Whole week of delicious, healthy family dinners

 I spend a good hour each week planning out my families meals and grocery list. This helps us be sure to have enough food for the week and helps it be less likely that we will grab unhealthy food on the run with our crazy, busy schedules. I try to make meals simple. Sometimes I reach for Paleo options, but overall, we just try to eat as healthy as possible.
Here are some recipes from this weeks meal plan.

Monday: Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole
1.5 pounds of ground beef; cooked
1.5 cups organic pizza sauce
1 spaghetti squash cooked and shredded
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
5 raw eggs, whisked
Add all ingredients to a casserole dish and bake @350 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until browned on top. My kids went nuts over this one.

Tuesday: Salmon Patties and Sauteed Kale
Salmon Patties
2 large cans of wild caught salmon
2 eggs
1/2 cup almond meal (little more if needed)
seasoning of choice (we like to use creole or something yummy from Penzey's)
oil of choice for sauteing (we use almond or walnut)
Throw all ingredients in a bowl (or mixer) and mix well. Form small patties and saute on medium heat until browned on each side.

Sauteed Kale
1 bunch of organic kale, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
oil of choice for sauteing
seasoning of choice (we use a homemade taco seasoning A LOT, but will generally use the same thing we use in accompanying dish)
Saute kale in oil until desired tenderness is attained.

Wednesday: Foil Packet Sweet Potatoes and Grilled Chicken with Steamed Broccoli

Foil Packet Sweet Potatoes
4-5 organic sweet potatoes (or 1/2-1 whole SP per family member)
walnut or almond oil
seasoning of choice (we like seasoned salt with NO silicon dioxide...read your labels, or just salt and pepper)
tin foil
Scrub sweet potatoes and chop into bit-sized pieces with skin left on for added fiber
drizzle with oil and sprinkle with seasoning. Stir until potatoes are coated. Place sweet potatoes on tin foil and fold into packets. Place on grill and cook until tender.
 
Grilled Chicken
 4-5 organic chicken breasts (or 1/2-1 chicken breast per family member...or more if you plan on using leftovers for a second meal like the salad for tomorrow nights menu)
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
garlic powder to taste
Place chicken in a gallon-sized ziplock bag. Add remaining ingredients and let marinade for about an hour. Place on hot grill and cook until no longer pink. 
 
Steamed Broccoli
1 head organic broccoli
1/2 cup water
Cut broccoli into bite sized pieces. Add broccoli and water to medium saucepan and cover. Bring to boil and reduce heat to simmering point. Steam until desired tenderness is reached. 

Thursday: Greek Salad with Leftover Grilled Chicken
1 bunch of romaine lettuce; washed and cut into bite sized pieces
3-4 leftover grilled chicken; cut into bite size chunks
2/3 c. feta cheese crumbles
1 can organic black (pitted) olives
1 organic cucumber;  sliced
1-2 organic tomatoes; chopped or one container of grape tomatoes
Greek dressing recipe found here.
Toss all ingredients in bowl and drizzle with desired amount of dressing. Serve with a chunk of whole grain bread or homemade croutons.

Friday: Black Bean Quesadillas and Side Salad
2 whole wheat tortillas per family member (soft taco sized)
2 cans organic black beans (more if family is greater than 5)
1/2 pound grass-fed cheddar or mozzarella
1 tbsp homemade taco seasoning (I use this one without the red pepper flakes)
grass-fed butter or ghee for cooking
Drain beans and mash in a bowl until spreadable. Add taco seasoning to beans and mix well. Spread bean mixture onto one tortilla, sprinkle with cheese and place another tortilla on top. Melt 1 tsp butter/ghee in the pan on medium heat. Place quesadilla in pan and cook until lightly browned and crispy on both sides, adding butter/ghee as necessary. Serve with  your choice of hot sauce, salsa, avocado, etc. and a side salad with healthy dressing.

