Day 14 Whole30

9 hours sleep

7am: 3 soft boiled eggs, 2 slices apple with almond butter and a few macadamias

10am: Coconut and Almonds with Raspberries (not pictured)

2pm: lamb sausage, carrots, cucumber, yellow peppers all dipped in Sunshine Sauce 

7pm: Crispy duck breast, roasted kumara (sweet potato), asparagus and broccoli. Coconut Manna

Day 13 Whole30

Today is that female time of the month so I didn't feel great. It hasn't been long enough to notice if dropping dairy will affect it, hopefully next month i'll have a better idea. Suffice to say I had some pretty rampant sugar cravings, in particular...you guessed it CHOCOLATE!!! boy I really really wanted to cave today but I didn't.  Dallas and Melissa warn that this part of the program can get really intense, I'm looking forward to day 16 when hopefully the cravings will be gone.

On the bright side I am really loving trying lots of new things because I'm not having any dairy, I really do have to think outside the square! 

My new Well Fed cookbook is just awesome!!! I highly recommend this book, for anyone from beginners to those of us that have been at this a long time, like myself! Great ideas and lots of new flavours, herbs and spices that I wouldn't have thought of.  

The introduction is awesome, a very basic yet well thought out way of explaining Paleo and how to transition to a Paleo diet.  Plenty of advice for meal planning and preparation tips.

It would be a perfect gift for that person in your life that keeps questioning about your "crazy diet" but isn't ready to change their eating habits because they don't understand how to do it. I would say if you read this book and didn't like the recipes and suggestions then there is no saving you ;)

Hubby was blown away by tonights  meal and kept raving about the chicken and sunshine sauce.  You must try this!!!!(links below)

8 hours sleep

8am: 2 egg omelet filled with leftovers from yesterday's lunch (pizza inspired mince & veggies)

2pm: Almond and smoked lemon coated chicken fried in coconut oil, on top of asparagus "noodles", drizzled with lemon olive oil. Blueberries with cinnamon toasted almonds and coconut

8pm: The Best Chicken You Will Ever Eat. Ever. with Sunshine Sauce and chopped up carrots, cucumber and yellow peppers with coriander and Buttercrunch lettuce (this meal was AMAZING!!!!!) 

Day 12 Whole30

Today I was craving chocolate hard!!! That time of the month is due so I'm not surprised, I just really really really wanted chocolate arghhhh! I didn't cave, stayed strong but I probably ate a bit much fruit.

7 hours sleep

7am: 3 small soft boiled eggs.  Blueberries, banana with cinnamon toasted coconut and almonds

1pm: Grassfed Beef mince and pure lamb sausages with Italian seasoning, red peppers, mushrooms & kalamata olives with butter crunch lettuce

7pm: Mushroom soup made with homemade chicken broth and coconut cream, apple slices with almond butter, macadamias and coconut manna

Walnut Pesto

This works best with freshly cracked walnuts!

• 1/3 cup Walnuts 
• 2 cups Fresh Basil 
• 2-3 cloves of garlic 
• 1/3-1/2 cup Olive Oil 
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice 
• Freshly cracked Pepper 
• Salt to taste (1/2-1 teaspoon) 

Place all ingredients in a food processor and blend until combined. Leave in fridge for at least 1 hour so all the flavours marinade together before using.

Day 3 Whole 30

I am already learning a lot about the relationship I have with food. Before this Whole30 I honestly didn't think I could quit the chocolate and dairy and it felt unnecessary.   I am surprising myself with the transition and I'm starting to realise why it is actually necessary for me to do this.

Today has been much better after yesterday's miserable headache I had for most the day.  It really illustrated how much caffeine and sugar I was actually getting from the chocolate :/ 

I am feeling excited for this journey and sharing my experience with you all.  It's bought my passion back.  I will say that I'm spending a lot of time in the kitchen, even more than I usually do so before you go jumping into a Whole30 you might need to prepare for the time you will spend making sure you are eating enough, especially veggies.  Also the money you will be spending on so much food!  I have just ordered the book Well Fed so I'm looking forward to it arriving so I wont run out of ideas.

One of the things about the whole30 is when you sit down for a meal you cannot be distracted, this means no TV, texting, internet or whatever could be distracting you.  I am being very conscious of this so the TV is off when I eat so I can be fully engaged in eating!

7am: 3 poached eggs, 2 strips free range sugar free bacon, 2 portobello mushrooms and 1 tomato cooked in ghee. A few macadamias, Decaf Nespresso

12pm: Lamb Curry and a few almonds.

6pm: Smoked Chicken (smoked my own) tossed with homemade mayo, sundried tomatoes, fresh basil and spring onions, on top of mesclun salad, cucumber, yellow peppers.  I also added a little diced kumara (sweet potato) fried in ghee. A few macadamias

Roasted Broccoli!

This is god damn delicious! I sort of thought it wouldn't be as good as cauliflower but it is just as good if not better :)

Head of Broccoli

2 Tbsp's of Coconut oil, lard or tallow

1-2 Tbsp's Pinenuts

2 Tbsp's Parmesan cheese

2 cloves garlic

Lemon rind & juice

2 slices of bacon

Lemon Olive oil 

Salt & Pepper

Preheat your oven to 220 degrees C.
Cut the broccoli florets from stalks, discard most of the stalks, only leaving enough to keep the florets in tact. 

