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Hey there! I'm Holly. A 40+ year old insurance-nerd wife, mom, beauty lover, and about a million other things in between.
This is the place where I share about our lives, what I'm currently loving, books I'm reading, plus-size style, beauty recommendations, health + fitness endeavors and anything else I'm finding interesting at the moment.
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Monthly Archives: January 2013
Whole 30 Thoughts From The Trenches
My mom and I had an interesting discussion about food this last week (she is prepping to do her first Whole 30 starting tomorrow.) She said to me “Oooh, because I’m doing the Whole 30 I’m going to treat myself to little cherry tomatoes just for snacking.” And I said “I know! After seeing my friend Elizabeth’s salad on twitter, it reminded me I need to pick up some radishes. I can’t wait to just have RADISHES WAITING FOR ME IN THE FRIDGE. YUM!”
The interesting part about both of these things is that it’s not like daily life precludes us from doing either, but something about narrowing our nutrition focus helps really clarify the Venn diagram of nutritious foods we really enjoy and foods we feel are genuinely pleasurable. It’s almost doesn’t make sense, but there is a way in which narrowing your choices actually creates a feeling of abundance that doesn’t happen in my normal life. Less is more: the food version. If you are feeling frustrated about food right now I challenge you to find your own cherry tomatoes or freshly scrubbed radishes ready to be eaten this week.
My goal with the Whole 30 (among other things) is to find some new, awesome habits (snacking on radishes) and healthy meals that I truly do enjoy specifically because my choices are limited, and to keep them in the rotation when I am back to having ALL OF THE OPTIONS. If I can just change one or two habits after this experience I will count that as great progress.
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Some time in the first week, everyone who has decided to undertake this challenge has that moment where they realize “Holy shit, this is really hard.” And to that, I say: YOU ARE RIGHT! What you are doing right now is a really hard thing. If you are feeling a little unmotivated because of that, I want to remind you of this. The act of getting through something tough is going to produce additional benefits (hello, confidence) that reach beyond even the physical awesomeness that you will earn just by doing the Whole 30. So I guess what I’m saying is make sure you are giving yourself credit for both things these days.
And I also want to remind you that if it feels hard? YOU’RE DOING IT RIGHT! Because I really think that is nice to hear.
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The last thing I’ve been thinking is that sometimes when the going gets tough we are tempted to use that difficulty to rationalize quitting.
“The Whole 30 is not sustainable, I should probably stop.”
“I don’t want to be obsessed with food all the time, I am just going to quit this now and try to develop mostly better habits in balance.”
“Why am I thinking about every morsel of food that goes in my mouth, that will not make me happy in the long run so in the short run I should quit.”
I want to challenge you to use that difficulty to motivate you. When you feel it is hard, validate that for yourself. But also, validate that YOU CAN DO HARD THINGS. And then, think about this:
*The Whole 30 *isn’t* sustainable, and it is not meant to be. That is why it is only 30 days. It’s NOT a Whole 365. But it is a finite commitment, and it is one that you have already invested some time into. Why not keep it up and see it through? If you have done it for 6 days, you know you can do it for 6 more. When you get to 12 days, know that you can do 12 more. This is not a life sentence, this is 30 days.
*Embarking on a Whole 30 *does* mean thinking about your food more than usual for a finite period of time. It is not programmed to make you obsessive. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that light will be so much more illuminating if you give yourself 30 days of mindfulness about your food. But keep it in perspective that when something *is* about mindfulness, it’s going to be on your mind, right? So if you are thinking about food a lot more than usual, you are not being obsessive, you are on the right track. And you will only be doing it for 30 days.
Don’t let your inner-rationalizer undermine your success!
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Remember that you are building an awareness of your body, and that this takes consistency and commitment.
Remember that this is hard, and it is okay to give yourself credit for doing hard things.
Remember that this is only 30 days and you won’t always feel this challenged.
Remember that you are almost done.
Remember that you can do it.
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Any other advice you would like to add?
