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| These almond flour pancakes have become a Whole30 favorite of mine that I will carry with me long after we finish our Whole60. They are so simple, fast to make and equally satisfying. To recreate: Mix 2 ripe bananas, 4 eggs and 1/2 Cup almond meal together in a bowl. I like to add a little cinnamon and vanilla extract as well. Whip these ingredients together with a whisk and drop into a skillet over medium high heat, as you would normally cook a pancake. Be careful not to burn them! We top ours with a little almond butter and a tiny bit of good quality maple syrup. Yum! |
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| If you like spicy foods, go to your local Trader Joe's right now and buy a couple packages of their andouille sausages. They are free of nasty fillers and artificial ingredients and are absolutely delicious (and also very reasonably priced). I like to either top them with peppers and mustard or, as you can see here, they are great for stir-frys as well (we do A LOT of stir-frys in our household). Here, I just cooked up the broccoli with a little ghee and lots of garlic and mixed that in the pan with the cooked sausages and some brown rice. For the sauce, I used coconut aminos, which you can find at any health foods store. It tastes very similar to soy sauce without all of the negative effects. |
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| I never used to be a turkey burger person, but I finally found a brand that I really like. If you live near a Kroger or a King Soopers, look for the Simple Truth Organic turkey burgers in the frozen section. The only ingredient in them? Turkey. They are a great option to have on hand for those nights where you just need something quick. We usually just throw them on the George Foreman grill. I like to top with dill relish, onion and a little Tessemae's buffalo sauce. I also discovered that I LOVE cooking my potatoes this way. Heat them up in the microwave for a few minutes to get them soft, then make slits almost all the way through. Spread some ghee or coconut oil on top with seasonings and then finish off in the oven at 425 degrees. So yummy! |
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| We love grass-fed burgers on the pellet grill. Such an easy dinner with tons of delicious flavor. Also, a trick I have learned for red potatoes is to heat them up for a few minutes in the microwave before cutting, then coat with olive oil and seasonings and finally, finish them off in the oven to crisp them up. Otherwise, they take about an hour in the oven, which we just don't have time for. I drizzle them with a little Tessemae's Cajun Paleo "mayo," which is to die for. Trader Joe's sells amazing long green beans in big bags for $2 in the frozen section. These are great to have on hand as well. Also debuting in this picture is..my new FAVORITE club soda: Watermelon! It is so yummy and tastes just like summer in a glass. |
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| Again, grass-fed burgers are a favorite. Also, I am totally obsessed with roasted veggies over the fire. I actually found some "roasted vegetable seasoning" at a little spice shop in Fort Collins, CO, and it is the best. You can season with whatever you like though. If they are cooked over the flames, they are guaranteed to taste good! Also, we have gotten really good at making homemade fries;) |
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| Sometimes I just get in the mood for a big yummy salad for lunch. This was one of those days. Greens, cucumbers, salsa, grilled chicken and guacamole paired with a serving size of clean popcorn "chips" that I found at Sam's Club. Very light lunch, but it kept me full for hours! |
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| I really enjoy getting creative with leftovers. Here, I used leftover Dutch Oven chili that we made camping and put it on top of an Applegate hot dog, topped with onion and mustard, served with a side of apple "fries" for lunch. Yummy! |
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| And speaking of Dutch Oven chili...here it is! We went camping a couple weekends ago and wanted to eat relatively healthy so, chili was a great option for doing so! I don't know what it is about cooking chili in the dutch oven, but I swear it tastes way better. We just used 1 Lb. grass-fed beef, 2 cans of beans (1 kidney, 1 great northern) 2 cups of beef broth, 1 can of tomato sauce, 1 can of diced tomatoes, onion powder, chili powder and a few other seasonings. Turned out great and I didn't even have to feel guilty for eating it (I did feel a little guilty, however, after 2 vodka-infused drinks-haha!)! Master Dutch Oven cooking skills are credited to my awesome fiance:) |
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| We even had a healthy Dutch Oven breakfast while camping! This is a mountain man breakfast recipe that we found on Pinterest (we just subtracted the cheese). This was just 6 eggs scrambled, 1/2 Lb. spicy chorizo breakfast sausage from Whole Foods, 1 red pepper chopped, 1 green pepper chopped, some chopped onion and lots of yummy seasonings. This was delicious! Good job Nick;) |
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| Every Sunday I like to splurge a little (usually after our run to the gym) with some uncured, Paleo bacon. Here, I just scrambled up some eggs with leftover potatoes from dinner and then fried up some local sausages and some bacon with a side of fresh watermelon. Perfect post-workout fuel. |
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| We tried to keep it healthy for our Cinco De Mayo dinner. Corn tortillas are a MUCH better option than regular tortillas and they are gluten free. We filled them with delicious chicken fajitas and topped them with salsa and guacamole. Two of these filled me right up! |
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| I wanted to include these on the blog because they are my new addiction. These are seriously so good and the perfect sweet treat (just don't eat the entire bag in one sitting....it's easy to do!). Trader Joe's also has freeze dried strawberries and mango which are both very good, but the bananas are my favorite. And only one ingredient...bananas! |
