Whole 30 on

Well, the November Whole30 is over.  It was (after that first week anyway) much less painful than one might suspect.   The major cravings have gone away.  I don't wake up in the morning requiring Diet Pepsi.  I also don't require it at regular intervals throughout the day.  Unfortunately I also have not replaced it with water or anyone similar wholesome appropriate beverage but that is neither here nor there.  

On average the gut feels better.  There are still terrible days but they are less frequent than they were before.  I suppose that is something. As far as food goes though I seem to be hitting my stride.  I'm not missing grains or dairy.  Soy is harder not because I just love soy but because it's so ubiquitous in American food.  It's nearly impossible to eat out or even buy a lot of canned or frozen vegetables because they're laced with the stuff.  That is one area where I've been a little more lenient just for convenience sake.  Otherwise, all is good.  I'm tweaking recipes and learning what my new "staples" are.  Nothing too exciting got made in this weekend's rotation but a smattering are below.  Another batch of baked fajitas - these are awesome on top of salad for work lunches.  I've done seafood, chicken and now made my way back to steak.  Another quiche which has become a weekly endeavor - this time pumpkin 'crust' with broccoli, mushrooms and eggplant.  Babaganoush.  And sweet potato chips.

I'm sure new recipes will come eventually - especially with a vacation in a few weeks - but I seem to have settled into a pattern here and lost my inspiration for new cooking adventures.  

 

Fajita Bake

Makes: 1100g, about ~6-8 servings
Nutrition (per 100g): 90 cal, 11g protein, 3g fat, 6g carbs

Ingredients:
2 poblano peppers
2 green bell peppers
2 red bell peppers
1 red onion
1 white onion
1 pound steak
1/2 T olive oil

Seasoning:
1T chili powder
1/2 T paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne

* Mix together seasoning ingredients in a small bowl

 

 * Chop vegetables and onion into 1/4" strips
* Slice steak into 1/2" strips

* Place vegetables and steak into 9x13" pan.  Sprinkle seasoning on top.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Mix until well coated.

* Bake in oven at 350F for 45 minutes stirring once half way through.

* Once complete place in broiler for 5 minutes.  This was great, it added the 'charred' grilled fajita taste that was missing from the baked version.

Stuffed turkey peppers

Did you notice that my food is usually still steaming when I take its picture?  That's usually because I don't want to wait to eat it... Those who have worked with me (and thus seen me eat, because it seems to happen every few hours) have probably noticed that I have a thing for peppers. It's kind of like my obsession with pumpkin, which by the way is slowly improving.  Mostly because even though its fall and not even Thanksgiving and I should be able to have pumpkins - the stores no longer have pumpkins.  And after eating a 'real' pumpkin the pre-pureed version in a can just isn't the same. Stupid learning to eat real food...  The pepper thing is kind of like that, only it's year round so the crazy is spread out a little. Anyway, I really like peppers, I put them in all sorts of things, kind of like mushrooms (more on that coming in the next batch of cooking), and I really enjoy stuffed peppers. 

 Up today, plain ol' ordinary green bell peppers stuffed with ground turkey.  Mostly latin inspired flavor.  I'm really enjoying ground turkey and ground chicken because it doesn't really have much of a strong flavor - it adapts pretty easily with a little seasoning. 

Makes: 4 servings

Per serving: 130 calories,

22g protein,

1g fat,

9g carbs

Ingredients: 

4 bell peppers

12 oz ground turkey

3 oz coarsely chopped mushrooms

1 roma tomato, chopped

1/2 T dried cilantro

1 tsp cumin

* Clean the peppers, remove the stem and remove the seeds and flesh from the inside.  Place on lined baking sheet in the oven pre-heated to 375F for 5 mintues.

 

 * Mix together ground turkey, mushrooms, tomato, cilantro and cumin.  Divide into 4ths and roll into balls

 

* Remove the peppers from the over & stuff your turkey balls inside

 

Return to the oven at 375F and back until fully cooked, approximately 45 minutes.  The turkey should be browned through and the peppers should be soft.  

Pineapple Coconut Chicken Curry

I'm not sure curry is the right description but it is definitely a Thai flavored concoction.  Spicy, sweet and filling.  You can easily add or remove vegetables as you see fit - or get rid of them all together - add this would still work. On the flip side, leave out the chicken and you've got a great vegetarian/vegan dish.  If you have a particular aversion to one of the spices or can't find it anywhere, leave it out, I imagine this is still going to work just fine.

