Whole 30 - Garlic Mayo

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Small batch Garlic Mayo (W30)

In a tall vessel, place:

2 large roughly chopped cloves of garlic 

1 very fresh egg yolk

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp sea salt

freshly ground pepper to taste

squirt (1/2 tsp) dijon mustard

1/2 to 3/4 cup oil combo...  I use a generous 1/4 cup extra light olive oil and a scant 1/4 cup pure canola oil for better flavour (spare use of canola oil is recommended in W30 - just make sure there is NO soy)

Put immersion blender into the bottom of your vessel and buzz thoroughly until the garlic is pureed and you see the white mayo beginning to form.  THEN, slowly pull up to include all the oil.  It will be very firm if you buzz it too long.  Can easily be thinned with more lemon juice or ACV, or other wonderful vinegar.  Experiment with champagne or other white wine vinegars and see what you like!  I eyeball all quantities.  Can vary the herbs and seasonings as well, depending on what you're using it for.  Great for dipping or making into aioli sauce for garnishing meats.  

(adapted from Food Wishes / Chef John video recipe)

This pic is from my first attempt (full batch)

More Whole 30 meals

This is a yummy bacon wrapped pork tenderloin, just ready for slicing.  It's a winner!

See it sliced and served with new potatoes and a lovely green salad?

This is our Sunday steak dinner, served with more of those tender new potatoes, baby spinach, and both raw beets and carrot salads.

Friday's cast iron pan fried salmon with lemony asparagus.  Soo delicious!

Saturday night Burger Master at work!

It isn't pretty, but it sure was good!  (Ketchup was not W30 compliant... oopsie!)

Finally, a weeknight meal of garlicky ground beef and sausage, G's favourite broccoli salad, and some leftover raw beet salad and carrot slaw.

We're done with this round of the Whole 30, and our reintroductions have been uneventful, since I no longer cook with soybean oils / condiments and corn isn't in our diet any more - because of what we learned in last June's Whole 30.  Interestingly, our meals are still very much true to the plan.  I have enjoyed greater energy, better sleep, and continued weight loss beyond my expectations... which are all totally awesome benefits to forever eating this way!

Let me know in the comments if you want the recipes to any of the above foods!

Whole 30 - my current meal obsession

Shepherd's Pie - who doesn't just love it?  It's comfort food at its best... it's also economical, and if made ahead, it's super convenient, as it makes a huge amount and you can just dig into it anytime.

I have recently revamped my traditional shepherd's pie because I'm on the whole 30.  We've been eating a ton of roasted / baked / boiled potatoes with lemon, and I didn't want to make the "essential" top layer of mashed potatoes because I couldn't fill it with whatever milk / cream / butter / sour cream / cream cheese or any of that usual deliciousness.

Instead, I popped a whole acorn squash into the microwave... scooped it out, and now we have our topping on the side of our shepherd's pie.  And is it ever good!!!

I say that I am obsessed because I've been ever so sick with the flu and laryngitis this week.  I figured that the W30 would be taking a back seat to comfort foods like toast and tea with honey... but somehow I have managed to stay on track, since I had most of my meats prepped on Sunday.  I just stayed the course, and surprisingly, it worked!  This dish helped me through several small suppers this week with a minimum of fuss.

My appetite was definitely affected, so I ate much less, but I stuck to my three meals... they were just a little simpler and smaller than usual.  And who knew that raw, sliced garlic could be a condiment on the side of a plate of plain chicken or an egg or sausage with a few strawberries or a banana?

Try making shepherd's pie your usual way (leave out the dusting of flour to thicken your gravy) and cook an acorn squash (or other veg you like) with a little clarified butter and s+p on the side.  It's a twist that will surprise you in the most pleasant of ways.

Whole 30 Inspiration (an evolving post)

Ahhh... lovely fresh asparagus... soooooo delicious!!!

OK... so I am constantly taking pictures of my food.  This is a funny little thing I really started when I was visiting my sister in Germany... and then when I was traveling with my dad in Russia on a choir trip.  Oh, the adventures in food I had!

Anyway, the idea I had for this post is this.  I am constantly taking pics of my food, and since I am on the Whole 30 right now, and people I know keep asking me questions like, "what do you eat?" I thought I would simply document my meals and post them here as I go along.  If you think you could never make all this amazing food, you are wrong.  It's all about food prep and thinking ahead, having things cooked or cleaned and chopped, and then composing plates that are true to the W30 plan.

