Looking behind...
28 days ago, I started a journey with my husband, to get healthy, hopefully lose a few pounds, and start a healthier relationship with food, and my husband to break his sugar addiction...
I planned recipes...
I shopped at several stores every week...
We haven't had cheese in 28 days... ...
I worked very hard at being prepared for each day, so that we could cope with such a strenuous diet!
And there were failures...
I didn't always make what I planned to...some recipes weren't as good as others...we got REALLY tired of soups/stews...as delicious as our "egg bakes" are, we really want something ELSE for breakfast...
And successes...
We eat our meals at home now - usually at the dinner table too....I'm planning ahead for our meals, so I'm not so stressed out cooking each day...I'm in a much better "life routine" of doing the dishes each night - which in turn, prompts me to keep up with laundry (washing and drying...folding and putting away is still a struggle with a nursing newborn and a toddler that is overly "helpful"...) I have a routine...sorta...and that is helpful...I learned to get used to food without that starch/grain component that so many meals depend on...I got used to no more desserts...no more emergency breakfasts at Starbucks or Chick-fil-a....my husband doesn't immediately go out for a soda when running errands...he drinks water, tea, and coffee- all unsweetened and from home, generally...Samuel has been eating all this food - vegetables, meats, everything! And mostly loving it! He still eats "regular" food too, but I'm so happy to see him eating meals not dependent on grains/sugars for his nutrition! We eat better, feel better, live better.
Living this way is harder - going to a restaurant isn't so easy - most of the food there is "non-compliant"...even the salad I wanted at Outback had a soy dressing, and I'm sure sugar also. A normal part of our week used to be going to Chipotle on Thursday night. After a grueling Wednesday at work, not making dinner on Thursday is wonderful....but I found, with the right pressure and determination, I apparently have no problem rising to the occasion and making dinner Thursdays...yes, I was tired...but I was usually ok, and we all ate a healthy, homemade meal.
Ahhhh pb&j - how I miss thee...We both really really REALLY miss cheese! (#Whole30 peeps, please make pecorino romano "compliant"...it'd be a game changer for this family to be able to eat that...) I honestly miss my protein shakes in the morning....it was SO convenient to just chug my breakfast every morning, and not worry about warming up and chewing my food....I know, a pain, right?!
I don't think most the off limits foods are inherently bad. I think we eat far too much grains/sugars in American lifestyle choices. I think that beans are great, and dairy is also great (when sourced well). So somethings need to be in moderation, and something are simply eliminated for the end goal of less starches/inflammatory foods for a therapeutic purpose. Once that time is over, we will definitely be adding dairy and beans back in for our norms, and limited grains/sugars. I think soy is inherently bad, though - I only think that traditionally fermented organic soy products should be used(soy sauce, miso, natto, etc.). Unfortunately, soy lecithin is in SO many products and many restaurants fry their foods in soy oil...so it is unavoidable, to an extent.
Honestly, I'm torn....living this way is clearly better for us...but it is a lot more work, it's tiring sometimes...and not having cheese is basically killing our souls (sensing a theme yet?!)...
So going onward...I'm striving to make healthier, better changes...be more determined to be the one cooking...I started this journey with an 8 week old baby, a high maintenance 3 year old, and a sugar addicted husband...We can do better...we know better...we can most definitely do better. So after a splurge meal or two, we will likely remain on the basis of Whole30 and paleo principles, but add in dairy(specifically cultured dairy - sour cream, cheese, cream cheese - minimal milk and ice cream), and moderate/no grains. I will make our chicken verde - but I'll probably make coconut tortillas and drizzle sour cream and shredded cheese on it. We will have our stew we love so much, but probably with a little mac and cheese or a roll (not both!) One of our favorite meals thus far - has been a winner as far as value- very cheap to make - and tastes great - and EASY - the egg roll in a bowl. I use ground beef - because we're a beefy family. And I will not use liquid aminos as recommended - either traditional soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos. And I might serve it on some rice noodles or a little jasmine rice in the future. But eating it as is, has been great, on multiple occasions. Our pork roast that I blogged about last week is also a winner with all of us - in fact, it is our dinner on Saturday this week.
By the numbers:
Daniel has lost 20 pounds...I have lost 15. Daniel has chipped off 1/3rd of the weight he wanted to lose this year - by just eating better! He hasn't cheated even once on this diet! Neither of us have exercised. I fit into my size six jeans that I haven't worn since early 2015!! what a rush - slipping those jeans on easily!
Some parts were incredibly hard, some were extremely easy. If you are trying to jump start your health, I highly recommend this route! Onward to a healthier 2017!
