Weekend Recap

I took a much needed day off on Friday and enjoyed catching up on some things around the apartment as well as spending time in the kitchen. Friday night, we headed over to a friend's house to pass out candy. At 26 and 25, Sara and I decided that you are never to old to dress up for Halloween. She went as a flying squirrel and I channeled my inner T-Swift. We were listening to her new album when our first group of trick or treaters walked up and one of the girls exclaimed, "I knew you were Taylor Swift." Talk about my night being made!

Saturday morning, I decided to ramp up my paleo pancakes by adding some pumpkin puree to the mix. I added a little bit of nutmeg and vanilla to the batter before topping them with cinnamon to serve. I also used the leftover coconut milk to flavor my coffee. I usually drink my coffee black but this was a nice addition without being too sweet.

Saturday afternoon, I bundled up as much as I could before heading to the barn. November 1 brought our first cold snap of the season.

Sunday, I woke up bright and early thanks to the time change and decided to head to the early service at church since I was already awake. Three different people asked me if I had forgotten to set my clock back. I was the youngest one at the service by a good 20 years! After church, I made another batch of pumpkin pancakes and ate them while watching Maclay finals. I love that USEF has started live streaming all of the big shows. 

After spending the afternoon at the barn, Amy came over for dinner and a movie. I served the Thai Crunch Brussels Sprouts Salad and added Asian noodles, bean sprouts, and roasted Srircha broccoli. This is one recipe that kept getting better each time I ate it. 

Overall it was a great weekend!

Whole 30 - Week 3

This was by far the hardest week of the Whole 30. My sweets cravings were out of control and I ended up giving into them more often than not (damn you Reese's ice cream). I went back to the website to read the breakdown of each day and they said this week is when people are most likely to fall off the band wagon and give in to random cravings. Even though I may have failed this week by Whole30 standards, I am committed to finishing this challenge on a high note.

Breakfast

Breakfast was more of the same this week - hard boiled eggs and bananas. On Sunday, I made these sweet potato pancakes topped with cinnamon and served with a banana and almond butter. To make the pancakes, combine half of a cooked sweet potato, skin removed, with an egg. Cook in a skillet coated with coconut oil. They were more on the savory than sweet side and were a nice change from the egg and banana pancakes that I usually make. 

Lunch

I decided to make a big pot of soup this week since the temperatures are finally starting to drop. I made this "Creamy" Cauliflower Soup minus the cheddar. The recipe was fairly easy to follow and I had fun using my roommate's immersion blender. I ate this pretty much everyday with a side salad. 

Source

Dinner

The nice thing about the Whole30 is that it has encouraged me to mix things up and try new recipes. I made this Beef Stir Fry with Broccoli and served it over cauliflower rice. This dish was out of this world and fairly easy to make. I will definitely keep it in the rotation going forward. 

Also on the dinner menu this week was a hamburger patty with sweet potato fries, and a superfood salad. I have been loving sweet potato fries dipped in dijon mustard. 

It is hard to believe we are entering the final week. Here's to finishing strong!

What I Baked on Sunday

Crunchy Quinoa Granola
     Recipe from Iowa Girl Eats

Ingredients:
2 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1/2 cup sliced almonds
2 Tablespoons flax seeds
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
dash of salt
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 cup raisins

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Combine all ingredients except raisins in a large bowl and stir to combine. Spread mixture on prepared baking sheet then bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown stirring halfway through.
• Let cool. Stir in raisins then store in an airtight container.

Serve with yogurt or milk or just eat by the handful!