My menu

Busy weekend doing some testing on a new recipe that I haven’t had since I went paleo. Super excited to be sharing it with you all soon. Just have a few more finishing tweaks! So with the restricted amount of time I just put together a quick 5 day meal plan (M-F). Here is what we are having.

Breakfast:

1. Quiona-kiddos & egg and sausage.
2. Paleo waffle sandwiches
3. Egg & sausage hash
4. Egg & sausage hash
5. Paleo Pancakes and Eggs

Kiddos Snacks:

1. Yogurt & banana chips
2. Paleo pumpkin muffins & celery sticks (Sunbutter, coconut flakes)
3. Apples with Sunbutter balls- recipe here.
4. Paleo pumpkin muffins & fruit
5. Crunchy rice rolls with Sunbutter ball & yogurt

School Lunch: * Rob and I usually have a fresh salad or previous nights leftovers.

1. Hard boiled eggs, tuna cakes, salad, pickles, and fruit
2. Monday night leftovers
3. Chicken, veggies, & fruit
4. Paleo coconut flour pancakes sandwiches, fruit, and veggies
5. Thursday night leftovers

After school snack:

1. Paleo Sio Pao & fruit
2. Exploding Apples (Sunbutter, raisins, & shredded coconut flakes)
3. Paleo zucchini muffins & smoothie
4. Candied walnuts & celery
5. Paleo zucchini muffins & smoothies

Dinner:

1. Baked potato bar – Mexican style
2. Cauliflower “fried rice” with chicken
3. Tex-Mex – sweet potato style
4. Buffalo chicken & sweet potatoes
5. Leftover night!

That is it for me this week. Should be an easy meal prep, allows me to be able to prep during the week too!

Enjoy the journey & Keep it simple!

Ham Rolls

I like to keep the ingredients for ham rolls on hand in my house. They are easy to put together and great for so many different meal plans. Great to pack for school lunches and on the run. I like to also take them to the park, when we go camping, out to the pool, to soccer games. So easy to prepare when you are out and about. Also one of my favorite recipes to share for those that are making changes in foods that they eat. Because it is simple and healthy.

First off you want to be sure you always get uncured, no added nitrates/nitrites  lunch meat, and organic if possible.  Nitrate/nitrite are food preservatives that are added to processed meat. Most manufactures add in a synthetic form which then can be linked to cancer and heart disease.  It can also be a trigger to migraines.  Make sure you always read the ingredients in what you are buying. One of my favorite brands to get is Applegate. The don’t add nitrates/nitrites, no added fillers, no artificial ingredients, and they are Non-GMO. You are read more about Applegate here.

My family likes ham the best, but I will do turkey also. Sometimes I may add ham and turkey together along with all the other toppings in a wrap. Speaking of toppings, they can be endless. I choose a meat and add guacamole or mashed avocado.  Then I add in some cheese. Could be goat, goat gouda, Applegate sliced cheese, or non at all. Next toppings. I like to added slivered carrots, trader joe’s broccoli slaw, spinach, or even a pickle. Then I roll it up. Can me eaten like that or in a slice or romain lettuce as a lettuce boat.

Easy peasy! I may not always make them before hand, but will bring all the ingredients with me.  Then I can make them wherever we are at, like if we are on the soccer fields all day for games. Kiddos also enjoy these in their lunches too!

A quick and easy throw together meal. Real food…Real ingredients.  Remember keep it simple…Keep it clean. Enjoy!

Asian Zoodle Bowls

One of favorite recipes to cook for my family are my Asian Zoodle Bowls. Filled with yummy veggies and steak. Preparing your ingredients before hand, makes it a breeze just to throw it together while you cook. This recipe makes enough for my family of 7 plus 1 leftover lunch for the hubs the next day.

I made the switch 4 years ago from soy sauce to coconut aminos. I try my best to eliminate soy in our diet. Coconut aminos is a soy free seasoning sauce and taste great. It is 100% organic, gluten-free, non-GMO, no MSG, and vegan sauce. I use it in all my dishes that I would have typically used soy sauce for.

