Days 10-12 of the Whole30!

Well things keep on getting more and more delicious! Thank goodness, right??

On Monday we had mini burgers (beef, egg, seasonings) with a fried egg and mustard on top, wrapped in lettuce. So so good.



Yesterday was our anniversary (3 years! best ever!) and we wanted something extra delicious....so we did a crab boil!
Crab, shrimp, potatoes... heaven.



Tonight we did beef-stuffed bell peppers (last week was a lot of chicken, this week is beef... I buy and cook in bulk these days haha)



aaaand my new favorite breakfast/treat:
sweet potatoes, coconut, pineapple, and cinnamon.
I could seriously eat this all day.




Sweet potato deliciousness:
-Nuke some sweet potatoes for 5 minutes, allow to cool
-peel them and chop them into chunks
-sprinkle with ghee, cinnamon, and coconut flakes
-top with pineapple rings
-cover with foil, bake at 350 for 25ish minutes, die of happiness

Coconut Shrimp! Days 7-9 of the Whole30

9 days in! Whoo hoo!!

First thing's first: The most delicious, Whole30 compliant coconut shrimp.
Yes, yes, and yes.

We could eat this every day. I got the recipe here.



Coconut Shrimp with Piña Colada Dipping Sauce,
• 1 lb peeled & deveined shrimp, rinsed and DRY (the bigger the better)
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Coconut oil, to fry
• 1/4 cup coconut cream
• 1/2 cup crushed pineapple
Mix together coconut cream and pineapple until you get a smooth sauce. Refrigerate for one hour, or while the shrimp cookSet up a dredging station with your flour, eggs and shredded coconut in separate containers. Dip the shrimp in the flour, then in the egg, and then in the shredded coconut. Set on a plate until you’ve finished all of them. Once they’re all coated, heat up a couple tablespoons of coconut oil. Add shrimp a few at a time and flip when the tails turn pink. The shrimp should be golden brown. Cook for another minute or so and serve with sauce.



not the best picture, but it smelled too good to wait. and it didn't disappoint.




In other news, yesterday was the Harry Potter 5k! Always a good time!

Bellatrix Lestrange... if she spent more time in the sun and took up running.



I also hit up the farm store for chicken bones (because bone broth is my new favorite thing), went on a bike ride with some friends up in Park City, and went to a beautiful wedding (where we couldn't eat anything haha)! A great day overall.


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So, confession, I almost quit the Whole30 today. I've been feeling super sick and puking my guts up, and I just about threw in the towel. I reallllllly wanted saltine crackers and ginger ale. Really really badly. Luckily I was too sick to get up from the couch to get some, and after several hours, I decided not to call it quits. But just barely.

Oh well, 21 days to go! :) :)

Whole 30: Days 5 & 6

Welp. I think I survived the hardest trial of the 30 days and came out on top…. So I’m golden from here on out, right??? :)

Today, I (1) went to Costco and (2) handled white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies (arranging them on a plate as a gift) without so much as a single taste.

I never knew I had it in me. Seriously haha.

In other news, a new favorite breakfast addition: sweet potato! I did this one in the microwave because I’m already burned out on cooking, but I just nuked it for 5 mins, flipped, repeated, peeled, chopped, and added ghee (clarified butter), cinnamon, and unsweetened coconut flakes. Soooo delicious.




Also, I usually make this as pasta, but I just left out the pasta part (recipe at the bottom). Yum, yum, and yum.




So far I think I'll live. It's definitely a sacrifice - treats get brought to work, Costco ladies offer you free cheesecake, you reaalllllyyyy want caffeine after waking up at 3:45 am for work - but I keep telling myself that my health is worth it :)




Pasta-less deliciousness (or sausage in spicy, fresh tomato sauce):
Ingredients:
-1 pkg compliant sausage (got mine at Whole Foods)
-grape tomatoes, halved
-a few cloves of garlic, minced
-onion, sliced or chopped
-fresh basil, torn
-salt, pepper, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes
-olive oil
-like ½ cup water

Directions:
Cook sausage until about halfway done, add the rest of the ingredients to the pot, cook until done.

My recipes are so fancy, I know.

Whole30: Days 2-4

Well, 4 days down.

