Date Sweetened Paleo Banana Muffins

I've always loved to bake and eat sweets. In college, I was the one that would bake a cake for each of my friends birthdays. Since going gluten-free, baking isn't the same. Experimenting with flours is frustrating, expensive and most of the time inedible in the end. Add in eating Paleo and it's even more limiting. I have found though that Paleo baking does have some benefits, one of which is the more limited options of flours. When I've been following other peoples recipes, it's much simpler when they only select from tapioca, coconut, almond, arrowroot, or potato flours. 

Now that I've been cooking and baking Paleo for the best part of the last 2 years, I know what I prefer when it comes to baked goods. Today was the first day that I really thought, I can make my own Paleo baking recipe and I did! My main goal was actually removing sugar from muffins. Following my last Whole30 a few months ago, I'm having very bad reactions to sugar. I've found it's best to avoid it completely but muffins have just sounded so good! My solution was to use date paste as a replacement for sugar in muffins. First up, making the date paste!

How to Make Date Paste
Yield: about 1.5 cups

2 cups dates, pitted
water

1. In a large measuring cup, measure out dates. Cover in warm or hot water. Let soak for 1 hour to soften.
2. Strain dates but keep the date water.
3. Add dates to a food processor or blender. Start blending them on medium or medium-high power. 
4. Slowly drizzle in about a teaspoon at a time the reserved date water. This will help get a creamier consistency.
5. Let blend until you have a smooth medium density paste. I opted for a bit thinner consistency and then found it did thicken in the fridge a bit.
6. Store in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 3 months. 

With the date paste in hand, I decided that Paleo Banana Muffins were my best recipe to start with. I know from past baking that I prefer a muffin with a coconut and tapioca flour blend rather than almond flour. Keep in mind that coconut flour can NOT be substituted in this recipe. 

Date Sweetened Paleo Banana Muffins
Yields: 30 mini muffins or 12 regular muffins

5 TBLS butter, melted
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas
1/4 cup date paste
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350'.
2. In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. 
3. To the melted butter add the eggs, bananas, vanilla and date paste. 
4. With a fork, mash the bananas and stir to combine. Make sure to break up any large chunks of bananas otherwise they will cook unevenly. 
5. Add in the remaining ingredients. Stir until well combined.
6. Spoon about 3/4 way full into greased muffin pan, silicone muffin holders, or papered muffin tray. For mini muffins bake for 13-15 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. For regular muffins 22-25 minutes.
7. Remove immediately from pan to ensure cooking stops. Place on wire rack to cool. Muffins can be frozen for eaten later too!

Easy Paleo Banana Pancakes

We are banana eaters in my house. I usually buy between 8-10 pounds of bananas a week yet we always seem to be out of them. This last week I'm not sure what happened but we have a lot of leftover bananas. The only problem is, I won't touch them if they have spots. So it's time to figure out ways to utilize all these ripe bananas!

One great way is to dehydrate them to eat for snacks or use in my Homemade Larabars. Dehydrating usually takes about 3 hours to dehydrate 10-12 bananas. Another thing you can do is peel, chunk, and freeze the bananas for smoothies or banana ice cream. One trick we've learned is that they need to be flash frozen otherwise they all stick together.

Flash Freezing Fruit

1. Line a large baking sheet with tin foil. 
2. Cut the fruit down to the desired size, if necessary. I chunk my strawberries, bananas, pineapple, and mango but leave my blackberries, raspberries, and marionberries whole. 
3. Place the baking sheet in your freezer. If you have a check or upright freezer, use this for about 1 hour. If you only have your fridge-freezer it takes closer to 4-5 hours to get a solid freeze.
4. Remove the baking sheet from the freezer and immediately slide all the fruit off into freezer Ziploc bags and put back in the freezer. All your hard work will go to waste if you let the fruit defrost at all.

The easiest and most satisfying way to use up spotty bananas is to make pancakes! I've tried many different banana pancake recipes and finally figured out the easiest and yummiest one.

Easy Paleo Banana Pancakes
Serves: 3, 12-15 4" size pancakes

2 ripe bananas
4 eggs
4 TBLS coconut flour
2 TBLS coconut oil, divided

1. In a blender combine all ingredients. Whirl up until combines and smooth, about 1 minute. 
2. Heat a non-stick skillet or grill pan over medium heat with 1 tablespoon of coconut oil.
3. Four the batter into the skillet to make 4 inch size pancakes.
4. Wait for the edges to cook completely and the pancake to look firm before flipping, about 3 minutes.
5. Flip and cook for an additional 1 minute. 
6. Serve immediately.

These are great topped with fresh fruit, some seared banana bits, warm syrup or however else you prefer your pancakes!

