“Am I A Believer?” Week 2-Whole30
I was overjoyed when my husband decided at the last minute to join me in doing the Whole30 cleanse! Not only is it great to have someone help hold me accountable, but I obviously care about his overall health and well being, and love seeing him take care of himself.
Moreover, it has been a great way to connect and nerd out about food and health issues. We both read It Starts With Food and since have had many conversations about it, over many tasty meals.
Initially, I think my husband was a bit wary of the whole “paleo” thing, though he may not have realized how many of the meals I was already making were “paleo.” Still, ‘ya can’t knock it till you try it!’ So that’s just what he (we) have done! Here’s his recent testimony via a facebook (emphasis mine):
“Am I a believer now? For crying out loud, it’s only been 11 days. I can say this: I feel better, my energy is up and consistent throughout the day, and for some crazy reason I’m waking up early and actually feeling like a slept. We’ll see where this continues to go, but at this point I’m just thankful. It’s true, I’m quite excited for the day when I can return to a wee dram, or a bite of mintchip, but as I indulge in moderation I won’t soon loose the memory of better health.”
Music to my ears… 🙂
So, week two proved to be a bit easier (minus no chocolate on Valentine’s day!), and I received such great feedback about the recipes from my last post, that I thought I would include a few more from this week:
Slow Cooker Parsnip Chicken Masala
I discovered parsnips this week and decided to try them out in a crock pot recipe. The texture and flavor is similar to carrots. It was delicious and another great starch option for the cleanse. You could easily add just about any veggie you have on hand. Sweet potato, celery, etc.
Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts, uncooked
1 medium parsnip, chopped
2 cups of carrots, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 Tsp salt
2 TBS (or more) Garam Masala spices (or combine cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, clove, cumin and pepper )
Directions:
Combine all ingredients in the crock pot and cook for 4-6 hours. Serve with kale chips on the side!
Easy Avocado Salad
For a quick, tasty side and dose of healthy fats and omegas, toss together:
2 avocados, chopped
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
Juice of one lime
Sweet Beet Stir Fry
We dubbed this our “Valentine lunch” since the beets stained everything pink!
Ingredients:
1 medium beet, peeled and sliced
2-3 sausages (we used Trader Joe’s garlic herb chicken sausage which is whole30 friendly)
1-2 cups of fresh kale (also used trader joe’s organic, pre-washed, and cut)
1 red or yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 TBS coconut oil or ghee
1 Tsp salt
Directions:
Warm the oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Add the beets, cover, and let cook for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the sausage and cook for 2 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and cook until veggies are tender.
Green Chile Pork Avocado Cream Enchiladas
When I was purchasing the meat for this dish, Aria overheard me asking the man for “1.5 pounds of pork butt, please.” Then, my sweet two-year-old announced to me, and anyone in the near vicinity, “I don’t waaaanna eat the butt!” (bless.)
I used this recipe from PaleOMG as a base, and made a few tweaks of my own (added the green chile!).
Ingredients:
For the tortillas
6 egg whites
3 tablespoons coconut flour
6 tablespoons canned coconut milk
¼ teaspoon baking soda
For the filling
1.5lbs pork rump roast
1 yellow onion, sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper, to taste
1.5 cup vegetable broth
For the avocado cream sauce
2 avocados, pitted and insides removed
1 TBS green chile power
1 TBS frozen green chile, chopped
¼ cup vegetable broth
¼ cup fresh cilantro, stems removed
3 tablespoons canned coconut milk
¼ teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper, to taste
juice of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lime
8-10 olives, halved
Directions:
-Place pork butt in the crock pot with onion and seasonings and set to cook for 6-8 hours. Shred meat apart with two forks.
-Tortillas: Whisk all your tortilla ingredients together until all the lumps are gone. Warm some oil (coconut or ghee) in a large skillet on medium heat. Pour a 4 inch in diameter circle in the center of your pan and tilt the pan around to spread the batter into a large circle. Let the tortilla cook for a minute or so, until the tortilla bubbles and the edges begin to turn up. CAREFULLY flip the tortilla to cook the other side. Place on plate to let cool. Repeat with leftover batter. You should get 5-6 tortillas from your batter.
–Cream sauce: Place all the ingredients for your avocado cream sauce into a food processor and puree until completely smooth.
-Turn on your broiler to high.
-In an 8×8 glass baking dish, lay out a tortilla, place a little bit of your shredded pork along with a little avocado cream sauce (be sure to save some to put on top of the tortillas later) then curl the sides of the tortilla around to make a mini burrito. Repeat with all of your tortillas so they are lined up side by side in your glass baking dish.
-Put your baking dish under your broiler and cook for about 6-8 minutes or until your tortillas become crispy.
-Then remove baking dish from the oven and turn broiler to low. Cover the enchiladas with the rest of your avocado cream sauce then place back in the oven for 5-7 minutes.
-Top with cilantro and olives (and for those post whole30 experiment, I will try a bit of raw milk cheddar cheese!)
Valentine Breakfast
Sweet Potato Hash & Heart Eggs Over Easy
For fun, I used this little heart egg shaper that Greg gave me for a stocking stuffer this Christmas, but you can just do regular over easy eggs!
Simply chop some sweet potatoes and with a TBS coconut oil in a skillet, cook the potatoes till tender. Season with salt and pepper. Another tasty variation is to add bacon bits!
In a separate skillet, fry the eggs and lay over the pile of potatoes. Mash and enjoy!
