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dani california cooks

homegrown and homemade in CA

Archives for March 2016

WIAW - Back in Spokane

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I know…I know…my whole “Ode to Spokane” post is just laughable at this point, since I’ve traveled up here twice since “officially” saying goodbye. No complaints though - days are super long up here, and I’m always happy to eat at my go to spots around town! Linking up to show Tuesday’s eats up here in the Inland Northwest.

I missed Monday’s post since we were motorcycle camping - yes you read that right - in Big Sur this past weekend. I hope you enjoyed Friday’s post for a couple of extra days! It was a good one! Nate loves his [insert boats/motorcycles/trucks] and while I’m no thrill seeker, I loved being on the back of his bike this weekend and I felt pretty damn cool. We had a mini motorcycle gang with some friends this weekend, and got in some beautiful riding, hiking, and primal-style cooking over a campfire. Springtime in Big Sur is just fantastic.

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when your campsite is 3 miles away and you didn’t bring backpacks…

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I was a little down in the dumps to return back to work on Monday! However, after double-downing on teaching 2 spinning classes on Friday, being on back of a bike, hiking up and down some hills and then sitting my butt on a plane, I was MAJORLY sore and uncomfy and got a total mood-boosting massage once work was done up in Spokane. Definitely set a good tone for the week ahead!

BREAKFAST

I woke up and ate a couple of sprouted almonds and dried cherries before going to Orangetheory. I forgot to mention - I went to a podiatrist for a totally different reason but we discovered that I probably have a stress fracture in my right foot. It had been bothering me when I ran (but not doing any other exercise) so I just briefly mentioned when I was at the doc and his eyes got all big and we did some checking around and boom - I was almost put in a boot right then and there! Since we caught it so early on, I just have to stay off running/tennis/etc for a month and see if it heals itself. At OTF this morning, instead of running on the treadmill portion I did the power walking, and then was able to do the rowing/weights section as normal. It wasn’t as good of a workout as when you get to do the sprinting/running, but it felt good to move around!

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Unfortunately I was unprepared for breakfast afterwards so I grabbed three hard boiled eggs from the grocery store next door and some raspberries and ate half of it in the car on the way to my client, plus some coffee.

LUNCH

Lunch was super tasty - my go to tahini and lemon juice-rubbed kale with roasted tofu and some OlyKraut super spicy sauerkraut on the side. We were presenting all afternoon and this was the perfect lighter lunch to keep my energy levels high.

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SNACK

Hot green tea plus a Cashew Cacao Evo Hemp bar (love these!!), and some kale chips that my team had picked up thinking that they were up my alley. They had kind of a funky taste, so I don’t think I would buy them again! (But thanks for thinking of me, team!) 20160329_171300

DINNER

Since I truly may never be coming back to Spokane after this trip, I had to go back to my favorite restaurant, Mizuna. I had oddly been craving chicken so I went with their pan-roasted chicken with extra veggies instead of the gnocchi, and light on whatever “sauce” they used. It came with brussels sprouts and broccolini and shiitake mushrooms and was DELICIOUS. I only ate one piece of the chicken since the portion was so big, and I felt really bad letting the food go to waste. I missed my garbage disposal of a boyfriend who will always eat anything I don’t finish!

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I ended the night with some ginger/peppermint tea, a little dark chocolate, and catching up on TV. I love working in front of the TV and half-paying attention to the shows. A bizarre tradition I’ve developed from traveling over the years, but so be it!

 

Spring Clean Up Your Diet with these Easy Recipes

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Hello to the season of SPRING! Springtime just screams freshness to me - bright, crisp flavors, lots of GREEN, new beginnings, more sun. What better time to clean up a diet and add fresh flavors when you also clean up your house!

So, what’s in season for spring? Saveur has an awesome guide where you can search for recipes by spring ingredient.

  • Artichokes
  • Arugula
  • Asparagus
  • Beets
  • Bok Choy
  • Carrots
  • Fava beans <- very trendy
  • Garlic
  • Leeks
  • Peas
  • Potatoes
  • Radishes
  • Ramps <- also very “in”
  • Rhubarb
  • Scallions
  • Greens and spinach

I reached out to my fellow bloggers for easy recipes to “spring clean” up our diet using some of those fabulous ingredients, and I have some to share with you.

