Eggs w Kale and Chicken Sausage

An easy breakfast-

Melt coconut oil in pan
Add rinsed kale to pan
Stir as kale cooks
Chop GF/ sugar free sausage and add to kale
Whisk eggs
Add eggs to kale & sausage once it's wilted and browned, respectively

Cook eggs the rest of the way and enjoy!

Whole30 Compliant Beef Stew/ Soup

Beef Stew / Soup

2 pkgs grassfed stew beef (cut into smaller cubes)
1 rutabaga, cubed
4-5 carrots, peeled and chopped
lot of kale
1 onion, chopped
GF/ Sugar Free Beef Broth (enough to cover 3/4 the way)
Water to cover the rest of the way
Bay leaves
Oregano
Tarragon
S&P

Not the most exciting recipe, but it was really good on a colllld day like we had been having here. I cooked on high in the crockpot for 4 hours, but wouldn't recommend that method as the veggies weren't very soft. I then transferred to a pot on the stove and simmered for 35-45 mins. I would recommend simmering on low for a few hours for best results. This also helped the liquid reduce to leave a nice broth with the soup.  Since flour/cornstarch are not Whole30 compliant, it was a little more soupy than stewy...but you could certainly food process some of the rutabaga or some sweet potato/butternut squash to make it thicker and more stew-like :)

I brought this for leftovers to work today, and the broth all spilled out in my bag :( So, I have beef stew minus broth for lunch. + An avocado and half a sweet potato. Should work!

Photo, with broth:

Whole30 Day 27 - Paleo Stuffed Peppers & Breakfast

So here I am at Day 27!  I feel really great and am pretty used to the "rules" of the game at this point.  I have finished reading "It Starts With Food", the foundation for the Whole30 and really enjoyed the book.  There is a lot of science to back the reasoning behind it, which is important to me.  I have started to re-read the deeper sciencey sections to have a clearer understanding :)

I plan to stick with the principles I have learned for the most part - I am feeling really great as a result of eating this way.  I don't think I will add dairy back in on a regular basis or gluten.  Definitely enjoying no processed foods - it is challenging to eat NONE whatsoever, but totally do-able.

I am more than ready for a cocktail, though!!  Bring on February 1st!

Paleo Stuffed Peppers

Made these last night, following the basic template from this blog and previous experience.  I had made these before but the peppers weren't cooked enough, so I made sure to pre-cook them this time.

Ingredients -

5-6 bell peppers

1 lb natural hot pork sausage

1 lb grassfed beef

1/2 large head cauliflower

8 oz baby bella mushrooms

1 medium onion

4-5 cloves garlic

1/2 jar strained tomatoes

Dried oregano

Dried parsley

Red Pepper Flakes (we like a lot!)

Salt & Pepper

First cook the sausage.  Use a little coconut oil/ water if needed to ensure it doesn't stick.

While sausage is cooking, rice (raw) cauli in food processor to form rice-ish-size pieces.  Transfer to separate bowl.

Once sausage is cooked, cut into small pieces and cook beef (same pan).  

Preheat oven to 400

Chop garlic and onion in food processor, move to bowl with cauli.

Slice baby bellas - I used top attachment on processor since it was already dirty.

Once all meats are cooked, transfer garlic/ onion/ cauli/ mushrooms to same pan to brown.  Add little coconut (or olive) oil if needed.  Brown veggies, add spices.

Cut centers of bell peppers out so they are stuff-able.  Put a little oil in the bottom of pan you will be using and place pepers bottom-up - cook for ~10 - 15 mins.

Add tomato paste and strained (or sugar free natural sauce if you don't have).

Mix all components together.

Stuff the peppers!  Turn heat down to 375 and bake 30 - 45 mins.

Breakfast

There was some leftover stuffing that didn't fit in our peppers - so I sauteed it this AM with some kale in coconut oil, then added a few eggs.  YUM!

