Southwestern Shepard's Pie

A New Creation is born... :)

I have been getting a little creative in the kitchen lately.  I am trying to use up all the food I have before I go grocery shopping again.  I really want to cut back on wasting too much money on food I just let go to waste.  So, today I noticed I had 3 plantains (1 ripe, 2 unripe) and I really wanted to use them up.  I have made tostones in the past and also grilled plantains, but I wanted something different and something that wouldn't be time consuming.. cause my little one can get cranky toward the evening.  So this is what I came up with...

Please take in consideration, I threw this together.  You can really customize this to you and what you have available in your fridge and pantry.  Im also guessing at the measurements cause I didn't measure anything at the time of making it.. although I did eyeball what it looked like.

Southwestern Shepard's Pie

Ingredients:

For the ground beef mixture
1 lb ground beef
1 packet of Frontera Chipotle-Lime Fajita Skillet Sauce
2 TB of tomato Paste
1 TB of chopped cilantro

For the plantain mixture
3 plantains (1 ripe, 2 unripe)
1/3 c. Canned coconut milk (full fat)
1 c. chicken stock
salt

Toppings:  (Optional)
Cheese
Avocado
Salsa

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 375
Grease a 9 by 9 baking dish.. or any small square baking dish

1.  Brown the ground beef and then stir in the fajita sauce and tomato paste.  Let the sauce thicken up and then stir in the cilantro right before you add the meat mixture to the baking dish.

2.  For the plantains, peel the unripe plantains and cut into chunks.  Add the plantains to a saucepan and add the chicken stock.  Add enough water to cover the top of the plantains.  Bring to a boil, and boil till the plantains are fork tender.  For mine, at this point there was not much liquid in the pan so I just mashed the plantains in the liquid.  It soaked it up pretty quick.  Mash the plantains really good.   Add in the ripe plantain and mash through.  Then stir in the coconut milk. Season with salt.

3.  Add the ground beef mixture to the baking dish and spread the mashed plantains on top.  I also sprinkled a little cheese on top too.

4.  Put in the oven for about 30 min or until the liquid is bubbling along the edges of the pan

Please let me know if you make this!! It was SO GOOD!  My hubby even told me I need to make it again! :)

Cauliflower hummus and Zoodle Sauce

It's the last week of Whole30 and I've gone so far without potlucks or parties until now!  My daughter's preschool graduation party was coming up. So naturally I scoured Pinterest to see what I could find and there really wasn't too many kid friendly ones that interested me.  I finally came upon a cauliflower hummus recipe and decided to give it a try.  It turned out awesome!  I used the recipe in the link provided.  I did add a red bell pepper to the food processor too! 

Good thing I decided to make food I could eat cause I was super limited!  The only other thing there I could eat were apple and pear slices and the guacamole I made.  

I also found a delicious way to use this hummus as a sauce and that's the whole reason I decided to blog about it!  It is kid and hubby approved. The hubby even took the leftovers for lunch today! 

http://andloveittoo.com/roasted-red-pepper-paleo-hummus/

Hummusy Zoodles 

1 tb olive oil 

3 zucchinis julienned or spirialized 

8oz mushrooms 

1 can diced tomatoes 

1/2 c cauliflower hummus 

2 c. Chopped cooked meat ( we used some smoked pork we had but anything would really do good in it)

Super Easy!

Slice mushrooms and sautéed them with the cooked meat in the olive oil till cooked through. 

Then add the zoodles with the can of diced tomatoes. Bring it to a boil and let simmer till the zoodles are soft. Stir in the hummus and let everything heat through.

 

And that's it!! Yes, seriously... That's it! 

Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!  Gotta get creative with Whole30!! 

Whole30 Approved Simple "Ketchup"

You know what I miss most doing the Whole30?? (Well besides my wine..wah!) I miss my dips!  I'm a dipping person. Love my ketchups, mustards, And BBQ sauces.  Yes, there are some recipes out there but I always seem to forget about them until I need them.  So here is a little concoction I threw together tonight and it's only 4 ingredients.  Super fast if you already have paleo mayo made (mine is from the well-fed cookbook). 

