Garlicky Mushroom Green Beans

One of my favorite side dishes, it goes with just about anything! So much flavor and pretty much addicting!

10 oz fresh green beans, trimmed

5 oz sliced mushrooms

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

3 large garlic cloves, minced

S&P

1-2 T olive oil

I begin by caramelizing the onions and mushrooms in the olive oil until cooked through and beginning to brown.

Add the garlic and stir around until fragrant

Remove mushrooms, onion and garlic to a small bowl

Add green beans to pan and add a splash of water to steam the beans until tender but still with a bite. Let the water fully evaporate.

Add the other veggies back in and combine.

Add S&P to taste, then ENJOY!

Super simple, super delish!

Whole30 Day 13 – Beef Fajitas (Recipe)

This was so good! The meat was really tender and I love the way the peppers and onions flavor the meat.

1 pound sliced steak

1 medium green pepper, thinly sliced

1 medium red pepper, thinly sliced

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

About 1 T of my dry rub mix

S&P to taste (I suggest adding this when everything is almost done cooking because the dry rub mix does contain some S&P)

Brown the meat in a hot pan and add the dry rub mix, then add onions and peppers and a splash of broth or water. Cook everything together until veggies are tender. I like to crank the heat at the very end to get a little extra flavor on the meat/veggie mixture but keep on eye on it and don’t let it burn! This is the beef version of the chicken fajitas I made in my last whole30!

Whole30 – Sausage Stuffed Peppers and Homemade Tomato Sauce

The whole30 is going so well! So far, I’m loving it and the results I’m already seeing. After the 30 days, I’ll probably follow this type of diet 90% of the time, it seems to be working for me!

I’m a sausage girl, that’s terrible, but I love it. So I usually am trying to find healthier, lower fat, more natural sausage to cook with. Chicken sausage is a great substitute! But sometimes you want the real thing, but the thing is, most sausages are sold with added sugar or chemicals and other nasty things. So, I made my own!

I got my recipe from CupcakesOMG! and it is so good. The only thing different I did was make my measurements rounded instead of level since I used 1 1/4 pounds of pork instead of just 1 pound.

Tonight, I used it to make stuffed peppers with a quick and easy homemade tomato sauce to pour over the top. Click the link above to go to CupcakesOMG! site and check out her recipe for homemade sausage. The tomato sauce recipe will be below the pictures!

Ready for the oven! I stuffed mine as full as I could because I know the meat will shrink a little as the fat drains out. (I poke a little whole in the bottom of each pepper to allow for the extra fat to drain out!)

I was very disappointed with the outcome of these, presentation wise. Taste wise? AMAZING! The instructions were to cook them at 350F for 60 mins. After 60 mins, the middle was still very raw. I ended up having to cut them in half and cook them for about another 20 mins.

Here is my simple recipe for homemade tomato sauce:

4 Roma tomatoes roughly chopped

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp seasoning salt

1/2 tsp fennel seed

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp honey

pinch of red pepper flakes

I put everything into a small pot on low heat and when the tomatoes were soft, I mashed them with the back of a big spoon. Simmer for about 20 mins with the lid on so it doesn’t evaporate and then you’re good to go!

onmywaytohealth is doing the whole30!

I really should have written this sooner but you know, it’s easier to wait until the last minute or day of to do something.

It was so nice to sleep in this morning and wake up knowing it’s a New Year, which to me, means a new start, a fresh beginning. I woke up feeling refreshed and excited for the things 2013 hold for me and my husband. We are hoping for a big boost in our business, health and hopefully starting a family!

I’m not making any resolutions for the New Year, but instead continuing on my journey to total health. I’m jump starting that this year by doing the whole30, I’m really excited about it. I followed some blogs of people months ago that had done it and had gotten great results. I’m not going to write about what it is here but will let you click the link and check it out. It’s very simple, not a lot of “rules” just guidelines. It’s easy to understand and easy to follow. I’ve sort of done it in the past, but not for 30 days and I was still including dairy in my diet (whole30 doesn’t include dairy).

