Recipes: Whole 30 Week 1 Meal Ideas

Hi Everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Last summer, Reed and I did our first Whole30 program and really enjoyed the results of the program and now we are doing another round this January. For any of you who are doing Whole30 or similar diet programs to start off the new year or just simply wanting to eat better I thought it would be good to share some of the meals we are having/making each week. I hope this will serve as inspiration for anyone wanting some new meal ideas. Since we have fully completed a round of Whole30 before, we know how great it feels to complete an entire 30 days of no processed food and a diet free of dairy, gluten, and sugar; therefore, it is a goal of mine to do my absolute best in completing another round after this January program. I would love to maintain this fully as a lifestyle change. It is definitely not easy, but always worth it in the end. 

Here are just a few of our meals that we made/had this week. Some examples of lunches, breakfast and dinner. Not all are pictured obviously, but just some of the highlights haha. 

I hope you enjoy! More to come next week xo

-A quick grab-n-go dinner at whole foods: roasted sweet potato wedges, green beans, one plain chicken wing, pulled pork, and one piece of cilantro lime chicken

Lunch: Lettuce, Arugula, Green onions, cashews, with Tessemae's ceasar dressing 

(dressings and sauces that are whole30 approved can be purchased at Tessemae's

Breakfast, Lunch, or dinner: Egg Muffins with eggs, whole 30 approved bacon, and salt/pepper

Dinner: Baked potato with shredded chicken tossed in Tessemae's bbq sauce, cilantro, and ghee butter.

Breakfast/Lunch: Sweet potato pan with roasted sweet potatoes, 4 eggs, whole30 approved bacon pieces, arugula, and garlic salt/pepper.

Dinner: Zoodles with Rao's Basil Marinara, diced onions, and grassfed beef

Dinner: Sweet potato & cinnamon, sirloin, and grilled asparagus 

recipe: summer avocado salsa

Happy Wednesday ya'll! I hope you are all having a great week so far. Last weekend I hosted Reed's family over for dinner and made this summer avocado salsa as an appetizer. Everyone enjoyed it and it was my first time making this and thought it would be great for a summer bbq, cookout, or any type of get-together this summer and wanted to share. As you can see this is super easy, and that's what makes it so great. Here is the recipe for you:

Ingredients:

-1 can of black beans, low sodium and i used organic

-6tbsp of fresh cilantro (I didn't add this but it would be great to add)

-1/2 cup of green bell pepper

-1 or 2 limes

-1/2 cup of red bell pepper

-1 can of sweet corn i used organic on this as well

-1/2 cup of red onion

-3 roma tomatoes

-2 avocados

-pinch of salt & pepper to taste

-1/2 cup of olive or avocado oil (I used olive)

Details:

-cut and mince all of your vegetables above (peppers, avocados, onions, tomatoes, cilantro)

-add all of these minced veggies to a large bowl

-drain and add your can of black beans to the mixture

-drain and add your can of corn to the mixture 

-add your salt & pepper and your olive oil

-squeeze your lime to add juice to the mixture 

-thats it! simple, easy, and delicious :)

Serve this with tortilla chips and this will be an easy and quick crowd pleaser all summer long!

recipe: morning go-to smoothies

         Hey everyone! I can't believe its already the end of April. Time is flying by! I wanted to stop in and share a few recipes that have really been life changing to my morning routine for the past 6 months or so. I have always loved smoothies but the smoothies I used to know and love were packed with sugar and ingredients that weren't exactly making the smoothie that healthy.

          I started making my own smoothies daily and not jamming white sugar and juices in them and they have really made a big difference to my morning routine. Unlike most of you reading this, I don't like coffee or anything hot in the morning. I don't know why I just feel better each morning if I am drinking something ice cold. Smoothies have been great for me and now learning and knowing what to put in them has been amazing.

          There are several juice shops that I enjoy visiting on a weekly basis (not kidding) for lunch if I don't have time to pack my lunch I am stopping into a local juice shop. Here are a few of my local favorites:

-Urban Juicer in Franklin & Arcade Alley area

http://theurbanjuicer.com

-9 fruits in Franklin 

http://www.ninefruits.com

-Juicebar in Hillsboro Village 

http://ilovejuicebar.com

       When I am not enjoying a smoothie at one of these fabulous places I am making my own. I try to make my own for breakfast almost every day unless I decide to have one for lunch instead. I can't do two in one day that would be fruit overload for me haha!  I wanted to share a few go-to recipes that I have tried and really enjoyed. 

Smoothie 1: 

-1 cup of frozen or fresh pineapple

-1 cup of frozen or fresh mango

-1 cup of coconut milk 

-A sprinkle of coconut chips

Smoothie 2: 

-1 cup of spinach

-1 banana

-1 cup of coconut water

Smoothie 3: 

-1 cup of strawberries

-1 banana

-1 cup of coconut milk

-A sprinkle of coconut chips

Tips:

-Use coconut milk, almond milk, or coconut water as your liquid for a healthier smoothie

-Adding bananas makes each smoothie taste better 

-Meal prepping your smoothies in advance by cutting up fruits and veggies and freezing them make smoothie making much easier during the week and for breakfast when you can grab a container or bag of pre-made smoothie and go 

This is the pineapple smoothie incorporating "dang foods" coconut chips= so good!!

recipe: mexican chicken casserole

hi everyone! happy wednesday! i wanted to share a new recipe i found in the "come home to supper" cookbook from the author of Southern Plate. i wanted to try a new casserole and found this mexican chicken casserole. i am a picky eater; therefore, i made this for reed haha! i wanted to make this for him since he loves anything and everything mexican! he absolutely loved it and i wanted to share it will you all. this is very easy and simple to make and like i said he really enjoyed it. here is the recipe!

ingredients:

-cooking spray

-4 cups of chopped cooked chicken

-2 cups of uncooked brown rice

-1 can of cream of chicken soup

-1 cup of sour cream

-1/2 cup of diced onion

-1 can of hotel (i used cilantro & lime juice flavor)

-1 can of beans (if you wish, this recipe didn't actually call for beans but i added black beans)

-1 can of green chiles 

-1/4 teaspoon of ground cumin

-1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder

-1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

-8 ounces of shredded cheddar cheese 

details:

-preheat your oven to 350

-spray a 9 x 12 baking dish with your cooking spray

-place the chicken, beans, rice, soup, sour cream, onion, rotel, cumin, garlic powder, chicken broth, and half of the cheese in a large mixing bowl

-stir well 

-turn the mixture into a prepared baking dish

-top the dish with the rest of the cheese

-bake the casserole for 30 minutes or until it is bubbly

-you can serve this with tortilla chips, flour tortillas, or corn tortillas (we used crunch corn tortillas)

-enjoy :)

this recipe was so easy to make and reed loved it! i hope you enjoy this recipe and i will see you all again soon :) as always, thanks for stopping by! xo