Day 28- Super Bowl Sunday!

Just gotta say, I am SO proud of my Holley family! I haven’t yet mentioned that my mother-in-law, father-in-law, and sister-in-law have been doing Whole 30 along with Blaine and I! We love how much they are inspired by our health habits and the fact that they joined us on our efforts to eat right.

And honestly, let me take a minute to shout out to e v e r y o n e who has informed me of the inspiration my blogging has been. You’re encouragement means so much to me and I am so happy to hear that my recipes and experiences are inspiring others to make an effort towards a healthier lifestyle. That’s what this blog is all about and I wouldn’t do it if it weren’t for you guys.

Today on SUPER BOWL SUNDAY the Holley family worked together to make sugar-free, dairy-free, grain-free snacks. We food-prepped all day long, but it was such sweet bonding time and we had lots of fun creating these new recipes. Even on a pretty restricted whole foods diet, we were able to make some REALLY delicious game foods!

• Veggies and Homemade Ranch Dip

Bacon Ranch Meatballs by Brylee:

• 2lbs ground beef
• 10-12 slices of sugar-free bacon, cooked
• 1/4 cup homemade ranch dressing
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Sauce: 
• small onion, diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 12oz can of tomato sauce
• a pinch of dried basil
• 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

Method: 

Heat olive oil in a large skillet on med-high heat. Combine all other ingredients in a bowl well and form into small golf balls and fry on one side for 5 minutes, then flip and cover with a lid and cook 10 more minutes on med-low heat.
For sauce: saute onions in olive oil until softened, then add the rest of the ingredients and stir. Pour over meatballs in a crockpot on low for later OR cook sauce alone for a few minutes in the skillet to serve immediately!

Dairy-Free Buffalo Dip by Kaitie:

• 12.5oz can of organic canned chicken breast
• 1/2 cup of raw cashews, soaked in water for at least 3 hours
• 1/2 cup homemade ranch
• 1/2 cup Franks Hot Sauce
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method: 

Put soaked cashews in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth- adding a little splash of water if necessary (only a little at a time, you only want it to be smooth, not watery.) Combine cashew cream, chicken, homemade ranch, hot sauce, and salt and pepper in a dip-sized crockpot or a small casserole dish. For crockpot, cook on low for 1 hour. For casserole, bake in the oven at 350° for 30 minutes or until bubbly!

• Nom Nom Paleo’s Chile Lime Wings and baked traditional hot wings made by Mom Holley

Can you say teamwork?! I seriously could not be more proud! All our hard work payed off and it really shows.
Seriously guys, real food is delicious.

Kaitie Holley, housewife

Day 3- Homemade Ranch and Cauliflower Rice Recipes

Recipes featured: oven roasted nuts, homemade ranch dip, Apple Juice chicken (oatmealwithafork.com), cauliflower fried rice

Hi ho! Hi ho!

Back to work again! I nanny a sweet little boy Wednesday-Friday from 7am-3pm. I am gone half the day so I need to grab a quick breakfast in the morning and pack a lunch. Today through Friday I will include “to-go” meals that may take a little bit of prep, but are easy to pull together and stay yummy until lunch time!

• Green Smoothie: spinach, pineapple, peach, banana and canned coconut milk
• oven roasted cashews, pecans, and almonds– I made these at the beginning of the week because I knew I would need something to grab on my way out during the week. I roasted them in the oven at 350°, on a cookie sheet with olive oil and sea salt.

• Hard boiled eggs- easy to put on the stove while getting ready and come back to before leaving.
• raw carrots, peppers, and blueberries

Homemade Ranch Dip:

• 1/2 cup homemade mayo
• 1/2 tsp parsley
• 1/4 tsp dill
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt
• a pinch of black pepper

• “Apple juice chicken” from the blog Oatmealwithafork. I used chicken breast tenders and added a tbsp of coconut aminos and a pinch of ground ginger. PERFECT.

Cauliflower “Rice”:

Method:
Chop 1 small head of cauliflower into florets. Add to a large blender and cover with water. Pulse until cauliflower looks like rice. Strain “rice” and press dry with layers of paper towels! (see video on my facebook)

Cauliflower Fried “Rice”:

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion-chopped
• 1 head of cauliflower- riced
• frozen peas and carrots- thawed
• 2 tbsp coconut aminos

method:
Heat olive oil in skillet on medium heat, add chopped onions and sauteé until they are tender. Add riced cauliflower and cook until cauliflower is tender. Turn burner on high heat and add peas, carrots, and coconut aminos and cook 5 minutes more while stirring.

Day 2

Recipes featured: chicken salad

Kept it pretty simple today! Mostly just a mishmash of yummy things for each meal.
Dinner was packed up and reheated and just as good out of the microwave as it was from the pan(:

• peppered scrambled eggs with spinach- Don’t judge, I ❤ spinach.
• apple slices and almond butter (no sugar added and dry roasted)
• hot Caramel Chai herbal tea

• Chicken Salad: pan fried chicken breast, homemade mayo, mustard, smoked paprika, garlic salt, celery, grapes, and pecans

• Pan fried sweet potato and 2 Applegate Naturals beef hot dog
• balsamic peppers and onions: 1 tbs olive oil, 1tsp balsamic vinegar, italian seasoning, and salt
• Coconut sparkling water

Cauli-Tots

I have had a crazy amount of people tell me lately that they don’t like cauliflower! Well, I am here to change your minds, folks! I have so many amazing cauliflower recipes and I plan to post every. dang. one.
So I’m hoping somewhere along the way, you who don’t like cauliflower, will have your minds and lives changed by the amazing veggie that can become almost anything.

Here they become “Tater”-tots… minus the tater.

Serves: 2-3

Ingredients:

 

• 1 small head of cauliflower, grated (see instructions below)
• 1/4 cup tapioca flour/starch (pictured in my red jar, click link to see photo of product)
• 1 tsp salt, divided
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp onion powder
• pinch of ground mustard (optional)
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup almond meal/flour
• 1/4 cup flaxseed meal
• 1/3 cup coconut oil for frying