Spicy Green Chili Pulled Chicken

I made this pulled chicken last Whole30 and was a huge fan.  It was simple, and tasty, and was a super filling meal with tons of leftovers (read: lunch the next day was taken care of).  My hubby loved it, too, but felt that it wasn't spicy enough.  So when making it this time, I went with a spicier green chili salsa.  Honestly, it was a bit too spicy for me, but I served it with some avocado, and the creaminess of the avocado cut the spice nicely.

The original recipe was for a slow cooker, but seeing as we don't have one, I actually made mine in a Dutch oven in the oven.  I cooked it for 1.5 hours, flipping the chicken halfway through.  And then just let it cool a little so you can shred it with your hands (or you could use a fork, but where's the fun in that?)!  It's that easy.  Seriously, super easy.

I serve mine as the original recipe does, over cauliflower rice with some cilantro, avocado, lime, and radishes.  But I think they'd make amazing Whole30 pulled chicken "tacos" -- either wrapped with lettuce leaves or thinly sliced jicama -- or stuffed inside a baked sweet potato!

Pulled Green Chili Chicken
Modified, ever so slightly, from The Real Food Dieticians

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 12 oz jar Salsa Verde (such as Trader Joe's) -- or for a spicier kick, Trader Joe's Hatch Valley Salsa
1 4 ounce can fire roasted green chiles
1/2 tsp ground cumin (I leave this out)
1/2 tsp ground oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste

Cauliflower rice (see my favorite prep here) or lettuce leaves for serving
Fresh cilantro, avocado, lime wedges, salsa radish slices for garnish

Directions:

Place chicken in slow cooker, or if you don't have, into a Dutch Oven.
In a small bowl, combine the salsa, green chiles, cumin, and oregano.
Pour the mixture over the chicken.

If using a slow cooker, place lid on slow cooker and cook on low heat for 4-6 hours.
Remove lid and allow chicken to cool slightly before shredding it with 2 forks directly in the slow cooker.
Transfer to serving dish.

If cooking in the oven, cover the Dutch Oven with foil.
Place in an oven that has been preheated to 300F.
Cook for 60-70 minutes, flipping the chicken halfway through.  Make sure you check to make sure the chicken is cooked through before removing from the oven.  Larger/thicker pieces will have to cook longer, and I've had to cook mine for as long as 85 minutes.
Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before shredding it.
Transfer to serving dish.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Top with fresh cilantro, avocado cubes, and serve with lime wedges.

Serve with cauliflower rice or in lettuce taco "shells."

Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce

It's no secret that I love meat.  Every once in a while the story comes up about how I wanted to give up red meat in high school like some of my friends, and mom my told me that since I loved the corned beef sandwiches that I ate twice a year, it wasn't worth giving up.  I'm not quite sure how that logic worked with my adolescent brain, but it did, and I've never looked back.

And while I haven't found a Whole30 approved corned beef -- and doubt I ever will -- beef is a big staple of my Whole30 diet.  The first two times around, we'd often have steak and sauteed spinach (with or without a shared baked potato) and the occasional meatballs (my hubby would just make mine without breadcrumbs) for dinner.  This time around I was so excited that I came up with the idea to make meat sauce.

Honestly, meat sauce is nothing new, and I'm sure a bunch of you who've done Whole30 before have made it and it was absolutely delicious.  Neither is spaghetti squash, which I made as a side and also to put under my Whole30 meatballs in the past.  But for some reason, this time, this combination sounded delicious.  I decided to serve it with a Whole30 Caesar salad with prosciutto "croutons," but some spinach sauteed with garlic would work nicely, too!

The added bonus is that there were leftovers....LOTS of them, which is great for using for meals the next day.  Make a bed of spaghetti squash under your avocado and veggies for breakfast, or just have the spaghetti squash and meat sauce for lunch (or dinner) the following day!

Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce

Ingredients:

1 medium spaghetti squash
1 Tbsp olive oil (or more, if needed)
Salt and pepper

1 pound ground beef
1 small onion (or 1/2 large onion), diced
1-2 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/2 T finely grated carrot
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
Olive oil, enough to coat the bottom of two pans
Salt, pepper to taste
Fresh basil
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line a baking sheet with foil.
Carefully cut the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise.
Remove the seeds.
Rub the cut edges of the squash and the inner cavity with olive oil.
Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place the squash on the baking sheet cut side down.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until squash is tender and easy to shred into "spaghetti."
Let cool, and then pull apart squash so that it resembles spaghetti.

Place olive oil in a medium sized frying pan with deep sides over medium heat.
When warm, crumble the meat into the pan.
Mix, stirring to break up the meat into smaller pieces.
Sautee until meat is cooked through.
Remove meat with a slotted spoon and place on a plate (I cover my plate with paper towels but you don't have to).
Set aside.

Add more olive oil, if needed, to coat the bottom of the pan.
Sautee the onions until translucent.
Add garlic and sautee until garlic is soft and pale, do not allow it to burn.
Add tomatoes.
Add shredded carrot, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper flakes, if using.
Mix well.

Keep the sauce on a medium flame and stir occasionally so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan.
Taste, and add more salt, pepper, and chili flakes to your liking.
At this point, you can lower the heat to medium-low.
Add the cooked meat.
Continue cooking until sauce is reduced and thickened (can be anywhere from 30-50 minutes).
Stir in chopped basil, and allow to cook for 5-10 minutes.

Serve sauce on top of a bed of spaghetti squash.

Snack Emergency!

So, you are rocking your Whole30! You go! It's been hard, but you've been prepping and following the plan and doing a great job. But now you're out shopping, and there's nothing to grab in the mall food court; it's a snack emergency!

So, what are you to do??

If you're anything like me, you have planned ahead! I always, ALWAYS, carry Whole30 approved snacks with me. ALWAYS.  They're in purses and my work bag and, if I had a gym bag, they'd be there, too!

Now I know snacking is not recommended on Whole30, but frankly there are snack emergencies (I-ate-lunch-at-noon-and-it's-8 p.m.-and-I'm-not-having-dinner-until-10 p.m.-and-I'm-STARVING kind of emergencies), and that's where these come in.

Here are some of my favorite go-to, always transportable (ok, maybe not the last one), Whole30 compliant emergency snacks:

• Blueberry Rx bars*.  Honestly, I've been obsessed with these bars for several years. Way before Whole30 ever came into my life.  I love that you can pronounce all of the ingredients, they're filling, the texture is good, and they taste super blueberry-y. Runner up: mixed berry! Not all flavors are Whole30 compliant (I'm looking at you peanut butter!), so be careful. These used to be super hard to find but now I see them at Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Target, and bodegas across New York City. You can also order them online.

• Larabars*. I totally love the lemon bar and cherry pie ones. Key lime are tasty too, and I love the carrot cake ones. Just be careful with these, certain flavors are also not compliant on Whole30. These also have totally identifiable ingredients, are filling, and have a good texture.  These are pretty easy to find; same places as above, plus I see them in regular grocery stores.  If you're a huge fan of one particular flavor, Target usually sells them in boxes of 5 (and they often go on sale). 

• Epic bars.  Two words: chicken sriracha. There's also a cranberry turkey jerky type thing that I have set aside in my bag, but haven't eaten it yet and cannot vouch for its flavor. These give a good protein punch, and a LOT of spice!  They carry these at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

• Chomps beef sticks. Think of these as a Whole 30 compliant SlimJim. I joke, sorta. But basically these are easy, on the go, Whole30 compliant beef sticks. Also give you a good punch of protein. And they clock in at around 100 calories.  I've only ever found these at Trader Joe's.  You can also order them online.  There are also some Whole30 jerkies out there (Epic makes some), if that's your thing.

• Raw or dry roasted nuts.  'Nuff said.  I just pre-portion them into little Ziploc bags, and have them available in my bag.  I also eat them as a pre-workout "snack."  Unsweetened dried fruit is also an option, but I find that sometimes I have a hard time stopping when I eat it, so I tend to limit it.  Available everywhere, basically.

• Vegetable sticks. I know you'll think I'm crazy, but every night before bed I cut a giant container of vegetable sticks. I pack it in my lunch bag, and keep it around in case I have a mid afternoon slump, where I need something to eat. This way, I am bound to have something Whole30 compliant and filling available to me. I try not to snack, but if I do, I have these. And if I don't eat them, I just bring them home with me, and serve them alongside dinner.

*Warning: these are emergency snacks, I do not eat bars every day, and can honestly say in the first two plus weeks of this Whole30 I've had two (and one of them was dinner!)

