Meal Prep 6/26/17: Whole 30 Week 1

When the non-paleo eating husband proposes a Whole30, you say YES! To be honest, as familiar as I am with the Whole30, I've never actually done one myself. I've done a 21 Day Sugar Detox and pretty much every therapeutic diet known to man in my journey to heal my gut, but never a "by the book" Whole 30! In full disclosure, this one won't be a full 30 days; we'll be just a few days short when we take a trip up to central CA for one of Craig's best friend's weddings, but we're not going to sweat it. I think it will be 26 days total, which is still a great accomplishment!

If you're not familiar with the Whole30, you can find the rules here. In short, it's a paleo diet that also eliminates all added sugar, alcohol, and "paleofied" treats and snacks. All the real foods, all the time! One other thing that I really appreciate about the Whole30 concept is that it really has you evaluate why you choose to eat certain foods. It's also a great platform for teasing out food sensitivities as you reintroduce foods back into your diet on the tail end. 

Conveniently (for him), the husband was out of town this weekend, which meant that my time in the kitchen basically quadrupled from previous weeks since we had to cut out some of our time saving strategies for more Whole30 compliant options (my favorite protein powder has stevia and I usually bake an out based breakfast bread for him each week). I actually had to go buy more glass Pyrex dishes because I used them all up!! I also think I used and washed every pot/pan/bowl/appliance that we have at least twice. At the end of the day though, I love seeing all of this delicious and nutrient dense food ready for both of us to eat all week long. (Plus more on the counter that wouldn't even fit in the picture!) 

Breakfast for me: US Wellness Meats Pork Sausage + Veggies // The veggies include sweet potatoes roasted in coconut oil, spinach sautéed in Kasandrinos olive oil, and asparagus crisped up in Primal Kitchens avocado oil.

Breakfast for him: Frittata + Banana // To make the frittata, I sautéed up one diced onion with two chopped bell peppers until soft. In another skillet, I sautéed 12 oz of sliced mushrooms until toasty and brown. In yet another skillet (oy, the dishes!) I cooked up 8 oz of Whole30 compliant bacon (also from US Wellness Meats). And lastly, while all of that was going on, I roasted up about 1/2 pound of fingerling potatoes in the oven. I layered all of those things in a large pyrex dish, then whisked up a dozen Vital Farms eggs and poured them over the top. I baked that at 350 for about 25 minutes until the eggs were set. 

Lunch for me: Tom Kha Soup with Chicken // This recipe can be found in my e-book, here! It's a staple that I make all the time, and includes zucchini, mushrooms, and chicken in a bone broth and coconut milk base. (I use Golden Star coconut milk. It is additive free and has the smoothest consistency of any that I've found!) 

Lunch for him: Chicken + Veggies, Grapes, and Nuts // I heavily seasoned the chicken with Paleo Powder all purpose seasoning blend, then baked at 400 until cooked through, about 25 minutes. The veggies and grapes are in my favorite reusable bags by Stasher. 

Dinner for me: Green Flatbread + Veggies + Braunschweiger + Apple // My green flatbread has evolved over the years from the original recipe. Currently I love adding in some Guiltless Goodies Superseed flour, Almond Pro almond flour, Ancient Nutrition Pure Bone Broth Protein, and Sari Foods Nutritional Yeast. 

Dinner for him: Chili // Another recipe from my cookbook, and always a crowd pleaser! It includes ground beef, onion, bell pepper, tomato, and lots of spices! 

Snacks: Rx Bars

My weekly meal prep usually takes me 1-2 hours, but this week it took closer to 4-5. Even so, 4-5 hours of cooking for a week's worth of food isn't a bad trade off at all!

Have you done a Whole30? What was your experience like?

Have a great week!

-Tracey

Meal Prep 6/19/17: Freezer Meals

Hello, and happy Monday!

Over the past few weeks I have ended up with a few extra portions of meals from my weekly preps, which I stashed away in the freezer for another time. I usually end up using these up on the weekends, but every once in a while they build up. I only have so many glass containers and only so much freezer space, so when this happens, I build them into my weekly meal prep to clear things out! Not only does this build variety into my week, it also keeps things fresher because food doesn't get stuck in my freezer for too long.

