Whole30 & Red Swiss Chard

I am back from my New York trip! It was a very fun trip; I was able to do almost everything in a tour guide book plus go to some local restaurants! One of my favorite activities I was able to do was spend 2 hours in the Metropolitan Museum of Art; it has art from the 1st and 2nd centuries all the way to the 1960s. It was a great last vacation before I start back up in school.

Before my New York trip, I went back to school shopping and picked up some new workout clothes!

Now that I am back, I want to get back onto the paleo lifestyle; I realized after following the paleo lifestyle for almost 2 months, I have felt better all over (both physically & emotionally) and have had a significant decrease in my stomach problems. For me, this lifestyle is not only for weight management, but is for the increase in energy, improvements in the way I feel, and the knowledge that I am benefiting my health with what I am putting in my body. I have noticed a lot of commercials on TV about medications and medication problems relating to diabetes, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc., and the best way to prevent any of these is to begin a healthy, whole foods lifestyle NOW. 

I have been researching the Whole30 Program. Whole30 concentrates on eating food with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, and real, whole food like meat, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. The most important is what not to eat during the Whole30 Program: no added sugar (real or artifical), no alcohol, no grains, no legumes, no dairy, no carrageenan, msg or sulfites, and no white potatoes. Also something whole 30 urges is to not make junk food with "paleo approved" ingredients, like pizza, muffins, brownies, ice cream, etc.

Some exceptions to the Whole30 Program are: clarified butter or ghee, fruit juice as a sweetener (apple or orange juice), green beans, snap peas, vinegar (like balsamic, apple cider, and red wine; vinegar with no added sugars), and minimally processed foods like canned coconut milk, applesauce, tomato sauce, canned olives and chicken broth (as long as you avoid carageenan, msg, or sulfites).

This is not suppose to be an easy program, and will take a lot of meal prepping, but on their website it plans out what you should expect while going through the program.
For more information: http://whole9life.com/category/whole-30/

The whole30 website provides a detailed grocery list with the best choices for the program. This is a great resource if you are ever unsure of what to buy at the grocery store. http://whole9life.com/book/ISWF-Shopping-List.pdf

I am currently trying to like red swiss chard in my smoothies because red swiss chard is EXTREMELY good for you; it is high in antioxidants, phytonutrients, anti-inflammatory properties, vitamin K, vitamin A, and is beneficial for blood sugar regulation & bone health (for more information: http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=16). I find the flavor very strong, so I am experimenting on different fruit and vegetables to add with it. For my Red Smoothie, I added fresh grapefruit juice to help cut the flavor and I feel it worked well. Any ideas for other ways to cook with red swiss chard? Let me know!

Red Smoothie:
1 cup frozen raspberries
2 leaves red swiss chard
1/2 cup fresh squeezed grapefruit juice
1/4-1/2 cup water

Blend and serve!

Some other clean eats...

For the airplane trip to New York, I packed some paleo approved snacks! Bell pepper slices, green grapes, raw almonds + raw pumpkin seeds, cherry tomatoes and an Apple Pie Lara Bar.

3 egg white omelet filled with zucchini, tomato and onion, cooked in coconut oil and topped with avocado slices, and red pepper flakes, a side of steamed broccoli (with a little lemond juice and garlic) and fresh tomatoes

3 egg white scramble with zucchini and tomatoes topped with avocado chunks! With Vita Coco Coconut Water. Coconut water is a great way to hydrate your body naturally! 

Zucchini egg white frittata cooked in coconut oil, topped with raw almonds, hemp hearts, pumpkin seeds, tomato slices, bell pepper slices and some spinach-pepper chicken sausage!

Pre-Workout Fruit Salad:

½ cup green grapes, washed & halved

½ cup blueberries, washed

½ banana, sliced

½ tbsp whole flaxseeds

½ tbsp raw cacao nibs

1 tbsp raw Coconut Nectar

Mix above ingredients and top with unsweetened coconut shreds 

Meal Plan Day 1

So on the flight back from Alaska, I decided to write out a meal plan for the next 6 days. I did this for a couple reasons, to save money when shopping at the store (only buying what I need and having a structure to my purchases) and also to stay on track with being back on paleo!

For day 1:

June 16

*Grill 2 turkey breasts (for 16^thlunch and 17^th lunch) and grill 2 chicken breasts (16^thdinner, 18^th lunch)

Meal 1:

3 egg whites + 1 whole egg + 1 cup veggies (spinach, onion, bell pepper,green onion) + ½ avocado

½ cup fruit (strawberries + blueberries)

Snack: Fruit & VeggieSmoothie: raspberries + kale + mango + carrot + coconut milk/water

Meal 2:

Arugula Salad with grilled turkey breast, apple slices, red onion, grapes,celery, walnuts and balsamic vinegar

Snack: 1 banana, sliced, 2TBSP emulsified sunflower seed butter + 1 TBSP seeds (chia seeds, flax seeds,hemp seeds) + 1 TBSP unsweetened coconut threads 

I am trying sunflower seed butter for the first time and I like it! It is not sweet but more a savory flavor. It pairs nice with the sweet banana and coconut flakes.