Everday Seasoning
I know it is very hip to be in love with Thomas Keller or David Change right now (and I am not doubting their genius!) but you all, I am still representing my serious Food Network love for Rachael Ray. Hang on while I claim my seat at the unhip foodie table. Alright, now that we’re comfortable…You see the thing is, she taught me to experiment with my cooking and to not fear the kitchen. These are things that absolutely turned me on to cooking, so while I don’t love every single 30 Minute Meal she puts out, she will always have me as a member of her fan club. (Especially now that she makes 6 ingredient dog treats that are the only kind that Buster can eat with barfing! Yay!)
(Talking about dog barf in a recipe post. Pretty sure I’m doing this wrong.)
Anyway, one of the most awesome kitchen short cuts that she taught me was about using grill seasoning for things that you aren’t actually grilling. Mind: Blown, I KNOW! Grill seasoning is generally a pre-mixed group of herbs and spices that really kick up the flavor of any kind of meat and vegetables, and in my kitchen, as well as in grocery stores everywhere, you will often see it labeled as Everyday Seasoning or Montreal Steak Seasoning or perhaps some other branded name that basically means “Sprinkle me on meat and vegetables and I will make them taste good.” And it really is a useful addition to your spice arsenal. I especially love mixing it into burgers as a base seasoning, or rubbing it on chicken or fish when I am feeling no inspiration but don’t want to eat something bland. You may also want to try the Meat spice seasonings.
The only problem comes when you pick up one of these pre-packaged bad boys and the end up being full of preservatives or weird ingredients or things you can’t pronounce. WOMP WOMP! You know what I’m talking about — it is the packaged taco seasoning effect. It’s always a bummer to realize that something that tastes so delicious but is full of so much crap. This becomes especially inconvenient if you are doing a Whole 30 or a really strict nutrition challenge, which is why I wanted to share a super simple recipe for making your own Everyday Seasoning that is completely FREE of garbage, and completely FULL of flavor.
Make Your Own Everday Seasoning
Author:
Prep time:
Total time:
Ingredients
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- 2 tablespoons paprika
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- 2 tablespoons crushed black pepper
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- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
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- 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
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- 1 tablespoon granulated onion
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- 1 tablespoon crushed coriander
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- 1 tablespoon dill
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- 1 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tablespoon of dehydrated onion flakes (optional, for texture)
Instructions
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- Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
- Rub on chicken or steak, sprinkle on veggies, or mix a TBS or two into your burger mixture for a wonderfully seasoned dinner.
Hope you mix up something delicious!
****For more seasoning inspiration check out What’s In My Spice Cabinet + 4 Delicious Blends You Should Try.
Whole 30 Meal Plan – Week Two (Plus Homework!)
Greetings from the weekend! Where Buster just keeps saying “Please Please PLEASE can we do something else besides watch Homeland?” Sorry doggie, it’s not in the cards.
How did your meals go the first week? Hopefully you did some planning and things went pretty smoothly. If not, maybe this coming week you can think through what you’ve got on your agenda and tailor your dishes to that. That is the “ADVANCED” part of meal planning I think. It’s awesome to come up with a delicious menu, but if you are planning to make Beef Wellington on the same night you have to stay late at work and pick your kids up from soccer — well, that probably won’t set you up for success. So definitely look at your week and give yourself permission to make some lazy meals!
My personal favorite lazy meal? Breakfast for dinner!
Here’s a rough idea of what’s cooking in our neck of the woods. And I say rough idea because if you’ve been following me on Instagram you can see that sometimes I completely stick to my plan, or sometimes I off road and turn the ingredients that my meal plan required me to have on hand into something completely different. It’s my inner spoiled child saying NOBODY IS THE BOSS OF ME! Not even a meal plan. I DO WHAT I WANT! 😉
Sunday
Breakfast: Poached Eggs and Butternut Squash Hash
Lunch: Chicken Salads
Dinner: Asian Ahi Tuna Burgers (A paleo riff on this recipe) over spicy slaw with Roasted Broccoli and Sauteed Snap Peas
Monday
Breakfast: will be the same all week. I’m experimenting with a casserole inspired by Mel’s Spinach and Meat Muffins. I’ll probably add some mushrooms. This will last 4 days for both of us. On Friday we’ll probably mob some leftovers for breakfast.
