Whole 30- I made it past Day 22 :)

I can't believe I'm almost done with my Whole 30.  My last attempt I only made it to Day 22 and I pretty much started right over after I slipped up.  So, I have been eating this way for almost 2 months with a little slip in between.  I love it!! I never thought I would love eating like this.  I am eating way more veggies than I use to and I don't really miss the things that I thought I would.  I want to go longer.  I am excited to reintroduce things one by one to finally know how my body reacts to certain things.  Today I am finishing up Day 27! WooHoo! I'm starting to feel more energy too. I'm still experimenting with finding the best Carb/Protein/Fat ration for me. Everybody's body is different.  Some like to do a 40/40/20 split. 40% Carbs, 40% Proteins, 20% Fats.  Some don't do well with that. I've been trying that ratio, but I do eat more fats than that. Luckily it's Healthy Fats. Just not sure if cutting back on those will help me be a little more successful with this.  So, I'm trying to figure it out. Somethings I have been trying to do the last couple days is up my carbs and eat the majority of my starchy carbs in the first part of the day.  Things like Sweet Potato and Fruit more in the first part of the day and not so much in the last.  I workout in the morning and eating more carbs after that is essential to keep up my energy. It seems to help. It should start helping with my nightly sweet cravings too.

Here are a few things I had the last couple weeks...

Salmon patties- I get a craving for these at least every 2 weeks.  They are super easy.  I don't really follow a recipe I just wing it..haha.  I do that with a lot of things.  I use wild caught salmon, I believe it's "chicken of the sea" brand that I usually get. I add an egg, some coconut flour or almond flour, celery, parsley, salt and pepper.  I pan fry them in the coconut oil or olive oil.  Add lemon juice before eating. It's easy to put what ever protein you are having on a bed of spinach leaves to get those extra veggies in.  I just paired this with some sliced cucumbers and avacado.  Lemon juice and salt/pepper on everything!

I had some Salmon patties left over, so I had them the next day with a side of fresh green beans, some tropical fruit and olives.

Grilled Pineapple with Coconut Butter- This sweet treat is one of my new favorites.  The picture does not do it justice.  It's super good and super sweet! Pineapple does have a ton of natural sugar, so I know I shouldn't have this too often, especially at night. Grilled (or baked in my case) pineapple.  I put clarified butter on each slice, bake at 400 for 10 minutes and flip, add more clarified butter or Ghee and cook for another 10 minutes or until tender and grilled just how you like it. I topped it with my Homemade Coconut Butter. I top everything with that. :) It really was a great combo.

Grilled Chicken, Sweet potato Chips and watermelon mojito salad

My chips look burned..haha, but still were awesome! The Watermelon/cucumer salad was awesome too.  

This is another go to treat. :) Simple. If I don't make it into icecream with frozen bananas, I just use fresh sliced bananas.  Add some berries or other fruit, warm coconut butter (of course) and crushed pecans or almonds on top.  Yummy! Now if I can just stop craving this at night!! I need to stop eating fruit and "treats" at night!! But, hey it's better than indulging in processed carbs and junk! Right!?

Day 28 here I come! 

Sweet Potato Fries!!

I have come to LOVE Sweet Potatoes.  I have them almost everyday especially if I do a tough workout in the morning they are a great Pre or Post workout food paired with a good protein. I usually work out really early in the morning so I'll just grab a banana or an egg muffin before I workout. Then I'll do Sweet Potato and Eggs or something like that normally after my workout in the morning.

I tried Sweet Potato Fries a few months before I strated Whole 30 and I hated them!! I was trying to be hopeful about Sweet Potatoes because they are so good for you.  But, I just couldn't do it for some reason, not sure if it was the recipe or if my taste buds have just changed so much from doing Whole 30.  

I really love This Sweet Potato Fry recipe.  They are delish and my husband and family will eat them too!!

