Long gone are the days of sauce from a can. Especially when complaint sauce has been upwards of $9.00 lately! Sure, there is some convenience to buying your sauces and dressings but it is SO easy and simple to make a great tasting sauce at home with just a few fresh ingredients.
I do not have any Italian roots in my family, but that doesn’t stop me from craving a really great, homemade sauce. There is something so comforting about a sauce simmering on the stove all day. And sometimes I really just don’t want to make meatballs. So this Bolognese sauce is perfect for those days when you want the comfort without all the effort.
While this sauce certainly gets better with time spent on the stove, you can always shorten it into a quick, 30 minute meal for a week night. The fresh basil and parsley heighten the flavor depth in no time. Perfect to serve over spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles.
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (I use grass fed and grass finished)
I package of white or cremona mushrooms, chopped finely
1 medium onion, chopped
28 oz marinara sauce
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp of fresh parsley, chopped
1 package of basil, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Directions:
Brown the beef in a large pan or cast iron skillet with salt and pepper
Add the onion and mushrooms and allow to soften
Add garlic – this burns quickly so stir continuously and move quickly in the next steps
Add marinara sauce, and fresh herbs
Let the sauce come to a boil and then simmer for at least 30 minutes.
This Korean stir fry takes your average stir fry dish to the next level! The sauce alone is so good that I usually frozen veggies with this as a short cut! You can certainly use fresh veggies instead, but I always try to find time savers anywhere I can without scarfing taste and flavor.
This one dish wonder (who doesn’t love a one dish meal?!?) is perfect for any weeknight meal as it comes together in no time at all! You could easily leave out a few of the ingredients to make it Whole 30, such as the honey. Make sure you check your labels with the chili paste as well!
Ingredients:
1 lb flank steak or top round steak
2 packages of frozen stir fry veggies (or desired fresh veggies, such as snap peas, broccoli, red peppers, carrots, celery)
2 Tbsp of Coconut Aminos
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 Tbsp Chili Paste
1 Tbsp of Honey (optional)
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp of ginger
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp almond butter
Scallions for toppings
Directions:
Cut your steak or meat in desired sizes. I like to cube mine into 1.5 inch cuts
In a cast iron or grill pan, sear meat for 5-7 minutes on each side until cooked through
Remove steak from heat and allow to set on a plate for later
Add frozen veggies or fresh – whatever you decide. If you are using frozen veggies it may create more liquid than if you are just using fresh. Depending on your preference, you may want to dump some water.
Let them cook for about 10 minutes (or until fully cooked)
Turn your heat down to low if it was above
Add the coconut aminos, sesame oil, chili paste, honey, and seasonings
Make a little whole in the center of the veggies and add the almond butter to it. Utilize the liquid that the veggies released to thin your almond butter and create a sauce.
Mix this all together until you have desired consistency. You can add some coconut aminos if it is too thick for your liking.
Add the steak back in and let all the flavors come together for 2 minutes
My morning and night-time routines are so special to me and pretty much non-negotiable day to day, as they set me up for great success.
This wasn’t always the case, though. I spent many years in college putting sleep as my last priority. That habit translated into my professional life in a very similar way as stress became even more present.
During my healing journey, I quickly came to realize that prioritizing sleep was the only way I would truly get better. This meant putting the stress of the day behind me and focusing on a night-time routine that would set me up for a great night sleep.
At the end of every evening, I spend 15-20 minutes calming down, washing my face, and applying my beauty routine. I try to do this by myself in the bathroom. Decompressing from the day, without my phone or any other distractions, really gets me ready for bed. I try to quiet my mind and focus on what I accomplished during the day.
First things first…
I wash my face with either the Nourishing Cream Exfoliator or Countercontrol Pore Cleanser. I feel that both of these give me a deep clean and wash away all the impurities of the day. They also leave a nice, fresh base for applying my next products.
(Sometimes if I’m feeling really lazy – because let’s face it, that happens – I use the makeup removing face wipes. Perfect for removing makeup and cleansing your skin all at once. This is a must have for traveling!)
Next, I choose between a few products that I alternate throughout the week. Rejuvenating Toner Pads – Brightens, tightens, and reduces appearance of fine lines. Smells amazing too!
Rejuvenating Serum – This lightweight and smoothing serum even skins tone, hydrates, and reduces wrinkles
Overnight Resurfacing Peel– aka Magic Eraser! Uses resurfacing acids and soothing acids that hydrate, replenish, and protect skin. My face is glows the morning after and is seriously so smooth!