10 Recipes to Spring Clean Up Your Diet | danicaliforniacooks.com

Creamy Vegan Spring Vegetable Pasta - a pine-nut based sauce with peas and asparagus only tastes decadent

Creamy Vegan Spring Vegetable Pasta | danicaliforniacooks.com

Beet Cauliflower Rice - a fresh take on cauliflower rice with beets and basil

Roasted Radish Chips - sturdier for dipping than kale chips!

clean e

Edamame Slaw - even if you dress and toss on Monday, it will hold up throughout the week for easy lunches

Spring Clean Up Your Diet with these Fresh Recipes | danicaliforniacooks.com

Honey Garlic Chicken - sweet, spicy, fresh, and easy

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Spring Quinoa Bowl - LOTS of spring produce in this one!

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No-Bake Carrot Protein Bars - I have these next on my to-do list to make

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Vegan Cobb Salad - I’ll take asparagus over blue cheese any day!

Salmon Bowls with Miso Dressing - easy and hearty!

Salmon Bowls with Miso Dressing | danicaliforniacooks.com

For more, Sarah has put together a beautiful list of 25 healthy vegetarian recipes for the season.

Hope you enjoy! Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

 

WIAW - Meal Planning Success

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We’re halfway through the week and some successful meal planning! I have this week working from home before I’m back on the road next week, and I’m taking full advantage of my kitchen. If you’ve struggled with meal planning in the past, or consider yourself to be someone who “can’t meal plan”, I definitely recommend checking out Friday’s post.

Linking up to show Tuesday’s eats!

BREAKFAST

After waking, I made us a “cocktail” of lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, and warm water. I’ve only heard great things about drinking warm water with lemon in the morning for your immune system/digestion, and I thought the ACV would be a nice probiotic kick but it was just a bit too ferment-y too earlier in the day. Pushed to the side. Breakfast was much more of a success! I made oats with lots of chia seeds and cinnamon and cooked in soy milk. Half a banana sliced on each, plus PB for me and AB for Nate. We shared a couple of strawberries on the side. I picked up these strawberries at the farmer’s market this past weekend - it was the first batch of spring!

I then caught up on the Brussels news while hunkering down in front of my computer. I also donated to Hillary (again)…this time to get a chance to meet George Clooney! I then took a quick break to go to the happiest place on earth - COSTCO. I got there right as they were opening, and I was part of the mob that was hovering around the store as they lifted the gates for us to enter the promised land…

Of course, I only picked up salmon, blueberries, and spinach. Costco is only about a mile from me so I can use it as like a normal grocery store for the staples we have a lot of throughout the week!

LUNCH

One of my college girlfriends was in town (she’s moving here!!) and we grabbed lunch at The Grove. The menu of this place is enormous, and there is something for everyone. I got an egg white omelet with red peppers, carmelized onions, and Fra Mani ham with a salad on the side.

Great company and great food!

I then went to a local coffee shop where I was greatly distracted from my work due to this inventive coffee roaster machine. It was good to get out of my apartment and work, however. I enjoyed some jasmine green tea.

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Coffee roaster or popcorn maker?

A video posted by Dani Nemzer (@danicaliforniacooks) on

SNACK

Around 3pm, I headed home for snacktime. I savored one of these Larabars, although it did leave me kind of unsatisfied.

Once work wrapped up, I took myself to the hair salon which is literally a half a block away and got my hair keratin-ed. I also picked up some kombucha on tap from Project Juice to sip during the treatment. I love that they have plain kombucha on tap that you can mix with any of their juices - I got 2oz of this tumeric elixir that had turmeric, ginger, pineapple and chamomile. It was delicious!

DINNER

Dinner tonight was salmon, quinoa, and broccoli <- another springtime purchase from the farmer’s market. Oh, and a couple of brussels thrown in there that were about to go bad - “no brussel left behind!” I joked to Nate who laughed at me, not with me. The quinoa and vegetables were plain, but the salmon was roasted in a marinade I made of tamari, freshly grated ginger, honey, a dash of ground turmeric, and toasted sesame oil. Topped with chopped green onions. It was really delicious!

DESSERT

Went for some chocolate and Traditional Medicinal’s Eater’s Digest tea. Unpictured.

Then it was time for House of Cards and bed!

I’ll be back on the blog on Friday with a post in collaboration with a lot of other bloggers on recipes to ‘spring clean up’ your diet!

