Whole30 Must Haves

Whole 30...you've either started or are gearing up for your next thirty days. The response we've received from friends and family who are joining us on Whole30 this month has been absolutely wonderful.  As we continue to place recipes online on The Ranch Kitchen site under our new Whole30 tab, we are blogging with a post as well to give you tips and tricks that helped us stay 'compliant' while on Whole30.

For today's blog post, we wanted to share with you our 'must haves' while on the program. The list below was the things that will now be staples in our kitchen as we continue to prepare healthier recipes that are Whole30 compliant.

So as you begin either your pre-planning stage or you've jumped right in and need a list to start your shopping with, see below.  This list of will help you with meal prepping for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks and get you through the weeks ahead.

WHOLE30 MUST HAVES:

ALISE'S MUSH HAVE LIST:

Larabars:  These little bars are protein-rich and delicious. You will feel like you are cheating, but you are not.  Not all, however, are compliant on Whole30, so read, read the labels.  We absolutely loved the Pecan Pie, Cherry Pie, and Cashew Cookie Bars...delicious! We took a stab at the RX Bars that everyone raved over, but they were too chewy and dry for our taste.  Click here for a link to Amazon to purchase your own.  The neat thing is Amazon makes a Whole30 option on a couple of different products (Larabars, jerky, etc.) that make it easy to stay compliant.



Fresh Fruit: Bananas for a quick breakfast and for snacks I turned to grapes, tangerines, oranges and fresh pineapple that were huge for me while on Whole30.  I also realized halfway in that I could have the Dole Fruit Cups with natural juices that were downright amazing too.  Tangerines would give me that afternoon snack and natural sugar I needed around 4:30 - 5 each day and were great for a late night snack.  As I'd cook dinner, having grapes on hand were a sweet treat as well.



Earl Grey or Chai Tea - My morning or evening pick-me-up without sugar of course!  Love, love my Yeti cup that kept it hot or cold all day.  Being a Southern gal, we love our sweet tea...but I finally did learn to enjoy tea without sugar!  The added cinnamon in the Chai tea made me feel like I was having a treat and it also was a nice in the afternoons when my energy would sink.

       

Sweet Potatoes - We ate them with everything from the bottom layer of a breakfast casserole to the placing shredded chicken on top of it, or making a sweet potato hash with a fried egg that was really wonderful!

Sweet Potato Hash using Hereford Beef.
This was one of the first recipes we created and probably our very favorite.

Beef - For that matter Hereford Beef off our ranch.  As those who follow my blog know, we are ranchers.  We raise our own Hereford beef and proudly serve it to our family. Whole30 does not limit beef and the ability to continue the tradition of serving beef on our table was a must for me.  For recipes, check out Certified Hereford Beef for a multitude of ways you can create compliant recipes.

Picture compliments of Certified Hereford Beef

BETHANY'S MUST HAVE LIST: 

Avocado Oil - A new oil for our family.  After doing much research, Bethany saw that this was a great oil to use to cooking. You can find this at most grocery stores.

LaCroix - This was huge for my Bethany who loves her carbonation in her drinks. It would get her through her day and the carbonation - fizziness was a must for her.  Her favorite flavors are Pamplemousse, Lime and Lemon.  If you link to the LaCroix site, you'll see that they are a partner with Whole30 as well.

Kombucha - This fermented tea is compliant for Whole30 and made her feel like she was 'almost' having a glass of wine at night!  She would even pour it in a wine glass to give herself the thought that she was having a cocktail! Other benefits include stomach health with this increasingly popular tea.  We found ours at Natural Grocers in our neighboring town. ***Make sure that it is Whole30 compliant as some Kombucha Teas are not. Whole30 makes you read your labels.












Coconut Oil - Bethany cooked with it and used it to season pans as well.  She'd even use it for moisturizer on her hands.  You can buy it in bulk at food clubs like Sam's Club. This oil stores well and the multi-use capability of it really makes it a useful ingredient to add to your kitchen.










Unsweetened Almond Milk - This was used as a coffee creamer and substituted for milk in recipes as needed.  The shelf life on this is long and must be refrigerated after opening. Be sure to DOUBLE check that it is unsweetened. There are also great coconut milk option to look at as well. Bethany tried the NutPods for creamer, but they were inconvenient to have to order a small (we mean small) package from Amazon and the flavoring wasn't strong enough for her liking.







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While on this program you will find just how much dairy and sugar you really consume on a daily basis.  In moderation neither of them is necessarily bad for you and especially not the dairy.  But, in order to see how these affect you, the thirty day process of elimination will help you figure that out.  Bethany realizes now that dairy can really mess with her system and I know now for a fact that sugar and flour really cause all the joint pain and stomach bloat I had been experiencing.