Curried Zucchini Noodles

Curry is one of my favorite dishes since it can be done in so many different flavors but always has the perfect combination of spices. When I was pregnant with my son, curry was what I had to eat. I remember dragging my husband to the Thai restaurant down the street to sit outside in 90' weather and eat a piping hot bowl of massaman curry. Since discovering Thai food 10 years ago, we've eaten it a lot. It's one of the few cuisines that seems to be mostly gluten free so I've been able to try all sorts of dishes. I always come back to the curry though. 

Since my love for Thai curry can also get a bit expensive, I've started making it myself at home. Now I know there are many different ways to make curry and as a Thai cooking novice, I go for the simple one. I purchase curry paste in tubs at the Asian store, store it in my fridge, and just combine it with coconut milk. What's great is that you can purchase all different flavors such as red, yellow, massaman, panang, or green. I've only purchased the Mae Ploy brand since that's what is available to me. My husband prefers panang so we usually make our curry from that, red or massaman. 

Curried Zucchini Noodles with Sausage
Serves: 3 

2 medium zucchini, spiralized (I use the Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer)
1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 TBLS curry paste
1 can (or 2 cups) full-fat coconut milk
1/2 lb ground italian sausage
2 TBLS coconut oil

1. Heat wok over medium heat. Add coconut oil and italian sausage. Cook sausage stirring continually until cooked through. Remove from wok.
2. Add in curry paste. Using a spatula stir the paste until it starts to bubble slightly. Add in the coconut milk. 
3. Reduce the curry paste and coconut milk for 5 minutes until the sauce thickens and reduces by 1/3. Make sure to stir or it will burn on the inside of the wok.
4. Once the sauce is reduced, add in the bell peppers and onions. Cook for 3-5 minutes, so they are cooked but still have a crunch. Add back in the sausage.
5. Add the zucchini noodles and toss to coat. Turn off the heat and do not cook the noodles. 
6. Serve immediately.

Note: If you cook the noodles in the sauce you loose the crunchy consistency. The sauce alone will cook them a bit but the dish is not nearly as good with cooked noodles.

Menu Plan for 2/9-2/16

Menu for the week of 2/9-2/16

Monday- Crockpot French Onion Soup from The Paleo Kitchen: Finding Primal Joy in Modern Cooking and homemade GF French Bread 
Tuesday- Braised Beef, Artichokes & Peas from Mediterranean Paleo Cooking: Over 150 Fresh Coastal Recipes for a Relaxed, Gluten-Free Lifestyle
Wednesday- Ginger Chicken & Broccoli from Against All Grain: Meals Made Simple
Thursday- Eggplant Lasagna from Everyday Paleo Around the World: Italian Cuisine
Friday- Barbacoa tacos
Saturday- Creamy Dill Salmon with broccoli
Sunday- Ham, mashed sweet potatoes, peas

Once again most of these meals are made with items I already have. I'm heading to the store today to purchase a few fresh produce items like broccoli, eggplant, plantains, and zucchini but otherwise I'm good for the week. I'll also pick-up our every week staples: whole milk for the baby and bananas. 

Crock Pot Paleo Freezer Meals

Freezer meals can be the most convenient dinner meals but are daunting to make. Last October when we did our first Whole30, I decided to make some freezer meals. It was my first time trying it out and I was about as inefficient as possible. This time around I thought the steps through much more and was able to make 10 meals in 3 hours. If you can have uninterrupted time, this could be done in 2 hours. 

My first step was to come up with the recipes to cook. I knew I wanted to do a mixture of different meats and use what we already had frozen so I ended up with 2 chicken recipes, 2 beef recipes, and 1 pork. I decided this time around it would be easier to just make 2 of each meal, so 5 recipes x2. Here's what I decided on. All meals are gluten free, paleo, and Whole30 compliant. 

Paleo Minestrone Soup
Brazilian Curry Chicken
Enchilada Chicken Stew
Squeaky Clean Boeuf Bourgignon
Thai Curry with Beef (I used panang curry instead)

I then made a spreadsheet with the ingredients that I would need. I left off spices since I had all of those already. I ended up with a master shopping list that I then doubled.

When I went to the store I spent $33 which included some produce for the week too. All the meat I already had in my freezer.