What you will need:

3 Sweet Potatoes, washed, and cubed into chunky pieces with skin on

1/4 cup olive oil

1-2 tsp minced garlic (I love garlic so I always use at least 2 tsp)

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

Sea salt

Preheat Oven to 425 

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix well

Pour out and spread onto a baking sheet, make sure they are not touching and bake for approx. 20-25 minutes (making sure to flip at least once)

Yummy!

Also great to pair them with a "Naked" burger :) So good!

I also tried these Sweet Potato Chips recently!!! Mmmmmm....I love them as long as I don't burn them! :)

A couple other ways I like to cook sweet potatoes is just to simply bake them or put them in the microwave :) and add clarified butter and cinnamon. Or I will dice them up and cook them in Coconut Oil on low-med until tender and a little crisp on the outside.  I will either add salt and pepper or cinnamon.

What are some of your favorite ways to Prepare Sweet Potatoes?

Paleo Pancakes!

These can really be dangerous if you fully aren't able to conrol your sugar cravings yet :) When I first had these I felt like it kicked off more sugar cravings for me during my first Whole 30. But, I am able to have these once in a while now when I feel like I need something other than just eggs and it's just what I need for a different breakfast! I love them!

I got the recipe HERE- Cinnamon and Coconut Pancakes!

It will make about 12 pancakes 3 " in diameter:

• 2 large eggs
• 3 tablespoons full fat coconut milk (I did use almond milk once when I was out of coconut milk, it worked ok, something about it made it a little hard to flip the pancakes.)
• ½ mashed ripe banana (about 2 tablespoons)
• ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ tablespoons of organic coconut flour (I got mine from amazon)
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 small pinch of salt
• ghee or coconut oil (for frying)

I always put all the ingredients in a blender to blend well, cook them and they are so yummy with coconut butter or almond butter and berries. Sometimes I'll also sprinkle coconut flakes on top! :)

Homemade Coconut Butter

Coconut Butter....Coconut Manna. It's pretty much the same thing.  The only ingredient...Organic Coconut flakes!  If you like coconut then you will probably like this.  Especially if you are sugar free this will be like your Heaven on Earth. :) I haven't had any sugar whatsoever...not even sugar alternatives like honey, stevia, pure maple syrup...nothing for 22 days then I had one thing after 22 days then I went straight back to no sugar (also no legumes, no grains, no dairy for Whole30) for 21 more days and counting. It actually feels really great! Fruit tastes sweeter and overall everything I eat tastes full of flavor.  What is even better is knowing that I am becoming healthier on the inside. Of course I won't go "no sugar" for the rest of my life.  But, this test has definitely taught me a lot and once I do have sugar again, I'm hoping I can control myself and only have it once in a while. Over this last month or so I have come to LOVE Coconut Manna.  I have bought it a few times at a health food store.  I bought the "Nutiva" brand Coconut Manna. I have also tried little packets of Coconut Butter. Coconut is considered a healthy fat. Don't be afraid of Healthy Fats! It helps keep you full and is great to have with other things to make a really great snack. I have used it on fruit like blackberries, strawberries, apples, grapes.  I have also used it on Baked Sweet potato with a little cinnamon. I spread it on my Paleo Pancakes and top with berries.  So Yummy! Have you tried Coconut Butter? What do you use it on?

Each jar of Coconut Manna is about $8 from the health food store.  I also buy the Organic Coconut Flakes from there (they are unsweetened) and they only cost about 1.25 for the whole bag. So, I decided to try making my own Coconut Butter since I use it so much. 

THIS post gave me some inspiration! Other great ideas there of what to do with coconut butter.

There are a ton of Healthy benefits to Coconut!  Whether you’re eating the meat, drinking the juice, or consuming it as oil, coconuts are a delicious and nutritious source of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. It has tons of calcium, potassium, and magnesium, as well as plenty of electrolytes. In fact, coconut water is known to have the same electrolyte levels as human plasma, and has even been used for plasma transfusions! Coconut's are excellent for one’s immunity. They are antiviral, antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-parasitic, meaning they kill harmful bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Because of that, if you consume coconut in any of its various forms (whether it be raw coconut, coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut butter, etc.), it can help treat some of mankind’s worst and most resilient of illnesses.