Lunch: Damn Good Chili
Dinner: Lemon Garlic Herb Pork Chops with Basil + Ghee tossed Spaghetti Squash and Sauteed Zucchini
Tuesday
Lunch: Damn Good Chili
Dinner: Crock Pot Stuffed Peppers + Spicy Baked Cauliflower and Sweet Potatoes (one meal: two heads of cauliflower. WILD!)
Wednesday
Lunch: Taco Salad. Because I’m nothing if not predictable.
Dinner: Cilantro Lime Ono + Cauliflower Rice + Salted Avocado Can you tell I have a lot of cauliflower on hand right now? USE IT OR LOSE IT.
Thursday
Lunch: Leftovers. Because we will certainly have some.
Dinner: Garlic Chorizo Shrimp (a riff on this recipe) + Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Friday
Lunch: Spicy Broiled Salmon over salads with dilly cucumbers
Dinner: Crock Pot Beef Stew I need to make something easy on this night because we are meeting with our team to start planning The Relay. Have I talked about The Relay much here? I AM SO NUTS FOR SIGNING UP. More to come on this soon. Including how the hell I’m going to train for this, and what I was smoking when I said “Yes, sounds great to be on a team that runs 200 miles in 24 hours.” WHAT?
Saturday
Garrett is going to be gone most of Saturday so I will be doing the single gal thing. Not quite sure what that will look like yet, but I’m sure it will be creative. Or completely weird. That’s how I roll when I eat alone.
Sunday
I’ll post a new menu on Sunday!
So Hey — Let’s Talk About Homework
This week the homework is 3-fold (oooh, advanced!) but it is still super easy:
1. Find some new #whole30 peeps to follow on Twitter & Instagram and make sure to say hello
2. Continue to add your photos to the mix and using the hashtag #hwisc
3. Leave a comment here about the best Whole 30 meal you at last week. Extra credit if it includes a link!
Have a great Week Two everyone! I’m off to grocery shop!
Whole 30 Week One: What’s Cooking Good Looking?
Lots of deliciousness on the internet this week. I’ve rounded up some great pics that I’ve come across and added the Instagram and Twitter handles (Twitter I’ve marked with the @ sign) to make it easy to find good food inspiration if you need it in the days to come and do not forget to visit this website https://viebelles.com/ to see the amazing knives that they have available for you to create your recipes.
If a picture doesn’t have a credit, it means it’s a repeat from a name I’ve already mentioned. So fun to see what everyone is eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner!
Keep up your shots and tag the ones you love with #hwisc so we can all follow along. While I can’t include every picture, I’ll try and do a weekly round up and mention everyone at least once to keep us all inspired and excited in the kitchen!
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Hope your week two is full of fabulous eats! Menu Plan coming tomorrow. How is everyone feeling???
Fun Things To Read On A Friday
It’s Friday! Time to kick back and relax.
It’s the first weekend of the year, how are you spending it, folks? I don’t have a single thing on the agenda (well except to avoid thinking about all the wine I am NOT drinking and some more meal prep) and I am quite looking forward to it.
For those of you doing the Whole 30 — good luck to you on your first weekend! And to those of you NOT doing the Whole 30, I rounded up a number of non-nutrition challenge related links so that everyone has something to read today. Hooray!
* I bought one of these Incredible Year Workbooks last year and you know what? I had an INCREDIBLE YEAR. Obviously I bought one again this year. And a second one for my mama. Highly Recommend.
*I read two things that made me cry on the internet this week. (I KNOW!) (It was an emotional week.) The first was this post on CrossFit Lisbeth that just gave me a great dose of perspective. I’m trying to keep an eye on the mindless complaining I do (I probably can’t give it up completely, I am human after all) but man this was a powerful reminder.
*The second thing was this post called I Am Plus Size from Stephanie over at Radical Hateloss. It is such a great piece that reminded me again that losing weight is rarely about the things you give up, and so much more about the things you gain when your mindset changes. Definitely worth a read if you have any weight loss goals on your agenda this year.