Simplify

Whole30 isn't easy.  Even I'll admit that.  There is just SO. MUCH.  PREP!!!  So much!

Here are some suggestions for simplifying your Whole30 that I've come up with over the past 2+ Whole30s I've done.

Meal plan.  It goes without saying.  I tried so hard at the beginning of this Whole30 to map out dinners for the week.  Sadly, it's fallen a little by the wayside (Sunday night's planned dinner of chicken, sweet potato, and sauteed spinach became halibut with spinach/tomato/olive sauce and half of a sweet potato instead), but it's still good to have a plan, even if life throws you a curve ball and you can't stick to it 100%.

The oven is on.  So when you're baking a sweet potato or potato for dinner, throw in a few extra.  They're a cinch to rewarm and it takes a fraction of the time.  Sweet potato hash for breakfast tomorrow?  No prob!  Same thing goes for bacon or crispy prosciutto.  The recipe calls for 3 slices?  Make a whole bunch.  They'll go great with your eggs and sweet potato hash tomorrow morning!

Hard boiled eggs are super easy to make in bulk, too.  The waters boiling, so why not add a few extra eggs to the pot?  It doesn't even increase the cooking time to add more.  I tend to boil eggs for 3 days at a time.  While they're perfectly fine for a few more days, I prefer mine semi-fresh.

Cut veggies galore.  I should actually do this more often than I do.  I tend to have a nightly ritual of washing and cutting veggies for the next day (except last night.  I passed out after work.  Luckily I got to work today and there were baby carrots and pre-washed celery stalks in the fridge?!).  It's really a smart way to go if you prep your veggies for the week (or half the week) at a time.  It definitely cuts down on nightly prep.

Lastly, if you're a fan of cauliflower rice, buy it premade.  I love my food processor but I am not taking that bad boy out of the bottom cabinet just to turn a head of cauliflower into "rice."  I buy the bagged fresh stuff, but I know Trader Joe's also caries a frozen variety (my friend told me she's found it in the regular grocery store freezer aisle, but I'm not sure if it's Whole30 approved or not).

There you have it.  Some Whole30 hacks I've come up with to simplify my Whole30 life!

Whole30 Cobb Salad

Sometimes it's not about reinventing the wheel, but rather taking a pre-Whole30 food and making it Whole30 compliant.  Case in point?  The Cobb salad we had for dinner last night.  With just a few tweaks, it becomes Whole30 quite quickly.  Skip the blue cheese and blue cheese dressing, swapping in a creamy Whole30 acceptable dressing (I used Tessemae's creamy ranch dressing, but their creamy Caesar would be a good option, too; or you could -- heaven forbid -- make your own).  Make sure your bacon or turkey bacon is Whole30 compliant.  If you don't roast your own turkey (or chicken), make sure it's compliant, too.  Then?  Eat.  That's all you have left to do!

You could just make bowls of Cobb salad and serve them prepared, or you could do what I did and make a platter of the toppings and serve it next to a big bowl of lettuce like I did.  Definitely a pretty presentation, if I do say so myself.  The only barrier you might run into is that you're non-Whole30 husband eats all the toppings and skips the lettuce entirely!

Whole30 Cobb Salad

Ingredients:

3-4 slices Whole30 compliant bacon or turkey bacon
1 avocado, sliced or cubed
3/4-1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
Cooked chicken or Turkey breast, cubed or sliced
2-3 hard boiled eggs, cut into quarters
Lettuce of your choice
Whole30 complaint ranch or Caesar dressing, or homemade if you prefer

Directions:

Cook bacon to your liking.  I like mine crispy, and cooked it in the oven on a rack placed on a baking tray.

While the bacon is cooking, wash and cut the remaining ingredients.

If serving "make your own" style like I did, place ingredients in stripes to make a pretty platter.  Serve with a bowl of lettuce, and dressing on the side.

If serving as a giant tossed salad, place ingredients on top of lettuce in piles.  Dress and toss at the table for a pretty presentation.

Some of my favorite Whole30 finds (Part 1)

I have a few Whole30 staples that I cannot live without.  This first list of Whole30 favorites includes those that I always make sure to have on hand for daily or almost daily use.  As a general rule, I try to stay away from a lot of premade foods.  Eating fresh, real ingredients has always appealed to me more.  While I make exceptions year round, I've also got a few prepared Whole30 foods I'll incorporate. 

