This was a super simple meal with great flavors! I made this yesterday at the same time as the Pad Thai. The sweet potatos really became a side for me as I made them up in advance and stored them separately in the fridge. However, simple and tasty!!
Recipe can be found here.
The Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb of ground beef
1 apple, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 eggs
1/2 cup of Almond meal
basil
nutmeg
garlic powder
21 seasoning salute
6 small sweet potatoes
nutmeg
cinnamon
The Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Poke holes in the sweet potatoes and bake for 30 minutes or until tender.
Set aside and let cool.
In a large bowl add apple and red bell pepper. Mix in 2 eggs and mix well. Add ground beef and Almond meal and mix well with your hands! Add seasonings. I forgot to add tomato sauce or tomato paste but the flavor was great without.
In muffin tins add meatloaf mixture. My meat filled 12 tins exactly. Bake for 20 minutes or until meatloaf is done. While they are in the oven scoop out the center of the sweet potatoes and mash with a fork. Add cinnamon and nutmeg and mix a little more. Add the sweet potato mixture into a baggie and cut off one corner (just like if you were going to add icing to something) and top the meatloaf muffins with the sweet potato.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Not quite yet
So I haven't started the Whole 30 just yet. I learned my lesson that eating super clean for even a few days and then having a cheat like frozen yogurt can have unintended consequences, yikes! I had a big break through yesterday and got 6 handstand pushups, had to kip them, but still did them! Yes!!! I got to check off one more item on my list of things I can't do. Every time I get to do this I get more motivated to conquer the next thing!
I had cinnamon roll french toast for breakfast this morning and I can barely keep my eyes open right now. Partly due to the weather, mostly due to my horrible, yet yummy breakfast! 8/1 is fast approaching and while I plan on eating as clean as possible, I'm not sure I'll give up some of my cheats until we all start the challenge. As soon as I get the motivation to go grocery shopping I plan on making a meatloaf muffin with sweet potato icing recipe which sounds really good! I'll post the recipe as soon as I make it. Go to love lazy Sundays!
I had cinnamon roll french toast for breakfast this morning and I can barely keep my eyes open right now. Partly due to the weather, mostly due to my horrible, yet yummy breakfast! 8/1 is fast approaching and while I plan on eating as clean as possible, I'm not sure I'll give up some of my cheats until we all start the challenge. As soon as I get the motivation to go grocery shopping I plan on making a meatloaf muffin with sweet potato icing recipe which sounds really good! I'll post the recipe as soon as I make it. Go to love lazy Sundays!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Paleo/W30 Recipe - Coconut Crispy Chicken Salad
This salad is GREAT! I made it yesterday and didn't end up eating it until today. So with that said the chicken was a little less crispy than I'm sure it would have been if I ate it right after making it. That said, it was still really good! The recipe called for unsweetened dried cranberries and to my knowledge no such thing exists. However, I found freeze dried cranberries and mangos at Wholefoods. NOTHING is added to them at all and they are crunchy and tasty and delish!!! Great as a topping to this salad or just as a snack!
Anyways, below is the recipe. For the dressing I just made up a small amount to use as needed because I didn't want it to get soggy. I mixed a small amount of lime juice, spicy mustard (with no sugar added to it) and coconut milk. SOOO Good! Also, I used Coconut meal instead of Almond meal, figured it would give it a little more coconut taste!
I found the recipe using Chowstalker. You can find the original recipe here.
Ingredients
1.5 lbs chicken breast (used about 1/2 for this and the rest i'll eat for lunch this week)
1/2 cup almond meal
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
4 tablespoons coconut oil
1 head of green leaf lettuce
1/2 avocado
1/2 small red onion
1/6 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
1/4 up sunflower seeds
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons mustard (spicy brown, i would have used something milder, but it was the only one I had that is paleo friendly)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1) Cut chicken breasts into small 3 bite sized pieces, about 1/4 inch think
2) Set up 3 bowls 1 with almond meal, 1 with eggs, and 1 with coconut flakes seasoned with salt
3) Dredge all chicken pieces, first lightly in almond meal, the lightly in the eggs, then press a little bit firmer into the coconut flakes. Lay coated chicken in a single layer on a plate before cooking.
