The first time I went on a deployment to cover the disaster relief efforts of Samaritan’s Purse, I realized pretty quickly that healthy eating would be a challenge. With volunteers working hard physically for a full day’s worth of work, of course they’re going to need bone-sticking goodness.

This means carbs. Plus carb-full food tends to be the best way to fill people up with the least amount of cost.

So this time, I came prepared. I made myself a bag of survival food– fiber bars, Kind bars, and Shakeology.

Yeah, that was short lived. While the bars came in handy while out on the field (I’m worthless if the hunger beast sets in), I never got to use my Shakeology packets in the morning. I was always too rushed and wanted to be present for the volunteers’ breakfast. So, I took one for the team and ate pancakes and sausage (I know…I know…such sacrifices lol).

This deployment was much better than the other one, food-wise, though. There was always fresh fruit available and usually a salad so it wasn’t a total loss.

But I swear, I haven’t had that many carbs in a single day in a long time. But boy, were they delicious. I was sure I’d gain weight but surprisingly enough, I lost some!

But when I came home, I was carbed-out. The Hubs decided to take me out to dinner when I got home yesterday so we went to Hokkaido’s, a Hibachi style grill. I immediately ordered the vegetable chicken combo and told them to hold the rice and replace it with extra veg. The guy laughed and looked at me like I had three heads.

“Really? No rice?”

“Nope.”

AND IT WAS DELICIOUS. Once on a work lunch, I did this same thing except I didn’t do chicken either. You should try it sometime. I promise you won’t miss the rice as much as you think you will.

Today, I was still carbed-out. I was hoping to start another  juice cleanse today, but hadn’t had time to stock the fridge with the essentials (plus, I’m still currently a bit brain dead from exhaustion).

So, today for the first time I ever— I actually made recipes where I followed directions to a T (crazy, right?).

My inspiration came from my new kitchen toys. My amazing husband remembered that I wanted a food processor for my birthday (Sure, I actually took him by the hand and pointed to the one I wanted at the store before I left– but I’m still impressed) and we finally used some wedding Bed Bath and Beyond gift cards to get me the crock pot of my dreams (seriously, I am beyond thrilled with this amazing piece of awesomeness).

One of the reasons I’ve been wanting a new crockpot is because I see recipes for roasting big pieces of meat all the time and my little crockpot can’t handle them. So today, after getting my hair done, I walked to our local butcher and got myself a locally raised chicken (they really do taste better!).

And then, I followed this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, 100 Days of Real Food. 

I always used Italian seasonings and butter when I roast my chicken, so I was a bit thrown by the spice combination. But seriously– it was to die for. It fell of the bone and was beyond easy. Didn’t even need gravy!

But what to serve with roast chicken when you’re currently not wanting any kind of carb? Well, mashed cauliflower, of course!

It’s something I’ve always wanted to try, and now with my awesome food processor, I could! And surprisingly, the Hubs LOVED it (this is surprising in that I’m pretty sure in our marriage contract he told me never to make him cauliflower).

I used this Paleo recipe I found on Pinterest, though I reduced the butter to 2 tbs instead of 4. One head of cauliflower made four servings at only 90 calories per! It was garlicky goodness. Couldn’t even believe it.

No, we’re not on the Paleo diet, but I have to admit, Paleo recipes are yummy. I highly recommend this one. And for the first time ever, I’m glad I did follow the recipes.