And if we had to have a #11 on the list it would be individual meal containers like the Gladware brand.  Prepping meals for the days in advance is a KEY to staying on the program and being successful.  One day's planning is worth a week of success!

As you begin your Whole30 journey, comment on our Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and The Ranch Kitchen site blog post to let us know how it is going.  If you create an amazing recipe or have found something that gets you through your days, let us know about it!  You can easily 'Share A Recipe' on my blog, or shoot me the recipe alise@theranchkitchen.com and I'll submit it for you!  Be sure to include a picture, even if you took it off your phone, please.

Together we will get healthier and feel so much better come February and the spring/summer seasons ahead...for that matter life!

Thanks for coming along with us on Whole30!

Alise & Bethany

Let's Get Started! Whole30 Recipes Week 1

As promised. we've got your back!  No need to look any further for great Whole30 compliant recipes to get your first-week kick-started.  These recipes are tried and true with a twist or two of our own and family approved.  Even for those members of your family or friends who aren't on the Whole30 program, they will enjoy these recipes.

To prepare, you must first do your homework as far as shopping goes.  Preparing a list will help you purchase everything you need to get your first week started and give you staples to use for the 30 days of Whole30.  

Throughout this process and lifestyle change, we were more aware of the labeling and artificial ingredients choosing to follow the Whole30 strictly as instructed.  Our goal, as is your goal. is to figure out your body's triggers and what makes a difference in a healthier you.  

As with any lifestyle change, always consult your doctor or health care professional to see what is best for you.  We do not profess in any way to be a nutritionist or medical professionals but wanted to blog and share our success with the Whole30. Always, always use sound judgment and listen to your body as far as how you feel.  We, in no way, were compensated by Whole30 for any of these blogs or recipes.  

We've used our trusted fellow Internet bloggers and created our own recipes to help you along to give you flavorful, eye-appealing recipes that will not make you feel like you are missing out on anything.  You will feel full and have meals that are filling and delicious!  

As we said in the first post since New Year's Day is a traditional day off of work, start Whole30 on Tuesday, January the 2nd when you start back to work, or if you are an educator, on your first day back after your holiday break.  Beginning the program in this manner helps with the mentality of new year, new you...and hopefully you'll have fellow family, friends, and co-workers on the Whole30 with you as well.

So, to get started, do your grocery shopping in the store and online.  Natural Grocers was a huge help in our local area and Amazon online helped with the non-dairy creamer Nutpods and our Lara Bars for snacks and an occasional lunch if I was on the run.   

Do meal prep. It really was the key to our success during the Whole30. Make your meals times two at times if you and store in Gladware containers to have ready to go in your refrigerator.  Pack your lunch each day for work, along with snacks and your water bottle.  I drank unsweet tea like a madwoman each day.  As a southern girl there is nothing better than sweet tea in my estimation...but, I am now a little off that kick and can drink a good, tall glass of unsweet tea and actually like it.  

Do drink lots of water and remember DO NOT WEIGH YOURSELF FOR 30 DAYS!  It's not about weight, but about HOW YOU FEEL! And we promise you, you will feel better and will lose some weight. We lost on average ten pounds each, but I can not promise that it will be the same for you. However, I hope you go above and beyond what we did.  

Below an example of what a week's worth of recipes looked like for us. Use this as a guide to help map out your meals and prep for the week ahead. These are just meals for the week as we were traveling or out eating on the weekends. Just copy off the recipes and you'll have your shopping list ready to go! 

Please note that two of us were doing the Whole30 together, so we split up the recipes among one another for the week. If you are doing this alone, you don't need to make as many meals. 

BREAKFAST

Monday, Wednesday, Friday (6 meals)

Whole30 Sweet Potato Power Bowl

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday (6 meals)

Whole30 Turkey and Egg McMuffin

LUNCHES

Monday, Wednesday, Friday (6 meals)

Italian Beef Stew - you can easily use ground pork, chicken or turkey

Tuesday, Thursday (6 meals)

Southwestern Meatloaf

****These were AMAZING and we used our Hereford beef for this recipe instead of turkey.  

Serve along with our Smashed Potatoes with Clarified Butter

DINNERS - Evening Meals

Monday, Wednesday, Friday (8 meals - 4 for Monday night)

Baked Salmon Patties

Serve with Roasted Asparagus

and with Roasted Delicata Squash

Tuesday, Thursday (6 meals - 4 for Tues. night)

Sweet Potato Hash

SNACKS

Larabars (Apple Pie, Pecan Pie, Chocolate Coconut Chew)

Whole30 Apple Delight - when a sweet attach hit at night, Bethany would whip these up! Delicious and Whole30 compliant!

