.  I think I drank 9 glasses of water, which really isn't unusual for me.

I don't usually hardly ever eat bacon, but yesterday that was all I wanted.

I didn't feel really any different yesterday, which is understandable since it was day 1.  The only thing I took notice to was that I used the bathroom way more often than normal.  Just going number 1.  It was clear, so I wasn't dehydrated, but my lips felt so dry all day.  Joshua said his lips felt really dry too.

This morning I woke up with a headache, so I am drinking a tall glass of water and taking some tylenol for the discomfort.  I am sitting here with my little baby girl, eating carrots, and watching The Office.  Day 2 has begun, I am much more excited for today than I was yesterday.  I feel like there is a lot more I can do with my veggies, than there was with my fruit.  I will update tomorrow on todays progress, and hopefully have some yummy veggie ideas to share, for those interested in the diet.

Detox Bath

Well today I was looking through my personal Pinterest, and I decided to try something!

(I might make this a weekly thing!) 

Tonight I did the detox bath.

I am not a bath person.  I honestly find taking a bath to be the opposite of relaxing.  I find it utterly boring.  I sit there, and I am just thinking... okay what now?  I just lay here? ugh, can I get out yet?  So I was going into this a little biased.  But I have been achy lately, and I am sure my system could use a cleanse.  I will admit I wanted to get out in the first 5 minutes, but I toughed it out.

This is how you do it!

2 cups of epson salt (I got a carton for $1.84)

2 cups of baking powder (you can get for $1 at Dollar Tree)

and thats all you need!  Oh and hot water.  Fill the tub with hot water, as hot as you can take it.  

Now here was the tough part... soaking in it for 40 minutes!!!

I ran the hot water, I swooshed around the salt and soda, I climbed in... and I wanted out.

I read that I would start sweating quickly, and they were right!  I did.  I had my glass of ice water beside me though, and my wonderful Joshua put on a few episodes of Friends, for me to watch on the laptop :) So I wasn't quite as bored.  I think the hardest part was that I had the water so hot that I couldn't breathe easily.  I leaned out of the tub and that helped a ton, and then I was back in business.  I watched the show, drank my water, and just laid in the tub.  

When I got out (2 episodes = 40 minutes) I wrapped a towel around me, and went and sat on my couch while Josh got me more water.  I could feel my heart everywhere on my body.  Not racing, just thumping.  I feel a little dirty, like I need to take a shower to rinse off or something, but otherwise, I feel pretty good.  I feel kinda like how you feel when you do a face mask.  Comforted and like something was released.  So I approve this detox bath, even if it is a bath.  I think this could be something I would do monthly.  

Approved

(make sure you drink water if you do this!)

Dear Diet...

So Monday is the glorious day that I will start my insane diet!

Here is a recap of the diet I am doing.

7 Day Diet


Today we went and got our food for the first 4 days of this cleanse.

Joshua is doing it with me :)



We have the potatoes, some cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, and the skim milk as well.

Tomorrow is our last regular day of meals for a week!  We are going to Joshua's brothers new place, for turkey tacos!  I like them better than beef tacos! Seriously.  Just replace sour cream with some greek yogurt, and be a happy person :) When we went to the store today we were carefully choosing our last meals.  Mine is a bowl of special k cinnamon pecan for breakfast, and a baked chicken breast with lemon pepper for lunch :) with some carrot sticks.  Then the turkey tacos for dinner of course.  That is just fun saying, turkey taco turkey taco turkey taco.  :)

I will make a new post each day with what we ate, how we ate it, if we just snacked, etc...  Wish us luck!

Simply Amazing!

I am one of those people subscribed to Sulu's posts on facebook :)

Today he posted something so amazing, I had to devote a post on my blog to it!

This autistic artist drew this from memory, after a short ride over the city.   How amazing is this? 

This photo is from The Daily Mail, which also has the rest of the article.  Please check it out :) 

Gnomes, and Goblins, and Golems! Oh my

so a month or so ago, Joshua and our old roommate discovered a new game.  I believe it is still in alpha status.  For those non-game folks, that means it is not ready yet.  Updates are made weekly.  But you can buy and play it as it goes.

After watching them for a couple weeks, I had to have it.  I am so in love with this game.  It is incredibly addicting.  You can read about it here.  The getting started link is especially helpful for all newbies.

If you like games like minecraft, you might find this enjoyable.  This is kinda like if farmville and minecraft made a baby, except it is a baby that is far more awesome than that farmville whore could ever hope to be.  This game makes me feel bad as a mom because some days I can't wait until it is naptime so I can get in an hour or two.

A new update came out today!

Here is the main page, so you can see more amazingness that is this game.
Gnomoria Forums

Cinnamon Roll Waffles

First off, I would like to introduce you to our morning routine.  For the most part, it stays like this, with few exceptions.

6:30-8:00am-ish  Wake Up to the sound of Evelyn playing in her crib, go and get her (either one of us, or both of us), take her to her mirror and say hello morning.  We do this every day.  She starts waving like crazy as soon as we take her out of her crib :) she knows she is going to the mirror.  Then we take her back to our room, where I nurse her for about a half hour while Josh goes back to sleep.  Then I take her out into the living room and we play for a while until Joshua wakes up.  Then we all have breakfast together.

9-9:30am-ish Nap Time.  She is usually very ready for a nap at 9, even if she woke up at 8.  She starts rubbing her eyes and is ready.  That time is almost upon us, so I thought I would get this little post in before I lay her down for her nap.