In a lot of ways, it hasn't been as difficult as I expected: the hardest part (for me) of the Whole30 is saying no to things that are right in front of my face. At home, we got rid of most everything that isn't compliant, but in other places, people show up with WHOLE PIES. Jerks. :)



I try to be super-over-prepared, since I know that I make all my bad decisions when I'm hungry. So I cooked up some bone broth, bought and chopped a ton of veggies, cooked up a bunch of chicken in the crock pot and shredded it, and made sure we had tons of stuff we could just grab (like dried fruit, nuts, almond butter, etc. for snacks plus lots of meat, eggs, and produce in the fridge and freezer). I also pre-make salads (with leafy greens on top to prevent sogginess) that are ready to eat whenever. It's been sooooo nice, not having to spend a ton of time cooking each day (because helloooo ms. hangry!!). Hopefully I can stay on top of that each week.

For breakfasts I've been sticking to omelets or just finding stuff around the kitchen (this morning was a hard boiled egg, celery with almond butter, applesauce, and a mug of bone broth).

For lunches, I generally do salads or soups (chicken and vegetables in that broth) with various sides, and dinners I've been cooking at home.

Sunday, we did some superrrr delicious lemon salmon (recipe at the bottom) and had leftovers the next day.

On Monday we did steak (my husband about lost it when he found out his steak seasonings had sugar and he couldn't use them).

And tonight we did tuna salad (recipe at the bottom) inside of mini peppers.

We pretty much always have lots of raw vegetables as sides, plus whatever else we feel like adding. Tonight it was this concoction that looks disgusting but tastes delicious: sliced banana, unsweetened coconut flakes, and almond butter. So so good.

We've honestly enjoyed everything enough so far that we don't really feel like we're missing out. Except that dang pie. Sigh.

:)






Lemon Salmon:
You'll need:
1 salmon filet
olive oil (mine is lemon infused but you don't need it)
juice from 1/2 lemon (or to taste)
salt, pepper, dried parsley, oregano, Italian seasoning

Directions:
rinse the salmon, pat dry
drizzle olive oil in a glass baking pan, put the salmon on top
drizzle more oil on top, squeeze juice over the whole thing, add seasonings
cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35ish mins (depending on size)
you can make this more delicious by baking ultra thin lemon slices on top of the salmon




Tuna Salad Stuffed Mini Bell Peppers:
this is my version of this recipe:
You'll need:
mini bell peppers, seeded and cut in half
1 can of compliant tuna, drained
olive oil
1 hard-boiled egg, roughly chopped
1 tbsp green onions, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
mix everything but peppers and scoop it into the hollowed bells. Eat and be happy.

Delicious Honeyed Peaches

Ok. Want something super easy and so so delicious?

Take a peach. Cut it in half and ditch the pit.

Score the top with a knife (just random slashes are fine) and drizzle with a little honey.

Pop em in the oven, broil for a few minutes, and eat!

You can also add cinnamon and/or nutmeg.

Seriously yummmmmmmm :)

Another super delicious smoothie!

Yeah, yeah, I'm obsessed. Worth it.

This one is so deliciously fruity and magical. Loving it!



Blend together:
-frozen strawberries
-frozen peaches (are you noticing that I don't measure?)
-1 banana
-1 container strawberry greek yogurt
-a few spoonfuls of coconut milk
-chia seeds
-pineapple juice and coconut water to texture

Dying of tropical happiness.

Peach, Strawberry, and Coconut Smoothie

Summer is (mostly) here, and you know what that means....

Smoothies!

I love me some smoothies. Mmm mmm mmm. I whip em up, drink em till I die from happiness, and freeze the rest. It's a perfect system. And so so easy.

I came up with this one the other day, and it was too good not to share.

-frozen peaches (probably 1.5 cups)
-frozen strawberries (same)
-handful spinach leaves
-a few Tbs of chia seeds
-a few spoonfuls of coconut milk
-coconut water to get the right consistency
-(I also added peach protein, but it would be perfectly delicious without it)



I pretty much just blend until there are no more chunks. Then I pour myself a cup and portion the rest into mini mason jars. I freeze them and stick them in my lunch box to take to work. About halfway through the day, they are no longer frozen solid - so I drink them straight from the jar! It's like a gift that keeps on giving! :)



Do you have a favorite healthy smoothie recipe? I love getting so many nutrients in a delicious dessert-like form!

