Greek Salad Dressing

I was craving Greek food the other day. Although when I think of Greek food, I think of a good salad, rice pilaf, and pita bread with cucumber yogurt sauce (tzatziki). Now please don't laugh at me, I realize that this is not Greek food, but that was what I was craving. I settled on making just a Greek salad. I searched long and hard to find a recipe for Greek salad dressing, aka I looked at my pins on pinterest and low and behold there was a recipe for greek dressing. The recipe was good but after some changes, it is now amazing.

Greek Dressing
1 C. olive oil
3/4 C. red wine vinegar
1/8 C. water
2 1/2 tsp. of each: garlic powder, onion powder, dried oregano, dried basil,
3 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
3 Tbsp. sugar
Put everything in a blender and blend well until all is incorporated. Serve over a salad. For a Greek salad I like the combination of lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, feta cheese, kalamata olives, and pepperoncinis. Be creative, but enjoy!

English Muffin Breakfast Sandwich-Breakfast of Champions!

Now that you've made Sourdough English Muffins, it now time to take them to the next level. In fact you could take it up a couple more notches by adding my secret sauce. Well, it's not going to be a secret after I share it, but I'm nice like that.

English Muffin Breakfast Sandwich
-English muffin(s)
-1 egg/sandwich
-1 piece bacon/sandwich
-1 slice cheese/sandwich (so far I've tried muenster and cheddar and both were delicious)
-Liz's secret chipotle sauce
Cut English muffin in half and toast. Cook bacon (for a fast breakfast, cook the bacon ahead of time and freeze, just reheat while cooking the egg). Cook egg with some salt and pepper. I usually crack the egg into the pan, break the yoke, add some salt and pepper, and while it's cooking, use a spatula to keep egg in a round type shape. Once the muffin is toasted and the egg cooked, assemble the English muffin, egg, bacon, cheese, and add Liz's secret chipotle sauce. Enjoy!

Liz's Secret Chipotle Sauce
(note: this is also called chipotle mayo but I don't like mayo so I have a hard time calling it that)
You will need:
Mayonnaise
1 can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (you just want the chipotle peppers, not the adobo sauce)

In a blender, put in mayo. I usually do a bigger batch so I always have it on hand. Remove chipotle peppers from adobo sauce, cut open and remove seeds. It is very important that you remove the seeds. If you do not, then it becomes very spicy and not very flavorful. We want flavorful with a bit of spice. Turn on blender and add one pepper at a time until it is a salmon color. The darker it is, the spicier and stronger it will be. Store in either a container or squirt bottle.

Tiramisu cupcakes

As Curtis' birthday was nearing, I asked him what his favorite cake was. He told me several different kinds and one was tiramisu. Since we were going out, I decided that I wanted to make something that didn't require me cutting and serving, but something that could be self served. Because of my stipulations, I decided to make tiramisu cupcakes. No one ha ever done that, right? Wrong. Google has everything. Unfortunately, I didn't like any of the recipes so I combined 5 different recipes and added some extra love. The result was an incredible tiramisu cupcake that looked amazing and tasted even better.
However, due to life, I never wrote down what I did so the blog post never got written. Then my grandma had a birthday party and I was in charge of the dessert. I decided to attempt at repeating the process and was again successful.
For those who don't know what tiramisu is (like my grandparents and cousins), its a coffee soaked scone like cake with a layer of creamy custard and topped with whipped cream. There are different versions, but this is my favorite. Plus I had an Italian taste them and as he went back for seconds he said that they were amazing and were just as good as the ones in Italy.

Note: this is an easy recipe but requires multiple steps and a good chunk of time...but it's so worth it.
Tiramisu Cupcakes (makes 12)
Layer 1 (lady finger cake part):
4 eggs separated
2 Tbsp + 2/3 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven to 400F. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form, then add 2 tbsp sugar. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking soda together. In another separate bowl, beat egg yokes and 2/3 cup sugar. Add half of the egg white mixture to the egg yoke mixture. Once incorporated, add all of the flour/baking powder mixture and gently mix. Then fold in the remaining egg white mixture. Fill lined muffin tin with batter about 1/2 full. Bake 8-10 min or until slightly golden brown. Allow to cool.

