So my dad, Amy and myself all have (had?) an obsession with the Food Network. Iron Chef, Next Food Network Star, Cupcake Wars and Chopped are all among our favorite shows. Our love goes so far as hosting Next Food Newtwork Star finale parties, buying my dad a custom chef’s jacket that says “Iron Chef Daddy” and trying every single cupcake place we can find that has won cupcake wars (word to the wise: House of Cupcakes in Princeton is awful but the Sweet Lobby in DC is ABSOLUTELY devine.) Needless to say we have a slight obsession. When I told my dad about my new eating lifestyle and the different things I could and could not eat he said it would be just like an episode of Iron Chef where they tell you that you can only cook with certain ingredients!
I’ve never been one of the best cooks in my household. My sister was convinced for a while she was going to culinary school (FYI that didn’t happen) so I’d leave the cooking to her or my mom. It wasn’t really until this past year when I had my own kitchen that I started to really try and prepare meals that were not just hot pockets or mac and cheese. My Big (oh forgot to mention I’m in a sorority) was the one who got me into it. It started with us simply throwing together some sautéed veggies and noodles with a little dressing and made a fantastic pasta salad. I realized just how easy this cooking thing could be so I began to expand my horrizons. Chicken parm, tacos, tuna melts, burgers all suddenly become things I could make! There is even this fantastic company called Scratch DC that will deliver fresh ingredients to your home and directions on how to prepare the meal of the day. If you’re in DC, I HIGHLY recommend it.
While I do enjoy going out to eat, I have found it a lot easier since starting Whole 30 to prepare my meals at home. That way I don’t have to be THAT girl who sends her food back to the kitchen seven times because no matter how many times you say NO CHEESE they just keep putting cheese on your burger… Anyway, thanks to social media I have been able to more than impress all my friends with beautifully instagrammed (*shameless plug* follow me on insta: abbyfaithhh) pictures of my meals! I’ve gotten a little lazy with this blogging things (it’s not easy when I know have TWO summer classes and I’m working to plan two separate programs for my internship, but I’ll stop complaining now) so I’ve decided to make this post a compilation of pictures and recipes of some of my delicious Whole 30 approved meals- some that I’ve made and others I’ve been able to enjoy out on the town! Enjoy!!
That’s not food- that’s just me cutting up some chicken. Thought the apron made me look official, Hannah just laughed at me.
The chicken I was cutting was for this delicious dish! This Thai Chicken and Broccoli was great! A little soupy (maybe I did something wrong) but made enough for me to enjoy for dinner and lunch the next day too! My co-workers were jealous.
No surprise here that this is a pinterest recipe! Perfect breakfast for a hungry girl like me and I even used the scooped out avocado to put in my tuna for lunch that afternoon.
My very first Sweet Green salad!! Loved how fresh and tasty everything was. Attempted to have some kale in my salad but wasn’t a huge fan.
Posted this in my last post but I’m way too proud to not share again. Prosciutto wrapped mini frittata muffins… all I can say is yummmmmmm!
Went to brunch with Hannah and made sure to pick a place that had food we could both enjoy (oh and bottomless mimosas… but that’s a whole other story). We ended up at Getaway in Columbia Heights. Hannah ordered a breakfast burrito and I had hoped to have a Eggs Benedict with Prosciutto but the waitress informed me they had no prosciutto. Well my second choice was a Portobello sandwich but the waitress again informed me they were out of portobello and bacon too! I was a little put off because that left barely anything on the menu for me to have. Had they informed us that they were out of these things when we first arrived I would have chosen a different place to eat. Thus far I had not run into any problems because of my eating restrictions but this really showed me how difficult it can possibly be. I sympathized with people who have been dealing with dietary restrictions all their lives. I settled for a steak, mushroom and spinach omelet which was tasty but not exactly what I had hoped for. Luckily the sauteed asparagus and bottomless mimosas made up for it.
Celebrated my half way point with some froyo… but not the actual thing. My friends got to enjoy some while I just got a cup full of fruit, nuts and coconut shavings. Definitely almost as good… almost.
Oh god just looking at this picture makes me want to hurl. I wasn’t going to include this in the post but I felt the need to caution others about this. Coconut Flour Pancakes. Long story short just no. Maybe I just had a poorly made batch but these just tasted awful. They fell right apart and were extremely dry. Such a waste.
Kind of made this up all on my own. I love mushrooms (if you haven’t picked up on that already) so I came across this recipe for Stuffed Mushrooms and modified it a bit. I used two giant portobellos and stuffed it with sauteed onions, garlic and spinach mixed with coconut flour, paprika and an egg. Kind of over did it with the stuffing but other than that it was very satisfying.
Besides the frittatas, this was one of the best meals I’ve made so far. Pan seared tilapia with a side of garlic cauliflower “mashed potatoes” . This was my first time every making fish and I really enjoyed it. The seasoning was perfect. Also, I’m so glad I finally got a chance to make these “mashed potatoes” because they were great. Hannah thinks you can give them to someone and they’d never know it was cauliflower. I also made more of the sweet potato fries finally!
Have suggestions for recipes I should try? Feel free to comment below! I’m always looking to expand my palet as well as my culinary skills.
Yet another Health Blog 