Whole30 Challenge: Get Ready, Get Set...

Tomorrow starts Day 1 of the Whole30.  What's this all about?  Well, essentially (and this is extraordinarily simplified) it's about eliminating things from your diet that are the most common causes of GI distress (distress is such a great word for it) and taking ownership of making healthy choices that make you feel better.  It seems intuitive and simple.  I mean after all, who wants to make choice about things that they know are going to make them feel terrible? Unfortunately it's all too easy in the moment to forget (or acknowledge and choose to blatantly ignore) the consequences of the things we eat.  I was doing pretty well with the whole grain free thing and actually felt a lot better than I have recent.  That combined with reorganizing my kitchen Sunday (exciting!) resulted in some new motivation.  Eating all the "bad foods" to 'get it out of my system' before starting the Whole30 has just reinforced the decision.  I feel terrible on sugar and grains. Terrible. But psychologically also, going back to not taking ownership of "healthy" decisions - why, knowing you're going to feel terrible afterwards do you choose to do something anyway?  No idea... but since I did this I got a little extra kick of motivation to get my act together.  It was also good motivation to take the kitchen organization one step further and purge it of all the things I don't intend to eat.  Don't worry I kept beer for guests (and Diet Pepsi for December).  And the baking supplies are still around, but tucked away, because even if I don't want to eat it I still love the creation process and you never know when a friend is going to need a cookie.

I didn't really intend to  follow the Whole30 letter by letter.  I didn't think I would give up diet cola, but I will.  Unless I end up with paralyzing migraines (possible...) I'll do my best with the caffeine.  I'm a little nervous about giving up corn 100%.  I'm all for avoiding high fructose corn syrup and corn as hidden ingredients in things, I'm even on board to avoid whole corn. But popcorn, that'll be back in December.  Adithi's also making it much easier on me when our next intern birthday rolls around in November (hers!) for the newest variety of birthday celebration baked goods.  It's her birthday and she's joining in on the Whole30 experience.  She gave me inspiration and months to plan, plus on top of no baked goods for 30 days first - this will be epic. 

So what is it I'm actually doing?  Essentially eating as unprocessed as possible.  And not eating grains, dairy, legumes, sugar or alcohol. Is this a commitment to eating like this forever?  No.  It's about learning to consciously make healthy choices and as an all or nothing extremist I do better with extremes than moderation.  It's about figuring out what works for me.  The idea is to clean house and then figure out what I can fit back in comfortably.  To start feeling better and then add things back in one at a time until I've got a diet that is manageable, sustainable and works.

Bonus, There's a sweet timeline that tells me how this is all going to unfold.  Nice.  It's like built in support for the days where you're going to feel terrible and have cravings for something terrible.  With any luck a little validation and reassurance that all is according to plan with be adequate encouragement.  So what's coming up on Day 1?  Apparently, I'm supposed to be feeling all good about myself and motivated by my success at making good decisions all day long and starting something new.  That sounds nice. More likely I expect to experience the GI distress (yep, distress again) related to all the horribleness I ate today.  And no, it wasn't worth it.

On a more somber note, my freezer is still full and I'm trying to resist buying more groceries it was a long 7 days of no grocery shopping which means no fun cooking experimentation at the moment so no new fun pictures for you guys. All in due time.  I'm sure this latest adventure will push me into new directions and discoveries that I haven't found yet.  And if not there's always the excitement of reintroduction :)

Turkey and vegetable casserole

 

  

I thought about making meatloaf.  Then I got a whole bunch of vegetables into the mix.  And this turned into more of a vegetable medley with a little meat thrown in.  Somehow that seems to keep happening. 

Makes: 9x13 pan (12 servings)

6g carb, 11g protein, 1g fat per serving

 

Ingredients:

1 lb (16oz) ground turkey

1 egg or 3T liquid egg whites

3 large roma tomatoes halved (~300g)

2 large carrots, sliced (~200 g)

1 Anaheim pepper, sliced

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

1 small zucchini, cubed

1 small onion, chopped

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 325 F

* Place tomatoes, peppers and carrots on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Spray or coat lightly with olive oil.  Place in oven and cook for 40-45 minutes.

