Whole30 Holy Grail...

Y'all. I found the holy grail of Whole30 goodness. 

Nachos. 

May I repeat... 

N-A-C-H-O-S!!!!

I don't know that I can adequately express how much I love nachos. They are my comfort food. As in, when I have a bad day, I call Chuys, order the Panchos Nachos and pretend they aren't just for me to the carry out person and then go home and do this...

So I basically cried tears of joy when I came across this post on Instagram...

(Do yourself a favor and follow this account.)

I immediately sent Ryan a text and asked him to add these ingredients to the grocery list so when I was done with a long work weekend ahead I could celebrate.

And y'all. These were SO good and SO easy and I need them every single day of my life. 

PLANTAIN NACHOS FROM WELL FED 2Serves 2-4 | Prep 20 minutes | Cook 30 minutes


PLANTAINS:2 green plantains (they MUST be GREEN)1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted


TACO MEAT:2 teaspoons coconut oil1/2 medium onion, minced (about 1/2 cup)3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)2 tablespoons chili powder1 teaspoon ground cumin1 teaspoon ground coriander (we didn't add this)1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves (also pretty sure we didn't add this)1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (and maybe even this bc the kiddos)3/4 teaspoon salt1 pound ground beef2 tablespoons tomato paste1/2 cup Whole30 compliant chicken broth (or water)2 teaspoons cider vinegar


GARNISH:minced scallions, jalapeño slices, diced avocado, shredded lettuce, chopped tomato, fresh lime juice


DIRECTIONS:Preheat oven to 350F. Cover two large baking sheets with parchment paper.


Peel the plantains and use a mandoline slicer on its thinnest setting to make plantain coins. Toss the slices and the coconut oil in a large bowl. (Ryan just sliced ours really thin - no fancy slicer needed).


Use four coins to make each "tortilla:” Lay them flat on baking sheet with edges slightly overlapping; sprinkle with salt. Bake 25-30 minutes until crisp & starting to brown. Meanwhile…


Heat coconut oil in a non-stick skillet over medium, 2 minutes. Add onion and cook until soft, 7-10 minutes. Mix the garlic, chili powder, cumin, coriander, oregano, cayenne, and salt, then add to onions.


Crumble the ground beef into pan and cook, breaking up clumps, about 5 minutes. Push meat to the side & drop in tomato paste; fry 3 minutes. Add broth and vinegar; stir. Bring to boil, then reduce to simmer and cook, uncovered, 10 minutes. Pile meat on top of plantain chips & top with garnishes.


This was a huge hit! We made the kids tacos and then Ryan and I ate nachos and we had enough for me to have lunch the next day. So yummy y'all and I didn't even miss the cheese. (Okay, maybe I did a little).

Happy Whole30ing!

Lessons from Whole30...

Last month Cindy and I did perhaps the craziest thing we have ever done… we decided to live “Whole30” for the entire month of November. If you aren’t familiar with Whole30 then you can read about it here… for those of you not into research… continue along.

Whole30 means that you eat “whole” foods for 30 days. It’s not a diet, but a true change in how you approach food. The premise is to rid your body of things that it has become addicted to in order to really gain an appreciation for food as fuel. You give up sugar, grain, dairy, legumes and corn. (Yeah, corn…you can basically eat all vegetables except corn.)

The reason you give up these items is due to the effect that they could be having on you. This focuses on whole foods – no added sugar or unnecessary stuff we just don’t need – because that is what our body was meant to have. There’s a whole list ofdo’s and don’ts that you can read about.

Cindy is the learner in this relationship – she read an entire book, lots of articles and other stuff before making this jump. I asked Cindy for the crib notes and joined her on the endeavor on October 30. #sponteneityismylovelanguage

It started out rough…not going to lie. We weren’t prepared and Ryan quit by day 3. But I held strong and lots of my “I canNOTs” turned into “I totally got this!” Here are some reflections on my 30 days of Whole30…

1. Eggs are life. Seriously, I think in 30 days I probably ate 60 eggs. Every day for breakfast and on top of most dinners. Eggs are glorious and easy and tasty.
   