Trader Joe's Mixed Nut Butter

This mixed nut butter is amazing!!  It's got literally every single nut in it except for peanuts (which, I know, is technically not a nut)....and salt.  Cashews, peanuts, hazelnuts, Brazil nuts....the list goes on!  I like the texture better than regular almond butter, and I can eat it directly off the spoon (almond butter is a little to dry for me to do that).  I've gotten everyone I know -- even people who don't do Whole30 -- obsessed with it.  

Enjoy it on celery sticks for an extra protein punch, or on that occasional apple or banana, too!

Cashew milk

When I did my first Whole30, the thing I missed the most was milk in my coffee.  I don't like almond milk -- so while I found Whole30 acceptable almond milk (which is, honestly, not bad in a bind -- check our New Barn Unsweetened Almond Milk in the green container).  Someone recommended cashew milk to me, and I have to say it was a game changer.  So much so that I use cashew milk in my coffee year round!  Until I get my vitamix to make my own, I've been digging MALK unsweetened cashew milk.  

Riced cauliflower

This is no secret.  Riced cauliflower is a nice option for a rice replacement.  No, it doesn't taste like rice, let's get that out of the way.  I tend to prefer it raw over cooked, since sometimes it gets a little soggy.  Riced broccoli is also available, and also yummy, but it tastes like...broccoli.  Try it in these Chipotle Shrimp Taco Bowls.

Tessemae's Whole30 line

Last Whole30, I tried Tessemae's creamy Caesar dressing.  I don't love salad dressing, but I thought this would be a delicious dip for my veggie obsession.  It did not disappoint!  This time around, I ordered from them online, and got the Caesar dressing, and also a creamy ranch and a buffalo sauce.  I can't wait to try them.  Just be aware, not all varieties are Whole30 compliant.  Their website has a Whole30 section, which you can find here.

Seltzer 

At one point in my life I drank a lot of Diet Coke.  Like, a lot a lot.  Even before Whole30 #1 I had pretty much weaned myself off of it, but at times I did miss the carbonation, and so I switched to seltzer.  There are so many varieties out there, but I tend to be partial to black cherry or grapefruit flavored ones.  I absolutely love this grapefruit one but it's SO hard to find.  If you have any leads....let me know!  :-)

Salmon Patties

I made these salmon patties last Whole30 and fell in love with them!  They're honestly a cinch to put together and they work for literally any meal!  I made a batch last night and am so excited to have them for lunch today!

I've had them hot out of the oven for dinner, served with sauteed spinach and some sweet potato.  They're great cold out of the fridge on top of a salad for lunch, or even next to some eggs for breakfast.  I know, I know....it might sound weird to have salmon for breakfast, but hell, I love lox and they're salmon, too!

I adapted these from a recipe I found online, and the first time I made them I made about 2/3 of the recipe.  There weren't enough and I was so sad when I ate the last one!  These are definitely a keeper, and like I said, they'll work for any meal.  Plus, I think they'd be a great appetizer if you made them smaller, perhaps along with my avocado "deviled" eggs?!

The other nice thing is that you can customize these for your taste.  Add some red pepper flakes; sub in almond flour (I ran out last time so I didn't make it with the flour; they were so good that I skipped it this time, too).


Salmon Patties
Adapted slightly from No Crumbs Left

Ingredients:

1 lb salmon, skinned and boned
3/4 cup celery, diced small
3/4 cup onion, diced small
1/2 red pepper, diced small
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Old Bay seasoning (I didn't have any, so I used a little garlic and onion powders, black pepper, and cayenne pepper)
1 egg, lightly beaten before adding to rest of ingredients
Olive oil or avocado oil, to brush pan

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place salmon in food processor and pulse for only 2 seconds, leaving some texture to the fish.
Place in a bowl and add the celery, onion, and red pepper.
Mix well.
Season with salt and Old Bay.

This mixture can sit in the refrigerator overnight.

When ready to cook, mix in the egg.

Make patties in desired size.  I used an ice cream scooper for uniform size and then pat them so that they were flatter.
Place patties on a foil-lined pan, which has been lightly oiled.
Bake for 8 minutes.
Flip and bake for another 8 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool.

