Simple Whole 30 Recipes

As mentioned in this video, I have started my third round of the Whole30.   The older kids were on board, but all abandoned ship except for one.   I have pulled most of the children in the kitchen to help with preparing the meals, especially the sauces.  Our family  love sauce on EVERYTHING! We try to make at least three Whole30 approved sauces at the beginning of each week.

Most of our sauces use mayo as a base.  You can view this video  or  visit this site for how to make homemade mayo.  This is a great ranch dressing recipe .  You can also visit this site for other creative ideas on what to add to the mayo to make your mouth sing. We made this Whole30 Ketchup.   I added 4 medjool dates to the recipe along with more water to make it smoother. While it doesn’t taste like conventional ketchup, it was super easy to make and everyone enjoyed it.  

Below are some simple breakfast recipes (some can also be packed in lunch boxes).

Ham and egg cups (we have done these with bacon and it is absolutely delicious).

Baked eggs in avocado

Twice  Baked Breakfast Sweet Potatoes

Homemade Breakfast sausage 

Finally, I found this great site that has 40 simple Whole30 recipes.  You can also visit this post for additional dinner ideas.  Please let me know if you try any of these recipes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Simple Paleo Plantain Bread

Since I have gone Paleo, my children have not been happy about the absence of bread from our household; especially the missing tooth child pictured above.  She is not thrilled with the idea of bringing a chicken leg for lunch.  She has a field trip tomorrow and is begging me to make a sandwich for her sack lunch.  So today this mama  got in the kitchen and made a Paleo friendly bread.  It is super easy to make.  I modified the original recipe and it was a total hit with the younger three.   Let us hope their older sister shares the same sentiments.   This recipe is not Whole30 approved because they discourage you from making any Paleo version of all off limits food; bread being one of them. For those doing the Whole30, I will post more approved recipes this week to make up for it.  Deal?  Ok! Glad we are friends again. Now for the recipe.

Simple Paleo Plantain Bread

Ingredients

• 1 green plantain
• 2 whole eggs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• I also added some black pepper and dried herb seasoning

Be adventurous and experiment with different seasonings.

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Peel plantain and cut into medium size pieces
• Place plantain in blender or food processor
• Add eggs.
• Blend until the mixture is creamy.
• Add mixture to a greased pan.
• Bake bread for 20 minutes.
• Enjoy!

I must add that this is more like a flat bread, but it is still yummy!

 

 

 

Another Whole30 Day 1

Today is THE big day, another round of WHOLE30!  I am excited for all those that are joining especially because I was told by three individuals that their husbands are on board.  How awesome is that?  Things are so much easier when you receive support from the home front, but that’s another post all by itself.  On to tips and recipes, shall we?  You may not be able to implement all of the suggested strategies  but find what works for you.

• Try batch cooking once a week.  One of the quickest way to guarantee failure on the Whole30 is to not have ANY approved food readily available when you are hungry.  Do not set yourself up for failure, cook in advance.  I tend to do most of my cooking on Monday, and I am normally cooking again by Wednesday.  WHY?  Because my family of 8 LOVES to eat!
•  If you are not able to cook all your meats in one day, try seasoning the meat and freezing it.  This way the meat can go from freezer to oven. Most vegetables and meats can be frozen.  Check out this site for a week’s worth of freeze ahead Whole30 approved crock pot meals.
• Chop veggies (onions, peppers, carrots, etc) ahead of time and store in fridge.  When you are ready to cook, you don’t have to worry about spending too much time on the prep work.
• Grill once a week.  In the warmer months I TRY to grill at least once every two weeks and store all the meat in a big roaster pan in the fridge.  Grilled meats also freeze very well, so if you don’t get to all of the meat, no worries just freeze it for another time.
• Keep it simple.  Try a few new recipes a week, not everyday.  When I first started the Paelo diet,  I was a bit extreme and was trying a new recipe like EVERYDAY!  After awhile this got to be very tiring.  These days I am a bit more realistic and stick to my oldies but goodies and try a new recipe a few times a week.
• Think outside the box…breakfast for dinner, dinner for breakfast.  For breakfast tomorrow,  I plan to have some left over zucchini noodles with my curry chicken and some avocado.  Why not?
•  I try when possible to be one step ahead of the game and have some extra cooked protein on hand (chicken wings, chicken breast, frittatas )  or at least some canned fish in the cupboard.  Homemade mayo on canned fish with some avocado and sweet plantains on the side always makes for  a great emergency/backup  meal.
• Try to make at least one frittata a week and keep in fridge for backup.
• Use your crock pot and Roaster.  Visit this site for 30 Whole30 crock pot meals.  YUMMY!
• Learn ways to make multiple dishes from one meat.  For example you can cook multiple pounds of ground meat of choice  using basic seasonings.  Then throughout the week you can use that same ground meat  for different dishes like  chili or lettuce wraps topped with avocado, sauteed onions and pepper and whole30 approved salsa.  Or I typically bake two whole chicken each week and store in fridge.  One night we may have baked chicken with sauteed greens and butternut squash.  Throughout the week I may shred the remaining chicken and use it for a creamy tomato soup  served with a big salad and why not toss some shredded chicken on the salad while I am it.