So, what are we waiting for...let's get to it!

These are the Unsweetened Coconut Flakes that I used.  This bag was about $1.25 or so.  The bag pictured is about half gone just fyi :)

The whole process will take you approximately 15 minutes. Each time I have made it I use about 3 cups of coconut flakes. 3 cups will give you approx. 4 oz which actually doesn't last long. Next time I'm going to make more at a time and see how it blends.  If you do less than 3 cups it isn't enough to blend well in your food processor, you'll just have to stop and scrape the bowl a little more often. 

Just put the Coconut Flakes in your food processor and let it start blending. After it looks like it's not blending much and the coconut is stuck to the sides, you will need to turn it off and use a spoon to scrape the sides and let all the coconut go to the middle again.

It's starting to become a little more creamy, but keep going.  Scrape the bowl and let your processor go for a few more minutes.  

Just keep scraping and blending, scraping and blending...be patient! Then it will soon look like this pic below!! Nice and creamy! Coconut butter won't go completely smooth like butter, it still will be a little gritty, but you should blend until it's as creamy as you can get it.  Many people have said that they didn't like Coconut Butter at first but the 2nd time they tried it they loved it! :)

You can just put it into a little container or mason jar.  If it's not quite runny when you want to use it then just put your container in a little hot water for a bit (without letting water get in). Coconut Butter does not need to be put in the fridge, but if you are going to keep it longer than a week or so, I say it wouldn't hurt to put it in the fridge.

This is also great mixed with homemade Almond butter! Yum!

Enjoy!! Let me know if you try it! 

I absolutely Love Coconut!  Coconut flakes, coconut butter & coconut oil.  It's so good for you. In an upcoming post I will talk about Coconut Oil, how I've been using it and many other uses and benefits! So stay tuned! :)

Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

I have never tried Spaghetti squash.  It's so cool!! Cooking it this way it wasn't mushy at all, it had a perfect texture. It does have a different texture than actual spaghetti noodles, but it came pretty close!

I was happy with the turnout.

My kids ate this!! They could tell it was a little different, but they still ate it.  My husband new something was up... :) and he wasn't too sure about it, but he ate it.  He's not good at trying new things especially if it has to do with vegetables.  If it's any sort of veggie he doesn't like he will automatically think it's gross without trying it.  So, he took a couple bites and then asked what it was and I told him.  He then was kind of mad :) and didn't want to eat it, but he did! :) Oh goodness!! What am I going to do with him? 

Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs
1 large spaghetti squash, cut in half and seeds removed

Sauce:
2 tbs coconut oil
1 1/2 cups diced white onion
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups strained tomatoes or tomato sauce (I used tomato sauce...read labels and make sure no sugar or crazy ingredients added, I ended up getting a kroger brand)
3 heaping TBS tomato paste (look at labels)
1 TBS dried basil
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt

Meatballs:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 lb ground pork (I used ground turkey)
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 TBS dried basil
1/2 TBS dried oregano
2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1. Preheat the oven to 450. In a large baking dish, place the squash cut side down and add 2 inches of water. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the insides of the squash can easily be removed with a fork.
3. Meanwhile, while your squash is baking start your sauce.  In a large stockpot, heat the coconut oil over medium heat and saute the onions until translucent.
4.  Add the garlic and saute for another minute or two or just until the garlic is fragrant.
5.  Add the strained tomatoes (or tomato sauce) and tomato paste and mix well.
6. Add the remaining spices, bring the sauce to a simmer, and turn heat down to low.
7. Use your hands to mix the spices in the ground beef and pork.
8.  Form the meat mixture into small golf ball-size meatballs and drop these gently into the simmering tomato sauce.
9. Once all the meatballs are in the sauce, cook for 10 minutes or until the meatballs are no longer pink in the middle. (next time I might try cooking the meatballs in a seperate pan for a little bit and then add them to the sauce)
10.  Scrape the insides of the cooked spaghetti squash out with a fork (it's so cool that it comes out like spaghetti) and serve topped with the meatballs and sauce.

