Starting this past Monday, Ryan
and I elected to do a bit of a protein-focused, clean eating reset just to help
us get back on a better track. We’re using a strict start and hope to park here
for a month or so while we retrain our bodies away from sugar. We know that in
that time, we have some events that may not allow us to hold as tightly to it,
but for the days we can, we will. This first week afforded us the chance to eat
at home every night and have leftovers for lunch each day, so it went well!
In this phase, we are eating a
lot of protein and non-starchy vegetables and abstaining from grains, dairy,
and most fruit. We’ll be adding all that back in soon, but this is the starting
point. The meals I’ve made are filling, and we don’t have any kind of restriction
on them. We eat until we are satisfied. So below are the recipes I used as
guides, though I did have to modify some of them to eliminate cheese or some
veggies if they fell into the starchy category.
Honestly I’d keep all these recipes in full even after we move out of
this phase.
I think the things I miss the
most are my morning toast and my yogurt and granola. They’ll be back, and
absence will have made my heart grow fonder. I’m just sure of it.
Monday:
Sheet Pan Chicken and Broccoli
What We
Modified: I made
this recipe as written – minus the teriyaki sauce. I will make this again
later, and when I do, I will use G. Hughes teriyaki sauce, because I do love their
dressings and marinades.
Tuesday: Grilled Tilapia and Sauteed Zucchini
What We
Modified: Ryan
grilled our tilapia, which is the only way I can handle fish, and I made this
sauteed zucchini recipe. I had massive zucchini from our garden, so I just
cubed it in larger cubes rather than using the baby zucchini the recipe calls
for. Otherwise, I followed this recipe.
Wednesday:
Ground Turkey and Green Beans
What We
Modified: I really loved this one. I left out the onion
(for now) and used cauliflower rice instead of regular rice. (And since I wasn’t
using regular rice, I didn’t need the broth.) I skipped the mustard and Worcestershire
sauce. I used green beans from our garden, and this was a delicious meal!
Thursday:
Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps
What We
Modified: I didn’t
remove anything, but I did add diced dill pickle, because we love it in chicken
salad. We ate ours over salad greens, and Ryan added boiled egg, cherry
tomatoes, more pickles, and some pepitas on his.
Friday: Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps with Leftover Zucchini and
Asparagus
What We Did: We didn’t have a ton of the chicken
salad left, so we added leftover veggies to round out the meal.
Saturday: Chicken
and Mushrooms with Roasted Zucchini
What We Did: I made the recipe but it didn’t feel
like it was going to be filling enough, so I sliced up some of our garden zucchini
and summer squash, sprinkled it with seasoned salt and Italian herbs. Baked it
at 425 for about a half hour. It was delicious!
Sunday: Taco Salad
What We Did: I browned some ground turkey, added
taco seasoning and served it over mixed greens with salsa on top. We missed our
cheese and chips and yogurt, but it was still good!