Layer 2 (coffee soaking mixture):
3/4 cup strong coffee-not hot (I used instant espresso)
2 tbsp
3 tbsp sugar
Mix together until sugar is dissolved.

Layer 3 (creamy custard part):
4 egg yokes
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
4 oz mascarpone cheese (found in the specialty cheese section of most grocery stores)
Whisk eggs, sugar and milk together. Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Chill in fridge (or freezer if you want to rush the process) until completely cooled. Once it is cooled, add the 4 oz of mascarpone cheese)

Layer 4 (whipped cream topping):
12oz heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
4oz mascarpone cheese
Approx. 1-2 cups powdered sugar (I didn't measure it, I just added until I liked the taste of it)
Using a hand mixer or kitchen aid, whip the cream on med high until soft peaks form. Continue whipping while adding vanilla and sugar. Once the whipped cream tastes good and looks good, add the mascarpone cheese. Put all the contents in a gallon size zip-lock bag and store in fridge until ready to use.

Assembly instructions:
Remove the lady finger cupcakes from pan. Using a fork, poke a couple of holes in the lady finger cake part. Spoon in the coffee mixture until the cake part can't soak up any more or the coffee mixture is gone. Spoon cooled custard part on top of the cake. Cutting the corner of the ziplock bag containing the whipped cream mixture, squeeze contents onto custard. Note: if custard isn't completely cooled, then the whipped cream part will slide off. Dust with chocolate powder and sprinkle with chocolate shavings. Place in fridge for at least an hour. Enjoy!

Sourdough English Muffins

A year ago, I tried making a starter. With that starter, I tried making English muffins. They didn't turn out very well. I think I may have eaten one and thrown the rest away. Now that I have another starter (which seems much happier than the last one), I decided to try my hand at making English muffins again. Although I'm still refining my process, I made whole wheat English muffins that lasted only two days before I ate them all. I got the recipe from here.

Sourdough English Muffins
8-12 hours before you want to eat this deliciousness, mix together:
1/2 cup sourdough starter
1 cup milk
2 cups whole wheat flour
After 8-12 hours, add:
1 T. Honey
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
Turn out to a floured surface and kneed until everything is incorporated. Flatten to about 3/4". Using a biscuit cutter or a wine glass, cut rounds. Allow to rise on some corn meal or flour (I used flour and they stuck a little bit so next time I'm going to used corn meal) for 45 minutes (don't forget to cover them so they don't dry out). Heat a pan or electric skillet to medium. Grease the pan a little (unless it's non-stick). Cook 5-7 minutes on each side. Cut open and enjoy!

Chinese Chicken Salad

Here is one of my new favorites discovered during the Whole 30. The secret is in this dressing. This is also great lunch to pack the night before since the cabbage doesn't get nasty when sitting in a lunch box all day.

Chinese Chicken Salad
Easy lemon chicken
Napa cabbage
Carrots
chopped sugar snap peas (optional)
Chopped cashews
A small bit of finely chopped cilantro

Ginger salad dressing:
3/4 c.-olive oil
1/4 c.-soy sauce (I just omitted this during the whole 30 and it was good but soy sauce makes it way better)
1/4 c. rice vinegar
1 T-sugar (I omitted this during the whole 30 but added some coconut milk instead)
1/4c.-cashews
2 garlic cloves
2 T worth of fresh ginger
1/2 t-salt (if you omitted the soy sauce, it may need a little more)
Put everything in a blender and blend until the ginger, garlic, and cashews are completely incorporated. Enjoy!

Easy Lemon Chicken

This is one of the easiest chicken marinades to throw together on a busy day.  You can start with either thawed or frozen chicken.  I also prefer to use the chicken tender pieces since they cook up nice and evenly and only take a couple minutes to BBQ.

