Whole30: Round 2

Whole30 seems to be all the rage lately and it's for a good reason.

We did our first round of Whole30 back in October and while it has it challenging moments, it is TOTALLY doable and totally worth it.

As the founder says, cancer is hard...Whole30 is not hard. 

We recently listened to Jen Hatmaker (LOVE her, please go read her books and listen to her podcasts if you aren't already) interview Melissa Hartwig, founder of Whole30 and it was enough to make us want to do it again. 

If you are new to Whole30, in short it is a program that strips away sugar, grains, alcohol, dairy and MSG from your diet in order to get your body in check.  

We originally did Whole30 in the fall as a reset for our bodies and our systems and it worked.  While the program isn't focused on losing weight, I did not hate the fact that I lost 12lbs over the course of the 30 days.  The literature is careful not to call Whole30 a 'diet' and that's true.  Within the approved foods, there is no limit to the amount that you can eat.

I've talked before how I have some (annoying) belly issues (in short, my body is allergic to sugar and can't process it well) and that leads to a lot of bloating and digestive issues.  Unfortunately, sugar is in LITERALLY everything, so many things you wouldn't even think it is.  So while Whole30 can be on the verge of boring, the program works really well for my system.

The founder of Whole30 makes it a point to encourage trying Whole30 for 30 days and then slowly reintroduce the foods you eliminated back in and seeing how your body reacts.  Whole365 should not be a thing...for one, I think you would lose your mind.  Two, mama needs her glass of wine and some cheese every once in a while.  While not on Whole30 I like to employ the 80/20 rule.  Good food in 80% of the time and the not so good stuff 20% of the time.  For me that 20% is usually Diet Coke, red wine, fries and cheese.  Again, all of those things have sugar and my body will surely tell me about it.

Since we've completed one round of Whole30 I thought I would share my favorites with you guys.

I will say, that in general we eat pretty 'clean' so I didn't see an excessive change in our grocery bill or what we were buying.  

The #1 piece of advice I have is to plan and prep.  I usually use Sundays to prep and cook roasted veggies, spaghetti squash and chicken.  I've been doing chicken in our Instant Pot and we also make a big batch of scrambled eggs to have throughout the week. 

Whole30 Favorites:

Rx Bars (any of the fruit ones)

Kind Pressed Bars

Larabars (fruit flavors)

Dried mango, pineapple, banana (Trader Joes has the best)

Roasted potatoes (we slice them thin, season with garlic salt and roast at 425 for 25 minutes)

Apples with almond/cashew butter

Fruit

Roasted veggies

Aidels/Applegate sausages

Creamy sun dried tomatoes + chicken thighs 

EGGS (so many eggs)

Flavored seltzer water (coconut is my favorite)

Pumpkin Turkey Meatballs 

Tessamaes dressings

Nutpod creamer

Lean beef burgers with avocado 

Sweet potatoes

There are TONS of easy and yummy Whole30 recipes out there.  I will say we struggle most with snacks.  We are used to having portable snacks and carrying around half a chicken breast isn't the easiest thing.  Nor is surviving on Rx bars, mostly because we would run out of money.

So here we go again...wish us luck! If you have any questions, just ask! I am no expert but have ton a bit of research and enjoy talking about it!

Recipe : Summer Transition Soup

I am someone that can eat soup all year round.  There are so many delicious varieties out there and I LOVE making it, there's no reason not to eat it all the time. 

However because it has been SO SO hot lately, I have put my soup love on hold.

That is until this past weekend when Fall decided to peek it's head out just a little and it was a little cooler out.

Once I saw that coming on the forecast, I knew this soup was going on our menu.  I pinned this soup quite a while ago and have been dying to try it.

Let me just say, it did not disappoint.  At all.

I did make a few changes to the recipe but overall, followed it pretty closely.

You guys know me, I always have to add my own little twist of my own.

The biggest changes I made were:

-swapped out bacon for a rotisserie chicken- I will say this was a delicious decision, plus with the chicken already cooked, almost all of your work is done for you

-swapped out regular potatoes for sweet potatoes

-swapped heavy cream for a can of coconut milk

-did not put 2 cups in the food processor - while this part does sound delicious and creamy, we were getting slightly impatient to eat and generally prefer chunky soups

I am already planning when this can go on our menu again, it was quite the hit.