I am still finding my way around the kitchen, after all these years.  I like to do a big prep on Sunday mornings, as I am making our Sunday brunch and Sunday dinner.  Weekday lunches and dinners are that much easier to prepare and assemble because of this prep time.

So come back and visit, as there will be more pics on here as I make more Whole 30 meals... and as I figure out how to get the pics from my iPhone onto my Acer Chromebook.  It isn't the smoothest of processes, but I am figuring out how to do with the limitations of my equipment.  

I plan to bump down the older pics as I add new meal pics, so it will be easy for you to see my latest meals and then scroll down for older inspiration pics, as time goes by.

For now, here are my Whole 30 meal and preparation pictures.  I may have to separate them into prep and meals sometime, but for now, enjoy and be inspired!

Do you have a favourite W30 meal you turn to time and again?  Would you like me to share my recipes?  Please comment below!

Our Sunday night dinner:  BBQd steaks, baked potatoes, sauteed asparagus and garlic, and a green salad of romaine, orange peppers, zucchini with a ginger / garlic dressing

A simple weekend breakfast of a fried egg in clarified butter, and a little fruit (orange and banana)

Sunday night steak, roasted sweet potato, simple spinach salad

Breakfast bowl of leftover roasted chicken breast and sweet potato, and seasoned tomato chunks and spinach dressed with oil + white wine vinegar... and some super awesome strawberries.  A strange mix, but soo good!

Delectable Greek plate of chicken with oregano, garlic lemon potatoes, and a crunchy spinach salad with chopped peppers, zucchini, tomato, and green onion

Baked salmon with ginger, roasted potato wedges, homemade W30 mayo, sauteed mushrooms, and a lovely green broccoli salad

Simple green salad with romaine, zucchini, cucumber, and a garlic and fresh parsley dressing

Onion dyed Easter eggs... hard boiled, and perfect for on the go breakfasts and adding to salads

Making clarified butter, essential for sauteed veggies or adding to baked or grilled meats 

Another simple green salad, makes an excellent palate cleanser or part of an appetizing lunch

Cooking up some fresh W30 approved sausage.  DO check to make sure they are sugar free, and sodium citrite free.  I get mine at the St Jacob's Market from Finest Meats

 A delicious steak dinner with garlic mushrooms, a big green salad and some lightly sauteed green beans (which ARE allowed on the W30), fyi

It's not all pretty, but it's pretty good.  I snapped this casual pic at work... after eating one of two hard boiled eggs and a good chunk of zucchini... with some peppermint tea and coconut oil

This was a practice meal we had the weekend before our start date...it included some chicken breast, italian sausage, and a huge mixed salad of broccoli, red cabbage, zuchini and romaine

Chicken soup with plenty of green veggies

Parsley Garnish for soups, salads, grilled meats, etc

Chicken Soup's On!

I am a big fan of homemade anything, especially soups.  I've been feeling this cold and snowy winter weather AND fighting something, so I figured some super easy, super comforting, and super healing chicken soup was in order. Craving greens, I added a luscious and nutritious parsley garnish to the bowl before eating it.

The ingredients:  

Chicken thighs and legs (2 large, bone in, for better flavour)

Onions (1 large or 2 small)

Celery (2 stalks with the leaves on top)

Carrots (2 medium)

Some parsley root (I keep this chopped and frozen, ready for soups) 

Garlic (as much as your body craves!)

Fresh parsley

S+P

Frozen peas and green beans at the end (a cup or so each)

Throw everything into a pot with some water and bring it to a boil... then simmer until the flavours have developed and the chicken is cooked and tender.  Remove the skin and bones and shred the chicken by hand.  Toss in some frozen peas and green beans... and you're done!

To make the parsley garnish, simply clean and wash some fresh Italian parsley, and buzz it in the food processor with some olive oil, freshly ground black pepper, and a pinch of sea salt.  

This is so very much like chimmichurri, which I make for topping our Sunday steaks... but this simple mixture will be great to add to a multitude of other dishes, like grilled chicken, or any salad, or baked / boiled / roasted potatoes.  Ohhh... what a great way to feed my obsession with all things green.  DO try this and enjoy feeding yours!