2. Coffee – I am a devout CREAM, SUGAR, coffee girl. Meaning I take a little coffee with my cream and sugar. This was the one that I was the most nervous about. By day 5, I was drinking coffee black. BLACK. And you know what… I LOVE IT. And I totally have street cred now. AND I can drink coffee whenever…not just when my fancy cream and sugar are available.
   
3. Kids hold you accountable – by day 7 my kids were all, “Ummm…Mom, is that Whole30?” To which I would reply…”yes. Thankyouverymuch”.
4. Breakfast becomes leftovers + eggs. Seriously – I would warm up dinner from the night before and throw some eggs on top and breakfast of champions.
5. Cooking becomes so much fun! I love to cook but I had gotten out of practice of being creative – this made me get creative and I loved it. And my kdis loved it!
   
6. You become a label reader. Yep – I read labels now and always find myself asking “Why in the world would they put sugar in sausage?!” Seriously? WHY??
7. You save money. I hardly ate out because I couldn’t control what was inside the food.
8. Not even salads are safe – true story… Chic Fil A puts SUGAR in their salads. See #6.
9. HEB has stepped up their produce game – I loved walking around looking for fun new things to try and HEB now has pre packaged butternut squash and fresh green beans ready to eat. Just cook and serve. And top with a fried egg.
10.  You will really want a tortilla. Or bread. Or cereal. Like all the time.
11. You will be proud of what you avoid – like all the free cake at your work event.
12. You will miss cheese.
13. You should do this with someone. Cindy and I would text each other our victories, our dinners (5 grapes, an avocado, some chicken and tomatoes), our frustrations (the cheese) and it was nice to have a champion.
14. Your clothes will begin to fit again. Part of the Whole30 is to NOT weigh yourself because this isn’t a diet or a fad, it really is intended for you to face food differently. I will say that Cindy and I both weighed ourselves half-way and were blown away at the results.
15. I never got any headaches which is a miracle. I get headaches regularly and I have read that when you take foods away your body will go through crazy withdrawals and revolt. In the form of headaches. BUT, my headaches went away…
16. You can make this work for you. I’m not going to lie, as much of a label reader as I became, I couldn’t eliminate everything 100%. I tried as best as I could – I bought gluten free sausage but it still had 1g of sugar in it. I ate organic, grass fed butter but I didn’t make ghee, etc… I did the best I could given my lifestyle and you know what?? That is ok, sister!
    
17. You will miss cheese.
18. And tortillas.
19. And ice cream.
20. Eating out will happen and you have to stay strong. I went to a Mexican restaurant two days in a row and did not eat ONE chip. Not one chip. I have never felt like such a bad ass.
    
21. Except when I became addicted to black coffee.
22. You can survive and eat well and not feel like you are doing without. We made it through THANKSGIVING DINNER without cheating y’all. ::pats self on back::
    
23. You start to LOVE living like this. Seriously, it becomes easy and second nature and no longer “inconvenient” to fill yourself with real food. Even on your kid's field trip.
24. You become a master chef. Seriously, I can make sweet potato hash like nobody’s business.
25. Your kids become your cheerleaders – Emmy started counting down the days for me.
26. You stop counting down the days… by Day 20, I was convinced that I would live like this forever… with maybe some cheese here and there.
    
    
    
27. You feel better.
28. You have more energy.
29. You still miss cheese.
30. But you can do it!

I am so proud of us and y’all… there must be something to it because by the end, I had shed 16.4 pounds. That’s half-a-POUND each day. I was shocked. SHOCKED. I didn’t work out the entire month. I ate bacon at least twice a week. And I lost SIXTEEN pounds. 

And this isn’t about weight, but I have worked out religiously before and never moved the scale that quickly. Perhaps our bodies really don’t need all that sugar and dairy and grain and corn.