And with most soups, it was even better the second day. 

I loved how hearty, healthy and full of good for you veggies this soup had in it. 

Grocery Games

Seeing as how going to the grocery is part of our weekly routine, it is essential that we have a few tricks up our sleeve that make that trip go quicker.

Normally we head to the grocery directly from church on Sundays.  I love it because by about 11am we are done with church and grocery and have the rest of the day ahead of us!

Which leads directly into my first tip

1.  Time your trip - Like I said we are generally at the store early in the day on Sundays.  This time is FAR better than Sundays after noon or even past 5.  If we've been traveling that weekend and I end up at the store anytime after 5 it is almost pointless to go.  Our groceries are about 60% produce and by that time of the evening they usually do not have what I need or it looks terrible.  So if you can I suggest earlier in the day or if you are lucky and can go during the week, that is ideal!

2.  Ibotta - I've shared my love for coupons before and that is still going strong.  Especially when Kroger sends me coupons for the exact things I buy.  I fully know what they are doing but hey, I'll take it!  The other lifesaver lately has been the Ibotta app.  This app searches groceries and various other stores (think Costco, Target, Gap) and gives you cash back for items you are already purchasing.  All you have to do it scan the item and scan you receipt.  Once you reach $20 in savings, you get a payout.  How easy is that?!  If you want to try this genius app out for yourself, check it out here and you will automatically get $10 in your account.  You will be halfway there! 

3.  Reusables - As I said, the majority of our buggy is full of produce.  This equals a lot of plastic bags.  My neighbor mentioned to me that she found these great reusable produce bags and I was sold.  These things are genius and do not create the unnecessary waste that plastic bags do.  I've even run these through the washer (not dryer) when they get a little dirty and they turned out great.   

4.  Make a list - I know this one is pretty common knowledge but it is vital!  I prefer to head to the store with a meal plan and a list but some days it doesn't work out quite like that and we end up making a list in the parking lot.  Regardless, if I don't make a list, the whole trip is a lost cause.  Especially with pregnancy brain...

I will often use my coupons too as a mental reminder of what is on my list or coupons I need to use up before the expire.  

5.  Take a buddy - Because we go after church, Mister and I are generally at the store together.  This is a lifesaver!  With our list in hand, Mister is a saint and usually grabs everything on the opposite end of the store.  This helps our trip to the store go a million times faster.  

Now I'm off to meal plan for the next couple of weeks!

Any good recipes you've had lately or any grocery tips we need to implement? 

Recipe : Sassy Zucchini

I really wish I had come up with the name for this recipe but sadly I did not.

Recently we were at Mister's parents house and his mama whipped this up for our Sunday lunch.  Other than the deliciousness of this recipe, I love that it is an old family recipe.

Don't you just love that?

I have some of my Mamaw's old recipes and books with her notes and I really treasure those quite a bit.  

After Mister and I both enjoyed this at his Mama's house, I knew it needed to be on our menu soon.

As with generally any recipe I make, I tweaked our version just a little.

I left out the spaghetti and mushroom sauce and added a can of beans for some extra protein, garlic, and Italian seasoning.

 I will say we used ground beef and it was delicious, I had originally planned on ground turkey but I think the beef is tastier.  Either one would work though.  

The really high point of this recipe (sans the deliciousness!!) is that it makes a TON.

We had enough to have dinner one night, leftovers 2 additional times and I took the rest for lunch one day. 
This is perfect for a crowd.  It makes A LOT, is super easy, yummy, full of protein and filling.

Those are all winners for me.

This will definitely be on repeat on our menu.

Thai Chicken Quinoa Casserole

It's been far too long since I've raved about a recipe and this one definitely qualifies as a winner.

Mister's aunt sent this too me a while back and I made it last night again with some tweaks and it was even better than the first time.

I based our meal on this recipe and followed it pretty much to a 'T' but made a few additions.  

 The first time I made this I added ground turkey and while it tasted okay, it did not look very pretty.

This time I browned up 3 cubed chicken breasts in a skillet before I added it to the casserole dish.  