 

* After 45 minutes, place mushrooms, zucchini and onion on baking sheet and add place in oven with other vegetables.  Continue cooking for an additional 15 minutes.  

* Increase oven temp to 350F

* Chop tomatoes and peppers into small pieces.  

* Mix vegetables with ground turkey and egg in large mixing bowl.   

* Spread evenly in a 9x13 pan. 

 

* Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. 

 

Variation... 

* This holds together moderately well.  You could easily double the meat and it would hold together much better and be more "loaf" like.  

* Add some seasoning.  I did not season this since I have 12 servings of it to eat myself I like that I can top it with some of my Apple BBQ Sauce one day and herbs the next.  If you wanted something more 'ready to eat' you could easily add it BBQ sauce, A1 sauce, ketchup, etc. or herbs and seasonings of your choice. 

* Mix and match your vegetables.  I picked an assortment of what I had on hand.  They went well together and are to my taste (thus what I keep on hand...) but is by no means the only way to do this.  Note that I resisted adding pumpkin (though it was a close call and I baked some to go with it...)

Eggplant lasagna

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 Having been grain free for 2 weeks I started thinking about all the things I used to cook.  For anyone I've cooked for prior to the last 6 months, that pretty much involved pasta.  And more pasta with a side of pasta and maybe some bread to go with it.   Among my favorite meals was lasagna. 

I somehow happened to have 4 eggplants (I really don't know how these things happen when I'm at the store...) and got inspired to see if I could come up with a comparable grain free alternative. I am pretty satisfied with it and will rest easier at night knowing this option exists...

Makes: 9x13 pan (~15 servings)

15g carbs, 18g protein, 1g fat per serving

Ingredients:

3 medium eggplants (you could get by with 2 med-large ones)

20 oz ground turkey

8 oz mushrooms, washed and quartered

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped

3.5 cups tomato pasta sauce

3 roasted tomatoes (optional)

2 tsp crushed garlic

2 cups (8oz) mozarella cheese, shredded

2 cups (1 small container) ricotta cheese

1 egg or 3T liquid egg whites

2 tsp dried basil

2 tsp dried oregano

salt, pepper

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 375F

 

* Peel eggplants and slice about 1/4" thick lengthwise. 

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* Place strips of eggplant on baking sheets in the oven and bake for 5 minutes flipping about half way through.  The eggplant won't be fully cooked but this does make it a little more tender and take some of the moisture out. 

* Cook the onions in a skillet over low heat until they begin to turn translucent.  Add garlic and mushrooms and continue to cook until mushrooms are tender. 

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* At the same time in a separate skillet combine ground turkey, 1 tsp basil and 1 tsp oregano and brown the meat.

 

* In a large bowl combine ricotta, mozarella (1 set aside ~1/4 cup to sprinkle on top), egg, 1 tsp basil, and 1 tsp oregano

 

* Spray your pan lightly with cooking spray and place a small amount to sauce in the bottom of the pan. 

 

 * Begin layering with the eggplant on the bottom...

 

* Add about 1/3 of the cheese mixture 

 

* Top with 1/3 of the meat and 1/3 of the mushroom mixture 

 

* Add 1/3 of the sauce

 

 * Repeat layering with the eggplant and continue as above until all layers have been made. 

 

*In the second layer I added roasted tomatoes and peppers in place of the sauce.  If you don't have or don't want roasted tomatoes/peppers you can omit these and just layer as above with additional sauce in its place.

 

* Finish by topping with a 4th layer of eggplant and remaining sauce.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese if desired. 

 

* Cover with aluminum foil and back at 375F for 1 hour.  Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes. 

 

* Cut and serve.  

Pumpkin Fries

If you've been following along with my kitchen adventures you heard about my lack of resistance to the super cute pumpkin that made me take him home.  Well, here he is.  

 

 

Cute, yes?  

First there was roasted pumpkin.  Yum.  Now there is baked pumpkin fries.  Yum again.