Using an oven dish melt your coconut oil in the oven so you can evenly distribute the oil over the broccoli.  Toss the broccoli with salt and pepper and toss through the oil using tongs. 

Roast for 20 minutes, (but at 10 minutes just give them a little flip so they cook evenly). At the 15 minute mark add some grated garlic, if you add it earlier it will likely overcook, once cooked the broccoli  should be browned and crispy!

While your broccoli is cooking toast your Pinenuts in a non stick pan on a very low heat, watch constantly as they will burn if you leave them, only takes approx 2-3 minutes to brown. Chop up the bacon and cook that up also. Grate your Parmesan cheese and the rind of 1 lemon.

Once cooked remove the broccoli from the oven and in a bowl add the Pinenuts, bacon, Parmesan, lemon rind, and just a small squeeze of lemon juice. Once served drizzle with lemon olive oil.

Eat while its hot!

Pumpkin & Feta Frittata

Pumpkin & Feta Frittata

• 1/2 - 3/4 cup cooked or roasted pumpkin or you could use sweet potato, potato or kumara
• 50gms Feta cheese crumbled
• 2 strips of streaky bacon sliced and fried
• 1-2 Tbsps Pinenuts fried
• 2 sundried tomatoes
• 2 eggs beaten with a little dash of cream or milk and Salt & Pepper

Cook your pumkin, either par-boiling it first and then frying it or use leftover roasted pumpkin, fry your bacon, add the pinenuts to give them a quick brown but take them out quickly!  Once cooked put in a bowl.

Chop up your sundried tomatoes and crumble your feta.  Beat 2 eggs with your cream and S & P in a bowl, add everything into the bowl then pour into a small frying pan approximately the size as above. Cook very slowly on a low heat for about 5 minutes and then transfer to the grill to finish the top off which will still be runny, will take about another 3-5 minutes under the grill.

This is perfect for any meal and would be an ideal thing to make to take for your lunches when you are lost for ideas! Hope you all enjoy it as much as I do :)

Banana Walnut Cranberry Muffins

Here's another brilliant recipe from one of my readers Megan Roberts.  They look delicious, I haven't tried them yet but thought they were worth sharing! I personally don't use Splenda as a sweetener but you could substitute it for stevia or honey depending on how closely you watch your carb counts.

Banana Walnut Cranberry Muffins

Makes 6 Texas sized Muffins

• 2 bananas, mashed
• 4 eggs
• 1 Tablespoon macadamia oil
• 1/2 cup cream

Mix these ingredients together in one bowl

• 1/4 cup coconut flour, sifted
• 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup Splenda or other sweetener

Mix these ingredients together in a separate bowl

• 1/2 cup of thread coconut
• 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Mix the wet mixture with the coconut, walnuts and cranberries and then combine the dry.

Bake for 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius

Toasted coconut & almond chocolate

Ingredients:

200gms 85% Lindt

100gms 70% Old Gold

(you can use any brand, I just try and keep the percentages high so that it's richer and I eat less ;))

150gms Butter or Coconut Oil

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

100gms Sliced Almonds

100gms Coconut chips

Prep work: Preheat your oven to grill 200C, Line a dish with parchment paper.

Directions: 

Melt your butter or coconut oil, once melted then take off the heat and add in the chocolate, this will ensure you don't cook the chocolate and then you will have a melt in your mouth consistency. Add 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Put your almonds onto a baking sheet and place under the grill to toast, watch it very carefully as they will burn, check constantly and turn to ensure most of the almonds get toasted.  Do not burn or it will ruin the chocolate.  Next do the coconut, you need to watch the coconut even more or you will burn it, coconut has a very high fat content and will toast much faster than the almonds.  This will get your house smelling amazing too I might add! This can also be done in a non stick frying pan but I find it is easier to mess it up plus you don't always get an even toasting.

Add your toasted almond & coconut to the chocolate mixture and then pour into your lined dish, pop in the fridge for several hours and then cut when it's nearly set, place back in the fridge and then break it up and put into a container and store in the fridge. 

Cashew & Almond Butter Dark Chocolate

Cashew & Almond Butter Dark Chocolate

• 150gms Butter
• 200gms 70% Cadbury Old Gold
• 100gms 85% Green & Blacks
• 2-3 Tbsps Almond Butter
• 200gms Salted Cashews - chopped up
• (optional: coconut, dried apricots or other dried fruit)

Melt butter, add the broken up chocolate so it melts but no need to boil, you just want to melt the chocolate.  Add the almond butter so thoroughly combined, put in the cashews and pour into a lined dish, pop in the fridge and it should be ready in roughly 3-4 hours.

ENJOY!!

Sweet and salty chocolate!

Sweet and Salty chocolate

• 3 x 100gm blocks of 85% Green and Blacks 
• 125gms Butter 
• 1 Tbsp Honey
• 200gms of Salted Cashews or any other nut 

Melt the butter and honey on a low heat in a heavy based pan and break up the chocolate and add, stirring until melted and all combined.

