Whole30: Week Four Round-Up AKA I DID IT, SAY WHAT?!?!?!

Yesssssssssssss. I finished Whole30.

I can't believe I made it a whole month of completely clean eating. And YES. I finally finished #16 on my 30b430 list: Eat clean for one month. Only two years late, but CHECK! Sweet victory.

Anywayyyyyy...

Week Four had me bored and feeling DONE with the Whole30, so I got really into my food. I decided to take more food pictures this week too, just to get myself through.

I made delicious paleo beef stew twice:

As you'll see throughout this post, I am in love with Mel Joulwan's Well Fed recipes

 I decided to try making pork belly with this delicious crispy cumin roasted pork belly: 

You've got to eat it fresh out of the oven or it gets weird. But it's so good fresh out of the oven.

I made Well Fed's chocolate chili again and ate nachos all week because I had so much Costco guac left.  

I am so glad I didn't buy Trader Joe's plantain chips until week four. 

I turned this pickle soup recipe into a Whole30 compliant recipe by using coconut milk, coconut flour, and ghee instead of milk, flour, and butter. 

Weird flavors, but so delicious. Plus, it's Polish American Heritage Month. I'm not Polish, I'm just sayin'.

Cooking break! I went out to eat at Green Street Smoked Meats in Chicago and oh. my. smoked. brisket. And the watermelon salad? Who knew that watermelon, fresh lime, jicama, and tajin would be one of the freshest and most amazing things I've eaten this month?

You've got to check out Paleo Porn... they tell you all of the awesome paleo restaurants in several cities.

 Back to cooking. I made a whole chicken in the crockpot and restocked my freezer chicken stock supply with this crazy-easy crockpot stock:

STOOPID easy. I love it. 

 I went a little crazy on the coconut butter this week, specifically, coconut butter stuffed dates:

Coconut butter, where have you been all my life?! I had to ground myself from dates and coconut butter for a few days.

 The Whole30 Timeline says that on Day 28 this week, I'd feel like Day 28 is as good as Day 30 and I'd think about quitting. It's not that I thought Day 28 was just as good as Day 30. I was tired of having no social life because so much of my social life revolves around going out to eat and drink. Then I had to take a step back and think about why so much of my social life revolves around going out to eat and drink. There has to be other things to do, amiright?

I just have to find those things. 

I saved a ton of money and stomach aches this month by not going out to eat or drink. I would like to continue that in some way, shape, or form. 

Another prediction on the Whole30 timeline is that I would worry about life after Whole30 when I got closer to the end. I'm a little worried, since the Hubs and I are taking a mini-vacation this weekend and I don't know what is going to happen to my gut if I go crazy with vacation food. I guess I'm going to have to be cautious, but still let loose a little. After all, the last prediction on the timeline is that a bowl of ice cream might be okay. 

More on reintroducing foods and what I got out of Whole30 next week. I wonder what life will be like without having to be the person who is always armed with their soft-sided lunch box at every single meal that has to be eaten out of the house?

30b430 Reflections: The Eleven before Whenever

I'm good with to-do lists.

I love to-do lists. I love making lists of what I want and need to get done minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, and sometimes even decades ahead of time.

This brings me to reflect on my 30 Before 30.

I've been 31 for almost 3 months and I've been thinking about how motivated I was while I worked on the good 'ole 30 Before 30 list. It was challenging, fun, and completing items on the list changed my life for the better:

1. Complete an indoor triathlon. 2/12/12
2. Complete an outdoor triathlon. 6/2/12
3. Swim across West Twin Lake and Rose Lake (or Pine Lake). 7/14/12 and 6/26/12 
4. Bike the Kal-Haven Trail.7/30/12

8. Visit my grandparents in California.
9. Pop a champagne cork with no fear.
10. Make leche flan (it's Filipino, it's amazing, and I'm makin' it).
12. Revised 5/1/12 because I remembered that I'm supposed to graduate in December and my Master's degree is really important to me!!! Get my Master's degree
14. Pay off at least 50% of my remaining undergraduate credit card debt.
17. Pick berries and bake something with them. 8/24/12 
18. Write at least one chapter of the novel that I write in my mind while I'm walking the dogs.
19. Thank my mom for everything she's done for me.