We are excited for you!  You've got this!  And because we believe in it so much, Bethany and I are starting round 2 of the Whole30 Tuesday so that we can continue our journey with you. 

Alise and Bethany

The Ranch Kitchen

We survived the Whole30.....

Food has always been a mainstay in my life.  Of course, we all have to eat to survive, but for me, my adoration of food goes way beyond that.  Food is and has always been ‘my happy place’ and cooking my downtime at the end of the day.  But, that love of food and everything associated with it can get you in a bind calorie wise and on your waistline, IF you don’t make the right choices.  In an effort to eat healthier and lose a few pounds that have gradually added on, my middle daughter Bethany suggested a program called Whole30 which truly has changed the way I look at food and how it affects me.

Whole 30 is based on the premise that in order to know how food affects you and your body, you’ll limit grains, processed sugar, no alcohol, no dairy, and legumes (beans of any kind)….and guess what…you can do this.  We did and we lived to tell the tale!

Prepping as part of the Whole30 was essential and having a buddy like my Bethany to motivate and keep me on track, along with preparing meals was a win, win as well.  She is blessed with uber organizational skills and a little OCD…all traits that I must some extent, but not near her level.  I used to tell her she got all this straight from my mom. 

My Bethany, middle daughter…aka motivator and 

meal prepper on our Whole30 journey!

A good week before we started making sure that for the Whole30 program to be successful for us that our kitchen was stocked with compliant foods like fresh vegetables, canned foods, and oils that we would use to cook with.  I will admit going a little overboard on ingredients, but as I’ve shared before I love a good grocery store.  It’s my weakness and don't ever go to a grocery store hungry like I often do!

So, first thing first - we bought the Whole 30 book off Amazon.  We read and then went back and read it again.  Bethany researched tasty recipes for every meal that she could meal prep for us that were compliant from breakfasts to meals to snacks.  We shopped both online and at our local Brookshire’s grocery store as well as at Natural Grocers in our nearby town.  We gradually prepped our kitchen and we bought more individual sized Gladware containers to store our left-over meals in or those we prepped in advance to eat the next few days.  And last, we prepped our family for the Whole30 adventure we were about to go on so they could be supportive and help us along on our journey.

One main thing they tell you is to NOT start the Whole30program during the holidays, however blogging like I do and being an educator, if I am going to share something with my readers, I want to have lived it.  So, a week before Thanksgiving and a week before I turned 50 and went on a family trip for it, we started Whole30.  Not ideal, but usually nothing in my life makes perfect sense…so we went with it.  Amazingly, it all worked out!  Thanksgiving was wonderful for everyone in our family enjoyed both the Whole30 compliant dishes for Bethany and me and then they ate our traditional calorie-laden veggies, rice, and dressing for my husband and other two girls.  No one suffered because of our diet, but they did learn to enjoy healthier meals that were full of flavor and not so hard on your waistline.

So, as I write this post about our Whole30 lifestyle change, we want to make sure what we print give attribution to the inspiration we found from the creators of the program itself, to the fellow bloggers and nutritionist who shared their recipes online, and to our family for supporting us through this past 30 days.

Wednesday 11/13/17 was the final day on the diet as far as the 30 days go, but we aren’t done yet. This began our slow, but sure reintroduction of foods, oils, and flours to see just how these things affect our body and yes I will drink a glass of wine first and to top it all off we will weigh ourselves for the first time in 30 days!  This lifestyle change, however, isn’t about the weight you lose, but how you feel.  I can honestly say, I’ve never felt better, have more energy and my clothes haven’t been looser in over a year.  I can tell without the scale that I’ve lost weight by just my buttons not being as tight on my waist and my shirts, dresses, and jackets not being as tight around my back.  I sleep better, don’t snore nearly as much and my joints in my legs and hips are feeling better every day. I hope you all enjoy my brutal honesty here...the struggle is real with weight gain.

So, join us. We’re going to help you get started. Bring your family along slowly as we did.  My husband really enjoyed almost every meal and at least outside of lunch at the Golden Corral buffet, did eat healthier at nights.

Check our site by clicking here at The Ranch Kitchen to see all the recipes we’ve shared to date under our new tab under the recipe tab at the bottom titled Whole30.  We’ve included all our favorite and are adding more every day. Our plan is to continue adding to these recipes even after we finished our Whole30 – 30 days to incorporate healthier eating and compliant recipes in our lives.  As always, you can also help us and add your own recipes by creating a login and becoming a ‘Friend of the The RanchKitchen’, and place your own recipes on the site.  All recipes are also Gluten Free and diabetic friendly, so it’s a win, win for people who have food allergies that may adversely affect them.

