I love a good burger, and I also love a lot of veggies….enter: the burger bowl! It’s the best of both worlds. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good bun as well, but most of the gluten-free buns out there just aren’t that impressive. I’m happy to trade them in for some extra veggies and sweet potato fries!
Read moreSimple Weeknight Recipes
Has it been two whole months since I last published a blog post? Yep. A LOT has happened in that period of time!! If you haven’t seen on Instagram, my husband and I moved from San Diego to Phoenix at the end of October. I went from working full time in a management position at a large healthcare organization to working from home, doing private practice and planning out how I will be creating more valuable content for you all in 2019! We've also been doing some traveling, and have a few more trips planned before the end of the calendar year.
The morning we left San Diego!
If you’ve followed me for any period of time, you know that for YEARS I have done all of my meal prep cooking on the weekend so that I could eat leftovers all week. Well, when we moved, two things changed. (1) I have a more flexible schedule and (2) we acquired the smallest “full size” fridge ever. (I thought they couldn’t get any smaller than the fridge we had at our last place…I was wrong!)
This has prompted me to change up my strategy to do more cooking as the week goes along instead of doing it all on the weekend. I’ve been experimenting with cooking a meal every night, doing some limited batch prep that I can mix and match from all week, and cooking all of the meals earlier in the week. I haven’t settled on a favorite yet, and I think my strategy will evolve with time, but I wanted to share some of the easy weeknight meals and food combos that I’ve been making in case you’re in need of some simple inspiration! They’re not all 100% Whole30 compliant, and some do make use of some convenience products from brands that I appreciate. Most are easily modified to fit your specific needs!
Easy Weeknight Meal Ideas:
-Burger Salad (burger patty, optional cheese, lettuce, tomato, sautéed onions and peppers, pickles, ketchup and mustard) + Oven Fries
-Steaks (on a stovetop grill pan, seasoned with a spice blend) + Roasted Sweet Potato + Roasted Asparagus
-Crispy Skin Salmon + Cauliflower Rice (I always keeps some in the freezer) + Roasted Sweet Potato
-Eggs + Leftover Batch Cooked Veggies
-Sausage (Bilinski’s or True Story) + Roasted Carrots/Parsnips + Arugula salad
-Ground Meat with Sautéed Mushrooms/Onion in Marinara + Spaghetti Squash + Collard Greens with Bacon
-Sausage + Steamed and Roasted Broccoli + Banza Mac&Cheese
-Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry
-Taco Salad
Easy Weekday Lunches:
-ZUPA + Ayobayo + Apple (wholedailylife for a discount on either brand)
-Smoked Oysters with Simple Mills Crackers, Dijon Mustard, Cream Cheese or Mayo + Kraut + Sprouts
-Sardines + Tomato/Avocado/Basil Salad (dressed with evoo, balsamic, salt)
-Tuna Salad (Safe Catch tuna + grapes + celery + green onion + Primal Kitchens mayo)
I hope this gives you some ideas for easy meals! I definitely go through phases where meal planning is a breeze and other times where nothing sounds good, but these quick combos have been good go-to’s for the past several weeks!
I’ll be back again soon with more recipes!
-Tracey
Whole30/Paleo White Chicken Chili | Guest Post by My Life Well Loved
Hi there! I am Heather Brown, a healthy life + style mom blogger at MyLifeWellLoved.com. I am mom to my sweet, almost 3 year old Leyton and I am currently expecting my second baby boy in Birmingham, AL with my hubs, Eric! When I’m not blogging, you can find me teaching Pure Barre at our local studio. I am passionate about keeping a healthy, balanced lifestyle and a big part of that is creating easy, doable, and affordable recipes that satisfy the whole family and fuel us with real, good foods!
I have always been a believer in healthy moderation. In our home, we loosely follow a Paleo meal plan and then there are always times when we splurge for date nights, holidays, or just busy days. A few years ago, I tried Whole30 for the first time and truly loved the detox and the way my body was able to “reset”. Ever since, I have completed a round of Whole30 every January, always welcoming my blog readers and followers to join me! It truly is better and easier with the accountability and encouragement from others!
Today I am excited to share one of my favorite and one of the most popular Whole30 recipes I have ever shared. While we are still in the heat of the summer, fall is quickly approaching and this chili recipe is a staple! Whether you are Whole30-ing or not, this recipe is healthy, delicious, and guilt-free! I know it might sound funny to make chili without beans but substituting with sweet potatoes totally works and keeps this recipe Whole30 compliant. Once the sweet potatoes cook down to just the right amount of mushy, it adds the same legume-like goodness to the soup.
This recipe is truly SO easy. It is the perfect option to make at the beginning of the week to last for several meals, it freezes nicely, or you can easily cut the recipe in half to make a smaller portion. As I mentioned, I am a big believer in keeping recipes simple so even with this 11-step chili, I am providing a few shortcuts for busy days! The recipe starts with making homemade chicken stock by boiling down a rotisserie chicken - however, 2 cartons of organic chicken broth will work too! You can also buy your fresh veggies pre-chopped at the supermarket if you are really on a time crunch!
Whole30/Paleo White Chicken Chili Recipe
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 35 Minutes
Total Time: 50 Minutes
Serves 8-10
Ingredients
1 Rotisserie Chicken
Dash of Onion Powder
¼ tsp of Garlic Powder
½ tsp of Crushed Cayenne Pepper
Salt and Pepper to Taste
3 Sweet Potatoes
2 Bell Peppers
2 Large Onions
1 tsp of Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil
½ Bunch of Cilantro
1-2 32oz Chicken Broth
Avocados and Fresh Salsa (Optional)
Instructions
Strip rotisserie chicken of meat, shred, and set aside.
