Whole 30 Pork Adobo over Roasted Cauliflower

Pork Adobo over Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients:

Diced Pork Shoulder or Butt

Cauliflower

Kale & Spinach Mix

1 Diced Onion

3-5 Minced Garlic Cloves

3 Bay Leaves

1 Cup White Vinegar

3/4 Cup Coconut Aminos

1 Cup Water

Sea Salt

Kosher Salt
Black Pepper

Instructions:

1. Heat coconut oil in a pot on medium high heat.

2. Saute diced onion and minced garlic until wilted.

3. Add diced pork.

4. Add vinegar, coconut aminos, water, bay leaves, salt, and pepper.

5. Allow to come to a boil, then turn heat down to low and simmer for 30 minutes to 45 minutes.

6. Heat coconut oil in a separate pan.

7. Use a slotted spoon and transfer all the pork from the pot to the pan. Warning: oil may splatter due to broth.

8. Brown the pork in the pan by allowing pork to sit for several minutes before stirring.

9. Once pork is browned, transfer back to the original pot. Serve over veggies.

Roasted Cauliflower

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Line a cookie sheet with foil.

3. Spread a good amount of the Kale & Spinach mix.

4. Spread cauliflower over the greens. Ensure cauliflower pieces are similar in size so they cook evenly.

5. Sprinkle kosher salt all over.

6. Drizzle melted coconut oil all over.

7. Cook for 20 mins.

Whole 30 Cinnamon & Cilantro Crusted Chicken Thighs with Roasted Broccolini

Cinnamon & Cilantro Crusted Chicken Thighs with Roasted Broccolini

Ingredients:
Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
Broccolini
Chopped Cilantro
Cinnamon Powder
Sea Salt
Coconut Oil

Instructions:
1. Heat coconut oil in a pan on medium high heat.
2. Season both sides of chicken with sea salt, cinnamon powder, and cilantro.
3. Once oil is hot, place pieces of chicken into the pan. Do not touch for 5-6 minutes. This will brown the chicken.
4. After 5-6 minutes, flip chicken over. Again, do not touch for another 5-6 minutes.
5. Depending on how thick your chicken is, you may need to flip and cook the other side again.
6. You can cut into a thick piece of chicken to check for doneness. Allow other pieces to rest for 10 minutes, then serve with veggies.

Roasted Broccolini:

Ingredients:
Broccolini
Coconut Oil
Kosher Salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. I started my broccolini first before fish since it takes a little longer to cook than the fish.
2. Rinse broccolini and spread them out on a sheet of foil on top of a cookie sheet.
3.Sprinkle kosher salt all over.
4. Drizzle all over with melted coconut oil.
5. Cook for about 20 minutes.

Whole 30 Ribeye Steaks and Grilled Asparagus

Ribeye Steaks & Grilled Asparagus

Ingredients:
Ribeye Steaks
Asparagus
Montreal Steak Seasoning
Garlic Powder
Olive Oil 

Instructions:
1. Allow steaks to come to room temperature or close to room temperature (30 mins to 1 hour if possible depending on thickness).
2. Preheat grill to highest setting. Ensure grill is scraped/cleaned before cooking.
3. Generously season steaks with Montreal Steak Seasoning blend and garlic powder. Use a spoon and gently press the seasonings into the steak.
4. Oil the grate. I do this by pouring some olive oil into a small bowl and dipping a folded paper towel into the oil. With a tong, use the paper towel to oil the grate. Immediately place steaks onto the hot grill.
5. Close grill lid. Do not move steaks or touch them for 5-6 mins (depending on thickness of steaks).
6. Rinse asparagus and break off hard stems. Drizzle with olive oil and lightly sprinkle with Montreal Steak Seasoning.
7. After 5-6 minutes, flip the steak over. Same thing: do not move or touch steaks.
8. After flipping steaks over, spread the asparagus on the grill. Close lid.
9. After 5-6 minutes, remove steaks and allow to rest for 10 minutes. This method usually gives me medium to medium rare steaks (again depends on thickness of steaks).
10. Also remove asparagus and serve with steaks.

