If you’re ever feeling fancy or have that little itch to try something new in the kitchen: this recipe is for you. And the best part is, it cooks in the crock pot — so you can set it and forget it. Well, scratch that, you surely won’t forget it because your house will smell so good you will hardly be able to contain yourself. Cue Salivation.
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breakfastcasserole
So I wanted to share few simple things that I prep throughout the week to make eating healthy easier. It’s nothing too revolutionary, but having a paleo breakfast casserole ready for the mornings & having my chicken & veggies prepped for salad is so helpful. Being a busy momma of two if I don’t plan ahead it’s so hard to make good choices.
I try to prep on Mondays, either during naps or just doing it as I make dinner (while Ryan helps with the girls, or they play in the kitchen while I cook). The prep routine in the video takes under an hour (and most of that time the food is just cooking in the oven), and yields me breakfast for the week & the ingredients I need to throw together a yummy salad for lunch – PLUS a light little bonus dinner of turkey stuffed sweet potatoes. It’s all simple, paleo/whole30, and economical.
This is the first video we’ve shot for the blog, but it was really fun and I’m hoping to do it more often! The only bad part is it’s hard to hide what a secret nerd I am when I shoot these ;)
Let me know if you have any questions!
With love,
Monika
chickensalad
[For my salads I like to keep roasted chicken on hand. I like to roast it because I can just pop it into the oven and tend to the girls or get some work done while it cooks. We really enjoy boneless skinless chicken thighs, but you can also use breasts. I just toss them with a little drizzle of ghee, and add freshly ground salt & pepper, and little paprika. Cook for about 20 minutes at 400 or until fully cooked. Then slice & store in fridge to add to salads. The salad above is mixed greens topped sliced chicken, a hardboiled egg, cucumber, tomatoes, avocado, and chopped bell peppers. Yummy & filling, and comes together in about 5 minutes when you have it all prepped.]
turkeystuffedpotatoes
[This is a light & simple turkey stuffed sweet potato dinner that I make after I prep my casserole. Simply wash your potatoes and poke several times with a knife, and cook at 400 for about an hour or more (depending on the size of the potatoes, I usually use big ones for this). Then top with a spoonful of the ground turkey & veggie mixture and serve with either a salad or maybe some roasted vegetables.]
Ingredients
1.25-1.5 lb Lean Ground Turkey
About 1/2 cup Chopped Onion
2 Chopped Bell Peppers
2 tsp Minced Garlic
1 tablespoon Ghee or butter
8 Eggs
1 Cup Coconut milk (or sub regular milk or almond milk)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
Sea Salt & Ground Pepper
1-2 Handfuls Arugula
Optional: Top with sliced avocado & cilantro
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350.
Optional: After chopping veggies you can reserve some of the bell peppers for salad or other dish
Heat ghee over medium high heat and add peppers & onion. Add generous amount of salt & pepper. Saute until starting to brown & caramelize.
Add ground turkey and minced garlic and brown.
While meat is browning whisk your eggs and add the coconut milk, salt & pepper, and the garlic & onion powder to the egg mixture and whisk together.
When the meat has browned turn off heat and add your arugula and let it wilt for a minute.
Then spoon the meat & veggie mixture evenly into the bottom of a casserole dish (whatever size you want but it may adjust the cooking time). Note: I set aside about two spoonfuls of the turkey mixture aside to make turkey stuffed sweet potatoes one night for dinner.
Pour eggs evenly over the meat.
Cook for approx. 45 minutes or until eggs are set & edges start to brown.
Cut into squares and garnish with avocado & cilantro, if desired.
[Note: I cover mine with tinfoil and store in the fridge so I can have a piece each morning with a cup of coffee for a quick, easy, and healthy breakfast.]
^^Pulled Pork Sliders on Sweet Potato Buns! Absolutely amazing. Pulled pork recipe here. For the buns, cut a thick sweet potato in ¼ inch slices, drizzle with olive, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika; roast on baking pan for 30-40 minutes at 425.^^
So, we made it!! We survived our first Whole 30! Monday we finished our 30th day of super clean eating – no processed foods at all! No sugar, dairy, bread, legumes, and alcohol. While at first we felt really limited, we discovered there are so many healthy & delicious recipes, and we really didn’t feel too deprived! It just requires great planning and being intentional about your meals and your grocery shopping.
The pictures are some of the foods & meals that helped get us through. So many yummy options! Pinterest & instagram were definitely great for meal planning & inspiration.
While we did not do it for weight loss, we both lost several pounds and are feeling great! It’s a great way to kickstart healthy eating and really just hit the reset button. Feeling more energized and definitely eating more purposefully.
The hardest part for me was not having any dessert of any kind. Not even “healthy” versions of dessert. I never realized just how bad my dessert cravings are! While on Whole 30 I literally had dreams of brownies & cookies & ice cream. The first week was definitely the hardest, but it did get easier. The cravings never really went away… but they feel more manageable. Another challenging part was how much money we spent on groceries. Wow. It’s definitely mind boggling. BUT we ate out A LOT less and had three awesome & wholesome meals a day.
Of course, now that it’s over it’s not just going to be back to junk. We’re switching to Paleo 80/20. It’s very similar, just a little less strict. So more maintainable on a long term basis.
Cheers to being healthy!
^^Simple Lettuce Wraps. Brown ground turkey over medium heat, then add in broccoli slaw, cilantro, and green onion. Top with fresh squeezed lime. Service with Iceberg lettuce pieces to make little wraps.^^
^^The breakfast of champions! Cut an avocado in half and make the seed hole slightly larger and crack an egg into it. Top with salt & pepper and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until the egg is cooked through. Serve with Aidell’s Chicken Apple Sausage (one of our Whole 30 staples!) and fruit.^^
^^Chicken wings marinated in Frank’s Red Hot and grilled low & slow for a nice charred outer skin. Serve with grilled zucchini & squash.^^
^^A favorite lunch of mine. Mix a 12.5 oz can of chicken (or tuna) with ½ an avocado and mash together. Add in walnuts, sliced grapes, and salt & pepper and mix well. Serve on sliced cucumber to make little sliders.^^
