Weekend Cooking Wrap-Up

Well, it’s Sunday night.  This is about the time that I would be getting the “Sunday Blues” because the weekend is over.  However, I am not feeling that way tonight.  (Yes, I do have to go to work tomorrow!)  But I think it was just a productive day, so I feel ready to head back to work.  It is Teacher Appreciation Week at my school this week, so that usually makes it a fun week. 

Well, I am officially over 1 week into my Whole30.  I am about to complete day 8, so I am almost a third of the way into it!  You know from my previous recaps that I have had a serious decrease in joint pain.  For those who are new, I have had bad knees ever since high school (cheerleading).  The pain definitely is worse if I am working out often, especially if I am doing a lot of squats and lunges—which I do A LOT now that I am a Zumba Instructor.  For over a year I have been taking a vitamin supplement specifically for joint pain.  However, I stopped it as soon as I started the Whole30 because I wanted to see what my body would truly feel like.  And I feel great!  (Did I mention that I did over 100 athletic squats yesterday as a part of a fitness assessment?) 

Another observation… Normally when I would eat a meal, I would eat until the point where I was stuffed.  It was like I would go from starving to stuffed with no in-between point where I felt just satisfied.  But doing the Whole30, I feel different.  It’s like my body is just naturally saying, “That’s good.  We’ve had enough.”  I don’t feel sluggish and sleepy after meals, either.  I think it must be a difference in what I am putting into my body.  I guess if you put crap in… you get crap out, right?! (Not that I was eating crap all the time.  I thought I was eating healthy.  But maybe I wasn’t.)

Ok, now on to the weekend meals. 

Lately, I know you aren’t seeing a lot of recipes that I have originally created, but that’s because I am just exploring some of the great Paleo blogs out there.  So I hope that as I link to some of these great recipes that I have found, you can try them out too!  So make sure that you click on any links that you see!

Yesterday, I made mashed cauliflower. 

I’ve been wanting to do this for years, but I had two problems: 1.  I didn’t have a steamer basket, and 2. I was scared.  Despite the husband’s skepticism, I decided to try it last night.  I pan-seared some pork shops and used this recipe from Nom Nom Paleo.  I skipped the butter and used just a dash of vegetable broth instead.  It really was surprisingly easy!  My main question was, “Will this really taste like cauliflower?”  Because I like it OK… but I am not wild about it.  Well, I was shocked.  They really were delicious.  Sadie ate LOTS and had no clue that she wasn’t eating mashed potatoes!  Seriously.  No idea.  So if you have been on the fence, try this method.  The garlic and the smooth puree is what makes all the difference, I think! 

Today’s lunch: Sauteed Baby Bok Choy with Chicken

(I cooked a lot of chicken today to eat throughout the week.  I reserved a 4 oz. breast, chopped it up, and threw it into the hot saute pan just before serving.  I did not use raw chicken.)  I washed and sliced the baby bok choy.  I sauteed it with EVOO, salt, pepper, about 1/2 tsp of fresh ginger, and some chopped green onions.  At the last second, I added the chicken just to warm it up and incorporate the flavors.  This is so quick and delicious.  It makes a great lunch or dinner!

And finally, tonight… we had Zpaghetti and Meatballs! 

Thanks to a tip from my friend Jenn, I got this cool little gadget at Target yesterday:

a julienne peeler!  I followed these directions from Nom Nom Paleo.  I did one extra step—after cutting the zoodles, I laid them out flat on paper towels and salted them, then laid paper towels on top, to try an bring out the water—just so they wouldn’t be soggy.  I rolled out meatballs and made some sauce to go with them, and boom!  Meatballs and zoodles! 

Click here to see my meatballs and sauce post.

I know you’re wondering what zucchini noodles must taste like.  Actually, they were a lot like regular noodles.  You can twirl them on a fork, slurp them like regular noodles… they’re just a little more crunchy.  I think that salting them in the preparation process really helped add flavor.  Zucchini by itself can be a little bland, in my opinion.

Don’t you like the pretty red and green together?

So… there’s a weekend wrap-up of Whole30 eating!  Hope you are enjoying the Whole30 food and recaps!