The challenging Spinach Steak and the Bananas that send you Nutty!

Day 3 of the Whole30 Challenge and all is going well. No grains - easy, no dairy - easy, no legumes - easy, no sugar - not as easy but I have kept to Whole30 100%. I have been craving sugar and last night for dessert I made up a yummy Whole30 approved recipe, however I am going to try and avoid making this meal often as the purpose of Whole30 is to train your brain to not crave sugar. So when it has a 'sugar tantrum' dont give it what it wants. But other than that this dessert is mouth watering and the sweetness in the banana is SO good when I am after that little treat!



My Birchwood dinner

 Aaron and I got stuck in town two nights ago and we had to find a place to eat which I wasn't happy about as I would prefer to cook at home and know what is going into my meal. But we ended up eating at Birchwood and it was AMAZING! I had fish sprinkled with pumpkin seeds and with a side of butternut pumpkin puree and broccolini. It was so tasty that I took a photo to share with you all :) You will notice the nasty white potatoes on the side, which didnt get eaten yay!

I have had the last four days off work so I am a little nervous to head in tonight - my first shift while doing the Whole30. My weakness lies at work.... cookies. I am not going to have any! It will be a big test for my will power which has never been strong against anything sugar. So I will let you know of my success tomorrow (positive thoughts)

As I will be working 6-10 I am going to have dinner at work. I am going to have the salmon (again) and ask that the rosti (white potato patty type thing) be replaced with more roasted veggies. Easy :)

So, last night's dinner. It was ok. Not as I had hoped. I cooked the steak for a little too long so it was a tad dry and more on the medium well side. I couldn't find flank steak and ended up using sirloin steak which was really hard to wrap around spinach (it kept falling out the sides) Next time I will cook for a less time and will maybe bash the steak so it flattens out and gets a bit bigger.

- Steak with Spinach -

INGREDIENTS

• 1kg flank steak (I used only three pieces of sirloin steak)
• 200g Spinach
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-4 slices bacon, cooked and chopped (reserve fat)
• 1 tsp Olive oil
• Ground Pepper
• Garlic Powder (I didnt have any so I used Parsley)
• Sea Salt
• 3 pieces baking string (I used toothpicks)

METHOD

• Preheat oven to 176C/375F
• Cook bacon slices in a pan. When done, remove and set aside to cool
• Set pan aside, reserving bacon fat
• Follow instructions on packet to thaw & steam frozen spinach
• Set aside
• In a separate pan, saute shallots and garlic in olive oil
• Add spinach
• Chop bacon and add to mix
• Mix ingredients well and set aside
• Rub salt, pepper and garlic powder on steaks
• Spread spinach mixture over steak
• Roll steak lengthwise and secure with string (or toothpick if you dont have any string!)

• Heat bacon fat back up in pan over medium-high heat
• Brown steak on all sides
• Put browned steak in baking dish and bake for 35-45mins
• When ready cut steak roll into little pin wheels (mine didnt workout that well)

- Nutty Bananas -

INGREDIENTS
(serves 1-2)

• 1 Banana
• 2 tsp preferred nut butter (I used Hazelnut but will be using almond in the future when it is back in store)
• 2 tblsp Nuts (I used pecans and walnuts)

METHOD

• Cut banana in half, then chop both halves in half lengthways
• Smear nut butter over each slice
• Sprinkle with nuts

Delicious!

Eat Healthy, Feel Healthy, Live Healthy!