This is even easier.  As long as you've got a little man power and a sharp knife.  I have very little man power, it took some effort.  Anyhow, cut off the top, cut him in half and scoop out the guts and seeds with a spoon.  

Then, it's just slice and bake.  I tried two versions.  One in big 'wedge' slices and the other more 'fry' sized.   Both turned out great. 

The fries were about 1/4 inch thick.  I sprayed these with olive oil and sprinkled with just a little bit of cinnamon.  Placed on a baking sheet and baked at 350F for 20 minutes, just until the outsides get a little crispy and the insides soften up.   

The slices I did essentially the same thing, they just took a little longer to finish and were cooked for about 30 minutes.  

 Not seen here, I also have some that I cubed in about 1/2 inch squares.  These take a little longer even, 30-40 minutes to soften up.  They're also good with cinnamon.  Or with an Indian tandoori spice rub.  Or with garlic salt.  The possibilities are endless. Too bad it's not pumpkin season year round...

  

Roast pumpkin

  

It never really occurred to me before how to cook a pumpkin.  I like pumpkin pie and I knew how to make a decent pumpkin pie (from a can...).  That was really all I appreciated pumpkin for.  This fall pumpkin has taken on a whole new level of excitement (obsession) for me.  I eventually (inevitably) caved and walked out of the store with a pumpkin.  I had really no idea what to do with it.  I'm still making it up as I go, but I've enjoyed it completely so far. 

This is Roasted pumpkin.  Incredibly simple and I highly recommend it.  

Simply prepare the pumpkin by washing, remove the top and cut it in half.  Then scoop out the stringy guts and seeds.

Sprinkle the fleshy side with ground cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.  It would probably be fine without this or with your preferred seasonings. Probably delicious with a little brown sugar... 

Place the halves skin up on a baking sheet. (I line my with parchment paper; foil or nothing at all would be fine, but lining it definitely aids in the cleaning process.  I also only roasted half because I wanted to play with the rest of it in other things.)

Bake in a preheated oven at 375F until it is tender and easily pierced with a fork.  The flesh will be soft and caramelized brown around the edges...

I cut it into quarters and just slapped it on a plate to eat.  OK... so I couldn't resist and just grabbed a fork and ate it, still steamy, straight from the pan.  Then I cut the other pieces and stuck them in the fridge for later... I did a little internet research and learned that you can eat the skin with no ill effects.  Except it seems there are a lot of people out there with textural issues related to pumpkin skin.  I did not seem to have that issue.   Mmm, more pumpkin to come...

 

 

Chocolate dessert sushi

 

Really just pictures here... not much more that needs to be said. 

 

For those who do care... 

The little guys are modeling chocolate (google it for many many recipes & info!) with rice (white rice, creamed coconut, lime juice & sugar), strawberries and kiwi.  

The big chocolatey rolls are chocolate cake wrapped around cream cheese icing with coconut, lime and ginger rolled around strawberries and kiwi -- then covered in a chocolate caramel & wrapped with modeling chocolate. 

The white are the chocolate cake with icing, strawberry and kiwi like above in between and covered in a white candy ganache. 

 

Apple BBQ Sauce

Apple BBQ Sauce

 

Sweet and tangy.  Great for fall.  Great for pork, great on chicken.  Sweeter than your standard BBQ sauce but all natural and definitely a kick to the sweetness.

Makes: 16 cups

Calories: 15 (per 2 Tablespoons)

Nutrition: 4 carbs, 0 protein, 0 fat

Ingredients:

3 cup water

6 lbs. apples, cored and sliced

2 medium onions sliced

1 can tomato paste (6oz)

2/3 cup white vinegar

2/3 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 T chili powder

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp Worcester sauce

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in large soup pot and heat to simmering.  Continue to simmer until apples become soft and translucent. 

 

 2. Place in blender and blend well. 

Berry applesauces

 

As if I hadn't made enough applesauce previously I made more... a lot more.  Really I just wanted to try it with peel-on green apples and see what color I ended up with.  I was figuring it wouldn't be pink like it was with the red apples before.  