I get cheese in two days...
Cheese....two.more.days.
In health and wellness,
Becca H.
P.S. links to all my other weeks - week 1, week 2, week 3, week 4.
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Saturday, January 21, 2017
My paleo/whole30 pork roast...
I am in the throws of Whole30 at the moment...and on every Friday night, we have people over and have "game night". I was going to make the lemon rosemary chicken, but decided last minute to make a pork roast. Here's my "recipe"...
I used a 3.5 pound pork tenderloin from BJ's. Their "good nature" brand - antibiotic free, humanely raised, etc.
I had organic fingerling potatoes from lucky's market, as well as half a head of cabbage, and 4 organic braeburn apples.
I hope you see where I'm going with this...
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
You'll need:
2 pounds of potatoes (I used organic fingerlings)
half a head of cabbage (more if you really like cabbage)
a pork tenderloin (Mine was over 3 pounds)
A variety of spices (paprika, salt, pepper, dry mustard, etc.)
3-4 apples (I used braeburn apples)
So I took the pork, put it in a 9x13 pyrex, and put a dry rub on it - I rubbed it lightly in bacon grease, then sprinkled quite a bit of paprika on, a little dry mustard, a good bit of garlic powder, some of my "veggie pepper" blend from frontier, and a lot of salt, and then I sprayed my avocado oil on it to sorta "seal" it in. I let it come to room temp while I prepped other stuff. Cook to at LEAST 145 degrees - I cooked mine to 160. I think it took just over an hour and a half! I can't recall specifically...sorry - I'm terrible at recipes.
I sliced the cabbage and put it UNDER the raw pork roast. I salted it a little too. Don't worry, it'll cook down in the pork juices.
I got the pork in the oven, and started on the potatoes. I used 2 pounds of fingerling potatoes - I just rinsed them and checked for bad spots and took the little sprouts off. I put them in a greased pyrex and just put it in the oven with the roast.
Then I rinsed and sliced my apples. I'm sure any apple would work, I've just heard of braeburn being a typical "pork" apple. So I sliced it into 1/8ths slices, and heated my cast iron skillet up. I smeared a bit of bacon grease in it, and a little refined coconut oil....I put the apples in and caramelized them on each side.
Cook the pork to at LEAST 145 degrees - I cooked mine to 160. I think it took just over an hour and a half! I can't recall specifically...sorry - I'm terrible at recipes.
I served the pork sliced up, with the cabbage, the potatoes, and the apples. We served it with stone ground mustard on the side. My 3 year old loved it! He ate the pork and apples like a champ! I don't remember if I gave him cabbage or not...but his bowl was essentially cleaned out!
It may have been the most "German" meal I have ever made(I didn't even intend it to be that way...it kinda just all came together that way)...but it was loved by all and there was NOTHING about it that screamed "whole30" or "paleo" or anything...it was a delicious, hearty meal and will henceforth be referred to as my German dinner and will be added to our regular menu!
Enjoy!
In health,
Becca H.
P.S. I would have posted pictures, except I forgot to take any, and we devoured it...whooops....maybe next time!
#paleo #whole30 #cleaneating #yummo
I used a 3.5 pound pork tenderloin from BJ's. Their "good nature" brand - antibiotic free, humanely raised, etc.
I had organic fingerling potatoes from lucky's market, as well as half a head of cabbage, and 4 organic braeburn apples.
I hope you see where I'm going with this...
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
You'll need:
2 pounds of potatoes (I used organic fingerlings)
half a head of cabbage (more if you really like cabbage)
a pork tenderloin (Mine was over 3 pounds)
A variety of spices (paprika, salt, pepper, dry mustard, etc.)
3-4 apples (I used braeburn apples)
So I took the pork, put it in a 9x13 pyrex, and put a dry rub on it - I rubbed it lightly in bacon grease, then sprinkled quite a bit of paprika on, a little dry mustard, a good bit of garlic powder, some of my "veggie pepper" blend from frontier, and a lot of salt, and then I sprayed my avocado oil on it to sorta "seal" it in. I let it come to room temp while I prepped other stuff. Cook to at LEAST 145 degrees - I cooked mine to 160. I think it took just over an hour and a half! I can't recall specifically...sorry - I'm terrible at recipes.
I sliced the cabbage and put it UNDER the raw pork roast. I salted it a little too. Don't worry, it'll cook down in the pork juices.
I got the pork in the oven, and started on the potatoes. I used 2 pounds of fingerling potatoes - I just rinsed them and checked for bad spots and took the little sprouts off. I put them in a greased pyrex and just put it in the oven with the roast.
