Whole30 recipes we genuinely like.

  When Justin and I did Whole30 almost 3 years ago, hardly anyone we knew had heard of it. We found a decent amount of info and recipes on the internet, but nothing even close to what you can find today. That's a good thing! Justin is in the middle of doing another round and it seems a ton easier this time- maybe because it's not so foreign. But also because we have found a good handful of recipes we truly like.

  Justin did Whole30 again last month and, while he was the only technically following it, our entire family has begun to eat compliant suppers at night. This simplifies meal planning and we're not having to make lots of different meals every day. Honestly, its been fun to look for and try new/challenging recipes again. By now we've discovered some we love and will keep using even after Whole30. So whether you want to try the 30 day lifestyle change (it really is worth it for a month- you'll feel amazing and find lots of new foods/meals you love) or you just like new, healthier recipes- here are some we genuinely like and make often!

Chipotle Ranch chicken: This one is fast and SO yummy. I sub real ranch for homemade Whole30 ranch (you can google and find a dozen simple recipes to make your own) and use chipotle chiles or compliant adobo sauce if I can find it.

Creamy sundried tomato chicken: This is just really, really good. You'd never know it doesn't have any dairy! Justin loves to shred up the chicken and eat it in Paleo naan (recipe below).

Spicy meat sauce: Great over pasta or zoodles or even a baked potato.

naan: You can't ever really replace actual breads, but this is a great substitute! We use them as tortillas.

mexican breakfast casserole: I don't love breakfast casseroles (probably because I'm not a huge egg or sausage fan), but Justin and the boys like this a lot! Justin wants me to note that he thinks it would be even better with white potatoes instead of sweet.

See our other Whole30 favs here.

ps. If you didn't see it, I have a little survey on yesterday's post I'd love for you to take!

Whole30. {week 2, round 2}

 Ugh. Whole30. Perhaps I shouldn't claim to be doing it anymore? I absolutely ate a Combat bar and some animal crackers over the weekend when I was just starving and had been cluster feeding Tyler all night and did not want to eat another carrot or go through the trouble of making something compliant to eat. {I know, I got crazy. I should have had a brownie!} I just don't have the motivation to stick with it this time around {coupled with being at the peak of nursing}. So I'm really only sort of doing it. That's the update for this week! I'm sticking with it for meals and most snacks, but I'm giving myself lots of grace and wiggle room. So I'm probably only doing it about 90%. Maybe a bit more? 

  Anyways, we're not doing anything crazy creative with out menu this week {it's basically the same as last week}. BUT! I have to share my absolutely favorite Whole30 recipe. Scratch that, its one of my favorite recipes in general. IT IS DELICIOUS. I'm in love with McAlister's chicken tortilla soup, and this is the closest I've come to ever recreating it. I can only imagine how much better it would be if I added some cheese and real tortilla chips. I'll definitely be trying that in February! But until this, I love how creamy and rich this soup is without a single bit of dairy and SO much flavor. I legit made a double batch this weekend and have eaten everyday since. Zero shame!

  Here's the link to the recipe- I don't want to copy it since I didn't come up with it! Some notes though: To make it extra creamy, I double the amount of potato starch. I keep adding tablespoon at a time until it is the consistency I like. I also leave out the celery because Justin doesn't like it. And I probably go a bit heavy on the seasonings because we like spice. I don't really measure them out at all- sort of like when I season our taco meat. It cooks out a bit, so I don't think you can really add too much seasoning! And lastly, I crunch up some salty plantain chips in it to make it feel a bit more like tortilla soup. Whole30 or not, you HAVE to try this!

Whole30. {round two}

  

photo source:: Health Starts in the Kitchen

  We're doing Whole30 again! It's day three and we're doing great. But I mean, its only day three. So of course we're doing great. {especially since I totally ate non compliant during Cooking Club last night!} We did Whole30 over a year ago and we loved it. It's such a great refresh and it was awesome for us to intentionally branch out on new recipes and foods and take a closer look at the foods we're eating. Of course, we both lost weight, but that's not the goal. We just want to make some healthy changes and feel better. 
  All of that said, we're feeling more relaxed this time around {hence my bites of brownie and tortellini last night}. I caught a stomach bug last time and we had lots of social things come up that meant we couldn't avoid some non-compliant days. I didn't want to spend a crazy amount of money on bacon, so I ate a non-compliant kind. Justin still ate normal ketchup. And we sort of beat ourselves up over those things along the way, only to realize they were totally fine in the end. Don't hate me, Whole30 police. The whole point of this for us is to make healthier choices and be a bit more disciplined in what we're eating for 30 days- so we're giving ourselves more grace this time. We're not giving ourselves a license to scrap the entire plan, but space to make adjustments.