Ingredients:

(Measurements can be played around with to fit your tastebuds)

2 tbs paleo mayo

2 tbs whole grain mustard 

Dash of hot sauce (according to taste)

1 tbs of tomato sauce

Just mix together really well and let sit for about an hour for flavors to really meld together.  Even tasted great with our sweet potato fries! 

Want a simple sweet potato fry recipe? 

1. Cut up sweet potatoes into fries

2. Place in ziplock bag and put some olive oil, garlic powder, Mrs. dash onion and herb, salt, and paprika 

3.  Shake bag till everything is coated. 

4. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for about 20 min at 420 degrees or until fork goes in easily.  

Dinner was delicious and I was able to dip! 

         (Burger is on portobello bun)

It was even hubby approved!  He's such a sport for doing the Whole30 with me! 

My Whole30 Wrap Up!

What a wonderful 30 days!! 

Yes, that first week was torture but once you get past that "hangover week" it gets much much better! In fact I felt amazing!  So much energy, face cleared up, and my digestive system has never worked better!  

Its hard to believe this was me just 4 months ago!  The whole30 really helped with this last couple pounds to get back to my pre preggo size.  Granted, my composition has changed, so I still have lots of toning and muscle building to do to really get to where I was at.  

I wanted to share some of the recipes and tips that really helped to simplify the diet.  Lets face it, I have 2 kids now, newborn and preschooler... I am still learning how to take care of both.  Its so much different having 2 versus 1!   Got to hand it to all the moms of multiples out there.. its no joke!  

What did my daily food log look like?  VERY SIMPLE! 

Breakfast:  Usually eggs scrambled with leftover veggies and meat from the night before and avocado.. I love avocado!!! 
Lunch:  Salad with veggies and meat
Dinner:  Grilled meat, veggies, and sweet potatoes  
PWO:  I had shakeology with a banana (sometimes almond butter) and water 

(Yes, I know that Shakeology is not 100% compliant, but the benefits outweigh any reasoning to cut it out.  I have seen it help with so many medical conditions ... it is part of my lifestyle!  Plus, the vegan is dairy free, gluten free, no preservative, artificial fillers or sweeteners, sweetened with juice and stevia, contains over 70 super foods, and nothing in the drink is synthetically made.. all from whole food sources) 

My Fave Recipes...  

 (honestly I wouldn't call them recipes, Im a throw things together type of person)  

Coconut Mashed Sweet Potatoes  

Mine might look a little different.  Here in Hawaii there are lots of Japanese sweet potatoes so that is what I use. They are white inside instead of traditional orange.  They are really good!  So how do I make this delicious recipe?  Too easy!  Cook the potatoes like you would for regular mashed potatoes and then while mashing them, add some full fat coconut milk and mix it in!  TA DA!!  This is my daughters FAVORITE side dish and the first thing she eats.   Know what else is good?  Take any leftovers the next morning and make a patty out of it.  Pan fry it and top it with an over easy egg... or as I call it a "dippy" egg! :)  Delish!! 

My Asian Marinade 

Yeah.. this isn't rocket science! lol 

Like I said.. I throw things together.  This marinade works well with pretty much any type of meat.  During the diet I used it on chicken, steak, and ahi tuna.  They all turned out yummy!  

In a ziploc bag combine;

2 cloves of garlic minced

3 TB of coconut aminos

2 Tsp.  sesame oil 

1 TB minced ginger 

Toss the meat in and let marinate for at least an hour.  Longer is better!  Too easy right?  The amounts of the ingredients can really be played around with too! 

Probably one of the hardest things for me to follow on the diet is... no wine!  Wahhh!! :)

I am a water drinker so that wasn't too bad.  I also added some green tea and dandelion tea to my diet to give a little change of pace.  A cup of dandelion tea at night was very relaxing plus its a great liver detox.  

I also ordered myself some bulletproof coffee!  I love it!  A very smooth coffee that doesn't upset my stomach at all! 

A great tool I think everyone should have is a vegetable spiralizer.  I have a little hand held one I bought off of amazon that works great with making some zucchini noodles.  This helped to make some great spaghetti!  Yum!! 