*Speaking of goals, I read so many great lists of resolutions and seasonally appropriate pieces of inspiration this week. In the end I wanted to share How To See The Barrier To Reaching Your Goals because I think a huge part to success is getting comfortable with failing. And I want all of you all to be successful in 2013 — however you define that. But that’s the key, I think. Defining what you want. It doesn’t have to be an arbitrary list of things to do, it can be a word or a feeling that will a giant banner sign that you have arrived. SUCCESS: YOU ARE HERE.
*All of this talk of putting goals out there, reminded me of Brene Brown’s book Daring Greatly. (Maybe you remember me mentioning it briefly last year?) These ideas of fear and vulnerability are all swirling at the surface during this time of year because the majority of us have some fear and judgment tied to failing. I wanted to mention that book because I think the start of a new year is a GREAT time to read it. But also, if you don’t have time to dig into a whole book right now, check out this post about why we don’t do the things we know we should do. Such a great reminder that instead of beating yourself about all the things you coulda woulda shoulda done last year, just let go of the fear and resolve to DO them now.
*If Menu Planning is one of those things you resolved to do, check out my good friend and half marathon buddySarah’s approach to meal planning. This is the Anti-Planning Guide to Meal Planning, and she has delicious dinner on the table nightly. I mean, have you seen her Instagram feed? Good stuff!
*Maybe you resolved to blog more (or blog your Whole 30 experience?) If so, check out Blog Maven’s 12 Best Time Management Tips for Bloggers. Blogging can be a full time job! It’s nice to hear how other folks fit it all in.
*Maybe you resolved to get your nutrition in check this year. Or to check out all this Paleo business, eh? If so, check out 4 Great Ways Paleo Plan Can Help You With Your New Years Resolutions. Paleo Plan is an awesome site full of resources, and I had the pleasure of getting to meet Neely while I was in Colorado this year and she is totally worth showing some love! Plus, she just started CrossFitting and I loved her review of the whole experience.
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Is that enough reading material for the day? Man, so much good stuff on the internet this week! Have a link to share? Did anything move you, inform you, or get you super motivated to start the year off right? Share…pretty please? Have a great weekend you all!
(Whole 30ers: I’ll be back tomorrow with a round up of fun Whole 30 Food Inspiration from Instagram and Twitter (remember to tag yours with #hwisc if you want to be included) and a new meal plan on Sunday. Keep up the good food work this weekend!)
January Favorites
How about we take a break from talking ALL food ALL the time and instead talk about some really awesome things that I am loving lately? I don’t know about you, but I love a good random recommendation. Here’s what’s lighting my fire lately.
Favorite Podcast: I threw a call out on Twitter to find out YOUR favorite podcasts because I am trying to overload my phone with good stuff to listen to during my commute. Blog reader Megan (who has given me some awesome book recos too) said I should check out Watch What Crappens and you guys — LIFE CHANGING! If you enjoy yourselves some bitchy TV guys talking about Bravo-lebrities then you will love this podcast. If none of that even makes sense to you, don’t even worry about it. I’m going to round up some of the best Podcast suggestions next week, so if you have one to add, leave it in the comments.
Favorite TV Show: As with most shows that everyone raves about, I really didn’t think Homeland sounded that interesting. I don’t say that to imply my stellar TV taste, quite the opposite. I only watch crap TV, ao when people recommend a “great show” I generally just think “hmmmm…paying attention sounds like a lot of work.” Anyway, a Marine Sergeant comes home 8 years after going missing in Iraq and a CIA agent thinks he’s been turned and is helping plot an attack on America. Ok. Sounds fine. I’m not going to run out and rearrange my schedule to catch it or anything. BUT OHMYGOD I SHOULD HAVE. And don’t worry, I kind of have in the past couple of weeks. I think these raves should have included that Mandy Patinkin is involved, because I love just about everything that man is ever in, and I think I should just be less stubborn about TV recommendations because this is right up my alley with its mystery and intrigue. Netflix it, yo!
