Mangia, Mangia! (Eat, Eat!)

I had someone once tell me her husband was a chef and she hated to eat, she wished she could just take a pill and get her daily needs met.  She was probably a size negative 6 and might as well have told me she just was probed by Aliens.  WHAT?!  How can you have someone making you incredible food and hate eating?!  That simply doesn't compute.  (Obviously or this blog would be about how I hate eating and was probed by Aliens..LOL!)

Point being - eating on plan can't be boring or it won't last.  It can seem restricting because it's no starchy carbs, no grains, no sugar and no dairy.  At first the part I was most OK with was no dairy, until I realized that meant cheese.  To me cheese is it's own food group.  On this plan, not so much =( I almost cried hearing cheese was off the table but it is all about how much you really want to lose - so I agreed.  No Cheese.  (That 2 word sentence has almost the same significance to me as the biblical 2 word sentence - Jesus Wept.)  Although I know he wasn't weeping for my lack of cheese.. 

Anyway, eating on plan really isn't that hard once you get the mind going.  Lean meat, Veggies, Legumes, Berries.. We've been checking labels very carefully if it's something in a can or jar looking for items that have minimal ingredients, no added sugars, making sure the items in the jar are things you can pronouce, etc.. Trying to make sure that we are greatly reducing what processed food we allow in our bodies.  

This plan is easy enough to find things on menu's too that help you stick to a lean meat portion and veggies.  We're pretty excited that 2 of the items we love the most at our Fave Mexican restaurant are totally on plan - just take off the cheese and no rice.  What's left?  Lean meat and veggies cooked in amazing spices.

Here are some of the go to recipes we've been testing on our family that have received 10 thumbs up - 2 adults, a teen and 2 kids under 10.

- Cuban Flank Steak - DELICIOUS!!!  We serve it with Cilantro/Lime Black beans (Add cilantro and lime to some black beans) and top with Avocado & Tomato

- Qdoba Bowls (Our Version) - Start with Black beans, add the Barbacoa Beef (Used a grass fed roast), add sautee'd bell peppers and onions, Avocado, tomato and salsa/hot sauce.   You can also add lettuce if you want more of a salad feel.  (Pict is of the meat receipe we used, no tortillas were injured in the making of these bowls)..

- Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa - We cooked Tilapia, seasoned it a bit with some pepper, garlic, onion or whatever you like best.  For the Mango Salsa = Dice 1 Mango, Dice 1 avacado, chop 1/2 red onion, chop 1 deseeded, deveined Jalapeno (leave those in for more spice), juice of 1 lime, few TBSP's of fresh chopped cilantro and stir together.  Serve with Broccoli slaw on Romaine lettuce leaves for the "Taco" effect or chop the lettuce for more of a salad.

- Triple Berry Chicken Salad - One container of Spinach (or power greens or really whatever you like best.. I generally do a dark mix to get the most nutrients), 1 container of raspberries, 1 container of blueberries, 1 container of blackberries, 1 Avocado, Feta (we didn't have but the kids could add), 1 Rotisserie Chicken (or shredded chicken breasts) for the Salad.  Top the spinach with berries, avocado and chicken then drizzle with dressing.  For the Dressing - 3 Tbsp Olive Oil and 2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar.  Whisk together until blended and then top salad.

-Paleo Pizza Casserole - SO this one is admittedly only a 5 Thumbs up.  The 2 kiddos under 10 were not big fans but I partly blame that on a ratatouille experiment gone bad many years ago.. they are apparently still harboring their dislike towards the squash family.  I liked it, our teenager liked it and my boyfriend gave it one thumbs up (he didn't mind it which is huge given his dislike for squash - so that's like 1.5 thumbs up)  I'd say if you like spaghetti squash, I think this is a good one!  Would be good with chunks of tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, green peppers and extra sauce- anything you put on a pizza to give you a little pizza fix.  I did use a bit of non-dairy cheese, the pepperoni was nitrate/nitrate free and the sauce was organic and natural - no added sugars.   

- Sweet Potato and Egg Hash.. Perfect for the weekend!

- Roasted Cauliflower - This was probably one of the biggest surprises.  My boyfriend likes raw cauliflower, I don't but like cooked.  We'd heard a lot of ravings about roasting it and I was really wanting to test it.  AH-MAZEBALLS.  Chop a head of cauliflower into florets or however you want to eat them on a cookie sheet, drizzle lightly with olive oil and toss with salt/pepper.  Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20/25 min - until tender and browning.  I drizzle mine with some balsamic but none is really needed.  The first time we tried it, the kids ate almost half of what we cooked and they asked for it the next night.  It was that good =)



I have about a million more things I'm really anxious to try on my Pinterest board - it's been fun trying new things and VERY flavorful!!  

Here's a link to my "Recipe Bucket List" Some things on plan, some not (gasp.. I know) but look fun to try - http://www.pinterest.com/LMN0691/recipe-bucket-list/

Here's a link to my "Tried and True" board of things both on plan (and off - So ignore those..lol) that were hits!
http://www.pinterest.com/LMN0691/eat-drink-and-be-merry/

Mangia, Mangia - Hands in the air, 2 Claps..  GET THAT BONZA BOOTY BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!