All About the Sauce

Hi friends, it's been a couple of weeks!

Things picked up at work, which meant that blog work had to take a back seat for a weekend, but I'm back. This week I felt like mixing things up a little bit. My meal plans are usually just batch cooked proteins with roasted veggies and a no-cook plate for lunch, but this week I had a couple of sauces on my mind, so I built my meal plan around those!

Here's this week's meal plan:

Breakfast: Chicken and Veggie Bowl with Tahini Sauce // The star of the show here is really the sauce, and I built the rest of the bowl around that! The base of the bowl is simply steamed carrots, yellow squash, bok choy, and chicken. I wanted to keep the flavors simple (and easy to digest), which is why I steamed rather than roasted. Here's what you need to know for the sauce: I started with about 1/2 cup tahini (lately I've been obsessed with the Soom brand, but I used a combo of Soom + Artisana to thicken it up a bit), added 2 tbsp coconut aminos, and 1/2 tbsp Red Boat Fish Sauce. Sometimes I add a little bit of water to thin it out, or adjust the flavor with a little more coconut aminos or some lemon or lime juice. It's pretty versatile and forgiving, and I use it on everything from veggies to sweet potatoes to seafood! Don't forget a hearty handful of cilantro on top.

Lunch: No Cook with Homemade Bitchin' Sauce // You have probably seen Bitchin' Sauce on my page pretty regularly. I love it! They have lots of flavors, but most have Braggs Aminos in them, which is soy. I usually avoid soy, but experimented a bit with a little bit of this sauce here and there, and unfortunately I did notice that it didn't make me feel my best, so I stick to their soy free flavors. However, the ingredient list is simple, and I figured it would be easy enough to re-create! I opted for cashews instead of almonds for a smoother texture and added in coconut aminos and lemon. It's not perfect yet, but it's not bad! I'll be sure to share the recipe when I get it down. For protein, I'm having a DNX bar (another Whole30 compliant option on the market!) and a soft-boiled egg.

Dinner: Spinach Asparagus Soup with Venison Meatballs // This was another "on the fly" recipe: 1 bunch of asparagus, 1 bunch of green onions (about 2 cups chopped), 1/4 cup olive oil, 5 oz bag baby spinach, 1 tsp salt, and 4 cups bone broth. I chopped the asparagus and onion and sautéed with the oil until tender, then added everything else and simmered until the spinach was wilted. I blended it up with my immersion blender (I get SO MUCH USE out of this thing!!) until smooth, then added some venison meatballs (used my basic meatball recipe) after I portioned it out!

Short and sweet this week. Have a good one!

-Tracey

My Top Tip for Simple Whole30 Meal Prep

This week's meal plan is pretty much as simple as it gets. I knew we were going to be out of town all day on Sunday, which meant that I needed to get all of my weekend chores done on Saturday, so I planned my meal prep accordingly! 

A lot of people have asked me how my husband eats through the week. I usually fix two meals for him also, which he eats for lunches and dinners, along with either a smoothie or a no-cook breakfast. This week I fixed him a chicken crockpot meal and a GF pasta bake. 

My best tip for keeping meal prep simple: choose one protein and two veggies per meal and steam or roast everything! I'm also a huge fan of all-in-one meals like soups and casseroles. 

This week I chose two proteins and four veggies to cook (chicken sausage, beef meatballs, zucchini, yellow squash, spaghetti squash, haricot vert) along with my usual no-cook spread. 

Here's this week's meal plan:

Breakfast: Chicken Sausage with Spaghetti Squash and Zucchini // Fortunately these days there are plenty of Whole30 compliant sausages on the market, and I almost always keep some on hand in my freezer for a quick and easy protein! (Trader Joes and Aidels both have one.) Sausage tends to be a little lighter in protein, so I'll make sure to keep a little extra food around in case I need something else to tide me over. For my sides, I steamed up a spaghetti squash in my Instant Pot for 7 minutes (quick release) and roasted some zucchini in the oven with olive oil and salt at 350 for about 25 minutes!

