The good thing about doing another Whole 30 is you remember how awesome you’ll feel soon. The bad thing is, you figure out faster the second time around how much it really sucks at the start. It’s kind of like having your second baby–the minute those contractions start, you remember EXACTLY how much it’s going to hurt before it’s all over and they let you eat real food and take a nap. [This coming from a mother of two who went through two very different, but totally unmedicated, labors & deliveries].

A lovely bright spot today was a visit from UPS with an Amazon box that contained an early birthday gift from my dearest of friends [and fellow Whole 30-goer], Rachelle. I can’t wait to try out this pan!

So, today, it was Slugville. No motivation to do much. As my daughter says, “Your’e taking a ride on the struggle bus.” I had to drag myself from my warm bed early [it is, literally, colder than freezing here] to take my oldest to work on her science fair project. “An hour or so” turned into three and by the time we arrived home, I was very hungry. I warmed some ghee in my cast iron skillet & zested a lemon & orange into the melting goodness. Then, I put sweet potato rounds into the melted ghee, turning each disk over after the one side was covered in fat. I then squeezed half a lemon over the disks, covered the cast iron skillet with aluminum foil & put it in a 325 degree oven for around 40 minutes. When the oven beeped, I pulled the foil off & let them go another five minutes.

In the meantime, I warmed up the remaining Silken Zucchini Ginger Soup I made last night. The soup was miraculous. My daughter, of course, loved it. I loved it. The real kicker? My very picky “I don’t eat green things unless they are jelly beans” husband actually tried it. And, after trying it, he requested his own cup of soup. I was sad when it was gone, so I, of course, reloaded the zucchini supply when I stopped at the market today.

When I saw the recipe for Crispy Italian Chicken Thighs from Stupid Easy Paleo, I knew I would have to try it. I utterly failed to photo document the process because 1) it was so stinking quick; 2) I was so stinking hungry and 3) by the time they were done, everyone had them on their plates & gone before I even thought about grabbing my phone.

I was surprised that it actually DID make a crispy skin and I’m not a huge red pepper flake fan [I admit it. I’m a heat wimp], but this crispy skin was delish. My husband gave it two thumbs’ up [again, he doesn’t think he could EVER go Paleo] and it will likely go become a tight rotation menu item.

I have a lemon & egg chilling out on my countertop as I plan to make some Paleo mayo momentarily. That may or may not be used to produce Paleo deviled eggs before the evening has ended.

Busy day on tap tomorrow. I really hope my energy level finds its way up tomorrow.