Hemp seed hearts have a nutty flavor and are high in digestible, complete proteins (18g for a 2oz. package). They are also high in polyunsaturated fatty acids (19g for a 2 oz package) and high in fiber (5g for a 2oz package). They are high in vitamins and minerals like iron, thiamin, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, folate and zinc. They can be used in a lot of ways; I like to put them on/in smoothies, with nut butters, on salads, in granola and on top of yogurt. It is low in carbs (only 6g for 2oz) and helps curb hunger between meals!

Meal 3:

Grilled chicken breast (sesame seeds, salt, pepper, paprika)  

+ 5 roasted asparagus spears + 1 cup roasted sweet potato cubes

I was putting away my groceries today and I realized I may have a coconut problem! I have coconut water, coconut milk, coconut threads, and coconut oil! I almost bought coconut aminos and coconut butter today at the market too. Luckily this is a healthy obsession! Coconut oil is high in medium chained triglycerides (also known as medium chain fatty acids). These MCT/MCFA encourage weight loss by being broken down into monoglycerides and medium chain free fatty acids which can be used immediately for energy so do not store as fat in your body! Also raw coconut is a good source of fiber. 

Lastly, I wanted to give a review of how I roast my veggies! I typed this up for a friend so I decided to post it on here for anyone confused about roasting their veggies. 

Sweet Potato:

1.  Peel potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes

2. In a large bowl, mix sweet potatoes with light olive oil, garlic powder, pepper, and sea salt.

3. Put baking sheet into a 425 F preheated oven for 20-25 minutes (turning over half way through) until sweet potatoes are lightly browned and fork tender

4. Let cool and serve

Broccoli or Cauliflower:

1. Cut broccoli florets into bite size pieces and put these into a large bowl.

2. Drizzle the broccoli lightly with olive oil, season lightly with garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and sea salt. Mix the broccoli and seasonings well (use your hands or 2 forks to mix well until the broccoli is evenly coated)

3. Add broccoli to a baking sheet, and roast in a preheated 425 degree F oven for about 10-15 minutes, until tender, bright green and browning.

Asparagus:

1. Trim ends off aspraus.

2. Coast asparagus lightly with olive oil, and seasoning.

3. Add asparagus to a baking sheet, and roast in a preheated 425 degree F oven for 8-10 minutes. You want the asparagus to get brown on the outside without over cooking and without getting mushy and floppy (not good).

Zucchini:

1. Cut into ½-1 inch slices

2. In a large bowl, mix zucchini slices with olive oil, and seasonings.

3. Add zucchini to a baking sheet and roast in a preheated 425 degree F oven for 10-15 minutes, turning over half way through time.

Bell Peppers:
1. Cut 1 bell pepper into 4 pieces and discard stem, seeds, and white innards.
2. In a large bowl, toss with olive oil, 2 garlic cloves thinly sliced, sea salt and pepper.
3. Add peppers to a baking sheet and roast in a preheated 450 degree F oven for 10-14 minutes.

Different seasoning ideas:

*Garlic, Chopped Rosemary, pepper and sea salt

*Lemon juice, garlic, pepper, sea salt

*Oregano, Basil, Rosemary, Garlic

*Balsamic vinegar, thyme, garlic, pepper

REMINDER: A key component when roasting, you do not want to overcook the vegetables. The high oven temperature is to get a nice brown on the outside while keeping the vegetable tender. You do not want your vegetables to get too floppy or mushy because then the nutrients are lost.

Pasta!

I was watching the food network and got good ideas for "volumezing" pasta. If you want fettucini then add half a serving of whole wheat cooked fettucini with zucchini or squash ribbons (use a peeler to peel zucchini and add to cooked pasta). Add a healthy sauce and serve with a salad or steamed veggies! It will look like your eating a full serving or more of pasta with cutting calories. If you prefer angel hair pasta or spaghetti, you can do the same thing but instead of zucchini , microwave a halved spaghetti squash for ~8 minutes and with a fork create strands and add to cooked pasta + sauce.

I was craving pasta all so I decided to try this volume zing technique. I used 1/2 serving whole wheat linguini and 1 cup zucchini ribbons. For the sauce I sautéed some onions, garlic, basil and oregano in a small amount of olive oil. After the onions were translucent I added diced zucchini and tomatoes, then spinach, a spoonful of marinara, red pepper flakes and finally some red wine. I let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes and served over the pasta.

Fresh Ingredients!

Just added the red pepper flakes, it ended up having a nice kick to it.

Linguini and zucchini ribbons

I am definitely making pasta with zucchini ribbons again because I feel full and satisfied but I cut the calories! So now I feel even more satisfied knowing I made a healthy substitution that I will use again.