Lunch: No Cook Plate // This week I'm using turkey as my protein (the brands I use are this Trader Joe's organic one and True Story Foods brand, both are Whole30 compliant!) and as usual, a Zupa for veggies ("wholedailylife" for 15% off). I also have some fruit for my carb. This meal is a little light in fat, so I'll add some nuts or almond butter for satiety!

Dinner: Basic Meatballs with Yellow Squash and Haricot Vert // My basic meatball recipe is here, and this week I'm using my favorite beef and liver blend from Da-Le Ranch. (This is the easiest way to get organ meat into my diet!) For the veggies, I simply steamed the haricot vert and roasted the yellow squash with olive oil and salt at 350 for about 25 minutes!

Have a great week!

-Tracey

Whole30 Compliant Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork + Weekly Meal Plan

I'm all about easy meals that I can set up and forget about while they cook themselves. This Whole30 compliant Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork fits that bill perfectly! This week's meal prep was actually quicker and easier than usual, because I made a couple of extra meals last weekend and stashed them in the freezer.

I also learned this week that carpet melts. Ugh. If you follow along on my stories, you know that my kitchen is pretty small, so when I meal prep, I quickly run out of space. It's not uncommon for me to move things to the living room to cool in there. Well, this week I was baking some oat muffins for my husband and had some extra batter, so I made two bigger muffins in ceramic dishes. After I pulled them out of the oven, I let them cool for several minutes, but then needed the counter space, so I transferred them to the living room, as I often do. I set them right in the middle of the floor in front of the door, because a nice breeze was coming in through the screen, and went on with my cooking. Later that evening I went to pack them up and lifted up the two ceramic bowls to find two big melted spots!! I've never had this happen with metal or glass before; apparently ceramic holds more heat?? Lesson learned....and we definitely won't be getting our full security deposit back on this place. Major bummer.

Here's this week's meal plan:

Breakfast: Yellow Curry with Chicken // I shared how to make this in the "wholedailylife" story highlight on the Barefoot Provisions Instagram, as well as in the comments of this post! The star of the show is the Yai's Thai Yellow Curry, which is so packed with flavor that you hardly need anything else! I just add some broth, a little bit of coconut milk, some chicken, and lots of veggies!

Lunch: No-Cook // This is my summertime staple, and I'm keeping it extra simple this week with just a bottle of Zupa and an easy protein, either Ayobayo or some canned salmon that I'll mix with mayo and balsamic. I'll also have some fruit! (15% off Zupa with code "wholedailylife" and 10% off Ayobayo on their site with the same code)

Dinner: Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork with Air Fried Potatoes and Arugula // This BBQ pork is a dish that I come back to often, because it literally takes 2 ingredients and 3 minutes of prep. All I do is cut up a package of pork tenderloin from US Wellness Meats (I buy all of my meat from them; top quality meat is important to me!) into 2" chunks, put it in my Instant Pot, and cover with 2/3 of a bottle of Tessemae's BBQ sauce. I cook on high pressure for 35 minutes, then let the pressure naturally release. After that, I shred the meat with two forks and add the rest of the BBQ sauce! For the potatoes, all I did was slice up some fingerling potatoes and toss them with about 1 tbsp oil before cooking them in my air fryer for about 25 minutes at 390. I'm still playing around with the air fryer (similar to this model, just got it for my birthday!), so if you want to follow along, be sure to watch my stories on Instagram!

Have a great week!

-Tracey

"Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole" + Weekly Whole30 Meal Plan

It's amazing what a difference having a three day weekend makes! I used to work 4/10's every week and while I didn't love working until 8:30pm, I did love having Friday off every week. There are enough chores and projects that I do every weekend that having the extra day actually allows me to rest and launch into the new week feeling recharged!

I've said it before though, when I feel like my weekends aren't long enough, it usually means that I'm not resting well during the week, so that's something that I want to try to get better at. I've always been a driven person who tends to take on too much, and it's hard for me to say no to things that I'm excited about. I talk about the importance of resting and listening to your body over in my Instagram stories pretty often, so if you're not following me there and this topic is of interest to you, you might want to check it out!