Here's my process:

1. Write the recipe name, date, and additional instructions on your large freezer Ziplocs before you start in sharpie. Make sure this includes cook time!
2. Line up your Ziploc bags on the counter propped open with the duplicates together. 
3. Have all the printed recipes next to you on the counter. 
4. Start with veggies so your bags have weight to them and stay open. Chop, slice, dice or cut according to one recipe. Make sure to cross of whatever you've just done from the recipe. This may not seem necessary at the beginning but later on you won't remember where your at.
5. Next add in spices. If you add a bit extra that's okay. I find that some of the spices often stick to the bags when your emptying them out.
6. Now is liquids. At this point you need to use your discretion on if the liquids will fit or not. It's okay to just write "Add 1 can of diced tomatoes and 1 can chicken broth" to the front of the bag. Just make sure the can's to add are items you stock on hand all the time so you'll have it when you need it. 
7. Add frozen meat or seared meat, according to the recipe. 
8. Remove as much air as possible and seal Ziplocs. Place in freezer for another day!
9. Clean-up! I don't clean-up as I go since that just adds more time. I've found that when I did clean-up as I went, I put away items I ended up needing for another recipes. I do toss dirty dishes in the sink but that's about it.

Tips:

• Grocery shop the day before otherwise it's very overwhelming. Most items don't need to be refrigerated so just leave it all on the counter. 
• Do like items together. Peel all your carrots, turnips, etc at the same time.
• Use a food processor or blender to "dice" your onions to save time. Make sure to read each recipe though to see if you need to slice or chunk them instead. 
• Most of these recipes don't require the meat to be pre-cooked so if it's already frozen, you don't need to do anything else to it. To make sure I don't forget it, I place my sealed frozen meat inside my large ziplocs with the other ingredients. 
• When you put it in the freezer, laying them flat on their side takes the least space but make sure it will fit in your slow cooker that way.

Whole30: All done & this weeks menu plan

I survived the Whole30 except for the fact that I stopped on day 28. My biggest hurdle was eating out either at restaurants or other peoples houses. It's very apparent to me that unless someone else eats Paleo, they don't understand what foods I can eat. I only made it to day 28 because it was my sisters birthday dinner at my parents house. I was told I could eat everything. The ribs were coated in BBQ sauce which contained sugar, there were potato chips, the twice baked potatoes contained cream, and the dessert was creme brûlée. There was a fruit salad which was great but as hard as I wanted to, everything wasn't Whole30 compliant. I did choose not to add extra BBQ sauce but in the end, did that really make much of a difference?

So day 1 post Whole30, I was craving sugar. I think knowing that I can know have it makes it even more tempting. I decided a batch of Peanut Butter Cookies was the way to go. After 1 cookie, I felt like crap. The good thing is that I didn't eat another cookie and can now see how the sugar effects me so quickly. 

This week when sitting down and planning my menu, I didn't even realize all but one of my meals was Whole30 compliant again. For the most part, our dinner meals do meet the Whole30 guidelines with the occasional added sweetener. I really wanted Butternut Squash Risotto this week, so we are having it! I did find that I have the ingredients for these meals without going to the store which will help clean out my fridge, pantry and freezer and save me money. I do still need to go to the store for bananas and milk for baby boy but otherwise it should be a low cost week.

Menu Planning
Week of 2/2/15-2/9/15

Monday: Baked Trout Saratoga with Carrot & Parsnip Puree
Tuesday: Leftovers, Hubby is gone
Wednesday: Paleo Shepard's Pie from Quick & Easy Paleo Comfort Foods: 100+ Delicious Gluten-Free Recipes
Thursday: Braised Beef, Artichokes, & Peas from Mediterranean Paleo Cooking: Over 150 Fresh Coastal Recipes for a Relaxed, Gluten-Free Lifestyle
Friday: Chorizo Meatloaf with mashed sweet potatoes
Saturday: Butternut Squash Risotto (made without the cheese)
Sunday: Crockpot French Onion Soup from The Paleo Kitchen: Finding Primal Joy in Modern Cooking

Whole30 Day 27: Dill Egg Salad over Tomatoes

Lunch can be one of the most challenging meals of the day. I find that it's the meal I often forget to plan so it's left up to chance most the time. Leftovers are the easiest lunch solution. The problem arrises when my husband takes them all or they just don't sound good for lunch. My go to lately is a protein filled salad. I will make different versions of chicken salads or egg salads a couple times a week that usually last 2 days. This helps give a variety and use up extra veggies we have around. Another good option is to make a soup that can be eaten or frozen for later. Our freezer in the garage has pre-portioned soup in freezer containers that can easily be reheated. 

I've recently discovered dill and how wonderful this fresh herb tastes. I've been adding it to everything, including my eggs. When I went to make my egg salad the other day the dill was a perfect companion to it for an extra mustard taste. Fresh dill lasts in the fridge for several weeks if it has a paper towel wrapped around it.

Dill Egg Salad over Tomatoes
Serves: 2

1 tomato, sliced in 1/2 inch slices
4 eggs, hard-boiled and diced (I used my egg dicer)
1/2 cup cooked ham, diced
2 TBLS mayo (I made an avocado based mayo which was in the fridge)
1-2 tsp yellow deli mustard
1 tsp white vinegar
1 1/5 TBLS fresh dill, chopped
1/2 tsp celery salt
salt & pepper, to taste

1. Slice the tomato and arrange on a plate.
2. Mix all ingredients together. If they don't bind well enough, add a bit more mayo.
3. Put the mixture on top of the tomatoes and top with some more dill and black pepper.