4) Heat 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a pan on medium high (if you use 1.5 lbs of chicken like me, you'll probably need to use to pan) when the oil is hot place the chicken in the pan, and cook for 3 minutes
5) When chicken has browned flip over and cook for another 3 minutes
6) While the chicken is cooking prepare the salad, cut up lettuce and top with diced avocado, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and thinly sliced onion. Separate evenly into two bowls.
7) Make dressing by juicing lime in top a bowl and a mustard, whisk together and then slowly whisk in olive oil. Taste and then season with salt and pepper if desired
8) Remove chicken pieces from pan and salt to taste.
9) Top salad with chicken pieces (3-4 each) and dress with lime dressing.
Anyways, below is the recipe. For the dressing I just made up a small amount to use as needed because I didn't want it to get soggy. I mixed a small amount of lime juice, spicy mustard (with no sugar added to it) and coconut milk. SOOO Good! Also, I used Coconut meal instead of Almond meal, figured it would give it a little more coconut taste!
I found the recipe using Chowstalker. You can find the original recipe here.
Ingredients
1.5 lbs chicken breast (used about 1/2 for this and the rest i'll eat for lunch this week)
1/2 cup almond meal
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
4 tablespoons coconut oil
1 head of green leaf lettuce
1/2 avocado
1/2 small red onion
1/6 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
1/4 up sunflower seeds
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons mustard (spicy brown, i would have used something milder, but it was the only one I had that is paleo friendly)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1) Cut chicken breasts into small 3 bite sized pieces, about 1/4 inch think
2) Set up 3 bowls 1 with almond meal, 1 with eggs, and 1 with coconut flakes seasoned with salt
3) Dredge all chicken pieces, first lightly in almond meal, the lightly in the eggs, then press a little bit firmer into the coconut flakes. Lay coated chicken in a single layer on a plate before cooking.
4) Heat 2 tablespoons of coconut oil in a pan on medium high (if you use 1.5 lbs of chicken like me, you'll probably need to use to pan) when the oil is hot place the chicken in the pan, and cook for 3 minutes
5) When chicken has browned flip over and cook for another 3 minutes
6) While the chicken is cooking prepare the salad, cut up lettuce and top with diced avocado, cranberries, sunflower seeds, and thinly sliced onion. Separate evenly into two bowls.
7) Make dressing by juicing lime in top a bowl and a mustard, whisk together and then slowly whisk in olive oil. Taste and then season with salt and pepper if desired
8) Remove chicken pieces from pan and salt to taste.
9) Top salad with chicken pieces (3-4 each) and dress with lime dressing.
Paleo/W30 Recipe - Paleo Pad Thai and Sunshine Sauce
I have to say, this recipe was pretty dang close to the real thing and was REALLY good! Below is the recipe as stated in the Whole 30 success guide. I made the following changes:
I used 4 chicken breasts instead of 2. Rather than measure out the spaghetti squash I just used a whole squash. I also don't like peas and neither does Matt so instead I added green onions in place of the peas. I topped the dish with fresh cilantro and slivered almonds. It ended up giving us about 4 servings. The sauce didn't needed to be changed, was more than enough to give everything great flavor. SO GOOD!!
I would recommend cooking the squash ahead of time to save time.
Ingredients for Pad Thai:
Heat some cooking fat in a pan over medium heat. Saute the onion and snap peas until crispy-tender, not too long. Then set aside.
Heat a little more cooking fat in the pan. Mix the raw eggs with the coconut aminos. Pour in the egg and let spread out into a pancake. Cook the eggs in a flat sheet until they are set and beginning to brown, then flip to lightly brown the other side. Cut the eggs into strips and set aside.