Breakfast that's easy, healthy, and delicious - overnight oats

So I love meal prep. I take my breakfast and lunch to work every day (I work early hours) and there's no way it's getting made at 4 in the morning. So usually on Sundays, I take a little time to prepare things I can throw together during the week. I'll write more about the whole process some other time, but today I'm sharing my go-to breakfast: overnight oats.



It's super simple. I take steel-cut oats, chia seeds (I get both at Trader Joe's), and mason jars of whatever size, and I prepare a few jars for the week. I use 1/4 c oats and 1 T chia seeds per jar. I pour em in, give em a shake, and throw em in the pantry.



Then, the night before I actually want to eat them, I take one of the jars and pour in some vanilla almond milk (although I'm sure you could use any variation of it that you'd like) and top it off with some fruit. I'm on a blackberry kick at the moment, but I also use fresh or frozen peaches, mangoes, strawberries, blueberries, pears, bananas, raspberries, or any combination thereof. I usually use whatever fresh fruit I have on hand, and I always keep some frozen in case it sounds better that day. I let it sit overnight and throw it in my lunchbox the next morning... and then enjoy at my leisure!



Might not look glamorous but it sure is delicious!

And easy. I love easy.

Oat-Chocolate-Peanut Butter Energy Bites

I guess you could call them that. What they really are is delicious balls full of every delicious thing that combine into deliciousness in your mouth. I guess they are like a healthier version of no bake cookies?

Whatever they are, they taste fantastic (just ask the anonymous voters at my work's healthy potluck today). I got the idea here and modified it to this:

-1.5 c oats
-3/4 c coconut flakes
-1/2 c peanut butter
-1/3 c honey
-1 t vanilla
-1 T chia seeds
-dark chocolate chips

Mash em all together and roll em into balls. I refrigerate, and then enjoy!

Welp, now I'm craving these, off to stuff my face!

Honey/Lime Fruit Salad with Quinoa

Ok, let’s talk about this to-die-for fruit salad. Think delicious summer fruit and a honey/lime/mint sauce. Yes. It’s a real thing. And it’s divine.

I got the inspiration on Pinterest and modified it a little to suit my own tastes. And now I’m sharing it with you.

I basically took some delicious fruit (mangoes, blackberries, and strawberries), threw in some (already cooked) quinoa, and tossed it in the sauce (mix equal parts honey and lime juice and throw in a couple of chopped up fresh mint leaves)… and won over everyone who ever tasted it.

If only everything so heavenly was so simple.

So in review:
-Chop up mangoes, slice strawberries, don’t do anything to blackberries
-Cook probably 1/3 cup quinoa in 2/3 cup water, let it cool
-Whisk about 3T honey and 3T lime juice, add in chopped up mint leaves
-Toss all ingredients together and die of happiness

Happy Eating!

A Breakfast Recipe

Ok, I tried to avoid the quinoa phase. I really did. Even though I was tempted by it's cute little shape and high protein content, I hate that every few months there is some new "superfood" that pretty much claims that, if you eat it everyday, you will never die becuase it will make you so crazy healthy. Yeah. So, I said "no" to quinoa for quite some time.

But then it presented itself as a breakfast food. Man, I sure do love breakfast. So I yielded.

Boy, I'm glad I did.

This is like oatmeal on delicious delicious steriods. It's got all the best flavors - almonds and raspberries and brown sugar and cranberries... I mean, how was I supposed to resist? (I wasn't.)

So here you go, my new favorite breakfast recipe:

1 cup dried quinoa (pre-rinsed or rinse it yourself)
2 cups water
1/3 cup milk
brown sugar, to taste
dried cranberries
toasted almonds, slivered
fresh raspberries

So basically you boil the quinoa in the water until there's no more water, then stir in the milk and however much brown sugar you need, then dump on cranberries, almonds, and raspberries to your heart's desire (I probably used a half cup of each)... then you eat and die of happiness.

Simple, delicious, healthy, and happy.... and did I mention delicious????