• Ingredients:
  • Marinade
    • 1.5lbs of flank steak cut into thin strips against the grain
    • 1Tbsp fresh grated ginger
    • 1Tbsp unrefined organic sesame oil
    • 1/4 cup coconut aminos – Enough to coat the meat but not drench it.
    • 1 freezer gallon sized zip lock bag
  • Main Entree
    • 2 zucchini – I use this spriralizer to make zoodles
    • Himalayan salt
    • 2 Tbsp sesame oil (or can use avocado oil)
    • 1 onion sliced
    • 1/2 Tbsp grated ginger
    • 1tbsp of apple cider vinegar or 1tsp of fish sauce
    • 1/4 cup coconut aminos
    • 2 cups broccoli slaw (broccoli and carrot mixture)
    • Handful of baby portobello mushrooms sliced
    •  Red pepper flakes (optional)

First prepare the marinade as it will need to refrigerate for at least 8hrs or overnight.

Place 1 Tbsp of sesame oil and 1/4 cup of coconut aminos into the ziplock bag and set aside. Grate 1 Tbsp of fresh ginger and place into the ziplock bag. Cut up the flank steak into thin strips against the grain and place into the ziplock bag. Close the bag and massage the meat. Place in refrigerator for 8hrs up to overnight.

Now time for the main dish!

Pull the meat out of the fridge. Start by washing and drying 2 zucchini. Then use a vegetable spiral slicer to make the zoodles. Lay on paper towel and sprinkle with himalayan salt (this is help absorb some of the moisture from the zucchini) and set aside.

Next I prepare the rest of my veggies. Wash and slice the baby portobello mushrooms. Slice up the onion. Grate the ginger. Measure out 2 cups of broccoli slaw. Set these aside.

Now onto throwing it all together!

Heat up the wok on medium high heat. Add 1tbsp of the sesame oil. Add in the flank steak and cook just until brown (do not overcook). Place steak in a bowl lined with paper towel. Drain the juices out of the wok and return to stove.

Place the other 1tbsp of sesame oil into heated wok. Throw in the onions and grated ginger and sauté. Add in the apple cider vinegar (or fish sauce) and coconut aminos.

Reduce heat down to simmer. Add in the broccoli slaw and mushrooms. Cook until veggies start to soften – about 2 minutes.  I personally don’t like soft cooked veggies. I still like mine with a little crunch.

Add in the zoodles for about another minute – just until warmed. Add back in the beef.  You can add slightly more coconut aminos if needed. Dish out into bowl. Top with red pepper flakes-optional. You may also add red pepper flakes into the wok after you add the zoodles. Not all my kiddos like red pepper flakes so we just have it on the table for people to add if they want.

I hope you enjoy this as much as my family does. Keep it simple…Keep it clean.

Kid Friendly Snacks 1…2…3

I don’t know about you, but my kiddos seem to be snacking all day long. I keep fruits and veggies around so they can snack on those as they feel the need. I also schedule snacks during the day. Once in the morning and then again after school.

Yesterday’s menu called for my version of ants on a log and mixed nuts. Celery was already pre-cut. I like to wash and pre-cut my celery once I get home from the store. Doing that makes it easier to snack on during the day, or I can grab some and chop them up for a dish I am making. I snagged some out of the fridge and added some sunbutter. You can use an

Ants on log-coconut style. Paleo friendly

y kind of nut butter if you prefer. Then I topped them with raisins and shredded coconut. Served them up on a plate and let them have at it. They were gobbling them up before I even got a picture of them!  Just another way to change things up. I also like adding these to their snack buckets at school. Easy peasy.

 

Onto the mixed nuts. We haven’t made candied walnuts in awhile so we decided to make those instead. These are also a great alternative on top of salads. I love my cast irons and do a lot of my cooking in them currently. I have some ceramic cookware on my wish list that I want to replace all my other cookware with except my cast irons which I will always hold on to.

Warm up your cast iron to med-high heat. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. I really stink at measuring, but add about a cup or more of walnuts or other nut of your choosing. Basically line the bottom of th

Caramelized in cast iron pan. Paleo friendly

e pan in a single layer with walnuts. Pour in approximately 1/4 cup of grade B pure maple syrup, a dash of salt, and a teaspoon (or more to your taste) of cinnamon. Keep stirring until it’s caramelized.

