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Whole30 2014: Days 1-10

Mark and I are currently doing another Whole30! I'm not sure if it's because we've done it before or because it's a new year - but I'm really pumped about it. I'm also finding it super easy this time around. I'm not going hungry. I'm not stressing over meal plans.

 I'm just doing it.

To read about our first experiences with the Whole30, go here (my story) and here (Mark's story).

I'm already feeling like I have more energy, especially with a 2 month old child and just starting to get back to work this week. Also, TMI ALERT, Isabelle has been so much less gassy since I've cleaned up the diet again. Apparently, she prefers her breastmilk to be Whole30 compliant too.
Milk coma
So we all know I like to photograph my meals - I love food that looks pretty and I love to share ideas with all of you. I didn't always get the chance to snap a pic of every meal (especially when I had repeats), but below are a few of the delicious meals we have enjoyed while being on the Whole30 over the first 10 days. Enjoy!

Organic apple sausage, sweet potato, apple slices, over mixed greens and Tessamae's Italian Dressing

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with apples and other veggies with balsamic chicken
A close of of those Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apples and Peppers and Onions, just before hitting the oven.
Beef Stew-ish meal with sweet potatoes, peppers and onions

Fried egg, ground beef, and salsa over mixed greens.
Speaking of Salsa

Roasted Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato, and Rutabaga with ground beef
Ground Beef Stuffed Omelet with Avocado and Cilantro

Leftover roasted veggies, two eggs, and paleo walnut pesto sauce
Paleo Walnut Pesto Sauce Recipe - So good, I started putting it on everything!
Walnut Pesto Chicken with Zucchini Noodles

Walnut Pesto Chicken with Sauteed Shaved Brussels Sprouts

When on the go, ask about Panera's hidden menu! With a few tweaks, this salad is A-OK!
"Sara's Chicken" over mixed greens, sweet potato, tomato, and kalamata olives
Leftover roasted veggies are so helpful and make another appearance in this salad with organic, sugarfree chicken sausage

Here are those roasted veggies again! This time over some scrambled eggs :)

2 eggs nestled in some mashed sweet potato
 You see? Doing the Whole30 is easy! 20 more days!

Ground Beef Stuffed Omelet with Avocado Recipe

Amore is right.
We desperately needed to go food shopping last week so the options for breakfast were limited this particular morning. I had eggs, leftover ground beef and an avocado. Sounds like a meal to me! Plus, leftovers are my favorite. You've probably heard me say this a million times. Leftovers almost always taste better than the day you made the food and they make eating a healthy diet with a busy schedule so easy. 

So I decided to make an omelet with the ground beef and top it with avocado and fresh cilantro. My homemade salsa would have also been wonderful, but I didn't have any in the fridge - tragedy, I know. I found this quick meal to be yummy and very filling. Nothing like a big serving of protein and good fats to get you going! 

Ground Beef Stuffed Omelet with Avocado Recipe

Recipe Ingredients: 

2-3 organic eggs (I used 2 jumbo)
1/2 cup of cooked ground beef, divided
1 tbsp of olive oil
1/2 avocado, diced
Pinch of salt
Fresh cilantro 

Recipe Directions: 
1.) Heat a small pan over medium heat. 
2.) Scramble the eggs and add the adobo seasoning. 
3.) Warm up the cooked ground beef, about 30 seconds in the microwave. 
4.) Add enough olive oil to coat your medium-hot pan, about a tablespoon. 
5.) Pour the scrambled eggs into the oil and let set for about 20-30 seconds. 
6.) Add half of the ground beef mixture to the eggs as they cook. 
7.) Once the eggs are almost set, fold over half of the eggs to create the omelet and seal all of the ground beef inside. 
8.) Once the egg is fully cooked throughout, remove and place on plate. 
9.) Top with diced avocado, a pinch of salt, and fresh cilantro. 
10.) Dig in! 

