Chicken Curry

                                   
When living the life of Whole30, one may start to get bored with the same ol' food. That sometimes, you just gotta figure out how to make something you really want Whole30 compliant. And that's essentially how my chicken curry happened.

                    

It's a rather simple recipe, one that only requires 6 ingredients and is left in the crockpot all day while you're working so you don't even have to think about cooking when you get home.                                                

I really love and enjoy crockpot meals. Sure, it may take a bit of extra time in the morning, but then that's all you really have to do, cause the crockpot will cook it for you. It literally should take you less than 30 minutes to put this all together. And if you don't want to spend the time prepping in the morning, cut everything up the night before and place in a bag.

                     

I tend to eat this without any rice (cause when you're on the Whole30, you don't eat grain), but have tried it once with rice and it was delicious. If you're doing the Whole30 or are avoiding grains, make some cauliflower rice if you are missing the rice factor.

Chicken Curry:

Serves: 5-8

3-4 organic chicken breasts cut into cubes

1 can of organic full-fat coconut milk

2 organic sweet potatoes or 4-6 white potatoes, cubed

1 organic yellow onion, diced

3 organic carrots, cut

5-7 tbs organic curry powder (if you don't really like a lot of curry, lessen the amount)

salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken, potatoes, onion, and carrots in the bottom of your crockpot.

Whisk the coconut milk, curry, and some salt and pepper in a bowl. 

Pour coconut mixture over ingredients in crockpot.

Put on the lid and set on low. Allow to cook for 8 hours.

Serve on its own, with rice (if you're not Whole30-ing), or cauliflower rice. 

Raw, Vegan Strawberry Raspberry tarts

                                    

I made these delicious tarts for my birthday (which was back in May--I'm a bit late). I was still eating pretty much entirely Whole30, but wanted to have a little something special for my birthday that was still Whole30 compliant via ingredients (you're not allowed to have any sort of dessert on Whole30).

These little tarts have only 6 ingredients in them, all of them are found in nature, are whole foods, and are delicious. When you cut out sugar, you realize a. how much sugar is in almost everything and b. that there are so many other yummy natural foods that are sweet enough already. 

         

This is all you need for the crust. How simply is that? Three ingredients!

                                   

Aftter being blended and smooshes into tins, you get this beautiful caramel looking crust!

Once the crust is made, you use another 3 ingredients to make the filling.

                                   

After blending this all together in the food processor, you get these cute and yummy tarts.

                                   

The perfect summer treat with no added sugars, no dairy, no gluten, and naturally sweet. They really were the best thing to have on my birthday. You could probably do this with any sort of berry--blueberries might be really nice or blackberries! 

The world is your oyster! Get creative and enjoy!

Raw, Vegan, Strawberry Raspberry Tarts

Makes 2 mini-tarts

Crust:

10 dates, pitted

1 to 1.3 c. of pecans

1 c. of shredded coconut

Filling:

1 container of strawberries

1  container of raspberries

1 c. of coconut butter

Assembly:

Crust:

Put the dates, pecans, and shredded coconut into a food processor until you get a well chopped, sticky consistency. You want to be able to take the crust and squeeze it together for it to hold. If it seems like it's too dry, add a few more ates, process it, and test it again. 

Once it holds together, place in two mini tart pans (the ones with the removeable bottom).

Place in fridge for one hour.

Filling:

Wash the strawberries and raspberries. Pat to dry and cut out the stems of the strawberries.

Place all the berries in the food processor.

Heat up the coconut butter in the microwave or the stovetop. Once liquified, add to the berries and process until it's well combined and the berries are mostly blended smooth (note, this will not be creamy like a mouse, but will have some texture due to the coconut butter).

Take out crusts and scoop out the berry mixture and place in the crust. If it's the right consistency (a little thick), you can make them taller. If your mixture seems to be a little bit more runny, add some extra berries to get it to thicken up.

Once the berry mixture is in the crust, place back in the frige for another 2-3 hour (enough for everything to firm up enough to get it to come out of the pan easy).

Add decroative strawberries or raspberries if you'd like. Or maybe a leaf or two of mint!

Most importantly, Enjoy!

Blueberry Pancake

One eats a lot of eggs on the Whole30. Which is fine for the first... Five days and then I am simply over it. I loved my oatmeal with butter, raisins, and a splash of maple syrup in the mornings, but I haven't had oatmeal in 27 days! I can't believe it's already been 27 days.