 

 

 

Eggplant and Sausage Ragout

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Whether you make this in a crockpot or on your stove, this easy and hearty paleo pasta sauce is great over zoodles or your pasta of choice!

Eggplant and Sausage Ragout | danicaliforniacooks.com At work the other day, people had to name colleagues with “superpowers” and my name came up for having a FOOD BLOG. Yes, if you’re a fellow food blogger - and I know many of my readers are - outside of the blogosphere, you’ve got yourself a superpower!

Eggplant and Sausage Ragout | danicaliforniacooks.com

Maybe it’s that my hobby is something that people can Google, or maybe more of my colleagues need to pursue hobbies, or maybe the fact that I was able to have a hobby outside of work was a superpower in itself. Either way, I couldn’t decide whether to be embarrassed or not.

Eggplant and Sausage Ragout | danicaliforniacooks.com We talk about this concept a lot at work - called having a “work/life balance” or “work/life fit” - meaning your work is one thing, and your life, your family, and your hobbies is another. For a long time, when I was living with Paige and beginning to date Nate, it felt like my whole “life” was “work” because we all worked together and hung out together!

Eggplant and Sausage Ragout | danicaliforniacooks.com That’s something that is kind of fantastic about being 26 and living in San Francisco. Everyone is making a decent amount of money and everyone is working a lot. No one has kids and no one is married, but there are plenty of live-in couples like me at Nate. While in DC, I definitely felt the pressure to always be online because there was this unspoken feeling that the employees that don’t have [insert kids/spouse] just had all of this spare time that they should be working. Flash forward two years later, in California, and doing stuff like blogging outside of work is celebrated!

Eggplant and Sausage Ragout | danicaliforniacooks.com

So to my fellow bloggers that have full time jobs, or to readers that seriously pursue hobbies outside of work, or for people whose #1 priority isn’t their 9-5 - join me in California - no, I’m just kidding. Just…keep at it. You never know when someone will think it’s your superpower!

And even if cooking your hobby outside of your 9-5, this foolproof recipe is super delicious and super healthy. My superpower to you!

Eggplant and Sausage Ragout
 
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This eggplant and sausage ragout is an easy pasta sauce that tastes great over zoodles or your pasta of choice!
Author:
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
  • 3 large italian sausages, casings removed
  • 1 large eggplant, cubed
  • ½ yellow onion, diced
  • 1 clove garlic, chopped
  • 1 28oz can of diced tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
  • Pinch of dried oregano
  • Pinch of red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. In a large pot or saucepan, brown the sausage and remove the oil
  2. If using a crockpot, add in the sausage plus all of the other ingredients. Stir and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 4-6
  3. If continuing on the stove, add the onions and the garlic and cook until translucent
  4. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir
  5. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 2-3 hours
  6. Serve with more freshly chopped basil and parmesan cheese
If you like this, you’ll love: Creamy Vegan Spring Vegetable Pasta

Creamy Vegan Spring Vegetable Pasta | danicaliforniacooks.com

How to Meal Plan… If You’ve Had Trouble with Meal Planning!

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I was convinced I was just one of those people that “couldn’t meal plan” after having several failed attempts. It seemed like I would fall into several categories when it came to meal planning. Can you relate to any of them?

  1. Attempting to meal plan, but still end up with a lot of food waste (half a bunch of cilantro there, 2 extra zucchinis here)
  2. Not meal planning, and then having to go to the grocery store every day
  3. Meal planning, but then not liking what I had planned
  4. Meal planning, but then going out to eat a lot more than expected

But if meal planning is such a struggle, why do we even want to do it in the first place? My motivations are 1) budget, 2) I generally like some structure/plans, 3) I don’t have time to grocery shop every day and 4) if I have healthy options available to eat, I will generally choose those over going out and buying a less healthy option.

I took a hard look at what was working for me around meal planning and what wasn’t, and I totally shifted my strategy. I wanted to share these tips and tricks with you, and hopefully you integrate them into your life if you have #mealplanninggoals but aren’t quite there yet!

Recently, what has been successful for me while I’ve been working from home has been to plan dinners and breakfasts Sunday - Thursday, and then either organize lunches out with friends/colleagues or have basic staples around that I use in other meals to cobble together lunches.

