You Are What You Eat (Day 3)

You are doing great!!  Keep it up - your body will thank you.

Breakfast

Let's start the day with some grain free, high protein blueberry muffins.  These muffins are a little denser than you may be used to, so don't expect them to "fluff" up too much.  They are packed with nutrients and protein.  We don't usually have anything with these, but you could have a side of fresh fruit if you like - and of course, it is ok to spread them with grass fed, organic butter.  This recipe makes 10 muffins.

2 1/2 cups almond flour
3/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
3 large eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 tsp real vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Pre-heat oven to 350 and line 10 cups in a muffin pan with cupcake papers.

In a large bowl whisk together almond flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
In a smaller bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, honey, oil, vinegar and vanilla.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir well - then fold in your blueberries.

Divide into muffin cups and bake 14-18 minutes - until golden and "set" in the middle.

Enjoy!


Lunch - Salad with Roasted Golden Beets and Quinoa

This salad is SO yummy.

First start with your greens - I love arugula for this one, but if you don't like the "peppery" flavor, then mix it half and half with spinach or just used "mixed" greens.  Put them in a large bowl to wait for your other ingredients.

Roasted Golden Beets are so good.  They caramelize in the oven and are just yummy.  I don't recommend doing this with red beets because they are super messy.  Take your beets and peel them with a potato peeler and cut them into chunks.  Toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet and roast for 25-30 minutes at 400 degrees.

Let the beets cool a bit, they don't have to be cold.  Add them to the greens and then use your quinoa from yesterday's lunch and add that to the bowl - straight from the fridge.

Make dressing by using the recipe from Day 1, but instead of Orange Oil, use Lemon Oil (or fresh lemon juice).

Toss the dressing over the salad ingredients and top the whole thing with soft goat cheese crumbles.

YUM!!


Dinner - Old Fashioned Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, and Roasted Veggies

You can use either grass fed ground beef or organic ground turkey with this recipe.  Or if you need as much as we need at our house - one of each.  My kids LOVE meatlof - I don't think I could ever make too much.  We rarely have left overs.  This recipe is for one 1 and 1/2 pound loaf.

1 1/2 lbs of ground meat
1 medium onion
2-3 garlic cloves
3 slices of gluten free bread
a large handful of fresh herbs (I usually use dill, but you can use whatever you like)
2 eggs
4 tablespoons of organic worcestershire sauce (organic is important because it doesn't contain high fructose corn syrup and the soy ingredients are all GMO free)
about 1/4 cup of organic ketchup (or use Heinz Naturals - which is free of high fructose corn syrup)

Start with a large mixing bowl.  Put in your meat.

Then,  put the bread in the food processor and process until it is coarse.  Add that to your bowl

Put the onion, garlic, and fresh herbs into the processor and they will become very wet and pureed.  Add that to the ingredients in your mixing bowl.

Then add the eggs, worcestershire and ketchup.  Knead together with your hands until all the ingredients are incorporated.

Bake in a loaf pan for about 45-50 minutes on 350 degrees.

Mashed Potatoes

I usually use Organic Yukon Gold potatoes, but of course whatever you like.  Peel and boil until soft.

I put my potatoes in my stand mixer, add salt and pepper to taste, about 1/2 of a stick of butter, and unsweetened coconut milk.  I find coconut milk to be the milk that doesn't change the taste of the food very much.  You can, of course, use any milk you want - organic cow's milk, rice, or almond.  We like coconut.

Blend until all the lumps are gone.

Roasted Veggies

These are an absolute staple at our house.  We eat them 2-3 times per week.  I use whatever veggies I have in the fridge.  Broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus are probably our favorites.  Cut the veggies into bite sized pieces and toss in a bowl with olive oil, salt, and dried thyme.  Roast about 25-30 minutes on 350.  They are a bit crunchy and the flavor is amazing.
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Juice Recipes - We have a Breville Centrifugal Juicer.  It is not good for juicing greens, it is made for "harder" fruits and vegetables like apples, carrots, etc...  It is fairly easy to clean, as juicers go.  I love it!!  I want to share a few of our favorite recipes.  These are for one serving:

3 medium whole, unpeeled carrots
1 lemon (peeled)
1 orange (peeled)
1 small beet (red or golden - unpeeled)
1 apple (any variation - whole)
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Stan's favorite

3 large tomatoes
2 celery sticks, with tops
1 jalepeno (whole)
1 lemon (peeled)
2 small cucumbers
1/2 of a sweet pepper (orange, red, or yellow)
After juicing, add a dash of salt to the glass.

These are great after exercising or during the day if you feel like you need a snack.  I juice in the morning and Stan takes a jar to work to drink mid-day.