Balancing + Charcoal Facial Mask – probably my absolute favorite Beautycounter product ever. I usually save this for Sunday evenings and enjoy during a warm bath. It helps me to relax and get mentally prepared for the week, while knowing I am deep cleaning my pores and drawing out impurities.
Lip Conditioner Set – this soothing and refreshing lip conditioner quenches my chapped lips and leaves them so renewed in the morning!
Finally, I always finish with the Rejuvenating Night Cream and Rejuvenating Eye Cream. The night cream has anti-aging benefits which work to reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, firm and nourish skin. It also locks in moisture as you sleep so your skin looks and feels smoother, firmer and more hydrating by morning. The eye cream is my favorite for fine lines, puffiness, and hydration around the eyes. I’ve noticed a significant difference since I started using it a few months ago!
Beautycounter products are not only highly effective but are safer for our health and environment. Read my post on why I switched to safer beauty if you are interested in that as well. If you ever have any questions or want to know more about what products would be right for your skin, always feel free to reach out to me! I’d love to hear from you.
It seems like bowls are all the fad lately. Power bowls, smoothie bowls, burrito bowls…you get the idea. Not sure how I missed the memo for so long but now that I’ve hopped on board, I totally get the appeal!
Bowls are such a great way to pack protein, veggies, and your needed carbs and fat in a neat package. If you are not a huge meal prep person, bowls are key for you. Just cook a few different kinds of protein and veggies and mix and match all week long. This especially helps if you get sick of the same thing day after day.
First thing you want to do is pick a base. I usually go for spinach or messaged kale. Next grab your protein – I love to do steak but chicken or pork would work too depending on what you have on hand.
Next, choose a hearty vegetable like sweet potatoes, cauliflower, or brussel sprouts. If you do well with grains you could add brown rice or quinoa as well.
Now it’s time to make it pretty with the finishing touches. I think broccolini or asparagus not only taste delicious but add a great texture to the bowl. I love to then top it off with bright colors or pickled onions or tomatoes. And of course we can’t forget about the sauce, because that’ what we’re all here for, right? I love to add some avocado, creamy ranch, mayo, or tahini dressing (below) to finish the bowl off right.
Ingredients: 4 ounces of steak, cubed and cooked to desired wellness
1 cup spinach
1 sweet potato, cubed
4 – 5 sticks of broccolini
1/2 cup of pickled onions
Sesame seeds
1/2 avocado
Tahini Lemon Dressing Ingredients: 2 Tbsp of tahini
Juice of half a lemon
1 tsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of water to thin it out to your desired consistency. Start with a tbsp and go from there!
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper
Directions:
Cook steak – I used Butcher Box sirloin steak
Bake sweet potatoes at 400 degree F for 30 minutes
Bake broccolini in oven at 400 degree F for 15 minutes
Anyone else ever have a love affair with PF Chang’s Lettuce Wraps?? Just me?
Whenever there is an appetizer at a restaurant involving lettuce wraps I’m always interested. However, sometimes even when something appears healthy, there are so many hidden ingredients that you may not really want to be consuming. Which is why asking questions is always key. If you feel uncomfortable asking right there, call ahead! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done this and they are usually super nice and helpful. Just make sure you aren’t calling at a super busy time.
So yet again, I find myself inspired to create things I’ve loved in my past life in a healthy way. These are so simple and light to throw together for a quick dinner. Even better to have as a starter or appetizer at your own get together! The best part is that are no secret ingredients hiding in there that may upset your stomach or have negative side effects on your health.
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 lb ground chicken
1 head of lettuce for wraps
1 red pepper, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cups of cremini mushrooms, diced
3 stalks of green onion, chopped
1/4 cup of coconut aminos
1 tbsp rice vinegar (read your labels!)
2 tbsp of sesame oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ginger
Directions:
Brown ground chicken in large frying pan
Add onion, red pepper, and mushrooms
Let veggies soften, draining some water if it does not evaporate
Add coconut aminos, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and spices in the dish and let flavors combine
Cut head of lettuce in fourths to make a bed for the chicken mixture to lay in
There is something that happens to your taste buds when you switch from a Standard American Diet (SAD) to a whole foods based diet. I NEVER wanted fruit on my salads before. I even remember when I was younger I couldn’t imagine eating strawberries without dumping loads of sugar on them first.
Thinking back on that is so wild to me because strawberries have so much flavor to me now! There are perfectly sweet just the way they are. In so many ways I am glad I went on this journey from a pretty terrible diet to a whole foods based diet because it makes you so much more appreciative of food in its natural state.