21. Get chosen for one more summer fellowship in another country where I am able to work with youth.
23. Get to 200 blog posts.
24. Revised 5/1/12 Make some decisions about my career and/or PhD prospects. 
25. Attend roller derby training so I can learn the moves.
26. Learn how to flip turn when I'm swimming laps. 4/19/12
27. Take a real personal day. 6/8/12
29. Go horseback riding.8/8/12
30. Poach an egg perfectly.

I didn't finish 12 of the items on the list, mostly due to my interests changing, lack of funds, lack of patience, fear, and indecision:

5. Play the piano in front of people: Fear
6. Visit my family in the Philippines (or at least have tickets booked by my 30th birthday): Lack of Funds
7. Have a conversation with a dear Senegalese friend in French or Wolof (preferably Wolof): Lack of Patience

11. Jar or can veggies, pickles, sauce... something: Lack of Patience

12. Submit some of my academic writing and then, maybe, you know... get it published: Fear, Indecision

13. Travel out of the country with Nate: Lack of Funds

15. Sing karaoke by myself in Kalamazoo in front of all of my friends: Fear
16. Eat clean for one month: Lack of Patience

20. Go further into the UP than the Mystery Spot tourist trap and jump into Lake Superior: Lack of Funds

22. Go on a police ride along: Interests Changing

24. Apply for PhD programs: Indecision

28. Learn how to drive a stick: Fear

So here is my new list: The Eleven Before Whenever List

1. Do something musical in front of people I know, whether it's playing the piano or singing-- just get over the childhood fear and do it.

The Hubs got me Beck's Song Reader (and a fishing pole) for my birthday, so I'll start with that.  I'm hoping to learn and record a diddy and just post it here. Someday. When the fear subsides. 

2. Travel, travel, travel: Maybe that means to the Philippines, maybe that means out of the country with Nate, maybe that means to Michigan's UP... I just want to travel and eat food as much and see as many new things as possible.

I went to NYC for work, which is a fun part of the job, but I want to go to places of my choosing as well. 

3. Learn conversational French or Wolof: Learning a language is SO FRUSTRATING for me. I'm not a natural language-picker-upper. I'm going to continue trying to be patient with this.

4. Keep on keepin' on with trying to be healthy: Participate in the 30 Day Clean Eating Challenge, make garden boxes for the backyard and then jar or can something that we grow, work on loving myself at any size, find my happy weight (I feel thisclose), keep focusing on eating foods that aren't too processed, aim to do Swim to Moon one of these summers, compete in a half-ironman relay (swimming), lift weights and build my strength, not work too much, spend quality time with the Hubs... basically do everything that makes me feel awesome and nothing that makes me feel like crap physically OR emotionally.

[via]

5. Learn how to drive a damn stick: I just... I just... want to know.

6. Stop letting the prospect of a PhD loom over me: In an earlier post, I said I'd be posting curriculum here, but this isn't the space for it. I want to focus on establishing a website to share my research and teacher resources for free. I want to work on establishing my web presence as a curriculum person. I'd love to pick up some more curriculum consulting gigs too-- I got one this summer and it was so fun. The PhD Possibility will always be there.

But fer reals, this would be cool. [via]

7. I want to build something with the Hubs-- specifically, some kind of floor to ceiling bookshelf contraption for my office. I'm going to work over the next year to remodel my office. I will be posting more about it later. There is too much to say about the horror that is my office.

8. Continue to budget, pay off the rest of my debt outside of the big : Shame, shame... I just started budgeting in January for the first time in my life. I loving it and I even love a small percentage of Dave Ramsey's advice, despite the fact that we would not get along in real (or imaginary) life.

9. I'm working on a RIDIC clothing purge thanks to self-reflection, disgust in my clothing hoarding tendencies, Pinterest, and "Building a Grown-Up Wardrobe" ala the fantastic blog Aj Wears Clothes. It will be further described in a series of soul-baring posts. Let's just say that I don't wanna be a hoarder. I really don't.

[via]

10. Write, write, write: I won a micro-fiction writing contest around the concept for my novel. Hearing Steve Luxenberg, the author of the haunting Annie's Ghosts, read my work aloud in front of a few hundred people, hearing said people laugh where I hoped they would laugh, and having Mr. Luxenberg compliment my story were highlights of 2014. This is probably a project that will take me another five to ten years to complete-- in addition to the ten years I've already sat on this story and contemplated how I'm going to write it. That's some long term stuff.