Easy Lemon Chicken

Using a zip lock bag, throw in:

-approx. 10 raw chicken tenders

-some olive oil (about 1/4 cup)

-some garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper (about 1/2 tsp. each)

-the juice of one lemon (i've also used lime but used the juice of two of them)

-salt (my salt rule is a pinch per serving)

Close the zip lock bag.  Mix and shake all the ingredients around until everything is incorporated and evenly coating the chicken. Allow to marinade in fridge for 4-12 hours.  If using frozen chicken, follow recipe but allow to marinade and thaw for 24 hours in fridge.  BBQ until the chicken is cook. 

Enjoy over salads, in wraps, on a sandwich, or any other way you enjoy chicken.

Carnitas

This is my version of carnitas. I like this because it is full of flavor, natural, and can cook in the crockpot all day. It tasted amazing in my coconut oil tortillas topped with my Greek yogurt, cheese, salsa and guacamole. Plus, since my mornings are a bit hectic, I put everything in the crockpot the night before and stick the pot part of my crockpot in the fridge. The next morning it takes approximately 10 seconds to take it out of the fridge and turn it on. No mess. No time. No hassle.

Crockpot Carnitas
1.5-2 lb pork shoulder or pork roast
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
4 cloves garlic (either chopped or whole)
1 orange cut in quarters
1/2 tsp. liquid smoke (optional)
3 T. olive oil

Place pork in crockpot. Sprinkle spices, add garlic and drizzle with olive oil. Squeeze orange and then throw rind in with meat (warning: the orange will smell overpowering while cooking but when you taste the meat at the end, it is in perfect balance). Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5). The longer you cook it, the easier it will be to shred. Once cooked, take out orange rinds and throw them away. Using two forks, shred the meat. Allow the meat to sit a few minutes to soak up any liquid. You can either serve it as is or fry in some coconut oil to add that more authentic carnitas texture.

Yogurt...fail!

Sometimes life doesn't go the way you planned. I was so proud of myself for get dinner partly together, yogurt in crockpot and life semi organized before I left for work this morning. When I came back, I noticed that my yogurt water bath was a bit cool so I turned on the crockpot and set the timer. I thought I had set it for 15 min. Instead a hour and 50 min. Oh well, I guess Ill be going to the store and buying more milk and yogurt to start my yogurt.

Homemade Tortillas with Coconut Oil

Homemade tortillas, oh how I've missed thee.  It has been way too long since I've had any tortilla let alone a good homemade one.  Then the other day I got this craving for carnitas. Finally the day had come. I had the meat in the crock pot and I had on my to-do list to stop and get some of those uncooked tortillas from the store. And well, I totally forgot. It wasn't until I got home, finished up the meat, made guacamole, and got all the other toppings ready that I realized that I didn't have any tortillas. Well, thanks to living in Mexico for two years, I just decided to whip some up real quick.  However, since cleaning out my pantry for the whole30 cleanse, I only had olive oil and coconut oil on hand.  I have tried making tortillas from olive oil and have not enjoyed them in the lease, so coconut oil was my only option.  Necessity is the mother of invention: they were some of the best tortillas I have ever had. Even Curtis loved them (and he hates all things coconut).
So, without further adue, here is the recipe.

Homemade Tortillas with Coconut Oil
2 C-flour (I know, I'm bad, I used the unhealthy white kind), plus extra for rolling
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/3 C.-coconut oil
approx. 3/4 C. hot water
Mix flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl.  Add coconut oil.  Using fork, knife and any other utensil of your choice, attempt to cut in the coconut oil (that was probably the hardest part to the whole thing). When the mixture resembles crumbs and coconut oil is in small pieces mixed throughout the flour, add in 2/3 C. hot water and stir, then add in a little at a time so as to not get the dough too wet. Once its in a ball, need it several times and then divide it into small balls. This batch made about ten-10" tortillas.  Now coat eat ball in flour and roll out into a tortilla shape.  Immediately place on griddle or frying pan (medium heat) and cook.   Enjoy warm.
Note: With the tortillas being made with coconut oil, when they are cold, they are hard. When they are warm, they are soft and delicious.