I love to enjoy this dressing in my food freedom with some goat cheese, onion, and almond salad. It really heightens the dish and is perfect for gathering as it brings so much color to the table.
Ingredients:
1 medium shallot, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
3 tbsp of avocado oil
2 tbsp of white balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp of sherry vinegar
8 small strawberries
Directions:
Add oil in a sauce pan on medium heat
Add the shallots and allow to cook until softened
Add garlic and let cook for another 2 minutes
Place pan mixture in an immersion blender friendly container and add vinegars and strawberries
Note: you can really get creative and use any kind of vinegar mixture. I’ve used red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, try a few out! Even switch this up with raspberries or other fruit as well.
Blend together with immersion blender and allow to cool before serving
I always say a salad is only a couple tablespoons of dressing away from being unhealthy. Unfortunately so many of the “healthy” choices in restaurants are salads, which are topped in multiple different cheeses, croutons, and tons of dressing. Unfortunately many of these dressings and dressings found in the grocery store are filled with unhealthy oils such as soybean oil, sunflower oil, or safflower oil that is highly processed.
Our attempt of making a healthy choice is stripped right from us without most people knowing. Or at least knowing to what extent the damage those oils can do on your body.
There are definitely more options that are Paleo and Whole 30 compliant that are certainly great for convenience. I would be careful though, as many of those are still made with oils that aren’t great for us to consume on the regular.
I almost always make my own dressings these days. It’s not difficult, you can double or triple a batch for the week, and you can control what is going in your body. In my opinion, these are also wayyy tastier than those factory made dressings.
Ingredients:
1 medium shallot, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
3 tbsp of avocado oil
2 tbsp of white balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp of sherry vinegar
Directions:
Add oil in a sauce pan on medium heat
Add the shallots and allow to cook until softened
Add garlic and let cook for another 2 minutes
Place pan mixture in an immersion blender friendly container and add vinegars
Note: you can really get creative and use any kind of vinegar mixture. I’ve used red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, try a few out!
Blend together with immersion blender and allow to cool before serving
Onion rings have always been one of my guilty pleasures! There is something so desirable about the outside crunch paired with the delicious taste of the cooked onion. The only thing better about onion rings, is Paleo onion rings.
I’ve had a passion for cooking for a long time and I remember when I was a lot younger after watching Rachael Ray I would make my own onion rings at home. It’s been a long time since I’ve actually tried making these and I really wanted to try to make a healthier version. You can only really make these so “healthy” but I think it’s definitely clean enough to enjoy as a treat in your for freedom as you desire.
I bought my boyfriend an air fryer for his birthday and we have been experimenting with it. I tried these bad boys out in it (here is a link to ours) and they were so good! You can certainly bake these or add some oil to a pan and fry them traditionally if you do not have one.
Ingredients:
1 large sweet yellow onion
2 egg
1 and 1/4 cup of almond flour
1 tsp of Cajun Spice
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Directions:
Place flour and spices mixed in one bowl and the eggs in another
Dredge sliced onion in eggs and then in flour
Place in air fryer heated at 400 degree F and flip occasionally for 12 – 15 minutes (or in a pan with 1 inch of oil or bake at 450 degrees F for 12-15 minutes)
If you read my “About Whole Hannah” I gave a quick introduction to myself and what brought me here to create this blog. For a quick recap, I spent a lot of my life overweight and really unhappy with myself in general. I spent so much of college yo-yo dieting and losing 20 lbs and then gaining it all right back.
In October of 2015, I had once again lost some weight for what felt like the 10th time. I had graduated from college and just knew it was time to “get my act together” and make a serious change in my lifestyle. I saw someone on Instagram doing a “Whole 30 Challenge” and I was, of course, interested. I was always on the lookout for a diet or quick fix that someone saw real results on.
I started my first Whole 30 shortly after doing some research and decided I could abide by these guidelines. It always made sense to me that I should follow a whole food based diet in general.
When I was finished I felt so great, better than I had ever felt in my life. I lost weight yes, but my mind was so clear and I felt like I could conquer anything. I became obsessed with this feeling. I never wanted it to go away. This led to fear of alcohol, grains, or anything not on the Whole 30. I also became obsessed with losing weight.
Over the course of a couple of months I became so restrictive and obsessive that I was only consuming 600 – 800 calories a day. I continued this for a very long time. Once I hit my first plateau, I started exercising. I fell in love with the high spinning gave you and began spinning every single day. Sometimes multiple times a day if I “binged”. Which looking back was probably 1200 calories in a day max.