 

Makes: ~6 servings

Per serving: 244 calories,

31g protein,

7g fat,

13g carbs

 

Ingredients: 

1 3/4 pounds chicken

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp ground mustard

1 1/2 tsp garam masala

2 tsp coriander

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp salt

1 can (14oz) lite coconut milk

1 cup coconut water -- I used this because I had recently opened a fresh coconut; you could easily substitute for store bough coconut water or just plain old water.

1 red onion, sliced

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced

2 cubanelle pepper, sliced

1/2 lb snow peas

3 oz coconut meat -- Possibly substitute unsweetened shredded coconut instead if you don't have or don't want to deal with opening and shelling your own coconut

8oz mushrooms, sliced

4 oz pineapple sliced and cut into 1" pieces

2 T chopped ginger

1 tsp guar gum*

1 tsp xanthum gum *

*(you could substitute 1T of corn startch, flour or thickener of your choice)

Directions

Cut the chicken into roughly 1-inch cube sized pieces. Mix with the spices, 1/2 of the coconut milk, and 1/2 of the chopped pineapple.  Place in the refrigerator overnight to marinate (or chill for at least 1-2 hours)

 

You can also prepare the other ingredients ahead of time if you wish.  I prepped everything and was able to have everything cooking at the same time in different pans to speed things along. 

Mix the snow peas with the sliced mushrooms and coconut in one container.   In a second container prepare and combine the onion, peppers, garlic and ginger.

 

Mix the onions, peppers, garlic and ginger in a saute pan and quickly saute just until onions start to turn translucent.  Add 1/2 of the coconut water and allow to simmer until fully cooked - about 20 minutes.

 

Remove the pepper mixture from the pan and replace with mushroom mixture, add remaining pineapple.  Saute until the mushrooms just start browning and simmer covered for about 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

 

Place chicken in large pan and cook over medium heat stirring occasionally until chicken is cooked, about 10 minutes.

 

Add remaining coconut milk, coconut water, guar gum and xanthum gum and simmer until desired consistency, about 15 minutes.

 

Combine pepper mixture with vegetables in pan and stir to mix.

 

Combine to serve.  Serve alone or over your choice -- as below with glucomannan noodles, regular pasta or rice noodles, rice, shredded cabbage, salad greens, etc.  I initially left the chicken and veggies separate and combined over the noodles but later mixed them all together and it works just fine as well if you want to combine before serving.

  

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...)

Italian Vegetable Soup

Tomato-based vegetable soup with italian inspired seasoning and vegetables

 

 Makes: 12 cups

 Ingredients:

300g carrots, peeled and sliced

400g celery, sliced

200g green pepper, coarsely chopped

10 oz mushrooms, quartered

10 oz zucchini diced (~1 medium)

6 oz (~1/2 medium) eggplant

1/2 white onion, coarse chopped

40 oz (2.5 lbs) tomatoes; peeled, seeded and pureed

28 oz (1.75 lbs) crushed tomatoes

8 cloves garlic, minced

2T balsamic vinaigrette

1T dried oregano

1/2 tsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp rubbed sage

1/2 tsp salt

6 1/2 cup water

Directions

* Chop and prepare ingredients as above

* Combine tomatoes with 6 Cup water, oregano, rosemary and sage in soup pot.  Place on medium heat and simmer.

* At same time, heat 2T balsamic vinaigrette in saute pan.  Add carrots, garlic, celery, pepper and onion.  Saute until tender.

* Add vegetable mix to pot with tomatoes

* Deglaze saute pan with 1/2 cup water.  Add remaining vegetables - eggplant, zucchini and mushrooms to pan.  Siummer approximately 10 minutes or until tender

* Add vegetables to pot with tomatoes and continue heating to boiling.Once boiling reduce heat and simmer 5-10 minutes. 

Pepper Slaw

Ingredients:
1 green bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 cubanelle pepper
1 anaheim pepper
1 medium white onion
2 cups shredded cabbage
2T basalmic vinegar

1. Thinly slice peppers and onions.  Shred cabbage.
2. Mix in large bowl and toss with vinegar

Even better when allowed to sit for 24 hours in the refrigerator before eating...