This will last in the fridge for one day. After that it gets too watery and looses the flavors. 

Whole30 Day 22: Paleo & Whole30 on a Budget

I don't know of anyone that doesn't care how much they spend on food. Some people might spend a lot more than others but there's always that point that's too much. One of the largest complaints I've heard about eating Paleo or Whole30 is the expense. One of my friends told me "it's just too expensive to eat that way." I'm of the mentality that you should be putting the healthiest food into your body as much as possible. If you don't buy all the junk, you actually don't spend that much. 

I know buying fruits, vegetables and meat that's fresh means more trips to the store and less coupons. I've come across a few different tricks on how to save but maintain eating fresh healthy items.

#1- Buy in bulk- We buy a whole pig and half a cow each year. When I buy in bulk the cost averages out among the cuts. We paid about $5/lb for grassfed beef last year which is more costly for ground beef but much less for steaks. 

#2- Ask for case deals- Several of the local produce stores I go to offer between 5-15% discount for purchasing a full case. I purchase items that I know will last a long time and store them in the garage through the winter. In the summer, my garage fridge is filled with these items too. Good items to buy is sweet potatoes, onions, or fruit. 

#3- Make the most of each item- I freeze bones, onion peels, carrot ends, leek greens, and celery to make my own stock. My breakfast hash usually consists of vegetables that are starting to fade, to ensure they get used. If my bananas are getting too spotted for my taste, I'll dehydrate them for snacks or homemade larabars. 

#4- Freeze, Freeze, Freeze or Can, Can, Can- I purchased a pressure canner this year which has been amazing but otherwise I was freezing everything. I now am able to pressure can my stock every couple weeks and leave more room in my freezer for items that can't be canned. In the summer and fall I have many canning parties. This past year I canned peaches, pears, applesauce, tomatoes, and stock. I'm sure this year there will be even more. I throw our leftovers after a couple days in the freezer in lunch size servings to easily pull out. I freeze leftover gravy or cauliflower base to pull out for later. I also freeze berries for smoothies. 

#5- Plan ahead- Just going to the grocery store and seeing what looks good isn't a good plan. When I have a list, I'm much more likely to stick to it and not pick up extras. I do find myself rethinking dinner choices if I'm unprepared for the price of a main item but otherwise, I know what I'm getting. If you get to the store and you needed 5 zucchini and they were 3x the price as last week, try to re-evaluate and switch out your meals. Also, looking at the ads before going doesn't hurt. Then you know what's on sale and can work your meals around that. I often go to 2 or 3 stores if there are specific items I know are much cheaper. 

#6- Prioritize your eating- It is extremely rare for us to eat out anymore. We have dinner out only once or twice a month. With this choice, we can save a ton of money and allocate it towards our groceries instead. Also, it's not the same eating out when most places we go we can't eat many of the items. We've found some all gluten free restaurants around Portland which has been a lifesaver but otherwise, it's disappointing when there are only a handful of menu options that someone Paleo or gluten free can eat. 

Whole30 Day 21: Quick Zucchini Noodle Curry

With a child that's one, many times my day becomes hectic right at dinner time. Making meals that I'm able to prep earlier in the day or are quick are key for me. The other night I was craving curry but know that I only like it with rice. To try something different, I pulled out my new Paderno World Cuisine A4982799 Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer. The spiralizer came with 3 different attachments and this time I tried out the flat noodle. Overall, I was very happy with how it turned out and that I was able to prep and cook in less than 30 minutes!

Zucchini Noodle Chicken Curry
Yields: 4 servings

2 tbls coconut oil, divided
2 chicken breasts, diced
2 medium zucchini
1 sweet potato, peeled & medium diced
2 turnips, peeled & medium diced
1/2 cup cabbage, shredded
1 onion, large dice
1 bell pepper, large dice
1 can full-fat coconut milk
1-2 tbls curry paste, red or panang
5 red thai chilis
Cilantro, for garnish

1. Heat 1 tbls coconut oil in wok on medium-high heat. Add the chicken and saute until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2. Add the remaining tablespoon of coconut oil to the wok. Add in sweet potato, turnips, cabbage, onion, and bell pepper. Cook until sweet potatoes are no longer crunchy and can insert a fork through them. Make sure to stir occasionally. 