  The best part of doing Whole30 again is that we're already armed with some favorite recipes and we have a good place to start. We'll branch out and try some crazy {to us} new things in the next few weeks, but for these first days we're setting ourselves up for success and sticking to meals we love. Tacos {always tacos}, buffalo chicken, sweet potato fries; all the things we discovered last time around. Here's a little of what's on our menu for this week::

grilled chicken salads//buffalo chicken stuffed peppers//sweet potato fries//creamy tomato soup//pizza breakfast bites//chicken nuggets//white chicken chili {this is our new recipe for the week!//

So, here's to 27 more days of no brownies! Ha. Actually, we'll end Whole30 right before Valentine's day- so you better believe we're going to treat ourselves to something delicious and full of sugar/cheese/pasta. In the meantime, give me all your favorite Paleo/Whole30 recipes! 

A sweet potato recipe.

  My biggest takeaway from Whole30 was finding food and meals I didn't think I liked before, but came to love. Like sweet potatoes and zoodles and eggs and flaxmeal. I don't think that I need to maintain a 100% Paleo diet, but have loved incorporating lots of those habits into my day to day eating. I read more labels and stay away from foods with added sugar. I eat less grains, BUT I AM NOT AND WILL NOT GO GLUTEN FREE. I make pretty much every meal from scratch, using fresh ingredients. When I go to the grocery store, 90% of what's in my cart is from the perimeter of the store.
  But anyways, I'm getting off track. Let's talk about sweet potatoes. I've always heard they're great for you, but I used to think they could only be eaten sweet. And I have a strict 'sweets are for dessert only and if it's a fruit/veggie, it's a crappy dessert' policy. BUT I learned how to make them savory and delicious and now I could eat them every single day. My favorite way to prepare them? As fries! If it's a good week, I take time on Sunday to slice up a few potatoes so I can grab a handful to bake as a snack or for a side. We made them last night and found out Caleb is also a huge fan! In case you're looking for a new recipe, YOU HAVE TO TRY THESE. And yes, I'm sort of yelling at you because I love this recipe so much. You're welcome.



Savory Sweet Potato Fries
Servings: 2
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes

  Slice one large sweet potato into thin, shoestring fries {I think this is essential and worth the hassle! The come out a little bit crispy}. Toss in olive or coconut oil {1-2 tbsp}. Mix 1 tbsp sea salt, 1 tbsp paprika, 2 tsp pepper, 2 tsp garlic powder {adjust amounts according to amount of fries/preference}. Toss fries in half of seasoning, and then repeat to coat evenly. 
 Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper; spread fries evenly between the baking sheets in a single layer. Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes, flipping fries halfway through. Serve immediately. SO GOOD!!

Whole30. {week 3}

 

  Homestretch! It's day 21, so only 9 left before I an eat all the thing! Hooray!
  This week was probably our roughest. I was busy working on making over our bathroom and taking a day trip to visit my mom. That meant basically no meal prep all week, since Caleb's naptimes were consumed with other things. That led to use just feeling grumpy and super unmotivated to stick with it this week. The main motivator at this point is how we look and feel. Justin has for sure dropped weight and I was able to comfortably wear shorts yesterday that had been feeling pretty snug before this month. We took before photos, so it will be fun to see any differences when this is over. 
  We had family visiting again this weekend and before they even arrived, I wanted to cheat. We did have some bbq sauce, but other than did a great job sticking with it! And after a pretty successful weekend, it seems like we've got a second wind are are ready to tackle it again this week. It's our last full week {we're done next Wednesday!}, so it really does feel good to be in the single digit countdown. I have a bachelorette party this weekend and plan to cheat a little with a cocktail, because, life is worth living, you know? But, I will try to refrain from all the delicious desserts {my weakness}. 
  So, like I said, we didn't do much meal prep this week. That meant a lot of just making do for lunches and suppers. But we did still stumble on a few good finds. Not included are the cauliflower 'breadsticks' I made- THEY WERE THE WORST. I honestly think that some of the people who blog about these things are just lying. Or don't have taste buds. 

//zoodles// {zucchini noodles} Justin would tell you he didn't love these, but could stand them covered in a meat-filled marinara sauce. I, on the other hand, really liked them!

//creamy chicken soup// So, I kind of didn't like this when I first made it on Sunday. But when I reheated it later in the week for lunch and added avocado and bacon, it was pretty good. Not as good as the tomato soup I made earlier in the month, but still good. And so full of good veggies, it's worth eating, even after Whole30 is over. 

