Things to Know Before you Start Your FIRST Whole30

Guys, I finished Whole30! I cannot believe that I did it. When I first started I was SURE I was going to want to quit at some point or at the very least cave and sneak a little summin summin in. While I did have a tough weekend after week 3, I pulled myself together and finished.

I have to say, I feel very proud of this accomplishment. If I ever wondered what kind of willpower I have, I certainly found out. A bonus, I feel freaking AWESOME. I haven't felt this good in as long as I can remember.

Now, I don't think I would have been as successful as I did if I didn't do my research. I looked at blogs, I read reviews, found recipes, planned meals, had a game plan, the works.  For those of you starting Whole30 for the first time, here is a (lengthy) list of things that helped me before I started & something things that I wish I knew.

Either way - no matter your age, lifestyle or gender, I really recommend this program if you're looking to get yourself out of a bad eating rut & want to jumpstart your body & eating habits.

Things to Know Before you Start Your FIRST Whole30:

• BUY THE BOOK - it's only $10 for the eBook or $20 for the hardcover
• The program creators have an amazing way of explaining WHY certain foods are off the list and HOW these foods can impact your body negatively
• If you're not going to buy the book - read the whole website
• Pre-Whole30 PLAN
• This program takes A LOT of planning - it is not something you can just start the next day 
• Know what you can & cannot eat, find recipes that sound interesting to you & understand what you're getting into
• Have a game plan for each week:
• Know what is coming up (events, long days, dinners out) so that you can plan accordingly
• Do yourself a favour and buy ALL new spices 
• If you can't remember when you bought fresh spices last, chances are, they're old. Go get new spices
• The ones I used the most - Cumin, Paprika, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Oregano, Chili Powder, Cayenne Pepper, Sea Salt, Fresh Black Pepper.
• Don't do this program if you're looking to loose a lot of weight quickly - that is not the spirit of the program
• Do not do this program if you're going to have a lot of occasions in which you will want to "cheat" (weddings, your birthday etc)
• The first couple of weeks are expensive - you need to buy some things that you don't have immediately 
• It's not hard to eat out
• Just make sure you look at the menu first before you go & decide ahead of time what you're going to have
• The safest bet is grilled chicken w/ greens & oil/balsamic dressing
• Figure out your triggers
• For me, watching TV or a movie at night after a long day - I want to reach for a snack. Now, I do my nails, read a book, drink herbal tea, CLEAN. Just need to keep my hands busy
• It is HARD sometimes
• Most days, I loved the program. There were a couple where all I wanted to do was buy a bag of chips and stuff my face 
• These days SUCKED. I was irritated, emotional and angry. Jon was awesome and told me to keep going & that it was going to be worth it. He was right.
• Have a support system - it is SO much easier to do this with someone else, especially when you have days like the above.
• Even if it's your partner who is at least eating the same meals as you - that's what Jon did and it was SUPER amazing
• For the first week or so, you will be hungry
• It takes awhile to figure out how much food is enough to fill you up between meals
• Prepare snacks for when you get hungry so that you're not reaching for junk
• I had a jar of almonds on my desk at work and a piece of fruit
• It's a challenge to explain the program to others
• Most of the time, when I tell people about the program I see a lot of scrunchy noses and a lot of "Ohhh, so like you can't really eat anything?"
• The best way I've found to describe Whole30 is a "Healthy Lifestyle Challenge"
• Don't deprive yourself
• Make sure you eat as much as you need - there is no need to count calories or fat. Just pick good food to eat and the rest will follow 
• Have an exit strategy - think about what you're going to do at the end. 
• It's all well and good to do this for 30 days, but the whole purpose is so that you can change your habits for life, have a plan for that

There you have it! It's a lot to take in and a lot of things to consider. If it helps, I enjoyed the experience so much that I think I'll be doing this program once a year, after Christmas & New Years and all that. It's a perfect way to re-set. 

Have you done a Whole30? If so, do you have any tips to add? I'd love to hear from you!

If this is your first time, feel free to reach out, I'd love to talk to you about it!

Good Luck!

- Lisa

Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Mini Blender Muffins

I really, really, really love Pinterest. Aside from the abundance of food porn & amazing crafts, I've also found many a fascinating tips and tricks. In fact, most of the baking tricks I know, I've learned from recipes I've found on Pinterest. Case in point...these AMAZING Blender Muffins!

I can honestly say, I've never, EVER considered mixing something up for baking in a blender. Maybe that's because my blender is absolute crap or maybe because my brain doesn't think outside the "bowl" (see what I did there? Like "outside the box" but BOWL, because, well, you get it). Either way, this way of preparing is amazing. Little to no mess, everything is contained and it makes for a very rich and velvety texture.

These mini muffins are amazing. There is NO refined flour, sugar, butter (the banana acts as the butter) or any dairy for that matter. That means they are gluten & dairy free. The best part? They taste like the most decadent dessert. They are actually so rich, you'll probably only need to eat just one to satisfy your chocolate craving (whether at breakfast or after dinner). Also, I love that no special ingredients are required...you'll probably have everything you need, already at home!

I highly recommend you try out this recipe!

[On a side note, I've started training for my next half marathon (Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon) that takes place on October! I'll be posting about my training over the next coming months so if you have any questions about it, shoot me an email (runningtobake@gmail.com), I'd love to answer it in my upcoming posts!]

Flourless Chocolate Peanut Butter Mini Blender Muffins

from Averie Cooks

makes about 16 mini muffins

Ingredients:

1 medium/large ripe banana, peeled

1 large egg

1/2 cup heaping with creamy peanut butter (best to go with regular peanut butter, not natural for this one)
1/3 cup cocoa powder

3 tbsp honey (maple syrup would work as well)

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips + more for sprinkling 

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray 2 mini muffin pans with non-stick spray or line with mini muffin wrappers. 