11. Work on being more self-assured, more confident, and less hesitant:

It's time to read Lean In. And to stop apologizing for things that don't need an apology. 

There it is. My itch to write a list has been scratched. Now I must attempt to have the patience to work on completing these... whenever. 

30b430 Goal #23 and A Birthday

Well, well, well... looks like I've reached my 200th blog post right on my 30th birthday! 

Cheers and beers. 

Here is the list as complete as it can be. I owe you a few blog posts and you'll see them soon. I didn't finish everything, but damn, I've learned a lot. My life is completely different today than it was when I first wrote my list a year and half ago. It's been a blast recording my journey to thirty and sharing it with all of you. Just because I'm turning thirty today, it doesn't mean that I'm done. I will finish all of these things, sooner or later. I'm a pretty determined lady. :)

1. Complete an indoor triathlon. 2/12/12

2. Complete an outdoor triathlon. 6/2/12

3. Swim across West Twin Lake and Rose Lake (or Pine Lake). 7/14/12 and 6/26/12 

4. Bike the Kal-Haven Trail.7/30/12

5. Play the piano in front of people.

6. Visit my family in the Philippines (or at least have tickets booked by my 30th birthday).

7. Have a conversation with a dear Senegalese friend in French or Wolof (preferably Wolof).

8. Visit my grandparents in California.

9. Pop a champagne cork with no fear.

10. Make leche flan (it's Filipino, it's amazing, and I'm makin' it).

11. Jar or can veggies, pickles, sauce... something.

12. Revised 5/1/12 because I remembered that I'm supposed to graduate in December and my Master's degree is really important to me!!! Get my Master's degree and submit some of my academic writing and then, maybe, you know... get it published.

13. Travel out of the country with Nate.

14. Pay off at least 50% of my remaining undergraduate credit card debt.

15. Sing karaoke by myself in Kalamazoo in front of all of my friends.

16. Eat clean for one month.

17. Pick berries and bake something with them. 8/24/12 

18. Write at least one chapter of the novel that I write in my mind while I'm walking the dogs.

19. Thank my mom for everything she's done for me.

20. Go further into the UP than the Mystery Spot tourist trap and jump into Lake Superior.

21. Get chosen for one more summer fellowship in another country where I am able to work with youth.

22. Go on a police ride along.

23. Get to 200 blog posts.

24. Revised 5/1/12 Make some decisions about my career and/or PhD prospects. Apply for PhD programs.

25. Attend roller derby training so I can learn the moves.

26. Learn how to flip turn when I'm swimming laps. 4/19/12

27. Take a real personal day. 6/8/12

28. Learn how to drive a stick.

29. Go horseback riding.8/8/12

30. Poach an egg perfectly.

Here's to being thirty, flirty, and thriving, right?

Hehe.

30b430 Goal #21 and #24: The Summer of Social Justice

Last year, I declared the summer of 2012 "The Summer of Jen." It was a good summer full of triathlons, swimming, going up north, moving into my new classroom, and tackling my goal list. I loved it and I could have done it again this summer, but I feel like something has been missing from my life this school year and I need to work on figuring it out.

I'm no depressed cat, but still!!!

Goal #21 from my 30b430 list was to get chosen for one more summer fellowship in another country where I am able to work with youth. I revised this goal a little when I couldn't find fellowships where I was able to travel and work with youth. I was tempted to apply for a fellowship in South Africa where I would study apartheid or a fellowship in India where I would examine education, but I wasn't feeling it.

I'm making another sweeping declaration for the summer of 2013: This is the Summer of Social Justice. I heard that the Freedom School in my town was hiring Servant Leader Interns. If you don't know what the Children's Defense Fund Freedom Schools are, I encourage you to learn more here. I got the internship, so as I round out my eighth year of working in schools and my seventh year of teaching full time, I'm going a little crazy and teaching full time this summer as an intern. I'm probably the oldest intern they have, but this work is so energizing. I have a feeling that this is what I should be doing this summer.

