Whole 30 - Day 7

Today's Menu

breakfast: purple smoothies, nut-ola, whipped coconut milk, and frozen berries

lunch: salad with apples & toasted pecans tossed with homemade dressing, 2 soft boiled eggs (just on  Noe's salad), leftover soup from yesterday

dinner: Eating Well's Pacific Sole with Oranges & Pecans (I used mandarin oranges and added ginger to to the fish spice, I also used cider vinegar instead of white wine vinegar, ghee instead of butter, didn't have dill, and added coconut flakes to the orange sauce) and roasted broccoli and carrots (coconut oil, salt, pepper, ginger, orange extract, and balsamic vinegar)

Whole 30 - Day 6

Today's Menu

breakfast: scrambled eggs, fruit salad, and a green smoothie

lunch: sauteed mushroom and bok choy (with coconut oil and splashes of sesame oil, fish oil, and coconut aminos), sliced leftover pork, and a soft boiled egg, topped with garlic pepper sauce

snacks: marcona almonds and a manadarin orange

dinner: Roasted Carrot and Fennel Soup (we didn't have basil or marjoram, I used tarragon. I also added a vegetable bouillon cube) garnished with with San Miniato Sausage Meatballs and fennel fronds

The finished product. YUM!

Roasted Carrots and Fennel
simmering with other goodness...

I *heart* RVA

the food scene in Richmond is so wonderful. I am reminded again and again how lucky we are to have relationships with local meat and veggie farmers, grocers, and food artisans.

Today at the South of the James Winter Market I visited:

Frog Bottom Farm for beautiful carrots, eggs, and pork chops (they have fantastic brussels right now, too... but I can't eat them too often because they don't always agree with my belly). I also got to see Lisa and Arlo, which is always a joy. There's a gentleness to this family that I'm so grateful for.

Here I am preparing for the first CSA pick up in the summer of 2009

We've been enjoying yummies from Frog Bottom since Arlo, who's now 3, was in utero. When we were still in school, we traded work hours for a CSA share, and I think this was the beginning of my love for locally grown food. Ill be sad to see them leave our part of the country to head for a farm in NY this spring.

back to my market stops... after holding up the line at the Frog Bottom tables, I popped by Crumptown Farm for oh so delicious red russian kale (it's great roasted, in soup, in smoothies, as salad... one of my favorites!)

and Deer Run Farm for beef soup bones.

....THEN! then! THEN...

I went with friends to check out the new grocer in our neighborhood. Little House Green Grocery had lots of local produce, dairy products, breads, meats, and other goodies as well. They even had oyster shucking demos today, but we passed on that due to my shellfish allergies. I'm excited to know that I can find such goodness less than a mile from home.

Y'all, I love this town. LOVE it. Richmond is a place that grows on you slowly, and once it's rooted in you, I think it may never fully let go. I hope you can explore the goodness here some time soon!

Now I'm sitting in our lovely home enjoying the smell of simmering beef broth and roasting carrots, onions, and fennel. Blessings abound. Goodness overflows. I am filled with gratitude.

Whole 30 - Day 5

an old photo, but the bows
make it so celebratory!

8 a.m.
I should let you know upfront that there may be some cheating today. If that means adding on more days at the end, I'm ok with that. Today I'm 33 and we are going to celebrate, so if a friend brings champagne to the house, I will drink a glass. Please don't judge me, just send me birthday love instead!

10 p.m.
I am contemplating renaming our month to be the Paleo Challenge instead. There's been a lot of drama on the Whole 30 Facebook page and I think they would say we aren't doing whole 30 because of things like smoothies, muffins, or granola. The thing is, tonight when I cheated I was reminded what my food weakness is. I don't eat muffins or pancakes nonstop, I don't crave pizza, I don't swim in buckets of fried chicken. The times I can't help myself are centered around chocolate, cookies, cakes, and pies. I made a paleo dessert for dinner tonight and caught myself sticking my finger in the bowl to test it again and again. Clearly this is where my impulse control flies out the window. So, today we broke our fast from sweet treats and booze (I had one glass of champagne and a sip of a friend's homemade beer), and now I see I need a long break from desserts. In that way, I do feel like we're following the Whole 30, but maybe others wouldn't agree. As a note we both felt bloated and overly full at the end of the evening.

Today's Menu

Breakfast: green smoothie and nut-ola with frozen cherries and spiced, whipped coconut milk (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, lime juice, banana puree and date purree folded into the whipped goodness)

Lunch: leftover soup from yesterday's lunch

Snacks: marcona almonds and an apple

Dinner: Stone Soup made with friends, a big green salad with fresh fruit, and Paleo Chocolate Banana Pie (recipe below)

Paleo Chocolate Hazelnut Banana Pie

I used the walnut crust recipe from Mark's Daily Apple with a few changes. I used ghee instead of butter. I also baked the crust for 30 minutes because the filling was not something that would be baked in the crust.

Slice a banana and place the slices in the pie plate once the crust has been cooked.