Given the amount of applesauce I made I figured I'd experiment a little bit more and see what happened with I combined it with other fruits.  Turns out, delicious.

       

Applesauce base:

Approximately 3.5 pounds of apples cored and sliced (~1500g)

Combine in large pot with 3 cups water

Once apples are soft blend in blended, food processor or with immersion blender.  I like it a little chunkier so I used the food processor.  

Strawberry applesauce:

1/3 of prepared sauce (about 700g sauce - or prepare as above with 1 pound of apples and 1 cup water)

Combine in food processor with 175g (approx 1.5 cups) strawberries and mix until well blended

Makes 8 servings (1/2 cup or 100g each)

Per serving: 40 calories, 10g carbs, 0 fat, 0 protein

Blueberry applesauce:

1/3 of prepared sauce (about 700g sauce - or prepare as above with 1 pound of apples and 1 cup water)

Combine in food processor with 200g (approx 2 cups) blueberries and mix until well blended

Makes 8 servings (1/2 cup or 100g each)

Per serving: 48 calories, 13g carbs, 0 fat, 0 protein

Raspberry applesauce: 

1/3 of prepared sauce (about 700g sauce - or prepare as above with 1 pound of apples and 1 cup water)

Combine in food processor with 100g (approx 1 cups) raspberries and mix until well blended

Makes 8 servings (1/2 cup or 100g each)

Per serving: 46 calories, 12g carbs, 0 fat, 0 protein

Pumpkin Frosting

 

Pumpkin Frosting.  Enough said. 

Servings: 24

Calories: 94 

Nutrition: Carb 40g, Protein 0g, Fat 1g

 Ingredients

1/4 cup margarine or butter
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
6 cup powdered or confectioners sugar
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

 To make:

1. Soften margarine to room temperature in large bowl.  Add pumpkin and pie spice and beat with hand mixer at medium speed for 3 minutes. 

 

2.  Sift in sugar 1 cup at a time and mix with hand mixer gradually adding sugar until desired consistency is achieved.  

 

Mmm... pumpkiny, orange and delicious... 

Pumpkin sauce take 2

 

 Take #2 on pumpkin sauce. 

Changed from the previous.  The mushrooms I left out which kept the color from browning - though you can see I still added the mushrooms and broccoli to go with it in the end.  I left out the onion and paprika.  I changed the spices a bit and made it more reminiscent of pumpkin pie.  Also thined out a bit with water and almond milk.   Better, and again - I ate and enjoyed this in a variety of ways - but not quite perfect yet. 

 

Servings: 5  (108g or 3/4 cup)

Calories: 65

Nutrition: Carb 10g, Protein 2g, Fat 1g

 Ingredients

2 cup pumpkin puree

6T (3/8 cup) sour cream 

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup water

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Combine pumpkin, milk, water and sour cream in sauce pan over low heat and bring to a simmer.   Add remaining ingredients and cook at a low simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.

Pumpkin Sauce Take 1 - Mushroom Stroganoff

 I am obsessed (yes, obsessed is really the right word) with pumpkin.  And apples.  But really pumpkin.  On a trip to pick up lettuce and apples (yes, the apples) I came home with lettuce, apples, pumpkin yogurt, pumpkin cream cheese, pumpkin salsa and just plain pumpkin.  The next task is figuring out what I'm going to do with the ton (not literally this time) of pumpkin I have collected...  

My current challenge is coming up with a decent pumpkin sauce.  I had mushrooms and sour cream which usually prompts me to make a mushroom stroganoff which was the initial inspiration for this.  I ate it.  I enjoyed it.  But there is much room for improvement so I wouldn't use this for more than a jumping off point. I imagine most people would enjoy this much more over rice or pasta - I'm not eating either so what you're looking at is mushrooms in a pumpkin stroganoff (-ish) sauce over pureed broccoli "rice" (really just raw broccoli, chopped, 'pulverized' in the food processor and steamed briefly just to heat; I like the barely cooked 'crunch').   