//berry crisp// Holy ish. I should have tried this on day one, because it's the closest thing to a real dessert that I've found so far. We made it this weekend and I subbed a bag of frozen berries for the apples that the recipe originally calls for. And it was actually really good! I plan on making a couple batches this week to get me through my sugar cravings and another huge batch for the upcoming bachelorette party!

//staples// I ate a lot of tilapia last week, and this week it was all about shrimp. It's so fast and easy to make. And of course, sweet potato fries. I really just love them! No lie when I say I'm not sick of them at all all. And of course, we still really really love our buffalo chicken stuffed peppers. We've made them every week so far!

Whole30. {week 2}

  We're getting closer to the homestretch {17 days to go!}, and feeling kind of like we got this. And if we're honest? That's probably because we've made some exceptions to this whole eating plan. For instance, we can't find Whole30 compliant bacon anywhere and I refuse to buy it online, so we're just eating the best we can find. We also had family visiting this weekend and they we so generous to bring us food. While it wasn't Whole30 compliant, we were so thankful and it would have been rude to say no just because of temporary eating habits. So we ate bread {the horror}. Afterwards, we decided that's kind of how we want to live. Eating healthy 80% of the time, and being flexible with family and social things the other 20% of the time.
  Also, to be really honest, I had a few moments this week when I really forgot why I'm doing this {to feel better about my body} or what the point is {to become a little healthier and more food conscious}. That probably happened right around the time I made Whole30 pumpkin muffins that a blogger swore were ohmygoshthebestthingsever. LIES. They were so nasty. And all I wanted was a delicious baked good. But then my friend Meg made these really good {as in, Whole30 good, not life good} chocolate and fruit cupcake things and all has been redeemed. I also just tore off day 18 on our kitchen paper countdown {I really did make a countdown} and am feeling good. We tried a few new meals last week and are branching out even more this week {think cauliflower pizza and zoodles}. By the end of this thing, we will for sure be feeling more confident about adding some veggie-heavy meals into our menu rotations.
  Here's what we loved last week::

//chicken nuggets// These were surprisingly delicious! I will definitely keep this recipe and make them again after this whole this is over. It seems like it would be especially good for kids, too.

//seasoned tilapia// My lunches this week were mostly all the same- seasoned tilapia, veggies, and soup. I loooove how easy it is to thaw some fish, coat it in spices {garlic, almond meal, paprika, chili powder, etc} and sear it really quickly.

//chocolate cupcakes// Ok, I didn't make these. But Meg brought them to our cooking club cookout yesterday and they were really good {again, in a Whole30 kind of way}. She even let me bring some home! So I'll for sure be making a batch of these this week, especially with visitors coming to town this weekend.

//smoothies// So these aren't a new thing in our house, but I have come to really depend on them. I am not a huge breakfast person {I don't love eggs}, so I always make myself a big glass or two of blended fruits and spinach. I find myself having to for sure have one of these each day and really craving them more than usual. {My recipe: one cup water & 2 c frozen spinach blended, half a frozen banana, handful each of pineapple, mixed berries, mango, peaches, or whatever other fruits we have on hand. Add more water as needed}

//turkey blt's// I snagged this recipe from here {one of my fav resources so far!} and it is SO good. I love meat that cooks all day, seasoned in the crockpot. I did learn that I like my sweet potato sliders to be really thin and less potato-y. But you can't go wrong with seasoned turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and avocado!

//pesto stuffed chicken// I usually make pesto stuffed chicken with garden pesto blended together with sour cream and mozzarella {to make it creamy}. Well, since dairy is out, I just subbed in half an avocado- and it worked! Justin doesn't like avocados and he even like this- the flavor bakes out and you just have a creamy pesto. Yum!

By the end of this week, we'll be more than halfway through! I would be lying if I said I wasn't counting the days until I can have a cupcake or some really delicious sweet treat...