Anyway, the weekend is the time for me to explore new breakfasts and be a little more relaxed. During the week I usually fry up two eggs, have some sausage, and some fruit. I try and do different things on the weekends to mix up the breakfast routine.

So today I made this:

A blueberry egg pancake. It was delicious and tasted so much different than eggs. With the addition to cinnamon (yum!) and the blueberries, it totally rocked my world. It's simple, quick, and probably something I will make during the week as well. I need quick, easy, and satisfying during the week. 

The whole process took me about 6-7 minutes to do and the clean up was the bowl used for whipping the eggs, plate for the end result, and the fork and spatula. We use cast iron skillets in our house, and luckily the skillet I use is so nicely seasoned it hardly leaves traces of anything on it.

I am not the best flipper of eggs in the world, but luckily this process was pretty easy. I used a tiny skillet as I was only doing two eggs and coconut oil seems to work the best when trying to flip food.

I am so grateful for all the resources out there for Whole30 recipes. And since this is my second time doing it, I am more comfortable with knowing what I can eat that it makes me do a bit more exploring. I often times take someone's recipe and alter it to my tastes. As long as I have the basics down, I add or subtract certain ingredients depending on what I am feeling. 

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did. Next time I am going to make it with four eggs, as two just didn't seem enough. I imagine this would be good with blackberries and strawberries too!

Blueberry Egg Pancake

2 eggs (or 4 depending on how hungry you are)

1-2 tsp of cinnamon (I used more cause I live cinnamon)

1-2 tsp of black pepper 

A small spoonful of coconut oil

A handful of blueberries (or diced strawberries or blackberries)

In a small skillet (I used an 8 inch cast iron) add the coconut oil and let get warm on medium heat.

While the coconut oil is melting, whisk the eggs, cinnamon, and black pepper together to make an omelet like consistency.

Once pan is nice and warm, pout egg mixture into skillet. Keep an eye on the eggs as you don't want to cook them too fast. When the eggs become baked on the bottom with a bit of uncooked egg on top, (about 2-3 min depending on how your oven is) add the blueberries. 

Carefully flip the eggs onto the next side and let cook for another minute or two.

Grab a plate and flip the pancake, blueberry side facing, onto it. 

Grab a fork, a cup of tea or coffee, and enjoy!

Whole30 Life

Last year was a hard for me personally. I lost someone so very important to me that it wrecked my world. I had never lost someone close to me before and so it was all new experience for me. I started going to therapy on a bi-weekly basis (and still do) to help me crawl out of the depression hole that I was in. When I get depressed, I don’t want to do anything—I want to lie on my couch, eat cookies, and watch grey’s anatomy on repeat on Netflix. Seriously. I’ve seen every episode at least 15 times. As soon as it ends on Netflix with the last available episode, I start all over again. More importantly, the reason why is because my person and I used to watch it together when she lived here in Flagstaff. And it was her mom that died, my second mom—it was a way for me to feel connected with her when she wasn’t here.

Because I was in a depressive state and was having a hard time coping, my weight ballooned, and I got to be the heaviest I had been in two or three years. Starting in 2011, I made a drastic shift in my eating habits to break away from my weight. When I graduated from Grad School in May 2011, I weighed close to 200 pounds. I’ve always been a bigger girl—I have these amazing German hips that I do love, but when all your friends are a size of a pencil, it’s sometimes really hard to not get upset about how big you are (especially in high school and college when you’re so incredibly insecure). Anyway, at the end of 2011, I started paying closer attention with what I was eating and putting in my mouth. I wasn’t necessarily eliminating anything, but I was making a conscious ever to not eat so much, not eat so much crap, and try and eat organic 90% of the time. Once I started doing this in the summer after I graduated, the weight started coming off. I got down to about 165, which is the smallest I’ve ever been probably since grade or middle school. I maintained that weight pretty regularly and of course fluctuated here are there, but I never got above 170 or below 157. When Nan died in March, in April I was 185. I was a bridesmaid in one of my best friend’s wedding, and I couldn’t fit into my bridesmaid dress. Or any of my clothes comfortably anymore.

A co-worker came into my office in May of last year (2014) and told me she was doing this thing called “The Whole30.” It was her third week and she was feeling great and free from the sugar demons or needing to stuff her face with food at every meal. I looked into it and wasn’t really sure if I could do it (I have one of the biggest sweet tooth’s) so I pushed it off for a few weeks.

