Buffalo Chicken Breakfast Casserole

When Rob and I were following the Whole 30 program a couple of years back, we fell in love with this recipe...not only for breakfast but for any meal...it is chock full of yummy ingredients, protein and it is so easy to make!  It also makes a big pan and you can get several meals out of it!  I figured this was a good time to share this when everyone is cleaning up their eating act- hope you try and enjoy!


Here it is....

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground chicken
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 lb sweet potato, peeled and shredded
• 1/2 cup scallions, sliced
• 8 eggs
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup franks hot sauce

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, brown and break apart ground chicken. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
3. Place chicken in the bowl with shredded sweet potato and sliced green onions.
4. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, coconut milk and hot sauce.
5. Combine chicken mixture with eggs until well combined.
6. Pour into a greased 2-3 quart or 9x13 casserole dish.
7. Cook for 40-45 minutes or until the eggs are set.

Holly's Shortcut Squash Soup (Whole 30 Compliant!)

In an effort to continue sharing Whole 30 Recipe Wins with you, I thought I would share this soup today.

It is something I whipped up on Saturday and it was a win for Robby B and me.

You never know what is going to happen when I don't follow a specific recipe.

I got my inspiration from my friend Angela who made a similar version for me last week.  She gave me some tips and I just winged it.  Hope you try it, even with your own variations!

Ingredients:

1 container of butternut squash cubes OR 1lb. of squash and cut in cubes.

 1/2 packet of baby carrots OR 2 large carrots chopped

 1/2 yellow onion, chopped

 2 cloves of garlic, minced

 EVOO (2 tbls)

 1 tsp of garlic powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp of fennel seed OR 1 bulb of fresh fennel, chopped, is even better!

1 tsp of fresh rosemary

2 cups coconut milk

1 tbls. ghee

 Salt & Pepper

*1 addition- shredded rotisserie chicken makes it an awesome meal!

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Chop squash and carrots and put in one layer on baking sheet- drizzle with EVOO and toss so all pieces are coated

Once oven is up to temp, pop baking sheet in for approximately 30-40 minutes

While veggies are roasting, saute onion and garlic and spices in EVOO

Season with Salt and Pepper

 Once veggies are done, pour pan along with onion and garlic mixture into a blender.  Blend until smooth.

Once blended, add to a large sauce pan.

Simmer with coconut milk and ghee (if soup is too thick, you can add extra coconut milk or bone broth to dilute it a bit- I did that and it made it even more tasty!)

*At this point, you can also mix in shredded pieces of rotisserie chicken.  It adds a little something special to this soup!

It was such a delicious and hardy soup!  I have also been thinking about ways to add to it and make it even better.  I am thinking of adding some pumpkin and nutmeg to the soup, especially in the fall!  Yummo!

Holly's Whole 30 Frittata

Holly's Whole 30 Fritatta

So I promised you that I would share Whole 30 "Recipe Wins" as I got inspired.

Friday's morning breakfast was a definite WIN!

Rob and I both had separate meetings on Thursday night- I had our Wolverines board meeting and he had a special School Board meeting to discuss their financial audit.  I got home at 10:45 and thought that was late....well he didn't get home until after 12 midnight.

Regardless, we both agreed we were starving!  We had eaten our dinner, our beef and broccoli stir fry around 5pm.  

Old habits die hard BUT we remained true to ourselves and the program and just took a water bottle to bed.

So, as you can imagine, we were starving on Friday morning.  Before going to bed, I decided to make us a fritatta for breakfast.

A fritatta is a simple way to use your veggies before they go bad- almost like a meal with the kitchen sink!

It is also super simple to keep it clean.  Did I miss the cheese?  Nope!  It was so good that I didn't miss my cheese.

I thought I would share the recipe with you today!

(This served 2 people- I split it with my hubby!)

