Day 30: Happy Dance!

Hi Everyone!  Welcome to Day 30! 

This wraps up our official 30 days of recipes.  For continued paleo and life inspiration, move on over to my weekly blog "The Whole 30 and Beyond".

And here are some paleo resources for your continued journey.  My hope is you don't just jump back to old habits but keep the healthy changes that make you feel better in your life.


1) My favorite blogs

• Nom Nom Paleo - www.nomnompaleo.com. Full of great information and useful, yummy recipes, and she's a mom so it's very practical. Also, Michelle is coming to NYC and I'm going to get an autograph! What has happened to me?!? 
• Paleo OMG - www.paleomg.com. I like this one for the group because it's not super strict paleo.
• The Paleo Mom - www.thepaleomom.com. I mentioned her this week - great ideas on how to incorporate paleo into your family's lifestyle. 
• Here's also a list of Nom Nom Paleo's favorite resources.

2) Food Options & Staples in your kitchen.

• Julian Bakery: www.julianbakery.com. We love the paleo pizza crust and also roll them into breadsticks.  
• Paleo People Granola.   The Cacao is yummy. I had it pre-Whole30 and Ken devours it. Here's a link to amazon.
• OMilk Almond Milk. http://www.omilknyc.com
• Ghee
• Coconut Aminos 

Day 29 of Whole 30 Days: Homemade Ranch (and another mayo dressing)

Hi everyone!  

It's almost the end of our 30 days AND a big football weekend, so I'm adding another great recipe for Ranch Dressing.  Why not make your own?  It'll taste better and you'll know what's in it.  That's a win-win.  

The Best Homemade Ranch Dressing Ever from Paleogrubs.com 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Paleo mayo (see below)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dill
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Instructions

• Whisk all ingredients together to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Mayo recipe

• 1 egg, room temperature
• 2 tbsp lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 1 cup light olive oil*

• In a tall glass (if using an immersion blender) or a blender, place the egg and lemon juice. Let come to room temperature, about one hour. Add the salt and mustard. Blend ingredients. While blending, very slowly pour in the olive oil. Blend until it reaches desired consistency. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.
• *It’s important to use a light olive oil, not full flavor, for mayonnaise. You could also use almond or walnut oil instead.

Love,

Tracey

Day 28: Reintroduction resources and Curry Chicken Wraps

Hi everyone!

Are you wrapping up the Whole30 this week?  I just watched a Periscope video from Melissa Hartwig on the @Whole30 channel about the reintroduction.  I invite you to watch but here are some highlights.  There are two ways to reintroduce (and more great information on the Whole30 blog): 

• Fast track - 10 days of reintroducing non whole 30 foods one at a time from least to most problematic.  

• Slow track - Eating Whole30-ish until something comes along my plate that I don't want to say no to, I will introduce that food.  Relax on the no sugar added rule just to make your life a little bit easier.  

Take a look at the resources I've listed above and let me know if you have questions!

I can't get enough of @kristenwhole30 and her delicious recipes. Here's a great one for lunch. 
Curry Chicken Salad w/ Butter Lettuce
Ingredients

• 6 butter lettuce cups-or more if you want, I like to load on the chicken salad 
• 1 Cup cooked chicken breast, cubed
• 1/2 Gala Apple (or any sweet Apple), chopped 
• 1/4 Cup chopped raw pecans 
• 4 Tbsp cashew curry-lime sauce-recipe (see below) 
• Salt and pepper to taste 
• 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds-optional
• Cilantro -optional

Directions

• Combine chicken, Apple, pecans with curry sauce, season with salt and pepper. Spoon into butter lettuce cups, and top with pomegranate and cilantro. Enjoy. 

______________________________________

Cashew Curry-Lime sauce
Ingredients

• 1 tsp yellow curry powder
• 1 tsp red curry powder 
• 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander 
• 1/2 Cup raw cashews 
• 1/2 Cup hot water 
• Juice 1/2 small lime
• 1 tsp olive oil 
• 1/4 Cup chopped yellow onion 
• 2 cloves garlic, rough chopped

Directions

• Combine spices, set aside. Soak cashews in hot water (I soak mine right in the blender. Soak anywhere from 10-20 mins while your prepping the other ingredients) 
• On medium heat, sautée onion in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and spices to pan. This will draw out the flavours of the spices. Cook until Fragrant-about 30 seconds. 
• Add mixture plus lime juice to cashews and hot water. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Day 27 of Whole 30 Days: Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

Hi everyone!

Super Bowl is next weekend and it's a good time to start thinking about how you can transition back into the real world.   We'll talk about that as we get into these last few days, but one great way to do keep going strong is to bring a healthy snack to the party. This one is from @kristenwhole30.

Melt-In-Your-Mouth Crab Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup lump crab meat. I
• 2 Tbsp whole 30 approved mayo 
• 12 white button mushrooms, cleaned, stems removed (chop up the stems and set aside. They will be added to the filling!) 2 Tbsp ghee (I make my own) 
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, fine diced 
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced 
• Salt and pepper 
• 2 Tbsp coconut flour (or can substitute almond flour), plus more to sprinkle on top ! 
• Parsley to garnish 
• Directions 
• Preheat oven to 420 ° F. place mushrooms in prepared baking dish so they are ready to fill. 
• Combine crab meat and mayo in a bowl, set aside. 