The summer is shaping up to be quite busy. I'm presenting on my master's thesis work with some of my favorite people at the Free Minds, Free People Conference in Chicago, working on turning my thesis into something more teachers can use, and I'm sending out inquiries about PhD programs (AKA Goal #24). I'm still on the fence about more graduate studies, especially after Sallie Mae got ahold of me a week after I finished my graduate degree:

I mean... I get it. I just don't want to get it. 

...but I'm thinking about it. 

So what's next? I don't know, but I don't think I'm ever going to settle down. 

1. Complete an indoor triathlon. 2/12/12

2. Complete an outdoor triathlon. 6/2/12

3. Swim across West Twin Lake and Rose Lake (or Pine Lake). 7/14/12 and 6/26/12 

4. Bike the Kal-Haven Trail.7/30/12

5. Play the piano in front of people.

6. Visit my family in the Philippines (or at least have tickets booked by my 30th birthday).

7. Have a conversation with a dear Senegalese friend in French or Wolof (preferably Wolof).

8. Visit my grandparents in California.

9. Pop a champagne cork with no fear.

10. Make leche flan (it's Filipino, it's amazing, and I'm makin' it).

11. Jar or can veggies, pickles, sauce... something.

12. Revised 5/1/12 because I remembered that I'm supposed to graduate in December and my Master's degree is really important to me!!! Get my Master's degree and submit some of my academic writing and then, maybe, you know... get it published.

13. Travel out of the country with Nate.

14. Pay off at least 50% of my remaining undergraduate credit card debt.

15. Sing karaoke by myself in Kalamazoo in front of all of my friends.

16. Eat clean for one month.

17. Pick berries and bake something with them. 8/24/12 

18. Write at least one chapter of the novel that I write in my mind while I'm walking the dogs.

19. Thank my mom for everything she's done for me.

20. Go further into the UP than the Mystery Spot tourist trap and jump into Lake Superior.

21. Get chosen for one more summer fellowship in another country where I am able to work with youth.

22. Go on a police ride along.

23. Get to 200 blog posts.

24. Revised 5/1/12 Make some decisions about my career and/or PhD prospects. Apply for PhD programs.

25. Attend roller derby training so I can learn the moves.

26. Learn how to flip turn when I'm swimming laps. 4/19/12

27. Take a real personal day. 6/8/12

28. Learn how to drive a stick.

29. Go horseback riding.8/8/12

30. Poach an egg perfectly.

30b430 Goal #10: The Leche Flan Experience

If you are Filipino, you've had leche flan at any number of special gatherings in your life including:

• Christmas gatherings involving dancing with Filipino boys who are much shorter than you due to your biracial status
• Birthday gatherings involving bocce ball 
• Summer gatherings involving some kind of pork
• Miscellaneous gatherings involving groups of women laughing very loudly while the sound of mahjong tiles clink in the background

I haven't been to a Filipino gathering in a very long time-- too long--but that is where many of my favorite childhood memories were made. In February, I decided to have my own gathering at our house so that I could:

 1) Beat the winter blahs by cooking all of my favorite Filipino dishes

2) Give my friends a taste of my culture

and the kicker (and goal #10)...

3) Make leche flan, a difficult dessert, but one that I LOVE

I decided to make a really difficult cake, one that I remember savoring at a few rare occasions: Layered chiffon and leche flan cake. "Woah, Jen," you might be thinking, "Don't you think that's a little advanced? You've never even made caramel before, let alone a cake from scratch!" There is nothing too difficult for a woman trying to complete her 30b430 goals, dammit! Plus, my mom taught me how to master lumpia ten years ago and I rock that recipe every time. 

Here it is... the Leche Flan Experience

I started with three recipes to figure out what I was doing: Recipe One, Recipe Two, and Recipe Three. This experiment in dessert making required me to do five things I'd never done before: Make caramel, make cake batter from scratch, make meringue, use a bain-marie (a water bath), and create an upside down cake. I'm not a dessert maker, but I can read and follow directions. 

I made caramel and coated the bottom of the cake pan with it. Cleaning the pot after making the caramel was a really annoying. There has to be a cleaner way to take care of that! After that, I made the flan. It called for A LOT of eggs, so I hoped that no one was watching their cholesterol. Or calories.  

