Tag: whole30

New year and revisiting old things

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I’ve been absent from this space and now, post wedding planning, post wedding and post holidays, I feel like I am finally settling back into a routine.

I didn’t want to believe the many well-intentioned friends who shared with me that post-wedding blues are a phenomenon – the big event is over, now what? And yet – here I am, noting that I have been feeling a little bit of that exact sentiment since the wedding. One of the biggest days of your life and it’s gone in a flash.

It was a wonderful day – a day to see friends I hadn’t seen in a long time, old family friends who have since moved away and family that I don’t get to visit with very often.  And there is something about standing up in front of all of those you love and affirming that this – this person is your chosen – for the rest of your life.

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Photo by the fabulous Emily Griffith of Emily Griffith Photography

Thank you to all those of you who were able to be there with us. It was a marvelous day.

But on to the new year and revisiting this space!

As part of a reset after the holidays and the wedding, we are doing Whole30 for the third time. It’s always amazing now, having done an intense Whole30 now three times, how great the feeling is to cook fresh, whole meals that are helping to reinstill those healthy habits.

If you’ve not ever done Whole30, the best resource, is obviously www.whole30.com.  Lots of great information on why this is a method that works and why you should consider trying a lifestyle change like this! I personally am always amazed at how good I feel – much like when I went gluten-free. I didn’t realize how BAD I felt until I cut it out of my diet.

So – with that in mind, if you’re interested in trying out a switch to Whole30, here are a few of my tips/tricks for success and survival! And up front, you have to be willing to put in the time and do the work. It is a lot of work, but it’s worth it, I promise.

  1. Read the book. I’m serious. It will help you understand why things are set up the way they are and what you’re trying to accomplish.
  2. Plan out your meals. I created this tool that works well for me. It gives me space to plan the meals plus a notes and prep area. Feel free to borrow it! Copy it and make it your own.
  3. In the vein of planning (because planning is crucial to not just randomly ordering pizza on a snowy night) – try and do all your prep and shopping for the week on Saturday or Sunday. I like to organize my grocery list by the way my store is laid out. #turningintomom
  4. READ the recipes from beginning to end before you start! And make note of anything that tripped you up the first time you made it or special notes you want to remember (i.e. this only makes enough for one meal, etc.).
  5. Mise en place! Mise en place (MEEZ ahn plahs) is a French term for having all your ingredients measured, cut, peeled, sliced, grated, etc. before you start cooking. Pans are prepared. Mixing bowls, tools and equipment set out. It is a technique chefs use to assemble meals so quickly and effortlessly. DO IT. You won’t be sorry.
  6. Have fun! You will learn how to be a better cook and how to eat better on a more consistent basis. The food is GOOD. Don’t think of it as depriving yourself, but simply as eating delicious things every day.

A few books I’ve found particularly useful are:

The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom
The Whole30 Cookbook: 150 Delicious and Totally Compliant Recipes to Help You Succeed with the Whole30 and Beyond 
Whole30 Fast & Easy
Well Fed Weeknights: Complete Paleo Meals in 45 Minutes or Less

Stay tuned for more dinner plans and tips as we work our way through these 30 days!

What are your tips and tricks for Whole30?

Power veggies and chicken – weeknight dinner inspiration

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Today was an April day. Warmish, but with rain that hit towards the end of the day, making all of the green things even more green.

This is a busy time of year for us at work and with the crud that’s going around I ended up staying home from work for two days last week. Not an ideal time to be out, but at least I wasn’t sharing my germs!

I spent two days sleeping and drinking my go-to cold remedy: hot water, honey, lemon juice and a dash of cinnamon (or ginger or turmeric, depending on my mood!). I finally feel like I’m on the mend and actually made it to yoga tonight (but man was I glad when it was over so I could grab a Kleenex!).

All this to say that once I was done with yoga and finally home, (with a few work projects yet to do) – I had no desire to make the chicken soup I’ve been planning and no desire to go to the grocery store.

Order in? Grocery store? Make something?

Days like this – I wish that I had a pantry that I stocked for occasions like this, but given our current kitchen situation, there isn’t a lot of room for a pantry situation.