The week after my birthday, I decided I was going to take on this program. I was only going to do 18 or 19 days, because we were going to be traveling to a wedding and I just wanted/needed to lose some of the weight to fit into my bridesmaid dress. The first week I started was hard. I work in an office, and it’s so easy to just mindlessly nibble on food throughout the whole day without paying much attention to it. So, I made a very hard and challenging transition to only eating meal 1, meal 2, and meal 3 within 5-6 hours of each other. Within the first 7 days, I noticed a dramatic shift in my weight—my pants were surprisingly looser, it was easier to ride my bike, and my stomach bloat went away almost immediately.

You’re not supposed to weight yourself or take measurements throughout your Whole30, because the scale doesn’t really matter when it comes to fitness. And they want to break you from making what the number on the scale effect your day (cause you know it does). I did weight myself before we left for Boston, about 15 days into the Whole30, since I knew I was most likely gonna stray from the program while I was there (my friend married into a Greek family and they made baklava, which is one of my biggest weaknesses). I had lost 17 pounds in a little over two weeks!

When we were in Boston and since that May, I’ve pretty much kept to some of the rules of Whole30. For example, I don’t eat beans anymore because they wreak havoc on my system, which is huge because I love me some bean tostadas, but they hurt my stomach so bad and cause so much bloat that I don’t want to experience that again. But, I did incorporate sweets back in, my gluten-free goodies on this site, and the like.

I did gain some of the weight back, but have been a steady 170-175. So, 23 days ago, I started to do the entire Whole30 program! It’s amazing that I only have 7 more days to go! I can tell this time around that I am losing weight and inches around my body. My waist hasn’t been tinier and my stomach is incredible flat. But not only that, I feel AMAZING. I am happy and cheery and laughing; I am getting some great sleep; and I feel totally satisfied with what I am eating I don’t have the need to go and snack on anything. I do have to admit though, I miss my oatmeal and raisins in the morning. And the occasional sweet treat, but I know that as soon as I start incorporating sweets back into my diet, I won’t be able to stop. So, I am going to extend my Whole30 for an extra ten days. And if I still feel the sugar demon inside me, I’ll do it for another 10 days. The Whole30 isn’t a diet, it’s a lifestyle change—it changes how you think of food, what food you eat to nourish your body to its fullest potential, and makes you really pay attention with what you’re putting in your body.

Let me tell you, sugar is in EVERYTHING. It’s hard to find ketchup, or chicken broth, or tomato puree that doesn’t have sugar in it.

My Whole30 ends on the 21^st, and I will be out of town for a meeting. So Sunday I plan on cooking breakfast, lunches, and dinners for me to pack with me to take out of town. I leave the 20^th and come back the evening of the 22^nd, and since I’ll already been at day 31 by the time I get back, might as well keep going, right?

The thing I like about the program is that the first week or two sucks hard as your body is getting rid of all the shit you’ve put into it. Sugar withdrawals are serious and can be so overwhelming. I was a cranky you-know-what that first week. But as soon as you pass that hurdle, it’s easy, it’s fun, and it’s exciting. My partner and I rode our bikes this weekend for 13 miles! And it was easy! I haven’t ridden my bike in about 10 months, so I was expecting it to be hard, but it wasn’t! And I was smiling the entire time while riding my bike. It’s like an instant smile has been plastered on my face.

Thankfully, I am not alone in the Whole30 world, and the internet is here because there are so many ways to connect with people who are also doing the program. Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and general Google searches bring up loads of information. Especially recipes, because it can be hard to eat the same thing over and over again for 30 days. There’s a supportive community as we help each other push through the process and give our understanding and encouragement for people. It really is amazing.

I highly encourage this program. It isn’t a diet, it isn’t a “fad.” The creators are nutritional scientists and have a book called “It Starts With Food” that breaks down how your body processes the foods you put into it. It’s an amazing book and all the people I’ve given it to have understood it completely and can relate to what’s being discussed.

I went on this tangent because I am going to start contributing to the Whole30 recipe world. You may be eliminating certain foods, but the whole foods that are out there are even more amazing than the pre-packaged foods or sweets or crisps. And I hope my recipes show just how delicious things are when you’re on the Whole30.

I may occasionally splurge and make a sweet treat, as my partner has been asking for cookies for the past... 23 days, so I may make some. We'll see. I am not very good with looking at sweets and refraining from eating them, but who knows. Maybe as I get stronger in my Whole30 it will become easier.