Step 2-in making a perfect tortilla

Oh, you're asking me how to roll a perfect tortilla? You know that when I was in Mexico I was told that I couldn't get married until my tortillas were round.  Once I knew all their secrets to making round tortillas, I could whip out perfectly round tortillas just as fast as any Mexican could. Unfortunately it meant that i was eligible and conversations thereafter where...um...rather interesting.
1) Take dough ball. Roll to make sure that it is round and without creases
2) Completely coat in flour and flatten a bit with palm of hand
3) Now pretend that the dough ball is a clock. With the rolling pin, roll from 6:00-12:00 and then back to 6:00. Only.
4) Flip tortilla over and rotate one-quarter turn (for example I rotate from 12:00-9:00)
5) Repeat steps 3-4 until tortilla is super thin.
6) Enjoy your perfectly round tortillas and start looking for a man!

Berry Sauce over Vanilla Ice Cream

Valentine's day has never been a big thing around here. We like a nice meal with some good wine or beer, and I expect flowers. We don't like joining all the other couples in overly crowded restaurants being as cheesy as they can be over an overly priced meal. Normally we splurge and get us some nice steaks that he cooks and I make something for dessert (we have some side dishes too), and call it a night. This year due to an inconvenient work schedule we changed it up a bit. Forget the fancy meal and the messy kitchen, Curtis brought home our favorite Luigi pizza and flowers, we opened up a nice bottle of Wild Horse Peak Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 and watched a movie. It was a perfect evening that we topped off with a super easy dessert:

Berry Sauce:
1 C. Mixed Berries (I did fresh blackberries and blueberries, but frozen would work just as well)
1/2 C. Sugar
1/4 C. Water
1oz. Spiced Rum (optional)
Mix the berries, sugar, and water over a medium-low heat. Once the mixture is hot, take a potato masher and break up the berries a little bit so it's less chunky. Continue to cook until the water has evaporated and it becomes a thicker sauce. At the very end, add the spiced rum. Serve warm over vanilla ice cream. I also added some granola on top just for fun.

Sometimes simple can be great!

Sourdough Waffles

I love working with "bugs." I'm not talking about the creepy crawling ones that you need to squish with your shoe, I'm talking about the tiny ones that work miracles. These bugs make my wort into beer, my tea into kombucha, and my flour/water into a sourdough starter. Thankfully I didn't have to go through the trouble to urge the little guys into doing there job to make a starter and a friend gave me part of hers that is over 100years old! I'm not embarrassed to tell you that I did a happy dance. The first thing I made is sourdough waffles. They were amazing. Even my husband liked them (he eats everything I give him, but I know when I can repeat something and when I should never make something again). So without making you read more of my babblings, here is the recipe.

Sourdough Waffles (adapted from the 101 similar recipes online):
In a blender the night before, mix:
1 1/4 c.-whole wheat flour (thanks mom for your grinder)
2 T-honey
1/3 c.-active starter (I fed mine about 12 hours before I started my waffles)
1/2 c.-Greek yogurt
1/2c.-coconut milk (most recipes call for buttermilk. I never have it in my fridge so I did with what I had on hand and probably will never buy buttermilk for this recipe)
Note: if it is really think and having a hard time mixing, add some water

In the morning, whip all this together and then add to blender:
3 eggs
2 T melted butter (could probably use melted coconut oil)
1/4 t.-salt
1/2t.-baking soda
Note:if it's too thick, you can add some water.
Cook according to your waffle maker and instructions. Add whatever toppings that you want and enjoy. With my waffle maker, I made about 8 waffles.
Note: These freeze well. Just reheat in the oven or toaster oven.

Healthy Chicken Nuggets

Sometimes I think I never grew up, especially when it comes to chicken nuggets.  I can remember countless times when at a restaurant and the only thing I ever saw on the menu were chicken nuggets.  They were my go to whenever the menu had more that chicken nuggets on it.  I liked them with bbq sauce, ranch dressing, honey mustard, and any other dipping sauce.  I have never made chicken nuggets because the frying thing is just not something I would ever do in my own kitchen. And since my life style and kitchen have become more and more healthy, I have even stopped ordering chicken nuggets when I go out to eat.  Now all that has changed, and its all my sister's fault.  I went up to her house to watch the super bowl and low and behold, on the counter, there were homemade chicken nuggets calling my name.  I ate too many, stole her recipe, and made a HUGE batch so I will always have chicken nuggets ready for my chicken nugget cravings.  I have no guilt though because these are healthy...I promise!