 

Once it has caramelized dish onto the parchment paper and let cool. Eat some up and store the rest in an airtight container.

Line on parchment paper

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Third snack I am sharing today is from Against All Grain. When I first started changing up our diets I turned to her website and books to help me along. She helped making the transition for me easier. She is very knowledgeable and you can read more about her story here. I enjoy making her Jello for the kiddos using Great Lakes Gelatin. It is a grass-fed unflavored gelatin which can help support joints as well as healthy skin, hair, and nails. You can find her 2 ingredient recipe here. Quick and easy to make, and a family favorite. You won’t be disappointed! As you can tell by my son’s face he can’t wait to dive in. You can even throw in some fruit into it to if you like. Personally I don’t like fruit in my jello, just a texture thing so I don’t add it to ours.  I served the jello along with crunchy rice rollers topped with sunbutter. These both are great to send for school snack.

Against All Grain Jello-paleo friendly. Crunchy Rice Rolls and sunbutter

I hope you enjoy these snacks as much as my family does. Keep it simple and clean. Now I am going to go and enjoy the chaos of some hide-and-seek with my family, and listen to the beautiful noise of the rain outside.

 

Saturday Morning Breakfast

A free weekend with no plan events…YES! So today calls for cleaning the house, catching up on the laundry, and cleaning out the garage. My kiddos love when they hear the words “spring cleaning your rooms”…NOT. Windows are open, sun is shinning, feeling the breeze. Now just hoping I will get a lot done today.

Family breakfast around the table is my cup of tea. Love family conversation. Reminds me of when I was growing up and the stories we told (oh burping contest) at the dinner table. It brings a smile to my face every time. I am so blessed to be able to share this same tradition with my children. Rob and I even love sharing stories about their aunts and uncles. The infamous question on how Rob and I met. Although my stories are probably not as good as my Dad’s, I still enjoy their laughter.  Don’t get me wrong, time around the table is not always smiles and laughter. We do have the occasional yelling, screaming, crying, arguing, bickering, etc. The joys of having a beautiful and loving family.

Today’s breakfast included scrambled eggs, potatoes, baby portobello mushrooms, and kiolbassa. I also gave the kiddos an orange with their breakfast this morning (not pictured). The Kiolbassa we get from Costco. One downside to Costco is they don’t always carry it, or the same brand. This is the new brand they are now carrying. It is $2 more and one less sausage. So unless they carry the other brand, this will now become a once in awhile thing and I will go back to making my own ground sausage for awhile. Chino Valley Ranchers is a local to me, but they are carried at Costco. These are organic, free range eggs which can be very expensive to buy. I can buy these for $2.79/dozen at Costco. Costco also carries 18 pack of organic eggs also, but if you do the price comparison it is cheaper to buy these; always look at the cost per dozen.

I started off with making the potatoes on the stove with some avocado oil and fried them up. Added a little bit of himalayan salt and done. While the potatoes cooked, I cut up the Kiolbassa. After the potatoes were done I put them in dish and, I threw the Kiolbassa into the same pan with no oil as the Kiolbassa will produce its own while cooking. Once the Kiolbassa was done I put them in a dish, and threw in the mushrooms with the grease from the Kiolbassa. I dished out the mushrooms to a plate and added a little bit more avocado oil and made the eggs. So I used 1 pan for all 4 foods, making less of a clean up for me!

Enjoy your morning and a healthy, wholesome breakfast.

T…T…for Taco Thursday

Thursday calls for Taco day. Super easy throw together meal, and makes great leftovers! Today also calls for meal planning and meal prep for this weekend. I will be sharing my meal plan for the coming week tomorrow.

Lunch today is taco salad. I like to pick up grass-fed beef only when it is on sale. When grass-fed beef is on sale at my local grocery store it usually is sold out fast. I usually hit the grocery store at least twice a week. I will pick up the beef one day, and usually by the second trip it is gone.  At the second trip I will then ask for a rain check. This way I can stock up at a later date again at the sale price. The sale prices can range anywhere from $3.99-$5.99 a pound. Win…Win…

I also make my own taco season. Ground up the meat. Then today I added in cumin, chili powder, paprika, and oregano. I let it cool before I put it in their lunches. Lunch today included sliced up strawberries, romain lettuce with sweet peppers, and goat gouda cheese. The taco meat is in a side dish.  When they get to school they will dump the taco meat on top of their salad giving them more room to mix it in. A great satisfying meal! I also love hearing my kiddos say how they can’t wait to have their lunch. Tacos is by far one of the favorites!