Gluten-free baked oatmeal

Let me tell you about my new favourite breakfast. It's delicious, easy to make, has lots of fruits, and is a nice warm comfort food as the days are getting colder and shorter. We had this two times this weekend because it's just really delicious, and I wanted to share with you all this recipe. Meet my gluten-free baked oatmeal:

fresh out of the oven, gluten-free baked oatmeal.

I know it doesn't necessarily look pretty or sexy or anything like that, but sometimes, things are delicious and moist and so unforgettable that a picture just doesn't do it justice. I did try to make it look somewhat presentable, but the thing with baked items that are in a dish, it just doesn't turn out the way you want it to. 

These are all the main ingredients you need! Amazing!

Life has been a little intense for me this year, so I apologize for the lack of posts. I hope to start doing some more soon since I've been experimenting with dishes lately. This dish in particular requires so few ingredients, it doesn't take me more than 10 minutes to whip this dish up. All the ingredients that you need are in this picture above. Look at that. You can even eliminate the banana if you'd like, making it only be 8 ingredients. When was the last time you did baking and only needed 8 ingredients?



All the dry ingredients.

What's nice about this dish is that I choose to only use one bowl. You put the dry ingredients first and mix them up, and then once that's done and you've added the dry ingredients to the baking dish, you can use the same bowl for the wet ingredients. It lessens the amount of dishes to clean, and it is also just easy. I am all about easy recipes these days, especially with the cold weather--I tend to want to hybernate and do less now that it's winter time.

dry ingredients on the bottom and topped with frozen fruit

Berries are not really in season, and even if they were, I would still use frozen berries for this dish. Because they are hard, it allows for the (kind of) long cook time without them exploding or burning. Of course when you cook berries, you for sure want there to be some juicy explosions, but I also enjoy seeing the actual fruit and being able to bite into it, instead of it all being just a jellied mess. 

Wet ingredients all whisked together

I added butter to mine, to add a bit of a richer, creamy flavour. You can add vegan butter if you can't eat real butter, or you could not use any at all, and get the same delicious results. The first time I made this was for a mindful meditation brunch, and we had a lot of people who were lactose intolerant, so I opted to not use any sort of butter or butter replacement and it was all gobbled up.

The final step: pouring wet ingredients onto dry

Besides that this dish is ridiculously delicious, I like how it all comes together and is very changeable. You could add any sort of fruit you want, you can add coconut, dry fruit, nuts, use different types of milk, add chocolate... the options are endless to add twists to this recipe. My partner and I have been enjoying it the same way since I made it the first time (with the addition of butter), and I actually prefer to not have the banana, so I will probably not use bananas unless they are really ripe (we had just bought some bananas and they still had some green on them, and I personally like my bananas to be a bit ripe).

Fresh out of the oven

It isn't the most photogenic thing I've ever made, but don't let that stop you. As I've been baking and cooking, some of the best recipes I've made have looked quite... questionable. However, I also try to have a good attitude and that lovin' feeling when I make food--I think it helps. I think people can taste a difference in food when you know it's being cooked with a good attitude and good feelings. I have also learned that when I am in a bitter mood, my food usually is of lesser quality.

A quick show before it's all consumed.

This will most likely become a weekend regular at my house It does take about 40 minutes to bake, but the aroma that comes from the oven while this is baking is heavenly. This is a great dish to have for brunch or to just have. I've been finding real comfort in oatmeal lately (having it for breakfast every day with raisins, butter, and a wee bit of maple syrup), and this is a nice way to shake up my oatmeal breakfast after eating it the same way for 5 days.  I hope you enjoy this as much as we do in my house!

Ingredients:

2 c. Gluten-free oats

.5 c. Brown sugar

1 tbs. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2 c. Milk of your choosing

1 egg

1 tbs. vanilla extract

3 tbs. butter, melted (or vegan butter)

1 package frozen fruit (I used mixed berry for variety)

1 banana (optional)

Preheat oven to 375. Spray or oil a baking dish. I used both a 9x12 and a 9x7 and I prefer the smaller one--makes the food thicker and not so thin and spread out. It also bakes a bit better.

In a medium mixing bowl, add oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Whisk thoroughly. Add this mixture to your prepared pan.

In the same bowl (I am all about using as few dishes as possible), mix together the milk, egg, vanilla, and butter. Make sure to whisk this really well to get the egg nicely incorporated into the mixture.

Put the frozen fruit on top of the oat mixture in pan, and slice the banana if using and add to this mix.

