Day 30: The End

We have reached the end. I can't believe how quickly one month has flown by. Our 30 day challenge is over. I can't say we were 100% perfect, in fact there were a few days we ate sushi, thai food and maybe I had a few jelly beans the other day. However when we were on track we felt great, and we will continue to eat healthy. 

Some days were hard and definitely challenge to take the time to cook. Towards the end of the challenge I found the food was better tasting because I got the hang of the paleo thing. It takes some creativity but the more you practice the better the food gets. There were a few recipes that I would never make again. 

Chocolate Truffles 

Ingredients 

13 fresh dates

1 1/2 Pecans 

4 T honey 

3T cocoa powder 

1/4 cup shredded coconut 

combine dates, pecans, honey and cocoa powder in a food processor 

after you have mixed it well, roll into small balls (makes about 12)

then roll balls into shredded coconut

put into the refrigerator for 30 minutes 

Mexican Lime Soup

Ingredients 

2 lbs chicken shredded 
1 tsp. kosher salt, plus more, to taste
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper, plus more, to taste
1 large white onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño chili
3-5 cups low-sodium chicken broth  or vegetable broth 
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 avocado

 with garlic, cook chicken in a small pan and shred
then sauté onions with salt and pepper
combine chicken and saute onions together
in a pot combine jalapeño, broth and oregano
add chicken to the liquid mixture 
let simmer for 20 minutes

garnish with avocado slices 

The 30 Day Challenge is over! It's been fun and we will continue to eat healthy :) 

Peace out 30 day challenge 

Day 15: Shopping, Cookies, Happy

Mondays: The most productive day of the week. Seriously. We were up at 5:30am, Evan went to work, I went for a run, did laundry, cleaned the house, did a bunch of camp emails and got ready all before 9:30 am. If I were like this everyday, who knows what I could do. 

Spring will never come. My run this morning was 20 degrees, sunny and freezing. 

In the past 3 days I've managed to break our apple slicer, can opener and melt our spatula. 

It's Birthday Week so I decided to incorporate a little shopping into my day at TJMAXX. I love that place! I obviously was looking for a few new kitchen tools and well there were a few things I didn't have. Thanks to a few Wedding Gift Cards and their wonderful 50%-75% sale on Kitchen Aid this is what I came up with. Yep all the tools were $1.50-$5.00, and I love the colors!  

Beautiful right??

Costco was my next stop! They have some awesome cooking ingredients that are expensive at the local stores! 

Himalayan Pink Salt $3.98 at Costco, $12.99 at the local store for a 3oz bottle! 

What? INSANE. This salt is extremely flavorful and so pure. 

Agave 2 bottles at Costco for $5.98. A small little 12oz bottle at the local store was  $4 something 

Good Deals, Good Steals today! 

Evan requested Chocolate Chip Cookies... He thought they were so delicious, I was surprised how good they were. I ate some batter and 2 cookies. I forgot how allergic I am to Almonds so that made me super sick. But they were so good it was almost worth it... almost. I loved eating them in the moment. 

 PALEO CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES 

Ingredients 

3 cups sifted almond flour 

1 cup dark chocolate chips 

1/3 cup honey

1/2 T pure vanilla extract 

1/4 tsp pink salt, or sea salt

1/2 tsp baking powder 

1 egg

coconut oil 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

In a mixing bowl wisk egg and combine salt, vanilla extract, honey and baking powder

after ingredients are combined add the chocolate chips 

sift almond flour in and mix together

cover baking sheet with coconut oil 

use a small ice cream scoop to make cookies into small balls on the pan

bake for 15 minutes then allow to cool before taking them off the pan

Yes that's correct, we had dessert before dinner 

Lemon Honey Chicken

Ingredients 

2 lbs chicken tenderloins 

scallions 

1 T minced garlic

1 cup chicken broth

1/2 yellow onion

2 T honey 

4 T lemon juice

1/3 cup coconut flour 

1 egg

1 T coconut oil 

chop the chicken into small pieces 

whisk egg in a mixing bowl 

dip chicken pieces into egg 

drip excess egg and roll pieces into coconut flour 

melt coconut oil in a pan 

cook chicken pieces in the pan with medium heat until brown 

in a separate pan brown garlic and chopped onion 

combine broth , honey, lemon juice into the pan with garlic and onions and let simmer 

add browned chicken 

garnish dish with chopped scallions

He got off early and helped me do some cooking/tasting. 