I doubled the recipe. I like chicken nuggets.

Chicken Nuggets (recipe adapted from here):

1 lb- Boneless Chicken (breasts or thighs)

1 small sweet potato (yielding about 1 cup)

1 whole egg

1 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

about 1tsp. salt

approx. 1/2 cup-rice flour

coconut oil

Bake sweet potato at 400f until soft (or if you're lazy and didn't think ahead, throw it in the microwave for a few minutes).  Using a food processor, grind the chicken and add to a mixing bowl. Next, add cooked sweet potato, egg and spices to food processor and blend until smooth. Mix ground chicken and sweet potato concoction together.  Heat a couple tablespoons of coconut oil in a frying pan.  Using a spoon, scoop up some chicken mixture, roll around in rice flour and flatten in the frying pan. When lightly golden, flip and place on cookie sheet (if you're going to eat them right away or paper towels if you're going to freeze them).  Continue adding coconut oil and chicken mixture to pan until you're done.  If you're going to eat them right away, heat up oven to 375f and cook for a couple of minutes to insure the chicken is completely cooked.  Makes approx. 20 nuggets.
Note: if you would like to freeze these, hold off on the baking until you want to eat them.

Homemade Ranch Dip:

2/3 cup- homemade yogurt

3 T. -mayo

juice from 1/2 lemon (or 2 T-rice vinegar)

1/2 tsp-salt (may need more depending on your preference)

1/2 tsp-onion powder

1/2 tsp-garlic powder

1/2 tsp-lemon pepper 

1 tsp. soy sauce (this is the secret ingredient to homemade ranch dressing, but you can omit this if you have gluten sensitivities)

Mix all together. Test the flavor to see if its right for you.  If it has too much flavor, add more yogurt. If its too thick, add milk. If it needs more flavor, add more spices.  Go out on a limb, try something new, have fun with this recipe and make it yours!

Perfect dinner for the kid in me (well, and a beer for the adult in me too)

I finished!

So a week ago (I know this post is really late) I finished 30 days of not eating any dairy, grains, legumes, sugar, or alcohol. At times it was hard, at times I wanted to give up, but honestly I'm too competitive to have given up before the 30 days were up. Looking back, I'm glad I did it. I didn't notice any huge improvements, but I lost 8lbs and it changed the way I think about food and what to put in my body. Now eating unhealthy food makes me feel sick to my stomach and completely steals my energy. So honestly, I now love having a full breakfast of eggs with sweet potato hash browns or acorn squash. Cereal or a smoothie is just not enough nutrition to start out my busy days. Sipping peppermint tea at night is now a favorite pass time. Cooking healthy and whole meals has become fairly easy. So, thats my story.

Day 27-Monday (work started for me and whole meals went out the window)
Breakfast: eggs with acorn squash
Lunch: Curtis has leftover roast, I ended up staying at work longer than anticipated and just ate a smashed larabar found in my purse
Dinner: I found time to make some sauce and Curtis made himself zucchini noodles.

Day 28-Tuesday
Breakfast: eggs with potato pancakes and coffee with coconut milk
Lunch: leftover tortilla soup with 1/2 avocado, some cashews and an apple
Dinner: Curtis had grilled lemon salmon and a salad. I ran out the door to go to a sub job and again ate a smashed larabar from my purse.
(note: the larabars are nice but I definitely notice that it doesn't keep my energy levels up for a long period of time. I need to start packing better lunches)

Day 29-Wednesday
Breakfast: eggs with potato pancakes and coffee with coconut milk
Lunch: leftover tortilla soup with 1/2 avocado, an apple and some coconut flakes
Dinner: leftover sauce over zucchini noodles

Day 30-Thursday (january 31st!)
Breakfast: my now favorite breakfast: eggs with acorn squash and coffee with coconut milk
Lunch: salad with leftover roast and an apple, celery sticks, and coconut flakes
Dinner: BBQ ribs, mashed sweet potato/turnips, and a salad.

