Mexican Riced Cauliflower

I'll be the first to admit this is not the best picture to blog, but trust me, this recipe combo is worth sharing!

Since finishing Whole 30, I've gotten really into substituting riced cauliflower for previous diet staples like quinoa and rice.  I usually cook at least one meal a week (which ends up being three servings for me) with cauliflower.

Mexican Riced Cauliflower

• Head of cauliflower
• 8 oz can tomato paste
• 1/2 yellow onion (chopped)
• 1 cup water
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground chipotle
• 1 jalapeno
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 bunch cilantro
• 1 tomato (diced)
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 garlic clove (minced)

To start, rice your cauliflower. Sometimes I'll chop it up finely with a knife and other times I'll throw it in my Ninja Express to rice.

In a large skillet, warm the pan over medium heat, add coconut oil.  Add cauliflower and mix with cauliflower. Add 1/2 cup water and mix rice.  Stir in can of tomato paste and add spices. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup of water.

While this is coming to a soft boil, chop up the onion, jalapeno, tomato and cilantro.  Stir into rice.  To let the flavors blend, let it simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

I decided to add some leftover Slow Cooker Mexican Pulled Pork I had. Mixing this in was a great idea! The flavors compliment each other nicely.  I topped the dish with a guacamole jalapeno salsa I found at the grocery store.

I eliminate the brown sugar called for in the pork recipe, which makes this meal entirely Whole 30 and Paleo compliant!

Whole 30 Recap

Hi there, long time, no see. It's been a while. Trying to maintain a work-life balance, finding time for myself and Mr HaHa was extremely difficult with my last work assignment and being gone 12-13 hours a day! 

Skip forward, I'm on my next work assignment. I'm living away from home in Vail (Feb-Dec 2016). I have an adorable (company-paid) apartment and love being in the mountains! I don't love being away from my husband, but thank goodness for Face Time and weekends! Honestly, with my last project, I really never had an "me" time; it was work and "us". It's been interesting to be away from home and forcing both Ben and I to grow.

Anyways, moving to Vail, I really wanted to start off on the right foot with a more conscious, healthier diet and lifestyle. Motivated by a friend, my second week here I started Whole 30.  I figured it was best to jump into it before I could get used to anything else; plus I knew it would be easier not having to please Mr. HaHa and just feed myself. I also signed up for the gym and started training for a marathon.  A lot at once!  

You'd think it'd be exhausting, but I've had so much energy! I believe I have Whole 30 to thank for it.  For anyone who isn't familiar, Whole30 is 30 days of no dairy/grains/sugar/legumes/alcohol. It really was surprisingly easier for me than I thought it'd be. I’ve always used Sundays to meal plan for Sun-Thurs; so I kept that schedule.  I also was constantly looking for recipes, so much that I’d get excited and start planning ahead for the next week. I think part of the reason I didn't have difficulty was that I love to cook and found it fun and inspiring to constantly seek out new recipe ideas. 

The most helpful time savers were to prep long-"lead" foods in advance, like roast spaghetti squash or butternut squash the night before so it’d be ready to shred for my meal. I also got in the habit of one breakfast for the work week and making it on Sunday night and then just making eggs a few nights so that I wasn’t making a breakfast from scratch every day.

Another aspect of Whole 30 is no snacking.  This probably terrified me the most. I  was really surprised to find that probably 90% of the days I didn’t need anything and meal times crept up on me!

A few of my fav meals to share (I also have a Pinterest board)

 

Breakfast:

Tex-Mex Hash

@staciehassing.dietitian

Make 4 servings

---------------------------

Ingredients:

½ lb grass-fed ground beef or ground turkey (I used complaint chorizo (Boulder Sausage Company is awesome))

1 Tbsp. chili powder

½ tsp. cumin

¼ tsp. garlic powder

⅛ tsp. cayenne pepper

¼ tsp. dried oregano

¼ tsp. sea salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

¼ cup water

1 Tbsp. coconut oil

1 medium sweet potato, diced small (about 1 ¼-1 ½ cups)

½ cup diced red onions

½ cup diced red pepper

½ cup mushrooms, chopped

2 cups spinach, chopped

Fresh Cilantro, Avocado, Green Onions, Salsa (optional)

1 can of diced tomato with green chili (added)

Lunch/Dinner: I tried to make a 2-serving dinner and have leftovers for lunch

Spaghetti squash pizza crust – I realized part way through baking that I had the oven at 350 instead of 400 so I cranked it up; but my squash never fully seemed to “dry”/bake like real pizza crust. I had to use a fork to eat, but I will definitely try again (and at the right oven temp); I also think I needed to dry to get more of the moisture out of the squash

Complaint BBQ Sauce (I simmered to get the flavors to blend and added water to get to the consistency I wanted), with crockpot pulled pork over a baked sweet potato

Strawberry avocado salsa (I mixed up, added balsamic to taste and let sit for 30min) over salmon and spinach; it was kind of odd over the salmon, but I think it’d be odd with any meat. I’ll keep making and just eating with spinach as a salad

Roasted butternut squash (seasoned with pepper and fennel seed) mixed with compliant sausage and roasted kale <I wanted to do squash as noodles, but had a hard time running them threw so I gave up)

Juli Bauer’s Buffalo Chicken Casserole 

I used my greek marinade over chicken and roasted veggies

Obsessed with chimichurri over meat. I think steak/veggies and zoodles/marinara were the only meals I repeated because I like them both so much.

 

For snacks I keep dry roasted almonds, complaint Lara bar and apple/banana with almond butter.

I really feel so great that there’s a lot of stuff I don’t really see a need to add back into my diet.  We leave for vacation on 4/2 and I want to be able to have flexibility to eat there and know the impacts of foods; so I’m following Whole 30’s 10-day reintro plan starting today (hummus at lunch!) to make note of what effects food groups have on me; but moving forward I plan to be pretty strict Whole 30 during the week (except red wine) and then more lax on the weekends but still eating/drinking consciously.

Even without having my final weigh in, my skin is clearer, I moved down 2 sizes on my belt loop, my stomach is flatter and my rings are spinning on my fingers! Plus I feel like I have more energy, sleep well and wake up without being groggy.  I’m so glad I took the plunge and did it!

So on to Reintro Day 1: Legumes!

Sweet Potato Nachos

I experienced so many good meals during Whole 30 and now that I'm done; I don't want to stop! I followed Whole 30's Fast Track Reintroduction; essentially adding back in one food group at a time and pausing to see the effects.

My goal in reintroducing food groups is to know how my body will react if I give myself a break. Like I said above, I feel so great physically and mentally that I want to continue with Whole 30/clean eating.  So, my goal is to follow 80/20. During the week when I'm cooking for myself, no issue. But what's life without a little fun, especially on the weekends, right?!

I combined a few recipes to whip up a delicious meal!

Potatoes:

·  4 medium (about 7 oz each) sweet potatoes, skin on, wedged

·  1 tbsp olive oil

·  1 1/2 tsp paprika

·  pinch cayenne pepper

·  1 tsp garlic powder

·  Coarse salt and fresh-cracked pepper

Cook at 425 for 8-9 minutes on each side

BBQ sauce:

1 can tomato paste (6oz)

1/4 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup unsweetened 100% apple sauce

1 tbsp coconut aminos

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 1/2 tsp chipotle powder (see note below)

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp all spice

1/4 tsp cayenne powder (optional)

Mix together, simmer over low heat and add water to get to a consistency you like.

I mixed the potatoes and bbq with chicken, cilantro, jalapeno and red onion and viola! 

Crockpot Asian Wings

How many of us our guilty of pinning countless DIYs, recipes, and exercise moves from Pinterest never to put them to use? I found this recipe via a link-up back in September, pinned it, and forgot. After recently realizing I had over 300 repins, I decided it was time to put the recipe in to action. It's simple but delicious. The sauce is a bit spicy but savory.

 

Ingredients:

(Serves 2-3)

• Chicken wings (I used 5; we had enough sauce to cover up to 8)
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2Tbsp rice vinegar
• 4 tsp sriracha sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 Tbsp cold water
• 2 tsp corn starch

 

Directions:

• Start off by creating your sauce. Combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, sriracha, brown sugar, pepper flakes, and minced garlic in your slow cooker. Stir together.

 

• Place chicken wings in crockpot and use a spoon to ladle sauce over wings.
• Note: I peeled the skin off my wings (which was disgusting), because I knew it'd be a healthier option. Leaving the skin on will help the meat stay together easier, but I had no issues with meat filling off. I carefully used tongs when moving meat.

 

• Cook on low for approximately six hours.

 

Now that the chicken is cooked, the next step is to thicken the sauce.

• Carefully pour sauce into a medium sized frying pan (leaving chicken in slow cooker) over medium heat.
• In a small bowl, stir corn starch into water.
• Slowly stir into sauce and let cook approximately 7 minutes or until thickened

 

• Pour sauce back over top wings

 

• Add sliced green onion if desired and enjoy!

 

Next time we're doing to try make it for chicken breast instead of wings.

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

Alright time to get back into Taste of Tuesday posts! And starting off with a bang!  Although I'm a girl who loves me some buffalo wings (bone-in please), I typically don't like the idea of spreading the buffalo love elsewhere.  However, when Iowa Girl Eats posted this recipe, not to mention that it used Greek yogurt, and I ready to dig in. I'm salivating just looking at these pictures. IGE's recipe is too good not to share!

 

Ingredients:

(Makes 6+ servings)

• Box of noodles (16 oz)
• 1 lb chicken breast
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar
• 7 oz plain Greek yogurt
• 1.5 cups milk
• 1/4 cup buffalo sauce (and 2 Tbsp for topping)
• 1/3 cup bleu cheese
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• Optional: celery

 

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Cook noodles.
• Cut chicken into bite size pieces and saute in medium skillet over medium heat; season with salt and pepper.
• Remove chicken from skillet and set aside.
• In the same skillet, melt butter over mince heat. Add garlic and saute.
• Next, make a rue by whisking in flour. Once combined with garlic and butter; slowly mix in milk.
• Cook for ~3 minutes and turn off burner.
• Stir in buffalo sauce
• Add Greek yogurt, cheddar and bleu cheeses

 

• Mix together and get as smooth as possible (a few lumps are okay!)

• Add pasta and chicken to sauce. Mix together and transfer into a 8"x11" pan

 

 

• Top with break crumbs, a handful of extra shredded cheddar and buffalo sauce

 

• Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and breads crumbs are toasted

 

Bon Appetit!

If you're like me and love celery sticks with your wings, add some chopped fresh celery!

Chocolate Caramel Cheater Cookies

I usually skip over the "cookie recipes" that are based on boxed cake mix. However, once in a punch, I ran into Target to grab a box and a bag. After spending a few minutes mixing up and baking, I was quite surprised with my results.

 

Ingredients

(Original; Makes approx 24 cookies)

• One box Devil's Food cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• One bag of Rolos, unwrapped

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350F
• Mix together first three ingredients in a medium bowl
• Once dough has formed, place just enough around one Rolo to cover it
• Place on pre-greased tray (hint:your fingers will get messy while rolling Rolos, so put some spray on them too
• Back for approximately 8 minutes
• Enjoy

If you're feeling fancy or want to trick someone how easy these are, sprinkle some powdered sugar on your finished product.

Linking up with Let's Get Bananas and Blissfully Miller for Taste of Tuesday

Pumpkin Pancakes

Now that fall is here in full blast and we're finally settled into our new apartment, I've been eager to try out some recipes for pumpkin pancakes.  Ben was leery, but gobbled them right up! And you know how picky he is...if Ben likes them, they must be good!  

Ingredients:

(Original recipe; Makes ~10 6" pancakes)

•  1.5 cups milk
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1 eggs
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp vinegar (I used apple cider)
• 2 cups flour
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking power
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt

• In a medium sized bowl, mix together wet ingredients: milk, pumpkin, egg, oil and vinegar 

• In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices

• Mix dry ingredients into wet, stirring just enough to combine.

• Scoop batter on top a lightly oiled skillet over medium heat.  The batter will spread, so start with small scoops (~1/4 cups)

The first couple 'cakes came out slightly crispy and fried from the oil. Admittedly, these were the tastiest!

 Oh yes, and they're Oscar approved too!

Linking up with Let's Get Bananas and Blissfuly Miller for Taste of Tuesday

 

 

Week Recap

 Me oh my was this past week a doozie! Both the Bulls and Blackhawks were in town and we planned to take full advantage. After all, most Bulls tickets for standing room (at the tip top of the United Center) are typically around $100, so now that we've in Denver we felt like we could actually afford tickets! Then I was pleasantly surprised by a coworker with free 10th row tickets...free is even better!

 So instead, we spent a little more on Blackhawks vs. Avalanche tickets than we planned.  The game was terrible (for Hawks fans) but we did have some fun before the game!

 

 That was Tuesday night; Thursday night was the Bulls game. Darn, TBS scheduling meant we were the second game of the night, starting at 8:30 MT! Once again, the game was another dud as a Chicago fan.  The most exciting part of the game was 80's Night half time perfomance by Tiffany ("I think we're alone now..."

 The new screens at the Pepsi Center are insanely large!

With the late night Thursday, we had planned to lay low Friday and go snowboarding (for my first time!) on Saturday...however, we didn't realize how strict the rule of signing up for lessons 48 hours in advance was (you'd better believe I don't dare set foot on the mountain without lessons first!), so instead we checked out a few breweries.

Our Mutual Friend Brewing will be celebrating their year anniversary in two weeks.  This was the cutest and quaintest little brew pub. It was so cozy for a cold night!

 

 From there we headed over to Epic Brewing, which has a much more commercial (and bright) atmosphere, but some awesome berry! I had their stout mixed with a kriek (tart beer) for a chocolate cherry flavored beer combo. Yum! Epic's story is pretty interesting. They're from Utah and recently wanted to expand but were told they weren't allowed; instead, the set up camp in Denver and now brew three beers that are only available in CO

 And of course, leaving Osc alone for a few hours, he was rowdy and excited for us to get home.

Sunday morning we hopped over to Crema Coffee House, one of the supposed top coffee shops in Denver, and I'd believe it. Not only was the coffee good (although a little fruity for our liking), but their cinnamon roll (warmed) was amazing!

 

Later I met my first "friends" in Denver, some girls from a message board I frequent for an amazing brunch at Roija downtown, Denver's top restaurant according to Yelp. No pics, but trust me, you want to try their raspberry marscapone french toast. My mouth is salivating just thinking about it. The company was great too. It's so funny to meet people in person that you "know" from the internet.  I know it sounds weird, Ben thinks it is, but really there weren't any lulls in the conversation! It was refreshing!

The rest of the day was spend ordering our holiday cards (woohoo!), shopping for Thanksgiving (yep, we're staying here and having our first Thanksgiving on our own. Keep your fingers crossed that our beer-brined, of course, turkey turns out!) and relaxing with my boys.

Hope you had a great weekend!