Sardines - Still Trying New Things!

Howdy!  I'm still over here trying new foods like a boss.  In fact, this week I tried sardines for the first time in my life!  Why, did I do that?!  Because sardines have many health benefits including being rich in Omega 3 fatty acids.

I chose this brand...

  

...because:

1. It's BPA free 
2. They are wild caught
3. It's available at my local Kroger store (in the organic section)
4. The ingredient list looks clean: Sardines, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Water, Sea Salt, Aqueous Natural Smoke (I'm not sure what "natural smoke" is, but I'm hoping it's nothing scary)

These were actually quite good!  I'll even eat them again.  I would rather eat a can of these (or split it with my husband) a few days a week than take fish oil supplements.  I'm not sure how many sardines I need to eat in a week to equal the benefits of supplements, but I'm willing to bet the nutrients in the sardines themselves are more bioavailable than in the supplements.

According to this chart, one can of these per week would give me enough Omega 3s. 

Chart found here: http://cessh.curtin.edu.au/local/docs/how_much_omega_3_web.pdf

Progress & Whole30 V4.0

Hey y'all!  Guess what?!  I'm doing another Whole30!  This is my fourth one.  After reading Primal Body-Primal Mind by Nora Gedgaudas, I've decided the Hubs and I should approach this Whole30 with her suggestions in mind.  That means that we are skipping the sweet potatoes and fruit this time around in an attempt to really find the elusive ketosis.  I am a little nervous about being so low carb and doing CrossFit, but I won't know how it works until I try it.  The key here is to eat PLENTY OF FAT (for fuel) and a moderate amount of protein.  

Here I've been pushing myself lately to eat a lot of protein...  

I think with my activity level (CF 3-4 times per week plus other things like running, rock wall climbing...etc) I am safe to still eat around 100g of protein a day.  As long as I am eating a TON of fat too.

My goal is to see my abs when this over.  I've gotten stronger and leaner, but just need to remove that little layer of fat.  It's ON!  

I thought this would be a good time to take progress pictures too.  I had taken some when I first started CrossFit in November 2012 and hadn't taken any since.  My husband took them for me and I looked at them immediately said "I look the same!  Nothing has changed!"  Later I used my PicStitch app to put the old pictures next to the new ones and I could really see a difference then!  The biggest differences I noticed were in my posture and my thighs!  I'm really sorry, as much as I want to show them off, I'm too nervous to post pictures of myself in tiny shorts and and a sports bra all over the interwebs... Y'all will have to trust me that my progress has been good.  I plan to take the same pictures again in 30 days.  I can't wait!  

Oh yeah, I'm also tracking my food on My Fitness Pal.  I know that tracking during a Whole30 is a no-no, but I've done 3 of them without tracking and feel pretty confident that it won't effect how I eat.  Also, I want to be sure to keep my carbs are low enough and that I am eating enough fat.  And I'm a curious person, so I want DATA.

So, here's my menu for week 1:

1) Cabbage Goulash

2) Waldorf Tuna Salad *obviously there's a litte fruit in here, but it's less than half an apple/svg.

3) Skillet Taco Pie w/homemade guacamole

4) Whole Roasted Chicken 

5) Hard Boiled Eggs/Egg Salad

6) Smoked Sausage w/Kraut (I just fry up a little uncured smoked pork sausage from the farm with some Bubbie's Kraut) 

7) Stir-fry/fajitas 

Weekly Cook-up & Banana Bread Muffins

 My weekly cook-up this week wasn't nearly as extensive as last week, but we had several servings of soup left over as well as the spicy pork.  So... on Sunday I cooked the two spaghetti squash that I had in the pantry from the farmers market.  I tossed it all in butter with some garlic powder, salt and pepper and then let it cool and put it in storage containers in the fridge.  I also made a batch of chunky marinara sauce using the recipe I found on Spark Recipes.  Sunday night I sauteed some shrimp and reheated the spaghetti squash by sauteing it in (more) butter with fresh garlic.  

This "shrimp scampi" wasn't as awesome as I thought it would be.  I think I need to do a better job cooking the shrimp next time.   






Monday night I reheated more of the squash using the saute method again and topped it with the chunky marinara.  This has quickly become a favorite dinner for me! 