Then I rinsed and sliced my apples. I'm sure any apple would work, I've just heard of braeburn being a typical "pork" apple. So I sliced it into 1/8ths slices, and heated my cast iron skillet up. I smeared a bit of bacon grease in it, and a little refined coconut oil....I put the apples in and caramelized them on each side.
Cook the pork to at LEAST 145 degrees - I cooked mine to 160. I think it took just over an hour and a half! I can't recall specifically...sorry - I'm terrible at recipes.
I served the pork sliced up, with the cabbage, the potatoes, and the apples. We served it with stone ground mustard on the side. My 3 year old loved it! He ate the pork and apples like a champ! I don't remember if I gave him cabbage or not...but his bowl was essentially cleaned out!
It may have been the most "German" meal I have ever made(I didn't even intend it to be that way...it kinda just all came together that way)...but it was loved by all and there was NOTHING about it that screamed "whole30" or "paleo" or anything...it was a delicious, hearty meal and will henceforth be referred to as my German dinner and will be added to our regular menu!
Enjoy!
In health,
Becca H.
P.S. I would have posted pictures, except I forgot to take any, and we devoured it...whooops....maybe next time!
#paleo #whole30 #cleaneating #yummo
Thursday, January 19, 2017
Whole 30 - Whole Meal Plan - week 4 + day 29 and 30...
AHhhhh...week 4...I thought it would take so long to get to this point...but it really hasn't. We've been incredibly busy, I keep cooking, life trucks on....and here we are - looking at the end. Here's links to week 1, week 2, and week 3.
Breakfast:
So for our egg bakes this week - I'm going to make 3(to last us through the last two days PLUS some), just like I made them last week - only more bacon...there definitely wasn't enough bacon in them :-P I also save the bacon grease and it has been awesome for my cast iron!
Lunch:
We've been doing well with our lunch crock pots, tuna, random leftovers...it's been going well...that's still our plan for the upcoming week :)
Dinner:
Monday - verde chicken from week 3. It is super good - easy to make. I use these tomatillos and makes things easier. Once you get it in the crock pot, it is smooth sailing. We also got a LOT of food from one batch, so it'll be on our diets AFTER whole 30...it's healthy and easy and great with cheese and a corn tortilla (so I hear 😜 ).
Tuesday - egg roll in a pan from week 1. This recipe doesn't cease to disappoint - easy, cheap, and yummy. This dish will also stay on my meal plan after Whole30 is done - but we might add some rice noodles in moderation.
Wednesday - We mainly eat leftovers from the weekend on Wednesdays - and I modify something from work for Daniel and I - sometimes it's just a grilled chicken breast with a big salad - but hey, it's food!
Thursday - the paleo beef stew from week 2. It has been staple in our home now...and will stay so! I make a huge batch - gets us through at least two meals, very heartily.
Friday - lemon rosemary chicken from week 1, or perhaps me make my coconut lime chicken I used to make years ago - I marinade the chicken in coconut milk and lime juice and a few crushed red peppers. I grill it on my cast iron and serve with basically anything :-P I might even buy some plantains and roast them up!
Saturday - spaghetti squash with bolognese. I'll probably buy the organic marinara at Aldi and doctor it up with spices and a pound of ground beef. Roast off the spaghetti squash and call it a day!
Sunday - leftovers - Sundays are very busy days for us and we usually have plenty of leftovers after this busy food week.
Monday(day 29) - thai chicken from week 1 or egg roll in a pan...something "asian". I have the ingredients for both. The thai chicken doesn't yield much though, and I will only make it if we have enough leftovers for Tuesday - when I'm at work.
Tuesday(day 30) - we made it...so I want to make something that we will continue to like when we rejoice! The verde chicken is a great recipe for that. I even used some leftovers of this today - I fried up some shredded zucchini and shredded potato in my cast iron and made it a little crispy, and served this over that...it was really good.
Favorite snacks: unsweetened organic toasted coconut flakes 2.48 at Walmart!, apples and coconut oil, and tuna with mustard.
Pros: My energy is so good now - I basically don't need naps - I handle all these meals from scratch much better now, I look forward to cooking at home again! and Samuel is eating all this food like a champ! Meal planning has made my week SO much less stressful...I'll be keeping this habit! My breastmilk supply hasn't diminished, even though I stopped oatmeal. YAY!
Cons: We both still want dairy something fierce...we want sugar - yes, but dairy obviously has a huge strong hold in us.
So going forward - we are optimistic we can finish strong! But we eagerly await Feb 1! I hope we arrive with better self control, better health, and a better relationship with good (especially saccharides!)