Typical breakfast

Oh Beer, how I've missed thee!!!
Pliny the Elder and Pliny the Younger at Russian River  Brewing Company

Almost to the finish line!

Energy is getting better...finally. Planning meals are getting easier. Dishes seem less (I think I'm just learning how to cook without making it look like a hurricane went through the kitchen). Minus not having a beer, I could eat this way all...I mean...most of the time.


Day 21-Tuesday
Breakfast: eggs with acorn squash, coffee with coconut milk
Lunch: leftover roast
Dinner: made up some cauliflower/curry/beef dish served over sautéed zucchini (it was ok but not a favorite)

Day 22-Wednesday
Breakfast: eggs with acorn squash
Lunch: spinach salad with chicken, avocado, and acorn squash
Dinner: roast chicken with salad and mashed sweet potato/turnip
Note: tried ghee for the first time. It tastes like really strong butter. It was good but I think i still like real butter better)

Day 23-Thursday
Breakfast:eggs with acorn squash
Lunch: leftover roast (from Monday night)
Dinner: tortilla soup with avocado and sweet potato pancakes (at Esther's house)

Day 24-Friday
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Dinner: copied Esther's idea and made tortilla soup with 1/2 avocado and a big salad

Day 25-Saturday
Breakfast: eggs, chicken apple sausage and sweet potato pancakes
Lunch: leftover tortilla soup with avocado, sweet potato pancakes, and half an apple
Dinner. Hamburgers with avocado and a salad

Day 26-Sunday
Breakfast: eggs, chicken apple sausage, sautéed zucchini and half an apple
Lunch: roast with green beans, broccoli, roasted root veggies, and fruit salad
Dinner: leftover hamburgers with acorn squash and salad

I'm already to day 20!

Between the puppy, cooking everything from scratch, and washing the dishes, there seems to be no time to blog. I've also been reading the Whole 30 book "It Starts With Food." It explains the why behind eating this way and how our bodies function on different kinds of food. So fascinating! One thing I've learned is that I haven't been eating enough, and especially not enough carbs. Since adding more things like squash and sweet potatoes, I've had a lot more energy and have slept really good. I've also made my meals more complete. Instead of having just a salad with chicken, I'll have a salad with chicken and avocado, some more veggies, some nuts, coconut flakes, and some fruit. When I eat enough I can go from one meal to the next without snacking (the ideal situation on the Whole 30).

So here is the new and improved list of what my meals have looked like:
Day 13-Monday
Breakfast: eggs with leftover grilled zucchini and sweet potato hash browns
Lunch: leftover coconut Thai soup
Dinner: Asian themed: fried "rice" made with spaghetti squash with curry chicken

Day 14-tuesday
Breakfast: eggs with sautéed yellow squash
Lunch: big salad with chicken
Dinner: tri tip with steamed broccoli, salad, and blackberries

Day 15-Wednesday
Breakfast: quiche
Lunch: big veggie salad with chicken, some cashews and blueberries
Dinner: salmon with green beans and salad

Day 16-Thursday
Breakfast: eggs with sautéed zucchini
Lunch: Chinese chicken salad
Dinner: taco salad with guacamole, salsa, cashews, and blueberries

Day 17-Friday
Breakfast: 2 eggs with carrot and celery sticks, some cashews, and blueberries
Lunch: chinese chicken salad (napa cabbage, carrots, cilantro, cashews, grilled chicken with homemade ginger dressing)
Dinner: Cajon dry-rub chicken breasts with acorn squash and a big salad

Day 18-saturday
Breakfast: eggs with sautéed zucchini and egg/banana pancakes
Lunch: leftover taco salad with 1/2 apple
Dinner: bun-less hamburgers (topped with sautéed onions and Anaheim chilies, with avocados and tomatoes) with a big salad

Day 19-Sunday
Breakfast: eggs with sweet potato hash browns, 1/2 apple and some cashews
Lunch: leftover hamburgers with baby cucumbers, sautéed zucchini, 1/2 apple, some pistachios, and some coconut flakes
Dinner: easy grilled chicken, with zucchini, acorn squash, baby cucumbers, and some blackberries