Here's the plan for this week:

Breakfast: Carrot Cake Protein Shake // 1 scoop Equip Prime Protein (vanilla), steamed and frozen carrots + zucchini, banana, spices, and homemade almond milk! I add in cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and a pinch of salt for flavor. I also add in 1 tsp of  Four Sigmatic Chaga Elixir. Chaga is a mushroom that is packed with antioxidants and is great for modulating the immune system. I like to use it daily for overall wellness as well as post workout recovery. I blend everything up in my Blendec, and the addition of the frozen veggies makes this so thick that I eat it with a spoon!

Lunch: Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie by Civilized Caveman // This is a recipe that I pinned years ago and have never gotten around to actually making. I was feeling in a bit of a meal planning slump last week (it happens to all of us!) so I went back to some of the recipes I collected on my Pinterest board at the very beginning and this one piqued my interest! I modified it slightly by leaving out the bacon and the honey, as well as by adding in some cauliflower rice to bulk up the veggie content. I meant to also add some chopped spinach but completely forgot when I was making it!

Dinner: Freezer Leftovers // I have two portions of honey mustard chicken with carrots and kale, one portion of lamb hash, and one portion of tuna casserole. My fifth meal will be date night out! I used Primal Kitchens honey mustard and mayo, Safe Catch tuna, and US Wellness Meats chicken and lamb in these recipes. 

Snacks: Apples + Artisana Coconut Butter // I don't have a snack every day, but I like to keep them on hand in case I need them. My work schedule keeps me on my toes, so sometimes I end up eating my dinner in the middle of the afternoon and need something else for the early evening. 

In other news, I crossed over the 5K followers mark on Instagram this past week, and celebrated with a big giveaway! I said it there, but I'll say it here too: I'm honored that so many of you choose to follow along on my day to day food, health, and wellness adventures! Instagram and social media has been an amazing resource and a source of inspiration. It has allowed me to connect with a multitude of incredibly knowledgeable and encouraging people from all over the world, and has fostered many friendships that would otherwise never have been possible. So I just want to say THANK YOU for following along, chiming in, and sharing your lives with me!

(And if you missed the giveaway, be sure to stay tuned, I have several more coming up!)

Have a great week!

-Tracey

Meal Prep 6/12/17

It seems untimely that now that it's technically summer I spontaneously decided to switch from my usual cold breakfast protein shake to a hot breakfast "cereal," but switch I did. We're still in the midst of the June gloom here in San Diego, and the gray mornings make a hot breakfast feel very appropriate! 

Breakfast: Cinnamon Ginger Hot "Cereal" // I used to start my day with a bowl of steel cut oats, fresh blueberries, walnuts, and greek yogurt every morning. These days I usually enjoy some kind of shake during the work week and eggs and veggies on the weekends. However, every once and a while I get a craving for a hot breakfast porridge reminiscent of my oatmeal days, and I discovered long ago that spaghetti squash is my favorite medium for that! This recipe is inspired by this one from Eat Heal Thrive, and uses spaghetti squash and carrots as the base. I modified the recipe by using extra spices, extra coconut milk, and half of the apple cider. I'll add in some Vital Proteins collagen peptides every morning for protein. 

Lunch: Pesto Pork Skillet // This recipe can be found here. I modify this one as well by using 10 oz of chopped baby spinach in place of the kale and adding in some additional store bought pesto for extra flavor. I also use pork from US Wellness Meats, which is my preferred source for top quality animal protein!

Dinner: Zupa, Veggies, Apple, Avocado, Protein // This no-cook spread is one of my favorite ways to eat because it requires zero prep and is so full of variety and flavor! I always have some kind of veggie (cucumber/carrots), some kind of fruit (apple), some kind of fat (avocado or nut/coconut butter), and some kind of protein (Applegate deli turkey or Epic Bar this week). These days I also love adding a bottle of Zupanoma bottled soup. They're delicious, and a very efficient way to increase my veggie intake! Well worth the cost for the convenience of wholesome veggies on the go. If you want to try them out, you can order on their website and get 20% off and free shipping with the code "wholedailylife!" My current favorites are the carrot coconut lime and the yellow pepper habanero!

One last note on meal prep: I portion everything out in single serving containers as pictured, then stick all of the cooked food in the freezer to pull out day by day, which helps to keep it fresh. I reheat my food in my Hot Logic Mini for just over an hour and it's perfect!

Have a great week!
 

