September | 2014 | Wellness With Joanna

Monthly Archives of: September 2014

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Whole 30 – Week 5 – Meal Plan

September 28, 2014

Pumpkin Muffins with Zucchini and Banana

September 24, 2014

Fall is finally here. I know I’m supposed to be super excited about the leaves falling, cool mornings, and pumpkin spice lattes, but I’m just not there yet. I’m still mourning the loss of the hot sun and late summer nights. My kids however, have fully embraced everything pumpkin. Our local market already has pumpkins for sale and Charley got so excited and begged to take one home. We named it George, and then she helped me cut it up and scoop out the ‘guts’. After baking and pureeing the flesh, we made some of it into these delicious muffins and the rest went into Xavier’s morning oatmeal.

I find paleo baking to be pretty tricky. I usually prefer to use almond flour rather than coconut flour, but Charley’s preschool is completely nut free so I’m having to come up with some new recipes for her. Be aware that the texture of these muffins can not be compared to regular muffins made with wheat flour. Paleo baking is just different, and that’s okay.

Ingredients:

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup shredded zucchini

1 overripe banana

5 eggs

6 tbsp melted grass fed butter (or coconut oil)

1/8-1/4 cup of raw, organic honey (or maple syrup)

1 tsp vanilla

1.5 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup coconut flour

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.

2) Combine all wet ingredients in a bowl and mix well. I used an electric mixer on low to really hide the zucchini and banana as much as possible for my kids but you could mix by hand with no problems.

3) Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl and mix well.

4) Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet mix, stirring to combine as you go until well blended.

5) Spoon muffin batter into lined or greased muffin pan and bake for 30-40 minutes or until done.

Charley really wanted to sprinkle some mini chocolate chips on top of the muffins before baking so we did that this time (seen in photo). Not necessary of course, but there are much worse things she could be eating, and if those few chocolate chips get her to eat pumpkin, zucchini and banana, then I consider that a parenting win.

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Whole 30 – Week 4 – Meal Plan

September 21, 2014

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Breakfast:

Zucchini Fritters

Potatoes O’Brien

Sweet Potato Quiche

Dinner:

Spicy Sausage and Potato Soup (Add more veggies!)

Paleo Butter Chicken (Skip the Naan…sorry guys. Use cauliflower rice instead.)

Slow Cooker Roast Chicken and Gravy

Slow Cooker Sausage Stuffed Peppers

Spicy Pineapple Chili (This is one of my favourite recipes to double or triple and freeze.)

Lemon Pepper Spaghetti Squash with Scallops and Kale

Salmon with Avocado Salsa

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Bacon Wrapped Date Salad

September 15, 2014

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I’ve got this really great friend. In the past year or so, I’ve watched her completely dive in to a healthy lifestyle for her and her family. She’s a busy super mom who runs an in-home daycare and yet she’s managed to build a healthy lifestyle through working out (often including her kids and husband) and healthy eating. We’re big food nerds and so we often send each other picture messages of what we’re eating. (Don’t judge me. I seriously LOVE FOOD.) The other day she sent me a picture of her lunch: a salad with bacon wrapped dates on top. I drooled a little, and then got to work making my own version. I came up with this, and now I kinda wanna eat this every day for the rest of my life.

Ingredients:

-8 dates

-4 pieces of sugar free, nitrate free, pastured bacon

-2 cups spinach

-1/4 red onion, diced

-1 nectarine, diced

-1/2 tomato, diced

-1/2 jalapeño, seeded and diced

-1/2 cucumber, diced

Instructions:

1) Preheat your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit.

2) Using a small, sharp knife, carefully slit a hole in each date and remove the pit.

3) Cut your bacon slices in half so you have 8 pieces, each a couple of inches long.

4) Tightly wind a piece of bacon around each date and secure it by piercing all the way through with a toothpick.

5) Place the bacon wrapped dates on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes or until bacon is cooked to your liking.

6) Once cooked, remove from the oven and gently pat dry each bacon wrapped date. Set them aside to cool.

7) Place your spinach on a large plate or in a large bowl and throw all your vegetable toppings and nectarine on top. Add your bacon wrapped dates and enjoy!

Eat outside as often as you can. Food just tastes better outside.

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Whole 30 Meal Plan – Week 3

September 14, 2014

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Week 3! Finally in the second half of Whole30 where everything starts feeling gooooooood. I can’t believe that I can wake up now and actually function without coffee. I definitely still miss the taste, but I’m so glad that I’m not relying on it.

What do you find the most challenging about Whole30? For me it’s definitely the social functions. I hate being the odd one out, not eating yummy treats at a ladies night or dinner get together. I also hate turning down food that has been cooked for me by someone who loves me. A friend of mine had me over last night and baked a wonderful looking gluten free peanut butter pie and I felt awful for turning it down. I REALLY hate being thought of as the girl who is always on a “diet”. That’s not at all who I am, but when you give the 30 second Whole30 run down to someone, it can certainly come across that way.

However, with all that being said, I’ve found that most of those people at those social functions eventually come to me later wanting more information about Whole30. I’ve seen a lot of them change their lifestyle around completely, and then it’s all worth it, right? We’re spreading the Good Food Word. Plus, no hangover, no food baby, and no extra toilet time.