Favorite Headband: I am not a fan of short hair for workouts, and right after I cut my hair there was literally a time when my bad workout hair was so dramatic that I thought to myself I may just have to shave my head — because I sure wasn’t quitting CrossFit. Not with all those holiday cookies I’ve eaten! But I couldn’t pig-tail it, regular headbands weren’t working, and just letting it fly free wasn’t going to work. For starters, hair flying in your face is annoying. But secondly (and frankly more importantly) I can not deal with sweat just dripping off the back of my head freely all over the place with nowhere to go (because see it used to just go into my ponytail but now what used to be like 7 inches of surface area is only 1 inch of surface area.) Are you understanding the dramatic science that was happening here? IT WAS AWFUL AND I ALMOST HAD TO GO ALL BRITNEY AND PULL OUT THE CLIPPERS. But instead I found this headband and life is so much less dramatic.
Favorite Dress: I am really enjoying this dress because it is not quite baggy while at the same time not being too clingy and that is just what I’m looking for right now. GOD YOU GUYS, QUIT BRINGING UP ALL THE COOKIES I ATE. Anyway, I love this dress, it fits well, looks stylish and is in a fabric that will transition well from being work in winter with tights to being worn with bare legs in Spring. I love it and I feel like I’m going to get a lot of use out of it. It will definitely show up in an outfit of the day near you soon. Speaking of outfits of the day and stripes, I organized all of my 2012 Outfit Photos into a set the other day and man there are a lot of stripes. No apologies! If you are into that sort of thing, check it out. It was actually kind of fun to look back.
Favorite Hand Cream: This awesome little cream is made from shea butter so it is super moisturizing, but doesn’t the fragrance sound kind of weird? Let me assure you, it totally isn’t weird. In fact, it’s delicious. It’s clean smelling and the scent is not too heavy, but the cream itself is super emollient and great for winter. I generally reserve my “clean” scents for spring, but this is a great alternative. It’s actually really winter-y feeling but still so fresh!
Favorite Ankle Boots: Ankle boots are RISKY fashion for me. I don’t have particularly big ankles but because my calves are just off the chart ridic something that cuts off at the wrong spot could really accentuate that. I happened upon these at Old Navy (I know, two Old Navy items on this list! I can’t believe it myself!) and decided to try them on. I purchased them on a whim because they are cute and I’m so glad I did. They are a fun little addition to my wardrobe and for only $19 I don’t have to get wound up if I don’t wear them into the ground.
Favorite Album: Come on. You’ve heard songs off of this album right? Two Words: Booty Shakin’!
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So what is rocking your world lately? Any Podcasts/TV Shows/Albums/Random Clothing Purchases you need to share about???
Whole 30 Meal Plan – Week One (Plus Homework!)
Our Whole 30 starts today! And I celebrated by hopping on the scale to get a baseline. I mean it seemed like a good idea at the time. SOB!
LORD ALMIGHTY THAT WAS A RUDE AWAKENING. I can’t even really talk about it, but let’s just say it was worse than I thought, and my assumption was pretty bad to begin with. But hey — LOOK AT ALL THE OPPORTUNITY FOR IMPROVEMENT I HAVE! OH MY. I AM SO GRATEFUL. (sarcasm)
::::the glass is half full. the glass is half full. why is the glass not half full with red wine, is what I want to know:::::
Just kidding.
The glass really is half full and I am not interested in looking back. All those cookies seemed like a good idea at the time, and well — it is what it is. All I can do is do my best today! I’m feeling optimistic but that doesn’t mean that Day One hasn’t had its challenges already. I got to work and found a See’s Scotchmallow Bar in my purse that had been a gift on New Year’s Eve. YOU MEAN I COULD HAVE EATEN IT ALREADY AND I FORGOT? Yeah, so no dice. I had to give that away, STAT. Also there are cookies in the breakroom. I mean, hello, did everyone not get the memo that is January? NOBODY WANTS COOKIES.
But I’m determined to have this awesome Whole 30 experience so enough cookie talk, let’s talk about what we are actually eating this week. I’m going to post my menus each week. This week starts on a Wednesday so it will be short, but from here on out I will try and get the menus up each Sunday.
