The (Almost) Whole30

After having my second baby in January via C-Section (unlike my first pain med free (not by choice) natural birth), I've had an extremely easy recovery thanks to my excellent doctor (fellow Hamilton grad like my hubby), and a few simple dietary adjustments. But despite workouts, healthy eating, and tons of water, there are still about 3-4 pounds that I cant seem to shake. I've done the juice diet thing, and it just makes me angry and sad. So rather than starve and sweat over it, I've put the family on a whole foods eating challenge that I've seen fellow bloggers really liking, named aptly the 'Whole 30'. Generally, its a diet of fresh vegetables, meats, and fish, no dairy, alcohol, sugar or legumes. No calorie counting, measuring, or logging. But since I mostly live life in moderation, I cant quite commit to a entire 30 days of this clean eating kick, nor exclude all forbidden foods from the list. So we have coined it the 'partial 30', and so far its pretty awesome. Here are some great recipes for those of you who, like me, enjoy actual food. The key is also planning in advance as not to be left staring at the empty fridge shelves, ready to cry or binge on your son's stale Oreo's.

From Somewhere Lately, I tried a modified version of their sweet potato, avocado egg bowl and absolutely love it for lunch or dinner:

• diced sweet potato 
• olive oil (1-2 tsp)
• paprika
• crushed red pepper
• 1/2 diced avocado
• 1 egg

Coat diced sweet potato in olive oil, paprika and red pepper flakes, then cook til soft on stove top. Remove, cook the egg to your liking in the same pan. Then add potato, egg, and diced avocado to a bowl. Yum!

From my own experimenting, this simple squash noodle dish is a great lunch:

• butternut squash 'noodles' (I buy these pre-sliced from whole foods)
• 2 tsps olive oil
• garlic powder
• red pepper flakes

Boil the squash noodles for no more than 2 minutes, or bake at 400 for 8 minutes. Then dress with olive oil, garlic powder and red pepper flakes to taste. Can also be enjoyed cold or room temperature as leftovers!