 

Servings: 2

Calories: 109  

Nutrition: Carb 18g, Protein 10g, Fat 2g

 Ingredients

1 medium cooking onion thinly sliced (~110g)

16 oz Mushrooms, quartered (any will work I used 1/2 baby bellos & 1/2 standard white)

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp nutmeg

2 T sour cream

 To make:

1. Add onions to saute pan and cook slowly over medium heat.  When beginning to turn translucent add mushrooms to pan. * Note: I don't generally use butter, margarine, spray, oil, etc to saute vegetables though you certainly can. 

2. When mushrooms soften add remaining ingredients to the pan.  Cook for additional 5-10 minutes to thicken and serve.  

This sauce isn't bad but it is a bit bland. I added more spice when I revisited this and added some almond milk to thin it out a bit.  Cooking with the mushrooms/onions seemed to dull the pumpkin flavor but if you have a stroganoff where the tomato taste isn't overwhelming anyway substituting the pumpkin is probably a reasonable option as long as you're not expecting the pumpkin flavor to dominate.   Take #2 coming shortly...

 

Fall Farmer's Market Bake

Random experiment gone beautifully right. An assortment of fall vegetables (and a few staples thrown in for good measure) roasted, baked and surprisingly delicious. Picked up an assortment of vegetables at the Westside Market on Monday and come the end of the week needed to find a way to get many of them cooked.

The peppers got sliced and baked into spring rolls which it turns out are a delicious place to put some of my (much beloved) salsa.  The persimmon was also a wonderful new discovery and I expect there will be many more in my future.

The vegetable bake would be great with meat if one was so included to cook and add it but is sufficient on its own.  Could easily be made vegan by leaving the cheese off the top.  Could easily be switched up by changing the vegetables you're including.  Zucchini or squash would fit right in with the rest.  Sweet potatoes or any potato would be nice sliced, roasted and layered in here as well. 

Servings: 12
Calories: 120
Nutrition: Carbs 21g; Protein 6g; Fat 3g

Ingredients
1 eggplant (450g)
1 acorn squash (1250g)
1 cup pumpkin puree (200g)
6 large roma tomatoes (775g)
2 small white onion (150g)
1 bunch asparagus (250g)
14 oz mushrooms
1 T oregano
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp crushed garlic
nutmeg
1 cup mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup pecan halves, chopped
olive oil or olive oil spray


Directions:

*  Preheat oven to 400F
* Divide acorn squash longitudinally.  Scoop out seeds.  Spray or brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with nutmeg.

* Place squash in oven directly on rack with open face up.
* Line baking sheets with foil.  Thickly slice two small onions.  Spray lightly or brush with olive oil and sprinkle with oregano.
* After squash has cooked for 15 minutes increase temperature to 450F and add baking sheet with onions to the oven.

 * Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise.  Again, coat lightly with olive oil and oregano.  After onions have been in oven for 10 minutes add tomatoes to oven.

* Remove the woody base of the stems from the asparagus.  Coat lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with oregano.

* Slice eggplant in half and then slice into 1/2-inch strips.  Again coating with olive oil and oregano.

* Add eggplant and asparagus to oven on baking sheets after tomatoes have been cooking for 10 minutes. 

* Prepare baking pan by spraying or coating with oil.
* Slice mushrooms and saute in pan on stove until tender.
* Remove vegetables 20 minutes after adding asparagus and eggplant (1 hour after starting to cook squash) and reduce temperature to 350F

* Begin layering roasted vegetables in 9X13 pan by placing eggplant on bottom of dish with some overlapping.  

 * Top eggplant with tomatoes and then asparagus.  Sprinkle with remaining oregano, garlic and rosemary.

* Continue layering vegetables with onions and mushrooms.

 * Skin cooked squash and cut into approximately 1-inch thick slices.  Place slices to top of dish.  Mash squash lightly with large spoon and spread to coat other vegetables.

* Top with pumpkin puree and spread evenly.   Spread shredded over top.

* Place pan in oven.  After 15 minutes sprinkle chopped pecans over top of dish.

* Bake for addition 10 minutes or until cheese starts to turn golden brown around the edges.

* Remove from the over, cut and serve.