3. While the vegetables are cooking, spiralize your zucchini. If you don't have a spiralizer, you can make thin slices of the zucchini lengthwise with your knife.
4. When the vegetables are mostly cooked, add in the curry paste. The more curry paste you add the spicier it will get. If you prefer a spicy sauce, then add the full 2 tablespoons. Slowly add the coconut milk, making sure to mix it with the paste to remove any clumps. Add in the thai chilis. 
5. Add chicken back into the wok. Let simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the sauce thickens slightly. Remove from heat.
6. To serve, put zucchini noodles in the bottom of a bowl. Top with the curry and cilantro.

I didn't cook the zucchini in this dish because it kept a slight crunch that way. Alternately, you could put the zucchini noodles into a pan of boiling water for a couple minutes to cook them. 

Whole30 Day 18: Next 2 Weeks Menu Planning

I still feel that the Whole30 has been going very well for me. Although my husband isn't doing it as well, he's supportive and not eating chocolate in front of me. I've still curbed the cravings I was having for sugar and avoided it completely. Although this morning I did wake up remembering my dream was all about eating donuts and cake.

I've just sat down and spent about 15 minutes coming up with menu for this coming week. I'm down to less than $100 in our food budget for the rest of the month so I need to utilize the freezer and what's in the fridge all that I can. I also know that I will need to buy milk and probably some more eggs so it's going to be close if I can meet budget this month. One of my tricks is to meal plan to the end of the month to control costs. In order to do this, I have to be strategic that I'm only using items next week that can last. Here's what I'll be cooking!

This Week
Monday- Thai curry with zucchini noodles
Tuesday- Chicken Bacon Alfredo (I didn't make this last week), Chili for tomorrow
Wednesday- Leftover chili, hubby gone
Thursday- Simple Herb Crusted Salmon, collard greens, mashed cauliflower
Friday- Slow Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup
Saturday- Spicy Chicken Tagine from Mediterranean Paleo Cooking: Over 150 Fresh Coastal Recipes for a Relaxed, Gluten-Free Lifestyle
Sunday- Paleo Shepard's Pie from Quick & Easy Paleo Comfort Foods: 100+ Delicious Gluten-Free Recipes

Next Week
Monday- Pressure Cooker Mexican Beef If you don't have a pressure cooker, Michelle has an oven version as well. This is the best beef we've ever had!
Tuesday- Fiona's Green Chicken with Sweet Potato Wedges (I have the marinade frozen from a double batch last time)
Wednesday- Frozen leftovers (soup), Hubby gone
Thursday- Buffalo Chicken Pasta 
Friday- Slow Cooker Minestrone Soup with Sausage (freezer meal)
Saturday- Baked Trout Saratoga *contains wine, Carrot & Parsnip puree, peas

Whole30 Day 15: Breakfast

Shredded sweet potato hash, sunny side up eggs & bacon

Today marks day 15 of my Whole30 and the half way point! I have to say, I'm not missing the sugar that I was eating so much of just 15 days ago. I have been thinking about baking something though. I really want to make another recipe from Brittany Angell's Every Last Crumb but I know if I start, I'll talk myself into the sweet treats soon enough. Until then I'll just dream about them. 

I don't know how people can skip breakfast. Not only is it my favorite meal of the day but it also gives you the energy to make it through the tired parts of the morning. I was never one of those people that could just eat a granola bar and be fine until lunch. I remember in school eating a small breakfast and still catching my stomach growling in anticipation for lunch. I'm pretty sure this proves even more that eating more frequently is what my body demands. I've tried to go away from the traditional 3 meals a day by reducing the amount of food I eat at those meals and adding in a mid-morning and mid-afternoon large snack. My body responds better and I'm more alert throughout the day this way. 

What I've found about breakfast is that you need to plan it out. If you have only 5 minutes every morning then make it ahead. If the reason you have only 5 minutes is because you don't get up early enough, get up earlier. My husband was that person that never had time for breakfast and was in such a rush in the mornings. When I was pregnant he started getting up with me (about 30 minutes earlier) and making us both breakfast. He's stuck to this new time schedule even when I sleep in a bit longer in the mornings giving himself enough time to make breakfast and enjoy it. He likes the fact that he can sit down before work to drink his coffee, enjoy his breakfast, and catch up on Reddit. 

Over the years I've tried many different breakfast options. This past year most of the breakfast foods we make are pretty similar. Sweet potato hash, pancakes, or scrambled eggs are normally at the top of our list. Here's my process for deciding what to make each morning.

1. What meat do we have? I usually make sure the night before that I have bacon, breakfast sausage or a leftover shredded meat in the fridge. If not, I pull it from the freezer to defrost overnight.
2. Do I want eggs? If I don't want to eat eggs, my meal may turn out very differently. Sometimes I then go the route of Brittany Angell's Paleo Waffles or Sweet Potato Biscuits & Gravy from The Paleo Kitchen. If I do want eggs, how do I want them? I usually go wit scrambled or sunny side up, depending on what they are going with.
3. What veggies should I make with it? Although plantains aren't a veggie, if you have them, they are a delicious breakfast item. Sweet potatoes are my go-to veggie that I pair with whatever veggies I have in the fridge such as onion, zucchini, turnips, bell pepper, carrots, spinach, kale, or squash. What's great is you can shred or cube them giving different textures. 