I hope this helps you understand Whole30 and helps you in your own health journey, should you choose to take one! 😁
In health,
Becca H.
Breakfast:
So for our egg bakes this week - I'm going to make 3(to last us through the last two days PLUS some), just like I made them last week - only more bacon...there definitely wasn't enough bacon in them :-P I also save the bacon grease and it has been awesome for my cast iron!
Lunch:
We've been doing well with our lunch crock pots, tuna, random leftovers...it's been going well...that's still our plan for the upcoming week :)
Dinner:
Monday - verde chicken from week 3. It is super good - easy to make. I use these tomatillos and makes things easier. Once you get it in the crock pot, it is smooth sailing. We also got a LOT of food from one batch, so it'll be on our diets AFTER whole 30...it's healthy and easy and great with cheese and a corn tortilla (so I hear 😜 ).
Tuesday - egg roll in a pan from week 1. This recipe doesn't cease to disappoint - easy, cheap, and yummy. This dish will also stay on my meal plan after Whole30 is done - but we might add some rice noodles in moderation.
Wednesday - We mainly eat leftovers from the weekend on Wednesdays - and I modify something from work for Daniel and I - sometimes it's just a grilled chicken breast with a big salad - but hey, it's food!
Thursday - the paleo beef stew from week 2. It has been staple in our home now...and will stay so! I make a huge batch - gets us through at least two meals, very heartily.
Friday - lemon rosemary chicken from week 1, or perhaps me make my coconut lime chicken I used to make years ago - I marinade the chicken in coconut milk and lime juice and a few crushed red peppers. I grill it on my cast iron and serve with basically anything :-P I might even buy some plantains and roast them up!
Saturday - spaghetti squash with bolognese. I'll probably buy the organic marinara at Aldi and doctor it up with spices and a pound of ground beef. Roast off the spaghetti squash and call it a day!
Sunday - leftovers - Sundays are very busy days for us and we usually have plenty of leftovers after this busy food week.
Monday(day 29) - thai chicken from week 1 or egg roll in a pan...something "asian". I have the ingredients for both. The thai chicken doesn't yield much though, and I will only make it if we have enough leftovers for Tuesday - when I'm at work.
Tuesday(day 30) - we made it...so I want to make something that we will continue to like when we rejoice! The verde chicken is a great recipe for that. I even used some leftovers of this today - I fried up some shredded zucchini and shredded potato in my cast iron and made it a little crispy, and served this over that...it was really good.
Favorite snacks: unsweetened organic toasted coconut flakes 2.48 at Walmart!, apples and coconut oil, and tuna with mustard.
Pros: My energy is so good now - I basically don't need naps - I handle all these meals from scratch much better now, I look forward to cooking at home again! and Samuel is eating all this food like a champ! Meal planning has made my week SO much less stressful...I'll be keeping this habit! My breastmilk supply hasn't diminished, even though I stopped oatmeal. YAY!
Cons: We both still want dairy something fierce...we want sugar - yes, but dairy obviously has a huge strong hold in us.
So going forward - we are optimistic we can finish strong! But we eagerly await Feb 1! I hope we arrive with better self control, better health, and a better relationship with good (especially saccharides!)
I hope this helps you understand Whole30 and helps you in your own health journey, should you choose to take one! 😁
In health,
Becca H.
Sunday, January 15, 2017
Whole 30 - Whole Meal Plan - week 3
Well, here we are...about to embark on week 3 of the Whole30. I knew we would make it to here, but I didn't know how hard it was going to be this past week. I'll enlighten you later towards the end. Here's my week 2 and week 1 posts.
My meal plan...
Breakfast - we did "egg bakes" and that worked great for us! See week 2 for the recipe! This week, I'm changing it up. Lucky's Market carries an excellent bacon that is Whole30 compliant, so we will be doing bacon as our meat and kale and spinach as our veggie, instead of spaghetti squash - we've had a lot of that in our eggs for the last two weeks and I need a change!
Lunch - we did lettuce wraps today with tuna and mustard...it was pretty tasty, but not enough fat. We also ate a carrot with it. We generally do chicken or tuna salad for our lunches when we don't have leftovers. We have leftovers from dinner last night, which we will eat Monday for lunch...so I am not going to worry about the rest of the week right now. We have been doing well with our leftovers in our baby lunch crock pots on Tues/Wed and even sometimes on Thursdays...
Dinner:
Monday - roasted chicken with zucchini zoodles cooked in chicken broth and ghee.
Tuesday - the paleo beef stew from week 2! It was a hit with Daniel and Samuel and very hearty for my Wednesday work day.