Whole30 - Day 20

I can't believe it's been 20 days!  I feel really good.  It's definitely a challenge keeping food in the house since I have been supplying 100% of our meals.  It's noticeable to me that I sleep better, wake more easily and don't really seem to get tired during the day.  I have felt fine energy-wise with my workouts as long as I make sure to eat something before (usually 1/2 a sweet potato) especially if I'm teaching the class.
I have been completely compliant short of having a sauteed banana with unsweetened coconut for dessert a couple times.  Not too bad.  No alcohol.  That's a bit of a challenge but I survived a party and it was definitely easier than I expected!

Some recent meals that are worth remembering -

Sauteed haddock - marinated first in a little lime juice and garlic (30 mins?) and s&p.  Served with cabbage and onions and asparagus.

The homemade bacon came out AMAZING.  I didn't  use the "pink salt" (sodium nitrite) because I read it wasn't necessary...so why bother adding it!  I followed this basic recipe (minus sugar, fennel, caraway) and left in fridge for 5 days before cooking as in the recipe.

Delish breakfast with homemade bacon, eggs, and leftover sweet potato fries.

Easy basic chicken thighs/ tomato/ avocado/ salsa salad

The pups begging for food

Wild Salmon marinated in dijon, garlic, lime, apple cider vinegar and cayenne - served with sauteed kale

Coconut shrimp!  So good.  Chris followed this recipe - served with sauteed sugar snap peas and an Asian broccoli slaw.  Topped with some mango salsa :)

And tonight's meal-

I cooked a pork shoulder from our favorite farm, Blue Jingler, following this basic recipe/spice mix and using the crock pot.   The pork cooked for 10 hours and fell right off the bone...minimal shredding needed.  I served with mashed rutabaga - something I had never made (or even eaten) before.  We were both big fans!  I used some vegetable broth to moisten when mashing.   Excited to have a new starchy side other than sweet potato and winter squashes.  Also served with sauteed kale.

Chicken Sausage, Peppers and Onion with Zucchini "Pasta"

I got this spiral vegetable cutter for Christmas and finally broke it out of the box...

It works really well, highly recommend!  The blades are super sharp and there are suction cups on the bottom to hold it in place while you push the vegg towards the blades.  Can't wait to make some sweet potato fries with it.

I first cooked some chicken sausage and cut it up, then chopped onions, tomato, peppers, fresh parsley, and garlic and sauteed.

Boiled the zucchini noodles for ~3 minutes while the rest simmered-

 Added some all natural no sugar added sauce to the mix as well as a bunch of crushed red pepper, and combined:

Closest thing to pasta we will have!  Really good and veggie-packed dinner :)

Day 9!

Feeling good on Day 9 of the Whole30.  I received the book in the mail, "It Starts With Food", written by the creators of the program and started reading...  It all makes a lot of sense.  I am having some carb (cookie, specifically) cravings, but I'm going to have Chris take those to work and that should be done with it.  He ate leftover ice cream cake last night, and I was pretty ok with it (Being on a different couch).  I think I may have lost a couple pounds, but I am waiting until the end of the month to approach the scale...

This AM made a delish breakfast - avocado egg nests... Doesn't work as great as in all the recipes online... the egg fell out a few times and ran all over until I scooped out some xtra avocado and had it sitting on the perfect angle. Served with some fresh hot salsa and cilantro and black coffee of course.

Backsplash

We have been indecisive on the backsplash in the kitchen (STILL) and also don't want to dish out the cash right now for the pricey tile that we sort of like.  We have a New Years Party this year and the lack of a finished backsplash burnt my eyes when I saw the pictures:

A little over dramatic, maybe.  But the rest of the kitchen looked so nice!

So of course I got on Pinterest and searched for ideas.  We decided on a gray tinted chalkboard paint not only for the fun chalkboard use but for the natural slate look that it provides.  It was so easy to do I don't know why I waited a year to finally do something with the area.

BEFORE: 

AFTER: