Loaded Sweet Potato Salad

I was trying to figure out what kind of side dish I could bring to a BBQ that was tasty, Tommy safe and good cold. I don't care for regular mayonnaise based potato salads. But I figured if I made one with the cream from a can of coconut milk, and loaded it with bacon it would be ok. And I was right. This is delicious. I forgot to take a picture right when I made it, and this was all that was left. I'll definitely be making this a lot this summer. 

Loaded Sweet Potato Salad

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into ~3/4 in cubes

4 carrots, peeled and sliced

6 slices bacon

1/2 cup cream from a can of whole fat coconut milk

1 bunch green onions, sliced

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

2. Cook the bacon in a large skillet. Remove the bacon from the pan and set aside. Reserve the bacon grease.

3. In a 9 x 13 baking dish, combine the sweet potatoes, carrots, pepper, salt, paprika and bacon grease. Toss to coat.

4. Bake for 20-30 minutes, stirring once, until the veggies are soft but not mushy.

5. In a large bowl, combine the cooked veggies (drain off any remaining grease), coconut cream, green onions and crumbled cooked bacon. Serve warm or refrigerate for later.

Whole30 Pad Thai

I love Thai food. But since Tommy is allergic to rice and peanuts (among other things), he hasn't had the pleasure of trying Thai food yet. I recently bought some tamarind paste and wanted to try and make my own Pad Thai. I couldn't find sugar free Fish Sauce locally and didn't feel like ordering it online, so I used anchovies instead. And dates as the sweetener to make it Whole30 compliant. There's definitely some room for improvement, but it was a lot better than a recipe I tried years ago for a healthier version of Pad Thai. 

The sauce tastes really strong straight out of the food processor. And it's very thick. But it mellowed out a lot when I added it to the veggies and chicken. Tommy only tried a couple bites with the sauce since he's never had tamarind before, but he LOVED it. I hope he still likes it tomorrow! 

I cooked the sweet potatoes and the cabbage together, but that didn't work out all that well. The cabbage needed more cooking time and the sweet potato noodles pretty much broke down into tiny pieces. So I wrote the recipe with the way I should have done it and cooked the cabbage separately and added it to the noodles at the end. 

Overall I would definitely call this a success. Of course it's not as good as authentic Pad Thai, but for an allergen friendly and Whole30 compliant recipe it was pretty good. I'll definite make this again. Probably with a couple tweaks...

Whole30 Pad Thai

3 grilled chicken breasts, diced
1 head green cabbage, sliced thin
1 large sweet potato, spiralized
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
4 medjool dates, pitted
1.5 Tbsp tamarind paste
2 anchovies fillets
1 Tbsp coconut aminos
Juice of 1 lime
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1. Combine the dates through red pepper flakes in a food processor until smooth.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium heat in a dutch oven size pot. Add the cabbage and saute until tender. Remove cabbage from the pot and set aside for later.
3. Add the remaining oil to the pan. Cook the spiralized sweet potatoes until tender but still firm. Add the cabbage, chicken and sauce. Carefully stir to combine until all ingredients are warm.

My New Favorite Meal - Buffalo Chicken Alfredo with Sweet Potato Noodles

I've made Brittany Angell's Buffalo Chicken Alfredo with Sweet Potato Noodles twice in the last two weeks. It's soooo good. It's rich, creamy, a little spicy and so satisfying. I barely had to modify it to make it Whole30 compliant. Both times I doubled the sauce and added more veggies to the sweet potatoes to make it a one dish meal. It is really delicious reheated as leftovers too. 

The first time I used three smaller sweet potatoes and one head of cauliflower that I cut into florets and roasted. The second time I used one giant sweet potato and added leftover chopped broccoli to the cooked noodles.

I followed Brittany's recipe for the sauce and noodles. Check out her recipe here. I doubled her recipe for the sauce, except I used one whole can of full fat coconut milk for the cream, only used two tablespoons tapioca starch, one tablespoon of refined coconut oil for the butter and omitted the chili powder. 

This week's version was even better than the one I made last week. Last time I roasted boneless skinless chicken thighs in the oven. But they didn't crisp up the way I had hoped. This time I grilled boneless skinless chicken breasts seasoned with salt, pepper, smoke paprika and olive oil. The chicken was so flavorful with a nice crispy outside and super moist inside. My absolute favorite way to cook chicken.

Whole30 Day 2 - Thank Goodness for Leftovers

One of my friends who recently finished the challenge sent me a link to The Whole30 Timeline to give me a heads up as to how I might expect to feel at various stages of the program. So far, I haven't had much of the "Hangover" phase. I think it helps that I already cut out Cherry Coke Zero over a week ago and I haven't been eating much gluten or desserts lately. I'm still sad about giving up soda. But after drinking one or two Cherry Coke Zeros everyday, I figured that I should try and cut the habit. Especially since it hasn't been on sale recently, and I really dislike paying full price for soda. 

Today was all about leftovers. It was nice to know that I had a fridge full of food that was on the program, delicious, and would be ready to eat in minutes. 

For breakfast I had the same as yesterday. Sweet Potato Hash Browns, two eggs, hot sauce and guac. Just as delicious as yesterday and even better since all I had to do was heat the hash browns and cook the eggs.

For lunch I had leftover Whole30 Meatloaf, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Sauteed Green Beans. It turns out the meatloaf is delicious with guacamole on top. We had bought a pack of Wholly Guacamole recently at Costco, so I'm eating that until it's gone and then I'll probably switch to diced avocados. 

Late afternoon I got a little hungry, but not nearly as bad as yesterday. So I had a couple garlic and jalapeno stuffed olives and some black tea with coconut milk. Definitely sustained me until dinner.

For dinner it was the same as lunch. The whole family had leftover Whole30 Meatloaf, Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Sauteed Green Beans. So good. But Tommy wouldn't eat the sweet potatoes. Even though he LOVES sweet potatoes, he doesn't like them mashed with other stuff. So the fact that there is cauliflower in it makes it pretty much inedible to him. Oh well.

Since I had eaten the rest of the hash browns, I decided to make Onion Sweet Potatoes and Carrots last night so I could just reheat them in the morning and have them with some eggs. Plus Tommy loves roasted sweet potatoes and carrots, so I knew he'd be happy to have that with lunch. 

Onion Sweet Potatoes and Carrots

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
6 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp dried minced onions
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. Toss all ingredients together in a 9 x 13 baking dish.
3. Bake for 30-40 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Whole30 Day 1 - Excitement

So yesterday was my first day of the Whole30. I have a lot of excitement about starting the program. I know it will take a while to see results, but I'm looking forward to the journey. It's a nice break from our regular routine. Whole30 does allow nuts. I'll see how it goes, and I may end up adding some nuts in my diet. If I can get enough good fats through other means, I'm going to try and continue to avoid nuts since Tommy is allergic. He is allergic to eggs too, but so far it hasn't been a problem if we cook some for ourselves as long as Tommy doesn't eat it. I'm also likely not going to use ghee. Even though some dairy allergy people can consume ghee since the vast majority of milk proteins are filtered out, it's not a risk I'm willing to take. Plus I'd rather just use a different kind of cooking fat like coconut oil that fits in the program and Tommy's diet. 

Our pantry was already stocked with a lot of Whole30 compliant ingredients. Like canned coconut milk, avocado oil, coconut oil, coconut flour, meats, fruits, veggies, etc. We already had Aidells Chicken & Apple Sausages from Costco. They're only sweetened with fruit juices, so they fit in the program.  And Wholly Guacamole. So it was a little easier for me to start even though I had only decided the night before. It's not a completely out of the blue decision. I have been thinking about doing Whole30 for a while. I just kept making excuses about why I wanted to wait before starting. I'm glad I finally got over my fear and decided to jump in. 

For breakfast I made Sweet Potato Hash Browns (see below), two eggs and a dollop of guacamole. And Frank's hot sauce! I'm so glad that's on the program. Breakfast was delicious and very filling. The hash browns were a little spicier than I intended. I think next time I'll cut down the paprika a bit. Or try a different seasoning. Plus the hash browns made enough for two breakfasts, so that makes the extra effort required to peel and shred the veggies worth it. I had some of the cream from a can of coconut milk in my coffee. It's not French Vanilla Creamer by any means, but it was better than I thought it would be. For me I like that a lot better than black coffee.

For lunch I cooked up some of those chicken and apple sausages with half of a red bell pepper. I ate the sausage on top of an arugula and pear salad, and used reduced balsamic vinegar as the dressing. I also had a few olives with it. Lunch tasted good and filled me up initially, but I was hungry again two hours later. Looking back I realized that lunch didn't have enough good fats. Good to know.

