Six Weeks of Bowl Meals: Grain-Free Thai Bowl

Telling someone addicted to food to “just eat mindfully” is like giving an alcoholic a fifth of whiskey as a gift and saying “enjoy one glass a day”. Mindful eating is to an infant what living on autopilot is to an adult. As much as I believe in my clients far more than they believe in themselves a lot of the time, there is a point, typically in the beginning of Health Coaching program, where I just have to put it bluntly and show a bit of tough love. Awareness of denial, blame and shame is essential to beginning the process of living a mindful life. Mindful living and eating is freedom.

I am here to help you help yourself, trust me, and time is on your side.

My story includes too many years of battling an incredibly disordered relationship with food. It was as if I had myself convinced I was born with a weight + calorie chart in one hand and measuring cups in the other. Can you even picture that? First comes the head, the shoulders then…Wait for it…measuring cups and spoons! Awe! Now this child will always know how to stay healthy and love herself!! Yay!

Learning how to retrain my mind-body connection to “just eat mindfully” was a process. It took time. One of the important health discoveries I made along the way was the crappy physical feeling that resulted from junky food choices. Mindful eating means making well-thought out nutrition decisions based on the mind-body connection and love for oneself. It means fully enjoying the eating experience and slowing down with every bite—a helpful practice for life overall.

This week’s bowl meal makes eating mindfully simple. Every nutrient-dense ingredient not only forces taste buds to dance, but continues to fuel and support everyone living a healthy lifestyle. The balance of macros and micros will satisfy the largest of appetites! The dressing can be used as a sauce and is drinkable on its own! I’m so so so pleased with it and cannot wait for you to try it!

Grain-Free Thai Bowl

By Audrey Byker Health Coach

Serves 4-6

for the veggies and protein

-1lb. boneless chicken tenders, chopped into 1 in pieces(make it vegan and omit)

-1 pint baby bella mushrooms, sliced

-1 pint shiitake mushrooms, sliced

-2 cups shredded carrots

-1 large bundle of broccoli, chopped

-Sea salt

-Black pepper, fresh ground

-1 Tbls avocado oil(or any healthy oil)

-1/2 tsp sesame oil

for the carbs fat and flavor

-2-3 cups jasmine rice, brown rice, brown rice noodles, cooked(optional if grains are desired)

-Sunflower seeds, roasted and salted(optional garnish)

-Green onion, sliced(optional garnish)

FOR THE THAI SUNFLOWER SEED DRESSING/SAUCE:

By Audrey Byker Health Coach

-1/2 cup sunflower seed butter, unsweetened and unsalted(or any other natural nut butter)

-3 Tbls Tamari soy sauce or coconut aminos

-2 Tbls raw honey(optional—omit for vegan)

-Juice of 1 lime

-1 Tbls rice or white wine vinegar

-Water to taste

Add both oils to a large wok or nonstick skillet(with a lid if you prefer veggies to be cooked through) then add chicken, salt and pepper. Sauté until cooked through, remove from pan, set aside and immediately add mushrooms to the pan. Sauté over med-high heat, stirring frequently for 5 min. Add remaining veggies(broccoli and shredded carrots) and sauté over medium heat until cooked al dente(or add the lid and steam until desired doneness is reached). Meanwhile add all dressing ingredients except for water in a small mason jar with a blender ball, add lid and shake until fully combined. Add water to thin to desired consistency, one tablespoon at a time. Add chicken back into pan to heat through, just before serving. Serve in bowls layered with noodles or rice(optional), dressing, green onion, and sunflower seeds. Eat leftovers cold or reheated, in a salad, alone or with grains.

Audrey Byker is a skilled and experienced Health Coach in West Michigan. She specializes in supporting busy people on their wellness journey through one-on-one coaching which can take place in person at her private office, in home or virtually from anywhere in the world. If you are looking for guidance and support to improve your health and quality of life, click here to set up a free consult today! She accepts HSA/FSA as payment!

Six Weeks of Bowl Meals: Harvest Burger Bowl

Everyone is overwhelmed. Laundry, responsibility, work, a million school papers flying out of kid’s backpacks. The garage. Voicemails. Emails.

Then there’s meal planning, grocery shopping and cooking healthy meals.

The difference between those who can handle the overwhelm and those who allow it to paralyze them is basic: Healthy-striving people prioritize and plan. Successful people prioritize and plan. Less stressed people prioritize and plan. They listen to their intuition and trust it. They ignore that which is not important and focus on all that is to them.

What does it even mean to prioritize and plan? For some it’s a detailed planner, for others it’s utilizing Apple technology, google calendar or an app. For my grandpa it was always a notepad and golf pencil stashed in the breast pocket of every shirt he wore. It means saying “no” more than “yes” even if it hurts someone’s feelings, makes the kids cry or the neighbor annoyed. It’s taking action, one priority at a time.

Yup, without disclaimer or explanation. It’s a “no”.