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apple, Peppers, and Onions Recipe

Veggie Close Up! Just before hitting the oven
Tonight, I decided to roast all of the veggies I had left in the fridge. That included a big bag of Brussels sprouts, a green and red bell pepper, and a red onion. I added olive oil and seasoned with salt, pepper, and Herbes de Provence like I typically do. Then I saw this lonely green apple in my fruit bowl. Would that taste good roasted as well? It was worth a shot! I chopped it up and threw it in the mix. Let me tell you, it was a lovely sweet surprise! You should definitely try it. 
Colorful veggies make me happy.
I paired the roasted veggies with some balsamic chicken and it was a fabulous dinner. 


Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Apple, Peppers, and Onions Recipe

Recipe Ingredients:
2-3 Cups of Brussels Sprouts, trimmed and halved
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1 green apple, chopped, skin on
2-3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp of herbes de Provence, or to taste
salt & pepper to taste

Recipe Directions:
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Dice all vegetables and apple so that they are all around the same size and place on a large baking sheet.
  3. Drizzle enough extra-virgin olive oil so that  all vegetables are coated.
  4. Generously add salt, pepper and herbes de Provence.
  5. Roast for 30 minutes.
  6. Toss, taste test, add more salt/pepper if needed.
  7. Enjoy!

Carne Molida - Puerto Rican Ground Beef Recipe

Carne molida with roasted sweet potatoes and butternut squash
Carne molida is my go-to recipe for ground beef. This easy recipe is largely based on how my mother taught me how to season ground beef and it's a good one.  I make a batch of this at least once a week, and it's tasty within a taco salad, inside raw peppers, on a baked sweet potato, or with roasted vegetables.  Basically, it's a great emergency protein to have on hand. Below are some photos of creations I've made using this recipe:



Carne Molida - Puerto Rican Ground Beef Recipe 

Recipe Ingredients: 

1 pound of organic, grassfed 93/7 lean ground beef
1 small can of tomato sauce
2 heaping tbsps of sofrito
1/2 tbsp of homemade sazon (or 1 packet of store bought) 
1 tbsp of dried oregano
1 tbsp of sliced Spanish olives
1-2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil (omit if using 80/20 ground beef) 
Salt and pepper to taste
1 bay leaf, optional 

Recipe Directions: 

1.) Heat a pan over medium heat. If using lean ground beef, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. If using 80/20 ground beef, the oil will not be necessary as the meat will be fatty enough.

2.) Add the ground beef to the hot oil and break it up a bit with a wooden spoon. 

3.) Season with salt, pepper, dried oregano, sofrito, sazon, and Spanish olives. 

4.) Continue to mix in the spices and crumble the ground beef until mostly browned. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and let cook for 3-4 minutes, or until no longer pink. 

5.) If you are using 80/20 ground beef, you'll need to drain some of the grease before moving onto the next step. If you are using the lean ground beef, like I do, no draining is necessary. 

6.) Once the beef is no longer pink, add the can of tomato sauce and throw in the bay leaf, if using. Combine, cover, and let simmer on low for another 5 mins or so. 

7.) Give it a quick taste test, adding more salt or pepper if needed! 

Enjoy! 

Roasted Sweet Potato, Butternut Squash, and Rutabaga Medley Recipe

These lovely roasted vegetables were delicious topped with my carne molida (ground beef) recipe

I love roasting vegetables. 1. It's easy. 2. The flavors that develop are so yummy. This recipe is an adaptation of this roasted vegetable medley recipe, based on the vegetables that I had available. The combination was just as delicious!

Before hitting the 400 degree oven

Roasted Sweet Potato, Butternut Squash, and Rutabaga Medley Recipe

Recipe Ingredients:

2 cups of sweet potato, diced
2 cups of butternut squash, diced
2 cups of rutabaga, diced
1 small onion (I used a red onion, but white would be just fine)
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1-2 tablespoons dried rosemary
Salt & pepper, to taste

Recipe Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Prep veggies and toss in a large sheet pan
3. Drizzle olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and dried rosemary
4. Mix until all veggies are well coated and place in oven
5. Roast uncovered for about 35-40 minutes.
6. Take out of oven, mix and do a final taste test. Add more salt & pepper, if necessary.
7. Enjoy!

