Whole 30 Recipes: Day 1

You should know at the very beginning. I stink at following recipes.  It's why I cook and don't bake.  I love to add a little of this alot of that (which is usually salt.) This is probably because I have a low appreciation for details and my "C" rating on the DISC assessment is basically non-existent.  Therefore, if you, friend are looking for a super precise, down to the 1/4 a teaspoon sort of recipe, you should take my ideas to pinterest and find a more detailed blogger! If you are a creative little of this, little of that, read on, this is for you!

Breakfast Bake

1 Lb. Bacon or Sausage

1 Red Pepper

1 Yellow Pepper

1 Purple Onion

Handful of button mushrooms

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

Baby Spinach

Kale

12 eggs

 Cook meat, drain grease.  (Save that bacon grease! Then you don’t have to buy it for $10.00 at Whole foods!) Grease 9x13 pan with bacon fat.  Dice peppers, onion, and mushrooms. Using bacon fat sauté diced veggies with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Ribbon cut spinach and kale.  Place spinach and kale on the bottom of pan.  Add a layer of crumbled bacon or sausage.  Add peppers, onions and mushrooms.  Wisk 12 eggs and pour over 9/13 pan saturating veggies and meat.  Add a layer of crumbled bacon and sausage on top.   Bake for 30-45 min at 350 until eggs are cooked through.

                                                                           Lunches

Grown ups:

Mixed green salad with grilled chicken breast, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, peppers.  Squeeze of lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Hardboiled egg and mixed fruit on the side.

The kids had the same thing, minus the greens and the egg…

                                                                Sweet Potato Chicken Chili 

 2 Lbs. Shredded cooked chicken

 3 Sweet potatoes

 2 Bell peppers

2 Large onions

(3) 32 ounce containers of chicken broth,

½ t onion powder

1/2 t crushed cayenne pepper

salt

pepper

Avocado

1/2 Bunch cilantro

Cook and shred two lbs. of chicken. I boiled two pounds of chicken tenderloins. Dice bell peppers and onions, Lightly sauté chicken with onions, peppers and spices in olive oil.  Add chicken broth and simmer for 30 minutes.  While chicken is simmering, peel and cube sweet potatoes.  Add sweet potatoes to chili and simmer for another 30 minutes.  Top with avocado and cilantro.

                                                                  Desert Smoothies 

 

 (These are compliant, though not recommend on the Whole 30 but let's face it, I have Larson Littles. There's no way we'd succeed without this.)

Mixed Berry

Frozen Mixed Berries

½ Frozen Banana to make it a little sweeter

Handful of Frozen Kale and Spinach

½ t of coconut oil

4 oz of Orange Strawberry Banana Juice

Strawberry Banana

Frozen Strawberries

1 Frozen Banana

Handful of Frozen Kale and Spinach

½ t of coconut oil

4 oz of Orange Strawberry Banana Juice

Snacks:

Grapefruit, Cashews, Almonds 

Apple/Applesauce for the kids

Sliced banana with almond butter (we tried sun butter too, but that was not a hit!)

Coffee blended with coconut oil and ghee (This was surprisingly amazing, tomorrow I’m adding cinnamon. )

Right now, I'm taming my nightly wine fix with a La Croix Grapefruit, with a 1/4 grapefruit juice squeezed in it..

Whole 30 Day >1

Day Before the Big Day!

I finished removing the remaining non Whole 30 foods from our house refrigerator and pantry.  We made the kids cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Today’s snacks have included:  Oatmeal Cream Pie, Chips, Candy, Pure Leaf Tea, and I’m trying to drink all the beer left in the refrigerator. We're totally ordering Olive Garden take out for dinner.

Food prep is complete.  Food prep included:

·      Premixing meat loaf to freeze

·      Making meat loaf sauce

·      Making two breakfast casseroles 9x13

·      Cooking 4 1lbs bacon

·      Cooking 4 lbs. breakfast sausage

·      Making six lunches for Monday

·      Cooking and shredding 2 lbs of chicken breast

·      Pot Roast Crock Pot Freezer prep

·      Beef Stew Crock Pot Freezer prep

·      25 individual smoothie freezer bags

·      Fruit salad

·      Snack baggies:

o   Cashews

o   Pistachios

o   Almonds

o   Tomatoes

o   Strawberries

o   Blueberries

o   Grapes

o   Carrots

o   Cucumber

·      Cutting veggies for 6 breakfasts

o   Peppers

o   Onions

o   Tomatoes

o   Kale

o   Spinach

o   Mushrooms

·      Cutting veggies for Steak Kabobs

o   Peppers

o   Onions

·      Cutting, seasoning and freezing Steak for Kabobs

This week’s meal plan is as follows:

·      Monday:

o   Breakfast Quiche

o   Grilled Chicken with Salad, Veggies and Fruit

o   Paleo Meatloaf, Mashed Cauliflower, Green Beans

o   Smoothies For Desert

·      Tuesday:

o   Bacon Breakfast Bake

o   Turkey Avocado Lettuce Wraps

o   White Chicken Chilli

o   Fruit Salad

·      Wednesday:

o   Breakfast Quiche

o   Chicken Salad with Veggies

o   Cilantro Lime Shrimp and Chicken over Zucchini Noodles

o   Smoothies

·      Thursday

o   Bacon Breakfast Bake

o   Bacon Chicken Avocado Lettuce Wrap

o   Pot Roast, Mashed Potatoes

o   Fruit Salad

·      Friday

o   Breakfast Mash Ups

o   Turkey Bacon Lettuce Wraps

o   Thai Curry Ground Beef

o   Smoothies

·      Saturday

o   Omelettes

o   Salads with Cilantro lime shrimp and chicken

o   Garam Chicken Masala over Cauliflower Rice

o   Fruit Salad

·      Sunday

o   Sweet Potato Hash

o   Slow cooker beef stew

o   Steak Kabobs with Baked Potato

o   Smoothies

Recipes to follow!

Why I tried the Whole 30, with 4 four kids, a full time job, and a ten hour road trip....

Because, sometimes you just need a hard reset. Sometimes you just need to stop the madness, get off the crazy train and take a moment to figure out where you've been and where you are going.  Sometimes you need a pause.  The Whole 30 for me, gives my family a chance to do this nutritionally.  To strip our diets of so many of the "offending" type foods, starve our sugar addictions, and reprogram our brain and our relationship with food.

Members of our family have been dealing with the following health issues:
Fatigue
Lethargy
Difficulty focusing
Anxiety
Restlessness
Sinus/Allergy issues
Digestive Issues
Inflammation
Night Waking

We're going to take an inventory.  I'm going to chronicle our results... Pay attention to each family member, their particular issue(s) and how they respond to clean eating.  Then I'll pay attention to how we all respond to re-introducing foods strategically into our diet.

I've been researching the Whole 30 since August.  I wanted to do it then, but realized that in that particular season I didn't have the time/focus available to actually pull it off. So, we waited until we did.  We are driving to TN for a wedding this month.  We're super duper stoked about it. And, I'm a little terrified of keeping this up. But, in 5 months there hasn't been a convenient time. So, here goes.

Couple of things that seem notable:

We are all on board. Brian and I are united in our effort to hard reset.  Our kids get it to the degree that they are able.  We are currently binging on potato chips, pop tarts and wine (only some of us) in preparation.  We've each voted on our last meals, and our menu is a compilation of all of our favorite guilty pleasures.

I'm not taking milk away from my toddler.  My 15 month old will still enjoy her bottles.  (Take off your judgy face, she's the 4th, the last, and she still nurses a couple of times a day. Once she's done nursing I'll put her milk in a cup.) She'll eat what we eat when I cook.  If her Grandma's want to make her oat meal, I'm okay with that.  She's a baby.  It's alright.

I went to three stores to find pork products that didn't have added sugar.  Way to go Costco and Kirkland brand bacon for making the cut.  I gave up on finding ham and salami that were Whole 30 approved.  I think I cheated on the breakfast sausage from Whole Foods that had honey powder (what the what?) in it.  Whatevs.

I didn't realize that January was like a super trendy time to do this, but I'm really glad for all the other people crazy enough to do it at the same time!

I bought too much produce.  As a result, I've learned you can freeze a TON of fruits and veggies.

The prep session required going to three stores (Costco, Trader Joes and Whole Foods) and 5 hours of prepping.  (I'm not quite done, I have a few things left to do.) In total it was an 11 hour day.  Glory.

Whole 30, ready or not, here we come!

Reflections on a Mother's Day....