Wednesday - food I'll prepare at work...we'll see what I end up making. Last week was chicken breast with a large salad.
Thursday - I didn't get around to the thai chicken last week...so it's definitely gonna be on for this Thursday! See week 1 for the recipe!
Friday - the roasted lemon chicken and potatoes from week 1!
Saturday - the power protein salads from week 1...possibly the egg roll in a pan...either way, see week 1.
Sunday - it is sort of "play by ear" with church and a variety of other factors...so I'll just make sure I have food on hand, and just see how the day goes.
Favorite snacks: apples dipped in cinnamon coconut oil, nuts, bananas, carrot/celery sticks dipped in dressing or mustard!
Pros: So my body odor is basically gone...I forget to put deodorant on still smell less than I did when I wore deodorant! I am guessing the microbials that produced the odor lived on sugar or the food I was eating caused me to be quite toxic. Either way - no more BO! My energy was great all week - I didn't get a nap the entire week and was fine! I had a horrendously busy week too! And collectively, Daniel and I have lost 25 pounds! It is like weight is just jumping off of both of us! (you aren't supposed to weigh yourself...but I'm doing an incredible amount of shopping and cooking, so I'm DEFINITELY checking my weight and Daniel has a 5 pound per Christmas board game going on right now...so he wants to know what he can open or not...I think that's fine...we are excited by both non-scale victories, just as we are with regular ones. I am fitting back into pre-prego clothes really well now! I'm ten pounds UNDER pre-pregnancy weight and she just turned 2 months!!!!!) Because I am dairy free, I was able to donate breastmilk to a friend who needed it for her baby who has a dairy allergy - such an honor for me.
Cons: The mind games my mind is playing with me...trying to trick me into eating non-compliant food is awful. I stopped my oatmeal too...but I made 22, yes 22, batches of cakes this week and I so desperately wanted just a lick of that sweet goodness...I didn't...but I didn't feel a physical craving, as much as a "mental" craving, if that makes sense. Daniel isn't so much "bored" with the food, as he is just not looking forward to it...he says it's good, but it is not "pleasing" to him in the way that other food used to be....I'm hoping this is just a mental hurdle we both have to work through and we'll get through this. Daniel has not even once cheated on a single bite....never. I'm so freaking proud of him!!! Emilia is very gassy sometimes - probably because I am eating so many veggies. I was thinking her gas BEFORE was from dairy, and I'm now thinking it was really veggies all along. She's incredibly pleasant most of the time, so a little gas is ok....
So here's to a new week, full of more energy and good things ahead! Excited for bacon this week and revisiting some of the meals we enjoyed the last two weeks!
In health,
Becca H.
My meal plan...
Breakfast - we did "egg bakes" and that worked great for us! See week 2 for the recipe! This week, I'm changing it up. Lucky's Market carries an excellent bacon that is Whole30 compliant, so we will be doing bacon as our meat and kale and spinach as our veggie, instead of spaghetti squash - we've had a lot of that in our eggs for the last two weeks and I need a change!
Lunch - we did lettuce wraps today with tuna and mustard...it was pretty tasty, but not enough fat. We also ate a carrot with it. We generally do chicken or tuna salad for our lunches when we don't have leftovers. We have leftovers from dinner last night, which we will eat Monday for lunch...so I am not going to worry about the rest of the week right now. We have been doing well with our leftovers in our baby lunch crock pots on Tues/Wed and even sometimes on Thursdays...
Dinner:
Monday - roasted chicken with zucchini zoodles cooked in chicken broth and ghee.
Tuesday - the paleo beef stew from week 2! It was a hit with Daniel and Samuel and very hearty for my Wednesday work day.
Wednesday - food I'll prepare at work...we'll see what I end up making. Last week was chicken breast with a large salad.
Thursday - I didn't get around to the thai chicken last week...so it's definitely gonna be on for this Thursday! See week 1 for the recipe!
Friday - the roasted lemon chicken and potatoes from week 1!
Saturday - the power protein salads from week 1...possibly the egg roll in a pan...either way, see week 1.
Sunday - it is sort of "play by ear" with church and a variety of other factors...so I'll just make sure I have food on hand, and just see how the day goes.
Favorite snacks: apples dipped in cinnamon coconut oil, nuts, bananas, carrot/celery sticks dipped in dressing or mustard!