This meal was Evan approved. 

On another note Almond makes my stomach feel like death 

I rubbed some DoTerra DigestZen  (which is a blend of Ginger, peppermint, tarragon, fennel, caraway, coriander and anise ) on my stomach and within the hour the pain and nausea was pretty much gone but holy cow I was feeling so much better. 

Good Day, Good Food, Good Fun

<3 

Love 

H & E

Day 9: Good food, Good feeling in 30 minutes

I will start by saying I LOVE eating paleo. I feel good at the end of the day, not guilty about what I put in my mouth. I used to be a stress eater. In high school and college I would gorge myself when I was stressed, bring on the box of tricuts, block of cheese, candy and 64 oz diet coke. However then I just felt like a baluga whale. 
There were so many things going on today. From phone calls to errands, deadlines and getting things done around the house it was starting to build up inside my body *sigh* I used Serenity Oil, and applied it on my wrists and the side of my head onto the temples. Its a calming blend of Lavender, sweet marjoram, roman chamomile, ylang ylang, sandalwood and vanilla bean, I was surprised how much better I felt after about 30-45 minutes. 

Yes, everything got done on time and the world didn't come to an end. In those moments when too much is happening at once you feel like you might go crazy. 

Girls Camp is just around the corner and I have a lot of little things to do (assigning devotionals, secret sister, skits, ordering t-shirts and making welcome bags) YIKES. Hopefully it will all come together on time. Either way, we will have a lot of fun, there is hiking, archery, an observatory, and just being outdoors. I think I might be more excited than the girls. 

I was so happy that Evan got home early from work so I could just be done with everything else and call it a day! Dinner was paleo and then I used a tablespoon of soy sauce and 4 tablespoons of ketchup... Fail? mmmm maybe. But I didn't have time to hunt down the paleo replacements- I just used what was in my pantry. 

Either way the Sweet n' Sour Chicken was delicious. It made my stomach happy and what a successful relief to end the day. Here is where I got it! I didn't "fry" the chicken like it directed, because I don't know if I am a bad cook or I can't follow directions but I tend to always fail when it comes to frying my own meat. 

This is 5 minutes to Prep
25 minute cook time.

Sweet n' Sour Chicken 

2 lbs chicken tenders

1/2 c honey

1/2 c apple cider vinegar 

4 Tbs ketchup 

1Tbs Soy Sauce 

1 tsp garlic powder 

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees

Put chicken tenders into a small glass baking dish 

Pour sauce mixture over the chicken 

Bake for 25 minutes 

Several blogs say quinoa is paleo because its a seed, others claim it is not paleo because it is a grain seed. I think it probably isn't paleo, but I ate it anyway:/ 

I made more of the cashew butter to eat. I turned out better than last time. I had it in the food processor just a little longer and it turned out even more smooth than before. Ah so so delicious. 

Here is the blog where I got the recipe! 

Day 5: Going out to eat. Is it Possible?

I didn't think I would make it this far but Day 5 was a success.
Eating healthy does take more time than grabbing the quick bag of chips or candy bar from the corner store. But shouldn't you invest time in your body considering you only get one? 
What you put in your mouth actually matters. As they say Abs are made in the kitchen, at least thats where it starts. Remember that the gym is still extremely important. Don't over look that. 

 I got fancy for breakfast with a few crepes. These are high in protein- a great way to start your day, and they are pretty delicious too. A light/fluffy crepe you won't fell the fatty carb bulge. 

Breakfast Paleo Crepes

Ingredients 

2 eggs

2 egg whites

3 T coconut flour

1 cup coconut milk

1T coconut oil

a pinch of salt

The coconut flour will tend to sink and clump to the bottom so as you combine ingredients sift the flour.

1. combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl

2. Pour mixture onto an oiled pan (coconut oil).

3. brown both sides.

* these are delicate because of the egg whites, so be careful when flipping. Don't make them too big*

I didn't use jam because that has a lot of sugar so I pureed strawberries and blueberries to pour on top.

Friday night is date night and we wanted to go out of dinner. I didn't think it was possible to eat Paleo but I did okay. I did a little research on places that people eat while on the Paleo diet and one was Chipotle. They use I high quality of meat, so its just up to you when it comes to the choices. 

I ordered a "bowl" with no rice or beans. I ordered chicken, hot sauce, pico, guac, and lots of lettuce. It was delightful. 

* remember when eating out to look at the ingredients and ask questions to those taking your order. If you can, do a little research before you go out to eat. Since you are paying them to make your food- don't be afraid to make requests; ask for no dairy options, using different oils and such. Restaurants are very aware and sensitive of food allergies. Eating out doesn't have to be a "No-Never type of thing. Enjoy * 

We were at a mall and there were carts with delightful looking macaroons, yogurt stands, and even a girls scout cookie booth. The girl scout cookie booth was very tempting considering I love girl scout cookies and I was a girl scout for 13 years. <3 

Evan got strawberry ice cream in a waffle cone. It looked so so good. 

Carry snacks with you to ensure that you aren't starving. Also when you see those fresh baked double-double chocolate chip cookies you have more willpower to keep walking. 

Snacks to keep in your bag: 
nuts
apple slices 
pumpkin seeds

There are so many options check out this blog for snack ideas 

When I got home I made a rich chocolate pudding to eat during Hawaii Five-0, which by the way is one of my favorite shows. LOVE IT. 

Chocolate Pudding 

Ingredients 

2 avocados 

1/4 c agave 

3/4 c unsweetened cocoa 

1/3 c coconut milk 

2 T pure vanilla extract 

pinch of salt 

Combine all ingredients into a food processor or single serving ninja cup. 

Blend until smooth 

put into refrigerator until cool 

it will be thick but very smooth and delicious 

 Throughout the day I kept the snacks going with 

hard boiled eggs

strawberries

apples 

cashew butter

and even made a smoothie with coconut milk combined with fruit 

If you're on the 30 day challenge road keep it going! 

Paleo Fact of the Day:

 *Soy is not Paleo! Why? Soy comes from a soy bean, which is legume from East Asia. Soy milk, soy sauce, tofu, edamame, and some protein powders contain are SOY* 

Dairy-Free [Recipe] Teriyaki Salmon

It has come to the attention that my body absolutely hates Dairy & Almonds. In fact when they are consumed my throat closes up and it becomes hard to breathe. So in an attempt to reduce allergy and inflammation in my body I have to take those things out. This may not be an issue for others, but It's hard for me because I love cheese, yogurt, ice cream, almond milk and almonds in general. Also if you actually read the labels- everything has MILK or NUTS in it. 

Here is my [1st Successful Recipe] with no Dairy or Nuts: 

2 - 4oz Fresh Salmon cuts 

2 Cups of Teriyaki Marinade & Sauce 

1 Cup Fresh cut Pineapple chunks 

1 Cup Quinoa 

Place your Salmon pieces in a large ziploc bag. Marinade your Salmon in 2 Cups of Teriyaki Marinade. Place in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Heat oven to 350 Degrees. Use a small glass backing dish and cook salmon for 30 minutes using all of the extra sauce. Prepare quinoa as directed on package. 

Serve salmon over the quinoa, put pineapple chunks over salmon and pour desired amount of extra teriyaki sauce over rice.

If you have a gluten or soy allergy, check the labels of the Teriyaki sauce because it usually contains soy and wheat. 

* I was really happy about how this turned out, because it wasn't dry, there was a lot of flavor, and Evan liked it a lot. He isn't such a fan of fish but I may have won him over with this!* 

Enjoy you meal! 

Cheers 

H