Directions: 

• In a small pan, sautée onions and fine chopped mushroom stems in ghee on medium-low heat until brown and caramelized . Add garlic until fragrant (about 30 secs) season with salt and pepper. Add coconut flour to onion mixture by the tablespoon. This will absorb the leftover moisture in the pan . 
• Combine cooked mixture with the crab/mayo and adjust seasoning to your taste. Now start stuffing those mushrooms sky high! Top with a sprinkle of coconut flour (will give a nice crunchy topping). 
• Bake for 20-25 mins until mushrooms are cooked and tops are golden brown. Garnish with fine chopped parsley and enjoy!

Day 26 of Whole 30 Days:

Hi everyone!


Day 26 and I'm back with more Cauliflower recipes. This one comes from today's Whole30 Instagram and @kristenwhole30.  If you haven't tried nutritional yeast yet, give it a go. It's a great replacement for cheese in recipes.

Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini-Lemon Sauce
Ingredients Roasted Cauliflower

• 1/2 head cauliflower, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• Pinch salt and pepper 

Tahini-Lemon Sauce, Combine

• 2 tbsp tahini 
• 3 tbsp water 
• 2 tbsp lemon juice 
• 1 clove minced garlic 
• 1 tbsp chopped cilantro - optional 
• Pinch salt and pepper 

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or foil. 
• Toss cauliflower with olive oil and lay onto baking sheet in a single layer.
• Sprinkle with nutritional yeast and pinch of salt and pepper. 
• Roast until fork tender (about 30 minutes) drizzle tahini sauce over cauliflower and serve. 

Day 25 of Whole30 Days: Braised Cabbage

Hi everyone! 

I've heard of a few people that are on a cabbage soup diet.  That's not my thing for many reasons, but I do like cabbage so I went looking for an easy cabbage recipe.  I found one from our girl Michelle at Nom Nom Paleo.  Enjoy!

World's Best Braised Green Cabbage from nomnompaleo.com 

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons melted lard, ghee, or bacon grease for coating the baking dish
• 1 medium head green cabbage (about 2 pounds)
• 1 large red or yellow onion, peeled and thickly sliced
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cut in ¼-inch coins
• ¼ cup bone broth or water
• ¼ cup melted lard, ghee, or bacon grease
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
• Aleppo pepper (optional)
• Aged balsamic vinegar

Directions: 

• Preheat oven to 325°F with the rack in the middle. Coat a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with the melted fat.
• Lop off the tough stem end of the cabbage and divide it into 6-8 wedges. Keep the core attached so the wedges stay intact after the long cooking time. Don’t worry: The tough core will get super tender, too.
• Place the cabbage pieces in a single layer in the greased dish – a little overlap is okay. Toss on the onions and carrots and drizzle with broth and the melted fat. Season well with salt, pepper and Aleppo pepper (if using). Cover tightly with foil and place in the oven.
• Cook the cabbage undisturbed for 1 hour. Crack open the foil cover and carefully flip the wedges over. Reseal the dish tightly and braise for another hour or until fork-tender. 
• At this point, you can remove the cabbage to cool and store in the fridge until you’re ready to eat it (up to 4 days). When you’re ready to serve, crank the oven up to 425 F and bake until browned (about 15 minutes).
• Drizzle with aged balsamic vinegar and serve immediately.

Day 24 of Whole30 Days - Pad Thai

Hi everyone!  This recipe comes from the book Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People who Love to Eat. Enjoy! 

(Note, I have put links to sunshine sauce and roasted spaghetti squash.  You'll definitely want to do that in advance.)

Ingredients 

• 1 bath of Sunshine Sauce
• 2 large eggs 
• 2 tsp of coconut aminos
• 2 tsp + 1 tsp coconut oil
• 1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced (about 1/2 cup) 
• 1 cup snap peas, thinly sliced lengthwise
• 2 cups Roasted Spaghetti Squash
• 6-8 ounces Grilled Chicken Thighs, diced

Optional Garnishes 

• Chopped toasted cashews or almonds
• Sunflower seeds 
• Sliced scallions 
• Minced cilantro 
• A squeeze of lime juice

Directions: 

• Scramble eggs in a small bowl with the coconut aminos.  
• Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add 2 tsp of coconut oil to the skillet and when it's melted, pour in eggs and let them spread out like a pancake.  Reduce heat to medium and cover, letting egg cook until beginning to brown on bottom, 3-4 minutes.
• Flip and lightly brown other side.  Remove egg from pan and cut into lengthwise steps. 
• Using the same pan, increase heat back to med/high and add 1 tsp coconut oil.  Sauté the onion and snap peas, stirring with wooden spoon, until they are crisp-tender, about 2 minutes.  Add spaghetti squash, chicken and cooked egg to the pan and, stirring with wooden spoon, cook until heated through, about 3 minutes.  
• Add the sunshine sauce to the pan and stir fry until everything is well-blended and hit.  

Enjoy!