Saturday: Breakfast for dinner
Eggs, cooked to order
bacon (we use Applegate farms Sunday bacon) or organic, grass fed sausage patties
Paleo Pancakes topped with fresh fruit instead of syrup
sauteed spinach cooked in a little walnut oil with salt and pepper


Sunday: (Paleo) Spaghetti  with Side Salad
I actually don't care for pasta, but the rest of the family does. I prepare spaghetti squash for myself and organic whole wheat pasta for the kids and hubs. 
Prepare pasta and/or squash. Prepare sauce of choice. We use grass fed ground beef, 1 sauteed onion, 1 sauteed red bell pepper, 3-4 cloves of fresh garlic, Italian seasoning, 2 sauteed chopped carrots, 1 sauteed zucchini and two jars of whole foods organic pasta sauce. I let it simmer for about 20-30 minutes and serve over squash or pasta. Prepare side salad of choice with a healthy dressing. You can also check out my past blog on a similar recipe on the dinner here.

This week I will also be prepping homemade granola bars, Shakeology cookies, breakfast egg cups, tuna salad with paleo mayo, boiled eggs, and Greek yogurt parfaits 

Whole30: Week 1 Day 2

Breakfast

Berries, nuts and coconuts shreds

 1/2 cup raw cashews, 1/2 cup fresh berries, 1/4 cup coconut shreds

Be sure to choose RAW nuts since cooking them takes away a lot of the micronutrients that we benefit from with these nuts. Dallas and Melissa Hartwig, authors of It's Starts With Food suggest that cashews, hazelnuts, and macadamias are the best Whole30 choices for nuts. Today I went with these yummy cashews I found at Whole foods because they were already in my pantry.

I like to toast the coconut shreds with a couple shakes of cinnamon.               

You can choose to pour some coconut milk on top and eat it sort of like a cereal. I'm talking canned coconut milk, not the refrigerated stuff that has all the added junk in it.
Be sure to read the ingredients list of whatever kind you decide to buy. Shake it up good before using it. You can also do a refrigerated version and it make the coconut milk more like a whipped cream. Just throw the can of (full fat) coconut milk in the fridge and leave there overnight. When you take it out, DON'T shake it up. The coconut milk separates. The top layer is the cream. Just scoop it out and whip it a little with a whisk. Or simply scoop it and drop the thick cream-like coconut milk right on top of your bowl of goodness.
 

This meal sort of mimics cereal and on the Whole30, I know you're not supposed to make things that are like copycat recipes. I'm giving myself just a snag of leniency JUST because it is day 2 and I already had all of the ingredients on hand, but don't expect that out of me anymore.

 Mmm. Perfection. I was worried that this wouldn't fill me up, but I'm stuffed and ready to kill some TurboFire. 

Lunch

Scotch Eggs and Salad

I got this delicious recipe from the Well Fed by Melissa Joulwan. I've never thought of making anything quite like this before. When I first saw this recipe, I had two thoughts. I thought it looked awful and tasty at the same time. So, I just HAD to give it a try. After all, I have always thought that pork and eggs are a great pair! 

2 pounds ground pork, 2 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. ground pepper, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, pinch cinnamon, pinch cloves, 1 tsp. dried tarragon leaves, 1/4 c. fresh parsley leaves, 1 tbsp. dried chives, 2 cloves garlic; minced, 8 large hard boiled eggs; peeled. It also calls for a 2oz. bag of pork rinds and raw eggs for coating, but I skipped them.

Preheat over to 325 F. Put the pork, salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, tarragon, parsley, chives, and garlic in a mixing bowl. I like to use my wonderful KitchenAid, (really it's my sisters and she couldn't take it to Japan with her. YAY ME!) but you can also mix it by hand. Mix until well blended. Divide the pork stuff up into 8 portions. Roll each portion up like a meatball, then flatten it. Wrap each portion around it's own boiled egg until it's completely covered and as smooth as much as you can get the darn thing. Bake these babies for 25 minutes, then increase the temp. to 400 degrees and \bake for 5-10 minutes longer. 

Grab a copy of this awesome cookbook if you can. There are FIVE other variations of this recipe, including Italian, Asian, Indian, Moroccan, and Tex-mex. Wow! 

