Half-30

Half-30 started Monday. Alternatively, we could call it Whole 15. Basically, we decided to start with 2 weeks rather than the full 30 days.  Which basically means I'm throwing all of the rules of Whole 30 except no dairy no grains to the wind.  I picked Half-30 because I think it's short for "Half A$$ed 30" rather than pretending I'm actually doing this diet the correct way.  Do I recommend doing it the correct way? Absolutely. I think it will have even more benefits.  But for us, we're going to do 2 weeks, and then spend the next two weeks focusing on a way to live sustainably.  Anyway, I thought I'd post our menu plan for this week and talk about prepping for Half-30.

Sunday, I went to the farmer's market, Costco, and the grocery store. I spent all day cooking. I made a sweet potato black bean chili, I made a sweet potato frittata, I roasted sweet potatoes for snacks, I hard boiled eggs, I chopped onions and green beans and zuchinni and squash and sauted those things so they would be ready for the week.  I bought salad and spinach and all kinds of nuts.  I made nut butter so that I can have it on apples for a snack.

Being prepared is half the battle, and I knew for the first week, having easy snacking items on hand if dinner took a little longer, and having dinner ready to go, was paramount.  After the first week last year, I noticed I no longer got ravenously hungry and therefore could handle actually cooking food, but the first week is all about making sure dinner is ready and you have enough snacks so you don't turn to bad choices in the meantime.  I've been taking a giant bag of food to work with me so that I have enough food.  The only problem is that I'm really sick of all of my breakfast options.

 So here is our menu plan:
Breakfast:
-Sweet potato frittata
-Almond milk - banana - frozen berry smoothie
-Almond milk - spinach - banana smoothie

Lunch:
-Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili (recipe below)
-leftovers (I packed up the chili so that we would have lunches for the first day and then just in case we don't have leftovers from other stuff)

Dinner:
-Sweet Potato Cashew Chili with Cauliflower Rice
-Falafel with kale chips
-Grilled salmon salad with pecans, dried cranberries, homemade balsamic dressing
-Vegetable frittata (I pre sauted zuchinni and squash for this, I will just add eggs and omit the usual milk, yogurt and cheese)
-Seared scallops on spaghetti squash

Snacks:
-Hard boiled eggs
-Apples with almond butter or sunbutter
-Baked sweet potatoes
-Nuts
-Almond-date-cocoa balls  can also be made with

Sweet Potato Chili
1 Tbsp  oil
green pepper, sliced
red pepper, sliced
onion, sliced
2 cups vegetable stock
2 cans (15.5 oz each) black beans, undrained
1 can white beans
1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 medium yam, peeled and diced 
2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp cocoa 
2 Tbsp honey
3tbs  chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp  cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions:

1. Heat basting oil in medium stockpot on MEDIUM-HIGH. Add peppers & onions. Cook, stirring, 3-4 min until soft, but not browned. Add stock, beans and liquid, tomatoes, yam, vinegar, garlic, cocoa powder, honey,chili powder, cumin, and cinnamon.
    
2. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer on LOW, uncovered, 25-30 min. Season to taste with salt and pepper.