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

Days 24, 25, 26, and 27

Talk about slacker status…

Breakfast:

• 24: eggs and a banana
• 25: eggs and a banana
• 26: Green smoothie: spinach, coconut milk, pineapple, a splash of apple juice, 1 flax/chia seed packet
• 27: Eggs and sugar-free bacon

Lunch:

• 24: tuna salad
• 25: homemade trail mix (nuts and raisins), a cutie
• 26: Paleostix original beef jerky and an apple with almond butter
• 27: “Morning Dirt” juice from the Franklin Juice Co. (Carrot, apple, lemon, celery, romaine, green leaf, dandelion greens, parsley, cilantro, Hawaiian spirulina.)

Dinner: 

• 24: Paleo Chik-fil-a Nuggets and broccoli
• 25: Fajita chicken, peppers, and onions
• 26: Beef Veggie soup (beef, canned green beans, canned potatoes, frozen peas and carrots, tomato paste, beef broth)
• 27: Bacon wrapped Applegate Beef Hotdogs and baked sweet potato fries

We’re still going strong and with only 3 more days left!
Stick around. Superbowl Sunday is gonna be awesome- even without sugar, dairy, grains, or legumes! Can’t wait to post pictures of all the awesome stuff we are making (:

Honey(less) Mustard

As you guys know, I am on day 24 of the Whole 30 challenge. Thus, I am going a month without sugar and artificial sweetener.
Tonight’s dinner was Stupid Easy Paleo’s Paleo Chik-fil-a Nuggets and I just had to improvise a sugar-less Honey(less) Mustard!
I love this because I’m not a huge fan of the way honey tastes and this mustard is all the sweet without the honey flavor. And I’ll use any excuse to have one less sugar-free condiment in my house (:

• 3 dried pitted dates, roughly chopped (usually found with the raisins at the grocery store)
• 1/3 cup boiling water
• 1/3 cup mustard
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 3 tbsp homemade mayo
• pinch of salt, onion powder, and black pepper

Method: 

Put chopped dates in a food processor with boiling water and let soak for 5 minutes and then blend until smooth. In a large measuring cup or jar, add mustard, vinegar, mayo, and spices. Add date paste and whisk together until well combined.

Day 23

Breakfast: 

• 3 fried eggs
• Sugar-free bacon

Lunch: 

• tuna salad with pecans

Dinner:

• Grilled chicken, broccoli, and potatoes

Day 21

Recipes featured: homemade green sriracha

Breakfast:

• A banana and a handful of cashews- had to rush to church!

Lunch:

• Pork tenderloin and skillet roasted potatoes, compliments of Dad Holley!

Dinner: 

• Omelette with green peppers and spinach
• Merrick’s Ranch Sugar-free bacon

Homemade Green Sriracha:

• 1lb jalapeños
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 dried pitted date
• 1 & 1/2 tbsp fish sauce (look for a brand without sugar)
• 1 tsp salt

Method:

Coarsely chop jalapeños and remove seeds. If you like a lot of heat, don’t worry as much about the seeds.
Add all ingredients to a high-speed blender or food processor and purée until smooth.
Add purée to a saucepan and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool, store in a condiment bottle or a jar in the fridge up to a week!

Day 20

Only 10 days left! Unbelievable!
I feel awesome, and yesterday I even got a complement from a complete stranger about how “perfect” my complexion is (:

Breakfast: 

• Fried eggs

Lunch:

• Larabar, cashews, and a cutie

Dinner:

• Turkey burger with caramelized onions and homemade mayo
• Baked Julienned sweet potatoes with Homemade Ketchup
• Brussel sprouts sautéed in homemade clarified butter* (or Ghee)

*Clarifying butter takes the milk solids out of the butter making it essentially dairy-free and 100% Whole 30 compliant!

Day 19

Forgive me for not posting yesterday. It was a very hard day.
Our first fur-baby, Peaches the chinchilla, passed away and she was only 2.

We were so sick over it and I didn’t have the heart to take food pictures.  We will miss our little fluff ball<3

I think that from today through the rest of the 30 days, I will still post a food diary, but only include a picture if I’ve made a dish not yet posted. I initially only planned on doing the food diary for 2 weeks and that is mostly because I figured I would recreate many of the same dishes in the second half of the challenge. I have been pretty creative so far, but I am running out of new ideas! Thanks so much for following me this far! Hope that I will continue to challenge a healthier lifestyle to my readers (:

Breakfast:

• fried eggs
• bulletproof coffee

Lunch:

• Carrots and homemade ranch dip
• pecans

Dinner:

• grilled chicken
• skillet potatoes
• sautéed broccoli

Day 18

• Scrambled eggs
• Maverick Ranch No Sugar Added bacon

• Tuna salad and pecans
• Raspberry Zinger tea, iced

• Spinach and Caramelized Onion Frittata with Sweet Potato Crust
  I added bacon to ours and replaced the parmesan with nutritional yeast flakes. Also added a little Tony Chachere’s to the crust. Delish!

Day 17

Week 3 is so far so good!
Today was the last forecasted pretty day of the week. My nanny-baby and I spent the day outside playing in the grass and taking walks. It was a great break from being inside all winter!

Tonight Blaine found out that he had the flu, so now we are quarantined for a couple days. Hopefully it will be short lived. I’m so proud of him, he’s still eating and eating right! What a trooper!

• 3 scrambled eggs
• bulletproof coffee, not pictured

• An apple and almond butter

Again, you will have to forgive me for such a small lunch. There is not a rule on Whole 30 restricting me from having hamburgers and potatoes for lunch- if that’s what I need! However, I honestly don’t ever feel hungry anymore! I love it! But I’m still making sure to get enough food to where I’m not calorically starving.

• Zucchini Noodle Spaghetti with Muir Glen Pizza Sauce* (*sorry.. it’s so easy and my total favorite.)
• Almond Crusted Eggplant 

Day 16

Recipes featured: Paleo Cashew Chicken

• Fried Eggs in olive oil

• Carrots and homemade guacamole
• Penderson’s Farm Sugar Free Bacon
• Box of raisins

Paleo Cashew Chicken:

• 2 large chicken breasts cut into nuggets
• 1 tbsp tapioca flour
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• sprinkle of salt
• 1 tbsp coconut oil for frying
• handful of cashews
• SAUCE:
• 1/2 cup unfiltered 100% pure apple juice
• 3 tbsp coconut aminos
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp minced ginger root
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Method:
First, add apple juice to a small skillet and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes until syrupy. Add the rest of the sauce ingredients and cook on low heat while cooking chicken.
Toss chicken breast nuggets in tapioca flour, pepper, and salt. Heat coconut oil on med-high heat in a large skillet and cook chicken 5 minutes on each side or until no longer pink. Add cashews and sauce to the large skillet with chicken and toss to coat. Serve over steamed broccoli or cauliflower rice!