My meals almost always have these 3 components. This ensures I have a hearty breakfast to kick start my morning. Oh and have I mentioned my 1 year old eats the exact same meal as me? When you eat clean healthy foods it's easy to know what you eat is great for your child too. 

Matching breakfast of fried plantains, scrambled eggs
with bacon and avocado, & satsuma oranges

Kalua pork, scrambled eggs with green onions, & hot sauce 

Scrambled eggs with green onion and avocado & bacon

Sweet potato hash with spinach, bell pepper, onion and
carrots, medium eggs, & shredded pork 

Fried plantains, scrambled eggs with green onions and hot sauce, & bacon

Rosemary sweet potato biscuits, scrambled eggs, and sausage gravy
from The Paleo Kitchen

Blueberry pancakes
from The Paleo Kitchen 

Paleo Waffles topped with ham, sautéed spinach, & a medium egg
from Brittany Angell

Whole30 Day 12: Budgeting & Menu Planning

As a stay at home mom, I am very aware of how our money is spent. When we had two full-time incomes we had much more flexibility, spending money, and were taking multiple vacations a year. I'm extremely happy that we were financially able to figure out how I could stay at home to raise Ethan rather than putting him in a daycare. With that though, we are on a budget. We've been on a budget since well before Ethan came along since we realized we wanted to save instead of spend all our money. We use a program called YNAB (You Need A Budget) which we paid for the software for our computer. You can then download the mobile versions on your phone to add in expenses.

We've been budgeting for about 4 years now. During that time we purchased a home, remodeled it, sold it, paid off all our debt, sold a car, bought a new home, bought a new car, switched jobs, had a baby, and went to one income. That's a lot happening and our budgeting made it all possible. Aside from our mortgage and monthly utility expenses, food makes up one of the largest portions of our budget. We've allocated $100 a month to our beef/pig budget for purchasing those each year. We've also allowed ourselves a very small budget of $75-$100 a month for eating out. Fortunately we don't eat out very often so those funds usually going towards groceries. Our grocery fund recently shrunk to $400 from it's $600 amount (when I was employed). This means that I feed my family of 3 each 3 meals for $13.33 a day plus some beef or pork that we buy in bulk from our other allotment. 

There are meals that I make once in a while that cost more than that. Usually if that's the case though, I've shopped around for a good price on the items and offset the costs elsewhere. For instance, we purchase our fish usually from Costco. I cut or portion each package into servings for 2.5 people (2 adults, 1 baby) and freeze them right away. So when I bought salmon last week for $22, I was able to portion the 3 pounds out for 4 meals. I'll serve it with some mashed sweet potatoes and a steamed veggie with the whole meal costing less than $10. Pretty amazing when ordering salmon at a restaurant would cost about $18 per person.

A key savings for me is menu planning. When I don't menu plan, I head to the grocery store more frequently and spend more money. Each week I sit down for 1-2 hours and decide on what meals I should make. I notate any conflicts we might have, such as curling for my husband on Wednesday night, to plan around. Then I look through our fridge to see what we have left to use up. Here's what I have for this week.

Sunday- Slow Cooker Chicken & Gravy, Sweet Potato Mash, Cooked Carrots

Monday- Zucchini Curry with Sausage

Tuesday- Stuffed BBQ Barbacoa Sweet Potatoes with Coleslaw

Wednesday- Vietnamese Lettuce Wraps (Make ahead, hubby is gone)

Thursday- Katie's Meatloaf with Yam Mash

Friday- Chicken Soup (early dinner before game night at friends house)

Saturday- Clam Chowder

Sunday- Chicken Bacon Alfredo

I usually try to cook the meals that I know the items could go bad for towards the beginning of the week. In this case, my zucchini for my curry might not last as well as my lettuce for the wraps. Otherwise, most of these dishes are flexible so I can always change up the day I make it. If we feel like something else that we have the ingredients for we could make that too. I NEVER go to the store to buy just one item or to change my menu. If I'm short something I absolutely need, I send my husband. He's less likely to pick up extra's therefore, saving us money. By extra's, I'm a compulsive sale shopper so I often come home with extra canned tomatoes, bananas, discount meat, or anything I might have spotted in the ad. 

