One Pan Dinner: One Pan Dinner: Chicken, Potatoes and Greens

Second day in a row of recipe success!  I'm pretty excited about it! Here is what I tried.....  

Italian Dressing Mix (Whole 30 compliant)
1 Tablespoon garlic salt
1 Tablespoon onion powder
2 Tablespoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
2 Tablespoons salt

I used about 2 Tablespoons on the recipe below and stored the rest in a sealed container for next time! 

One Pan Dinner: Chicken, Potatoes & Greens

 It all cooks in one pan... I love that - barely anything to clean up!

What You Need:
6 pieces of pork loin
4 medium red potatoes
Broccoli 
1/4 cup of coconut oil
2 big Tablespoons of dry Italian Dressing mix

What You Do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
Cut the pork loins in half. Cut the potatoes in to small chunks. Spray the bottom of a 13x9 pan, put the chicken in the middle, potatoes on one side and broccoli on the other side. Make sure you really pack the broccoli in there - it cooks down so much, there was really only enough broccoli for me and my 2 little girls who don't think they like broccoli - and lots of the rest of the meal.  Top with half a package of italian dressing and pour melted coconut oil over the top.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for about an hour!

Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa

I thought I would share some of my whole 30 recipe successes - and this is a great place for me to find them later!

First success was yesterday - Day 12 of my whole 30 challenge.  Yup - I have not had the energy to cook meals in             F O R E V E R          and yesterday I tried this one.....  Plus, I am feeling a little bit of pressure to make some nice meals for my daughter who is leaving in 10 days to serve a mission for 18 months in Burmingham England...

It was SO great!  Husband was gone, but all 5 kids RAVED about it!  A definite keeper in the recipe box.

GRILLED SALMON WITH AVOCADO SALSA

PRINT

Whole30 approved grilled salmon with avocado salsa

Author: the cookie rookie

Recipe type: main course

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lbs salmon, cut into 4 pieces
• 1 tbs olive oil (I used light extra virgin olive oil)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• ½ tsp ancho chili powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• for the Avocado salsa:
• 1 avocado, sliced
• ½ small red onion, sliced
• Juice from 2 limes
• 1-2 tbs finely chopped cilantro (depending on how big of a cilantro lover you are)
• Salt to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix the salt, chili powder, cumin, paprika, onion and black pepper together, rub the salmon fillets with olive oil and this seasoning mix
2. refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Pre-heat the grill.
4. Combine the avocado, onion, cilantro, lime juice, and salt in a bowl and mix well, chill until ready to use.
5. Grill the salmon to desired doneness. (I grilled for about 5 minutes)
6. Top with avocado salsa and enjoy!

Whole 30 Challenge - I am doing it!

So I have been having a pretty rough 10 months......  since Ironman Maryland in September 2014 - my hormones have gone completely out of control, my energy dropping low and my weight climbing up, my cycle crazy, and my lumps growing.  I had a breast lump removed in October, and in March found more nodules on my thyroid.

s  t  r  u  g  g  l  e

i   h a v e   n o   c o n t r o l  o v e r   m y  b o d y   o r   m y   l i f e

What an absolute             t e r r i b l e  f e e l i n g


So - in order to really try to get life under control again - I have attempted the Whole 30 .  I started on the first day of a family reunion - crazy you say?  Maybe, but what I decided is that there is NO GOOD time to change my life.  So - I packed all my own food to the reunion and ate what I could - and walked away from the MANY things that were off limits for the next 30 days.  I just kept telling myself - 29 more days.  28 more days.  And I survived the first few days of the whole 30 challenge.

Here is a timeline of what I have gone through and am still going through with my whole 30 journey.....

Day 1 - Day 30

Today is Day 13 of being completely whole 30, and Day 17 since I started at the reunion.... so refer to the above timeline to see how I am really doing....  ha ha.

The other thing I have done is . . . I started logging my food 

- - - a g a i n - - - 

I know - everyone HATES logging their food - but in the last 8 years of my life, I have learned that the only road to success for someone with a food addiction is to log their food.  I decided I was going to be a lifer when it comes to logging my food.  Done deal.  It is not perfect - but it doesn't have to be perfect, nor should I expect it to be - here is my log from this week. . .