Week four of six weeks of bowl meals is the perfect salad to add to next week’s meal plan. It follows all the balanced nutrition guidelines for ideal blood sugar control—a high healthy eating priority. It just so happens eating balanced, nutrient dense meals aids in the effort to feel less overwhelm. Blood sugar control is related to hormone regulation. Hormone regulation is responsible for balanced cortisol which aids in calm, clear, focused thinking, sleeping, and moving. It’s crazy how everything is connected.

Suddenly the emails and garage have bumped to the bottom of the list.

Harvest Burger Bowl

By Audrey Byker Health Coach

serves 4-6

FOR THE VEGGIES FAT AND PROTEIN

-2-3 head of romaine lettuce, chopped, washed and spun in the salad spinner

-1lb ground beef (know your farmer)

-1-2 Tbls. non chili spice blend(burger blend). I can’t get enough of this

-1/2 medium onion, chopped

-1 cup pecans, roasted and salted

for the carbs and flavor

-4 med/lg sweet potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into 1in. pieces

-1-2 Tbls avocado oil

-salt

-pepper

-1 apple sliced or diced(optional for garnish)

Creamy Avocado Dressing(or this):

-1/2 large avocado

-1/4 tsp sea salt

-One lime, juiced

-1/4 cup olive or avocado oil

-1/2 Tbls raw honey(optional)

-1 clove garlic, minced

-1/4-1/3 cup water, as needed

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add sweet potato to a large bowl and stir to coat with oil then sprinkle with 1 1/2 Tbls spice blend. Add salt if spice does not contain it. Add to parchment paper covered sheet pan and add to oven to roast for 30 min or desired doneness, stirring 1/2 way. Set aside to cool slightly before adding to bowl.

While sweet potatoes roast add ground beef and onion to pan over med. heat. Add 1/2 Tbls spice blend. Cook through and brown. Remove from heat until sweet potatoes are ready.

Prepare bowl and dressing. Layer romaine coated in dressing, sweet potato, ground beef and pecans. Drizzle a bit more dressing on top as desired.

6 Weeks of Bowl Meals: Brussels, Bacon and Brown Rice

This summer has been the most challenging for me to get in the kitchen and create! If you've followed closely, you witnessed first, a torn rib muscle, then, shortly after that, a fall that resulted in a very messed up--still not diagnosed--left middle finger with additional wrist pain. I always laugh out loud when people ask how on earth I managed to get these injuries! Surly, I had to be pushing my mental and physical limits at the gym, on the field, or lets say, showing off in the water? Nope. While I love all the things and am guilty of every one, including attempting "tricks" on the paddle board, my kitchen set backs during my favorite cooking season have all been related to carelessness and slightly bad luck.  A forceful reach in a hurry and a fall, in my closet, while "skillfully" removing my skinny jeans, have resulted in a lot of pain, making chopping, typing, and dish washing quite the challenge! Thank you for sticking with me!  

A giant stalk of brussel sprouts was on sale at Meijer last week which sparked the very basic and simple creation of this stick-to-your-ribs meal--the first of my 6 weeks of bowl meals! My cashew cheese recipe adds an additional layer of healthy fat decadence and is optional, as always with sauces(even though sauteing then steaming typically provides plenty of flavor all on it's own).  When planning to prepare this bowl be sure to make time to chop the onion, bacon and brussels. With my finger slowing down the entire process, I cooked this in two shifts--the first steps before soccer practice, and the last, once I returned home.  As it turns out, tossing perfection out the window--once again--made it possible to cook and enjoy another satisfying, plant rich meal.

It brings me intense joy to have a platform and the physical health to share this tasty creation! Thank goodness all this real-food eating is proven to speed up healing time!

Brussel-Bacon, Brown Rice Bowl

By Audrey Byker Health Coach

Serves 4-6

for The veggies fat and protein

-1 pound clean bacon, chopped

-1/2 large onion, chopped

-1 large stalk or two bags brussel sprouts, quartered 

-Sea salt

-Black pepper, fresh ground

For the carbs and flavor

-8oz dry brown rice noodles(or three cups cooked potatoes or grains)

-1 batch Cashew Cheese(optional)*

*If planning to use cashew cheese, refer to recipe 1 day to 2 hours before planning to eat.

Fill a large saucepan with water and cook noodles per package directions. At the same time, in a large, non-stick skillet with a lid, add onions and bacon then saute on med. heat until cooked through.  Remove from pan leaving remaining bacon grease.  Add chopped brussel sprouts, a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook on med-high, watching carefully and tossing frequently--just enough to create a brown crust.  When crust is achieved, turn heat to low, add bacon and onions back into the pan, then add lid. Steam until desired consistency is reached: 10-15 min.

Prepare cashew cheese(optional), then add to noodles and stir together.  Add to a bowl(choose the best size for each appetite): brussels mixture and noodles.