Days like this you want to thank the self of how ever many grocery trips ago got extra chicken breasts (and froze them for future use!). When we were doing the Whole30, I learned a good method of cooking a chicken breast that is now my favorite.

It’s simple and makes good use of my cast iron pan. Perfect for two people!

Salt and pepper your chicken breasts
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Put two tablespoons of olive oil in the pan, get it nice and hot! You want to see that shimmer on the oil. Swirl it around and put your chicken in the pan with the rounded side down. Sear for 3-4 minutes and then flip – here’s the key thing – DO NOT attempt to turn if the chicken is still sticking to the pan. If it’s been properly seared – you should be able to turn it with no resistance.

Turn off the burner and put the pan in the oven – cooking for 10-15 minutes – until the internal temp of the chicken is 160 degrees. A good meat thermometer is a great tool to have and can be used for many things!

I normally don’t buy prepackaged, precut veggies, but this Power Blend called out my name last time I shopped. (Dear vegetable/fridge gods – thank you for keeping this fresh!) I heated some olive oil, added some minced garlic and sautéed these until they had a nice browning on them.

Add some of Udi’s Gluten Free dinner rolls that were in the freezer and VOILA! Dinner is served.

Now to enjoy the smell of the rain, the cool air coming in with a cup of hot tea and a cat. Perfect spring evening.

Meal planning, the Whole 30 and more…

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Anyone else here identify with a little thing I call “winter eating?”

The hearty stews, soups, wine to warm you to your toes, the eating out with friends and walking out into the bracing winter air – cooling your rosy cheeks, red from wine and laughing and cozy restaurants. All part of what I love about winter.

And now we’re in April.

It’s starting to get warm, and I won’t lie – I’m also gearing up for dress fitting and all that comes with it. So Z and I are going Whole30 (or at least most of the time – Whole30ish?) – getting a handle on what we’re eating again.

The first time we did Whole30 – meal planning is what saved my life. I do most of the cooking, and Whole30 is a cycle of cooking, prep and more cooking (or at least for me!).  Getting to the grocery store early on Sunday, before all the crowds is key.

Sunday I made this recipe of Whole30 Carnitas – which is absolutely amazing. I got a 3 pound pork butt and was going to 1.5 the recipe, but ended up forgetting until I went to add the spices to the onion/garlic mixture. It still turned out amazing. I used the slow cooker for 8-10 hours instead of on the stove.

We’ve been eating it on lettuce with salsa and an avocado for lunches – tomorrow, fried eggs for breakfast with pork!

Other meals on the docket this week: chicken cacciatore, curried beef with green beans and a sausage tomato chard soup!

If you’ve done the Whole30 – comment with your favorite recipe – I’d love to see some more options!

Monday night dinner inspiration

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Last fall, we did an adventure with Whole 30 – which was not nearly as difficult as I thought it was going to be. And I LOVE cheese. And wine. It definitely took some adjusting, but we’ll be doing it again – we felt great.

One of the things that came out of it was my renewed obsession with roasting veggies and sheet pan meals in general. SO EASY. Easy to make, easy to clean up!

I thought I’d share one of our favorites for easy Monday night meal inspiration:

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Ready to roast!

Toss sliced zucchini (I used three small zucchini), potatoes (I used two large baking potatoes, but sweet potatoes or squash work well too) and small tomatoes (one lb of mixed size tomatoes) in olive oil, salt and pepper and then throw them on a pan (I use parchment paper to line the pans) with some sausage (pictured are not Whole 30 compliant, but definitely paleo compliant and I got them at our local meat counter).  Roast at about 430 degrees until they look done.

I usually check at about 20 minutes, flip/toss them around a bit, (make sure to switch the pans from top to bottom if you have more than one) and then finish it up for another 15-20 minutes.

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Yum.

The first time I made this – I was in awe of the flavor of the tomatoes. Roasted tomatoes are seriously tasty. This would also be good with garlic/onions, just about anything you can think of to roast!

A great meal for late farmer’s market season because you can get just about everything local. Prep work is super fast, and you can work, work out, read, watch the news or whatever you want while it’s roasting.

We usually have leftovers – perfect for lunches the next day and it reheats perfectly. OR, you can throw a fried egg on it and have it for breakfast!

Good comfort food for a rainy (!) February evening in Minnesota.