There are a couple other recipes that I plan on implementing this time around that should help me out even more!  They are all found in the cookbooks Practical Paleo and Well Fed!  Really recommend checking those out!! 

So yes.. round 1 was down now on to round 2!! 

Know whats even better?  I get to share the ups and downs with a bunch of amazing women in my challenge group.  I seriously don't know how I succeed in anything before I came upon challenge groups.  It helps SO MUCH having people who are doing exactly what you're doing and being able to share our good and bad days together!!! 

Best believe I had that glass of wine after that last round of Whole30.. just happened to be my hubby's birthday too! :)  

My Fit Pregnancy Journey.. Second Time Around

Here comes baby #2..

I was really excited this time around!  I had worked really hard on my body and was at a place I was comfortable at getting pregnant again.  I was actually in the best shape I had ever been in.  Was I at my high school weight?  Not at all!  In fact I was 8 lbs above that but now with adding weight lifting, interval training, and clean eating… I was seeing the beginnings of a six pack and muscle definition.

This was a great place to be at to get pregnant but also going to be my toughest mentally.  There is nothing more challenging than watching your body transform after all your hard work.  Yes, I knew I could get it back and I knew it was worth it… but it was still hard to watch it change!  I had never been a scale watcher.  In fact, I wanted the scale to go up before pregnancy because that meant I was gaining muscle!  In the 1st trimester I gained 7 lbs!  I was still working out and eating pretty clean, but had the  addition of extra carbs and some cheats due to nausea.  Didn't help that when I went to a Dr. appt the nurse said I needed to slow down the weight gain.  I only needed to gain 20-25 lbs.  She said to make sure I drank lots of water, which I replied that I drank a gallon.  She then said to get some exercise in, which I replied I work out at least 5 days a week and I eat a pretty clean diet.

I definitely worked out longer and harder this pregnancy.  I had placenta previa with my daughter and it left me with doing just yoga and pilates and I worked out until about 7 months preggo.  This time I worked out until 39 weeks (had Ian on his due date) and weight trained with little cardio.  With both pregnancies I gained the same weight.  37 lbs!!  What I have learned is, your body knows what to do and what it wants.  I did much more this time around as far as exercise and diet and I still gained the same amount of weight.  It was out of my control!

As long as you eat clean and stay active.. your body will take care of what it needs!  Don't get caught up in the weight gain.  Concentrate on being healthy for you and the baby.  Your body will do what it needs to do!

 

 
As far as what I did with my workout routine, check out www.Busymomgetsfit.com .  She has a pregnancy workout routine for the gym and at home.  I got the gym version and followed that 3 days a week.  The other 2 days I did Beachbody programs alternating between Chalean Extreme and Combat. I stayed consistent with my clean eating with the help of my Challenge groups.  They helped me stay accountable throughout the whole pregnancy.  I also drank Shakeology every day!  On November 16, 2013 I gave birth to a healthy 8 lb 9 ounce 22.5 inches baby boy!! :)

 

Gingerbread and Fruitcakes

What comes to mind when I say "fruitcake"??

Im guessing probably.. gross, hard, disgusting, brick, and the list goes on!  Im here to change your mind about fruitcake!

 In our family we make a "fruitcake" recipe every year that was passed down from my great grandma.  Although Im pretty sure a good way to describe this cake is that of a "harvest cake" than fruitcake.  There are no real candied fruits like that of a fruitcake, except the maraschino cherries.  Instead it is filled with raisins, dates, cherries, and walnuts.  With the addition of cloves and cinnamon, the house smells amazing when it is baking.  Today was the first round of fruitcake baking, and I can finally say it smells like Christmas!

I took it upon myself this year to "clean up" the recipe.  Not that the original was horribly bad, but I could do a couple things to make it healthier.  Then I wouldn't feel so bad when I eat a whole loaf of it! :)

Now beware … this "fruitcake" is addicting!!

First, here is the original recipe..  and yes I asked permission to leak this to the public!  We even have the recipe framed on the wall in my great grandma's handwriting!

