Pantry: Clean out and beef up -- Amazon Style

I REALLY need to clean out my pantry (because it is a disaster zone and because it has a lot of foods in there that I am needing to get rid of that are FAR from "clean"). I won't toss everything out (I will allow the Hubs to keep his Oreos, and you KNOW I am not tossing our leftover Girl Scout cookies) but I am going to get rid of crackers and other things that I know I don't want anymore.

I am blessed with an amazing pantry. It was one of the reasons we bought our house. It is huge. It is bigger than our walk-in closet haha! But due to my love of cooking and hoarding of kitchen gadgets, it is getting a bit out of control. So, my goal this week is to organize, clean out, and get my pantry more "clean eating friendly".

So, the first step for me...buying more clean foods to cook with. You can't have a clean eating diet if you don't prepare yourself and set yourself up for success (which is one of the main things I learned during Whole30).

So here are a few items I have purchased (thank you Amazon) that are coming this week to fill my pantry with healthy options to cook with. My sweet friend Jess is slowly trying to change her pantry stock as well and I love her motto: "Baby steps!" It is so true. It costs a lot of money to replace what you normally use. SO I say, use what you have, and replace as you go if you need to. I am not going to throw away all of my white flour because that is just so wasteful to me and hurts my heart a bit, but I did mix it with my whole wheat flour and plan on using it up until it is out. Simple things like that can help to up your nutrition while you wait until you can purchase new things to replace your more unhealthy items.

Here are a few things I have started to fill my pantry with...

These items I already had on hand and usually always have stocked up:

• Quinoa
• Brown lentils
• Brown Rice
• Whole Wheat Flour
• Arrowroot Powder (Great for thickening soups, gluten-free)
• Almond Butter (not my favorite on its own or with fruit, but is great to throw into smoothies)
• Natural Peanut Butter (usually refrigerate this)
• Ak Mak Sesame Crackers (I really like these with hummus or even a bit of cream cheese)
• Onions (red and yellow)
• Garlic
• Potatoes
• Sweet (orange and white)
• Red potatoes
• Russets
• The hubs and I are both born and raised in Idaho. We have a deep love of potatoes and always will (especially Russets). Some people choose to not include these in their diet but they are a great and cheap source for carbs. We choose to keep them in our diet. To each their own. If you are overweight or have issues with Nightshades, you may want to avoid potatoes all together. 
• Canned tomato products:
• paste, sauce, diced, stewed are always in my pantry and ready to go (check ingredients!)
• Canned tuna (I like Kirkland Albacore, check ingredients!)
• Canned green chilies (great to add to soups or meats, especially slow cooker meats, check your ingredients!)
• Canned blueberries
• These were a purchase from my husband's cousin. She runs an amazing group buy and is an expert when it comes to food storage (us Mormon's are really big into food storage). These blueberries are amazing and are packed in only water. Great for baking or throwing in smoothies. I love them.
• Honey
• Cox's Creamed Honey
• LOVE raw creamed honey. It makes it easy to spread on sandwiches for the kids and tastes so light and delicious. Cox is a great brand. I am still on the hunt for some local raw regular honey (to combat allergies and use in recipes).
• Cooking Oils
• Coconut, Avocado, Olive (light and extra virgin), ghee
• Canned Beans
• I want to get away from these and use dried as much as I can. I can control what goes into them and you just never really know with the canned kinds. Plus dried beans last longer (food storage-wise) and they are cheaper. But it is always good to have some canned on hand.
• Kirkland Marinara Sauce
• Unsweetened Applesauce (check ingredients)
• Natural Chicken Broth (I would go for organic here but opted for natural from Costco, it fit the budget and sometimes you just can't afford to get everything organic, so I usually go for the next best thing)
• Natural or Organic Beef broth (I have a mix of both, just check ingredients and do what is best for you)
• And last but not least, spices and herbs GALORE. 
• Check out your spices and read the ingredients (especially for the spice mixes). There are a lot of hidden items in there that do NOT need to be there. Some big offenders are sugar and soy. Get rid of them. Replace with better spice options.

These items I got to beef up my pantry from Amazon:

• Almond Flour (better stored in the freezer to keep fresh)
• I found THIS article extremely interesting. It talks about the pros and cons of almond flour and I agree with her, switch up your flours to expose yourself to different nutrients.
• Coconut Flour (better stored in the freezer to keep fresh)
• Health benefits of coconut flour HERE
• White Whole Wheat flour (for those of you who aren't a gluten-free house, and that would be us)
• This has the same nutritional value as regular whole wheat flour, it is made from white wheat berries instead of red wheat berries and has a more mild taste than the regular whole wheat flour. HERE is a great link that talks more about it.
• Coconut Sugar
• Can be subbed 1:1 with white sugar. This can be argued that, "Hey, it is still sugar. Sugar is sugar is sugar." And I completely agree. BUT the issue I have with white sugar is it is HIGHLY processed. In order to avoid that, I would rather have a more natural sugar. So we are going with coconut sugar. It also has a lower glycemic index than regular white sugar. Also it is the most sustainable sweetener in the world, really, was even given an award for it. The trees use limited water and fuel. Plus it is not chemically altered and has no added ingredients. Read more about it HERE.
• All that being said, I believe it should still be used in moderation. 
• Whole Wheat Pastas (get gluten-free pastas if you are gluten sensitive, there are tons of options to choose from, most made with corn flour or rice flour)
• I picked up some Penne, Fusilli, as well as Spaghetti because we probably use those 3 the most. I plan on picking up more at the grocery store as I find them (sometimes they are hard to find at the stores I usually shop at, which is a bummer).
• Organic Rolled Oats
• Dried Beans
• Red Lentils (I LOVE lentils and want to branch out to different kinds, will probably pick up some green lentils as well)
• Pinto Beans (Specifically for homemade refried beans, so good and so much better than the canned stuff)
• Black Beans
• Canned Garbanzo beans for hummus and soups

Hopefully you found something on here that is helpful! I am by no means an expert but I am trying hard to change the way we eat as a family and the way I cook (and doing a lot of reading/research/experimenting along the way). So, whether you want to switch to 100% clean eating or just want to find healthier options for your family, that choice is up to you. I plan on posting more about what I get from other grocery stores (Costco, local stores, etc). in another post. 

I Finished My Whole30, Now What??

So I am done. Here is what I wrote on my Instagram page (@darcieats) about my process so far.


"I did it! So now, my thoughts. #whole30 taught me so much. I have always loved to cook but it made me more confident in the kitchen. It taught me to read my labels and don't trust everything you think should be healthy because there are so many hidden nasty ingredients out there that have no place in our bodies! I learned that I am in charge of my health and it is empowering! Small changes can make a big difference. So, now what? I started Whole30 as a detox. I wanted to heal my body and restart my system. I feel I have accomplished that. But it also have me a deep love for #wholefoods in general. I am going to keep this account and keep my blog and continue on a #cleaneating journey to find what works best for me and my family. Through the reintroduction phase I want to be able to figure that out.

So are we going to be strict paleo? I don't know. Will we enjoy whole grains (gluten and non gluten)? Will we be dairy-free? I honestly don't know yet. Will I do another whole30 in the future? You bet. I know for sure I will continue to cook whole30 meals but I want to find moderation. I want to experiment and discover the best all-around diet for my family and I hope you guys join me! Thank you for being so supportive and the best people ever. You all lift me up and make me feel I can accomplish these food-goals! Whole30 is amazing. If you are on the fence about it, get the book It Starts With Food and just read it first. It will change your relationship with food for the better! I promise!

Oh and PS: I lost 6 lbs. what?? Wasn't planning on that but now I weigh what I did before having my first child. Added bonus!"

That being said, what are my goals now?

• Follow reintroduction and figure out what works best for me and my family.
• Do I handle dairy well? There is lactose intolerance in my family and I want to make sure I don't have an intolerance as well.
• If I do handle dairy well, reintroduce it into our diet in the BEST forms.
• Do I handle grains well (both gluten and non gluten)? Figure out what forms my body can adjust to and go from there. Try to eat the best forms (whole grains, try to make my own breads).
• Legumes, do I do well with those? Keep a wide variety in our diet.
• Limit the sugar consumption in our home.
• Get out of my box and explore new recipes! I am excited to share them on here with you all as you continue to follow along on my journey!
• What about sweets? We are still going to eat them. My goal is: If I make it I can eat it. I rarely make sweets/desserts. So when I do, I feel like it is fine for my family and myself to eat them because it means we are eating in moderation. So if I make cookies, I am going to eat some. I made them, put in the effort, and it will be a rare occasion (and most likely for a special occasion). That is fine by me. 

Thank you for all your love and support and hopefully you all can find something through my journey that has inspired or helped you! It is hard to put myself out there sometimes but I know that in the end it might be helping someone else who is in the same situation as me. So it is worth it.

Day 30

DAY 30!!!

Meal 1: Omelette (again, I know, BUT they are my fav!!) This one is green onion, bacon, and power greens topped with avocado)

Meal 2: Leftover beef stew (um, tastes even better the next day, GO TRY THIS RECIPE!), and a bowl full of delicious cherries. 

I have been SO good about not snacking through this whole30 which is a BIG accomplishment for me. But today I had a very emotional visit to my kids' pediatrician. Bubs had his 18 month checkup. He is fine but we did find some things that I felt like I should have noticed and therefore I had a severe case of Mommy Guilt. Like bad. I wanted to dive into my secret stash of Reeses eggs but instead opted for a small handful of almonds and a nap. That was a small victory for me considering I made a healthier choice all around for myself. 

Meal 3: Sorry for the horrible picture but I feel so awkward taking pictures of my food in restaurants haha! This is from Aubergine and Company (a delicious and very healthy restaurant in Orem, UT). I had the Dream Salad (beets instead of cheese). Their cilantro jalapeno dressing was awesome. I will for sure be back!! It was a great end to my Whole30 journey...because I didn't have to cook!

And here is sweet MJ enjoying her salad. She loves "leaves and veggies" with no dressing. I am bragging with this post a bit because I have worked REALLY hard to get my kids to love veggies as much as I do. It is a life-long process and started when I very first introduced food to them. We are always introducing healthy food options and discuss why we eat healthy food and how too much sugar isn't good for our bodies. I am happy to report that MJ loves to munch on spinach and her favorite foods are green beans and cucumbers. Bubbs would eat avocado for every meal if I let him and LOVES broccoli. Both kids love salmon and it just makes my heart swell when I see them munching on healthy food! Of course they eat other foods that aren't considered "whole". We aren't perfect. But I am so glad that my babies are such good eaters. It just makes a Mama proud. Hard work pays off!

My Thoughts:
I honestly felt so accomplished after today. I DID IT! I finished my first whole30! No cheats. I feel awesome.

Day 29

Day 29

Meal 1: Scrambled eggs, salsa, avocado, sauteed zucchini and yellow squash (olive oil, Italian Seasoning)

Meal 2: Chicken-Apple Sausage, carrots, cucumbers, mustard

Meal 3: Crockpot Beef Stew

I made this based on my favorite beef stew recipe. I Whole30-fied it. I will post both recipes because I think they are both great and both are healthy.

Whole30 Beef Stew

-32 oz (4 cups) compliant Beef Stock

-1.5-1 lbs. stew meat

-1 can stewed tomatoes

-1/2 white sweet potato (mine were huge, you could do a full potato if yours are smaller), diced

-1/2 regular sweet potato (again, it was huge, use a full one if yours is smaller), diced

-1 yellow onion, chopped

-3 large carrots, chopped

-2 garlic cloves, crushed in garlic press

-4 small celery stalks or 2-3 large stalks, chopped

-1/2 t salt

-1/2 t pepper

-1 t paprika

-1 bay leaf

-2 T balsamic vinegar

Sometimes I brown the meat, sometimes I don't. I didn't today and it was great still. Place everything in your crockpot (except the balsamic vinegar). Low for 10-12 hours or high for 6-8. When the soup is done, remove the bay leaf and stir in the balsamic vinegar. This adds an awesome rich flavor and depth to the stew. This stew is broth-ier than my original version but the broth is excellent and tastes amazing.

Beef and Barley Crockpot Stew (this is NOT Whole30 compliant)

-32 oz (4 cups) Beef Stock

-1.5-1 lbs. stew meat

-1 can stewed tomatoes

-1-2 russet potatoes or 3-4 small red potatoes, (or a mixture of both), diced

-1 yellow onion, chopped

-3 large carrots, chopped

-2 garlic cloves, crushed in garlic press

-4 small celery stalks or 2-3 large stalks, chopped

-1/2-3/4 cup pearled barley

-1/2 t salt

-1/2 t pepper

-1 t paprika

-1 bay leaf

-2 T balsamic vinegar

Place everything in the slow cooker (minus the balsamic vinegar). High 6-8 hours or low 10-12 hours. When soup is done, remove bay leaf and stir in balsamic vinegar. If you have never had beef and barley stew, try this one. It is awesome. I LOVE barley in my stew (and the Handsome hubs prefers it). 

Thoughts on today: I really enjoyed adapting one of my own recipes to make it whole30 compliant. I will most likely be making my Whole30 recipe again, after whole30, but adding back in the pearled barley (by husband's request). I enjoyed the sweet potatoes in the stew. They were a mild flavor and really this stew is full of yummy, comforting flavor and so very healthy for you.

TOMORROW is my last day and I am excited/nervous/anxious but so ready to start reintroduction. 

Day 28

Day 28

Meal 1: Apple with almond butter. Wasn't very hungry this morning.

Meal 2: Random Veggie Chicken Bowl {cucumbers, red onion, peppers, avocado, tomato, chicken, s+p, balsamic vinegar}

Meal 3: Bake salmon over zoodles {spiralized yellow squash and zucchini, sauteed in olive oil with garlic, red onion, and Italian seasoning} with Kirkland marinara sauce.

I got THIS spiralizer off of Amazon. It looks like it is sold out but there are tons of vegetable spiralizers on there. 

Spiralized Zoodles

-1 zuchinni

-1 yellow squash

-olive oil

-diced red onion

-2 garlic cloves, minced

Spiral about half of the squash and half of the zuchinni (or all of them, just however much you want honestly). 

 Dice up your onion and garlic, however much you want of each. More or less depending on your tastes.

Heat olive oil in a pan, toss the onion and garlic in first. Let them saute a bit (about a minute), then toss in the zoodles. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. These cook up quickly. They only take a few minutes. You still want them to be a bit crunchy so that it is a nice texture and you don't feel like you are eating a pile of mush.

I baked the salmon with just olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Thoughts on today: I LOVED my meal 3 tonight. It was bomb. I love zoodles. I am so glad that I am being pushed out of my normal food box and trying a lot of new things. I will definitely be making zoodles after Whole30 (which is so soon!). I am feel great. I am anxious for my reintroduction phase but am excited to move onto my next "health phase". I will explain more about it at the end of my Whole30!

Day 27

Day 27

Meal 1: Larabar and a waterbottle...was running out the door because we were super late for MJ's swimming lessons. I had also lost my appetite from cleaning up Bubb's puke. Let's just say it was not a good morning.

Meal 2: Leftover chicken topped with salsa, sweet potato "toast" from a fellow IGer (@thewhetappetite) topped with avocado and red pepper flakes.

Sweet Potato "Toast"
-Cut sweet potato in half, lengthwise, then cut those pieces in half lengthwise.
-oil and s+p the sweet potato pieces
-Place in baking pan in 400 F oven.
-Bake for 35-40 minutes, flip halfway through.
-Let cool for 5-10 minutes

These are yummy! I use avocado oil and white sweet potatoes because they are my fav.

Meal 3: Random concoction that was yummy. Sauteed some leftover sweet potato toast (diced), with chicken apple sausage and avocado oil. Tossed in a large handful of 7 Superfood Salad (minus dressing) from Costco.

 

Seasoned everything with a bit of onion powder, garlic powder, s+p. Then tossed in some Kirkland brand marinara sauce, fresh tomatoes, and avocado. And there you have it. It was good (but I really did wish I had spaghetti that the family was having because there was delicious cheese on it...oh cheese). 

Oh and I added a side of watermelon. 

My Thoughts:
I am getting good at looking in my fridge and seeing what protein I have thawed, and what veggies are about to go bad, and making something out of them. Also, this marinara sauce was SO good! I am excited to use it in a lot of other dishes. It tasted fresh and has no additives. I would highly recommend buying it if you have a Costco membership. It comes in a pack of 3 and is awesome to have on hand when you don't want to make it fresh.

Day 26

Day 26

Meal 1: Breakfast salad {lettuce, tomatoes, avocado, chicken apple sausage, egg over easy} I used the runny yolk of the egg as dressing and it was delicious. Runny yolk is the best yolk.

Meal 2: Turkey, avocado, cucumber, tomato, mayo, spicy mustard lettuce wraps.

Meal 3: Lemon Pepper Chicken with a side salad full of veggies.

 I made a big batch of chicken for the week to toss on salads or have for dinner. The right is lemon pepper (Mrs. Dash salt-free), the left is Costco's Organic No-Salt Seasoning. Both are delicious!

My Thoughts:

Everything is great. I really miss cheese though. A lot. :)