We both got up to get her today, because she was yelling DaDa and giggling :)
Watching Joshua with her just makes me all fuzzy inside.  When I took her out in the living room to play, I was thinking about how great he is, and what a lucky girl Evee is, to have him as a father.  So I decided to do something special for breakfast, rather than just scrambled eggs (what we usually have when we are out of fruit).  He loves waffles, so I heated up the waffle maker.  We are out of milk at the moment so I thought I would just use mix.  Turns out I only have pancake mix :/

I was bummed.  I started looking for alternatives.  I opened up our very empty fridge and saw an unopened tin of orange sweet rolls.  Perfect!  I put one roll in each of the little dividers on my waffle maker, and put the lid down.  I had it on med. heat for about 5-6 minutes (Josh likes things a little brown, if I had made them for me I probably would have took them off sooner).  This was the result, and he said it was a great success.



He didn't eat all of them (it was a whole roll of cinnamon rolls!) but since they were made in the waffle maker, we can reheat them later easily :) Oh and we put the orange icing into a bowl, into the microwave, and used it for dipping.  Delicious!  (Evee and I split one hehehe)

Pinterest Banana Bread

I found this recipe for Banana Bread, on Pinterest, the other day.  We had some very ripe bananas, so I decided to make it.





I did do a couple things differently.

Instead of spraying non-stick spray in my bread pan, I just lined it with foil.  I am a sucker for easy cleanups, so foil and parchment paper are my best friends.  Instead of regular flour, I used whole wheat flour.  I also added a little hazelnut extract, which I think was a great addition!  Joshua loves raisins, so I threw in a couple handfuls of those as well :) So really I guess it was banana-raisin bread.

It came out nice and moist!  I had a piece this morning, warmed up with a little honey drizzled on top.  I think my next slice will have a little peanutbutter.

Here is the recipe, with my tweaks.

• 1/2 cup of unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3/4 cup of brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 1/3 cups of mashed overripe bananas (I used 4)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp hazelnut extract
• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 cup raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line your bread pan with foil for easy cleanup.  If you want to grease it also, you can, I didn't need to.

In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until creamy.  

Beat in the eggs, bananas, vanilla, and hazelnut until well combined, but don't over beat!

In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt, raisins, and nutmeg.

Gradually add the flour mixture into the banana mixture, stirring just until it is blended. Pour the batter into the pan and pop it in the oven!

I baked mine for 30 minutes, then turned it.  We just moved here so I don't know the oven very well yet, so I wanted to make sure it cooked evenly.  I checked it after another 20, but it was still a little undercooked.  After another 10 minutes though, it was perfect.  So about an hour total time.  

I let it cool for about 10 minutes, then just lifted the foil right out.  I let it cool another half hour on the cooling rack before I cut into it.  

It was especially delicious warm with honey, peanutbutter, and nutella.  Not all together, but I mean, that would probably be delicious too.  :) but then I would never fit in my pants again.  

The next time I make it though, I think I need to add walnuts or something to it.  It was delicious but I just like a little crunch.  

Diet?

As I have stated before, I have a beautiful little baby girl :)


After having her, I lost about half of the pregnancy weight (yay!) but I still have a little more to go.  I would like to lose more than that though.  My guy and I purchased Insanity, hoping to really get into shape together.  We weren't aware of the shakeology shakes that you needed to really do the program, and we could not afford those on top of everything.  Plus it was kind of hard to do with the baby at the time.  Maybe we will start again though.  I would like to.

I have been trying to do yoga more often :) I really enjoy it, and I can definitely feel the difference after a week of doing it, compared to a week where I didn't.

I read a quote once, and I stand by it, "life is too short, not to enjoy a cheeseburger."  I think that says it all, I really do.  I have never been one for dieting, but rather changing your diet.  Which is what I have been doing.  Unfortunately, there is not a whole lot I can change without it being considered a "diet."  I love veggies, and fruit.  I eat them often.  We have completely switched to only whole wheat flour, and whole grain/whole wheat bread.  I make sure I get plenty of protein, fiber, and water (water is my favorite thing to drink!) pretty much every day.  I do not drink soda, and I limit myself with sweets.  So what can I do except exercise more?  I will not cut out what little indulgences I do give myself, that would just be mean and unfair to my poor mouth that loves the tastes and experiences :)

So I am about to try a diet... I am trying this diet, because most of the things listed, are things I eat all the time anyway.  It will be entirely easy for me I think :) I am going to start this diet on August 11th.  This will give me time to prepare a shopping list, to come up with meals, and mentally prepare.  It honestly seems too good to be true, and I am going into this knowing there is a chance of a yoyo scenario after the fact... but I am going to try it.  I will keep my blog updated daily :) I may create a separate page with links to all the posts.

Here is what I am about to do.

Eat Your Heart Out



I do have to tweak it just a little bit though :/  I really hate to do that, since I know any good recipe is best to be followed as closely as possible.  I hate bananas, but I will force them down my throat!  However I can not put onions in the soup on the last day.  They make me physically sick :( so hopefully the soup wont be too bad without them, or maybe I can substitute something?  I don't know.

Wish me luck!  Let me know if you have any ideas for yummy foods on any of the days :) I am allowed to use spices, just no creamy sauces or anything like that.

EDIT:  The date has been changed to August 13th.  Better to start on a Monday in my opinion :)