Whole 30 Turkey Meatballs with Zucchini Noodles

Growing up, one of my favorite dishes was spaghetti and meatballs. My parents divorced when I was young and I distinctly remember every Friday my dad would pick us up from school and we would eat his homemade spaghetti and meatballs. It was almost a ritual in that I even had it on the same plate every time. Memories like these are so precious to me.
Whole 30 Paleo Turkey Meatballs with Zucchini Noodles
So when I began making healthier food choices, this was one of the first things I wanted to try to make. I wanted a healthy version with the same comfort! I think we can all agree there is something incredibly comforting about warm meatballs and sauce simmering on the stove all day.
Whole 30 Turkey Meatballs with zucchini noodles
The best about these meatballs is that they are super easy to make and freeze for another time. You could even make a double match and save half! They are also great as a base protein for so many other recipes. Start with these and you can add them to any desired meatball dish.
Whole 30 Paleo Turkey Meatballs with Zucchini Noodles
Sauce Ingredients:
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Pinch or more of crushed red pepper
15 ounces of tomato sauce
28 ounces whole peeled tomatoes
Meatballs and “Zoodles” Ingredients:
1 pound ground turkey (I used 93% lean 7% fat. You could also use 1lb of ground beef)

3 medium zucchini
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp fennel
Pinch crushed red pepper flake
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Directions:
  • Use a noodler like this one to spiralize your zucchini
  • Put ground meat and remaining meatball ingredients in a large bowl and use your hands to mix together and form into small balls
  • Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes
  • Add all ingredients of the sauce to a large pot and let come to a boil, crushing the whole tomatoes if you want
  • Add the baked meatballs into the sauce and lower it to just simmer
  • Let cook together for at least 20 minutes but even longer if you can to let the flavors come together
  • I like my zucchini crunchy but if you do not sauté them for 3 minutes in olive oil
  • Place meatballs on top of the zoodles and enjoy!

Best Potato Salad

I am not one to normally to brag buttt…. this is the BEST potato salad I’ve ever had or made. The mix of the starchy potatoes with bacon along with the lemon kick with mayo does something to me. I actually have to strategically plan how far in advance I can make this so I don’t indulge in all of it before I’m supposed to serve it to others!

I love this dish for so many reasons; it is so simple and quick to make, it isn’t full of any junk or artificial flavors like so many store bought ones are, and the ingredients balance each other perfectly for a great bite (Or 20).

This is usually in my rotation for bringing to a friend’s house for a get together or enjoying a summer BBQ with my family. I have never left a gathering with ANY of this left, which is a perfect indicator of how well it is liked.

 

Ingredients:
5 lbs of potatoes – chopped and heavily salted
1 package of whole 30 approved bacon, chopped
1/2 cup of scallions
1 1/2 cup of mayo
2 Tbsp ground mustard
1/2 juice of lemon
1 tsp of salt, pepper, and garlic powder

Directions:

  • Cut red skin potatoes in small cubes that are all the same size. You can make them as big or as small as you desire, just try to make them even throughout
  • Place potatoes in a large stove pan and fill it with water that adequately covers the potatoes. Generously season with salt
  • Bring the pot to a boil and let cook another 15 minutes. Don’t let the potatoes get too soggy as they need to be firm to mix with the other ingredients later
  • Strain the potatoes and place them in the fridge and allow them to cool completely.
  • Mix potatoes and remaining ingredients together
  • Enjoy!

Homemade Mayo

I put this ISH on everything and I’m really not kidding. I use this as a base for so many recipes and put it on so many dishes. I make this at least once a week and always have it on hand.

If you are on a Whole 30 I highly recommend finding a mayo type of sauce and utilize to get some healthy fats in your meals to keep you more full during the day. This has been key for my success in my Whole 30 rounds. My immersion blender has also become my very best friend and is perfect for making your own mayo or dressing in general!

Homemade Mayo Video!

Ingredients:
2 eggs
2 cups of avocado oil
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
Juice from 1/4 lemon

Directions:
  • Crack eggs into an immersion blender friendly container
  • Combine oil, garlic powder, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and mustard powder into the container
  • Place immersion blender at the bottom and let it run. I usually let it run without moving it for 20 seconds and then slowly lift it up the container and let all the ingredients mix.
  • Enjoy!