Other key takeaways:

  • Build your daily menu around ingredients you can use two or three times during the week (i.e. make this enchilada bake one night, and then have tacos another night - lots of similar ingredients)
  • Write it down and put it up! Putting up our weekly dinner menu almost held me accountable to sticking to it. And I think Nate liked having an idea of what he was eating throughout the week too.

  • If you like eating out for lunch…eat out for lunch. This one was huge for me. I realized that if I like/prefer having lunch out of the house most days that I’m working from home, I shouldn’t work against it. I would often buy groceries to have lunch at home, and then eat out a lot and have it go to waste!
  • On a similar note, always have versatile ingredients around that you can easily whip up into a meal for the meals that you don’t have planned (i.e. your lunch plans fall through). For my pantry, those items are sweet potatoes, eggs, frozen proteins, and greens. I can make like 10 different meals with those ingredients, and I use them throughout the week for all of my other meals too.
  • Take note of what ingredients you tend to have food waste at the end of the week. For me, it was often HERBS. So I learned to either use cilantro in several recipes throughout the week, or freeze the leftovers, or I even tried buying a basil plant for a while so I could just pick off the leaves whenever I needed it. Great success until plant death…but would totally work for those who had a green thumb :(
  • Be flexible for the nights that you say “screw it, let’s eat out!” and cook dinner on one of the planned going out nights instead. What I had planned for Thursday night’s dinner turned into what we ate for Friday night. No food waste, just changed up the schedule!

Remember this Instagram post? Yeah, a pint of ice cream was definitely not on our meal plan!

  • Don’t be worried about what Nate is going to do for breakfast/lunch. This was oddly big for me - maybe because I take such pleasure in feeding others (sign that I definitely need a pet). I can’t believe I’m admitting to this, but I needed to realize that he’s a big boy. The weeks that I wasn’t traveling he obviously figured out how to feed himself. Nowadays, I make sure we buy stuff for his smoothies to have in the morning, and then if there are leftovers for him to take for lunch that’s great. If we don’t, he will figure it out.
  • Have some pre-prepared or frozen stuff around for “emergencies”. What do I mean by emergencies? When you burn something, something goes bad before you cook it, or your boyfriend needs a hefty 3pm weekend snack. Perfect Fit Meals sent us a bunch of health conscious, perfectly proportioned pre-packaged meals that are all around 300 calories, and these will “fit perfectly” into our flexible meal plan. I actually ate one yesterday when I had meetings all throughout lunchtime - not enough time to cook or go out.

This was their Turkey Enchilada Casserole. Pretty tasty, especially when served with a side salad!

  • Cook things you actually WANT to eat. How many times have you brought your lunch to work just to toss it aside when you realize you’d rather prefer a fresh sandwich? This is key to meal planning. Sure it may sound pretty obvious, but if you don’t meal plan things you are excited to eat throughout the week then you will detest your plan. As simple as that.

I’ll keep you up-to-date with our weekly meal planning and any other good tips and tricks I pick up along the way!

Also - congrats to the three winners of the Safeway giveaway! The winners were notified!

 

WIAW - Wednesday in SF

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While last week I may have been in rainy Olympia , this week I am working from home in San Francisco! The sun has come out and I feel like my love affair with this city is full blown right now. When we lived in our first apartment in SF, it was much farther out from my office so I ended up working from home the weeks I wasn’t traveling and could sometimes feel isolated. Now that we live in Hayes Valley, I can just pop in and out of the office whenever I please, and also just stroll to so many delicious spots for lunch!

BREAKFAST

I had prepped some overnight oats on Sunday, but didn’t eat them until today. Whoever thought of putting your overnight oats in an almost-empty nut butter jar is close to a genius in my book. This batch had about 1/3 cup oats, a heaping amount of chia seeds (I love super chia-y oats), a bit of soy milk, a Good Belly shot, cinnamon, and blueberries. And of course scraping all of the PB leftover in this jar into every bite! It’s like a treasure hunt. Also had a nice cup of coffee on the side.

I took myself for a run, and I think I finally found my new running route. I ran all the way to Golden Gate Park down the Panhandle, and then meandered through the Haight-Ashbury until I got home. I ran for about 50 minutes, which I’m guessing is a little over 4 miles for me. When I got home, I chatted with my grandfather on the phone who was recently admitted to the hospital. If you’re been reading Dani California Cooks for a while, you’ll know that my Opa and I are super tight and he is probably my most dedicated blog reader. So Opa, since I know you’re reading this, good morning and I hope you feel better today!