Whole 30 Chicken Fajitas Over Sauteed Kale & Spinach Mix

Ingredients:
Boneless Skinless Chicken (Thighs or Breasts, your choice)
1 Onion
1 Red Bell Pepper
Kale & Spinach Mix (Power Blends from Costco)
Chili Powder
Cumin Powder
Oregano
Sea Salt
Coconut Oil

Instructions:
1. Heat coconut oil on medium high heat in a pan.
2. Cut your onion and bell pepper into 1 in strips. Saute in pan until browned.
3. While onion and pepper are cooking, slice chicken into thin 1 inch strips.
4. Remove onion and bell pepper from pan and reserve in a plate.
5. Saute chicken in the same pan. Add sea salt, chili powder, cumin powder, and oregano. Stir occasionally until cooked.
6. While chicken is cooking, add coconut oil to another pan and quickly saute the kale and spinach.
7. Once chicken is just about cooked through, dump onion and bell pepper back into pan. Stir.
8. Serve chicken fajitas over sauteed veggies.

Dinner Ideas and Grocery List for Week 2 Whole 30 Dinners

Here are some dinner ideas for next week.  I'll add links to those recipes that don't have a link.

Sunday
Beef Stew
http://theclothesmakethegirl.com/2010/02/02/greek-beef-stew/

Grocery List:
Beef Stew Meat
1 Carrot
1 Onion
1 Celery Stalk
Kale & Spinach Mix
2 Garlic Cloves
Tomato Paste
Beef Broth
Balsalmic Vinegar
Rosemary
Thyme
Sage


Monday
Chicken Fajitas over Sauteed Kale & Spinach Mix
http://nustrition.blogspot.com/2015/01/whole-30-chicken-fajitas-over-sauteed.html

Grocery List:
Boneless Skinless Chicken
1 Onion
1 Red Bell Pepper
Chili Powder
Cumin Powder
Oregano
Garlic Powder
Kale & Spinach Mix


Tuesday
Pork Belly & Roasted Brussel Sprouts
http://theclothesmakethegirl.com/2012/12/20/pork-belly-n/

Grocery List:
Slab of Pork Belly (not pre-sliced)
Minced Garlic
Cumin Powder
Turmeric Powder
1 Lemon
Brussel Sprouts
Kosher Salt

Wednesday
Ribeye Steaks & Grilled Asparagus
http://nustrition.blogspot.com/2015/01/whole-30-ribeye-steaks-and-grilled.html

Grocery List:
Ribeye Steaks
Asparagus
Montreal Steak Seasoning
Garlic Powder

Thursday
Adobo Pork & Roasted Cauliflower
http://nustrition.blogspot.com/2015/01/whole-30-pork-adobo-over-roasted.html

Grocery List:
Pork Shoulder/Butt
1 Onion
Garlic Cloves
3 Bay Leaves
Cauliflower
Kale & Spinach Mix
White Vinegar
Coconut Aminos


Friday
Cinnamon & Cilantro Crusted Chicken Thighs with Roasted Broccolini
http://nustrition.blogspot.com/2015/01/whole-30-cinnamon-cilantro-crusted.html

Grocery List:
Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs
Broccolini
Cilantro
Cinnamon Powder
Sea Salt

Whole 30 Baked Salmon and Roasted Broccolini

So one thing you will learn about me is that the meals I make are usually pretty simple and do not take a lot of time to prep or cook. Being over five months pregnant and caring for two young kids (AKA being constantly side-tracked) doesn't allow me much time to dabble in the art of cooking.  However occasionally the stars do line up (you know, the husband is watching the kids or one kid is napping), and I get to play! Yay!

Tonight is Friday (yay!) so tonight's dinner will be fish: wild-caught sockeye salmon. I try to save my fish or seafood dishes for Friday/the weekends so that my husband isn't "that guy" at work that stinks up the office kitchen when he reheats fish. On another note, if you noticed my emphasis on "wild-caught," it's because a while ago I watched a Ted Talk about farm-raised fish practices. After watching that episode I stopped buying "farm-raised" fishes and sadly, one of my favorite fishes: tilapia. It is one of the most highly farm-raised fishes, and the tilapia available to me is always labeled as "farm-raised." I'll still eat it occasionally since it is very commonly used in Asian dishes but now I only look for fish with the "wild-caught" labels.

Tonight's Dinner:
Baked Salmon and Roasted Broccolini
Base recipe: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/03/grilled-garlic-dijon-herb-salmon.html

This is how I plan on modifying the recipe:

Ingredients:
Salmon
Coconut Oil
Sea Salt
Fresh Cracked Black Pepper
Minced Garlic
Dried Parsley
Lemon Wedges

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Cut a sheet of foil (big enough for you to enclose the fish into a foil pack).
3. Spread some melted coconut oil on the foil then the lay fish skin-side down on foil.
4. Season the fish with sea salt. Pat the minced garlic onto the meat of the fish. Then add fresh cracked pepper. Generously sprinkle the dried parsley. Fold the foil together to create a closed pack.

