Sausage, Peppers and Onions with Shrimp

I will caveat that normally I use raw Italian sweet sausage when I make traditional sausage and peppers.  However, finding sausage without the prohibited ingredients has been challenging.  For this recipe, I used pre-cooked whole 30 compliant tomato basil chicken sausage that I found at Whole foods, but any smoked sausage could be used.   I thought the sausage itself was just ok so I might try it with a different one the next time.  My family said this recipe was a keeper and there were no leftovers so I’m pretty sure this recipe overall will make it into the rotation.

Really short on time? Use pre-cooked sausage and omit the potatoes

Whole 30 – Day 2

Technically, the Whole 30 recommends eating 3 meals/day without snacking and making meals large enough to last you until the next meal.  However, as noted on the whole 30 site, it’s just that…a recommendation.  Part of my personal goal is to eat smaller meals which, at least for now, requires me to eat something between the traditional lunch time and dinner.  Require may be a strong word, but it’s relative to how HANGRY I will be 🙂

I made a little trip to Whole Foods today to stock up on a variety of snack accompaniments: Sea Snax (eat as is or sprinkle on cauliflower rice), plantain chips (to have with guac or smoked salmon), dried coconut and dried mange (to mix with nuts) and some prosciutto <cured pork and salt> (to wrap around fruit).

Whole 30 – Planning and Day 1

My first Whole 30, about two years ago, made a huge impact on how I shop for food and how my family eats today.  After my initial Whole 30 was complete, I was 8 lbs lighter and more importantly, I felt great overall! With all of the holiday festivities (and several pounds gained), I decided it was time to reset.  This time my husband, Steve, decided to join me on this journey (mainly because I’m the one that cooks and he really didn’t have much of a choice). My kids (7 and 4 years old) will be participating for all dinners since, like Steve, they don’t have much of a choice.

For the next 30 days, I will document and share meal ideas, recipes, and tips that I’ve learned along the way.

Here are some of my initial suggestions for a successful whole 30.

1. Learn the rules and understand the reasons behind them (I have a print out at work and at home of the suggested shopping list (proteins/vegetables/fruits/fats) and pantry stocking tips for easy reference).  These lists can be found here: http://whole30.com/pdf-downloads/

To learn more about the Whole 30, follow this link: http://whole30.com/whole30-program-rules/

2. Plan your first week’s menu…and maybe some weeks after (breakfast, lunch, snacks, and dinner).  As a working mom, if I didn’t meal plan, my family would be eating at 9pm every night or we would waste a lot  $$ on take out.  I think it would be next to impossible to get through the whole 30 without meal planning.  Tip: Don’t make yourself crazy thinking of unique lunch options, plan to make more for dinner the night before and portion out the leftovers for lunch.

3. Buy some pantry staples but don’t forget to read the labels (On my shopping list: extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, coconut milk (full fat), ghee (clarified butter), Coconut Secrets coconut aminos (to replace soy sauce in recipes), almond flour, coconut flour, Dijon mustard, almond butter, cans of tuna packed in water) and buy the rest of your ingredients for the week according to your plan (as per #2 above). I also like to make a weekly trip to my local poultry farm (Goffle Poultry) for eggs and any chicken needed for the week.  Any chicken that I don’t plan to use within the 3 days of purchase, goes into the freezer.

4. Donate, hide, or “age” some of the prohibited temptations (I will definitely miss my chocolate bars, chips and wine).  When I work from home, keeping these out of sight will help me keep them out of mind (or at least I hope it will).

5. Once you have your plan and your food, prep the night before or do a bulk prep on Sunday so once those busy days appear, eating will be easy peasy lemon squeasy (sorry my 4 year old daughter says that all the time so I couldn’t help myself).

Here’s how our first day went:

We kicked off the morning with black coffee to go, water, and broccoli, tomato, bacon frittata bites (which I made last night).  I had two and Steve took three. I probably could have had one more and Steve said he could have had 7 more.  I reminded him that technically, he could have those 7 as this program is more about what you eat vs how much.

Lunch was a Mediterranean inspired tuna salad (prepared last night as well) over lettuce and cucumbers. I used two cans of tuna in the recipe and divided it evenly for each of our lunches.  We both felt this recipe was a keeper, but I had about 5 raw almonds afterward to “cleanse my palette.”

Late afternoon snack was an orange…not crazy exciting but it satisfied my need for a little something.

Dinner was chicken bruschetta served with a side of sautéed zucchini and steamed snow peas. I used this  seasoned chicken recipe  with all whole 30 modifications (e.g. cooked in evoo instead of butter, used almond flour, and omitted the cheese) and topped with a tomato bruschetta without the bread recipe.   I made extra chicken to make sure there would be leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Day 1 was a success but I can’t say I didn’t miss my chocolate 😦

 

 

 

Tomato Bruschetta without the bread

When most people (like me) think of bruschetta, they think of a piece of toasted bread rubbed with garlic and oil and topped with a tomato mixture.  Several years ago I learned that the word bruschetta actually refers more to the toasted bread than it does to the tomato topping.  However, I didn’t think a recipe titled “Tomato topping” would sound as appealing.

Broccoli, Tomato, Bacon Frittata Bites

To kick off our Whole 30, I made these frittata bites.  These are great for breakfast on the go or for a mid-day snack.  You can use the base recipe for the frittata and use any combination of veggies you’d like.  To reduce waste and make life easier, use leftover veggies in here or use the leftover veggies from this recipe for tomorrow’s dinner.

My Favorite Paleo and Non-Paleo Pesto

This post includes my favorite Pesto sauces (with slight variation based on what taste/health may dictate).  Each recipe makes approximately 1 – 1.5 cups.

Time Saving Tip: Plan a couple recipes for the meal or the week that use pesto sauce and make either variation up to 3 days in advance and store in refrigerator.

5 Important Steps for Efficient Meal Planning

Making my zoodles side dish became so much easier once I invested in the right tool for the job!

Organization is key to fitting homemade dinners and more into your life. Here’s what I do:

Step 1: Keep track with an Excel file. This file is my record of all records. I would be lost without it. It helps me plan my week, grocery shop, and remind myself of what’s for dinner. It also allows me to track my favorites and make edits for future reference. Additionally, if I see something I like, instead of “pinning” something that is a nice idea that I’ll never make, I put it in my planner so that I remember to make it. The other benefit with meal planning is that you might buy something that you only need a little bit of. To reduce waste, plan a subsequent meal that also requires said ingredient. For example, if you are making Beef Stroganoff, which generally includes sour cream, maybe plan a night of fajitas or quesadillas, which would also use sour cream.

Planning tip: Make more food than needed. You can either freeze for future use or take leftovers for lunch (that is what my family does 99.9% of the time).