I also added frozen corn and used frozen broccoli instead of fresh, either works!

 I did mix up a tad bit more peanut sauce than the recipe calls for but because we had SO much chicken, I think next time I will double the sauce recipe.

Besides being very delicious and a great week night meal, this recipe makes a TON.  We probably have enough for at least 3 nights of meals.  

While this recipe comes together quickly, I will warn you the baking time is quite long so make sure you plan ahead for that.  This could definitely be made up the night before and baked the next day.

Dig in! 

Recipe : Lazy Housewives Lasagna

Happy Monday and Happy Spring!

Our weekend was pretty low key and full of basketball.  I took zero pictures this weekend so instead of recapping that I am going to dazzle you with a super easy meal you can whip up tonight.  OR take to a friend or new mom as we did.

I first heard about this recipe in college and (when I could eat it) it was a staple for us.  I also realized it is the perfect meal to take to someone as a surprise treat, say right after having a new baby.

Within the past year or so we know of approximately 30 people that are having or just had a baby.  No, seriously, 30.   

So let's just say this quick and yummy recipe has come in quite handy.  

Ingredients:

2 packages of frozen ravioli, thawed (I like to mix cheese and meat)

1 jar of or marina sauce

1 package of mozzarella cheese

1 foil pan

1.  Boil ravioli according to package directions and drain

2. Line foil pan with a layer of marinara sauce

3.  Next layer half of the ravioli on top of the sauce

4.  Layer with a generous amount of mozzarella cheese

5.  Repeat steps 2-4 for the second layer and then with the remainder of the cheese, cover the top

7.  Bake at 375 for 45 minutes covered in foil and then an additional 15 minutes uncovered.

Because we were giving this as a gift, I wrote the instructions on the foil.  This dish is also excellent one to freeze and heat up later.  

And it is really that simple, couldn't be easier! 

Enjoy! 

Recipe : Goat Cheese, Bacon and Pear Crostinis

You know the deal, you're at your friends house for a sporting event (this case, the Superbowl) and someone else brings an appetizer you can NOT stop eating.  This happened to us recently and it was beginning to get embarrassing how many delicious treats I was shoving in my mouth.  

I grilled the bringer of the deliciousness and before she told me about the recipe we were eating, she told me about the original recipe.  As soon as she said it I knew I had to make it asap.

So what we were eating were crostinis smeared with goat cheese, slices of strawberries and drizzled with balsamic vinegar.  Heaven.  

She then told me about the original recipe which was similar but used pears instead.  

Equal yum.

Thankfully a few weeks later we were invited to a friends so I knew just what I wanted to whip up.  

I took the goat cheese and pears and ran with it.  And added bacon, as you will.

(I also loosely followed this recipe.)

Goat Cheese, Bacon and Pear Crostinis

1 baguette, cut into slices

1 roll goat cheese

3 tablespoons of olive oil

6 pieces of bacon, crumbled (easiest cooked in the oven)

2 pears, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons honey

1.  Preheat oven to 375 and slice baguette
2.  Place slices on cookie sheet and brush with olive oil

3.  Warm/cook slices for 8 minutes (give or take - you want them slightly crispy)

4.  Once slices are crispy, let cool and spread a layer of goat cheese on each slice

5.  Top goat cheese with thinly sliced pear pieces

6.  Sprinkle each slice with crumbled bacon and drizzle with honey

Ta da!

This was so easy to whip up and the sweet and salty combo was SO good.  

I love how 'fancy' these look as well but really are so easy to make and transport.  

What's for Lunch?

A few weeks ago when I posted about my morning efficiency routine I mentioned packing my lunch the night before.  Since then, I've had a few requests about what I pack for lunch to mix things up.

Well you are in luck today because I've been taking some snap shots of my meals to share with you.  Thankfully my lunch table has grown used to it by now ;)

I am lucky enough to eat with a very fun group everyday and that certainly helps to make lunch time way more enjoyable.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have to have a variety of things for lunch every day.  Mister is 100% content eating the same thing day in and day out but I cannot.  I need variety, something to look forward to and something that I want to eat.  I really love eating and if I'm not excited about it then it just isn't fun.  And, to me, eating should be fun.