I poured the flan over the caramel and started on the chiffon cake. This meant that I had to make the yellow cake batter first (turns out you can make that from scratch) and then meringue. Making meringue is fluffy and fun! 

From there, I folded the meringue into the cake batter and poured the third layer over the flan and caramel. Note the grated lemon peel in the background as it is one of my favorite smells. 

After that, I put the cake pan in a bain-marie. This made a REALLY HEAVY pan. However, as you can see, it was worth it. The cake came out a lovely golden brown. 

I wasn't done yet. It was time to flip the cake upside down.

I only nicked the corner of the cake when it came out of the pan for the win! I ate that little corner and it was delicious. That whole dang cake was delicious. 

Notice the time? I started around 10am. I have to admit, this is probably the best dessert I will ever make and well worth my time. I should have frozen a few pieces, but by the end of my Filipino gathering there wasn't any left! I guess I'll have to make it again... someday.

Here are a few more pictures from Filipino dinner. Friends, rice, and adobo not pictured because we were too busy eating. 

 Lumpia and pancit. I would post links to the recipes, but they are from my mom and they are in my head and on fragments of paper floating around my recipe notebook. I have to keep some things a secret!

I wasn't sure how to make pancit, but I followed my mom's directions and it tasted the same! Horizontal stripes are not flattering. 

Goal complete! 

30b430 Goal #30: I Poached an Egg!

Is it really only 13 days until my 30th?

Geez. Good thing I've been slowly working on my goal list! I'd better start writing.

Today, I'm going to talk about something I did on a snow day with one of my best buds: I poached an egg. I realized why this task has always been so hard for me. I'm an extremely anxious person and it translates in the way I tried poaching eggs prior to this snow day. My method was to stir the water frantically, panic when strings of egg whites started coming off of the egg, overstir to compensate, and the break the yolk. Now I know the key to poaching eggs: Patience and calm. Duh. 

Step one: Read blog posts about how to poach eggs. Go to your friend's house and get started! 

Step two: JUST LET THE EGG SIT IN THE WATER. Stop touching and messing with it! Geez.

Just relax.

Step three:

Hell yeah. 

Step four: Point at your poached egg with a mix of joy and wonder on your face.

I can't believe it! Thanks DWebb!

Step five: Make it look beautiful on your plate. 

I should have made hollandaise!

Voila. I can poach eggs, as long as I set my anxiety aside. Goal complete!

1. Complete an indoor triathlon. 2/12/12

2. Complete an outdoor triathlon. 6/2/12

3. Swim across West Twin Lake and Rose Lake (or Pine Lake). 7/14/12 and 6/26/12 

4. Bike the Kal-Haven Trail.7/30/12

5. Play the piano in front of people.

6. Visit my family in the Philippines (or at least have tickets booked by my 30th birthday).

7. Have a conversation with a dear Senegalese friend in French or Wolof (preferably Wolof).

8. Visit my grandparents in California.

9. Pop a champagne cork with no fear.

10. Make leche flan (it's Filipino, it's amazing, and I'm makin' it).

11. Jar or can veggies, pickles, sauce... something.

12. Revised 5/1/12 because I remembered that I'm supposed to graduate in December and my Master's degree is really important to me!!! Get my Master's degree and submit some of my academic writing and then, maybe, you know... get it published.

13. Travel out of the country with Nate.

14. Pay off at least 50% of my remaining undergraduate credit card debt.

15. Sing karaoke by myself in Kalamazoo in front of all of my friends.

16. Eat clean for one month.

17. Pick berries and bake something with them. 8/24/12 

18. Write at least one chapter of the novel that I write in my mind while I'm walking the dogs.

19. Thank my mom for everything she's done for me.

20. Go further into the UP than the Mystery Spot tourist trap and jump into Lake Superior.

21. Get chosen for one more summer fellowship in another country where I am able to work with youth.

22. Go on a police ride along.

23. Get to 200 blog posts.

24. Revised 5/1/12 Make some decisions about my career and/or PhD prospects. Apply for PhD programs.

25. Attend roller derby training so I can learn the moves.

26. Learn how to flip turn when I'm swimming laps. 4/19/12

27. Take a real personal day. 6/8/12

28. Learn how to drive a stick.

29. Go horseback riding.8/8/12

30. Poach an egg perfectly.

30b430 Goal #12: Get my Master's degree

It's been a few months since my last post, but I've been busy working on finishing this goal:

Teachers don't make a big enough deal when they get advanced degrees. It's a big effing deal. 