Chipotle Shrimp Taco Bowls

Today was a hot and humid day in NYC and my husband and I decided to get a nice long walk in this morning.  We set out for coffee (I'm a nut and brought pre-measured cashew milk with me), and then we walked and walked and walked.  We stopped somewhere near the middle for a quick bite and to pick up shrimp for dinner, and ended at Whole Foods to get the remainder of what we needed for tonight's dinner (I got the majority of the stuff on yesterday's major Trader Joe's haul).  

I'm so excited about tonight's dinner and have been talking about it all day -- like nearly-all-8-miles-of-our-walk all day.  Honestly, I'm sure my hubby is sick and tired of it already, but secretly I think he's pretty excited, too.  We're going to adapt a Whole30 fish taco bowl recipe I saw online.  I have a few ideas for modifying it: swapping shrimp for the fish, making a little chipotle slaw (a recipe I've been eyeing since Whole30 #2) instead of sliced cabbage, adding some homemade pico de gallo, and subbing in my hubby's award winning guac for the avocado cilantro sauce.  

Honestly, I'm thinking this is going to be a recipe we're going to use on repeat all summer long, even after my Whole30 is over!  I'm sure it would also be so good with pulled salsa verde chicken (the one Whole30 recipe I made during Whole30 #1, which I'm sure I'll be making in the next week or two and will share), with the original fish the recipe called for, or even with grilled steak. 

Update: This dinner was insane!  Both my non-Whole30-ing husband and I loved it!  We each did some prep, and served dinner make-your-own-taco-bowl style.  I even served some watermelon cubes with it to cut the spice from the chipotle in the slaw and the chili powder in the shrimp marinade.

Chipotle Shrimp Taco Bowls

Serves 2 hungry people (we had a few shrimp left over), or 3 people

Modified from The Defined Dish

Slaw adapted from Healthy Little Peach

Ingredients:

For the shrimp

3/4 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 Tbsp olive oil

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

1 tsp chili powder (chipotle chili powder would've been ideal, but we were out of it)

1/2 tsp dried oregano

Juice of 1 lime

1/2 - 1 T olive oil, for cooking

For the Pico de Gallo

2 Roma tomatoes

1 slice white onion, 1/4 inch thick

1/2 jalapeno pepper

Salt

Juice of 1/2 lime

For the chipotle lime slaw

2 cups shredded cabbage (I used Trader Joe's bagged organic shredded cabbage with carrots)

3-4 T Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo

1-2 squeezes fresh lime juice

Salt & Pepper to taste

For the bowls

2 cups riced cauliflower

1 T olive oil

1/4 cup water

1/2 jalapeno, sliced thin

3-4 radishes, sliced thin

Guacamole or sliced avocado

1/2 lime, cut into wedges

Chopped cilantro, for topping

Directions:

Make the slaw.  Mix the cabbage with the mayonnaise.  Add salt, pepper, and 1-2 squeezes of lime juice.  Taste, and add salt and pepper as needed.  Cover and put in the fridge.

Make the Pico de Gallo.  Dice the tomato and onion.  Place in a bowl.  Remove the membranes and seeds from half a jalapeno pepper.  Cut into small pieces.  Add to tomato and onion.  Sprinkle with some salt, and juice of 1/2 lime.  Mix together.  Cover and place in the fridge.  

* This makes more Pico then you'll actually need for the taco bowls, but it's so delicious, I don't think you'll complain.

Make the marinade for the shrimp.  Mix together the oil, salt, pepper, juice of 1 lime, oregano, and chili powder.  Mix well.  Place shrimp in bowl and toss to coat.  Marinate for 5-10 minutes, watching closely so that the shrimp don't get "cooked" in the lime juice.  Remove from the marinade and pat dry.

Make the cauliflower rice.  Heat 1T olive oil in a pan.  Sautee cauliflower rice for about 2 minutes.  Add 1/4 cup of water and cover, allowing to steam for 3-5 minutes.  Remove from pan and place into bowls.

In a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, place about 1/2 - 1T olive oil and heat until smoking.  Place the shrimp in the pan, being sure not to crowd them.  Cook for 1 and a half minutes, and then flip.  Cook for an additional 1 and a half minutes.  Place over cauliflower rice.

Prepare bowls by adding the toppings of your choice, but I recommend a little of each.  I skipped the jalapeno slices and some cilantro.