Another trick is to buy multiple of items you use a lot of. I know this sounds obvious but sometimes it isn't. We eat a lot of eggs so when I buy eggs I normally buy 4-5 dozen which will last us 7-14 days. If eggs were on sale (which never happens) then I've been known to buy 20 and store them in our garage fridge. It really depends on how much you save. Bacon is the other item I stock up on. We go through 2 pounds of bacon in 3-4 days. When I spotted thick slice bacon on sale for $2.99/lb I went crazy. Over the course of a week, I bought 30 pounds of bacon. That 30 pounds of bacon will last us about 2 months and saved a minimum of $30. Since we had freezer space it made sense to stock up.

My last budget saving suggestion is finding a go to place for produce. I live in Oregon where fortunately there are many farms with fresh local produce. There's a produce stand that stocks just about everything 8 minutes from my house with some of the best deals you'll ever see. I also go to the asian supermarket one town over because their produce is beautiful and cheaper for the exactly same items. When I get stuck having to go to a grocery store for produce, I spend more money. They feature a few produce items at a low price but offset that with everything else being expensive. Since more than 50% of our budget goes to produce, savings here can make a big difference. 

Whole30 Snacks: Homemade Larabars

Snacks for Whole30 are essential to ensuring you don't get the munchies for sweets and unhealthy foods. I find it best to never run out of snacks or that's when I have issues. Here's a list of some of my favorite snacks.

• Cashews
• Raisins
• Homemade Larabars
• Homemade kale chips
• Homemade apple chips
• Banana
• Apple slices with almond butter
• Roasted pumpkin seeds

I usually make a couple batches of dried fruit each week with my dehydrator. If you don't have one of those you can use your oven at the lowest temperature possible. What I did notice when using the oven for kale chips was that they kale chips lost their crunchy texture after a few hours out of the oven. With the dehydrator that isn't a problem. Do make sure to put anything you dehydrate into a sealed container as soon as it cools to prevent sogginess. 

I'm not sure where I've been and not knowing larabars existed until last year. They changed my snacking for the best though. Before I was gluten intolerant I would eat Special K bars for snacks because they were "healthy." I now know that couldn't be further from the truth. What's great about larabars is that they usually contain only 3 ingredients. Here's the basic recipe to start with and then some of my favorite combinations. 

Homemade Larabars
Yields: 8 bars or 25-30 balls

1 cup pitted dates

1 cup nuts, single variety or mixed

1 cup dried fruit

1. Measure 1 cup of dates and soak in warm water if tough. 

2. Measure nuts and dried fruit. Dump into food processor.

3. Drain dates then add to food processor.

4. Turn on food processor but make sure to hold it down. Turn off when you get a blended texture, usually when it starts to clump together. If after 30 seconds nothing is happening, add 1 tablespoon of water to help bind.

5. For bars, dump mixture into a wax paper lined loaf pan. Smash down with another loaf pan to compress. 

6. For balls, roll into 1 inch size balls between hands. Make sure you are rolling them so they compress and aren't loose.

I store them in the refrigerator for up to 2 months but they can be outside of the fridge and don't go bad. Here are some of my favorite combinations. 

Apple Pie

1 cup dates

1 cup almonds and pecans

1 cup dried apples

2 TBLS cinnamon

Blueberry Muffin

1 cup dates

1 cup cashews

1 cup dried blueberries

1 TBLS lemon juice

zest of 1 lemon

Chocolate Banana

1 cup dates

1 cup pecans

1 cup dried banana

1 TBLS cocoa powder

Key lime Pie

1 cup dates

1 cup almonds and cashews

1 cup shredded coconut

juice of 1 lime

zest of 1 lime

Peanut Butter & Jelly** Not Whole30 due to peanuts

1 cup dates

1 cup peanuts

1 cup dried berries (marionberries, blackberries, raspberries)

Tropical

1 cup dates

1 cup cashews

1/4 cup dried pineapple

3/4 cup dried apricots

2 TBLS shredded coconut

1 TBLS lemon juice

zest from 1 lemon

Whole30: Day 9

Well let's be honest, today was a cheat day. We belong to a wine club that for the month of January lets us taste for free at 5 other wineries. I decided that Saturday would be my one day that I would allow myself wine. It was very tasty and worth it. 

We've been eating a lot of Sweet Potato Hash lately so for weekend breakfast I decided that a helping of Biscuits & Gravy from the Paleo Kitchen sounded necessary. If you haven't tried these yet, your really missing out. The biscuits are made from baked sweet potatoes and seasoned with thyme and rosemary. Then to top them off there's a sausage gravy made from coconut milk. All around its a hearty, comforting meal that is so satisfying. 