Chop the nuts or leave them whole and add into the melted chocolate mixture.

Pour into prepared rectangle tin, and spread out and flatten as much as you can.

Cover and refrigerate for a few hours before cutting.

Makes about 20 pieces

**Please note this is a primal version of Nigella's Sweet and Salty chocolate.

pecan crusted salmon

This is such a satisfying meal and really gives a great flavour to Salmon. For two salmon fillets:
10 or so pecans

2 tsp fennel seeds

1tsp dill

pinch parsley salt
1 Lemon

Blend together everything bar the lemon. Douse the salmon in lemon, only do this before you cook it otherwise the acid in the lemon juice will start to cook the fish. Top the salmon with the crust and fry in butter. Bake in the oven on 380F for 7-8minutes depending on how you like your salmon. I prefer mine not cooked too much.
Serve with salad and homemade pesto, this is the pesto I use: http://www.recipezaar.com/Pesto-49909

Today I weighed in at 82.2kgs so back down from what I was earlier this week.

Macadamia Chocolate

I love Macadamia Chocolate but the only one I can find that I love is one called MacBar which is only 70% choc and costs $3.50NZD for only 30gms!! Also I prefer 85% and it’s lower in sugar. So I went to the organic shop the other day and bought a handful of shelled macadamias and sat outside on the concrete with a hammer and uncovered the delicious macadamias, if you’ve only ever had packet roasted or salted ones and you’re not sure about them then you need to try raw ones. I personally only like the raw ones, they are divine and expensive to buy unshelled in a foil packet something like $7-8 for 100gms!!

So I managed to get 50gms of unshelled macadamias for about $1.00! all it meant was I needed to hammer the crap out of the shells but it was therapeutic and soo much better than paying more. This also means that the chocolate I buy doesn’t feel so exuberant when you save on the macadamias… I buy Rapunzel chocolate for 80gms is $6.90 which is fairly expensive but compared to the MacBar it’s a lot cheaper, you also don’t need a lot because it’s so rich. The 85% Lindt bars which are cheaper are also good but no way near as nice or smooth as Rapunzel, I think Rapunzel has more fat in it which is why it’s smoother plus it’s organic fair trade which is great.

Here’s the fun I had in the kitchen:
De-shelled the macadamias and chopped them coarsely then prepare the chocolate broken into pieces.



Bring to the boil a double boiler or a pot with a stainless steel bowl as seen here, melt the chocolate down then add the chopped macadamias. Line a loaf tin with baking paper and pour in the chocolate mix. I had to set mine in the fridge and take it out just before it sets so I can cut it, but I also found it didn’t set too solid so could be cut after anyway.



So I think the texture is actually better after it’s been melted it’s more melt in your mouth for some reason. The finished product is OMG!! I cannot tell you just how good this tastes and is a real treat and a sensible vice :)


Another idea I’ve had is to try it with Lindt 85% because it’s a bit cheaper and add a little coconut oil to the process which might make it smoother and I guess a little lower in carbs also, that will be my next try if I’m trying to be careful with cash. Otherwise the Rapunzel is the ultimate!

Berry Cheesecake

So yesterday was my wedding anniversary and instead of going out for dinner (my fav place was closed) I made a beautiful meal of eye fillet with creamy peppered balsamic sauce with zucchini, red peppers and carrots cooked with butter and smoked paprika it was soo good. Then for desert I made a Low Carb cheesecake, I was soo good even my dh loved it.

Base:
Ground up 3/4 cup Pine Nuts and Pecans
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 tsp vanilla pod
2 tsp honey
butter
combined and pressed into little ramekins and refridgerated.

Filling:
125gms Creme Fraiche
125gms Marscarpone
1/2 cup Blueberries
1/2 cup Raspberries
1 tsp vanilla pod
3 tsps gelatin dissolved in tiny bit of hot water.

Topping:
Grated 85% chocolate

This cheesecake is not really sweet but sweet enough and fairly rich so you don't need much, it was heavenly and something I would only eat on a special occassion otherwise I would want to eat it everyday!

The Damn Scale!!!

Well I haven't posted in a while, feeling a little bummed that my weight hasn't shifted again yet. I'm stuck a little, at least I haven't gone up but it's a little frustrating when you stick to plan and still the scale doesn't move. So my plan this week is to eat less nuts, berries and 85% dark choc, maybe they are stalling me but these foods are so yummy!! so I'm a little frustrated to say the least.

This is my plan, 3 eggs for breakfast either scrambed, omelete (with added cream) this keeps me fuller for longer, I can go 5 hours when I add enough fat. If I have poached eggs I need to add some sort of fat and usually I will add a couple of pecans so I may have to stick to scrambed or omelete or if I feel creative I'll make hollandaise to go with my eggs YUM!!
Lunch will be chicken nibbles baked to be crispy with a creamy sauce or some cheese on the side.
Dinner will be some meat, vegies with butter, will go easy on pumpkin.
Well time for lunch now and i'm hungryyyyy!!!