Whole30 - Day 13: Green Bean Frittata & Squash Casserole

Okay, so it was a nice, lazy Saturday morning and I was trying to see what leftover veggies I could involve in our breakfast. Wow! This is a huge change in my thinking. Veggies were never a consideration for breakfast until a few weeks ago. I spied the green beans and the word frittata sprang to mind. I threw those suckers in the skillet with some olive oil, sauteed them until tender crisp, with some spices, and poured my beaten eggs over them. I left them cooking on the stove until the eggs began to bubble around the edges, then popped the skillet in the oven and broiled it until the eggs were done on top. I cut it up like pizza and everyone got 1-2 slices along with a bacon and fruit scramble and some grapes. It was a great breakfast and a nice change up. We're going to try other frittatas as well, like salmon. Yum!

Tonight we marinated steaks for the grill and baked some sweet potato fries with cinnamon. Of course that was all good, nothing new there. Then I found a recipe for a squash casserole in the Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook. After making this dish, I can see why it's called a comfort food. I could have eaten the whole pan. Talk about Whole30! It was super simple too: squash, zucchini, onion, coconut milk, almond meal, and pecans. That is one thing I can say with ease - everything I've cooked has been fairly quick and definitely easy. I can't afford to take loads of time cooking, with three kids, a husband, school work, house work, etc. Anyway, here is close-up of the dish. We were so anxious to sit down to eat that I dished the plates before thinking of taking a photo of the whole dish, hence the close-up of what was left. :)

Whole30 - Day 12: Turkey Curry Stuffed Poblano Peppers

I have to say that cooking is getting easier by the minute. Tonight we had turkey curry stuffed poblano peppers. They were a huge hit! I'm becoming more bold in my pursuit of ingredients. Spices are becoming central to my cooking and we're all enjoying our meals much more. I never realized how boring my meals were until now. It's refreshing in more ways than one. One thing I definitely want to avoid is eating my ingredients. You know, baking the chicken, steaming the veggies and throwing them on the plate with little thought to their seasonings, combinations, or presentation. I didn't start out this way 12 days ago. This is becoming more of a learning process. Here's the recipe:

Turkey Curry Stuffed Poblano Peppers

5 poblano peppers
2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
tops of peppers, chopped
20 oz. ground turkey
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. Thyme
1 Tbsp. curry powder (I’d love to use paste, but haven’t been able to find any)
½ cup coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil a pot of water. Prepare peppers by cutting off tops and removing seeds. Once water is boiling, submerge the peppers and cook for 5 minutes. Remove and place in a bowl of ice water (blanching). Heat olive oil in large skillet, add onions and peppers and cook 2-3 minutes on med-high heat. Add turkey and spices, cooking until turkey is cooked through and spices are blended. Finally, pour coconut milk over the turkey and mix. Stuff each pepper equally and bake for 20 minutes.

Okay, the truth is I never measured anything. My usual M.O. is eyeballing everything. I sort of played with it until I loved it. I almost can’t get enough curry, so adjust it as you see fit. I can think of a gazillion different ways to change it up.

Whole30 - Day 10: Brussel Sprouts on a Date

Tonight's dinner was the best of the last ten days. Don't get me wrong, we've had some nice meals, but this one was truly exceptional. We marinated our steaks for a couple hours before throwing them on the grill. Cooked medium and they were to die for. I pared them with oven-roasted garlic sweet potatoes and brussel sprouts.

The brussel sprouts were incredible!

I sauteed onion in olive oil, tossed in the sprouts and dates, seasoned with a little salt and pepper to taste, and cooked until the sprouts were tender crisp. The last touch was some chopped walnuts. Delicious! It's one of my all-time favorite foods now.

Whole30 - Day 9: A Reason for Farmer's Market?

