Whole 30: Week 1 Recap

Hey hey!  How was everyone's winter break?  Ours was glorious!  Filled with tons of playing, friends, family and art.  The kids and I were both bummed when Monday morning rolled around and they had to go back to school.

The other thing that as quite the bummer about Monday was Mark and I starting the Whole 30.  Are you familiar with it?  It's basically 30 days of eating nothing processed, no dairy, grains, soy (or legumes of any kind), MSG, or anything that tastes delicious.  The point of it is to 'reset' your system, relearn how to eat the way nature intended (eating until satiety, instead of engorgement), and to just generally feel better.  We've done this once before, 2 years ago, and both loved the way that we felt, so we decided to do it again!

We started on January fifth, so today is day 8 for us.  I feel like I'm finally turning the 'bloated, withdrawing from sugar/carbs' hump, and am feeling good!  I've also made my way back to the gym, where I am spending way too much time working on my upper body.  I'm only cleared from the ribcage up, so I'm basically turning these shoulders into boulders, and I'm trading in my boobs for pecs.  Sexy, like a man.  Anyways.  I've made some super delicious recipes this week, and wanted to share my top 3 with you guys!

Cinnamon Roasted Butternut Squash 

(Recipe from Make With Your Hands)

Ingredients:
1 whole butter nut squash (3 c. cubed)
2 tbs. coconut oil (melted)
1/2 tbs. dark cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tbs. fresh ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Toss squash, coconut oil & cinnamon together until all of the squash is thoroughly coated with oil and cinnamon.  Lay the butternut squash on a parchment lined baking sheet, or silpat and bake for 35 minutes.  Pull it out of the oven and  immediately toss with the nutmeg and pepper.  Put it back on the baking sheet and allow it to cool.

Seriously, this is delicious.  Use the full TBSP of pepper.  The nuttiness of the nutmeg, combined with the spiciness of the pepper and the sweetness of the cinnamon is an unreal combination.

Chipotle Meatballs  

(Recipe from Health-Bent)

Ingredients

1 lb ground meat (we used beef)
1/4 c almond flour
2 eggs
1 T chipotle adobo sauce 
1 t dried oregano
1 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
salt

For the Sauce

1 c chicken stock
15 oz can tomato sauce
1-2 finely diced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce or you could use just sauce
2 t dried oregano
2 t onion powder
1 t garlic powder
salt

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Combine all of the ingredients for the meatballs, and roll into small, 1.5 inch x 1.5 inch balls.  Bake for 15-20 minutes.  While the meatballs are cooking combine all ingredients for the sauce in a saucepan over medium-low heat, and allow to simmer until it reaches desired thickness.  We served these over roasted spaghetti squash with a side of avocado, because this is a spicy recipe!  The original recipe serves it with a side of guacamole.

These meatballs are delicious!  But, our favorite part about them is the sauce.  Because you can't have ketchup or BBQ sauce on the Whole 30, things sometimes seem a bit dry.  This sauce is the perfect solution!  

Bulletproof Coffee

Ok, let's talk about this one.  I was nervous about it too.  It crossed my radar a long time ago, and I immediately thought "Yuck! Hell to the no!"  But, I decided that I needed to woman up, and give it a go, and I am so thankful that I did!  That first day that I tried it I was like the freaking energizer bunny.  I could not sit still!  Which was kind of a bummer, because my bursitis was CRAZY bad, and it hurt me to move, and I couldn't bring myself to sit still.  I didn't make true bulletproof coffee because I'm not having dairy, and the real recipe calls for butter.  Anyways, give it a try!  

Ingredients:

1 tbsp Coconut Oil (virgin coconut oil gives a stronger flavor, so if you don't like coconut just look for regular coconut oil)

1 cup of brewed coffee.

Directions

In a blender combine the coffee and oil and blend until frothy.  I used an immersion blender in my cup, because I hate doing dishes.

Let me know if you have any questions!  These are my top 3 recipes, but I made SO many more!  Missing all of my food posts on Instagram?  Don't fret, I made a new account, just food and fitness related.  Follow me @kendalgetsfit. 

Brown Sugar Glazed Pork Chops

I have been on such a pork roll lately.  I love the way that it works so well with so many different flavors!  Plus, it's the other, other white meat.  And, I'm at that place where if I eat one more chicken breast I might drive my car into the guard rail of the freeway.  Anyways, it all started with a craving for my vegetables to be prepared in a new way, and has spiraled into pork prepared 3 different ways over 3 different nights.  I feel like I've been in such a rut when it comes to vegetables.  Balsamic brussel sprouts?  Bam, I got it.  Balsamic cauliflower? Done!  Roasted broccoli? Owned it.  Those are delicious recipes, but man, are they tired.

Anyways, I was perusing Pinterest, and I saw tons upon tons of brown sugar glazed pork chop recipes, and, I had pork chops on hand!  They're all basically the same, but I modified a few things to make it even more amazing.  You know what the best part of this recipe is?  It only uses one pan.  Seriously, make this for dinner tonight, you won't be disappointed!

Ingredients:

4 bone-in pork chops

5 slices of bacon

1 package of shaved brussel sprouts

1 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

How to make them:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Combine the brown sugar, cayenne, garlic powder, salt & pepper.  Dredge the pork chops in the mixture.  Make sure they're thickly coated.  There will be some mixture left over, rest assured, we use it later!

3.  Heat the olive oil and brown the pork chops.  Cook them over medium to medium-high heat for 5 minutes on each side.  

4.  Remove the pork chops from the pan and cook your bacon.  Remove bacon, let cool and cut into small pieces.

5.  Toss the brussel sprouts in the pan with the bacon grease & pork chop drippings, and sprinkle with the remaining spice mixture.  Let this cook down for a few minutes.

6.  Add the bacon & pork chops back to the pan.  Put the pork chops right on top of the brussel sprouts, so that all of their amazing juices drip right onto the sprouts, making them extra yummy!

7.  Bake for 10 or so minutes, until the meat is as done as you would like.  I like mine done medium, so I only did mine for 7 minutes.