Wednesday
Breakfast: Southwestern Frittata with Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Roasted Carrots and Parsnips (I made all of this on my days off. Score!)
Lunch: Cinnamon Beef Stew (which we made and had for dinner last night. Leftovers, Holla!)
Dinner: Caramelized Italian Pork Chops with Sweet Onion Jam + Roasted Broccoli + Cauliflower
Thursday
Breakfast: Southwestern Frittata with Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Roasted Carrots and Parsnips (You are sensing a pattern here, aren’t you?)
Lunch: Paleo Minestrone Soup (Yep, made a batch of that this weekend too!)
Dinner: Turkey Burgers with Sweet Potato Fries + Kale Chips (I think I’ll blog my fave turkey burgers next week. What a tease!)
Friday
Breakfast: Southwestern Frittata with Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Roasted Carrots and Parsnips (Sorry, it is just really easy to make 4 days worth of breakfast on the weekend!)
Lunch: Paleo Minestrone Soup (Keeping it simple this week, which SURPRISE! Means a few repeats up in here)
Dinner: Roasted Shrimp (not sure what marinade we are doing yet – TBD) with Green Beans + Almonds and Roasted Brussels Sprouts. (You can not have enough brussels sprouts)
Saturday
Brunch: Poached Eggs over Spicy Sweet Potato Hash (no hollandaise this time around. Sad face.)
Snacks for the afternoon
Dinner: Taco Salads. It’s happening, and I’m already looking forward to it. I’d make them today but my avocados aren’t ripe, and it’s actually not legal to make a Taco Salad in California without an avocado.
Sunday
I’ll post a new menu on Sunday!
So Hey — Let’s Talk About Homework
So I think many of you are Whole 30 social media mavens and you are probably out there tweeting and Instagramming all of your gorgeous meals. Well, actually I know it because I’m probably following you and your feeds make me droooooool. So, if you would like to play along, hashtag your meal pics with #hwisc (Holly Would If She Could, see what I did there???) And I will try and do a round up each week of some of your awesome food porn for inspiration. That way we can eventually all find some new people to follow and perhaps some new recipes to make. What do you think? Don’t you miss homework from your school days? No? Just me? 🙂
Have a great week everyone!
Paleo Minestrone Soup
Growing up, one of the best “Comfort Food” dishes my mom made was a big batch of Minestrone Soup. It was meaty, salty, full of pasta and potatoes and there was no better way to serve it than smothered with a ton of Parmesan cheese.
These days I still love comfort food, but my palate has changed and my desire to stuff my face with my mom’s cheesy pasta soup has (on most days) been replaced with a desire to enjoy a nostalgic home-cooked meal while also stuffing my face with some vegetables. This soup is how I combine the two.
I should also note that I can’t actually make this soup without Garrett doing his Eric Ripert “Minestrone!” impersonation at least twice during the preparation. Despite the fact that this soup is very Italian, there was a Top Chef episode many moons ago where Ripert kept saying it OVER AND OVER in his very French accent and so now every time we eat it Garrett acts like he is about to launch into a performance of Les Poissoins. The second thing you should note is that on that same Top Chef episode I think the person who made the Minestrone was eliminated because her carrots were not all the same size. This really offended Tom Colicchio, so you know, KEEP THE CARROTS UNIFORM.
Um, or don’t. This is a rustic soup. That’s the best part, actually. It’s a chop, drop, season, stir and eat kind of soup. And the best part? It tastes EVEN BETTER a day or two after you make it. So make up some on the weekend and eat it for lunch all week. Bonus? It’s Whole 30 compliant! So what are you waiting for?