Steak with Bearnaise Sauce

When I first started eating a diet consisting of whole foods, I originally limited myself to pretty much just chicken and vegetables. I thought that lean meats and vegetables was the healthiest food I could be consuming. However, if you have ever tried to eat this way, you will find it HARD to hit the appropriate daily caloric intake. If you read my About Whole Hannah page, you know that I struggled with getting enough calories, both from restricting myself purposefully and just naturally from my diet.

When I started my healing process, I began reading more and listening to podcasts about different diets. I’ve learned a lot about incorporating more natural fats in my diet. I know we all have been taught that fat is the enemy, but when you are only consuming lean, whole foods, you are depriving your body from so many of the nutrients and satiety that comes from natural healthy fats. I started eating more variety of meats, starches, and most importantly fats. This dish has a mix of red meats and fats that would have never been considered “healthy” to me about two years ago, but is certainly something now that I can enjoy as a special treat without any guilt.

This recipe has become my go to if I am in need of a fancier meal to either entertain with or enjoy with loved ones for a celebration. But hey, who am I to stop you from enjoying this on a random weekday night if you so choose!

The part of this recipe that really makes it “fancy” in my opinion is the Béarnaise Sauce. I know a traditional Béarnaise Sauce has white wine in it but I have tweaked it slightly to make it cleaner. You won’t notice any difference in taste though, I swear I could eat a gallon of this straight.  You’ve been warned!

Not only is it easy to make, but the main portion of the meal is so delicious that you only need simple sides to go with it. I love to make asparagus to alongside this dish. I promise, your friends and family will be impressed.

Steak Ingredients:
1 Tbsp of Olive Oil
2 filet steaks or cut of your choice
1/2 tsp Pink Himalayan Salt or Sea Salt
1/2 tsp of Black Pepper
1/2 tsp of Garlic Powder
Dash of Crushed Red Pepper
Dash of Paprika

Steak Directions:

  • Marinate overnight in a plastic bag with all the ingredients. You can grill these on medium heat for 5-6 minutes per side depending on preference.
  • If you do not have a grill or do not want to grill it you could always use the stove top and oven. This may seem like a process but I swear it makes your steaks delicious.
  • Preheat Oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit
  • Sear steak on cast iron skillet (or oven friendly skillet) on both sides for 3 minutes. Immediately place in heated oven for 5-7 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a room temperature plate and cover with foil for 10 minutes.

Sauce Ingredients:
3 egg yolks at room temperature
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
3 Tbsp extra light virgin olive oil or avocado oil
1 medium shallot
2 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp of fresh chopped tarragon leaves
2 Tbsp of ghee – melted

Sauce Directions:

  • Heat olive oil in a sauce pan on medium heat. Add your sliced shallot and let cook for about three minutes or until tender. Add your garlic and allow it become tender as well. Garlic burns quicker than shallots, which is why I recommend getting the shallots closer to desired consistency before you add the garlic.
  • Add vinegar to pan and let it cook down until the liquid is almost absorbed.
  • In a blender or in a container large enough to use your immersion blender in add the pan mixture along with the egg yolks and ghee. Use your blender or immersion blender to combine ingredients. Add the tarragon leaves and give it a few other pulses.
  • If you make the sauce beforehand and it becomes thick, right before serving add a tbsp of warm water and allow it blend together again
  • Enjoy!

Mexican Cauliflower “Rice”

This easy Whole 30 Mexican Cauliflower Rice is a perfect side dish to add to your Taco Tuesday or any excuse you may have to enjoy some delicious tacos/fajitas/burrito bowl. For those of you who follow me on Instagram, I’m sure you know that if there is one type of food I could literally eat all day every day, it is Mexican! I honestly do not think it is possible for me to get sick of it!

I was inspired to make this dish as I used to make a delicious Mexican rice dish before I started my whole food journey. It didn’t take me long to re-imagine this with the simple switch to cauliflower rice instead of traditional rice. If you do well with rice though, feel free to use that instead. You really can’t go wrong with this one!

Ingredients:
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp cajun spice
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp pink Himalayan salt
Half head of cauliflower riced (about 4 cups)
4 – 5 Tbsp of tomato paste

Directions:

  • Put oil in the pan on medium heat
  • Toss your onion in the pan and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes
  • Place cauliflower and spices in the plan and mix it all together. Let cook for 5-10 minutes, depending on preferred texture of cauliflower rice
  • Add tomato paste and stir together. If the paste is too thick add a Tbsp of water at a time as it soaks into the cauliflower
  • Enjoy!