LUNCH

After work/calls the rest of the morning, I grabbed lunch with a sorority sister who was in town at Little Gem. She’s still in college, but wanted to meet up and talk SF and jobs and all that. I’ve been wanting to try this healthy eatery around the corner from me - they have an amazing menu that’s gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free. Living the dream over here in SF. I had a salad with romaine, pea shoots, asparagus, egg, radish, and salmon with a green goddess dressing. It was so fresh, and I’m so ready for more springtime produce!

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Spring is in full swing in this salad today!

A photo posted by Dani Nemzer (@danicaliforniacooks) on

SNACK

I had a coffee downtown and then worked from the office for the rest of the day. It was just beautiful in SoMa/Financial District area - continuing from the springtime trend of lunch - it definitely felt like the season has arrived. For a snack, I ate some winter produce (pear) and some honey almond butter and had green tea.

I walked home a little after 5pm and caught up on the phone with some friends. Once home, I sipped on a small glass of ginger kombucha that had a shot of OJ in it. Love the orange/ginger combo!

DINNER

I’ve been having some success in meal planning! I’m going to blog more about that, as historically, I have failed pretty miserably when it comes to meal planning. On the menu for Tuesday was sausage and eggplant pasta. I had prepped a homemade ragout in the crockpot of browned spicy italian sausage, onions, can of diced tomatoes, chopped eggplant, and lots of basil and oregano. I should do a formal recipe for this sauce - it was a good one. I served it with salad on the side.

I RARELY cook pasta, but when I do, I usually use brown rice pasta. I had heard so much about Banza pasta - pasta made from chickpeas that’s also gluten free, high in protein and fiber, lower in carbs - and I finally tried it tonight. I’ll be honest though, I was not a fan. For all of the claims that it was a 1-1 flavor with regular pasta, I definitely disagree. I wish I could describe the flavor, but it was just..off. It wasn’t terrible, but I’ll probably stick with brown rice pasta for the nights that I want to cook pasta.

DESSERT

A couple of pieces of dark chocolate, and some more tea. Then we hunkered down with some House of Cards! Anyone else watching? We’re just starting with the first season.

Check out the rest of the “What I Ate Wednesday” crew over here. Have a great Wednesday, everyone!

Coconut Oil and Cacao Muffins

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It’s snacktime over here at DCC! Barely sweetened with banana, these gluten free muffins are full of healthy fats and rich cacao!

Coconut Oil and Cacao Muffins | danicaliforniacooks.com

It’s been raining non-stop here in San Francisco for the past week - I can’t remember the last time I saw the good ol’ California sun. That didn’t stop the fun this weekend, from Cassie’s birthday party to brunch with friends at Souvla to finally getting a COSTCO CARD!! <- major highlight of my weekend. But due to the rain, I decided not to go to the farmer’s market on Sunday and instead Whole Foods. As I walked home (it’s about a half mile away) my paper bags totally disintegrated in the rain and everything started falling out. I guess that’s karma for not bringing my reusable bags!

Coconut Oil and Cacao Muffins | danicaliforniacooks.com Coconut Oil and Cacao Muffins | danicaliforniacooks.com

Anyways, I was standing on the corner of Market street with my groceries in a jumble in my arms, and shuffled over to the nearest store…which happened to be a marijuana dispensary. As I was debating what to do - should I take off my raincoat and load my groceries into it? - there was a nice homeless man outside who asked if I needed a plastic bag, and then proceeded to take one filled with shredded paper out of the garbage, empty it, and help me load my groceries. He told me how he begged for money around here sometimes, and I told him I definitely owed him something the next time I had cash for helping me out.

Even the trash bag disintegrated by the time I got home!

Even the trash bag disintegrated by the time I got home!

Lugging my Whole Foods groceries home in a trash bag after assistance in from of a dispensary just felt quintessential San Francisco to me - I kinda had to laugh. And I have no idea what I would have done if it wasn’t for my resourceful homeless friend who had the dumpster diving idea.

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And since it was raining, it was definitely a baking day. These muffins are full of healthy fats - flax seeds, coconut oil, eggs - and have a ton of antioxidants from the cacao. They also have no sugar added, since they are only sweetened with banana. They somehow smell like ice cream! Happy snacking around this household all week.