For this first posting on the Whole30, see their list below of the do’s and don’ts on their site by clicking here.  Scan over the foods, spices, oils, and books you’ll need to get started and join us!  It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change!  You got this.  There are tougher things in life than this.  Every time you think, I can’t do this, think of tougher things you’ve gone through or seen others suffer through. This is a change to make you a healthier, happier and more aware of what goes in your body.  There is just one you and YOU are the only ones who can truly change your life for the better.

Go for it…we will help you! Tomorrow we will have a list of compliant recipes and a meal plan full of delicious meals and snacks here on The Ranch Kitchen blog and recipe site for your first week.  Follow us and you can even add your own recipes to our site as we hopefully go on this journey together!  

Plan to start January 2nd so you can enjoy your black-eyed peas for a prosperous New Year!  You've got this..we promise!

Let’s make 2018 the year we are all healthier, happier and on the road to living longer lives because we made it happen!

Alise and Bethany

The Ranch Kitchen

The Ranch Kitchen's Thanksgiving Sides and Desserts

Holidays are many things to people in different ways.  Our family gatherings always center around first our family and secondly to the foods we serve. As the hostess I think we always strive to find the dishes that are individual family or friend favorites of those who come to our gatherings.  It's sometimes a difficult task to please everyone, but important to make them feel special by serving a dish they love.

As I was visiting with my mom, she instructed me to find the very best of every recipes we cook and place them into a file for safe keeping for generations to come.  That is in a nutshell is exactly what my The Ranch Kitchen recipe site is to my family... an online catalog of those dishes that mean the most to us. It's important for me to catalog those recipes we hold the dearest so my girls can always have them to remember me by.

So today, as I enjoy my week off for Thanksgiving and the time to travel on a quick trip for my 50th birthday celebration week, then clean and prep for our week ahead, I thought I'd place the recipes here on this post that we will be preparing for our feast later this week below.

My family made my year this weekend by taking me on a short trip to Nashville, Tennessee to celebrate my upcoming big 5-0!  What great memories we made and these mean more than any gift I could have ever received.  My daughter Ilissa planned the perfect itinerary and hubby Scott of course made it all happen with Bethany and Audrey urging me along from the onset of the idea to go and see Nashville and do something I wanted to do.  In a house full of women and one man, I am easily pleased doing what they do.  So, for once doing something I had always wanted to do was the perfect present. Thank you! I love my family so much and will always cherish this gift for my 50th.  Turning 50 really isn't all that bad even though I've secretly dreaded it for just a few years...

My girls love their mural shots and I think I will frame this one!

Scott and I taking in the music scene.

Fun on Main Street in Nashville. Talent is all around you here.

Sure do love our girls and my Scott!

Last stop Graceland and Elvis' home! Really cool to see it all.

Tomorrow, I will hit the grocery store early and buy all my Thanksgiving staples and especially the sharp cheddar cheese to make the Pimento Cheese to place in our celery sticks.  This is a simple recipe that is on my site as Two Mom's Pimento Cheese, however I've placed it below.  You can add any number of seasonings or even chopped bits of jalapenos to it, but we prefer to keep it simple. This recipe is easily made a few days ahead by prepping your celery and placing in containers with water and then grating your sharp cheddar cheese. This is definitely our favorite way to eat Pimento Cheese.

Two Mom's Pimento Cheese

2 lbs. Sharp Cheddar Cheese

2 - 3 cups Real Mayonnaise

juice of  1 - 2 lemons

salt and pepper to taste

Grate Sharp Cheddar Cheese and add mayonnaise and blend well.  Add lemon juice and seasonings. 

Serve on 3 inch long celery sticks on an pretty crystal dish!  This is a Young, Goudarzi and Nolan favorite at the holidays and was a right of passage for all kids to prepare at my Granny's holiday meals.

My 'Sure' Is The Broccoli Rice Casserole' is another dish I love to make as it's easy to make ahead of time and I can make in a huge batch.  Truly what is just as important is that you have plenty of leftovers for family to eat on throughout the week or take home to enjoy later. You can add chopped jalapeno's to this to spice it up or even leave out the broccoli if you are not a fan of this vegetable.

Next, this Green Chili and Cheese Hash Brown Casserole is a a huge favorite with the men in the family as it's a pretty hearty dish.  I use the freeze dried hash browns for this recipe, but you can easily use frozen or fresh grated potatoes.

