30 day challenge update

Today I wanted to share a few yummy recipes with you and also let you know how my challenge is going. I'm not going to lie, I have never felt better in my life. All the intense stomach problems and cravings for sugar have gone away. I still get occasional stomach upset, but I think it's normal with all the veggies I eat. I thought it would be so hard to stay away from gluten, dairy, and sugar. It has been completely opposite. I encourage all of you reading my blog to try it! Just for 1-2 weeks. The first few days are rough and you feel exhausted and have a lot of cravings, but after that it is so easy! Anyways...Here is a few recipes I would like to share with you. 

HEALTHY CREAMY TOMATO SOUP

I paired up this soup with some panini turkey sandwiches for my husband and mom, and I added quinoa and butternut squash to mine to make it more of a complete meal. 

1 (12 oz) Cans diced tomatoes, with basil garlic and oregano

1 (12 oz) Cans crushed tomatoes, with basil garlic and oregano

3/4 cups Celery, chopped

3/4 cup Carrots, chopped

1/2 cup White onion, chopped fine

2 cups Chicken broth

1 cup Almond milk, or skim milk (or milk of choice)

1/2 tsp Dried oregano

1/2 tsp Dried basil

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Optional: Salt, pepper, and stevia (for a bit of sweetness) to taste

METHOD:

Place everything (except for the milk, dried spices, and parmesan cheese) in a large pot and cook on med high 30 min covered, then turn heat down to low and cook an additional 15 minutes, or until veggies are tender and soup is thickened up to your liking. You can puree half the soup in a blender if you do not want it as chunky. 

Turn heat off, and while soup is still hot, add milk, parmesan cheese, and dried spices. Stir to combine everything, and serve warm!

Calories: 103 Calories per Cup

Nutrient Breakdown: 8 g Carbohydrates, 2 g Fiber, 8 g Protein, 6 g Fat, 3 g Sugar

COCONUT FLAX PANCAKES

2T coconut flour

2T flax

4 egg whites

3-4T almond milk

1 Tbsp vanilla protein

1/2t baking powder

1/2t cinnamon

Stevia

Whip the eggs together in blender until fluffy.

Add in all of the other ingredients and blend for ~30sec.

Pour into a greased pan heated to med-low.

Cook + flip + cook + serve!

Top with pb and bananas, or you could also blend in a little frozen fruit for flavor + sweetness [cherries, bananas, strawbs, blueberries, etc].

I topped mine with PB and bananas! Yum! They are extra filling. I only ate 1 1/2 half and saved the rest for later. I found this recipe off of "Body of a Mother" Blog. Her recipes are always so yummy!

Quinoa Crunch

Makes 1 1/2 - 2 cups

Enjoy this healthy snack by the handful or sprinkled over fresh fruit, applesauce, or smoothies for some added crunch. For extra sweetness, stir 1/2 cup raisins or other dried fruit into the mixture upon removing it from the oven.

1/2 cup quinoa, covered with water and soaked at room temperature for 5-6 hours

1/2 cup raw walnuts, pecans, or almonds, chopped

1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

1 tablespoon ground flaxseed

15 drops liquid stevia

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Drain the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer. Rinse well and drain again, pressing on the grains with the back of a spoon to remove as much water as possible. Transfer the drained quinoa to a mixing bowl and stir in the walnuts, coconut, cinnamon, and salt.

In a small bowl, combine the applesauce, flaxseed, and stevia. Stir the applesauce mixture into the quinoa mixture to thoroughly combine. Spread the mixture out evenly on the baking sheet.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring once halfway through, until golden brown and crunchy. Cool completely on the baking sheet. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

I found this recipe of "Daily Bites" Blog. I stole her picture as well. It was the perfect amount of sweetness and crunch. It would be delicious on yogurt-if I could eat it :( or on fruit with some almond milk. It is delicious! Even my husband liked it and put some on his yogurt!

Enjoy the recipes! More to come!

Love, Stephanie

Dinner Planning & 7 days of dinners

Ok...It's five-o-clock p.m. and you know its time to start thinking about whats for dinner. How many of you find yourself trying to scramble up items, looking in your fridge, and then eventually getting take-out. That for sure happens to me when I don't plan ahead. I find myself not having all the ingredients for recipe, or that I should have thawed the meat earlier, or started the crockpot meal in the morning. Bradon and I always end up at Cafe Rio or something. Planning dinners saves money & time when it comes to your busy week. When I plan a week ahead I'm able to go to the grocery store with my list and get exactly what I need, then I don't have any excuses when it comes to dinner. I plan around work, family parties, etc...If I work late one night, then I try to make enough leftovers the night before. I found this awesome meal planning sheet here. I'm sure you can find them all over the internet as well!