Make Chocolate Hazelnut Ganache (adapted from Aran Goyoaga's Small Plates & Sweet Treats)

Coarsely chop a 6oz bar of 100% unsweetened chocolate (I used Dagoba) and place in a medium size heat-proof bowl

in a saucepan, whisk together:
2/3 c unsweetened coconut milk
1/4-1/3 c maple syrup or honey (I mixed the two)
2 T hazelnut butter (I made hazelnut butter in my food processor, so easy! These tips helped. I didn't sweeten or salt, but I did add a few teaspoons of walnut oil to help it along.)
heat until simmering

pour the coconut mixture over the chopped chocolate and gently stir to combine.

Stir in:
2 t vanilla
1/2 t salt

Pour the ganache into the pie crust. Cover and refrigerate.

Make Coconut Banana Cream

In a blender, liquify:
2 bananas
1 T maple syrup
1 T vanilla extract

Follow these steps from Oh She Glows to make coconut whipped cream in your mixer. Then stir in the banana mix. Refrigerate.

Pipe coconut banana cream onto the pie before serving.

Everyone liked this dessert, even the eight year old!

Whole 30 - Day 4

This morning I made nut-ola (grain free granola) because my beloved really likes to have a bowl of crunchy goodness for breakfast... also, I was excited to find a granola recipe we can use in the future since I have an oat allergy!

I found the basic recipe at Real Food Kosher.  I halved her recipe because I had two eggs whites in the fridge leftover from making mayo yesterday. There are some things I'd do differently if I made it again. My interpretation of the recipe follows:

noe's NUT-ola

In a medium bowl, whisk together:
2 egg whites
3 T date puree (or apple, prune, etc)
2 t extract (almond, orange, vanilla--use your favorite)
spices, 1-2 t each (use your favorite mix... my suggestions include cinnamon, ginger, allspice, nutmeg, orange or lemon peel, cloves, cardamom, etc)
1 t salt

In food processor, chop to desired size:
2 C mixed nuts and seeds (we had walnuts, pumpkin seeds, pecans, almonds, cashews in the pantry)

Stir nuts into the wet mix along with:
1/4 c dried, fruit (no sugar, oil, or sulphites added)--I used raisins
1/4 c unsweetened, flaked coconut

Spread the mix in a coconut oil greased jellyroll pan and baked at 275° for about 45 minutes.

Stir and re-spread the mix in the pan every 15 minutes, checking it every 5 minutes after it's been in the oven half an hour to avoid burning.

Let cool completely before placing it in a sealed glass jar or container.

Today's Menu

breakfast: green smoothie and paleo blueberry muffin

lunch: kitchen sink soup (everything in the pot but the kitchen sink! well, not exactly... it's the last of the shepherd's pie leftovers, canned tomatoes, turkey stock, carrots, rutabaga, mushrooms, chicken sausage, and kale. YUMMY!)

snacks: earl grey with coconut milk, marcona almonds, banana

noe's dinner: I was driving a friend t the airport, so I had to get creative at a restaurant. The patty of a lamb burger on a bed of greens with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

jess's dinner: soup from lunch, a salad, and mix fruit with grated ginger and unsweetened flaked coconut

Whole 30 - Day 3

Today's Menu

It's not the best photo in the world, but it sure did taste wonderful. . . 

breakfast: green smoothie and breakfast hash (butternut squash, apple, chicken sausage, toasted pecans, and cinnamon in the frying pan)

snacks: half an apple, a banana, and paleo blueberry muffin

lunch: leftovers from last night

dinner: half an avocado and tuna salad lettuce wraps (tuna, homemade mayo, grainy mustard, s/p, chopped apple, slivered pecans, and dill)

Whole 30 Day 2

Today's Menu

Breakfast: a paleo blueberry muffin and purple smoothie (many of yesterday's ingredients plus avocado and blueberries)

Lunch: leftovers from the bottom part of yesterday's shepherd's pie (plus nutmeg, mushrooms, and kale) with a poached egg and Louisiana Gold hot sauce

snack dispersed throughout the day: mandarin orange, marcona almonds, carrots, a kiwi, earl grey with a splash of coconut milk

dinner: paleo rice via nom nom paleo, oven roasted goodies (ginger, onion, carrot, broccoli, cashews, pineapple, coconut oil, sesame oil, and fish oil), asian inspired baked chicken thighs (recipe below)

Asian Inspire Baked Chicken Thighs

place 6 chicken thighs in a pyrex baking dish (I used the loaf shaped dish)

In your blender, liquify:

1/4 c pineapple chunks
1 small apple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1/8 c diced onion
2 garlic gloves, chopped
1 thumb of ginger, peeled and sliced
1 t orange peel
1/4 c broth
1 T sunflower butter
1 T fish oil
2 T cider vinegar
the juice of 1 lime

set oven to 350°

Pour blender mix over chicken and let rest for half an hour.

Bake 40 minutes, or until chicken is done.

Serve with stir fried or roasted veggies and cauliflower rice.