Whole 30 Paleo compliant Detox Salad

 Hi!  I don't know if I was overly hungry but I couldn't stop eating this salad.  This recipe claims to be a detox salad because of the ingredients and I will share with you my adaptation of the original recipe found at DetoxDIY (get it?  Detox D-I-Y? funny).  So what attracted me to this salad it's portability.  I liked that they were all crunchy pieces that could take a beating in a container and still taste fresh.  I did skip the dressing, mainly because I am on the Whole 30 Program and I wanted to stay compliant.  The only ingredient that I would not recommend making prior to consumption is the mixing in the avocado.  I am not a huge fan of avocado mixed into a salad. I think it loses it's composition and starts to spread itself onto everything else and I don't like that.  Avocado in guacamole is different, because it is a spread.  So, let's get to it! 

The What's:

• 1 small broccoli head, cut in small florets
• ¼ small red cabbage head, finely diced
• 1 small red onion, finely diced (I don't like raw onions so I omitted)
• 1 avocado, peeled and cut in cubes
• To garnish: toasted almonds and chia seeds

The How's:

Prepare everything as listed in the ingredient section and mix all together. I added cherry tomatoes quartered and left out the avocado until I dressed the salad.  I skipped the dressing portion and used the juice of a lemon, salt and light olive oil as my dressing.  Once dressed, I added in the almonds, chia seeds and avocado.  I lightly tossed these together and serve.  I ate and I ate and I ate.  Pretty guilt-free too I may add!

Breakfast of Roasted Asparagus with Hard-Boiled Egg

This morning when I thought of what greens I had in the fridge that I could eat for breakfast, Asparagus came to mind.  I decided to roast asparagus and hard boiled a few eggs for everyone.

Simply put.  It was easy to turn the oven on, let it preheat and twenty minutes later, here is what I ate for breakfast.

The What's:

Fresh Asparagus, as many as needed
Fresh Eggs, as many as needed
EVOO
Parmesan Cheese, or any hard white cheese that you prefer (optional)
Kosher Salt, to your preference
Pepper, to your preference

The How's:

Heat oven to 350.  Place asparagus, on parchment covered cookie sheets, in a single layer.  Drizzle EVOO over them lightly.  Roast these for 20 minutes, 15 prefer if you a crunchy asparagus.  Peel eggs that have been boiled for 10 minutes and remove asparagus from the oven.  Layer asparagus on plate, crumble hard boiled egg over asparagus, sprinkle salt and pepper to taste and top with a small amount of freshly shredded cheese.  Enjoy.

Plain Kale Chips

Today, I am sharing an easy and tasty recipe that you can kill in a good way, or a bad way depending on how well you follow directions.  These are a good match to a plain potato chip that is thinly sliced.  No doubt, they have got to be a better choice.  Create an option for yourself and your family.

This recipe can be found here.  What I want to share with you today, my the technique I used.  My husband and one of my daughters also enjoyed these as well.  A lot.  

Homemade Kale ChipsThe What's:

1 bunch kale, rinsed, thoroughly dried, and chopped (remove thick stems, or not)

olive oil

sea salt

(I added sesame seeds)

Recipe from AllRecipes.com

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and cover your cookie sheet with parchment paper.   Place your kale in a large ziploc bag and place enough olive oil in the bag to cover each pieces of kale.  This amount will varied by how much kale you are making.  I added three sprinkles of sesame seeds and at least 1/2 Tbsp of Kosher Salt.  Seal the ziploc bag and shake the bag until every piece of kale is covered.  Open the bag and spread the kale evenly on two cookie sheets. 

Bake your kale at 350 degrees for 10-20 minutes until the edges are browned but not burnt.  I tossed the kale around a bit and when I saw the edges were browning, I turned the oven down to 225 and let it bake until they were equally crunchy.  If you want a crunchy chip like I do, keep watching and tasting them, at a lower oven temperature, every ten minutes until they are equally toasty.  Let them cool before serving, if you can resist.  

Recipe from AllRecipes.com

Big Batch Roasted Chicken, Buzz feed Clean Eating Challenge

Go ahead, drool.  If you are at all a meat eater, this image will make your palms sweat.  The challenge calls for you to roast a large batch of bone in, skin on chicken.  Once it's all done roasting, you take the meat off the bones and the skin off of the chicken.  Having both of those during roasting, helps create a great flavor.  

The recipe is super simple, here it is.  I have used this for my family by reheating in a cast iron skillet with a little more oil and leaving the skin on and they really appreciated the flavor while I appreciated its convenience.  Go.  Roast.