So, let me know if you want to try it. I will coach you and cheer you on and write down all sorts of fail proof recipes that I made up and LOVE.

Just know this.

You will miss cheese.

Tasty Tuesday...

I'm gonna let y'all in on a little secret...

I love food. 

Love it. Like, I would rather spend money on a nice dinner than buy a new pair of shoes. 

I know. That's crazy. 

But, I've also come to the realization that my metabolism doesn't love my food choices as much anymore. I, like most everyone, could once eat whatever I wanted and not tell a difference. Well, notsomuch anymore. I enjoy working out, but don't always have (or make) the time for it (because I'd rather binge watch Friday Night Lights until 2am). So, instead, I need to watch what I eat. 

I started the 21 Day Fix 10 days ago and I'm loving it! (I actually purchased it a year ago and this is the first time I've really committed to it). The concept is portion control without calorie counting. You are supplied with colored containers and depending on weight and goal weight, you get assigned a certain amount of each container daily.

It's so simple.

And you still get tons of yummy food. Some days it's been hard to eat all the containers, but I do it and in my first 10 days I have lost 4 pounds with no exercise. (My next round I will start back at boot camp - that's the plan anyway). Seriously, you should give it a try! 

Here are some of my favorites from the past week...

Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers

from Damn Delicious

Y'all. These were so so so good! Our kids LOVED them (we served theirs in bowls instead of the peppers). We had enough of the stuffing left over so on night two we browned some lean meat and made soft tacos. 

MAKE THIS!

INGREDIENTS

3 cups cooked quinoa

1 (4oz) can green chiles

1 cup corn kernels (we just use a can of drained corn - fancy)

1/2 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup petite diced tomatoes

1/2 cup shredded pepper jack cheese

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

3 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp garlic powder (or more to taste)

1 tsp onion powder (or more to taste)

1 tsp chili powder (or more to taste)

Kosher salt and pepper to taste

6 bell peppers, tops cut, stemmed and seeded

Mix all the ingredients together, place inside the bell peppers and bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

FIX COUNT: 1.5 green, 1.5 yellow, 1 blue

Teriyaki Chicken

from Yummy Healthy Easy

(She even provides nutrition content!)

(I am clearly not a foodie blogger. I remembered to take this picture after my first bite. With my phone.)

INGREDIENTS

5-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup sugar (or 1/2 cup trivia baking blend)

1 cup lite soy sauce

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 tsp. black pepper

2 tbsp. cornstarch

2 tbsp. cold water

Steamed rice for service

Sesame seeds for serving (optional)

I was a little worried about this one because most of my crock pot recipes with a soy sauce base have been hit or miss. When I walked into the house I will say, I was sure it was going to be a miss - it smelled a little strong and the initial taste was a bit bitter. (I didn't use as much sugar is the recipe called for). 

 So I went rogue and added a can of pineapple chunks and sautéed some bell peppers in coconut oil then added that as well. We served ours over quinoa instead of rice and it ended up being a pretty big hit. 

FIX COUNT: 1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow (And some extra from the non-fix sauce)

Peppers and Turkey Meatballs

This may seriously be my new favorite go-to meal. I found these frozen organic turkey meatballs and Sam's one night. I was with the kids shopping for Radley's school festival and knew that I needed something quick for dinner. The kids wanted steak fingers and gravy (and clearly I did, too) but I saw these and knew that we had peppers at home so I grabbed a bag.

I set aside enough that I thought would feed Ryan and I to thaw while the steak fingers were baking. I coated the skillet with some coconut oil spray and sautéed the peppers adding salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder and then added the meatballs. Cook until heated through and then cut in half to brown them. 

I seriously want to go make this right now. So so so good! And easy!

FIX COUNT: 1 red, 1 green (and I was full)

You can follow my Yummy Goodness (the healthy-ish version) Pinterest Board here. And I just started a 21 Day Fix Board here. Send me some of your favorite go to recipes! And leave a comment if you are interested in trying this out. Would love to start a challenge group soon!