Boil chicken bones in enough water to cover to create a stock.
Season the chicken stock with onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper for at least 30 minutes
Peel sweet potatoes
Dice sweet potatoes, bell peppers, onions, and cilantro
Saute onions and bell peppers in avocado oil and set aside
Put sweet potatoes and 32 oz of chicken broth in large pot and allow to boil until the potatoes are tender (about 15 minutes)
Once the potatoes are tender, add the chicken and remaining vegetables
When homemade chicken stock has simmered for at least 20-30 minutes, add it to the pot
Simmer on low for about 20 more minutes
If desired, top with fresh salsa or avocado
MY LIFE WELL LOVED WHOLE30 RESOURCES:
Whole30 White Chicken Chili – Recipe video!
Don’t forget to come find me on Instagram at @MyLifeWellLoved and make sure to say HI!
Whole30 Compliant Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork + Weekly Meal Plan
I'm all about easy meals that I can set up and forget about while they cook themselves. This Whole30 compliant Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork fits that bill perfectly! This week's meal prep was actually quicker and easier than usual, because I made a couple of extra meals last weekend and stashed them in the freezer.
I also learned this week that carpet melts. Ugh. If you follow along on my stories, you know that my kitchen is pretty small, so when I meal prep, I quickly run out of space. It's not uncommon for me to move things to the living room to cool in there. Well, this week I was baking some oat muffins for my husband and had some extra batter, so I made two bigger muffins in ceramic dishes. After I pulled them out of the oven, I let them cool for several minutes, but then needed the counter space, so I transferred them to the living room, as I often do. I set them right in the middle of the floor in front of the door, because a nice breeze was coming in through the screen, and went on with my cooking. Later that evening I went to pack them up and lifted up the two ceramic bowls to find two big melted spots!! I've never had this happen with metal or glass before; apparently ceramic holds more heat?? Lesson learned....and we definitely won't be getting our full security deposit back on this place. Major bummer.
Here's this week's meal plan:
Breakfast: Yellow Curry with Chicken // I shared how to make this in the "wholedailylife" story highlight on the Barefoot Provisions Instagram, as well as in the comments of this post! The star of the show is the Yai's Thai Yellow Curry, which is so packed with flavor that you hardly need anything else! I just add some broth, a little bit of coconut milk, some chicken, and lots of veggies!
Lunch: No-Cook // This is my summertime staple, and I'm keeping it extra simple this week with just a bottle of Zupa and an easy protein, either Ayobayo or some canned salmon that I'll mix with mayo and balsamic. I'll also have some fruit! (15% off Zupa with code "wholedailylife" and 10% off Ayobayo on their site with the same code)
Dinner: Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork with Air Fried Potatoes and Arugula // This BBQ pork is a dish that I come back to often, because it literally takes 2 ingredients and 3 minutes of prep. All I do is cut up a package of pork tenderloin from US Wellness Meats (I buy all of my meat from them; top quality meat is important to me!) into 2" chunks, put it in my Instant Pot, and cover with 2/3 of a bottle of Tessemae's BBQ sauce. I cook on high pressure for 35 minutes, then let the pressure naturally release. After that, I shred the meat with two forks and add the rest of the BBQ sauce! For the potatoes, all I did was slice up some fingerling potatoes and toss them with about 1 tbsp oil before cooking them in my air fryer for about 25 minutes at 390. I'm still playing around with the air fryer (similar to this model, just got it for my birthday!), so if you want to follow along, be sure to watch my stories on Instagram!
Have a great week!
-Tracey
Whole30 Sweet Potato Meatball Sheet Pan Roast
Sheet pan meals are the best, because they're the equivalent of one-pot meals, but better, because THAT GOLDEN CHAR gets me every time.
This recipe is SO easy. It's great for meal prep, or even just to throw together on a weeknight! Here's the recipe:
Whole30 Sweet Potato Meatball Sheet Pan Roast
1.5# carrots, chopped into coins
1.5# fingerling potatoes, cut in half
2 heads organic broccoli, cut into florets (about 8 cups)
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
1# ground pork
1# ground beef
2/3 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato
2.5 tsp salt
2 tsp dried sage
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp fennel seed
1. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Distribute the carrots and potatoes evenly between the baking sheets and drizzle each sheet with 1 tbsp oil and 1/2 tsp salt. Toss to combine. Bake for 20 minutes, tossing half way through.
3. While the veggies are roasting, toss the broccoli florets with the remaining 1 tbsp olive oil and set aside. In another large bowl, combine the mashed sweet potato with all of the remaining spices and mix well. Add the ground meat and mix until evenly distributed, taking care not to over-mix. Form approximately 32 meatballs using a 1 oz scoop (or your hands).
4. After 20 minutes of roasting the potatoes and carrots, remove the trays from the oven and increase the temperature to 425. Add half of the broccoli to each sheet and carefully toss to combine. Nestle the meatballs among the veggies on the two trays.
5. Increase the heat to 425 and put the trays back in the oven for 15 minutes, until meatballs have reached an internal temperature of 165 and veggies are golden and tender.
NOTE: You can use any veggies you have and any ground meat that you prefer. The key is to give the more dense veggies a head start by roasting them for a period of time on their own before adding the rest! This meal is also easy to make AIP friendly by subbing the potatoes for cubed sweet potato and omitting the fennel seed!
Enjoy!