Whole30. {update}

   We're a week into Whole30 and still alive! Real talk? It's actually been fun! We've found new recipes we really love and haven't gotten into the rut of eating eggs all day every day. I'm sure it will come, but we're not miserable or bored yet. I think most of that has to do with all the research, planning, and meal prep we put into the beginning. I spent a few hours in the kitchen before we started and then probably 1-3 hrs in the kitchen each day last week. So, a lot of work. It's fun for me, but I'm not sure how feasible it would be if I weren't home all day. 
  After reading about others' experiences, I've been super paranoid about losing my milk supply. After great tips from friends who have done it, being super proactive, and I think just having a really good supply to begin with- I think I'm in the clear! That means that I'm not sticking 100% to the Whole30 plan- it discourages snacking; I have to eat basically all day, it discourages too many potatoes and fruit; those are the good fats and sugars I need to keep feeding another human. But I'm ok with it. Feeding Caleb is more important than being 100% compliant. {if you're breastfeeding and thinking about doing Whole30, let me know! I've got tips for you!}
  On that note, we've also made peace with our SWYPO {google it} shortcuts. Whole30 talks a lot about not 'tricking' your mind into thinking you're eating the real thing, even if you're using approved ingredients {baked goods, desserts, tortillas, fries, etc}. We aren't doing this to revolutionize our eating, but more to kickstart healthy changes and find new healthy foods we like. So, I'm ok with eating sweet potato fries {holy delicious!} and egg pizza bites and cocoa Larabar bites. I know they aren't the real thing, and I fully intend to have the real things once this month is up {in moderation, of course}. So there's that. At the end of the day, even if we take shortcuts, we are still eating so much better than before. That's a win for us.
  Ok, now for my favorite part. I kind of arbitrarily made our menu last week, crossing my fingers we could find a least one thing we liked. It takes a lot to impress Justin and even more for him to actually feel satisfied {and not slighted} when eating healthy. We actually found tons of recipes we love and fully plan to keep in our dinner rotation long after Whole30! Here are some of our favorites so far:

Buffalo ranch chicken stuffed peppers:: Stop it. Even if you have zero interest in Whole30, try these. They are SO good!


Bbq pork sliders:: yum! I was a little skeptical about making this sauce without sugar, but it's not bad. I also just love pulled pork these days, and it was another filling meal.

Egg pizza bites:: Ok, so calling these pizza bites is a little deceiving but the best way to describe them. They are delicious and so easy to grab from the fridge and pop in the microwave instead of making a whole breakfast from scratch every morning. Justin was most impressed by these!

Mason jar salads:: these are super trendy right now, but for a good reason. You can prep them at the beginning of the week and they stay fresh for days. 

Creamy tomato soup:: A good way to get in fresh veggies and get full fast. This soup is SO good and I still have some left for this week.

Sweet potatoes:: Let's talk. I used to think I hated sweet potatoes. I really dislike sweet things outside of desserts, but who knew you could make these so savory? My favorite way to eat them is cut up as thin shoestring fries, tossed in evoo, and seasoned with paprika, garlic, sea salt, and pepper. Bake at 450 for 20 minutes on a parchment lined baking sheet, flipping halfway through. I also really love them for breakfast, shredded and seasoned the same way {there is just something about paprika that makes them amazing!}. We also like them sliced into 1/4 in. round baked slider buns. Basically sweet potatoes every single day. No exaggeration.

Larabar bites:: The closest thing to a sweet treat I've found so far! I love sweets {and totally deserve a gold star or something for not indulging in cake at the wedding I worked this weekend}, so these are a must for me. AP gave me the recipe for these and you can find them on her instagram here! 

Also, I know my plates usually look pretty empty. But rest assured, I'm eating plenty. I snack on almonds and fruit and veggies all day long. And we follow up every dinner with salad or a big bowl of fruit. I am never starving and almost always really full, in a good way. 
  So, week 1 down and onto week 2. I'm excited about the new recipes we've got lined up and making some of our favs again. Also, the sweet potato fries in my very near future. Gosh, I'm obsessed. 

Whole 30.

Dear ice cream, I love you. I'll miss you. We'll meet again soon...

 10 weeks after having a baby, and I really can't complain about how my body has bounced back. I blame it on good genes and staying active during pregnancy. I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight and can fit into all my old clothes, so that is for sure something to be thankful for. But I still want to be bit healthier. I'm less concerned about numbers on the scale and more so about feeling good. I've been working at getting workouts into my new stay at home mom routine, but I want to focus on my diet, too. 
  Enter Whole30. I know, it's kind of crazy a little extreme. Especially for someone who LOVES cheese and breads. And sweets. But it's only for 30 days and I used to do a similar detox every summer in college. The timing to try it is perfect, since Justin and his brother's are starting a weight loss challenge where the loser has to pierce their belly button {awesome, right?!}. So we're doing this crazy thing together. Diet changes are so much easier when everyone in the house is on board, right?
  We start September 2nd and I'm still kind of freaking out. I'm hungry for all the foods these days and want to make sure I don't impact my milk supply. We really want to do this and do it right though, so I've been researching all week. I've started a Pinterest board of recipes and have reread the approved grocery list a dozen times. 
  It will definitely be hard for me. But my body will thank me, Caleb with get more & better nutrients, and it will do me some good to be a little more disciplined. Gah. I'm really doing this.

Have you tried Whole30 or Paleo? Have any favorite recipes or blogs or advice? Homegirl needs ALL the help I can get. 

And more importantly, I'm looking for a fun hashtag to chronicle my Whole30 journey! Have anything catchy for me to use?