Zucchini “Pasta” Salad

 Nothing screams summer to me quite like pasta salad. I’ve made this dish for numerous cookouts, 4th of July BBQs, and pool parties and is always a hit.

I initially made this dish thinking I would bring it along as a simple side dish for me to enjoy without indulging in all of the food that I know doesn’t make me feel my best. Little did I know what a success it would be with EVERYONE. Not going to lie, there were many skeptics, but after a few praises people got a little braver to give it a shot. My bowl quickly disappeared and this is now requested by people who do not even follow any sort of clean diet! You know it has to be delicious!

Ingredients:
2-3 medium spiralized zucchini
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes diced in half
1/2 orange bell pepper diced
1/2 cup of cucumbers
1/4 cup of onion diced finely
1/4 cup of banana peppers

Fresh cilantro to garnish

Dressing:
2 Tbsp of extra light virgin olive oil or avocado oil
2 Tbsp of red wine vinegar
1 tsp of lemon juice (optional)
1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of Italian seasoning
Directions:
  • You can purchase your zucchini already noodled for you or can you use a spiralizer to do it yourself. I suggest purchasing a spiralizer if you plan to eat “zoodles” often as it is much more inexpensive to do it yourself. There are so many inexpensive options out there. This is the one I use and love.
  • Come the all the veggies in a large bowl. This is super easy to double (and you might want to) by using all of the pepper and cucumber and adding in some more tomatoes and onion. There really is no strict ingredient amount, just make it your own and have fun with the flavors!
  • Combine all the ingredients for the dressing and shake or stir to combine. Pour over veggies in large bowl and let it soak into the zoodles. I recommend making this a day ahead of time as it gets better with age! (Wish we all did)
  • Enjoy!

Welcome to Whole Hannah

Hello world!

After many months of thinking of starting a blog, I finally took the plunge! My hope in starting this blog is to help others in some way. I try my best to live a balanced life by making it really easy to eat healthy and move my body in ways that make it feel good. I want to share the ways I do this so that I can help others who are looking to change their lifestyle and help them realize it is easier than it seems.

My name is (you guessed it) Hannah,  I am 25, and living in Columbus, Ohio. Growing up, I was always overweight. I battled with weight loss for as long as I can remember. In my freshman year of college, I hit my highest weight and I remember vowing to change. However, this started a very toxic pattern of losing 20 – 30 lbs and gaining it back immediately. This happened on repeat for years.

Fast forward to October 2015 to when I did my first Whole 30 where I actually began to change my life instead of looking for a quick fix. Doing my first Whole 30 changed my life. I lost 16 lbs in those 30 days, I was feeling incredible, and I wanted to continue to feel these benefits. I was so amazed to realize that FOOD could make you feel this way. It was so eye opening for me.

For those of you who are not familiar, Whole 30 is a 30 day program that eliminates certain food groups (like dairy, grains, legumes, and sugar) that could have negative impacts on your health. The Whole 30 can be considered restrictive and requires a good mental state to recognize that it is only meant for those 30 days to help recognize what your body reacts poorly to. The creators themselves do not promote this as a sustainable lifestyle.

I did not go into my “Life After Whole 30” with this in mind however. This restrictive mindset led to my obsessive eating habits of consuming only whole foods that met the criteria. This coupled with bad influencers and surroundings had me eating only 600 – 800 calories per day along with attending spin classes every day. Sometimes if I “splurged” on the weekend it meant two spin classes on Monday. I lost 90 lbs in only a year. But I  had no energy, I was constantly light headed and would black out upon standing. There were so many Saturdays where I came home straight from spin class and had to lay in bed all day long. I was miserable. But I was skinny. Until I wasn’t. Until it wasn’t enough and I needed to lose another 10 lbs. Unfortunately it took me fainting at the gym to realize something needed to change.

I started eating more and following people on social media that represented real, balanced lifestyles for motivation. I started seeing a functional practitioner who is still helping me heal my adrenal fatigue as a result of my extreme actions. I have put on about 20 lbs as a result which is something I’ve had to accept. It has not been easy, it has been really hard. I still struggle with body issues regularly. Every day I fight though, my mind gets stronger.

I share this with you in hope of coming from a place of understanding. If you are just beginning your weight loss journey, I hope that my journey can help you make better decisions than I did. If you are not looking to lose weight and just want to life a healthier lifestyle, I hope I can provide some easy tips to help you make this lifestyle real and sustainable.

I am far from perfect. But I am working on it. I hope you can come along and join me on this journey.

Whole Hannah