Stir Fry Curry…in a hurry…my memory is blurry

My hubby loves curry and spicy stir fry. His birthday is today so I got the girls, came home, and started prepping while they drew homemade cards for Dad!

Here are the things I KNOW went in this dish…

2 medium red potatoes/large dice

3 carrots/peeled and sliced on the bias

1 crown of broccoli, cut into small florets

Half a red onion/cubed

Sliced green ‘tops’ of one bunch of bok choy

1 red pepper/large sliced and cubed

1 piece boneless sirloin steak (about a pound, sliced into 1 inch “cubes”)

3-4 large mushrooms/sliced

Seasoning (get ready because I am thinking out loud) – Sesame oil, coconut oil, fish sauce, coconut aminos, grated fresh ginger, granulated garlic, rice wine vinegar, tumeric, galangal, juice and zest of 1-2 lime, onion powder, orange juice….

Let’s be honest…I. Don’t. Measure.

I put all this stuff in a bowl (minus the oils) with the meat (until the meat was half submerged) to marinate for about 20-30 minutes while I prepped #alltheveggies.

Then I got out ‘ye olde trusty wok’ and added the oils and the potatoes. Cooked for about 10 minutes and added carrots and broccoli to cook for 10-15 minutes.

Added seasonings (pretty much until I could smell things and the seasonings could be seen) and then peppers and onion and cooked for another 5 minutes and then added bok choy and mushrooms.

Stirred and cooked down for another 5 minutes…all of this was on medium high.

Removed all that and put in meat…cooked that and added veggies back in and then half a can of full fat coconut milk and turned the heat up to high and cooked it down for about 3-5 minutes.

Let the liquid cook down and served!

The coconut milk makes it a little “creamy” and mild.

Let’s start with a basic, easy whole30 recipe

As I have said before, I am eating about 90/10 whole30 right now. I am eating cheese occasionally, drinking some beer, a little wine, and some malt seltzers, and snacking here and there on tortilla chips….

However, I have kept my breakfast whole30 about 99% of the time by making stuff for the week, coconut milk in my coffee, and half an avocado most mornings.

I do this because I have come to realize how important breakfast is AND I feel so much better starting the day that way…and prepping this is super easy for both Wes and I to grab 2-3 in the AM, saving us money and getting us going.

I didn’t buy tons of stuff at Aldi today since the holidays and travel are coming, so I went with basics tonight.

I did buy a pack of prosciutto (for $2.99) and it is 6 pieces I cut in half to make 12 cups. Line that in a muffin tin. Mine is from Pampered Chef and is the bomb…also good for brownies (not whole30, but made for friends and my 3 and 5 year old). Preheat oven to 350°.

Next I cooked half a red onion, chopped; 4-5 sliced baby bella mushrooms; 10-12 quartered cherry tomatoes; 2 cups fresh spinach, chopped up in about 1 T avocado oil and added some S&P, granulated garlic, and dash of fish sauce or lemon juice for unami!

Mixed that with 9 eggs…I have found that 9 makes a good dozen muffins…if you want to make 2 dozen muffins, I would double my ingredients and add another 9 eggs (and buy another pack of prosciutto, of course).

You can also add other veggies (chopped peppers, chopped broccoli or cauliflower, sliced brussel sprouts, sun dried tomatoes…but this was what I had. Poured that into the muffin tin and put in the oven for about 30 minutes or so.

Bake, let cool, and store in a plastic container and then you can grab some in the AM and reheat for about 30 seconds in a microwave and get your day moving!

Take out? No thanks…make it myself!

I ❤ good stir fry. It has become a staple for me and I would make (pre-whole30) healthy stir fry with soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, etc. but now I just eat different and have other sauce recipes!

I started with thin sirloin cuts from Buford Highway Farmers Market. I sliced about 4 of them into strips and marinated in:

Juice and zest of 1 lime

1T each dried ginger and granulated garlic

2T coconut aminos

2T fish sauce

1T rice wine vinegar

As that was marinating, I cut up:

4 carrots, peeled and sliced on a bias

1 red onion, large cubes

Snow peas, about 1/2 lbs

10 baby bella mushrooms, quartered

Got my wok heated up with about 1T coconut oil. Cooked carrots, stirring sporadically until changed colors, added onion and cooked for 5 minutes and then added mushrooms and snow peas and cooked for another 5 minutes.

Then added meat and all extra sauce and stirred regularly until meat cooked to just over rare…about another 5 minutes.

I added a few more dashes of fish sauce, coconut aminos, & rice vinegar and a hit of ginger.

Delicious..Healthy..Whole30.

You could serve over coconut or lime cauliflower rice…but I just eat it like it is!

W1D6

For you Whole30 folks, you will get what this means. For those of you who are new to it, such as I am, you are still learning the lingo. This means week 1, day 6.