The main protein of the majority of our lunches is chicken.  Each week we buy 8-10 chicken breasts at the grocery.  (The butcher has finally stopped looking at us funny when we order that many at a time.)  Mister takes a whole one breast each day and I take a half.  That quickly adds up to a lot of chicken but at $1.99/lb it is WAY cheaper than lunch meat and a million and a half times better for you.  

Then each Sunday night we bake 4-5 of those chicken breasts to start out the week.  I season them different each week to switch things up.  

pineapple, butternut squash and quinoa soup / chicken sausage, veggie chips, hummus, pineapple

When I am not feeling chicken I will take leftovers from the night before a a couple of chicken sausages we pick up from Costco. 

 chicken, roasted veggie chips, pineapple / chicken, veggie chips, tangerine, Annies rice pasta mac and cheese 

Clearly I am having a pineapple moment...

chicken, peaches, snap peas + hummus, zesty lime rice / chicken, snap peas + guac, pineapple, zesty lime rice + beans

I keep a few plastic plates at my desk to carry to the lunch room and also carry my own knife and fork with me to work.  This is way easier than trying to use plastic cutlery and jazzes up my meal just a little.  

So as you can see, I try to have as much variety as I can.  

Other meal favorites include: apples, roasted broccoli, quinoa, carrots, salads, tortilla chips and the list goes on. 

I actually quite enjoy taking my lunch and it helps that my whole lunch table also packs.  We do occasionally go out for lunch but my wallet nor my waist can do that very often. 

Any questions or suggestions for me to pack?

Recipe : Mexican Street Corn Salad

As I mentioned on Monday, I added a delicious corn salad to our Mexican dinner party menu.

My friend Laura recently made this recipe for a get together we had and I demanded the recipe from her.  

1 (16 oz) bag of Trader Joes frozen charred corn (if you don't have this, you can char corn on the stove top, it's just takes longer.)

(3) tablespoons light mayo (I did less, wait until the end and see how much you need)

1/2 cup of feta cheese

2-3 tablespoons lime juice

1 tablespoon jalapeño pepper, finely chopped

1/3 cup fresh cilantro, finely chopped

3-4 tablespoons red onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2-1 teaspoon chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

and heres the best part....just mix all of the ingredients together and chill.

This salad is best served chilled so if you can make it ahead of time and let it hang in the fridge it is even better.

How easy is that?! 

Delicious on it's own.

Delicious on tacos and nachos.

Delicious on rice.

Delicious on everything! 

Dinner Winners

I love Pinterest as much as the next girl but sometimes it is a bit overwhelming to me.  

It is by far one of my favorite resources for recipes, work outs and hairstyles.

Recently I have been heading to Pinterest more and more for recipes and meal planning above anything else.  Especially now that I have an iPad Mini that I love (thanks Mom!!), it has made perusing and pinning SO much easier.  

The more I was pinning, the more I was getting overwhelmed with my 'Let's Eat' board.  It was becoming a mish mash of dinner recipes, treats to bake for friends and snacks to have around the house.  I would search and search for a dinner idea I knew I had pinned and become frustrated I couldn't find it.

Then it dawned on me...why don't I make a separate board for dinner ideas I know that we've tried and loved? That way, if I am in a hurry or failed to make a meal plan, I know right where to find some of our favorites.  

And that is how Dinner Winners was board...earth shattering I know.   But hey, it's making my life easier and now I have delicious recipes to share with you! 

Did you know Pinterest has a feature that you can move pins to different boards?  Or am I the last one to know this...

In no particular order, here are some recent favorites at our house.  

Zesty Sriacha Shrimp and Quinoa - I would lessen the soy sauce in this one

Healthy Hummus and Chicken Hash

Bacon Lime and Sweet Potato - we add cubed chicken to this and sometimes leave out the bacon.

Butternut squash, chicken and quinoa soup - this is even better the next day! 

Zucchini Corn and Quinoa Bowls - we added ground turkey to this mixture

Chipotle Turkey Quinoa Chili - also better the next day.  Very thick and hearty!

One Pot Paleo Chicken Curry Stir Fry - so delicious and quick!

These are just a few that are on our weekly rotation around here.