Pros: So my body odor is basically gone...I forget to put deodorant on still smell less than I did when I wore deodorant! I am guessing the microbials that produced the odor lived on sugar or the food I was eating caused me to be quite toxic. Either way - no more BO! My energy was great all week - I didn't get a nap the entire week and was fine! I had a horrendously busy week too! And collectively, Daniel and I have lost 25 pounds! It is like weight is just jumping off of both of us! (you aren't supposed to weigh yourself...but I'm doing an incredible amount of shopping and cooking, so I'm DEFINITELY checking my weight and Daniel has a 5 pound per Christmas board game going on right now...so he wants to know what he can open or not...I think that's fine...we are excited by both non-scale victories, just as we are with regular ones. I am fitting back into pre-prego clothes really well now! I'm ten pounds UNDER pre-pregnancy weight and she just turned 2 months!!!!!) Because I am dairy free, I was able to donate breastmilk to a friend who needed it for her baby who has a dairy allergy - such an honor for me.
Cons: The mind games my mind is playing with me...trying to trick me into eating non-compliant food is awful. I stopped my oatmeal too...but I made 22, yes 22, batches of cakes this week and I so desperately wanted just a lick of that sweet goodness...I didn't...but I didn't feel a physical craving, as much as a "mental" craving, if that makes sense. Daniel isn't so much "bored" with the food, as he is just not looking forward to it...he says it's good, but it is not "pleasing" to him in the way that other food used to be....I'm hoping this is just a mental hurdle we both have to work through and we'll get through this. Daniel has not even once cheated on a single bite....never. I'm so freaking proud of him!!! Emilia is very gassy sometimes - probably because I am eating so many veggies. I was thinking her gas BEFORE was from dairy, and I'm now thinking it was really veggies all along. She's incredibly pleasant most of the time, so a little gas is ok....
So here's to a new week, full of more energy and good things ahead! Excited for bacon this week and revisiting some of the meals we enjoyed the last two weeks!
In health,
Becca H.
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Whole 30 - Whole Meal Plan - week 2
It's day six as I type this... my breakfast for next week is in the oven, and my meal plan is rolling around my head. Here's last week's blog as a reference.
The breakfast cups I did last week were both time consuming and only okay. This week, I did two egg bakes.
Breakfast:
2 spaghetti squash
2.5 pounds compliant sausage
3 peppers
1/2 an onion, or as much as you like.
36 eggs
2 9x13 pyrex pans
oil, salt and pepper for drizzling.
I prepped two spaghetti squash and started baking them (cut in half, lengthwise, put in pan with a little oil and s&p - bake skin side up, at 375 for about 45-55 minutes, until skin breaks when pushed with a little effort) I bought a 5# pack of Botto spicy sausage at BJ's. I froze two, 1.25 lb packages, and cooked the other two while the squash was cooking.. I removed the casing and seared the sausage off in my cast iron skillet with 3 small, sweet peppers and some onions. I cooked it all down till there was almost no liquid left in the pan. Separate it out into 2 9x13 pyrex pans. Crack 18 eggs into a bowl and whisk them. The squash came out not long after I finished that (I'm also chasing a toddler and nursing a baby during this time). I shredded the squash and treated it like my "cheese". I put it on top of the sausage in the 2 pans evenly. Then I poured the 18 eggs over one pan. You might have to sorta convince the eggs to cover everything. Do the same with the second pan and 18 more eggs. Bake at 375 for about 30-40 minutes. (just leave the oven on from when you had the squash in)
The end result:
So, that's done - I'll cut them into 14 slices per pan, and assume 2 slices per person, per day = 7 days of breakfast. They look great and the cuts came out nicely and I tasted a bit and YUMMO!
Lunch:
The fiesta chicken salad was great that we made last week. Will be making that again. We also ate a lot of tuna salad. I made my own mayo (super easy - one cup of light oil, 1 egg, 1/2 a lemon juiced, 1/2 tsp acv, 1/2 tsp sea salt, and 1/2 tsp dried mustard - put in a container and mix with immersion blender)
The tuna salad had half a green pepper, one other smaller pepper of choice, two cans of tuna, and enough mayo to keep it all together. I added paprika and onion flakes also. Served it with celery and carrot sticks. Yum! Works as a great snack also!
Dinner last week was mostly success. All the things we made were good. They were. But after 2 days of soup for dinner and leftovers of soup for lunch, we were pretty souped out. This week, we will have some other stews and I'm just planning on Wednesday being leftovers.
Dinner:
Monday - we will have the chicken tikka masala from last week's Wednesday. It never got made, because I was working and stupid and forgot to give Daniel the instructions to prepare it. So he ate leftovers and I ate at work - a chicken breast and salad. I froze the chicken tikka and will cook it Monday.