5.0 from 1 reviews
Coconut Oil and Cacao Muffins
 
Print
Author:
Serves: 9 muffins
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup coconut oil, melted
  • 4 tbsp cacao powder
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • ¾ cup milk (I used soy)
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tbsp flax seeds
  • 1 large banana
  • Dash of salt
  • Optional: coconut flakes for sprinkling
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
  2. Put all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth
  3. Pour into a muffin tin (use liners, or grease)
  4. Sprinkle the coconut flakes
  5. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a knife comes through clean
If you like these, you’ll love: Pumpkin Morning Glory Muffins

My Favorite Books on Food and our Food System

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I played around with the title of this post. It started out as “The Books On Food That Changed Everything For Me” but that sounded…dramatic. Regardless, one of my hobbies for a long time has been reading books on nutrition, food, food politics, the food system - you name it. The following books were completely and utterly enlightening. I may have studied Public Health in college, but I’m no registered dietitian. I can assure you that these books will be enjoyed by anyone with a deep interest in learning more on how and what we eat, and just for the love of FOOD.

On a similar note, I’ve read plenty of bad food and nutrition literature. To summarize: avoid any book with the title Skinny Bitch.

On our food system:

  1. The Omnivore’s Dilemma - Michael Pollan’s well-known book on American food culture and where our food comes from. This was my “gateway drug” book into just devouring (no pun intended) other books on our food system.
  2. In Defense of Food -Michael Pollan’s other book answering the question that people asked him after they read The Omnivore’s Dilemma - “what should I be eating?” The answer: Eat real food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
  3. Fast Food Nation - Investigative journalism into the fast food industry in the USA
  4. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - Barbara Kingsolver’s (also wrote Poisonwood Bible) wonderful non-fiction novel on her family’s journey to only eat foods within a 100-mile radius of their home for a year

Just for the love of food:

  1. The Best Food Writing of 2015 (The Best Food Writing of 2014, and so forth) - these books are compilations of short stories submitted by bloggers, authors, journalists, chefs (including Anthony Bourdain, Alice Waters) - you name it. They are always fantastic reads, and every story is different than the last. Each story is modern, relevant, and often mouth-watering!
  2. Cooked - another Michael Pollan book all about COOKING, and each chapter is centered around a different element - fire, water, earth, and air. It includes some recipes at the end. Definitely for anyone who enjoys the history of food!

Accessible nutrition books for the non-nutritionist:

  1. Sport’s Nutrition by Nancy Clark - the first book that was ever recommended to me on nutrition, and it’s incredibly informative on discussing optimal diets whether you’re just simply active or an athlete, and understanding how much you need to eat and of what. There are specific sections on gaining weight, losing weight, performance, and recovery as well.
  2. The Ultrasimple Diet - recommended by my primary care physician for those folks who struggle with autoimmune disorders, and healing through food.
  3. The Anti-Anxiety Food Solution - I bought this book to read about foods that add/reduce stress in your life, and it was overall a fascinating read about how our body processes and reacts to different foods, especially if you’ve found food to be a stress-inducer in your life.

I currently have Marion Nestle’s Food Politics on my bookshelf to read next, but are there any others I should add to the list?

WIAW - Traveling to Olympia

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Hello from Olympia, WA! I’m back on the road, but it isn’t so bad because we’ve been busy and productive this week, and we have a new teammate who I am really enjoying getting to know! Linking up to show Tuesday’s eats.

So last week was our reintroduction after the Whole30, and let me just say that we did no slow reintroduction…we pretty much dove straight back into non-Whole30 compliant eats. We were feeling SO good by the end of the Whole30 and it was kind of remarkable that last week Nate came down with a bug and my arthritis came back, after not bothering me for the past several months. Even as I write this I’m readjusting my shoulder joint to be in a better spot.

Monday night when my shoulder was really bothering me (after putting my hand into the bucket of chocolate covered raisins a few too many times) I knew that letting my cravings get the best of me over the past week was not worth having to take several Aleve for joint pain, so I made a pledge to get back to more normal balance on Tuesday. I’ll be honest, when you get in the habit of just grabbing a handful of the [insert M&Ms, chocolate covered raisins, dried fruit] - even if you only did it for a couple days - it becomes tough to break! I had also been eating a lot more gluten and dairy than I would even normally, and I’m sure it all played a part.

BREAKFAST

I woke up and grabbed a prune, and saw that it wasn’t raining or super cold outside. Yippee! My first outdoor run here in Washington in a long time. I did about 3.5 miles before returning to the hotel.