I bought a package of chicken thighs as the commissary and was very excited to roll it in coconut flour and spices...until I saw this. One fourth of the package was fat! They had folded the fat under and had the beautiful meat showing through the top of the package. Talk about irritating! I won't buy that again. It all got me to thinking about farmer's markets and fresh meats. I'm going to have to check out Eastern Market in Washington, DC. They are supposed to have incredible foods. It's gotta be better than this. I don't think I could put myself through this again.

Whole30 - Day 7: Breakfast is My Favorite Meal

Breakfast has become my favorite meal of the day. I think it's quickly becoming that was for my family too. I've been shaking up our boring breakfast routine with some different scrambles.

This has become the favorite...Cabbage and Hot Sausage Scramble.

I saute cabbage, onion, and fresh sliced garlic in coconut or olive oil, toss in my browned homemade hot sausage, pour in my eggs, and it's instant gratification! Arie loves this for breakfast!

Whole30 - Day 5: Chicken Enchilada

After the success of the coconut torillas, and with extra roasted chicken on hand, I decided to try my hand at an egg crepe. Again, it was super easy with my flat, round skillet. I just beat the egg, spread it around, and waited for the sides to spring loose before flipping and calling it good. I stuffed the egg with sauteed chicken, peppers, and onion, in cumin, salt, and black pepper. A little avocado and fresh tomatoes on the side and my mouth was happy. This was a meal I felt really good about. In addition to going to the gym on a more regular basis, the food has been tasting good and I'm not really noticing much of a sweet tooth today.

Whole30 - Day 3: Coconut Tortillas

Today is day 3 of my Whole30 and so far, so good. I've managed to avoid: grains, legumes, dairy, sugar, and alcohol. It's been a little bit of a challenge since I'm not using bread, rice, pasta, or potatoes. Initially, I struggled with how to take up space on my plate. It wasn't until I removed those things that I realized how central they had become to my meals. What in the world do you do for lunch without sandwich bread? Don't make sandwiches. Hm, that was a novel idea! I'm learning as I go.

Since my guys are accustomed to eating their food wrapped in bread or tortillas, I found a recipe for coconut tortillas and tried it out. It was the easiest thing in the world to make: coconut flour, baking powder, eggs, and water. Voila! I had a wrapper to hold the pulled chicken from last night. We wound up with seasoned pulled chicken, avocado, pear tomatoes, and raw salsa. It was pretty yummy. Here's a photo. Next time I will put spices in the tortilla mix to give it more flavor. Everyone seemed to like them, especially the carb-addicted kids. :)

Whole30 - Day 1: First Cup of Black Coffee

Coffee is one of those things that calms me. Historically, since Arie and I came back from our honeymoon thirteen years ago, we've been coffee drinkers. It truly wasn't until having coffee in Europe that we realized how good it could be. American coffee had always tasted like dirty dish water. We were hooked and have had at least one cup nearly daily ever since. We have spent many nights curled up watching a riveting movie, playing full-contact Risk, or reading a good book, all with our cup of joe. With these bits of knowledge then, one would understand that I'm a little attached to my daily grind. We even still drink from the same cups we bought on our honeymoon...awe.

So here I am, blogging this morning about my first cup of black coffee. To say I drank my coffee would be a bit of an overstatement. It was more like a sip, followed by wincing facial pain, over and over and over. Honestly, I didn't like it at all. Where was the long-held emotional connection? If I can't find an appreciation for it without cream and sugar, then I'm going to have to stop drinking it during the next month. I'm sorry coffee, no offense, but without the condiments you're just another cup of hot bitterness. :( I already miss you horribly, but I will not cave and put that stuff in my coffee for thirty days! It might wind up being one of the hardest things I've ever done, but I'm determined not to put sugar in my mouth for the "Whole30" days. :)

Paleo Primer: Time for a Cool Change

It’s been too long since I’ve written on my blog, but, “It’s time for a cool change.”  Since January 2, I’ve been slowly wading through the food in my house, taking stock of the contents of my fridge, pantry, and cabinets.  Nothing has been sacred – even my spices have been gone through with a fine tooth comb, meaning I have read every label to finally see exactly what I’m putting in my mouth.  I’m weary of consuming food that have high fructose corn syrup, caramel color, MSG, and host of other horrid additives that have been show to cause cancer in lab mice.  Why do I have to eat that way?  The short answer: I don’t and now, I won’t.