I ate this with some yummy salad topped with 

Sarah Fragoso's Balsamic Vinaigrette

 The trick to wrapping the raw meat around the boiled egg really is in how wet you can keep your hands. This was so simple. The hardest part was peeling those farm fresh eggs.

  I thought the pork layer was a bit bland. Next time, I'll add quite a bit more seasoning/herbs. I ended up dipping this in the pesto that I made (while the scotch eggs cooked) for tonight's dinner. That made it fabulous! These will be one the list for make-agains for sure.

 Balsamic Vinaigrette
3 tbsp. olive oil (or other Whole30 approved oil), 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar, 1 tbsp. brown mustard, 1 tbsp fresh dill (I actually used a couple shakes of dried dill here), and salt and pepper to taste. Whisk it all together and drizzle some on your salad. So easy and amazingly tasty! 

Dinner

Turkey Pesto Meatballs with Zucchini Noodles

Ok, so I was a tad hesitant about cooking two meatball-like meals in one day since my wonderful, hard-working hubs is quite picky about eating leftovers. Of course with the Whole30, we end up eating a lot of leftovers anyway so I reckon he better just try to get over it...hehe. I like this recipe because it's SO stinkin easy! I got the Paleo pesto recipe from Adeventure of E.

   

Paleo Pesto

1c macadamia nuts, 1oz of basil, 3/4c olive oil, 2-3 cloves of garlic (more if you like garlic, less if you don't), Salt and pepper to taste.

Add everything to the food processor,and blend for about 30 seconds.

This stuff will seriously make you wanna slap your grandma! And through this little recipe I have learned that pesto+eggs=stupid good. Can ya tell I have a thing for pesto?
 

  For the meatballs 

Use two pounds of ground turkey and the pesto. You throw them together in that handy ole Kitchen Aid (thanks again sis!) mixer and run that bad boy until everything is married. Roll em up into small meatballs (you can do them any size you want, but be sure to adjust the cooking time) and throw em on a cookie sheet or lovely Pampered Chef stone and let them hangout in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until they are no longer pink in the middle. 

Zucchini Noodles

 4 zucchini, 1/2 tsp. coconut oil, 1 tbsp almond flour, 2 tbsp oilive oil, 2 cloves of garlic; minced, 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes, 1/4 fresh parsley; minced, salt and pepper to taste.

Use a julienne slicer to cut zucchini if you want them to resemble noodles. If not, do whatever you want with em. Place the raw zucchini in a strainer  and sprinkle with salt, generously. You want to leave them in the strainer in the sink so they can get rid of their water. After about 20-30 minutes, run under water and rinse the salt off the zucchini. Drain and then pat dry with a paper towel. If you don't do this, your "noodles" will be very soggy. Yuck! While the zucchini is sweating heat the coconut oil in a pan over medium-0high heat. Once it's melted, add the almond flour and a pinch of salt. Saute'. stirring often until it's toasty brown, about two minutes. Remove crumbs from the pan and save for garnish. Return the pan to the stove and throw those zucchini noodles in there. Saute' in a dry pan until tender, about 1-2 minutes. Push the noodles to the side of the pan and turn the stove down to low heat. Add the olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Shove the zucchini noodle into the oil and mix everything together. turn off the heat and stir in the salt, pepper, and parsley. Sprinkle the noodles with the almond meal yumminess before serving. 

 

Whole30: Week 1 Day 1

 My first morning waking up and prepping some fantastic meals for the Whole30 went well. I LOVE that I am preparing my body for the P90X3 Challenge Group that I am hosting. If you are interested in getting a super fitness routine going with the Whole30 journey, please grab a copy of P90X3 on my Official Beachbody Coach Website. Once you place your order, email me your full FACEBOOK name and I'll add you to my group of P90X3 Rockstars!