Our hotel this week has KITCHENS in each suite! I have like a full apartment to myself, it feels. I scrambled three eggs and ate some blueberries and pomegranate seeds. While the hotel certainly serves breakfast, I really like being able to choose the good stuff (organic and free range eggs) and cook for myself.

COFFEE

I had to grab the best coffee in the world at Batdorf and Bronson before going to work! This stuff tastes like chocolate.

LUNCH

I had grabbed a kale salad with avocado, lemon, and onion from the Peace, Love, and Raw restaurant and ate it alongside two hardboiled eggs I made this morning.

SNACK

Unpictured pear and almond butter, and hot green tea. And actively avoiding the chocolate raisin jar, giving it the death stare every time I walked by. After doing the Whole30, I am all about the almond butter these days. Peanut butter almost tastes too…salty?

DINNER

After a nice easy yoga session at my favorite studio over here, we had a team dinner at Dockside. I got bouillabaisse which had white fish, one shrimp and scallop, and mussels. And tons of garlic! It was super delicious, but the portion was rather small. Good thing we shared some steak skewers and salad to start! Sorry for the not great photo quality…

DESSERT

Back at the hotel, I enjoyed some dark chocolate and some peppermint tea.

Off to sleep! Hope you have a great Wednesday!

Chicken Fajita Enchilada Bake

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Make enchiladas the SUPER easy way with no tortilla-rolling required. This layered enchilada bake has all of the best flavors of enchiladas but takes half the time to make, and is stuffed full of lean protein and lots of vegetables!

When I first started this blog, I was all about the staged photos of me cooking glamorously in my (parents) kitchen - see below. Maybe I had watched too much Giada de Laurentiis on the Food Network and I thought that sort of curated view into one’s cooking process was what you were supposed to share, and what people wanted to see.

I should probably thank my dad for taking all of these photos of me smiling at my food back in the day!

Truthfully, however, the way I cook ain’t so pretty all of the time. Especially now that I have a small kitchen with no counter top or table that’s the right height for chopping, and you have to move chairs to open drawers. I’m constantly dropping food - Nate even caught me drop a mushroom on the floor the other day while I was cooking us breakfast and I just tossed it right back into the pan. He was flabbergasted, like, “you didn’t even look to see if anyone was watching!!” and while we were eating he kept going with every bite “am I eating the floor mushroom?”

I’m pretty convinced that the fact that I eat off the floor is like the main reason I never get sick. I’ll take double the floor mushrooms, please and thank you.

The great thing about this enchilada bake is that it’s fool proof. You really have very few places in these steps that you can make a kitchen error or a floor mushroom incident. There’s no technique in enchilada rolling required. It’s perfect for my small kitchen situation, as well as quick and healthy weeknight dinners.

I will note that while I say this cuts perfectly into four servings, if you’re a hungry couple like us, you’ll each have one serving and then jointly pick at another serving until it’s gone. Then only one person gets leftovers for lunch the next day.

I’ll have this x 2!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Chicken Fajita Enchilada Bake
 
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This gluten and dairy free chicken enchilada bake is an easy weeknight dinner filled with lean protein and vegetables, and no mess of rolling up tortillas into enchiladas!
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Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 8 tortillas
  • 2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I did this in a crockpot, but you can simply roast)
  • ½ white onion, diced
  • 2 green peppers, julienned
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 can of pre-made enchilada sauce
  • ½ cup of warm water
  • A couple of tablespoons of salsa
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • Olive oil
  • Cilantro, avocado, and green onion for garnish
Instructions
  1. In a medium saucepan, sautee the onions and garlic until translucent
  2. Add the chicken, peppers, cumin, chili powder, and salsa and cook for 3-5 minutes over medium heat
  3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
  4. In an 8x8 baking dish, layer 4 tortillas
  5. Cover with a layer of the chicken mixture
  6. Cover with another 4 tortillas
  7. Add another layer of chicken mixture
  8. Pour the enchilada sauce over the entire enchilada bake
  9. Pour the warm water around the sides of the bake, so it reaches the bottom of the baking dish
  10. Bake for 15 minutes
  11. Take out of the oven, top with cilantro and chopped green onions
  12. Serve with avocado and enjoy!
If you like this, you’ll love: Lightened Up Chicken Enchiladas