Heat a little more fat in the pan. Add the spaghetti squash, snap peas/onions, eggs and chicken. Stir fry until heated through. Add the Sunshine Sauce and stir fry until everything is well blended and hot.
Top with any or all of these:
Double the recipe below for the Pad Thai and DO NOT USE THE WATER.
Ingredients:
Blend all ingredients (except water) in a food processor or blender. If desired, add water slowly until the sauce reaches your desired thickness. Eat.
** I just used a fork to blend in a bowl and it worked just fine!
I used 4 chicken breasts instead of 2. Rather than measure out the spaghetti squash I just used a whole squash. I also don't like peas and neither does Matt so instead I added green onions in place of the peas. I topped the dish with fresh cilantro and slivered almonds. It ended up giving us about 4 servings. The sauce didn't needed to be changed, was more than enough to give everything great flavor. SO GOOD!!
I would recommend cooking the squash ahead of time to save time.
Ingredients for Pad Thai:
- Grilled chicken thigh or breast, diced (portioned for two).
- 2 cups cooked spaghetti squash
- 1 cup snap peas, slivered
- 1/2 onion, sliced thin
- 2 eggs
- 1 TBSP coconut aminos (I found it at Whole Foods)
- Cooking fat of choice (I used coconut oil)
- 2 batches of Sunshine Sauce (recipe at the bottom!)
Heat some cooking fat in a pan over medium heat. Saute the onion and snap peas until crispy-tender, not too long. Then set aside.
Heat a little more cooking fat in the pan. Mix the raw eggs with the coconut aminos. Pour in the egg and let spread out into a pancake. Cook the eggs in a flat sheet until they are set and beginning to brown, then flip to lightly brown the other side. Cut the eggs into strips and set aside.
Heat a little more fat in the pan. Add the spaghetti squash, snap peas/onions, eggs and chicken. Stir fry until heated through. Add the Sunshine Sauce and stir fry until everything is well blended and hot.
Top with any or all of these:
- Chopped Cashews, almonds or sunflower seeds
- Chopped scallions
- Chopped cilantro
- A squeeze of lime juice
Double the recipe below for the Pad Thai and DO NOT USE THE WATER.
Ingredients:
- 2 TBSP organic Sunbutter (if you are doing Whole30, be careful only the Organic Sunbutter brand doesn't have added sugar etc, I made this mistake so will have to be more careful next time!)
- 2 TBSP lime juice
- 1/2 clove garlic, crushed
- 1/2 teaspoon chili-garlic paste
- 1 tsp coconut aminos
- 2 tsp coconut milk
- Dried or fresh ginger, to taste
- 2 TBSP water, as needed
Blend all ingredients (except water) in a food processor or blender. If desired, add water slowly until the sauce reaches your desired thickness. Eat.
** I just used a fork to blend in a bowl and it worked just fine!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations: Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Review/Giveaway
First I have to say that I LOVE the Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations blog. I stumbled upon this blog through Chow Stalker, another great PALEO site. There are tons of great recipes and information on this blog. Best part, he is offering a Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil giveaway! For all those crossfitting paleo nerds out there, this is our kind of giveaway! Visit the link below to learn how to enter the giveaway. And while your at it, if you read my blog consider following it as I plan to add recipes and lots of great informatoin regarding the Whole 30 I'm about to embark on!
Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations: Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Review/Giveaway
Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations: Tropical Traditions Coconut Oil Review/Giveaway
Cleaner Eating
So I'm close to Whole30 type eating, however since I have planned cheats coming up, I've decided to wait to dive in to it completely until at least next week. I will be going wine tasting with my dad this weekend (and other family and friends!) as a belated fathers day gift. Who am I to deny him his father's day gift by not drinking wine with him?! Haha, so knowing that is on Saturday I figure I'll eat as clean as I can while still enjoying heavy cream in my coffee and maybe some FroYo at some point this week too. Since I'll be going 30 days CLEAN I figure I can have one last cheat. You can save your comments if you don't agree with me because I'm pretty stubborn and don't plan on changing my mind anytime soon on the FroYo!