Also, lately I've been experimenting again with a bit of intermittent fasting. Nothing too crazy, but trying to stick to an 8 hour eating window when it feels natural. (aka, if my body is screaming for real food outside of that window, I listen and eat something!) This was prompted by discussion at my work about implementing this into our weight management curriculum, and I wanted to try it out again so that when I talk about it, it comes from a place of personal experience. Is this something you would be interested in learning more about? If so, let me know in the comments of this meal prep post on Instagram!

Here's this week's meal plan:

Breakfast: Spaghetti Squash with Sausage // Lately I've been trying to use up things that I have at home before buying new groceries. I've had a jar of Rao's marinara sauce in my pantry and this meal totally hit the spot when I made it a few weeks ago, so I just repeated it! It really doesn't get much easier. I just steamed two small spaghetti squash in my Instant Pot (cut in half and de-seeded) for 8 minute with about 1 cup of water, then scooped out the flesh and topped it with some marinara and some beef sausage that I cooked up from US Wellness Meats!

Lunch: No-Cook // You already know this is a go-to for me! I'll be using some Whole30 compliant turkey and Ayobayo Droewors beef sticks ("wholedailylife" for 10% off) as my proteins, along with some sprouted Nourishing Nutz ("wholedailylife" for 20% off your first order) for fat and a Zupa for veggies ("wholedailylife" for 15% off). If you haven't tried the new Kale Avocado + Collagen flavor, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's my new favorite!!

Dinner: "Cheesy Chicken and Rice Casserole" with Broccoli // This meal was an experiment, and it turned out really well! Along the same lines of using up what I already have on hand, I had some Smoked Cheddar Style Dip from The Honest Stand in my fridge that I've been holding on to. To make this casserole, I started by sautéing one bag of cauliflower rice (16oz) in a large skillet with some ghee until starting to soften, then mixed in the entire container of dip. (If you haven't seen this brand before, their products are made from nuts and potatoes!) Then I cooked up 1# of chicken tenders in my Instant Pot (8 minutes on manual with about 1/2 cup water and 1/2 tsp salt), shredded the meat, and mixed everything together (including the extra water in the IP to thin out the sauce a bit). I added some steamed broccoli on the side and called it a meal!

Snack: I haven't felt like I've needed a snack since doing the 16/8 intermittent fasting, but if I do, I'll usually grab an apple with nut butter, a bar, or make a little smoothie!

Have a great week!

-Tracey

Whole30 Sweet Potato Meatball Sheet Pan Roast

Sheet pan meals are the best, because they're the equivalent of one-pot meals, but better, because THAT GOLDEN CHAR gets me every time.

This recipe is SO easy. It's great for meal prep, or even just to throw together on a weeknight! Here's the recipe:

Whole30 Sweet Potato Meatball Sheet Pan Roast

1.5# carrots, chopped into coins

1.5# fingerling potatoes, cut in half

2 heads organic broccoli, cut into florets (about 8 cups)

3 tbsp olive oil, divided

1# ground pork

1# ground beef

2/3 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato

2.5 tsp salt

2 tsp dried sage

2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp fennel seed

1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Distribute the carrots and potatoes evenly between the baking sheets and drizzle each sheet with 1 tbsp oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Toss to combine. Bake for 20 minutes, tossing half way through. 

3. While the veggies are roasting, toss the broccoli florets with the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and set aside. In another large bowl, combine the mashed sweet potato with all of the remaining spices and mix well. Add the ground meat and mix until evenly distributed, taking care not to over-mix. Form approximately 32 meatballs using a 1 oz scoop (or your hands).

4. After 20 minutes of roasting the potatoes and carrots, remove the trays from the oven and increase the temperature to 425. Add half of the broccoli to each sheet and carefully toss to combine. Nestle the meatballs among the veggies on the two trays.

5. Increase the heat to 425 and put the trays back in the oven for 15 minutes, until meatballs have reached an internal temperature of 165 and veggies are golden and tender.

NOTE: You can use any veggies you have and any ground meat that you prefer. The key is to give the more dense veggies a head start by roasting them for a period of time on their own before adding the rest! This meal is also easy to make AIP friendly by subbing the potatoes for cubed sweet potato and omitting the fennel seed!

Enjoy!