Since January of 2008, I've taken a class every Fall and Spring semester at Western Michigan University in the Socio-Cultural Studies of Education program. In the summers, I traveled for school or work, wrote curriculum, read for school, and planned future writings. It's been hard, but rewarding. How people do this when they have kids is beyond me. Seriously. I applaud those people. When I finally turned in my final paper, I felt like I'd birthed a mind baby:

My bulky final paper manuscript

My program made me a better thinker and teacher. It made me see the possibilities of my intellect. It helped me articulate my social justice lens on life and teaching. I've read thousands of pages, written more papers than I can count, and presented at national conferences... all in addition to teaching middle and high school English full time. Do you guys know what it's like to try and grade 130 research papers while writing your own? If you're an English teacher trying to be awesome at grad school and your job you know how much it sucks. I feel relieved and excited for what comes next. 

One of the many reasons I walked at graduation was because my little sister was graduating with her Bachelor's. The timing happened to work out perfectly-- I was supposed to finish in December, but I dragged my feet and ended up going for one more semester. Throughout the day I felt like a proud mama... I kept looking at her and tearing up, remembering when I took her to Freshman orientation, when she moved into her first apartment and asked me how to make a hamburger, when she told me she wanted to be a teacher, when she first observed me in my classroom, when she asked me for help on lesson plans... it was so emotional! What a beautiful moment. Our Dad would be so proud.

I don't know what's next for me besides teaching, but I've got some tricks up my sleeve. I wouldn't be so ambitious, driven, and motivated if it wasn't for my mom and the Hubs:

I'm a lucky lady.

After the ceremony, we got ready for a chill backyard celebration. The weather was perfect-- we had the best day we've had in months, the Hubs built me a beautiful fire pit for graduation, and Ranger IPA was on sale. 

 

It was an amazing night with my favorite people and a warm fire. I'm glad we made it a big effing deal.

It feels good to be done. 

Now it's time to lose the ten pounds I put on this semester from sitting in front of books and the computer and eating my feelings. Back to triathlon training! It's been too long!!!! 

1. Complete an indoor triathlon. 2/12/12

2. Complete an outdoor triathlon. 6/2/12

3. Swim across West Twin Lake and Rose Lake (or Pine Lake). 7/14/12 and 6/26/12 

4. Bike the Kal-Haven Trail.7/30/12

5. Play the piano in front of people.

6. Visit my family in the Philippines (or at least have tickets booked by my 30th birthday).

7. Have a conversation with a dear Senegalese friend in French or Wolof (preferably Wolof).

8. Visit my grandparents in California.

9. Pop a champagne cork with no fear.

10. Make leche flan (it's Filipino, it's amazing, and I'm makin' it).

11. Jar or can veggies, pickles, sauce... something.

12. Revised 5/1/12 because I remembered that I'm supposed to graduate in December and my Master's degree is really important to me!!! Get my Master's degree and submit some of my academic writing and then, maybe, you know... get it published.

13. Travel out of the country with Nate.

14. Pay off at least 50% of my remaining undergraduate credit card debt.

15. Sing karaoke by myself in Kalamazoo in front of all of my friends.

16. Eat clean for one month.

17. Pick berries and bake something with them. 8/24/12 

18. Write at least one chapter of the novel that I write in my mind while I'm walking the dogs.

19. Thank my mom for everything she's done for me.

20. Go further into the UP than the Mystery Spot tourist trap and jump into Lake Superior.

21. Get chosen for one more summer fellowship in another country where I am able to work with youth.

22. Go on a police ride along.

23. Get to 200 blog posts.

24. Revised 5/1/12 Make some decisions about my career and/or PhD prospects. Apply for PhD programs.

25. Attend roller derby training so I can learn the moves.

26. Learn how to flip turn when I'm swimming laps. 4/19/12

27. Take a real personal day. 6/8/12

28. Learn how to drive a stick.

29. Go horseback riding.8/8/12

30. Poach an egg perfectly.