Keep it clean…Keep it simple…Enjoy!

Wednesday Feel Good Lunch

Happy Hump Day. With traveling over the weekend, I did not get much prep work in for meals this week. Being committed is what it is all about. Like second nature now; just every day life. This morning called for firing up the grill at 6am to make chicken for lunches today. Thanks to the hubs for the chicken this morning it was delicious!

Our lunches today included oranges and green beans seasoned with pepper and himalayan salt. Chicken was seasoned and grilled up. I don’t have containers to seal the franks red hot so I divided the chicken into 2 cups and added the sauces on the bottom for dipping. This way it prevents the sauce from getting on the other food. Yes my kiddos like Franks Red Hot! Keep it simple and healthy.

Enjoy!

Eating Clean While Traveling

This past weekend was busy. The girls finished up their last soccer tournament of the season, which for us was a 2 plus hour drive and an over night stay. That meant meal planning for the weekend, grocery shopping, and meal prep was on the agenda. Let me tell you it does take work, but it is most rewarding thing to do! I have a plan in place, notebook ready to go, and then it is check…check….check…off the list. So here is how it went down…

I made my list of what we were going to have to eat. I am a strong believer in making it simple. We don’t mind repeat foods, especially when traveling. It makes preparing and grocery shopping so much easier. With busy schedules, I didn’t start preparing for the weekend until Thursday night. Which isn’t unusual for me. I would really like to try to get things done sooner, but the week was already busy itself. So I made my agenda and sent it off to Rob to be sure we were on the same page or if he wanted to add anything further.

Day 1

Day 2

I planned out breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, and snack for the 2 days. I also listed out our agenda (whatever we may be doing on the trip), and mass times in the area for us to be able to attend church while we are traveling.

Now I can plug in my grocery list into the Wunderlist app. If you don’t use this, you need to check it out! I use this all the time for my grocery shopping. It is so easy and has been a lifesaver. I can plug in what I need, uncheck previous items I put in before and add to my list, and/or mark favorite items. It is also great because I can make a grocery list, and then ask Rob to pick the items up on his way home from work because we have them synched on each phone. As you shop you just click the box as you pick up your items; easy peasy.

These are a few of my finds from Trader Joes and Costco for my meals this trip. I have labeled below what I purchased.

Trader Joes: Organic-Sweet Peppers, Celery, Broccoli Slaw, Sweet Potatoes, Kalamon Olives, unsweetened apple sauce, popcorn, and Pops (suckers). Uncured ham, raw milk cheese, sunbutter, plantain chips, banana chips, and dark chocolate honey mints

Costco: Organic- chicken, raisins, eggs, wholly guacamole, and kiolbassa. Also grabbed avocado oil.

Now on to meal prep. I try to get as much done as possible to make putting meals together quickly and efficiently. This saves me time when we may be in a crunch, or I have some hungry kiddos. Since we had to leave early I made breakfast for on the go Saturday morning. Rob and I had eggs, mushrooms, and Applegate sausage links. For the kiddos I made Fluffy Paleo Pancakes from Lexi’s Clean Kitchen. You can find the recipe here. They are super easy to make. I made these into sunbutter and honey sandwiches for the kiddos to have Saturday and Sunday for breakfast. The girls had an early morning game Sunday so this makes it easy. Day 1 and 2 breakfasts, done!

 

 

All snacks were next. I packed enough larabars and cuties to have as one snack for each day. Packed a bag of raisins and made a huge bowl of popcorn for another snack. Then made tuna salad and egg salad. Rob and I also ate these for breakfast or had on top of our salads. Packed some chicharrones, plantain chips, and rice rolls. Made my sunbutter balls. Finally, made The Spunky Coconut candy roasted nuts.  You can find her recipe here.  Day 1 and 2 snacks, done!

