Ground Beef Curry

One of my favorite things to make is beef curry. I can make it all in one pan and have a lot of leftovers! It makes prepping for my week easy and my husband is obsessed with it!

What you'll need: 

2lb ground beef 

1 large yellow onion (diced)

1 can diced tomatoes 

1-3 cups of veggies you like 

1-3 cups of spinach 

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp Curry seasoning 

Salt 

Pepper 

1. In a large pan over medium heat add olive oil and onions to the pan. Cook until onions are translucent 

2. Add ground beef to the pan and brown adding curry seasoning and salt and pepper to taste while cooking. 

3. Add in can of diced tomatoes (my favorite to use is muir glen fire roasted tomatoes but I don't always have them!)

4. If you are using fresh veggies add them in with the diced tomatoes, my favorite is broccoli and green beans.
**I use this recipe as a clean veggies out of the fridge recipe so I have done broccoli, zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers, cauliflower, green beans and much more! Just do what you like!**

5. Reduce to let the dish simmer and cover for 20 minutes. It will let the tomatoes cook down a little. 

6. Remove lid and add in spinach and if you are using any frozen veggies add them in now. Let cook for about 10 more minutes.

7. Enjoy! I either put it over garlic mashed red potatoes or rice! I have done it with culiflower mash as well and all ways are always amazing! 

Green Beans, Peas and Spinach for veggies!

Paleo on a Budget

Food is expensive if you want to eat even half way decent. It's a shame to just eat well you have to spend so much more compared to the normal packaged food eating person.

You can't coupon and eat whole foods, you can't just go anywhere to eat dinner or grab a snack. So the real question is, how the heck do you stay on budget!? 

For the last 4 years I have been on this paleo bandwagon along with the overall goal of just eating whole foods. I have found some tricks along the way to help me save money where I can! 

First off... I don't step foot into Whole Foods... Ever.

Whole Foods is known as the health food meca and it for sure lives up to it's name. I view it like target once you go inside you can't help but want to buy all of the things... Then you wake up at the register realizing you just spent $400 on 6 items. Whole Foods is a place you go if you have money to blow or you absolutely can't find it anywhere else. If you want the good for you food store experience stick to Trader Joes where things are a little more inexpensive! 

Now... The places to go...

If you live on the east coast, find the nearest Aldi!  

Aldi is my best friend. They have your basic organic produce usually including lettuce at a cheap price. Also, all their other produce is super cheap as well. I'm not the person to buy all organic, I would rather eat non organic fruits and vegetables then processed foods so I do what I can on the budget I have. The one thing I always buy organic no matter what is lettuce, that's just my personal rule. Moving on... Aldi also has super cheap frozen wild caught salmon, yeah it's not the thickest, yummiest stuff but it's around $9 for 2lbs so it's a great deal!  I wouldn't buy their fresh meat unless it's on sale just because of the price. Their frozen veggies and fruits are an awesome price as well. You can pretty much get all your basics at Aldi. They always have good sales on something too. Lastly, don't forget to bring your own bags and a quater to get a cart. You don't want to be stuck paying for bags or walking around with too much to carry! 

**Oh and a fun fact!! Aldi is owned by Trader joes so you can find the same exact stuff with different labels and a cheaper price at Aldi, how awesome!!**

During the summer always go to your local farmers market. If you are feeling really cheap, go right before the close for the day because most of the time they don't want to haul anything back with them so they try to give good deals on what they have left! 

Next, when you get to the market take a look at all the tables before you buy, there will be many different prices for the same items, so look for the good deal! Don't be afraid to ask questions and strike up a conversation. The friendlier you are the more likely you will be remembered and if you are really lucky you may get the 'good guy' discount!
Also, if they give you a good deal on say if you buy 2 pints of green beans versus 1 don't forget you can always freeze your produce. If I get too much of something I either end up canning it, fermenting it, or freezing it. Buy more while it's cheap that way once winter hits you will still have good produce saved! 

I go weekly, sometimes bi-weekly to my farmers market so I'm starting to get to know it pretty well. The people are great and the prices are even better! I also found a lady that delivers eggs and produce boxes around the county I live in. She has a drop 2 miles from my house so buying eggs and produce from her is always so convenient!

Egg Lady Haul! 

I have always noticed that I save so much money in the summers because there is so much more available all around me. To find a market close to you go to Local Havest.org and you can find pretty much anything you can think of locally!

Since I am military I am able to go to the commissary on post, this also saves us a lot of money. They try to keep things inexpensive for the military but depending on your location the commissary can be full of good foods or bad foods, its just all chance! I usually buy my chicken (and other meat if needed), Ezekiel bread, gf oats, and anything canned I need, such as pumpkin, coconut milk and organic tomato products. Sometimes they have case sales and I can get some simple things there as well.

If you aren't military there is also the option of getting a membership to a wholesale store such as Costco, BJs, and Sams. I would stick to Costco or BJs because they have the largest selection of organic and natural foods. I know both places have kerrygold butter as well which is always amazing. I haven't shopped much at the wholesale stores just because we are military but the few times I have gone, it has been so worth it. So get yourself a membership, you won't regret it!.


Lastly, where the heck to do I get my meat?!? Well... Locally of course!

I have found that buying in bulk is so much better. We buy usually once a year and it saves us so much money. We got a stand up deep freezer and it has been the best thing ever for us.

We buy a whole hog and half a cow. It comes out to be about 500lbs of meat. We found a farm that does grass fed, grass finished cows and free roaming hogs. They give us the meat in vacuum sealed packages that are labeled and weighed which makes life super easy. You can request the kinds of cuts you want and also how you want things packaged.

For all other meat that we eat we usually buy in bulk packages. Almost all stores will give you a deal on 'family packs' so just buy in bulk and split it up when you get home.

Also, buying a whole chicken or chicken with the bone and skin still intacted will be cheaper than buying just chicken breasts! Don't ever buy 'stew meat' buy a roast and cut it up yourself, it will save you so much money! Experiment with the  'less favorable' meats, you won't regret it!

Other places I may go from time to time...

Wegmans...
for the family pack vegetables, bulk unsweetened coconut flakes and dried apricots, and bulk chicken.
Safeway...
for $5 friday, or really good produce deals. (it's literally 1 mile from my house so sometimes its just easy to run there to get something fast)
The Fresh Market...
for $2.99 tuesday for meat, or if they have a really good deal like a couple weeks ago they had buy one get one free wild planet sardines which is an amazing deal.

All in all, saving money on whole foods is an art. It takes time to do your research and find the best prices but it will all pay off in the end and you will find a routine.
I have also found the more you make yourself the more money you will save. I personally make my own ghee, kombucha, coconut butter, almond butter, and recently started fermenting my own foods (sauerkraut, pickles, beets).

Have any questions?  Just ask!
If you are looking for the cheapest places to get something, I bet I can tell you where to find it. I am a deal hunter thru and thru.

Whole 30 Chicken Thighs and Cream Sauce

What You'll Need:
4-5 Chicken Thighs (I used boneless/skinless)
1 Small Sweet Onion- diced
2 Cloves Garlic- minced
1 Tbsp Ghee
1 Cup Chopped Mushrooms
3/4 Can Coconut Milk
Salt

Pepper 

Thyme

Steps: 
1. Over medium heat add the onion, garlic and ghee to a large pan that has a lid.

2. Once onions are translucent add in mushrooms and cook for a minute or two.




















3. Add in chicken thighs, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme and brown outsides.

4. Lower the heat and add in the coconut milk.




















5. Cover and let simmer for 20-30mins or until chicken thighs are tender.
6. Add some water or more coconut milk if sauce becomes too thick. If it's too thin add some arrowroot powder to thicken. 

7. Enjoy. Can be served over cauliflower rice or by itself with a side of veggies such as Asparagus.

Whole 30 Sweet Potato Shepards Pie

What you'll need: 

9x11 pan

Filling: 
2lbs ground beef
1 cup chopped green beans
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup kale
1/2 large sweet onion- diced
2 cloves garlic- minced
1 Tbsp Ghee
3 Tbsp Coconut Aminos
Salt
Pepper
Smoked Paprika

Meat Filling

Topping: 
3 Large sweet potatoes (peeled and cubed)
1/2 cup Coconut Milk
1Tbsp Horseradish Mustard

Sweet Potato Mash

Steps: 
1. Heat large pan on medium, add in ghee, garlic and onions and cook until onions are translucent
2. While your onions are cooking add water to a large pot, when it boils add in your sweet potatoes and cook until potatoes are soft and can easily be pierced. Drain and let cool.
3. Once onions are translucent add in ground beef and both the carrots and green beans.
4. Cook meat mixture until the meat is cooked through and both carrots and green beans are starting to become soft.
5. Add in Coconut Aminos and salt, pepper, and smoked paprika to taste. Take off burner and set aside to cool.
6. Preheat oven to 375 F
7. Take the cooked sweet potato and either mash them or put them into a food processor or blender.
8. Add the coconut milk and mustard to the sweet potato mash to help it become creamier. Also, if still very thick you can add a little water or more coconut milk to your liking.
9. Add meat mixture to a 9x11 pan and flatten. Add the sweet potato mash to the top and smooth down evenly.
10. Pop the pan into the oven for 45mins or until the sweet potato top is firm and has a golden brown hue around the edges.
11. ENJOY!!

YUM!! 

Finished Product!

Whole 30 Meatloaf and Plantain Chips

Plantain Chips

Going through my first whole 30 I wanted to make some of my favorite foods! I'm totally obsessed with the Terra vegetable chips so I needed something new to feed my craving for them. I got some trader joe's plantain chips which were heavenly but I couldn't keep buying a ton of those. So…. I decided to make my own! First I tried them in the oven and well… almost all of them came out burnt or partly burnt. So I decided to try them in the dehydrator and it worked amazingly! 

First, I found a great sale on plantains at the store (5 for $2) 

What You'll Need: 
5 or more plantains
Mandolin or sharp knife 
Sea Salt 
Dehydrator

I cut of the ends of each plantain and placed a long slice down one side of the plantain skin and popped the plantain out of the skin! Next, I used my mandolin to evenly cut up the plantains. 

After they were all cut up I placed them in a single layer on the dehydrator plates. Sprinkled them all with salt and I turned the dehydrator on at 155 degrees. It took about 12hrs to completely dry them out.   

Now I have great on the go snacks for the rest of my whole 30! 5 plantains filled a quart size storage bag. It probably would have been more but I have a bad habit of tasting along the way while they dehydrate! oops! 

Whole 30 Meatloaf 

The Loaf: 

2lbs Grassfed Ground Beef

1 Small Sweet Onion 

1/2 Cup Gated Carrots

2 Large Eggs

1Tbsp Ghee 

1/2Tbsp Basil 

1/2Tbsp Thyme 

1/2Tbsp Rosemary 

1/2Tbsp Garlic

1/2Tbsp Pepper 

1tsp Salt 

The Sauce: 

1 Can of Muir Glen Tomato Sauce 

1 1/2Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar 

1/2tsp dry mustard

1/8tsp cayenne pepper 

1/8tsp cinnamon 

I prepped by putting foil over a medium sized baking pan and spread the tablespoon of ghee on the foil then pre heated the oven to 375F. 

First I mixed up the ingredients for the 'ketchup' sauce. Then I took all the ingredients for the loaf and mixed them into a big bowl. Also I added half of the sauce recipe to the mixture. Next I mushed together everything into a log. 

Lastly I spread the rest of the sauce on top of the loaf and popped it into the oven for an hour! 

Before the Oven!

Fresh out of the Oven

I made cauliflower mashed potatoes and asparagus for sides. Can you say comfort food?!?! It was amazing!

Let me know how you guys like it!! 

Week 1 of my Whole 30

Whole 30 Day 1:

Breakfast:
Cube Steak, 2 eggs, sauerkraut, avocado, strawberries
Lunch:
Flank steak, Salad (spring mix, tomato, avocado, bell pepper, and carrot) Tessemae Balsamic Vinegar dressing.
Snack:
Trader joe's sardines, plantain chips, and blueberry larabar
Dinner:
Pork loin, brussels sprouts, and green beans with ghee and a handful of mixed dry roasted nuts.

Day 2:

Breakfast:
diced sweet potato, ground beef, kale, 1 egg cooked in coconut oil, 3 strawberries and a small handful of dry roasted nuts. Also, my morning cup of decaf coffee and bottle of water.

Lunch:

leftovers! Pork, brussels srouts topped with ghee, and baby belly peppers. 

Dinner:

Grilled chicken, cauliflower mashed 'potatoes' with ghee, and collard greens sautéed with onions and mushrooms garlic infused olive oil (seriously soooo delicious!!) 

Snacks: 

watermelon and a handful of dry roasted cashews. Oh and I had a few plantain chips while I was cooking dinner!

Day 3: 

Breakfast: 

(almost the same as yesterday!) cube steak, sautéed kale, sweet potato and mushrooms in coconut oil. 1 large egg, a side of watermelon and of course my cup of decaf coffee! 

Lunch: 

A big ole salad again bell pepper, grape tomato, cucumber, avocado, spring mix and romaine. I put Italian seasoned ground beef on top. 

Dinner: 

Cauliflower mashed potatoes, salmon steak and bagged mixed veggies. 

Snacks: 

banana and almond butter, a handful of carrots, a little bit of pork and leftover brussels sprouts. 

Day 4: 

Breakfast: 

Once again! Sweet potato, mushroom, kale  ground beef sautéed in lard with an egg on top! I had about a cup of watermelon with it as well. With my cup of decaf with some coconut milk in it. 

Lunch: 

2 applegate farms beef hotdogs, sauerkraut, mixed veggies, and half an avocado. 

Dinner: 

Chicken from the whole chicken I made in the crockpot, sweet potato, and collard greens and mushrooms sautéed in garlic olive oil.

Snacks:

 trader joes sardines, some baby carrots, 3 strawberries and a handful of mixed dry roasted nuts. 

Day 5: 

Breakfast: 

cube steak and 1 egg cooked in lard, green beans, sweet potato with cinnamon, and a small gala apple. Also, as always, my cup of coffee with some coconut milk in it.

Lunch: 

(whole 30 fail... The tots I'm pretty sure had some ingredients I shouldn't have) we went out to lunch in Baltimore so I tired my best... A chicken sandwhich with no bun and extra lettuce. Had the chicken topped with old bay seasoning and then a side of sweet potato tots and lastly a side of avocado which isn't pictured.

Dinner: 

Another big salad! Avocado, tomato, bell pepper, spring mix, romaine, and tessemae balsamic vinegarette. A side of chicken with paprika, salt, and pepper. 

Snacks: 

Trader joes sardines, a handful of carrots, a handful of dry roasted cashews 

Day 6: 

Breakfast:

 Cube steak, one egg, sautéed sweet potato, kale, beets in lard. Also had a side of black grapes with my coffee and coconut milk.  

Lunch: 

Homemade salmon cakes, mixed stir fry vegetables cooked with ginger. Snacked on some carrots and a banana with cashews as I did meal prep. 

Dinner: 

Lamb steak, sweet potato with ghee, and roasted asparagus. 

Snacks: 

made some plantain chips and tried a few of those, 3 baby peppers and 3 strawberries and some macadamia nuts.

Day 7: 

Breakfast: 

2 eggs cooked in coconut oil, Italian seasoned ground beef, green beans, half an avocado and strawberries. Also my cup of coffee with coconut milk.

Lunch: 

shredded chicken, spaghetti squash with ghee, and beets roasted with coconut oil. 

Dinner: Beef pot roast, sweet potato, spaghetti squash, broccoli all covered with ghee. 

Snacks: 

Trader joes smoked sardines and a blueberry larabar. Also after my workout I had a handful of homemade plantain chips. 

There were a lot of ups and downs to this week. The first 3 days were for sure the worst. Even the night of day 3 I had dreams about eating dark chocolate and pizza and having wine. It was crazy for sure. I think I have now 'killed the sugar dragon' though which feels amazing. If you read It Starts With Food before you start your whole 30 journey it helps a lot. It helped me get more of an idea of the things I would go through mentally and all the recipes in the book are awesome too!  

I have been sleeping better and for sure have more energy. Also, Olivia no longer spits up at all and has so much less gas. Knowing this it gives me that much more motivation to keep this journey going as long as possible. 

The first 3 days I also felt so hungry and felt like I could never get enough food. At day 7 though I finally feel satisfied and I'm actually eating less. It's crazy how fast your hormones level out when you are eating the right things.

I did have a little bit of a cheat and had sweet potato tots which probably had some kind of starch in them and bad oils but I will make sure not to make that mistake again. You can't obsess about the mess up, just move on and that's just what I'm doing! 

Overall I'm really enjoying this experience and it's really helping me get back into the paleo mindset which I needed. I started my workout plan today as well so next week I will be able to write more about what I'm doing and how I'm feeling.

Eggshell Calcium and being sick...

A couple weeks ago I made some eggshell calcium from the farm fresh eggs that we get. I thought it would be easy to add it to smoothies or oatmeal but I was soooo wrong. It's gritty and tastes like tiny rocks, not my kind of fun if you ask me! I would much rather find a different way to take this awesome form of calcium... 

I decided capsules are the best idea! 1 tsp is about 1,000mg of calcium, I fit 1/4 tsp in each capsule. I plan on taking 4 a day at separate times to make sure I get enough calcium. I will take less if I know I'm getting plenty from my food. 

I made this awesome stuff like I said from cage free, locally raised eggs that we get from a friend. I took an 18 pack of eggshells and made sure they were all washed out from the extra egg whites that sometimes get left behind but I made sure not to wash out the membrane of the shell. I then I boiled the shells for about 10mins to make sure they were really clean and then let them dry for 48 hours because you don't want any liquid in your powder. 

After 48 hours I put the eggshells into my food processor, that didn't work out too well... It was still very chunky. So I put them in the coffee grinder and that did the trick! I got a fine powder! I put that in a little container and I was done! 

When filling the capsules today I got about 100 or so of them from the 18 eggshells which is pretty dang good in my eyes! Now I can actually take these things without feeling like I have rocks in my teeth! 

Why eggshell calcium!? 

Because it's from a natural source the body can absorb is so much better. Also, what is more paleo then eggshells? You don't have to worry about all the added ingredients you find in store bought brands. Mostly all store bought brands are also not from a natural source let alone organic so I feel so much better about taking eggshells. 

*Don't forget to get good quality eggs if you are planning on doing this because the better the quality the less pollutants the shell is likely to have. Try to seek out cage free, local eggs versus generic store  brand eggs, there is a big difference!*

Now on to other subjects... This girl is sick again... 

3rd time this pregnancy and every time has been equally crappy!! 

Some natural remedies I always go to are... Apple cider vinegar, raw garlic, raw honey, extra vitamin D, and elderberry syrup. My new additions have been Theives oil and bone broth. 

My routine usually consists of... Warming up some water and making an apple cider vinegar (about 1tbs or more) tea with raw honey in it, it makes it taste so much better instead of just shooting vinegar by itself! Then with the garlic I just chop a clove or 2 into small pieces and swallow them which is disgusting but very worth it! I add extra D to my daily vitamins, I usually take 6,000iu every other day but while I'm sick I take it daily! Lastly I take a shot of elderberry syrup twice a day with juice, elderberry is a natural form of vitamin c so it always seems to do the trick! 

Lastly, now I make soup out of bone broth to help with recovery and when I don't want to eat, soup is always nice. This is the kind of chicken noodle soup your mom talks about that will make you better when you are sick because it has all the nutrients in it from the bones! Then comes the Theives oil! This stuff is awesome, it's naturally antibacterial and antifungal. It can pretty much kill anything. I put 2 drops on each foot before bed to help my immune system while I sleep! It seems to do the trick! 

Are there any natural remedies that you use in your house? Anything I'm missing? 

