Making Meals in My Mind

Making Meals in My Mind

Today, I went shopping at Publix for my groceries for my first week eating 100% Whole. I thought I would spend a ton, and maybe to you I did, but I think I spent a good amount on my food choices and bought what I could on sale. The $5.00 olive oil won't be purchased again for a long time so that's a one-time-purchase and I bought plenty of meat to last 1.5-2 weeks since I have more already stocked in my freezer.

I spent $82.10 and bought a ton of stuff below:

4 Apple Pie Lara Bars (emergency snack .. keeping these with me at all times)

12oz. carrots (Look closely at the prices. I found 3 bags of 12oz. Publix brand carrots and two of them were different prices, just packaged differently)

2 Gala Apples

6 Avocados (one of my most expensive purchases)

2 Broccoli heads with stalks, on sale (Save stalks and freeze to make veggie stock later)

1 bunch of asparagus (This will be 2-3 servings of veggies for me)

4 Kiwis

2Lbs. grassfed ground beef

6 "Greenwise" chicken breasts

2 Sweet potatoes

24 organic store-brand eggs

1 can artichoke hearts

1 can coconut milk

1 jar black sesame seeds (I love these!)

1 big container of organic salad greens (Can be used in tons of dishes)

1 bag of brussel sprouts (Haven't had them since I was little.. hoping they aren't still gross)

1 bag of baby zucchini

1 store-brand light olive oil (I'm going to make mayo with it)

I also have two whole chickens in my freezer, cauliflower, grapes, strawberries, coconut milk, blueberries, coconut oil (which I will primarily cook with), pork tenderloin (that I'll use sparingly) and organic turkey meat (in case of emergencies!) I also have 4 frozen bags of veggies in my freezer so I really shouldn't be "without" this week.

I will be posting my recipes and I'm hoping this food will last one entire week. I also have to buy extras for my kids so I spent roughly $96.00 tonight but I'm thinking things will go pretty smoothly this week and I won't have to rush out to the store for things. I will more thank likely start tomorrow (Saturday) since I have been eating very clean this week to prepare myself for things to come! :)

It's going to be exciting! Stay tuned for some WHOLEsome dishes. 

Steak and Eggs for Breakfast

Steak and Eggs for Breakfast

That's what I'm talking about! Give me some steak from the night before and eggs and this girls' belly is HAPPY! So, this is a super quick run-down on what I did. It's easy, you can do it. Just try it!

Have any left-over ribeye steak from the night before? If so, I hope it's seasoned with olive oil! We use olive oil, salt and pepper and then grill it. That's it. So, cut up your steak into small pieces and heat in a non-stick skillet until it's nice and warm.

Make yourself an egg any way you like it. I don't like my yolks runny so I pop the yolk, flip it and turn the heat off/remove from heat.

Top with half an avocado and EAT! This is seriously good stuff. If you're also zoning, you'll need to add your carbs, which I like to drink shakes. I have a paleo and non-paleo one posted so go check those out.

Eat and Enjoy!

Paleo Protein Nuggets

Paleo Protein Nuggets

I've been wanting to make more nut butter after I experienced how delicious homemade peanut butter was. (Peanut butter is not paleo!)
I am going to try sunflower seeds one of these days but tonight I wanted to use the almonds I had in the pantry. I used about 1/2 cup of almonds and made my own almond butter and then turned that into paleo protein nuggets!

Ingredients:

1/2cup almond butter (I'll show you how to make it fresh)

1/4cup unsweetened coconut

1tsp unsweetened coconut milk

1tsp almond meal/flour

Directions to make almond butter:
For this recipe, take 1/2cup almonds and place in a food processor. Turn it on and let it run. It'll take 3 minutes or so before it starts to get creamy. At first, it just turned into tiny pebbles and I almost stopped it but I kept it on and it turned creamy in no time. That's it!

Directions for protein nuggets:
In a small bowl, add all ingredients and mix thoroughly. Place in refrigerator for 10 minutes or so to chill it. It's easier to make little nuggets when it's not room temperature.

Remove from fridge and roll into bite size pieces. I used my small spoon out of the silverware drawer. Place in freezer on a plate and then transfer to an air-tight container. These are best eaten cold!

What makes this paleo? The almonds are just that. Almonds, and nothing added. The coconut milk/flakes are unsweetened and the only ingredient on the package is coconut. The almond meal/flour is just blanched almonds. It's yummy :) Try it, you'll like it!

Eat and Enjoy!

Perfect Paleo Plate!