Starting this past Monday, Bo Benny, Beth, and I started Whole30. We mainly did it because we each have similar vices (wine, queso, wine) and other vices (late night snacking, sweets, general random eating) and after studying this, we saw it could ‘reset’ our eating and teach our bodies to crave new stuff and not rely on other stuff.

I will say, I don’t have tons of sugar in general except in the carb variety, so my sugar withdrawal wasn’t huge this past week. My cheese withdrawal, however, is on point!

After one week with no dairy, beans, grains, or wine, I actually feel great. I have been going to bed when I am tired, waking up rested, and eating yummy food that is all good for me. I have snacked a bit this week (Lara Bar, some pistachios, handful of grapes at night) but I think that is totally related to W1.

This morning, made breakfast scramble. Is it wrong I could eat breakfast all the time?

*you could also make this as a casserole or use sugar free bacon or ground chicken sausage…you get the drift

1-2 T bacon fat or avocado oil

1 c Shredded or cubed pototos (white or sweet)

Chopped red onion, chopped peppers, quartered mushrooms, chopped parsley, chopped tomatoes

2 Trader Joe’s Roasted Garlic chicken sausage links, sliced

4 eggs mixed with garlic powder, s&p

Cook potatoes, add veggies, add meat, add parsley- cook until browned

Add tomatoes and then add egg mix

So yummy! I was making this most mornings for my husband and I, but I would use additive-full sausage and some sort of cheese…things that are a no-no on Whole30.

Now, super fresh and healthy!

Stir Fry!

Our new favorite around here??? Stir fry with Asian soba noodles. The noodles are minimally “carby” and add depth to the dish.

Start with your veggies. I used some frozen stuff and just cooked in avocado oil.

Broccoli, carrots, onions, yellow bell peppers, fresh mushrooms (add last). This one had beef already cut for “stir fry” from BHFM.

Cook all veggies. While they are cooking, boil noodles and then remove from/run cold water over/let sit. Remove veggies from wok and set aside and cook beef.

Make sauce…

I know this is a lot of stuff, but this is a great sauce after 1t of corn starch in 2T water added as a thickener. The ginger dressing (Costco, thank you very much) is not necessary, but everything else, plus some lime juice, makes a great sauce.

You want to pretty much do this to taste so it equals about 1 cup of sauce. I just throw it all in, to be honest. Message me if you need more details.

Put noodles in with meat, add sauce, add veggies. Cook down another 5 minutes or so…and then….!

Chicken Pot, chicken pot, chicken pot piiieeee!

Happy 2017!

Moved to a new house and got a fitbit for Christmas. Not an insult from the husband, just a great gift to get me up and moving and walking my property more to get OUT of my office and to do some family walking.

Live near a ton of awesome bike and walking trails, so great family times abound and we have already pulled out that double stroller.

Also inspired by my mom, who is working hard to exercise and eat right!

She found me a recipe that was a healthier version of a standard pot pie so I tweaked it a bit and made them tonight.

You will need:

1. 2 cups skim or 1% milk
2. 1 chopped onion
3. Pinch or 3 of ground nutmeg
4. Parsley
5. 1/4 cup flour (I used all purpose, almond would make it sweeter and whole wheat would add flavor)
6. Avocado or coconut oil (FYI- recipe called for about 6 strips bacon for the oil, but I omitted that)
7. Frozen veggies (I used what was left in freezer. Half bags of okra, corn, and green beans)
8. Chicken breast, about 2, already cooked. I got a chicken from Costco and made chicken salad from the dark meat the other day and chopped the breast for this recipe.
9. About 2 T white wine
10. 3-4 minced garlic cloves
11. S&P
12. Phyllo dough sheets, naturally thawed by sitting on the counter and then rolled out
13. Canola or olive oil cooking spray

Cook milk and half the onions on medium and let simmer for about 5 minutes, set aside for 15 minutes to cool.

If you want to use bacon, cook it, remove and use about 2 T of the oil to cook the rest of the onion and garlic for about 2-3 minutes and then add frozen veggies to cook for another 5-10 minutes, mixing well and then adding the cubed or shredded chicken (and then the crumbled bacon). Otherwise, start with oil of your choice and do the same.

Strain the milk mix and throw away the solids (in my case, onions and parsley) and then put the milk on low, add the flour and stir for 5-7 minutes, adding a little white wine and s&p while using with a whisk.

Mix that into the veggies/chicken.

Take sheets of phyllo and spray with cooking spray instead of butter and fold and lay in ramekin dishes OR a large pie pan.

Then place mixture in whatever you select and put phyllo on top, spray again, and then BAKE at 350 until brown…maybe 20 minutes or so

YUM!!!