-Tracey

Meal Prep 6/5/17: Simplicity

It's been a busy few months around here!! Back in February I accepted a new position at my full time job, which changed my work schedule and switched up my routine. Shortly after that, I spent a weekend out of town attending Expo West in Anaheim, which was an absolutely jam packed experience. About a month later my husband and I took a two week vacation abroad, and then 10 days after that, I was in Austin for Paleo FX. All that to say, I'm ready for things to settle down for a little bit! These busy weekends have kept me on my toes, and while I'm grateful for all of the incredible opportunities they have provided, I'm a homebody at heart. I don't follow horoscopes or anything, but recently saw an article on Well and Good that said that for my astrological sign, I need to be at home in a cozy and comfortable space to relax, and I would agree with that 100%! 

All that to say, this week I stuck to meat and veggie all-in-one meals for lunch and dinner, and it feels good to get back to simplicity. While I do plan and prep everything for the whole week, I also sometimes mix it up depending on what I feel like and what I have on hand that needs to be eaten. I freeze all the prepped food in individual portions, which makes it easy to save for later if I decide to be spontaneous or eat intuitively based on what sounds good. Because let's be real, sometimes I just don't want to eat what I prepped, and that's okay!

Here's the plan for this week:

Breakfast: Chocolate Protein Shake // Equip Prime Protein, Aroy-D full fat coconut milk, Four Sigmatic Chaga elixir, and some veggies and fruit. Lately I've been steaming zucchini, carrots, and cauliflower to freeze and blend into my shakes because they have such a neutral flavor and they help to add volume, fiber, and nutrients! On days that I do a more intense workout (as opposed to just walking) I usually also add about a cup of fruit. 

Lunch: Honey Mustard Chicken with Roasted Carrots and Smoky Kale // This meal was a breeze to make. I roasted the chopped carrots with coconut oil at 400 for about 40 minutes until golden. While they roasted, I made the chicken in my Instant Pot by dumping in about 1# of chicken tenders from US Wellness Meats and 1/4 cup of Primal Kitchens honey mustard dressing. I cooked on high pressure for 10 minutes, then released the pressure and shredded the meat. I added another 1/4 cup of honey mustard, because I like lots of flavor! I rinsed out the Instant Pot insert, then loaded in the torn leaves of two heads of kale, along with about 2 tbsp of ghee and some liquid smoke. I cooked that on high pressure for 7 minutes, then allowed the pressure to release naturally. I like my kale on the softer side, as it's much easier for my system to digest! By the time all of that was done, so were the carrots, so I portioned everything out into dishes and popped them in the freezer! (If you're new to my blog, I reheat my food in my Hot Logic Mini every day! It takes about an hour and in my option, maintains the flavor much better than a microwave!) 

Dinner: Lamb Hash // One of my staple recipes, you can find the recipe on my blog here! 

Snacks: Apple + RxBar // I also keep Artisana Organics coconut butter at my office, which I usually have with the apple!

Have a great week!

-Tracey

Meal Prep 5/15/17: From the Freezer

Hello, and happy Monday! This week's meal prep is not as streamlined as usual. I'm headed out of town on Thursday for PaleoFX (who else will be there??) so I'm using up some of my frozen stash at the beginning of the week to keep things simple! I'm also continuing my trial of dairy this week by incorporating some yogurt on a daily basis, and boy am I looking forward to that! Fingers crossed that all goes well in the digestion department. Lastly, I'll be relying on my favorite Zupa soups as a veggie source in my no-cook dinners ("wholedailylife" for 20% off of your order!). No complaints here! I could happily drink them every day!

Breakfast: Rootz Protein Shakes // 2 scoops Rootz Paleo Protein powder ("wholedailylife for 10% off) + 1.5-2 cups steamed then frozen cauliflower/zucchini/carrots + FourSigmatic Chaga Elixir + enough almond milk to blend! I love adding in the veggies because it makes it super thick, and you don't even taste them. I've also been all about the chaga elixir lately because as a medicinal mushroom, chaga is a great way to reduce inflammation and support immunity!

Lunch:  Frozen Leftovers // I have one portion of smoky meatballs with roasted veggies, one portion of creamy kale soup that I'll add some Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides to for extra protein, and one portion of leftover veggies from the weekend that I'll have with a yogurt as my protein source.

Dinner: No Cook Grab Bag // I'll be mixing and matching a Zupa soup, an Epic Jerky stick, an apple, and some almond butter to make a meal here! 

Snacks: RX Bar, Fresh Bar, or Siggi's yogurt, whichever I'm in the mood for! And of course, some Eating Evolved chocolate :) ("traceygmt" for a free gift with your order!)

This week is going to fly by, and then it will be off to PaleoFX, which I look forward to all year long! I'll be working at the Barefoot Provisions booth, so please stop by and introduce yourself!!

-Tracey