Have you been pinning anything delicious lately?

Pizza Night

We LOVE pizza around these parts but with my silly sugar allergy (an update on that coming soon) we don't get to have it as much as we would like.

Enter the gluten free crust that saved our pizza craving last night.

Mister was wanting 'za for dinner and I remembered I had gluten free flour + active yeast and we were in business.  Combined with the abundance of tomatoes and basil we have growing, I almost couldn't get it in the oven fast enough!

We had quite a few leftovers in the fridge so we decided to do a his and hers pizza using all of them up.

Mister chose leftover pulled pork and pineapple.

I went with grilled sausage, fresh tomatoes and basil and pesto.

Both were equally delicious!

Spiralize All the Things {Review}

I have previously voiced my love for spiralizing and how much I love my Vegetti (sent to me by my fabulous aunt!).  We have been incorporating a lot of spiralized meals into our menu lately.  

Another thing I have been doing lately is following the blog, Inspiralized.  

Guys, she spiralizes literally EVERY vegetable. 

Did you know you could spiralize parsnips? Plantains? Apples? Beets?

Yeah me neither.  

But you can and you can make delicious recipes with them. 

Ali, the author of Inspiralized, recently came out with a cookbook (of the same name) and ever since seeing it on her Instagram, I have been dying to get my spiralizing hands on it.

 I was recently given the chance to review (and devour) the cookbook and I am giving it two inspiralized hands up.

As I do with most cookbooks, I sat down and read the whole thing in one sitting and marked all the best looking recipes.

Last week we made Lemon Garlic Broccoli with Bacon (and I added chicken) and holy deliciousness.

We loved this meal and it will be gracing the meal plans again, soon.

Did you know you can spiralize and east broccoli stalk?! 

Mind blown.

We also made Blueberry Sweet Potato Waffles.

These were also very, very good.  They did not turn out looking quite like the cookbook but, they were yummy nonetheless. 

Her photo will have to suffice...you don't want to see how ours looked.  

These would be great with any fruit!

I could not get sweet potatoes to spiralize very well with my Vegetti BUT I was able to do them in the food processor.  So no fear, if you don't have a spiralizer in some form, a food processor works!

Though now I am itching to get my hands on Ali's Inspiralzer.  

Then I can really spiralize everything under the sun...

I was given this book by Blogging for Books but all opinions are my own. 

Recipe : Oven Roasted Purple Potatoes

When we were in Dallas, Whitney introduced us to purple sweet potatoes.

We go through a lot of sweet potatoes in our house but honesty they aren't my 100% favorite.

They are a little too 'yammy' to me. 

Purple ones are not.

Plus they are so pretty.

Once we were home I whipped up my own version.

They couldn't have been easier or more delicious.

These are definitely a staple in our summer menu now.

Oven Roasted Purple Sweet Potatoes

6 small purple potatoes, sliced

2 tablespoons olive oil

handful of fresh basil

handful of fresh rosemary

(I used the convection feature on our oven and I think it helped crisp them up nicely.)

1.  Preheat oven to 375 (400 if normal oven)

2.  Place sliced potatoes on foil lined pan

3.  Julienne basil and chop of rosemary

4.  Coat potatoes with olive oil, basil and rosemary

5.  Cook for 20 minutes or so depending on how crispy you want them

Serve with a summer meal!

We chose burgess, grilled pineapple and potatoes!

I could eat this exact meal every day.

Linking up with Anne for Pin to Present...inspired by this post! 

10 steps to frying an egg

We eat a lot of eggs at our house.  A LOT.

I buy them 3 dozen at a time because we eat at least four a day (sometimes more). 

For the longest time we made scrambled eggs every morning and then we got pretty burnt out on that.

So we switched to frying eggs.

Before this, I never knew that it required such talent or skill to fry an egg.

I first have to admit that Mister taught me all that I know about frying an egg.

But now that I know how (and feel I've mastered it) I knew I had to share this information with you.

Even though at first frying the perfect egg seems intimidating, I swear it is very simple! 

1. Get a skillet - the first crucial step is get start with a good skillet.  We use this one and I am in love with it.  NOTHING sticks to it.  I was gifted this skillet for Christmas and it is pricey but it is totally worth it!  