Amazing Fruitcake

1.5 c. Raisins
1.5 c. Dates, chopped
2 c.  Sugar
2 c. Water
5 Tb. Shortening
3 c. All purpose flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
2 tsp.  Cinnamon
2 tsp.  Cloves
1 tsp.  Salt
1 c.  chopped nuts
1 c. maraschino cherries, drained, cut in half

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250 degrees
1.  Combine raisins, dates, sugar, water, and shortening in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  Stir until sugar and shortening have melted and then turn off heat and remove saucepan.  Allow mixture to cool

2.  While fruit mixture is cooling combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl.  When the fruit mixture has cooled stir into flour mix.

3.  Pour into a greased loaf pan
4.  Bake for about 1 hour and 15 min, until knife comes out clean when stuck into the center

Pretty easy right??

There are only a few things that I had to change up.  I changed the flour to whole wheat flour ( used a combo of whole wheat and AP so that it would not be too dense.  If you have whole wheat pastry flour you can use that instead of the combo)  and for the sugar I used a combo of honey and coconut sugar.  My next feat will be trying to do it with almond flour.  I chose to leave out nuts (not a huge fan of nuts in my sweet things) and the cherries since that are not that clean of a food.  I did use shortening but I used an organic kind of palm oil shortening.

"Cleaned Up" Fruitcake 

1.5 c. Raisins
1.5 c.  Mejdool Dates, chopped
1 c. Honey
1 c. Coconut sugar
2 c. Water
5 Tb.  Organic Palm oil Shortening
1.5 c.  Whole wheat flour
1.5 c.  All purpose flour
1 tsp. Baking Soda
2 tsp. Cinnamon
2 tsp. Cloves
1 tsp. Salt
1 c.  Chopped walnuts

Same instructions as above!

 As I speak it is being devoured!! Must be a hit :)

Of course while it is baking it gives you time to do some gingerbread house making.  I have to say this is the first time we got it to stand up!  lol  Usually it ends up falling down at some
point!

 

Toddler Lunches

Do you have a picky toddler or just running out of ideas of what to feed your toddler?  This post is for you!! 

Ham and Cheese roll up, homemade larabar, whole grain gold fish,
and grapes

Feeding a toddler can make you want to scream, especially if it is a picky toddler!  Here are some ideas that might help you with your next lunch time.

* Make it visually appealing.  Lots of colors and shapes will usually catch their attention

* Bento Box style.  This gives them many options in small portion sizes!

* Introduce 1 new thing at a time.  I usually will have many of my daughters favorites and then 1 new item that she has not had before or maybe she acted like she didn't like it before.

* Dips!  Kids love to dip and a lot of times this will help them to eat their veggies and fruits

PB & J Smoothie Popsicle!

In my daughters lunch box I like to try and include one of each of the following to make it a well rounded meal: 

* Fruit
    ~ try a variety, don't get stuck on one fruit
    ~ Use this area to try out a new fruit with your child!

* Veggie
    ~ Use vegetable cutters to make cute shapes and don't forget the dip! :)
    ~ Carrots, cucumbers, celery, or bell peppers are great starters

* Protein
   ~ This can come in array of foods; yogurt, cottage cheese, hardboiled eggs, meat, hummus, or cheese

* Carb
   ~ Homemade muffins, bread on sandwiches, whole wheat waffles, or crackers

Mandarin oranges with blueberries, ham and cheese roll ups,  carrots and
cucumbers with onion and chive greek yogurt dip

Here are some of my daughters favorite combos! 

* Celery with peanut butter and raisins (ants on a log)

* Waffle sandwiches with cream cheese and all fruit spread 

*  Ham and cheese roll ups 

* Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches 

* yogurt or cottage cheese with granola, raisins, and a little maple syrup 

* homemade lunchable: cheese, crackers, and ham  

* homemade lunchable: whole wheat pita with pizza sauce and cheese 

* Yogurt popsicles 

Peaches, Coconut Rough, and whole wheat pizza

Recipes my daughter loves! 

Coconut Rough ~ So Good!!

Onion and Chive Seasoning for Greek Yogurt Dip

Smoothie Pop molds and recipes

Homemade Larabars