Paleo Biscuits & Gravy

Dinner time was after wine tasting and by the time I realized the time, it was awful late to defrost most meats. I always keep a couple backup meals that I can make from my pantry or freezer so last night was one of them. I pulled some polish sausage from the freezer and threw that in water in the sink to defrost. While that was defrosting I chopped up some sweet potatoes to start the potato salad. If you haven't caught on that you should go out and buy The Paleo Kitchen cookbook yet, then here's the moment. The Lime Bacon Dill Sweet Potato Salad is the perfect side for and BBQ meal and super easy to make. What makes it interesting is that it has balsamic for a tang, dill for an earthy taste, and sweet potatoes to mellow it all out. Now I know what your thinking, is polish sausage Whole30? How did you ever find polish sausage without sugar? I didn't. After working so hard the first time I did Whole30 to find items that had absolutely no sugar, I decided it would be better for my sanity to not stress about that as much. I'm much more willing to stick with Whole30 if I adapt it to fit our needs. I'm not saying that I don't look at the labels on everything, because I do. I just eat bacon that was cured with sugar and polish sausage that has some in the ingredients. 

Polish Sausage & Lime Bacon Dill Sweet Potato Salad

Whole30: Day 8

Since transitioning to eating Paleo foods, I've found my love for meat. I don't mean that I enjoy eating steak, which I do. Meat now tastes different depending on where it's from, how it's prepared, and how multi purposed it is. As I've talked about before, we purchased a whole pig from my dad that we had processed here locally. We've also been buying between 1/4- 1/2 a cow for the last 3 years too. I honestly didn't think there was a difference in taste between store purchased meat and the stuff that I know where it comes from but I was very wrong. I still remember the first bite of pork chop I had from the pig we purchased. It was juicy, melted in my mouth, and I just wanted more.

When buying large amounts of beef and pork it's important for us to use it but also make it last until we can purchase another one. It seems like a lot of meat but if we were to eat our 1/2 a cow everyday, it would probably only last us 3 months. Being on a budget, I try to make our meals stretch as much as I can and ensure they all don't taste the same. One meal I make at least once a month is Juli Bauer's Barbacoa. I've cut the spice back a bit since Ethan doesn't sleep well after eating spicy food but other than that it's a wonderful recipe. What I really enjoy is that the meat is tender and juicy from adding tomato sauce, spices and green chiles to the shredded meat and then cooking it a bit longer.

We made the Barbacoa into tacos the other night with Brittany Angell's Soft Plantain Taco Shells from Every Last Crumb. I've made these taco shells 3 times, all of which turned out differently depending on the ripeness of the plantains. Either way, the flavor is killer and a slight sweetness to offset the spicy Barbacoa. I served them with our favorite street taco fixings of avocado, cabbage, onion, cilantro, radish, and olives.

What's great is that we have so much leftover we can eat it again for a lunch and repurpose it for a dinner as well. Later this week I will use the remaining leftover meat for BBQ Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with a coleslaw from The Paleo Kitchen.

Whole30: Day 7

I bet reading what I eat for every meal each day can get boring. Especially since I eat pretty much the same breakfast each day and leftovers for lunch. I'm going to switch things up a bit today and just rave about our dinner.

I'm the type of cook that likes to start a dinner from a recipe. I think it comes from the fact that I am a detail oriented person and my creativity has to start from somewhere. It's the same thing with my crafts. I need inspiration like a picture of something that looks great to go from. This year I've started investing in Paleo cookbooks. I don't know how many I have now but I'm definitely adding to my collection quickly. One of the cookbooks that I've been picking recipes out of is the Paleo Kitchen. I'm more and more enjoying the flavors that Juli Bauer is coming up with. Her Barbacoa recipe from PaleOMG.com is the best. So when she published her top 25 recipes of 2014 and Bacon Chorizo Chipotle Smothered Meatloaf was on it, we had to try it.

Meatloaf has been an ongoing experiment in my house for the past 8 years. My mom always made meatloaf in one of those loaf pans with the grease bubbling and it just tasted like meat. Little did I know that meatloaf could have different flavors to it. My mother-in-law made meatloaf a couple years ago in individual servings on a rack. This made me realize that the texture can be different just by a different way of baking it, which I preferred. So my most recent meatloaf recipe has more mexican spices and flavors to it with ancho chiles, cilantro, and cumin. When I saw Juli's meatloaf it was a no brainer that we needed to see how this was.

We weren't disappointed at all. I was skeptical when the recipe calls for no spices, aside from garlic powder. Then I realized that the chorizo holds all the flavors necessary. I did make some changes to the recipe just based on what we prefer in our meatloaf. I added an egg since the meat seemed too dense. I also added more carrot and less spinach and mushrooms. In hind sight I'd probably saute all the veggies before putting them in the meatloaf to remove the crunch that was still present from the carrots.

Moral of the story, try new things. Although I've perfected my spicy meatloaf over the last several years it can always get better. I plan on making meatloaf again next week to adapt what we enjoyed from this meatloaf into my ever evolving recipe. I expect it'll be awesome!