In a blender (or food processor, or with a hand blender) combine banana, egg, peanut butter, cocoa powder, honey, vanilla, baking soda and salt and blend until creamy and smooth. Takes about 1 minute or so. Since my blender is not the best, I had to stop and mix with a wooden spoon once or twice to make sure everything combined properly. 

Remove blender from stand and stir in the 1/2 cup of chocolate chips with a wooden spoon. Mini ones would probably work best, but I only had regular size on hand and they were fine.

Using a tablespoon, spoon mixture into muffin tins, filling up about 3/4 of the way. Sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top of the muffins and press in lightly with your finger tips. 

Put in oven and bake for 8-12 minutes. The baking time really depends on your oven, the ripeness of the banana and size of the tins (I have 2 different sizes of "mini" muffin tins). Mine took about 12 minutes to cook, just make sure you watch them. They're ready when the tops are springy to the touch and a tooth pick is inserted and comes out clean. 

Allow to cool in the tins for 15 minutes (if you can!) then transfer to a wire rack. You may need to loosen the edges with a knife in order for them to pop out cleanly. 

Store up to 5 days in an airtight container or 6 months in the freezer (HA! Like they'll last that long). 

Enjoy! These are truly delicious! 

Honey Lime BBQ Chicken {Clean Eating}

WE'VE MOVED! Recipe can now be found on My Real Life Kitchen

5 Things I Learned This Week 03.14.14

So to give a bit of context, I went to give blood last Saturday, only to find out that my iron levels were WAY TOO LOW. Although I was sad that I couldn't give blood, I was also a little revlieved because I've been feeling pretty lethargic and "bleh" and just chalked it up to the crappy winter we've been having. SO, a couple of things I've learned this week are iron related as I'm trying to get my iron levels back up to where they need to be (without taking a supplement).

The other 3 things are just plain COOL!

5 Things I Learned this Week

1. The TOP 10 Iron Rich Foods are: 

Source: WebMD

2. In order to maximize your iron absorption into your body, make sure that you also eat foods with high Vitamin C in them at the same time - like almonds & an orange.Who knew?

3. We all know how gross microwaves can get....so STEAM CLEAN your microwave with lemon & water...BRILLIANT! Check out 36 MORE ways to clean your kitchen HERE.

4. This one came from my Dad: The Mistake you Should Make for Better Brownies - apparently, you should bake your brownies for 15 minutes then remove the pan from the oven and let the brownies rest 15 minutes at room temperature. Return the brownies to the oven and continue to bake them until a wooden pick comes out clean, 17 to 20 minutes.This apparently gives them a more moist and fudgey quality! Will definitely be trying this one out!

Source: Yahoo! Shine

5. To create a pocket on your gift wrap to hold onto a card...do this:

Source: Martha Stewart

Pretty cool, right?? Click here for the full tutorial.

Well folks, that is what I learned on the interwebs this week! Remember, if you see something neat you'd like me to feature, let me know, I'd LOVE to post it!

Have a great weekend!

{Clean} Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bites

Oh. My. Gosh.

I can't even EXPLAIN to you how amazing these bites are. They're like a decadent chocolate bar, mixed with a Reeses Peanut Butter Cup mixed with a little bit of rainbow/sunshine.

I haven't even told you the best part! They are actually GOOD for you. They are filled with fiber, protein and with a coating of dark chocolate, you're getting tons of great nutrients for your body!

Did I mention, they are DELICIOUS?

Now, I've made a couple of changes to the recipe for my home - first, I did HALF of them coated in dark chocolate and half of them coated in milk chocolate (there is only so much "health" my poor hubby can take). I also used whole wheat flour in mine, but if you are gluten intolerant, use coconut flour instead! If you have someone in your life that is allergic to peanuts, you can use a peanut butter substitute in its place (click here for awesome alternatives)

Finally, this recipe requires the use of a food processor. I only have a small one, so I had to do all the processing in steps. I measured out the ingredients first, then put a little of each into the food processor for a total of 3 different batches!

{Clean} Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bites

adapted from: cleaneatingmag.com

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups pitted dates

1 1/2 cups puffed rice cereal 

1/2 cup large flake oats (rolled oats work as well)

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp sea salt

9 tbsp creamy, natural peanut butter

1/4 cup raw honey

1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

7 oz dark chocolate (just less than 1 cup)

1 tbsp canola or coconut oil

Method:

Put pitted dates in a medium size bowl. Bring a kettle of water to a boil. Pour water over the dates until they are completely covered. Allow to soak for about 5 minutes then remove with a slotted spoon. Save about 2 tbsp of the water and discard the rest.

Meanwhile, in a food processor (see note above), grind together the puffed rice, oats, whole wheat flour & salt until they are fine crumbs. Transfer to a large bowl.

Next, combine the dates, the 2 tbsp of water you saved, peanut butter, honey and vanilla in the food processor and blend until smooth. Transfer the mixture to the large bowl containing the dry mixture. Using your hands, combine the two until everything is evenly mixed.

Line a large baking sheet with tin foil or parchment paper. Using your hands, roll dough into 1" balls and place on the baking sheet. At the end, you should have anywhere between 30-36 balls. Place baking sheet in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Next comes the dipping! In a double boiler (or a heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water) add the chocolate & oil and stir until completely smooth. Remove balls from freezer. One at a time, place in the chocolate and roll around until evenly coated. Using a fork, scoop under the coated ball and allow chocolate to drip off. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. If you're having troubles getting them off the fork, gently push them off with a knife.

If you want, sprinkle a little sea salt on top of them to add a little more flavour. 

When done, chill them in the fridge or freezer for about 30 minutes.

Store them in an air tight container in the freezer for up to 2 weeks!

Enjoy!