Here’s what I’m eating this week.

Breakfast:

Paleo Sausage Egg “McMuffin”

Baked Yam and Brussel Sprout Hash

Sweet and Savoury Quiche

Dinner:

Easy Paleo Pot Roast

Roasted Nectarine Salsa on Wild Salmon

Healthy Braised Pulled Pork

Vegetable and Mango Curry With Basil-Ginger Quinoa (Use cauliflower rice instead of quinoa, chicken instead of chickpeas, and coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.)

Cabbage Rolls

Sweet Potato Soup with Bacon

Bacon Chorizo Chipotle Smothered Meatloaf (I always skip the almond flour here and have no problem, but it IS approved to use on Whole30 for this recipe if you wish to use it.)

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Roasted Nectarine Salsa on Wild Salmon

September 10, 2014

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I am really enjoying the abundance of ripe, fresh fruit this summer and the abundance of fresh wild sockeye from our CSA. I combined my love for nectarines and salmon tonight and came up with this meal that we devoured in minutes! We enjoyed this with a side of roasted beets and mixed baby potatoes.

Ingredients:

1 large tomato

1/2 red onion

1 nectarine

1 jalapeño, seeded

1 small sweet Italian pepper

1 lb wild salmon fillet

1 avocado

2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

Directions:

1) Wash and dice your first 5 ingredients into small, uniform pieces.

2) Toss them in melted coconut oil and spread them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

3) Place your baking sheet on the top rack of your oven and set your broiler to high.

4) Broil for 5-10 minutes or until salsa just begins to blacken. Remove and let cool.

5) Place your salmon on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

6) Sprinkle with salt and pepper and place on the top rack of your oven and broil on high for 10-15 mins until salmon is cooked through.

7) While the salmon is broiling, dice your avocado and gently mix it into your salsa. Add the chopped basil and toss gently to combine.

8) When salmon is cooked through, remove and place it on your plate. Top with your salsa and enjoy!

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Whole 30 – Week 2 – Meal Plan

September 6, 2014

1 comment

Hey there! Wow, this no caffeine thing has been ROUGH. For the first 3 days I had a non stop pounding headache, was exhausted during the day, and awake in the middle of the night. By day 4 I was feeling way better though, and I’m excited to see how things improve even more over the next few weeks.

Here’s my meal plan for this week. A few breakfasts that I will double, and leftovers for lunch every day.

Breakfast:

Yams and Eggs (There isn’t much to this “recipe” but it’s one of my favourites. I chop the yams into cubes and fry them in coconut oil and steak spice until cooked through. I remove them from the pan and cover them to keep them hot. Then I quickly fry 2 eggs and put them on top of the yams. You could partially boil the yams at the beginning of the week to make them quick and easy to fry up in the morning.)

Sweet Potato Breakfast Skillet

Potatoes with Kale and Bacon

Crustless Quiche

Dinner:

Mexican Meatza

Chocolate Chili on spaghetti squash

Spicy Coconut Shrimp Bisque (skip the corn)

Sweet Pineapple Ginger Meatballs

Lemon Garlic Chicken on Zoodles and Kale

Italian Sausage and Zoodles

Moroccan Spiced Salmon

I suggest tripling the Chocolate Chili and Spicy Coconut Shrimp Bisque and freezing them for Whole30 emergencies. Those are two of my favourite recipes…you won’t be sorry!

Enjoy!

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Whole30 – Week 1 – Meal Plan

September 1, 2014

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I’m doing the official Whole30 challenge again! The first time around, I was just focused on SURVIVAL. It gets easier every time, and so this round I’m adding a new challenge. This will be my first time completely cutting out caffeine. I only drink 1 cup of plain black coffee in the mornings and the occasional coffee in the afternoon or evening if I’m at a special occasion or family event, but I’ve recently had some adrenal issues and so I’m interested to see if cutting it out completely will make a noticeable difference. Right now I really treasure my steaming cup of coffee every morning so this is definitely going to be difficult for me. Wish me luck!

One of my most important tips for completing a successful Whole30 is meal planning. I really enjoy meal planning and so I’ll be posting my weekly plans here for any of you who don’t enjoy it or need inspiration or ideas for recipe resources.

Each week I will post 7 dinners and 3-4 breakfasts. I will double my breakfast recipes for leftovers, and I will eat dinner leftovers for lunch each day. (Another tip for Whole30: cook once, eat two or three times.) Remember to make sure any sauces and meats are sugar free. These are the base recipes for each meal, but I will add steamed veggies, roasted veggies or huge salads to all of these meals.

Hope this helps!

Breakfast

Eggs in Purgatory by Nom Nom Paleo

Breakfast Skillet

Breakfast Hash

Apple Pork Breakfast Sausage by SEP, sautéed swiss chard, and fried yams.

Dinner

Jalapeño Lime Chicken Wings by SEP

Garlic Pork and Cauliflower Rice (Crockpot) by Paleomg

Lemon Roast Chicken by Jamie Oliver

Thai Pork and Veggie Meatballs by Paleomg (skip the honey)

Lemon Rosemary Salmon by Diane Sanfilippo