Paleo Minestrone Soup
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
- 1 Large Yellow Onion, medium dice
- 6 Small Stalks Celery (preferably from the heart, leaves attached), sliced
- 4 Large Carrots, peeled and diced (try to keep them about the same size)
- 2 Medium Zucchini, medium dice
- 1.5 lbs Ground Beef
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 1 teaspoons Pepper
- 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 3 Garlic Cloves, finely minced
- 3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
- 2 (14.5 oz) Cans Diced Italian Tomatoes
- 8 Cups Beef Broth
- 4 Cups Red Cabbage (about half a large head) diced bite sized
- 1 Bunch of Kale, stems removed, chopped up
Instructions
- Heat 2 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil in a large heavy bottomed pot (I used a 7.5 Qt Dutch Oven) over medium heat
- Add onions, celery, carrots and saute until translucent and vegetables start to soften (about 10 minutes)
- Add zucchini and saute for 3-5 more minutes and then push veggies to one side of your pot
- Turn heat up to medium high and ground beef in and proceed to crumble and brown
- As beef begins to brown, stir in with all the vegetables
- Add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and minced garlic and saute for 2 minutes
- Stir in tomato paste and let it melt into other ingredients
- Add diced Italian Tomatoes and beef broth and bring to a boil
- Once boiling, lower heat to medium low and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered
- Add cabbage and kale and simmer for 10 minutes, covered
- Serve and Enjoy!
2013 Goals
I wasn’t sure whether or not I would set any goals this year. Can you believe those words even came out of my mouth? The thing is, I want 2013 to be the year that I am PRESENT and goal setting, while super duper awesome can be the gateway drug to living in the future (for me!)
But the other big thing that goal setting gives me is a compass. It is a list of things that guide my way, and I reminded myself that they do not need to be set in stone. They can evolve. They can get bigger. They can get smaller. And I can base all of that on what I’m doing and how I’m living IN THE PRESENT.
So I did end up making an awesome list, and it’s just some things I’ve got kicking around in my head RIGHT NOW in the areas I want to focus on: Fitness, Fun, Relationships, My Jobs, and this Blog. I reserve the right to update it when and if the time seems right.
*Train for and run The Relay Did I really sign up for this. Yes, yes I did. Oh lordy!
*Run another half marathon And beat my old time, obviously.
*Continue CrossFit 4-5 per week Can’t live without it. This is year three. I can’t even believe that.
*Do a pull up. By yourself. Without a band. One of these days I’ll get there.
*Map out a plan to improve your lifting technique Buy a book, take a class, play around at open gym more…WHO KNOWS?
*If you have time, incorporate some yoga for mobility
*Get married And do it without Pinterest Pressure
*Private
*Keep up with The Great Skincare Experiment and transition to 100% Natural Skincare.
*All types of skin and ages are suitable for hydradermabrasion treatments. Your skin care clinic can customize treatment for wrinkles, sun damage, fine lines, or a specific skin type like oily skin.
*Get professional photos taken with Garrett again
*Plan a weekend away with girlfriends
*Read 50 books
*Do another year of Project Life It’s so damn easy.
*Write one hand written note per month Birthday cards, Thank You Notes, Letters to Say Hello. Just do it.
*See a city with Garrett that is new to both of us!
*Document your outfits more in an effort to dress better at work
*Stop bringing/prepping so much food at parties Garrett suggested this one. Ha! So it’s on the list.
*Take a Butchering class
*Update home decor If you feel like it and have time
*Do more public speaking I really love doing this. Do you hear me, Universe?
*Write a cookbook I am proud of Garrett + I are having fun doing this right now. But how big of a priority this will be for 2013 remains to be seen.
*Post 52 new recipes to the blog I posted 21 new recipes last year, so this year I need to step up my game! 🙂
*Redesign website I’m all ears for suggestions on this. Do you know someone who does stellar work? Talk to me.
*Start a sponsorship/advertising program that builds community The business of blogging is a touchy subject. I want to figure out a way to have ads on this blog that are HELPFUL, not just profitable. Like what if it was awesome information people actually wanted. This challenge appeals to the connector in me.
Private
*Meet more blog readers/bloggers I met A LOT of fellow bloggers this year and man, that is so FUN to share a totally awesome hobby. More, please.
*Be a better blog commenter Every single comment I receive on this blog literally makes my day. So I want to remember that when I’m reading something and think to myself “Oh, what I have to say doesn’t matter. I don’t need to comment.”
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And the thing I want to keep in mind all year long:
