Friday Food

I posted a picture of my dinner last night on Facebook and quickly discovered that a recipe was necessary.  There were a lot of request for it so I figured that this was the best place to put it so everyone could see it.

As you all know, we are doing the WHOLE30 Program.  It is a challenge but we have loved it so far.  It's difficult at times because you think you want what you can't have and you figure out a way around it.  So this was my solution to the desire for Mexican food.
What is NOT in this salad-
-re-fried beans
-cheese
-chips
-sour cream
-black beans
What IS IN THIS SALAD-
PLENTY OF VEGGIES!!!!!
So, let's get to the recipe!!!

WHOLE 30 Taco Salad By Pam

1 bag of shredded lettuce
1 pound of extra lean ground turkey
1 large red pepper-diced
1/2 large onion- diced
3 carrots- finely diced
2 tablespoons of Taco Seasoning
1/2 cup of medium salsa
1 cup of water
Tessemae's Creamy Ranch Dressing to taste

Divide shredded lettuce into 2 bowls and set aside.
Place ground turkey and veggies in a large pan to brown turkey and cook veggies.  Once turkey is cooked through, add in taco seasoning and salsa along with water.  Cook on high until thickened and water is evaporated.
Place meat mixture over lettuce.  Top with salsa and drizzle with dressing and serve.
ENJOY!!!!!

With all of the veggies, you will not miss what is not there.  It's an awesome alternative!!!!   I would love to hear what you think when you make it!!!!

2 Weeks of Whole30 Check In

WE HAVE MADE IT!!!

2 FULL WEEKS!

This is just crazy!!!!  I am still amazed at what we have been able to accomplish.  I'm still so proud that my Hubby jumped in and is doing this with me.  I  tried to do this before with a couple of other people and he was not with me on doing it at that point.  It is so much easier to do this with your spouses support and doing it together!

We have cut out dairy- HE LOVES A GLASS OF MILK and ICE CREAM!

We have cut out sugar- I love sugar in my coffee!

We have cut out legumes- Did you know you can have chili without beans? Did you know that you can live without hummus?

We have cut out wheat, gluten, grains- We have learned to be creative to have meals without bread, pasta, couscous and quinoa

We have cut out soy and a multitude of additives- We have learned so much about reading labels and all of the crud that we have allowed in our food. It is a real eye opener.

We weighed in the first day and we are not to weigh again until after the 30 days.  I know that things are changing just by my clothes.  Pants are loose, jackets close and cross over and just in general feeling so much better.  It really makes me want to just throw away the "Stuff" in my pantry.

Kaleb keeps saying----"There is NOTHING in here" when he looks in the pantry.  I just explain that we are eating food that is good for us and that are going to make us healthier, happier and able to play more outside with him.  He loves that idea!!!!

Stay with me.  We have 2 more weeks.  Just another 14 days.  I KNOW we can do this!  No quitting! No cheating! We Got THIS!!!!!!

Have you ever considered doing Whole30?

Do you have questions?

What if you could do it with a group of other men and women, would you be interested?

Post below!  I would love to hear from you!!!!!

Transformation Tuesday

TRANSFORMATION TUESDAY!!

I am excited to share this.
I didn't ask if I could.
I just chose to do it anyway.
Transformation Tuesday is none other than my HUBBY!!!!!!!  

I am so excited to just brag on him a little bit!!!!!  Last year he jumped into a weight-loss challenge at work.  You have to understand that he is SUPER competitive!!!!! He works hard and will step up to any challenge put in front of him.

Last year he dropped over 40 pounds and has kept it off.  This year is different.  We decided to do Whole 30!  I mean giving up some major things that we eat and cook and buy all the time! Sugar and grains and wheat etc.  I wasn't sure but of course he said "Yes, I'm in."  I admit when he said that I seriously thought...."He has no idea what he is getting into!".
We are Day 9 and he is doing AWESOME!!!!!  We are doing a weight loss challenge at work as well and he is in the middle of that as well!!!

He wouldn't have done this, several years ago.  I just wanted to share how proud I am of him and how excited I am that he is joining me in this journey!  It's so much better doing life together!!!!!

Whole 30

So this year, I was in the midst of a discussion that was taking place and ended up finding myself agreeing to do WHOLE 30!!!  Oh my goodness!  What in the world was I thinking???  I have been so excited and so ready.  We have talked about it for a few weeks. I shared it with my Hubby and he said he wanted to do it with me!  That makes life so much easier!!!!!

The time came for me to go to the grocery store.  I had read over the book.  I tagged some of the great recipes and what we could eat.  I chose in this particular program that I would think on the things that we can eat and not on the ones that we could not eat.

My Hubby would tell you he is a picky eater but he is so competitive he is ready!

It has been Day 4!!  So far we are doing pretty good!!  We had fruit and a Shakeology for breakfast

We had Salmon and sweet potatoes for lunch with a side of raspberries and blackberries and then we get to go home for dinner!!!!!  It was REALLY good!

I have all kinds of thing prepared in the fridge.  Some of the things we have prepared....

Spaghetti sauce with chicken for the Spaghetti Squash

Pork Chops ready to cook

Plenty of Salmon for a few other lunches/dinners

Roasted veggies

Butternut squash for a soup later in the week

Roasted sweet potatoes

Pork Sausage

Veggies, chopped and sauteed for omelets for breakfast!


Now....can you tell me if any of that sounds like you are on a diet?

Nope!

Does it sound like we are lacking anything?

Nope

To look at what we are giving up?

Sugar (white sugar, sugar substitutes, etc)

Dairy (cheese, milk, yogurt)

Legumes (black-beans, lentils, peanut-butter etc)

Grains (Bread, couscous, pasta)



It's a challenge BUT WE ARE DOING IT!!!!!!

Chicken Marinara with Spaghetti Squash

Chicken Marinara with Spaghetti Squash

Spaghetti Squash-
Preheat oven to 400
Cut squash in half
Scoop out the seeds
Salt and Pepper to taste
Brush with olive oil and place cut side down on a non stick cookie sheet and back at 400 for approx. 45 minutes.  Set aside.

Chicken Marinara-
1 can diced tomatoes (no sugar or salt)
3 small carrots- peeled and cut into chunks
1 small onion- diced
1 can of tomato puree
1 can tomato paste
3 boneless chicken breast- diced
Add salt and pepper to taste
Add Italian Seasoning to taste
Place all ingredients in a pot and simmer on medium for approx 1 hour.

Scoop out squash with 2 forks.  Should appear like spaghetti.  Divide into 2 pasta bowls and add Chicken Marinara.

It is DIVINE!!!!!  Reheated is really good!!!!