Here is my refrigerator door before I cleared out all the junk.   

 

Here is what it looked like after…

 

It was shocking to see what all I had in my fridge!  Make no mistake about it, my pantry was just as bad.  The spice cabinet was actually an after-thought, but turned out to have all sorts of sugar, MSG, and soy.  Now it too has had a makeover.

It feels really good to be committed to reclaiming my nutrition.  I’ve talked a good talk before, but walking the walk is another animal entirely.  Starting tomorrow, and for the next thirty days, I’m going to eradicate grains, dairy, and sugar from my menu.  It’s important to see what these things are doing to me, especially since auto-immunity is an issue in my family.  Over the next month, I will document not only what I eat, but any changes I experience in my body.  The goal is not weight loss (although that’ll be a bonus), but I will be weighing and taping my measurements tomorrow morning before putting the scale and tape measure away for the whole month.  I’ll make sure and post how it turns out.

Just so you know, I began this whole thing as a result of a nutrition challenge that was put out by our fitness center.  I will be following the Whole30 plan, which can be found on www.whole9life.com. 

An Evening to Remember

 

My son is a Boy Scout and is therefore called to live by the Boy Scout Law, which states:

“A Scout is:

• Trustworthy,
• Loyal,
• Helpful,
• Friendly,
• Courteous,
• Kind,
• Obedient,
• Cheerful,
• Thrifty,
• Brave,
• Clean,
• and Reverent.”

It is important to us to provide opportunities for him to exercise these virtues and to bear witness to and praise him when he embodies them in his life.  Last night I was present for a beautiful moment where he identified with one of these virtues for the first time.

We participated in a flag retiring ceremony with his scout troop.  The evening was cool as the crowd of boys and adults alike circled the fire.  With the troop band striking a patriotic tone, the scene was set for a solemn observance.  The senior scouts began to describe in detail the meaning behind each aspect of the American flag, including the colors: 

• Red symbolizes Hardiness and Valor.
• White symbolizes Purity and Innocence.
• Blue represents Vigilance, Perseverance and Justice.

With the boys holding a large flag stretched flat, one boy cut away the blue field of stars, saying it would be kept intact signifying the unity of our fifty states.  As the scout then separated each stripe from the flag, another read aloud historic details of each of the original thirteen colonies.  Upon completing each reading, yet another scout would step over to the fire, drop the stripe into the flames and render a scout salute.  Once all the stripes were likewise burned, the blue field of stars was laid across the top of the fire.  As the flames began to consume the cloth, the stars let off a slight glow.

Once the flag was completely consumed, all were invited to participate.  Many flags were being retired after being flown to tatters and we lined up to place our piece of the flags into the fire.  We were asked to pause for respect and reflection upon dropping our piece into the flames.  In those moments, I captured the following photo of my son.

His look was serious, his salute poised.  Something was obviously stirring in his mind.  As he stepped near me, I could see his eyes were moist.  I asked him if anything was wrong, to which he replied, “I don’t know.”  He continued to stare at the fire, watching others in a slow procession.  Then I asked, “Are you feeling quiet?”  He gave me a nod and I asked, “Are you feeling patriotic?”  “Yes,” he replied.  I put my arm around his shoulder and told him, “I think what you’re feeling is reverence.  It’s part of the Boy Scout Law.”  I used my phone to look up the word and handed it over to him.  After reading the definition, he acknowledged that was exactly what he was feeling.

I’m blessed to have been present for that singular moment in his life when being an American came to mean more to him than simple birthright.  It is an evening neither of us will ever forget.