Whole30 Challenge: Day 29
Wed, March 29th
DISCLAIMER:
If you haven't already read my disclaimer, please click the link HERE from Day 1 of our challenge. As with any lifestyle or dietary change, if you have any questions or concerns, be sure to discuss them with your physician. Also check out the Whole30 website for specifics and additional info.
MORNING THOUGHTS:
First, being only 2 DAYS away from the completion of our Whole30 Challenge, I'd like to warn you that this post will likely be peppered with one-too-many GIFs.
Second, I'd like to congratulate hubs on a day well done! Hubby "Takeover Tuesday" was a success!
GIF compliments of giphy.com
He did so well that I tried to convince him to takeover today too for "Round 2 Wednesday" (or more appropriately, "Well-Done Wednesday", (see "Takeover Tuesday" dinner details for pun clarification...)) to have him finish the home stretch strong... but to no avail... I'm pretty sure he thought about it for a hot minute, but apparently my powers of persuasion weren't in full swing this morning.
GIF compliments of giphy.com
I will admit, I am kind of excited to be finished blogging solely on Whole30 so that I can move on to other fun parts of the blog (and eat my portion of dinner while it's still warm instead of photographing it first...). I sense there will be a Humpty Dumpty Izzy > Isabella post in the near future... Maybe Hubs will make a cameo appearance on that post at the very least...
With only one more day to go...this calls for back-to-back victory dances! #noformaltraining
GIF compliments of giphy.com
BREAKFAST:
Since we had extra steak/beef jerky left over from dinner, I decided to up the ante with my protein intake and have steak and eggs (aka beef jerky and eggs) for breakfast. Hubs knows I'm teasing, all in good fun... and I'd like to remind him of a valuable lesson from our good friend Bob Ross...
GIF compliments of giphy.com
LUNCH:
Since I'm all about making extra meals to minimize time in the kitchen, I enjoyed round 2 of Whole30 Jerk Chicken & Avocado Mango Salsa. (Click the link to see the recipe.)
MID-AFTERNOON THOUGHTS:
Hubs offerred to take me to the new Beauty and the Beast movie which I've been eagerly anticipating, but after thinking it through for all of 1 minute, it didn't take me long to realize I'd be better off taking a rain check for the weekend so I could enjoy my favorite movie theater treat, popcorn and M&M's post-WHOLE30! If you see the random girl that is clearly way too excited for her theater snack and ends up looking somewhat like this...I promise it's not me.... #epic
GIF compliments of giphy.com
The more you watch it, the funnier it gets... or maybe I just think it's hilarious because I can actually see myself being "that girl"... Hmm...To piggyback on that thought, I have a strange feeling that if I searched though enough "girl falling" GIFs, I'd probably find myself victim to one of these GIFs eventually... #claimtofame #fallingsmyfavorite
DINNER Enough with the GIFs for today. As mentioned previously, for sake of my recipe repetition, this week would be dedicated to one new Pinterest inspiration recipe a day. Tonight we decided to implement a hybrid: one new recipe and one previously enjoyed recipe. For the latter, we went with our Whole30 Herb-Crusted, Pan-Seared Chicken that we enjoyed on Day 1 of our challenge (all things come full circle after all), and for the new recipe, we slightly modified this scrumptious Whole30 Creamy Bacon Broccoli Spaghetti Casserole from PaleoGlutenfree.com. This easy recipe is also dairy-free and paleo-friendly. Click to see the original recipe here.
TASTE TEST: The chicken was just as good as I remembered. We made extra for Cobb Salad Day tomorrow. The casserole was fabulous as well. Hubs, who doesn't like anything to do with coconut, even was surprised at how delicious it was. It had 0 coconut taste and had a faint resemblance to a healthy fettuccine sauce. I'll definitely be making this post-Whole30! Looks like we are re-inducted into the Whole30 Clean Plate Club once again!
Whole30 Herb-Crusted, Pan-Seared Chicken
Click the link, Whole30 Herb-Crusted, Pan-Seared Chicken, to see the full recipe.
Whole30 Creamy Bacon Broccoli Spaghetti Casserole
Special thanks to Aunt Karen & Uncle Larry for our awesome Le Creuset dutch oven. We've enjoyed using it, and it clearly photographs well too... :)
Whole30 Creamy Bacon Broccoli Spaghetti Casserole
SERVINGS: 8
PREP TIME: 15 minutes
COOK TIME: 10-12 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
4 cups cooked spaghetti squash (*See note below)
8 pieces cooked bacon, chopped
2 cups steamed broccoli
CREAMY SAUCE:
1 cup full-fat coconut milk
1 medium egg
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic powder
fresh ground pepper to taste
STEPS:
Cook spaghetti squash if not previously cooked. (See *Note below for steps.)
Preheat oven to 400°F.
In a saucepan, combine all "Creamy Sauce" ingredients and whisk together.
Heat the creamy sauce on the stove over medium heat. Continue whisking the sauce while it cooks until it thickens. (This is about 5-8 minutes.)
In a casserole dish, add spaghetti squash, steamed broccoli and bacon. Stir gently to mix.
Pour the cream sauce over the casserole.
Heat the casserole in the oven until warm or save for later. (Note: I left the lid off for the last 5 minutes to crisp it up a bit.)
*NOTE:
This recipe calls for cooked spaghetti squash. If you don't have a spaghetti squash previously cooked, just follow these easy steps below to cook it.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Cut a spaghetti squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out seeds and discard.
Place aluminum foil on non-stick baking sheet.
Lay spaghetti squash on foil. Lightly season with a drizzle of olive oil, sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Cook for 35-50 minutes until soft. (We cooked our larger squash for 45 minutes.)
After squash is done cooking, remove squash from oven. Let squash cool for a few minutes until it is cool enough to handle.
Use a fork and scrape the inside to create long strands (like spaghetti).
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