This went on for a year. I would continually update my “goal weight” and was more unhappy with myself than ever before. Sure, people were praising me and telling me how great I looked. On the inside though, it was never enough. I was SO hard on myself. And I wasn’t enjoying life AT ALL.
I was constantly light headed, I had no energy, my stress level was out of the roof at work, I wasn’t enjoying any aspect of life. I hoped and begged that every morning when I got on the scale I would be lighter and feel happy for those 2 minutes before it was time to set a new goal.
I remember the day distinctly when I realized this had to end. I was 7 pounds away from my “goal weight” (which had changed 3 times) and I was barely eating 600 calories and going to spin everyday. But the weight wouldn’t come off anymore. I had actually put ON a few pounds and I was losing my mind.
I was at the gym and I felt like I was going to pass out. Unfortunately this wasn’t an unusual feeling though, so I persevered. When I finally got off the bike (10 minutes after spin had ended), I rushed to the water fountain as I was severely light headed and blacking out. On my way there, I lost consciousness and fainted.
I really only remember a girl who was a nurse standing over me checking my pulse and asking if I could hear her. It was the strangest thing I’ve ever experienced. It shook me to my core. I consider that my Day 1 on my journey to healing.
I slowly started to add more calories in my diet. Which again, looked like 1000 instead of 600. But even THAT was so hard for me. I went to see a functional practitioner who I continue to work with today on healing my body with nutrition and overall wellness.
My mental health is what has struggled most in all of this. I have tried to teach myself how to love myself. To forgive myself, to accept myself, just the way I am today.
I am FAR from this still. I still struggle every day with this one. I have put on about 30 pounds a few months in to my healing process while still consuming a relatively low amount of calories for the average person. To accept this weight gain after all I had to worked to lose it, knowing it was more beneficial for my body to have the proper nutrition, was so hard for me. It’s still hard for me.
I’ve still kept on about 15 pounds since my healing journey began and I am still working with different functional practitioners to see the damage that still exists with my metabolism almost 2 years later.
And sometimes…
I still want that goal weight
I still want to look like I did when I was beyond exhausted
I still want to restrict
I still want to binge
I still want to punish myself with exercise
It’s called a journey for a reason. I’ve come to realize that these feelings may always stick with me for life. Some days are certainly easier or harder than others. But I have to still try!
I share this with all of you to hopefully have you all avoid my mistakes. Or, if you are going through something like this, you are not alone. Never be afraid to reach out and ask for help. It is a sign of your strength, not your weakness.
Through my whole journey of weight loss, maintenance, healing, and just life in general I have learned so much about what we put in and on our bodies. I lost about 90 lbs in a year by extreme dieting and working out, where I became obsessed with that I was putting in my body. My rapid weight loss unfortunately led to severe side effects of adrenal fatigue, dizziness, and brain fog. You can read more about that in “My Journey to Healing” post if you are interested.
Trying to heal from all the damage I did to my body has tested my patience for sure. I was doing everything I was told from consuming more calories of whole foods to taking months off of exercise and still only seeing some results. It made me realize that what goes ON our bodies is just as important as what goes IN. Eating organic, whole foods can only get so far if you are still exposed to toxins in the products you use every day.
I’ve become very passionate about learning and finding out what is going on our bodies through the products we use. Unfortunately there are things you can’t unlearn. The beauty industry, much like the food industry, is very behind on relevant legislature. The US only bans about 30 ingredients, whereas Canada is around 600 and the EU around 1400(!). We are exposed to so many products that are unfortunately sometimes filled with toxins known to have negative long term effects on us.
This knowledge, much like the knowledge of learning about the food industry, shocked me. I put so much faith in trust that companies are doing the right thing and have their customers best interest in mind. I never even questioned it! Unfortunately that is far from the truth.
“But what can I do to make a difference?”
I am a firm believer in voting with your dollars. We vote with our dollars in the grocery store and I can see the changes being made everyday. Huge companies are making strides in making healthier options. I believe we are on the brink of seeing these same changes for the beauty industry. The more we demand better for us by choosing to spend our money on safer products, the more other companies will make the appropriate changes.
I have been using Beautycounter for almost 3 years now. I only recently became a consultant after realizing it was a company I can really get behind. These are products I was recommending to my family and friends already so it was a no brainer for me.
I know it is hard to make a switch and I never want to make anyone feel less adequate because they aren’t in a place where this makes sense for their lifestyle. Knowledge is power though, and I just hope to provide some information to allow you to make the best decision for you in your life!
You can learn more about it on their website here. If you ever have any questions please reach out and ask. I’d love to hear from you!