I'm sitting on my beautiful porch listening to the melodious sounds of bullfrogs and birds... All nostalgic and reminiscing.  Eleven years ago, two houses and four babies ago I sat on another porch. Round, and tired, and excited, and full of anxious expectation. I was waiting... waiting for someone to come and make me a Mama...

Tonight, my swallows are back.  My precious swallows that mean so very much that come each year, and prepare their nest, and they wait too. They are waiting tonight. The pair of them, all snuggled up in the clay nest in the corner of my porch, laying on this year's batch of babies.  They make a good team, taking turns gathering food, prepping the nest, and laying on those eggs.  And when those babies hatch, their friends will come, and help care for them. These swallows live in community... just like me.

Eleven years ago tonight I watched the sun go down and willed my baby to come...  I enjoyed the last Mother's day before my first baby was born, feeling like I was already a Mama, even though my arms were empty.

I don't know why God gives life, and babies when He does. I will always wonder why sometimes He doesn't. I only know that it's not about me, this privilege He's given me to be my children's Mama... It's about them. These precious little children, all cuddled up in their beds upstairs are living out their destiny, and I get the amazing honor to raise them.

So tonight, I'm thinking of my Julia girl.... Thinking about the last minutes I felt her move in my belly, wishing she could stay safe in there forever while simultaneously wishing her out.  I'm thinking about her first cry, her first smile, her first tooth, her first steps, her firsts... and her lasts. I'm thinking about how my baby isn't a baby at all... but a gangly joyful, hopeful girl who is blooming into something far more beautiful than I could have ever hoped for.

I'm thinking of her smile, and her giant heart, and her sense of humor, and her giggle. I'm thinking of her desire to serve, and to love, and to do things with excellence. I'm thinking of her tender heart towards Jesus, and how she is learning who He created her to be.  I'm thinking of her as a big sister, as a daughter, as a friend.

Julia, love.... Happy almost birthday.  Thank you for making me a Mama. Thank you for giving me grace, oh, so much grace, as I struggle to figure out how to be gentle, and patient, and strong all at the same time.  Thank you for gracing our lives and making your Daddy and me a family.  Thank you for being the most amazing big sister I could ever ask for. Thank you for your selflessness. For your tenacity, for your creativity, for your love of people, and nature, and this giant world around you....

I want you to know.... that you have every thing you need, to be exactly who God has called you to be. That you are whole, and complete and His perfect masterpiece.  I want you to know what a joy it is to be your Mother, and how grateful I am to be able to be a part of your life.  I want you to know, that you can have the whole world... And that God's plans for you are big- and that no matter what, your very biggest adventure will be found walking in the center of His will.  I want you to know that you don't have to be afraid. Theres a fine line between fear and wisdom, sometimes wisdom disguises itself as fear. Be bold, and confident, and so very brave- because He goes before you, preparing the way for you.  I want you to laugh... your silvery, bubbly, ginormous laugh that fills a room and is contagious, laughing is the very best possible medicine, exercise, and solution for just about anything. It is impossible to feel exuberant joy and anything else, including pain, anger, etc. at the same time. Choose, joy baby.When you need to, I want you to cry. I want you to feel pain when it comes. I want you to release it in tears, don't keep it bottled up inside. He is faithful to catch your every tear...

I want you to dream big, big dreams. I want you to imagine anything is possible. Take the time to listen to the birds sing, and look at the flowers, and enjoy the world around you. Love well... love so well your heart breaks open expanding it's capacity to love. I want you to own your choices. I want you to choose wisely, and confidently, and walk out the consequences of your decisions.  I want you to never stop learning.  Keep moving forward, but it's okay to reflect back and learn from your experiences.  I want you to enjoy the present. Don't be so driven that you forget to enjoy right where you are.

I want you to sing at the top of your lungs.... I want you to dance. Even when people are watching, I promise they are just wishing they were brave enough to join you. Invite them to. There's freedom in living loudly.  I want you know when to lead, and when to follow, and how to tell the difference.  I want you to jump in puddles, and run till you think your chest might explode, and ride roller coasters, and jump off cliffs into the ocean. I want you to ride your bike so fast it feels like you are flying. I want you to lose count of magical stars.  I want you to see the world.

So, my love. Happy almost birthday.  Thanks for allowing me to be your Mama... you, and your sweet sweet brother and sisters have been my very greatest gifts.