 BREAKFAST 

EGGS AND BACON WITH SAUTEED SPINACH

3 eggs; over medium, 2 pieces of bacon (Applegate Farms or other Whole30 approved bacon only) , a couple handfuls of sauteed Spinach, a tsp. coconut oil, and 1/2 of an orange

I saute the spinach in coconut oil, with whatever seasoning I am feeling that day. Today, I used the Tuscany Sunset seasoning from Penzey's and a little salt and pepper. 

I like to eat my eggs on top of the spinach so the yolk acts of a sauce of sorts.

After I was about half way done eating, I realized that I didn't cook the bacon. How can one forget bacon?!?!? I will have a

bacon make-up very soon! The spinach was awfully bitter today for some reason, but the meal was still quite yummy. I could only eat 2 of the eggs before getting full. I was trying to go by the "eat how many you can fit in the palm of your hand" rule, but it didn't work out so well for me. I'm sure that once I start the X3 program and my weekly running schedule again, I will eat more. I feel so good about putting healthy food in my body.  Started Day 1 off strong!

LUNCH

SWEET POTATO EGG SALAD IN LETTUCE WRAPS

The first time I made this, my family was a bit skeptical.  The entire brood chowed down every last bite. I have to admit that it may seem like an odd combination, but it is seriously amazing. The kids have been begging for this for days, so they were especially happy today.

 4 boiled eggs, 4 small sweet potatoes; peeled and diced, 6 slices of cooked bacon (be sure it's Whole30 friendly bacon), 4 tbsp. fresh dill, 2 tbsp. paleo mayo, and washed lettuce/kale leaves for the wraps.

Mix all ingredients together is a large bowl. I think it's best if chilled for a bit, so this would be a good recipe to make the day before or right after finishing breakfast. Place a few spoon fulls of the salad inside a lettuce leaf or kale wrap, and devour. Yum!

There are tons of Paleo mayo recipes out there in Pinterest world. My favorite remains to be from the most awesome Paleo cookbook author, Sara Fragroso. The coolest thing is that she has a YouTube video of how to do it. Check it out here. It's WAY easy. I use walnut oil in mine.

 I kinda overcooked these sweet potatoes so they ended up being a little more mushy than last time, but it was just as delicious.

This is not the best picture, but you get the idea.

I ate mine wrapped up in some fresh kale that I rubbed with a little bit of olive oil. I love how this day is panning out. Now only if this rain would go away so I could stop making excuses to not go for a run. 

Dinner
ROSEMARY POT ROAST AND CAULIFLOWER "BUTTER" RICE 

I snagged these recipes off the blog ThreeDietsOneDinner, and tweaked them just a little. This dinner was fantastic! My husband even said "I'd eat this off the Whole30", which says a LOT to me!
 

Rosemary Pot Roast
1 Tbsp coconut oil, 1.5 lb Top Round, trimmed of fat, 1 onion, chopped, 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  3 Tbsp Paleo Worcestershire Sauce (below), coarse Salt and Pepper


Scatter onion at the bottom of your crock pot.  Next, heat the coconut oil in a skillet to very hot. Combine salt and pepper and rub it all over the roast. Throw the roast into the pot with hot oil and brown it on every side. Throw the roast on top of the onions and pitch in those rosemary springs. De-glaze the skillet with the Paleo Worcestershire sauce.  Be sure to scrape all the particles off the pan. Pour the liquid and particles from the pan over the meat and onions. Yum! Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.Shred met with two forks. Serve on top of cauliflower rice.

Okay, so I changed it up quite a bit here. I got home way too late after getting a pedi with some of my girlfriends from work, and going to Whole Foods for my groceries. It was 2:30 before I could get the roast started. I knew that it just wouldn't work for me to throw this baby in the crockpot, so I'm trying the stove-top method. I sauteed the meat, then de-glazed the pan like the recipe said. Then I threw the onions in with the liquid and let them cook for about 2 minutes. Finally, I threw the roast on top and covered it with the rest of the whole recipe of Worcestershire sauce, water, and one can of veggie broth. Oh yeah, I also cut three slits in the roast, and stuffed a few cloves of garlic in there. Could that be the Italian in me? Yeah, I have a hard time following directions!