7 DAY DINNER PLANNING EXAMPLE:

I made this list last week and went to the grocery store on Saturday to get all the ingredients that I needed...I have not tried the turkey meatloaf yet but I will post if it is yummy!

BALSAMIC CHICKEN WITH BALSAMIC ASPARAGUS

Balsamic Braised Asparagus

-1 bunch of asparagus

-salt, to taste

-pepper, to taste

-low-fat balsamic vinaigrette

-Preheat  oven to 425. Rinse and trim woody bottoms off of asparagus. Place in an 8x11 glass dish with spears facing each other in the center. lightly spray with cooking spray, flip, and lightly spray again. Sprinkle with salt and pepper as desired and bake for 15 minutes, or until bright green and fork-tender. Once plated drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette

 Got this recipe from the Happy Herbivore Cookbook

Side salad for appetizers!

BALSAMIC CHICKEN:

Chicken:

-Salt & pepper

-4 boneless skinless, chicken breasts

Sauce:

-1/4 cup chicken broth

-1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

-1 T. dijon mustard

-2 T. lemon juice

-2 garlic cloves, minced (or 1 tsp. pre-chopped garlic)

-1 T. olive oil (plus a little more for pan)

Directions:

1. In a bowl mix together broth, vinegar, dijon, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil until well blended

2. Heat about 1/2 T. olive oil in a large skillet over med-high heat

3. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides of chicken

4. Add chicken to hot skillet and brown on both sides

5. Add sauce to pan and over chicken, being careful since the pan is very hot and sauce can splatter. Bring to a boil and stir up the bits of goodness on the bottom of the pan. Turn heat down to med-low. 

6. Simmer for about 6 minutes or until chicken is done and juices run clear.

7. To serve, spoon the delicious, slightly reduced sauce over the chicken.

TIP: If you know you will be in a hurry, you can make the sauce ahead of time and freeze in a zip-lock. Let thaw with chicken that day!

KANSAS CITY CHICKEN WITH BROWN RICE (Crockpot meal)

-Serves 6-ish

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup low sugar ketchup

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (P.S. this stuff is so good for you!!)

1/2 cup stevia or sugar

1 onion, diced

1 T. soy sauce

1 cup low-sodium chicken broth

Place the chicken to the slow cooker and season with salt & pepper. Cook the chicken for 3-4 hours, or until chicken is tender and able to shred. An hour into the cooking process, drain ½ of the chicken liquid out of the Crockpot. In a large bowl, combine all the other ingredients. Whisk well. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Cover the Crockpot and cook on low for another 2-4 hours. Shred the chicken and stir together. Serve with brown rice, on tacos, over a salad, or in soup. It is delicious!!

**FREEZER MEAL: freeze ½ of the chicken for later in a ziplock bag. 

For this nights dinner I placed chicken on top of brown rice with some veggies on the side. I usually freeze half of it and then later in the week thaw and use for tacos or burritos! It is tasty in any dish. For lunch the next day I also added the chicken to a salad. Feel free to use it how you want!

INSTANT VEGAN ALFREDO RECIPE:

(Don't be scared off by the word vegan, it was a meatless, protein packed dinner! Delicious! I found this recipe out of the Happy Herbivore Cookbook)

Ingredients:

• 12 ounces silken tofu
• 1 cup non-dairy milk
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ⅛ tsp garlic powder
• ⅛ tsp onion powder
• ½ cup nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 cups whole wheat pasta, cooked

Instructions:

Blend tofu with non-dairy milk, nutmeg, garlic, onion and a light dash of cayenne pepper (optional, or alternatively, add a drop or two of hot sauce) until smooth and creamy. Transfer mixture to a saucepan and whisk in nutritional yeast, flour and 1 tbsp vegan parmesan (optional). Cook over medium heat and allow to thicken. Taste, adding salt and black pepper to taste and adjusting other seasonings (more Parmesan, more garlic, etc) as desired. Toss with 2-3 cups of cooked whole wheat or brown rice pasta and vegetables if using. Serve immediately.