4. Cook foil pack. I had to cook mine for about 15 minutes because I was using a whole fillet (time depends on how much you're cooking). You don't want it to be completely done, but close.
5. Unfold foil to open pack and broil for another 3-5 minutes and serve with lemon wedges.

Roasted Broccolini:

Ingredients:
Broccolini
Coconut Oil
Kosher Salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. I started my broccolini first before fish since it takes a little longer to cook than the fish.
2. Rinse broccolini and spread them out on a sheet of foil on top of a cookie sheet.
3.Sprinkle kosher salt all over.
4. Drizzle all over with melted coconut oil.
5. Cook for about 20 minutes.

Whole 30 Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breast Stuffed with Veggies

One way to make Whole 30 easier is to make extra portions of whatever you're making for dinner so you have enough as leftovers for lunch the next day!  I highly recommend doing this because it will truly make your life easier during Whole 30.  The times I don't make enough for lunch, I find myself scavenging for whatever is available... which is not good because most of what is available is not Whole 30.

Tonight's dinner:

Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Veggies

http://thehealthyfoodie.com/bacon-wrapped-chicken-breasts/

I used this as a base for my recipe but modified the ingredients based on what I had on hand. Also, I'm not a "measuring" type of person so I apologize but there won't be any measurements of how much spice or seasoning to use. I tend to over-season or over-spice mine because that's how I like it. Just go with what you know or what you like. Here's my modified recipe:

Ingredients:

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

Sea Salt

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Bacon (I get mine from PCC - Rustic Country Uncured Bacon)

Stuffing:

Spinach & Kale mix (the Power Blend package from Costco)

Diced Baby Portabella Mushrooms

Minced Shallot

Minced Garlic

Chopped Almonds

Sea Salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Mix the Stuffing ingredients together in a bowl. Remember that the greens will shrink, so it's best to make more than less. Also, if you do have any stuffing left over, you can saute it in a pan and enjoy with dinner. 

2. Butterfly the breasts in half (and just in case, "butterfly" means they should not be completely separated apart), then season both sides with sea salt, garlic powder, and onion powder.

3. Fill each breasts with a handful of the stuffing and then cover the stuffing with the other half of the breast.

4. Wrap your breasts with bacon. Use toothpicks to hold the bacon down if necessary. (Unfortunately, we had some bacon for breakfast so I didn't have enough to wrap each breast. Instead, I just laid a piece over each breast.)

Sorry for the bad pictures!

5. Bake for 40 minutes. The breasts I used were pretty thick so I had to cook them a little longer. You can also broil for the last 3-5 minutes to brown the chicken and make the bacon crispy (I didn't do this).

6. You can use the drippings and drizzle some over the chicken (and your sauteed stuffing if you had any left over).

Necessities for Whole 30

So this is our third go-around on the Whole 30, but my first blog ever so please bear with me as I learn the art of blogging. I thought it would probably be good for me to start with a list of the bare necessities. When we first started Whole 30, we went out and bought many of the recommended ingredients/supplies but I found that we either rarely used some of them because we either didn't like them or didn't know what to really do with them. So here is a list of some of the ingredients that I use all the time, and you may find this helpful in your Whole 30 quest.

Oils/Liquids: (preferably organic)
Coconut Oil
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
White Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar
Coconut Aminos
Coconut Milk (do NOT get the lite versions)

Seasonings:
Sea Salt
Kosher Salt
Granulated Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Black Peppercorns (for fresh ground pepper)
Cumin
Chile Powder
Paprika
Ground Ginger
Cinnamon (ground and sticks)

Note: I preferred individual spices so I knew exactly what was in them, but you can get some spice blends, just be sure all the ingredients are compliant.

Dried Herbs:
Rosemary
Thyme
Oregano
Parsley
Basil

Fresh Herbs (I usually always have these in stock even if I haven't actually planned it for a meal):
Cilantro
Green Onions
Garlic
Ginger

Misc. (some of these I don't use all the time, but once you buy a package, it should be sufficient for the whole 30 days and more):
Coconut Flour
Shredded Coconut
Almond Flour


Sorry, it's late now but if I think of more, I'll be sure to come back and add them.