Perfect Paleo Plate

(Say that fast 5 times!)

I am about to embark on a 30-day challenge by eating paleo. To sum it up, I will eat lean meats and fish, nuts, berries and fruit and veggies. I won't have any processed foods, wheat, corn, sugar etc. If the cavemen didn't eat it, I won't either. Eating this way for 30 days will help my body to heal from all the crap I put in it (and I eat pretty healthy too!). It will rid itself of all the toxins and hopefully clear up some persistent symptoms I have, including: acne, bloating near the end of the day, eczema and being a wee-bit tired by 9:00am.

My sister, her fiance and I will be blogging about our experience. (They have already started but I'm starting with my gym on January 15th). Click here to view the paleo blog! We are taking this challenge along with others at our crossfit gym and I'm pretty excited to see how everyone does. We get bloodwork done before and after, we will have pictures taken before and after and we will have measurements taken before and after. We also will take a strength test before and after so hopefully this "Whole eating challenge" will be beneficial. Anyway, click here to check out my Crossfit box and start eating healthier with me!

Recipe below for a paleo milkshake.

Ingredients for paleo shake:

Unsweetened coconut milk (The coconut milk in this picture is NOT paleo, so go buy some coconut milk in the can, please!)

1 cup unsweetened frozen blueberries (or whatever berries you have)

1 frozen banana

Directions:

Add everything to a blender and blend away. Add as much of the unsweetened coconut milk as you like. Serve cold! Easy, right?

Recipe below for paleo eggs.

Ingredients:

Three eggs

S&P (salt and pepper)

Olive Oil

Directions:

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium heat and crack your eggs while the pan is still cool. Take a spatula and start stirring your eggs seasoned with salt and pepper. I like scrambled eggs but I don't add any liquid to it. You can add a touch of water if you want to keep it paleo. Stir until eggs are cooked and remove from heat.

To keep with the zone diet I do (which is eating 21G protein, 27G carbs, and 6G fat for 3 meals a day), I have a complete zone-diet paleo plate.

It's easy. Just be creative and you can be as healthy as the rest of us. To read more about the zone diet, click on this link and then click the .pdf picture to the right.

To read more about Whole Eating, click on this link.

I looooove Crossfit so check out my local box here and check out the main crossfit website here.

Click here for our paleo blog!

Being healthy isn't boring. It's fun. It tastes good and it's going to make you be a better you!

Eat and Enjoy!

Pan-Fried, Oven-Roasted Grouper + Asparagus

Pan-Fried, Oven-Roasted Grouper + Asparagus

I used to be slightly obsessed with the Food Network so I had to ween myself from it but I still watch it from time-to-time. I'm glad I watched it this morning because I saw how to pan-fry fish and then finish it off in the oven. The crust was crunchy and didn't get soggy at all. Now that's what I'm talkin' about! I am not a great fish cooker, but I must say, I did a daaaaaaaaang good job today!

I also cooked asparagus and some french bread to go with it.

Tip: Store asparagus in the fridge like this and it will last for days!

Ingredients:

Grouper or any kind of fish you like to eat

S&P (salt and pepper)

Olive Oil for the pan
Asparagus

Garlic cloves, or garlic powder, or garlic salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. That's right, 250. Get a skillet (not non-stick, I used a cast-iron pan) hot and add 1-2Tbsp olive oil to it and get it screaming hot. (When the oil starts to smoke, this is the time to add your fish.)
Salt and pepper both sides of the fish.

Cut your fish in the sizes you want them. I just made mine into large filets. Once your pan is hot, add the fish to it but once the fish is in there, you can't move it so make sure it's in a good spot. Don't try to flip it too soon. If you do, it'll tear up and it won't do what you want it to do. I put my fish in a cast-iron skillet on medium heat and cooked it on one side about 7-9 minutes until it released from the pan.

Next, get a cooling rack and put that on top of a cookie sheet. Both have to go in the oven so make sure it's oven-safe.

Once your fish releases from the pan, flip the cooked side up on the cooling rack and place it in the oven for 13-15 minutes until it's cooked all the way through. Make sure you only cook it on one side while it's on the stove. Once it's cooked in the oven, go ahead and eat it!

I also made asparagus on the stove. I heated up 1-2Tbsp olive oil and about 1/3 cup of water on the stove and added my asparagus. I used salt and pepper and garlice powder and covered about 10 minutes or until desired texture happens.

I forgot to make my final picture because I was so hungry. Here's the finished product in it's glory! :)

Eat and Enjoy!