Other mid-week recipes:

I love trying new things throughout the week and here are a few things that I would like to share that I thought were worth mentioning!

 "PURPLE DRINK" AFTER WORKOUT (or anytime) ICE CREAM

-1 cup coconut milk

-1 scoop vanilla protein (I used the Plant Fusion kind)

-4 frozen strawberries

-handful of frozen blueberries

-handful of ice

Make sure you have a pretty good blender to make this with an Ice cream button option. (Blendtec, Vitamix, ninja, etc work great). Put liquid and protein in blender first, then the rest of ingredients. Mix on "ice cream" setting. It is so thick it tastes like frozen yogurt. Who says ice cream can't be a good snack!

POPEYE'S ICE CREAM:

I didn't make this recipe yet, but tried it @ costco when I bought my blender. It was SO yummy and didn't taste like it was healthy at all!

-3/4 cup coconut milk (other other milk product)

-1/4 cup agave nectar syrup

-1 scoop vanilla protein

-1/2 advocado, peeled & pitted

-2 cups spinach, lightly packed

-11/2 T. Vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups ice cubes

Mix together in a blender and serve!

PUMPKIN STEEL CUT OATS WITH BANANA & ALMOND BUTTER

Follow this recipe here to make the steel cut oats overnight. Or you can make them on the stovetop according to the packaging directions.

-3/4 cup cooked steel cut oats

-2 T pureed pumpkin

-1/2 scoop vanilla protein

-a couple shakes pumpkin pie spice & cinnamon

-1 packet of stevia

-1/2 banana

-a scoop of almond butter

Mix together and add bananas & almond butter on top! It is yummy and never gets old!

I decided to try to make some homemade gluten-free cereal and found what looked like a good recipe online, but it didn't turn out too tasty, so I'm not going to share the recipe! 

It was alright when I covered with flax milk and stevia, but for sure won't make again!

Hope this post helps you generate some meals for your recipe planning!

We are happy when we have full bellies full of healthy, tasty food! :)

Getting easier...

Hello! Well the last few days have been much better days then when I first started. I'm not having the sugar/bread cravings that I had. I feel like my body was detoxing from sugar. I don't think I realize how much sugar I really do eat from bread, cereal, cookies, granola bars, protein bars, etc. Dr. Hyman says your body goes through some detoxing side effects when you rid sugar and gluten from your diet. I also have been feeling much better not eating gluten. I don't bloat half as much. Anyways.....here is what was on the menu the last few days!!

Breakfast: same as the first few days....I know, boring right?

Breakfast for Bradon....Perfect Protein Waffles! These are seriously so yummy and has been one thing I miss a ton!!! The recipe is here!

Snacks: Gluten Free steel cut oats with berries, brown rice cake with PB2 and apple, celery with almond butter, etc..

Post workouts: Berry Protein Smoothie with Kale, and a brown rice cake with PB2. The only problem is, my Blendtec has been making really funky noises and decided to blow up! So now no smoothies for a while until they replace it! :(

Lunch: steamed butternut squash and cauliflower with ground turkey spaghetti sauce. This recipe is SOOO easy. You can find it here...

Dinner: We ate at a local Thai restaurant. It was delicious!! I love Thai because their dishes are always full of vegetables!

Before Bed Snack: FAUX CHOCOLATE SMOOTHIE! So yummy and it tasted like a frosty. (Ok maybe not as sweet, but still yummy!)

1 cup flax milk

1 scoop chocolate protein

8-10 ice cubes 

1 pkt stevia

1 T. Flax

1/2 t guar gum

 

                                                   200 calories, 22 protein, Omega-3 fats!

TIP OF THE DAY

1. Need to find a way to relax....try the ULTRABATH....Stress plays a dramatic role in blood sugar balance. It promotes weight gain around the middle, increases inflammation, and may cause many chronic diseases. I have an extremely hard time relaxing. But this bath sure does do the trick (when I make time for it of course). 

Ultra bath:

1-2 cups epsom salt

1/2 cup baking soda

10 drops lavender oil (decreases stress levels)

It is a detoxing/relaxation bath! 

Also lack of sleep or poor sleep damages your metabolism, causes cravings for sugar and carbs, makes you eat more, and drives up your risk for heart disease, diabetes, and early death. SO SET UP GOOD SLEEPING HABITS NOW!! (After I read this I thought, "OH that is awesome since I work nightshifts!" you get horrible sleep after these long nights...)