 Cauliflower Butter Rice
1 head cauliflower, 1 cup water, 1.5 tbsp. grass-fed ghee, and salt to taste. I personally like to salt my food after cooking instead of during.

Peel the leaves and stems off of the cauliflower. Chop cauliflower (remove the rest of the stem) into chunks about the size of a small fist and throw them into your food processor or blender. You may need to do half of the cauli at a time. Throw all of the cauli into a sauce pan with the cup of water and the grass-fed ghee. Bring to a boil and allow to cook uncovered for 10 minutes or until the water has been absorbed. Add salt and more ghee, if needed.

Paleo Worcestershire
I don't recall where I got this recipe, but I wrote it down in my Whole30 recipe file the last time we did the Whole30. It's a versatile sauce that's definitely Whole30 compliant, so feel free to use it where ya want to.
 
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp water, 2 tbsp liquid aminos, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp mustard powder, 1/4 tsp onion powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/8 tsp cinnamon, 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 1 minute. Refrigerate what ya don't use.

We also had kale since it was on sale at Whole Foods today. I always attempt to add a green veggie into each meal, so I challenge you to try to do the same even though it's not listed on my meal plan all the time.

Time to Shop: WHOLE 30 Week ONE Grocery List

So, this is MY grocery list for week one. Yours may differ a little, but I figured this would definitely give you a starting point.

I have included almost everything, but you may need to double check since I didn't add in spices and "normal" kitchen staples that I know I already have on hand. If you notice that I missed something big, feel free to let me know. This list is for my family of 5. I try to add a little to each recipe so we have leftovers. Nearly everything I cook freezes well.

 I understand that many people have a hard time finding great organic produce, but I highly recommend buying organic when you can. If nothing else, focus on buying organic especially with things on the "dirty dozen" list found here.

Produce

8 sweet potaotoes

large tub baby spinach

large tub (or 2 bunches) of your favorite salad greens

2 heads of cauliflower 

4 bulbs (not cloves) of garlic

2 heads of broccoli

5 onions of your choice (I like vidalia or yellow)

plums (for that occasional snack, if needed)

strawberries

 blueberries

2 avocados

3 limes (I put them in my drinking water)

2 lemons 

6 zucchini

2 bunches of fresh basil

6 sprigs of fresh rosemary

1 bunch parsley, if using. (I don't dig parsley so I don't use it, but will include it in the recipes that call for it anyway.)

2 red bell peppers

2 green bell peppers

handful of baby bella mushrooms

1 granny smith apple

1 package of grape tomatoes

2 cucumbers

2 carrots

1 bunch of celery 

7 large tomatoes

1 spaghetti squash

2 bunches of kale

Protein

2 lb. bacon (we use Applegate Farms and Target usually carries it)

1.5 lb. top round steak (for roast)

2 lb. ground turkey

9 lb. grass fed ground beef 

8 chicken breasts

1.5 lb. wild caught mahi mahi or other mild fish

Frozen

3 16oz. bags frozen spinach

Dry Goods

 coconut shreds (the large ones, not the itty bitty shredded coconut)

 raw hazlenuts 

raw cashews

raw macadamias

3 cans black or green olives

3 6oz. cans tomato paste (buy it in a box if you can find it)

2 cans (or one large box) beef broth-be sure to check your labels! most beef brother has msg and other added junk

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

oilve oil

coconut oil (I buy 2 tubs of this at a time)

herbs and seasonings 

liquid aminos 
(I found mine at Whole Foods, but you can also get some on Amazon)
apple cider vinegar

Refrigerated Food

Grass-fed Ghee Mine looks like this, but I buy it from Whole Foods

Try to keep in mind that I don't always use exact measurements. I'm extremely comfortable in the kitchen, and I often make the same "recipe" more than once, but because I use slight measurement variations it may taste different each time. My spaghetti NEVER tastes the same, and my husbands trumps mine any day. If you're lucky, you'll get his version. Haha