Perhaps you have some tips and recipe you would like to share, please leave a comment below.  Remember you can do this!

 

Homemade coconut milk, mayo, spiralized noodles and veggie chips video tutorials

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncP40dEI0yU

 

Products used for Coconut Milk

1. Vitamix Blender

2.  Shredded Coconut Unsweetened

3. Best Nut Milk Bag

 

Products Used for Paleo Mayo

1. Hand Blender with Blending and Whisk Attachments

2. Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook: Real Food for Real Life

 

 

Products used for spiralized vegetable noodles and vegetable chips

1.Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer

2. Mandoline

3. No Cry Cut Resistant Gloves

Round 2 of Whole30

I had the opportunity to present on the Whole30 program at the Purposely Created Advance last weekend.   I was so blessed by the many women who were willing to give the Whole 30 a try.  To those that were at the conference, welcome to my blog!   As mentioned in my session, I am willing to join you on this journey starting October 1st.   You can read my previous posts concerning the Whole 30  here  and here. If you are in need of some kitchen tips and recipes you can also visit this previous post and my Whole 30 pinterest board to get more ideas.  I also plan to upload some videos to my youtube channel by tomorrow.  Please leave a comment to let me know if you have already started the Whole 30 or plan to join the party on October 1st.

Whole30 Day 17

I am on day 17 of the Whole30.  I am so excited because a few other ladies at my church have decided to
join the party.  All those that
have been doing it are reporting great results.
And me?  Well eating healthy is not the issue.  HOWEVER I find that I do a lot of emotional
eating.  I follow the prescribed meal
plan at each meal (protein, veggies, and good fat) and for the most part I am
satisfied until the next meal.  But I
find that if my tenacious toddler pushes the right buttons, or I have a lot to do, I am reaching for
something to snack on (a mini escape if you will), EVEN WHEN I AM NOT HUNGRY!  Sigh. Always something to commit to prayer, so glad God never gets tired of me.  Some of you have asked for recipes, below are a few suggestions.  Enjoy!

• This website has a list of 31 family recipes for Whole 30.  If that doesn’t work for you, try this website.  I am a big fan of her recipes.
• Baked sweet potatoes are simple and delicious. Poke holes in unpeeled sweet potatoes and bake in the oven at 400 degrees for a hour or more.  I sometimes bake them for a hour and a half. I find that the longer I bake
  them, the sweeter they are.  Once cooked, top with coconut oil or ghee.  ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!  The longer I go without added sugars, the more I can appreciate the sweetness of the SWEET potato.
• oven baked sweet plantains These are delicious.  You can also fry them.  I prefer to bake them with either olive or coconut oil because I can pop them in the oven and forget about them.
• Roasted vegetables are delicious.

• Green plantain chips are delicious.  Use an oil that is Whole30 approved.  I personally love these with coconut oil.
• cauliflower rice can be used for stir fry or experiment with different seasonings.
• Roasted portobella mushroom  you can use this as a “bun” for your hamburgers (may be bending the rules here a little bit).
• Visit this website for some great condiments recipe.  Or again, you can do a google search on Whole30 condiments.  Pinterest also has some great ideas.

•  Get a roasting pan and/or crock pot.  Believe me when I say you will not regret
  these purchases.  I find that when I braise the meat and put it  in crock pot or roasting pan and let it cook for a few hours, the meat is ALWAYS super tender.
•  When possible try to season meats night
  before.  This technique combined with
  cooking the meats at low temperatures (I normally do 300 in the oven) always gives great results.
•  Go easy on the salt.  Experiment with different herbs.  Go crazy with garlic and onions.
• I learned from the this cookbook that
  adding foods like tomato paste and mushrooms to a dish adds another element of
  flavor, its so true, try it!
• Challenge yourself to buy a new vegetable each
  time you visit the grocery store.  Don’t know
  how to cook it, no problem, Google to the rescue.  I LOVE GOOGLE!  You can find a ton of WHOLE30 approved
  recipes on the internet.  Don’t assume that  because you didn’t like a
  certain vegetable as a child you wont like it as an adult if it is prepared a different way. 
• Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep each night,
  it really makes a big difference in your eating habits.  If you want more of the scientific
  explanation, Google it.
• Don’t be too uptight, have fun in the
  kitchen.  EXPERIMENT!  And if it doesn’t turn out right, there is
  always tomorrow to try again!

If you are doing the Whole30, I would love it if you left a comment to let me know how its going.