One other thing I haven't given up yet is stepping on the scale. Now I don't do it near as often as I used to and DON'T step on it after a cheat day but have to say that I am pleased to see my numbers return to pre vacationish just after two whole days of clean eating. I know I'm not supposed to step on the scale during the Whole 30 and I mostly promise I won't :)
After last night's 2lb PR (hey gotta celebrate the little things) and tasty shake, I'm feeling more confident going in to this that I can continue to gain strength and improve in the gym while cleaning up my eating and *fingers crossed* losing some weight.
The food I cooked up on Monday is almost gone, enough for Matt and I to both have lunch. That means when I get home from the gym tonight, dinner won't be ready. I always find that either I cook too much and it goes to waste, or not enough and then I'm left scrambling. So today when I can find a spare minute I am going to find a few new recipes, hopefully easy ones, to make tonight and tomorrow while I'm working from home.
One other thing I haven't given up yet is stepping on the scale. Now I don't do it near as often as I used to and DON'T step on it after a cheat day but have to say that I am pleased to see my numbers return to pre vacationish just after two whole days of clean eating. I know I'm not supposed to step on the scale during the Whole 30 and I mostly promise I won't :)
After last night's 2lb PR (hey gotta celebrate the little things) and tasty shake, I'm feeling more confident going in to this that I can continue to gain strength and improve in the gym while cleaning up my eating and *fingers crossed* losing some weight.
The food I cooked up on Monday is almost gone, enough for Matt and I to both have lunch. That means when I get home from the gym tonight, dinner won't be ready. I always find that either I cook too much and it goes to waste, or not enough and then I'm left scrambling. So today when I can find a spare minute I am going to find a few new recipes, hopefully easy ones, to make tonight and tomorrow while I'm working from home.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Paleo/W30 Recipe - Post Workout Shake and a Pasta Salad!
So yesterday's shake was N A S T Y! However, not one to give up after one failure, I decided to give it another try today! Today's shake was T A S T Y!!! I am feeling more confident about transitioning completely to Whole 30 now that I know I have a post workout shake that actually tastes good!
Oh also, I got a 2lb PR on my Push Press tonight! I'm now at 120!
Recipe:
4 eggs whites (16 grams of protein, add more or less depending on what your nutritional needs are)
1/2 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup coconut milk
I blend everything together in my blender and keep cold until I'm ready to drink it. This one actually tasted really good! If you add more protein than listed above be sure to add carbs too in order to get a good carb:protein ratio.
Pasta Salad
This is a SUPER simple recipe that I created on my own (well modified from one I found online but still)
Cook 1 spaghetti squash (takes about an hour in the oven so do this ahead of time)
Cut up 4 cooked chicken breasts and add to the spaghetti squash (after cooking and shredding of course)
Add 1 red pepper (or other colors or even other veggies you want)
Mix everything together. Then add lemon and lime juice for flavor with some olive oil for desired 'wetness', since this is your dressing. I also added some onion powder. Otherwise, nothing to it. Serve cold!
Oh also, I got a 2lb PR on my Push Press tonight! I'm now at 120!
Recipe:
4 eggs whites (16 grams of protein, add more or less depending on what your nutritional needs are)
1/2 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup organic unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup coconut milk
I blend everything together in my blender and keep cold until I'm ready to drink it. This one actually tasted really good! If you add more protein than listed above be sure to add carbs too in order to get a good carb:protein ratio.
Pasta Salad
This is a SUPER simple recipe that I created on my own (well modified from one I found online but still)
Cook 1 spaghetti squash (takes about an hour in the oven so do this ahead of time)
Cut up 4 cooked chicken breasts and add to the spaghetti squash (after cooking and shredding of course)
Add 1 red pepper (or other colors or even other veggies you want)
Mix everything together. Then add lemon and lime juice for flavor with some olive oil for desired 'wetness', since this is your dressing. I also added some onion powder. Otherwise, nothing to it. Serve cold!
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