Another side dish that has become tradition at our ranch are these Zucchini Squares that my brothers especially love.  We made it years ago for our Ilissa's first 4H Food Show and have been in love with it ever since.  It's makes you house smell wonderful and you get in a good green veggie to your kiddos without them knowing it!

Traditional smoked and a fried or roast turkey are always served with an occasional brown sugared ham. For convenience we always use those we purchase from our local FFA meats sales from our Audrey and enjoy Bear Creek's Smokehouse's meats. For our roast turkey we have most recently been using Char-Broil® The Big Easy™ Oil-less Propane Turkey Fryer we found at Academy stores.  It's minus the grease and safer with kids running around the cooker.

A vegetable tray is always present for my health conscious brothers and my girls. I like to make a non-traditional one with sliced zucchini and yellow squash.  Here is a recipe Roasted Mixed Vegetables with Parmesan Cheese for what to do with it after the holidays too!

These Unbundled Green Beans are a twist on the fancier version of the recipe for Green Bean Bundles that are both found on my site.  They are a local favorite and in an attempt to recreate them for a huge crowd, this simpler recipes was created. You can make these the fancier way by wrapping your green beans or simply chop your bacon adding to a gallon size of cut green beans and cook it all in a large pot or baking dish. Either way, this recipe I posted on Sure Champ/VitaFerm site as a their featured blogger is a favorite in our little part of the south!

Green Bean Bundles (fancy version :o) )

And last this Vegetable Tian is a wonderful dish to make with whatever roasted sweet potatoes, red or Idaho potatoes, tomatoes, and squash you love!  I'll be changing this up a bit this year with purple and orange sweet potatoes to give it some extra color, but my Ilissa's version is wonderful!  Can't wait to try this variation out on my family!

Last, no Thanksgiving is complete without my Granny's Pecan Pie that has graced our tables even before I was born.  This simple New England style Pecan Pie is wonderful with a dollop of whipped cream on top and the perfect ending to your lunch, dinner or second helping after all that turkey and dressing! 

And another perfect ending are these Magic Cookie Bars that our Bethany makes for almost every holiday or occasion.  My baby brother loves these and so we try to make these for him as much as we can.

As you recover from the turkey and all the sides this week, my hopes are that your Thanksgiving is wonderful and season ahead be full of many blessings.

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen

Bread and Butter Pickles

This summer I've really enjoyed playing with a few new recipes with seasonal vegetables we've grown and bought from Farmer's Markets.  Today I used locally grown pickling cucumbers to make some delicious Bread and Butter Pickles.  Growing up these were my very favorite of all pickles because of their sweet-tarty taste.  I think I could just drink the juice honestly.

Our favorite seafood restaurant always had these pickles out on the table along with pickled okra and cheese spread spread on crusty french toast rounds to snack on before your meal was served.  When I was pregnant with my oldest daughter, I craved both these pickles and that cheese spread.

Click here for the recipe for Bread and Butter Pickles

Pictured are my Bread and Butter Pickles I made on this rainy East Texas day.  Although you have to wait three hours for the pickles to 'sit' in a pickling salt, garlic and ice water bath in the refrigerator, it's totally worth it.  I used the time to clean out some much needed drawers in our bedroom in anticipation of a garage sale coming up soon.  My garage looks like it has exploded and I will soon bring in a flatbed trailer for the attic cleansing that will come next.  This garage sale is lonnnggg overdue.

Once the pickles sat for their three hours in the refrigerator, I drained them (do not rinse) and then added to them the apple cider vinegar, sugar, turmeric, celery seed, and mustard seed and brought it all to a boil.  You will immediately turn the heat off and not allow the pot to continue to boil.

Immediately spoon your Bread and Butter Pickles in to Mason or Ball Canning Jars and seal according to the link provided on my recipe.  I chose to not hot water bath these pickles and refrigerate instead.  They will not last long at my house and I might even share a few with family members...if they are nice...  ;o)

What I really loved about this recipe was the addition of bell peppers and onions.  My green bell peppers had started to turn orange, but I used them anyway. Orange bell peppers are sweet, so I think they will compliment these Bread and Butter Pickles too.

This recipe for Bread and Butter Pickles made five jars. Click here for the recipe here!

I hope you'll give these pickles a try.  It's a super, simple recipe that I'll be making again before the summer's end.  I even used the left over juice from the Bread and Butter Pickles that would not fit in to the jars with two cans of drained Italian green beans for dinner tonight. Waste not, want not! Delicious!  Just bring it to a boil with about an additional 1/2 cup water.  My family loved the green beans too!  The sweet juice would probably make some fantastic frozen pickle pops (popsicles) with the leftovers too.  I think my girls would love them!

Alise - The Ranch Kitchen