Tell me what you think! 

Ask me some questions I would love to answer them! 

Freezer Meals and Catching up…

I decided back in June that it would be a great idea to start a blog now that I had extra time on my hands. As you guys can see it worked really well… I got one whole post and then got distracted! Well this is going to be try number 2 for this girl! I have a feeling this time I'm going to make it happen!

First off, a lot has happened since I last wrote. I still have many food allergies and digestion issues like normal. I still workout and love being healthy. Now I just have more of a reason to stay fit and be healthy, I have a baby on the way. Just about a week after my June post I found out I was pregnant, no wonder I was having so many digestion issues, my body was trying to figure out how to brew up a baby! Since then I have become even more conscious about what I eat and how well I take care of myself.

I have 5 weeks left of this pregnancy and then a whole new world of motherhood awaits me. Since I'm so close to D day I figured this weekend I would make some freezer meals. I have heard from many new moms that finding time to cook is the hardest part of having a new baby. I decided to get ahead of the curve and make sure our little family is ready for its new addition and has food to power us through the feeding, crying, pooping machine that is about to grace us with her presence.

So far I have made 14 different meals. I'm still planning on making about 5 different breakfast meals to go along with those too. I feel like it's a good start to a good collection of meals.

I spent 2 days making all of these things. Found most of the recipes on pinterest and things I found on other google searches. I noticed as I started making them though I adapted them to things my husband and I like more so I guess you could say I made them my own… I'm not taking any credit for it though.  Most of the meals are paleo, all of them are gluten and dairy free because my body is just not liking those things right now and I don't think they ever will. When I made these things I just kept in my mind "just eat real food" that being said I got some really healthy meals in my freezer.

Now it's time to look at the mess I made and I will kinda go through the process with you to how I made this happen…

First off, I made some overnight bone broth. We had a whole chicken for dinner and I used the bones from that to make some delicious broth as we slept that night. 

If you have never read about the benefits of homemade bone broth you should… it can heal your gut make your skin amazing (collagen) and is full of healthy vitamins and minerals. 

After learning the facts about it I will never buy store bought broth/stock again. 

Then the madness started… 

I started by cutting up everything I needed. I did all the veggies first and then all the meat. 

You will not believe how many onions and carrots I went through… 

Most of the recipes I just had to throw raw ingredients in bags (both veggies and meat) which was super easy but then I also made some soups that are already all made that we just have to thaw.

… and this is the soup mess I made. 

I used the stock I made above in both these recipes. 

Some chicken and quinoa soup and creamy chicken cauliflower mushroom soup is what you can see. They both tasted amazing and I can't wait to have them. 

Lastly… the aftermath… 

I love cooking but I wish I could hire someone to clean up after me… 

Some pictures of the results! It was all well worth it. 

Some of the things I made were… 

Beef Stew, beef stir fry, hawaiian chicken, cilantro lime chicken, bbq chicken, chicken and quinoa soup, creamy cauliflower mushroom soup, pizza soup, sausage and peppers, taco chili, and a large sweet potato cottage pie. 

All of these we can either just warm up or put straight into the crockpot and let cook. 

TOO EASY!!!

Side note:

I didn't use all fresh ingredients, I like to try and keep it fresh but some things are totally ok to me in cans. In these recipes I used canned tomatoes and tomato sauce ( I always use muir glen brand) , pineapple chunks for the hawaiian chicken, salsa (I love muir glen again) and lastly, low sodium black beans (Eden Organic brand). Sometimes canned foods just make life a little easier which is always nice…

Ps. I also bought mostly all the fresh ingredients and other things I needed at Aldi… If you haven't gone to an Aldi before, you need to make a trip like umm… TODAY! It's a life saver for the budget. Just remember… bring a quarter so you can get a cart and bring your own bags, otherwise you will have to buy some at checkout!   

I hope all this can help a person or two with making some awesome freezer meals!   

Recipes:

Sweet potato cottage pie

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

Hawaiian Chicken and Chicken Soup

Taco Chili and Sausage and peppers

The rest of the recipes I got from THIS WEBSITE