For dinner we had Meatloaf, Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Sauteed Green Beans. It was sooooo good. And it made a ton, so we have a lot of leftovers. This meatloaf is seriously delicious. And Tommy loves it too. Win win. I went to the gym after dinner, so dinner was my pre-workout meal and then I had a little more meatloaf with some guac for a post workout meal. I went to bed feeling good and full.

Sweet Potato Hash Browns

Makes 2 Servings

1 large sweet potato, peeled
1 small onion
2 Tbsp avocado oil
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp salt

1. Shred the sweet potatoes and onion on the large hole side of a box grater, or in a food processor.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the veggies until browned. 

Whole30 Meatloaf, Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Sauteed Green Beans

Yesterday was my first day of the Whole30. I was already planning on making meatloaf, mashed potatoes and green bean casserole for dinner, so it only took a little modifying to make it Whole30 compliant. This dinner was delicious. And the best part was I made a lot of it, so we'll be having it tonight too. 

My Sweetener Free Meatloaf fits with the program as is. I'm not getting bent out of shape about only eating grass-fed organic meats. I'm being realistic and using the meats we already have. This time I doubled the recipe so we could have enough for another dinner. I doubled all of the spices, ketchup, etc and used 2 lb ground pork, 1.25 lb ground bison, and 1.25 lb ground turkey. I mixed everything together in a big bowl and split them into two loaves. It turned out delicious! Way better than when I've tried to use just pork and turkey in the past. This picture also highlights the importance of lining the pan with foil. Just toss the foil when you're done and cleanup is super easy. Much less frustrating that scrubbing the pan.

My Gluten and Dairy Free Green Bean Casserole is pretty close to Whole30 compliant. I could have easily modified that recipe to change how I fried the onions and left out the sherry. But that didn't seem to be in the spirit of the challenge. Whole30 has a phrase, Sex With Your Pants On. It refers to when you change something to fit in the program that imitates some unhealthy habit you have, and you just end up feeling unsatisfied and still crave the original. So I decided to do sauteed green beans and mushrooms. They tasted great and were a lot healthier and easier than making green bean casserole. 

Sauteed Green Beans

2 cans green beans, rinsed and drained
4 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 Tbsp avocado oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme

1. Heat oil in a medium skillet.
2. Add the mushrooms, garlic and seasonings. Cook until the mushrooms have released their liquid.
3. Add the green beans and cook until the mushrooms are browned.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 lb frozen cauliflower
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp coconut cream from a can of coconut milk
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder

1. Combine the sweet potatoes, cauliflower and water to cover in a large pot. Bring to a boil.
2. Boil until the veggies are soft. Drain and return to the pot.
3. Mash the veggies with the remaining ingredients. 

Cilantro Overload - In a Good Way

Today Ben and I had an excellent day skiing while my dad watched Tommy. We had powder all day and skied until our muscles were sore. We got home and were happy and tired. I really didn't want to cook dinner tonight. Ben and I had agreed on just making a frozen pizza for dinner, but then I realized that I didn't have anything for Tommy to eat for dinner. If I had to make something for Tommy, I might as well cook the dinner I had previously planned on making.

I made Brittany Angell's Cilantro and Lime Sweet Potatoes Hasselback Style and  Melissa d'Arabian's Shrimp with Cilantro Pesto. I followed the directions for the potatoes except I used minced garlic instead of sliced since that's what we had. The oil mixture smelled delicious, but it didn't really stand up to the sweet potatoes. I think next time I'll dice the potatoes and roast with the oil and garlic and just add the cilantro and lime for the last few minutes of cooking. 

We've made this shrimp several times before, but never for Tommy. Since the original cilantro pesto calls for pecans, I had to make a couple changes. Instead of the nuts, I tried using a stalk of celery. The pesto was really runny and too sour. So I added another teaspoon of sugar and one of the sorghum flour tortillas from our Carnitas Tacos night. That made a huge difference. This pesto has a lot of cilantro in it, but the flavors all work really well together. Ben's not really a fan of cilantro but he loves this shrimp recipe. 

Tommy put the shrimp in his mouth a couple times, but wouldn't actually eat it. Oh well, at least he didn't have an allergic reaction. I'll call that a positive first trial. I think next week I'll try making baked coconut shrimp and maybe he'll eat one of those.