Tuesday - paleo beef stew - I will omit the red wine and do extra broth, since we aren't even supposed to cook with wine, to my knowledge, on Whole30.
Wednesday - we will have plenty of leftovers from Monday and Tuesday.
Thursday - I did the thai chicken last week and it was uh.maze.ing. I adjusted it a little, to our tastes. Here's my take.
Friday - we did the chicken and potatoes for our game night yesterday! It was a hit! This week, we will be doing a chicken version of these carnitas! I'm catering a banquet that night, so I wanted something easy my husband and his friends could easily work out.
Saturday - egg roll in a pan again. I have leftover cabbage from this week's dinner. I added a smidge of sesame oil to the sauce, as well as sesame seeds to the final dish as garnish. I also put a few tablespoons of refined coconut oil in the pan while it cooked, to up the fat content to make it more Whole 30 friendly.
Sunday - paleo power bowl again.
We will keep tuna and chicken salad options on hand as both snacks and lunches. Celery, carrots, apples, bananas, and nut packs are at our disposal as well.
Struggles:
We seriously wanted pretzels/rice/grains on again, off again.
Daniel craved ice cream and sweets something fierce!
We both had slumps in energy, grumpy/moody sometimes, etc...but, now, on day 6, we seem to be on the tail end of that.
THE COST - good Lord, it is expensive to eat like this. We are eating MOSTLY plant based foods here, and it is NOT cheap. We are spending about 200 per week in groceries right now...no bueno...it's worth it...but seriously, no bueno. You know what's cheap - grains...dairy...beans - stuff not allowed. The snack I love is pretzels dipped in cream cheese...and now I eat macadamia nuts instead....it's FAR more costly to eat nutrient dense like this...but the benefits come basically right away...
Benefits:
Much more clear headed (for me anyways).
Not hungry throughout the day - I eat a hearty breakfast, solid lunch, a great dinner and feel full most of the day!
Weight loss - you are not supposed to weigh yourself on this diet...just let your body be for 30 days. Well, Daniel has certain weight loss goals tied in with opening new Christmas presents he got - board/video games. So he's been weighing himself...and I thought, well, if he is, I AM TOO! So we've collectively lost 15 pounds in 6 days - while not being hungry, not exercising, and not restricting fats.
So far, I'm nothing but happy with this diet, except the cost of it. I'm excited to see how week 2 goes!
In health,
Becca H.
The breakfast cups I did last week were both time consuming and only okay. This week, I did two egg bakes.
Breakfast:
2 spaghetti squash
2.5 pounds compliant sausage
3 peppers
1/2 an onion, or as much as you like.
36 eggs
2 9x13 pyrex pans
oil, salt and pepper for drizzling.
I prepped two spaghetti squash and started baking them (cut in half, lengthwise, put in pan with a little oil and s&p - bake skin side up, at 375 for about 45-55 minutes, until skin breaks when pushed with a little effort) I bought a 5# pack of Botto spicy sausage at BJ's. I froze two, 1.25 lb packages, and cooked the other two while the squash was cooking.. I removed the casing and seared the sausage off in my cast iron skillet with 3 small, sweet peppers and some onions. I cooked it all down till there was almost no liquid left in the pan. Separate it out into 2 9x13 pyrex pans. Crack 18 eggs into a bowl and whisk them. The squash came out not long after I finished that (I'm also chasing a toddler and nursing a baby during this time). I shredded the squash and treated it like my "cheese". I put it on top of the sausage in the 2 pans evenly. Then I poured the 18 eggs over one pan. You might have to sorta convince the eggs to cover everything. Do the same with the second pan and 18 more eggs. Bake at 375 for about 30-40 minutes. (just leave the oven on from when you had the squash in)
The end result:
So, that's done - I'll cut them into 14 slices per pan, and assume 2 slices per person, per day = 7 days of breakfast. They look great and the cuts came out nicely and I tasted a bit and YUMMO!
Lunch:
The fiesta chicken salad was great that we made last week. Will be making that again. We also ate a lot of tuna salad. I made my own mayo (super easy - one cup of light oil, 1 egg, 1/2 a lemon juiced, 1/2 tsp acv, 1/2 tsp sea salt, and 1/2 tsp dried mustard - put in a container and mix with immersion blender)
The tuna salad had half a green pepper, one other smaller pepper of choice, two cans of tuna, and enough mayo to keep it all together. I added paprika and onion flakes also. Served it with celery and carrot sticks. Yum! Works as a great snack also!
Dinner last week was mostly success. All the things we made were good. They were. But after 2 days of soup for dinner and leftovers of soup for lunch, we were pretty souped out. This week, we will have some other stews and I'm just planning on Wednesday being leftovers.