Simple Sofrito Recipe - My flavor base

Simple Sofrito
I've been meaning to write this post for over a year, but never got around to it.
Sofrito is a flavor base that I use for a lot of my Puerto Rican inspired dishes like pollo guisao (chicken stew) and carne molida (ground beef).

Side note: Both of those recipes will be posted soon!

There's always a lot of controversy over what sofrito should contain, but just like every family can have a variation for the same recipe, sofrito recipes can vary greatly. 

For some background information on the origin of sofrito, check out this great post here.

Now, I have to admit that while I use sofrito almost every day, I don't have to make it very often for 2 reasons:

1.) I always have tons of it frozen in the freezer so that it last long and I always have some on hand

2.) My grandmother and/or this little old lady in church make huge batches and give me jars full of it on a regular basis. I'm a little spoiled. 

With that being said, I used to help my mother make sofrito all of the time growing up and below you will find her simple, yet still very delicious recipe. The sofrito pictured above is one that I did indeed make, following this recipe.

My Mamí's Sofrito Recipe

Recipe Ingredients: 

1 large bunch of cilantro, stems included
2 green bell peppers, seeds removed and roughly chopped 
2 large onions, peeled and roughly chopped
1 head of garlic, peeled 

Recipe Directions:

1.) Prep your ingredients. Peeling the garlic was always my job as a little girl. 

2.) Throw it all into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. 

3.) Store in a glass jar until you're ready to use! 

Welcome Baby Girl!

AND...we're back!

I apologize for such a long blogging hiatus, but we've had our hands full with our sweet little girl. 

Isabelle Marie was born on October 31, 2013 at 2:17am, weighing in at 9 lbs 1 oz and 21.75 inches long. 


We had a long labor which resulted in some complications, and our sweet pea was in the NICU for 9 days. Those were the craziest 9 days ever. 
Keep Calm and Chive On

High Five! We did it!
Finally getting to hold our girl
Pure love.
 No one should ever have to leave the hospital without their child, but we are so blessed that we only had to wait 9 days to have her home with us and that we are both healthy and strong today. Thank you, Lord. Maybe one day I'll go a little deeper into her birth story. 
On the way home!

Strong Daddy!
Once we were home, we got to work. That first month was tough. Tougher than I thought. I thought I knew what it would be like and thought I was totally ready at age 28, but I had no idea! However, among the messy house, countless poopy diapers, and sleep deprivation, I look at the beautiful creation that God blessed us with and I stare in awe. I still can't believe that this perfect little life belongs to us and that I could love something so much. It's magical. 

Thriving at one month, Isabelle was now 10 1/2 pounds and 22.6 inches long. 
So big and strong!
At around this time, Isabelle started to sleep a straight 3-4 hours at night. That was glorious. It's amazing how after you are somehow functional on zero sleep, that 3-4 hour stretch feels like you've slept for 8 hours. So refreshing! 

I also started to be more functional at home, finding time (and energy!) to cook, clean a little bit, and even leave the house! 

She was born with the ability to shop. That's my girl.
Grocery shopping at Wegmans like old pros. Love the MobyWrap!
Isabelle just turned 2 months on 12/31 and her growth has amazed us. She's now at 13 pounds and 23.5 inches long! That's our girl!

I can't believe how big she's getting. Every day I look at her and I just want to memorize her face because I know it's going to change again the next day. They sure do grow fast. 

And now, I will leave you with this. At around 7 weeks old, we had professional pictures taken at our home by our favorite photographer Marjorie Datuin. Here are a few of my favorites: 






Blessed beyond measure.