                                                                                    
 

I also made these banana bread muffins.  I replaced the olive oil with coconut oil and left the walnuts out (because I didn't have enough of them).  I topped one with coconut butter (first time trying coconut butter ever!) and it was really good!  These were a hit!

I've decided to go to CrossFit on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights (and maybe Saturday mornings) for now, so tonight I will cook up the 3lbs of boneless chicken breasts that I have and saute any veggies that are in my fridge.  That should get us through Thursday or Friday.

Recipes from Make it Paleo

I made three more recipes from my copy of Make it Paleo (book review coming soon!).  These recipes can also be found on The Food Lovers Kitchen site and on the My Kitchen free app!

Bacon Wrapped Scallops
I had been anticipating this recipe for a while.  I finally decided to make it for the football game on Sunday.  I took it (prepared, uncooked) to a friend's house to watch the game.  They prepared broiled shrimp and homemade potato wedges to go with it.  We also snacked on raw veggies and dip.  It was a wonderful spread!

Ingredients:
1lb Bacon (I didn't use a whole pound, maybe half)
15 Scallops (I had purchased a pound of fresh sea scallops at the farmers market)
1tsp Smoked Paprika (I didn't measure, I just sprinkled)
Skewers (I used metal reusable ones)

Preheat oven to 425 (we used a toaster oven).  
Cut bacon strips in half (be careful with this, my scallops were large, so I needed more than half a strip of bacon on most of them).
Wrap each scallop in bacon.
Skewer 2-3 scallops on each skewer.
Sprinkle with smoked paprika, seasoning both sides.
Bake for 20 minutes, then flip and bake another 15 minutes.

These turned out delicious!  However, the bacon was thick cut and didn't crisp up as much as we would have liked.  Next time I'm going to try pre-cooking the bacon a little in the microwave first.

Tomato Basil Soup
I enjoyed this soup, but it was too peppery.  Next time I will cut the amount of salt and pepper in half and then, if needed, I will add more upon serving.

Ingredients:
1 Onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil
1 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 C. Fresh Basil (I used some dried that I had on my spice shelf and I didn't use half cup, I just sprinkled a reasonable amount)
2 tsp. Salt & Pepper (I took this to mean 2 tsp EACH.  After further review, I think it should have been 1 tsp. each)
3 cloves Garlic, minced
3 Cups Chicken Stock
5 Tomatoes
6oz Tomato Paste

Tossed with oil, salt & pepper

-Preheat oven to 350.
-Clean and quarter tomatoes.
-Toss with olive oil, salt & pepper
-Roast on baking sheet for 30 minutes.
-In a large soup pot, heat coconut oil over medium heat.  
-Saute onion and garlic until onion is translucent.
-Add in the roasted tomatoes and continue to saute for 1 minute.

Onions & garlic sauteeing

-Add in 3 cups of chicken stock, the basil and tomato paste and stir continuously over medium heat until the tomato paste has dissolved.
-Season with salt & pepper.
-Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low.  
-Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
-Pour soup into food processor or high-speed blender and puree until smooth.

I prepared the broth with the basil and
salt & pepper while the tomatoes were
roasting and the veggies were sauteeing.

Ready for the food processor!

Root Veggie Hash with Poached Eggs
We didn't like this recipe.  The hash was too sweet and I'm not a fan of rosemary.  I don't know why I even added it.

1 Beet, chopped
1 Cup of chopped Turnips (mine were large, so I only needed one)
1 Tbsp fresh Rosemary (I used dried, but wish I would have left it out entirely)
1 tsp Coconut Oil
1 Cup chopped Vidalia Onion (this is not the season for these, so I just purchased some sweet onions)
2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Egg, poached



Preheat oven to 400.  Toss rinsed, chopped beets, turnips & onions in olive oil and spread out on a baking sheet and season with salt, pepper & rosemary.  Roast for 20 minutes, then add minced garlic, stir and roast another 10 minutes.

Heat 1tsp coconut oil in frying pan over medium heat.  Crack egg into pan and cook for 30 seconds.  Then add 1/4 C of water and cover with lid.  Let egg steam until the yolk is pinkish on top and the white is no longer runny.

Serve with bacon, because bacon rocks!