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| I love switching up breakfast from the usual eggs to a big green smoothie. I have one of these at least every other day. Fill your blender to the top with chosen greens then add 1-2 cups of liquid, depending on how thick you want it. I usually add 1 Cup almond or cashew milk with 1/2 Cup of water. I almost always add 1 cage free egg, 1/2 avocado for creaminess and chia seeds. I top with frozen berries and bananas. Sometimes I also add a scoop of either regular PB2 or Chocolate PB2. It adds a lot of excitement and flavor (though not Whole30 approved). |
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| And then for the mornings when I don't feel like a smoothie...I usually do eggs with another source of protein. I love to top my scrambled eggs with fresh salsa and guacamole. So yummy and filling! |
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| When all else fails...just top it with guac. I love making fresh guacamole for just about everything. Here, I topped my turkey burger with it and paired it with peas and potatoes. Simple, yet delicious! PS- You can find these amazing tri-colored potatoes at Trader Joe's. We absolutely love them! |
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| I think this meal tasted a lot better than it actually looks in a photo-haha! Chicken smoked on the pellet grill and topped with Tessemae's honey mustard (the BEST honey mustard I have ever had with no nasty ingredients), paired with a Thai peanut broccoli slaw stir-fry and some sweet potato "chips." I wish I could give you the recipe for the slaw, but honestly, I can't remember! I love experimenting in the kitchen and just throwing ingredients together (usually they turn out good). I know I used a little Trader Joe's coconut cream for the sauce with some ground nutmeg, cloves, chili powder and cumin and also a dash of PB2 for the peanut flavor. So good! |
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| Who knew that you could order a stir-fry at a Mexican restaurant? I discovered this dish a couple weeks ago at our favorite Mexican place in town and it is not only delicious, but pretty much the healthiest thing on the menu. I recommend looking for "Mexican stiry- fry" on the menu at your local restaurants. Really yummy! |
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| Sometimes, lunches are just super random, but that is OK. I like to eat multiple colors on every plate of food. Here, I had some nitrate-free turkey breast, apple slices, veggies, pop "chips" and a little hummus. Delicious! |
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| The best thing about clean eating? Ribs are on the menu!!! (high quality ribs of course;)) Nick smoked these ribs on the pellet grill with Stubz BBQ (it does have a little sugar, but WAY better than the other BBQ sauces on the market) and then we roasted corn and veggies over the fire. This is summertime perfection right here! |
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| I found these individually wrapped, wild-caught salmon fillets in the frozen section at Sam's Club. I highly recommend them! They are free of nasty ingredients and they come pre-seasoned with healthy spices. Just bake them in the oven at 400 for about 35 minutes and you will be good to go! Served with some wild grain rice and green beans. |
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| If you absolutely don't have time to make your own sweet potato fries, I recommend the "Alexandria" name brand in the frozen section. These are a lot better than any other frozen fry, with many less ingredients (and of course they taste delicious too). Trader Joe's also sells very good sweet Italian sausages which is what you see here. I turned them into a stir-fry with a bag of frozen peppers from Trader Joe's as well. Yum! |
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| Is it obvious yet how many stir-frys we do in our house? They are just so quick and easy, it's our go-to dinner when we can't think of anything else to make. Here, I just stir fried up some steak strips with broccoli, mushrooms and green snap peas with coconut aminos as the sauce and put them over some brown rice. |
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| This was my favorite stir-fry, hands down, that I have ever made. It is a "Thai" cashew chicken stir-fry. I used coconut cream as the base for the sauce and then pretty much went crazy with lots of different spices. Chicken, broccoli, red peppers, onion, mushroom and cashews make up this one. So, so good. |
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| I wanted to include a picture of my recent 5k that I ran last week for work. I wasn't fast, but I upheld my 12-minute mile pace and I finished! I am very proud of myself for this accomplishment. This is really just training for the Warrior Dash 5k obstacle race that we will be doing in August! The only reason I am now able to do ANY of these runs is because of my diet. It is becoming easier and easier on my knees to run with every pound that I drop. Thank you Whole30! |
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| I want to end with a progress picture. This was around day 49 of my Whole60 and I will post final progress pics in a few days. These are a favorite pair of old jeans that wouldn't even fit up over my butt around Christmas time this year. Putting these away in my "these no longer fit" pile was a very depressing moment for me back in December. I cleaned out my drawers a couple weekends ago though and realized that a lot of my pants that I had not worn in a while...no longer fit! They were too BIG! And a lot of my jeans (such as this pair) that hadn't fit in almost a year...now fit! I can't express that happiness in words...let's just say, I had a moment of major happy tears. I can't believe that in just six months time I am down almost 30 pounds and almost two pant sizes. I can't wait to see where this journey continues to take me. I am far from finished! |