Dinner:
Monday - we will have the chicken tikka masala from last week's Wednesday. It never got made, because I was working and stupid and forgot to give Daniel the instructions to prepare it. So he ate leftovers and I ate at work - a chicken breast and salad. I froze the chicken tikka and will cook it Monday.
Tuesday - paleo beef stew - I will omit the red wine and do extra broth, since we aren't even supposed to cook with wine, to my knowledge, on Whole30.
Wednesday - we will have plenty of leftovers from Monday and Tuesday.
Thursday - I did the thai chicken last week and it was uh.maze.ing. I adjusted it a little, to our tastes. Here's my take.
Friday - we did the chicken and potatoes for our game night yesterday! It was a hit! This week, we will be doing a chicken version of these carnitas! I'm catering a banquet that night, so I wanted something easy my husband and his friends could easily work out.
Saturday - egg roll in a pan again. I have leftover cabbage from this week's dinner. I added a smidge of sesame oil to the sauce, as well as sesame seeds to the final dish as garnish. I also put a few tablespoons of refined coconut oil in the pan while it cooked, to up the fat content to make it more Whole 30 friendly.
Sunday - paleo power bowl again.
We will keep tuna and chicken salad options on hand as both snacks and lunches. Celery, carrots, apples, bananas, and nut packs are at our disposal as well.
Struggles:
We seriously wanted pretzels/rice/grains on again, off again.
Daniel craved ice cream and sweets something fierce!
We both had slumps in energy, grumpy/moody sometimes, etc...but, now, on day 6, we seem to be on the tail end of that.
THE COST - good Lord, it is expensive to eat like this. We are eating MOSTLY plant based foods here, and it is NOT cheap. We are spending about 200 per week in groceries right now...no bueno...it's worth it...but seriously, no bueno. You know what's cheap - grains...dairy...beans - stuff not allowed. The snack I love is pretzels dipped in cream cheese...and now I eat macadamia nuts instead....it's FAR more costly to eat nutrient dense like this...but the benefits come basically right away...
Benefits:
Much more clear headed (for me anyways).
Not hungry throughout the day - I eat a hearty breakfast, solid lunch, a great dinner and feel full most of the day!
Weight loss - you are not supposed to weigh yourself on this diet...just let your body be for 30 days. Well, Daniel has certain weight loss goals tied in with opening new Christmas presents he got - board/video games. So he's been weighing himself...and I thought, well, if he is, I AM TOO! So we've collectively lost 15 pounds in 6 days - while not being hungry, not exercising, and not restricting fats.
So far, I'm nothing but happy with this diet, except the cost of it. I'm excited to see how week 2 goes!
In health,
Becca H.
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Modified spicy "peanut" thai chicken
THAI CHICKEN WITH SPICY "PEANUT" SAUCE
PREP TIME
COOK TIME
TOTAL TIME
Author: Tiffany from Wholefork.com - adapted from this blog.
Serves: 3-4 servings
INGREDIENTS
- 1 date
- water
- 1 garlic clove, pressed
- 1/2 T fresh ginger, finely grated
- ¼ C sunflower butter
- Juice of ½ lime(or lemon)
- 4 T coconut aminos
- 1 T sesame oil
- ⅛ tsp salt
- red pepper flakes
- 4 T olive oil
- 1 lb. chicken tenders
- salt
- pepper
- 3 medium zucchinis, spiralized
- 1/2 pound of mushrooms, sliced thin
- 2 sweet peppers, thinly sliced
- sesame seeds
- cilantro, chopped
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put date in a small cup and add enough water to complete cover date. Microwave on high for 1 minute and allow to soak until date is needed later.
- In a small bowl whisk together garlic, ginger, sunflower butter, lime juice, coconut aminos, sesame oil, and salt.
- Remove date from water. Cut pit out of date and discard. With a fork smash date until it turns into a paste. Whisk date paste with the rest of the "peanut" sauce.
- Add a dash of red pepper flakes to sauce, enough to add as much heat as preferred.
- In a skillet warm 2 T of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken tenders and saute on each side for 3-4 minutes or until cooked thoroughly. Remove chicken from skillet and set aside to rest and cool.
- In the same skillet add the remaining 2 T of olive oil. Toss zucchini, carrot shreds and sweet peppers in the oil. Stir constantly with tongs and allow to cook for 2 minutes, just long enough to warm the vegetables thoroughly and slightly soften.
- Dice chicken and toss with the veggie noodles. Stir in the sauce just before serving.
- Garnish with sesame seeds and cilantro
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