2.  Heat it up - the next important step is to make sure you are starting with a hot pan.  I usually turn ours on between brushing my teeth and putting my makeup in the morning.  I let it heat up for about 4-5 minutes at about medium heat.  

3. Oil all over - I know a lot of people use butter but we use olive oil at our house to coat the pan.

4. Crack the eggs - It is a smart idea to crack the eggs into a separate bowl in case there are any shells that fall in.  However, I like to live on the edge and crack ours directly into the pan.  Wild and crazy.  I will admit, this doesn't always work out well.

This is also usually when I salt our eggs. I love the garlic salt grinder from Trader Joe's. 

5.  Don't touch the eggs - It is my preference to let the eggs sit and cook for about 2 or 3 minutes and then flip them over.  Mister doesn't feel exactly the same way but we will get into that in a second.

6.  Flip flip flip - Once the edges of your eggs are solidified and starting to turn brown, flip your eggs over.  You are half way to perfectly fried eggs.

7. More patience - just like the first side, the flipped side takes a minute or so of patience, but not as long as the original side.

8.  Poke the yolk - This is where Mister and I also differ sometimes.  I like my eggs to be a bit runny so it is usually at this point that I will gently poke the yolk with the spatula.  

9.  Plate up - Slide those eggs on to a plate with some pineapple 

10.  Eat up!

Now there are about 47 million different versions of eggs out there; over easy, over medium, over hard...  I think mine falls somewhere in the middle of a few of them.  It depends on how rushed I am, how good the eggs are, if the pan is hot enough and/or if I am paying enough attention while cooking.  I think it is safe to say mine are 'over Sarah's'.  

Some mornings we have a battle of eggs in our house.

If Mister makes the eggs, they aren't quite at done around the edges or brown as mine are (and that's okay!).   I tend to prefer mine a little more done, with the yolk semi running and Mister prefers them not as done/brown.  Admittedly, my eggs may not always turn out to the prettiest things but they sure are yummy. 

Anyone else have any good egg frying tips?

5 tips for shopping at Aldis

My mom has always been a fan of Aldis and I usually listen to everything she says.  However, I was not as quick to jump on the Aldis train with her.  Well that has all changed recently (see Moms really are always right) and I have been loving Aldis.  

In the past month or so I have incorporated a stop at Aldis in my Sunday errands routine.

I have been so happy with the products we've gotten, the money we've saved and the overall experience, I thought I would share with you guys!

(Ps Aldis has NO idea who I am, this is just a friendly blog PSA.  But if Aldis wants to send me gift cards I wouldn't hate it.)

Aldis takes a simple, straight forward approach to grocery shopping.  No frills and no bells and whistles.  It is a bit of a different shopping experience but with these few tips I am pretty sure you will come to love it as much as I do.

1.  Bring a quarter - In order to get a buggy (cart) at Aldis you need $.25.  Don't worry, you will get it back when you return said buggy.

2.  Bring your own bags - In order to save costs, the attendants will not bag your groceries at Aldis.  But they have a counter near the check out and it is easy to just throw your goodies in a bag.  I am a little neurotic about taking my own bags to the grocery anyway so this isn't a biggie!

*they also have bags you can buy at checkout

3.  Keep your eyes peeled - walking into Aldis is not like walking in Kroger or your local grocery store.  Generally there are 3-4 rows total of foods and very simple labeling.  It may take a few trips to get your bearings (I also feel this way about Trader Joes) but once you have been a few times, it becomes second nature.

4.  Stock up on produce - I primarily buy produce at Aldis because it always looks fresh, there is a great selection and the prices are crazy good!  Honorable mention for gluten free pizza crust, vegetable chips, chicken, eggs, baking supplies and spices.  Bonus points that they carry wine and Diet Coke! 

5.  Bring cash or debit - Because of their no frills philosophy, Aldis only accepts cash, debit or EBT.  Again, not a huge deal, but something to make sure you know!

And those are just some of the reasons I love Aldis.

To give you an idea, I picked up everything below for $32. 

 This will last us a bit over a week, depending on how many smoothies we make and what is on our menu.  

Do you shop at Aldis?  Any favorites you have?