Ingredients:

3 egg whites

2 eggs

1/2 cup coconut or almond milk

2 tbls avacado/coconut oil

4 organic chicken breakfast sausages (I used Applegate)

Handful of kale

3 baby red bliss potatoes (chopped)

1/2 cup chopped red onion (chopped)

 Salt, Pepper, Cinnamon and Nutmeg for Seasoning

*I also threw some fun toppings on this bad boy: 1 tbls. of guacamole and 1 tbls of fresh salsa

Instructions:

Heat your skillet

Once hot, add your oil

Add potatoes and onions and saute until soft (approx. 5-10 minutes)

Add in sausages and kale

While this is sauteeing, beat your eggs with coconut milk and spices

Once veggies are soft and sizzling (after approx 5 minutes), add your egg mixture on top of the pan

Let saute for 5 minutes

Remove from stovetop and pop that skillet in the oven, under the broiler for 5 minutes/until golden brown

I topped with salsa and guacamole and enjoyed a sliced peach on the side

This was incredible- so delicious- so filling- and Robby B agreed!

Whole 30 Recipe Wins!

Hi Friends!  Rob and I are in Day 4 of the Whole 30 challenge and so far so good.  Is it hard?  Heck ya!

I miss cheese!  I am also going through sugar withdrawals- I never realized all of the places that sugar was hiding!  Yes, it is hard but I am also slowly feeling better.  My sleep the first two nights was rough- could be lots on my mind but I also think the change in diet and pick up in exercise is a shock to my body!  Ha ha!

Anyway, I thought I would share some Whole 30 Recipe wins with you!  I know I love going on Pinterest for recipes and also getting recommendations from friends and from the Group we created on Facebook so I thought if I could help to inspire just one person, I would!

Here is a look at our Whole 30 Menu this week.  I am including pictures of some of the meals and links for the ones we gave two thumbs up or the ones we are looking forward to!  Enjoy!

Day 1

Breakfast- Monkey Salads

Check the recipe out HERE

Lunch- Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avacado Salads

Find the recipe HERE

 Dinner- Loaded Taco Soup

Find the recipe HERE

Day 2

Breakfast- 2 Hard Boiled Eggs and 1 Paleo Protein Bar

Lunch-Leftover Zesty Lime Shrimp and Avacado Salad

Dinner- Balsamic Sheet Pan Chicken with Bacon, Brussel Sprouts and Apples

Find the recipe HERE

 Day 3

Breakfast- 2 Applegate Chicken Breakfast Sausages- 1 cup blackberries- 2 cups crispy kale

 Lunch- My friend Angela, who is also doing the Whole 30 challenge, whipped us up a lunch that we could enjoy while she was training me on VP duties for Wolverines.  It was a "working lunch" in the middle of a crazy day and it was SO GOOD.

She made the most colorful salad including homemade roasted golden beets, avacado and arugula (some of my faves!) with homemade dressing and roasted chicken that we put on top- perfect! I snapped a few pics :)

Dinner- Paleo Crispy Lemon Chicken

Ok friends- this was a winner BUT it was time consuming and it called for brand new ingredients to us- Rob agreed that it was amazing- it was just kinda complicated- if you pull up the recipe, you will see why!  We had this with Riced Cauliflower

 Find the recipe HERE

 Day Four

Breakfast- Monkey Salads again

Lunch- Chicken Salad with homemade Whole 30 mayo, grapes and celery!

 Find the recipe for the Chicken Salad HERE

and for an awesome homemade Whole 30 mayo, check out this recipe HERE

 Dinner- Paleo Beef and Broccoli

Find the recipe HERE

Day 5

I have not planned breakfast or lunch yet- will do that tonight.

We do have a dinner plan....wait for it....

you know how much I LOVE our Friday Night Pizza Night...one of my favorite things...well...we can't do cheese.

I found this Whole 30 pizza recipe and we are going to give it a shot.

So....I am not going to share that recipe until I know, if ever, that it is a win...stay tuned!

In addition to the change in food lifestyle, I am committing to 3-4 days of exercise.  I have enjoyed working out on my treadmill and one step class this week so far.  

I am also striving to drink 8-10 glasses of water a day.  I add citrus fruits to make it more interesting AND after drinking Angela's mint cucumber water, I will try that too next week.

Lastly, I am only allowing myself 2 glasses of Paleo wine, 2 times/week.  I think I will be saving those days for the weekends, when we have social events.

The creator of Whole 30, did stress, that planning ahead, is the most important part.  It is a ton of work but I have found over the last few days, with our plan in place, there are no excuses.  The right food is in the house, we just have to prepare it.

It is work...but I know it will be worth it...stay tuned!