Pour the wet ingredients over the oats in an evenly fashion to make sure everything is nicely coated. Let it sit for about 30 seconds to let the wet ingredients seep into the oats.

Bake for 40 minutes and enjoy! This is a huge hit and doesn't last long.



Breakfast Chia Seed Pudding

 

I am currently quite obsessed with chia seeds. Have you heard of these delicious things?! If you haven’t, I suggest you start reading up on them soon and start incorporating them into your diet daily. 

 

This breakfast chia seed pudding is delicious and packs you with a ton of important nutrients to start your day. When we first purchased chia seeds, I added them to my yogurt and granola, and I just couldn’t stand it. However, after doing some research and realizing that chia seeds turn into this delicious tapioca consistency when mixed with liquids, I knew it was going to be something I tried to eat every day.

You can do plenty of things with this breakfast chia seed pudding. I particularly like adding the powerful antioxidants of fresh blueberries for an extra boost in the morning. It’s also quite delicious just as it is. It reminds me of vanilla yogurt, but with a tad bit of texture.

 

Breakfast Chia Seed Pudding

Ingredients:

4 tbs. of chia seeds

¾ cup of your choice of milk (I used Oat Milk because that’s what we have, but I am sure regular milk, almond milk, coconut milk, etc. would work great).

1 tsp. of pure vanilla extract

.5 tbs. of maple syrup, agave, honey, or whatever sweetener it is you like (note, I am not sure how much stevia you should put in, so test it out if that’s your go-to sweetener).

Directions:

Mix all ingredients into a mason jar with a lid and shake, shake, shake it! Store in fridge for about 30 minutes and shake, shake, shake it again (sometimes seeds sink to the bottom leaving all the milk on the top, so we want to make sure we continue to shake until it is well combined).

Store in fridge overnight and you’ll have a delicious, nutrient packed to-go breakfast in the morning. Add your favourite nuts, fruit, or shredded coconut to taste.

If you'd like to do this during the day for a mid-day snack, it should take about 3-4 hours to set up. Make sure you look for a tapioca consistency and that the chia seeds are now clear and gelatin.

Spicy Peanut Soup

Look at that colour!

 

It has been cold here in good ol' Flagstaff. Thursday's high, for example, is going to be a lovely 28 degrees. THE HIGH. 28 DEGREES. COLD! The wind blew hard all day yesterday, so I knew it was blowing in the storm. It's supposed to snow up to seven inches today, so let's hope it doesn't make the roads too messy.

Not a whole lot of ingredients needed, which is AWESOME!

 

Because it is winter time, I make a lot of soups and chili’s. I mostly do the cooking, which is fine, but also means that sometimes I try new things and they don't really work. I am much pickier than my partner, so he'll eat whatever it is regardless (at least so far), while I will just make myself some cereal and pout. It's what I do when things go wrong, and that's ok.

I really dislike peeling potatoes. But it does make a difference to do so.

 

But this soup, right here, is delicious. And it has a big enough kick on it to make your insides and outsides warm. The creamy sweet potatoes and the creamy peanut butter with a splash of spice is so very, very good. My partner is a... spice junkie. He loves his spicy food (ordering double Thai hot when we go out for our weekly Thai food, and then adding the spice tray to it... he loves hot hot hot), so this to me is really spicy, but I always leave out the hot sauce for him to add a little extra.

 

Cut them up small, as they take less time to cook

 

I have an issue with leftovers. Not really an issue, but just a dislike for leftovers.I don't like to eat the same thing over and over again. I tend to eat whatever I make for dinner one or two more times, and then I am done. I am over it. I don't want to eat it ANYMORE. But this soup is really good. Most of the soups and chili's I make I will eat more than twice, but it has to have turned out EXACTLY the way I want it to, or I just don't eat it. :)

Yes, this really is a hot sauce.

 

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil or olive oil

2 cups chopped onions

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger (I used ground ginger, and this works fine every time)

1 hot sauce (more if you like the heat!)

4 cups peeled chopped sweet potatoes (about 1 1⁄2 pounds whole)

3 cups water

3 cups tomato juice or Veggie juice--either work fine

1 cup smooth peanut butter

Warm the oil in a covered soup pot on medium heat.

Add the onions, salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are translucent.

Stir in the ginger and hot sauce or hot pepper.

Add the sweet potatoes and water and stir well. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer until the vegetables are very tender. Add the tomato juice and peanut butter to the pot. Using an immersion blender, purée the soup until smooth.

Add more salt and hot sauce to taste.