I’ll be posting my progress, detox symptoms, results, etc. here so if you’re interested, follow along!

I started off the morning with scrambled eggs, a bit of sausage and some hot green tea!

Creamy Green Bean Non-Casserole

I didn’t know what else to title this, it kinda reminds me of the flavors found in green bean casserole, but I didn’t bake it or add crispy onions on top.

Anyways, it’s really good and a pretty common side dish in our house recently, both my husband and I are loving it!

I started by browning some mushrooms in butter or oil, then added in one thinly sliced onion, then tossed in some fresh green beans. After the onion cooked a bit, I added dried thyme and lots of black pepper. Then splashed in some chicken broth and half and half. Let it reduce all the way so that it becomes a thick sauce and coats everything. Then I add seasoning salt to taste! (In this picture, I served with crock pot chicken breasts).

Indulgences and Making Up For Them

Yesterday I spent the day with my mom and had a really fun day! I splurged a lot and had quite a bit of carbs and sugar though. So I’m making up for it by eating tons of fresh veggies (from her garden) all day with some homemade ranch. I also spent two hours at the gym last night and surprised myself by jogging 3.5 miles! The most I’ve ever jogged was 1.5, I spent a total of 2 hrs on the treadmill and went 7.5 miles and burned 1100 calories, it felt so good! And I feel awesome today!

Zucchini Lasagna Cups (Kinda…)

So I was gonna make these awesome low carb zucchini lasagna cups, but it got too hot to cook here and I couldn’t find any zucchinis big enough. So, I improvised and made these instead when it finally cooled down to the 80’s outside…

 

I sliced my zucchini into thirds and hollowed them out, leaving a thin bottom. I filled them with Italian sausage and creamy parmesan marinara (jarred marinara, half and half and parmesan all mixed together) and baked at 350F for about 20 mins then added cheese to the top and broiled until golden brown.

How easy is that?

We ate it with a giant salad and it was delicious!

Simple Low-Carb Salad

This is something we eat pretty regularly. Especially when it’s hot outside and hotter in our apartment. It’s especially good and satisfying after an intense workout. We eat this a few times a week, you should try it! You have no excuse not too! 😉

Ingredients:

Chicken

Bacon

Mushrooms

Cucumber

Tomato

Cheese

Black pepper (love lots of this on my salad!)

Lettuce (Of course!)

Throw it all together and add dressing (low carb) of your choice. I use Ranch for the dressing but I make it myself so I know there is no added sugar or any weird ingredients that I don’t want.

Coming up soon: Zucchini Lasagna Cups!

Italian Chicken And Cabbage Stir Fry

This is one of those I-don’t-have-much-in-my-fridge-so-throw-together-whatever-I-can meals. In this case it’s chicken, onion and cabbage along with herbs. I had a little bit of Italian chicken sausage so I brought the flavors out of it and added some red pepper flakes, herbs de provence, sage and fennel seeds. There is also some boneless, skinless chicken breast.

I started by browning the meat in a little bit of oil, then added the onion and let it get some color. I also like to add the red pepper flakes with the raw meat. Once the meat and onions were browned, I added the shredded cabbage.

My mom gave me some purple and green cabbage from the garden and it was the best cabbage! So good!

This meal was surprisingly good. I had expected it to be just okay but it was way more than okay! (I actually made it last night too, so to make it two nights in a row should tell you just how good it was).

Juicing!

So I borrowed a Jack LaLanne juicer from a friend today and made my first juice!

I know it doesn’t look amazing and I’m not gonna lie, it didn’t taste amazing either. But it was good and it felt good to drink it. I think it would be better cold and it’s an acquired taste I’m sure. This juice has 3 carrots, 1 apple, 1/3 of a cucumber, and 1/2 of a romaine heart. Next week, I’ll get some better things like beets, ginger, kale, grapefruits, lemons, etc.