Day 20-Monday
Breakfast: 2 eggs with leftover sweet potato hash browns and leftover acorn squash
Lunch: Chinese chicken salad with an apple
Dinner: roast with mashed sweet potatoes, roasted acorn squash, grilled zucchini, a salad, blackberries, and coconut flakes (the nephews with a bottomless pit are coming over) (http://shecookshecleans.net/2012/11/26/pot-roast-with-balsamic-onion-gravy/)

Chinese chicken (my new lunch favorite)

Whole 30: day 9, 10, 11, 12

So life is getting easier. I definitely have more energy than before, but still not sleeping super well like I was promised. Cooking is also getting easier. In fact, some meals have taken me no more than 15 minutes to prep (which is nice when you're busy). Granted they were simple, but still healthy and sustainable until the next meal.

Day 9-Thursday
Breakfast:eggs, juiced veggies
Lunch: leftover "spaghetti"
Dinner: Chicken over salad

Day 10-Friday
Breakfast: quiche
Lunch: coconut Thai soup with sweet potatoes and spaghetti squash
Dinner: spaghetti squash with meaty sauce and a salad

Day 11-Saturday
Breakfast: eggs, grilled zucchini
Lunch: salad with chicken
Dinner: meatloaf with salad and yellow squash

Day 12-sunday
Breakfast: juiced veggies, eggs, and sweet potato hash browns
Lunch: leftover "spaghetti" and salad
Dinner: chicken with cucumber/tomato salad and grilled yellow squash

My easy tip for these last couple of days is to throw some frozen chicken tenders in a ziplock bag (I did 10), throw in some olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, the juice of one lemon, and some salt and pepper. Toss it altogether and allow to thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Then BBQ.
It's perfect for dinner or on top of salads for a quick bit of protein.

Life on Whole 30 day 6, 7, and 8

Looking back over those past couple of days, I'm glad I didn't post until now. I would have discouraged anyone from trying to start the gut healing, psychologically challenging cleanse. I didn't feel well, I had no energy and food made me gag. Well, we are mostly past that. I actually slept really well last night and woke up at 5:30 and just bounced out of bed. Hopefully the promised great sleep, more energy, and the gut healing continues.

The following meals were mostly ate by my husband:
Day 6-ACV elixir
B- breakfast casserole (aka crust-less quiche)
L-leftover soup
D-Mexican themed dinner of chicken fajita over cilantro cauliflower "rice" with guacamole and salsa.

Day 7-ACV elixir
B-quiche
L-leftovers
D-marinaded steak with grilled zucchini and a salad

Day 8-ACV elixir
B-quiche
L-leftover steak over a big green salad
D-meaty sauce over spaghetti noodles

Whole 30 Quiche
10 eggs (from my chickens)
1/2 water or coconut milk
3/4c. Mashed white sweet potatoes
1big all natural Italian chicken sausage
1/2 bell pepper
1/8tsp dried mustard
Salt and pepper to taste.
I also almost added some broccoli but totally forgot until it was already in the oven.
Mix all together and bake 350F for 30-45 min or until completely cooked.
Enjoy!

Apple Cider Vinegar

You may be asking yourself "why the heck is she drinking Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) everyday?." The answer is simple, its healthy. From what I've been reading, it seems like a good idea. I mean why not drink something that will help detox your body, give you an extra dose of vitamins, minerals, and enzymes, make your skin clearer, help your digestion, and boost your metabolism.
It's also acetic acid, which is one of the acids found in kombucha. Right now my kombucha isn't too happy that the garage is freezing cold and it's jealous that the beer stole its heat blanket (yes, my kombucha has a heat blanket). So in the mean time, I'll drink my ACV.

ACV Elixir:
1 cup water (can be hot or cold)
2-3 tsp. raw, unfiltered, unpasteurized, organic apple cider vinegar (if you're not going to get this kind, don't even bother drinking it)
Honey (optional...but not allowed on the whole 30)
A splash of juice (optional)

You can drink this up to three times a day, preferably before each meal. However, I can only handle it once in the morning before I eat breakfast.

Cheers!!!

Meet Nelson!

Hi! My name is Nelson.  I'm the newest member of the Chism family.

I'm named after the Nelson Sauvin hop variety that creates an excellent IPA.   However, most people think I'm named after Nelson Mandela or even Lord Nelson since I'll grow up to be a strong protector of my family. 

I like to be held like a baby so my tummy can be rubbed.

I'm 3/4 lab and 1/4 golden retriever.  I'll be 8 weeks old tomorrow.

In the week and a half that I've lived here with my new family, I've gained 4 lbs!  Probably because I'm going to be a big dog like my dad (who weighs 95lbs).

I'm very fun and playful, but sometimes I act like a cat.

They are trying to train me to be a good dog, but I just give them the puppy eyes. 

Progress-Day4-5

I would have to say that one of the hardest thing about this cleanse is having no dairy.  I miss having some feta cheese in a salad or having an apple with some cheese for a snack, or even putting some cheese in my eggs.

The other hard part is not having any beer. Please don't take this the wrong way, however, when working on plans to start a brew pub, and Curtis and I both being certified beer judges, not having any beer is hard. For example, Day 1 we were emailed to judge a small competition that night. We had to turn it down because of THE CLEANSE.  When a friend is going out of town for three months, grabbing a beer at our favorite place would be nice. Instead we drink tea at night and watch puppy training videos. That's right, we have a puppy now. I'll introduce him soon.  Life's different, but i'll have to get used to this new different for another 25 days!

Day 4-Apple Cider concoction
B-Curtis had leftover breakfast casserole and went on a 50 mile bike ride. I still felt like a truck ran over me and couldn't stomach anything until 10:30.
L-Salad with lots of veggies, 1/2 avocado, and chicken (with some homemade dressing)
D-Hardy chicken veggie soup (made from the bones from Day 3 Chicken)

Day 5-Apple Cider concoction
B-Juiced spinach, carrots, kale, and an apple, plus ate 2 eggs and natural bacon. YUM!
L-Salad with lots of veggies, 1/2 avocado, and chicken (and of course some dressing)
D-Its Sunday. I'm lazy and didn't cook...so we had leftover soup.

Still feeling tired. Apparently that is normal. Hopefully this promised energy, better sleep, and less food problems come true soon.

After Christmas Cleanse-Whole 30

Its that time of year again where I band with a couple of people and do a cleanse.  Normally I only do the cleanse of my choice for two weeks, but this year I'm upping it to the Whole 30 cleanse.  You guessed it. We will be doing it for a full 30 days.  Two years ago, I got my husband to join me for two full weeks. Afterwards, he said he felt great.  This year, when I suggested a 30 day cleanse, he happily agreed...sorta happily agreed, but still agreed.

What the Whole 30 entails: No sugars, dairy, grains (of any kind), and alcohol.  So basically we can eat veggies, meat, and good oils (I only have olive oil and coconut oil on hand but I'd like to add some others)
Day 1: Started with a cup of water and 1 TBSP Raw Apple Cider Vinegar
B-eggs with 1/2 avocado
snack-apple
L-Salad with chicken
snack-some raw almonds
D-Thai Beef over mashed sweet potatoes and a salad

Day 2: 1 cup water with the apple cider vinegar
B-Fruit smoothie (banana, blue berries, strawberries, spinach, and kale)
snack-cashews and an apple (I should not have had that much fruit but it was easy to grab when leaving for work)
L-Leftover Thai Beef dinner with a salad (ate lunch at 2, so didn't need a snack)
D-Roasted lemon dill salmon with green beens

This was delicious and I didn't even miss some kind of carb to accompany the meal.

Today is Day 3.  I, for some reason, don't feel good.  Apparently its called "carb flu" and is cleanse induced. We shall see how much I get done today. The planned menu is:
B-Egg casserole I made last night (eggs, leftover sweet potato mash, bell peppers, and natural chicken sausage)
L-Last bit of the left over Thai Beef
D-Roasted whole chicken with brussel sprouts

See you later readers!