Lunches were next. I made lunches for both days the same. They would be great for on the go if we needed to have lunch at the soccer fields. The ham rolls I could make when we got there. I slivered the carrots and cut up the celery. Day 1 and Day 2 lunch prep done! Lunches were then easy to put together once there. All I had to do was slice up the cheese (I would have sliced the cheese before hand, but forgot). Take a slice of ham, spread some wholly guacamole, add a slice of raw milk cheese, slivered carrots, and roll up. Served it with celery and sunbutter, strawberries/apples, pickles, and kettle chips. Also made a mix salad for anyone that wanted one.

Finally, dinner prep. I initially had potatoes on the agenda because we thought about grilling out at a park. Since we didn’t know if time would allow, I scratched the idea. So all I had to do was grill up some chicken breast.  I oiled the breast with some avocado oil and added an organic salt free season blend with some Himalayan salt and black pepper. Packed some Tesserae dressing (by far my favorite dressing, plus it is paleo friendly).  Dinner prep for day 1 and 2, done!

It may seem like a lot to do but you can do it! I grocery shopped, did meal prep, and all my other errands all on Friday! Saturday morning we loaded up the famous Yeti, packed the car, and hit the road. The food would have been fine all weekend in the Yeti, but we unloaded a good portion of it in the hotel so we didn’t have to make multiple trips to the car. Even with a small fridge I was able to load our food in.

 

The weekend overall went very smooth.  The girls landed into the championship game and brought home the win. It was a great ending to a great season.  I loved watching the girls play and grow this season. We decided to take our time heading back and pit stop on the way home to eat and do some adventuring as a family. We shared some great laughs, new adventures, and the ability to enjoy the great outdoors. I am so very blessed for this beautiful family of mine.

Meal time

Taking a stroll

The hubs and I

My crew!

Be sure to check me out on instagram @jengonefit, and twitter @nettaj for more meal ideas and pictures from our weekend!

School Lunch

It’s Monday and back to getting things done. After a great weekend on the soccer fields with my girls and family, it is time to hit the ground running. So without further ado, here is today’s lunch!

These silicone cupcake holders make throwing this lunch together much easier. Especially if your kiddos like their food to be separated! Can I just say I love Trader Joes.  I was spoiled back in Iowa when I only had a quick 5 minute trip. Now it is almost 30 minutes to get their. So I go every 2 weeks instead.

The kiddos enjoyed broccoli slaw (Trader Joes), plantain chips (Trader Joes), go raw sprouted pumpkin seeds (Costco), grilled organic chicken breast (Costco), strawberries, and a dark chocolate honey mint (Trader Joes).

Happy Eating! Remember to keep it clean and simple. Gobble up.

Paleo Friendly School Lunch

I have decided once my younger 2 get in pre-k next year I am going to pack all 5 kiddos lunches each morning.  I may actually start this summer! This way when I get home with them I can just pull them out of the fridge and they will be ready to go.  Plus if we want to hit a park, or run errands I can just grab the lunchbots and go! They do enjoy having their lunches like their older siblings.

Today’s lunch is paleo friendly.  Most of our lunches are, do to the numerous allergies my younger daughter has/had. Like the majority of my lunches it was leftovers from a previous meal.  This makes it easier for throwing them together the night before, or even the morning of. My girls also like making their lunches in the morning so they know exactly what can go in them.  Win…Win!

My crew enjoyed filling their bellies today with Against All Grains 2 ingredient jello.  You can  find her recipe on her website here. Mixed kale salad topped with Go Raw sprouted pumpkin seeds and organic raisins that we get from Costco. My kiddos do not use dressing on their salad just some sort of fruit. Fruit today was oranges and pineapple. Finally leftover organic grilled chicken drumsticks that we pulled off the bone. Oh and I can’t forget their sunbutter ball!

The chicken drumsticks were lightly coated with avocado oil. Then seasoned with pink himalayan salt and organic no-salt seasoning from Costco (thanks Clara for the recommendation).  Then grilled to perfection. Typically we season our chicken drumsticks with salt and pepper, and that is just as delicious!

Happy lunch packing. Remember to keep it simple and healthy! Enjoy.