Whole 30- Week 2 {take 2}

 Since starting my 2nd Whole30 I never had to go through any of the symptoms really like I did the first time around like the brain fog and hypoglycemic symptoms. I think my body had pretty much gotten rid of the junk and since I started right back up the next day it wasn't bad at all besides the one day after my slip up. I still don't have the energy like I want.  I'm just marking the whole month of May as my 30. So, today would be considered Day 14 (just ending week 2 and heading into week 3...wow it's gone fast).  I'm hoping the energy and good sleep will come. I don't feel refreshed like they say should happen yet.  But, I do feel healthier and good otherwise. I can see changes in my body and my clothes are loose. The most important thing to me is being healthy on the inside and being able to fuel my workouts. But seeing the good changes in my body is Awesome because it is also leading me toward my goals of being more toned, etc. I am able to do my workouts in the morning but the rest of the day I do still feel tired. 

I did get sick last Saturday from a bug that my kids have had and I really haven't felt good since then. :( Hopefully it all passes and I can get back to normal. Boo for the sickies!! But, oh well..it happens.

I'm proud of myself for making it through "Mothers Day" and some other activities and family get togethers and still staying comliant. 

These are a few things I had this week. Pretty basic...maybe this next week I'll revamp my meals a little bit more....or not. I don't mind keeping it simple and repeating some things.  I also made a few more treats this week :) Sometimes making treats can lead to wanting more treats....maybe that's what happened this week, I did make more "treats" than usual. But, still all approved and healthy ingredients. 

I'm having a lot more sweet potatoes in the morning and instead of just dicing them up and frying them I've also started to like them baked (or microwaved- usually what happens since I want to be fast in the morning).
I like them with clarified butter and cinnamon.  When I ran out of my homemade clarified butter I tried coconut manna on them and cinnamon.  I could eat anything with coconut manna on it...haha.  So good!! A little dry, but good!

I saw a Plantain...banana thing at the store and bought one.  I sliced it up and fried it in coconut oil then put coconut manna, cinnamon and coconut flakes on top.  It was pretty good.  I probably won't make it again, but it was good to try.

One of my favorite things lately is the "Naked burger." This time I grilled up some sweet red and orange peppers in olive oil & salt/pepper and added it to my Hamburger along with a little avacado, pickles and lettuce.  So Good!! I love this!!

Then, You might have seen my Homemade Cookie Dough Icecream.  It was good and a fun thing to have on a Friday Night with my Girls.
Maybe I'll try not to have too many treats this week though. :)
***
I have a busy week wrapping up my last music classes for the School year and getting ready for my Recital this week, then it's off to a music training along with a little getaway with the hubby for our anniversary.  Hopefully the sickies completely go away. After that it's study, study, study for my PT certification!! Yay!! I have a lot more studying to do and a little amount of time.

"Conscious Box" Winner!!

We have a Winner!!! Thank you to those who entered, you all had a great chance of winning!

I have another giveaway coming real soon, so stay on the look out. {it's one of my favorite things these days} 

I Love great companies who allow me to do giveaways for my fans and readers.  Thank you again "Conscious Box."

If you have not checked them out please do.  I will be doing a review of the "Conscious Box" soon as well.

Okay....now on with it!!

The Winner of her very own box of goodies, chosen by Random.org is

......................................................................................................................................................................................................

JAMIE WAKEFIELD

What a fun belated Mothers day gift! :)

{please email me at sparklesandbugs@hotmail.com so I know you received this and to confirm your mailing address with me so your winnings can be mailed out to you!}

A big thanks to those that entered! Stay on the look out for my next giveaway!