Thought I fell off the wagon, did you?  We are about half way done with our Whole30 — today marks Day 14.  The last post covered up to Day 10, so yeah I’m pretty far behind.  Luckily I have kept track with pictures…so I am still prepared to share what’s been going on with ya’ll.  I will make this recap short; however, as I have more exciting news — a new recipe!

Whole30 Recap

Day 11 looked like all the other days.  I started the morning off with some fried eggs, bacon, and some raw kraut.  Black coffee along with it.

I had a workout that morning and a few hours after breakfast I snacked on some hardboiled eggs and some carrot sticks.

Dinner was at work around 7 pm — had leftover chicken thighs with a big salad full of greens, cucumbers, carrots, and strawberries.

Day 12 started with the same breakfast — bacon and eggs, followed by a banana and some black coffee.

I completed a workout of deadlifts, push-presses, and kettlebell swings (of which I am still very sore) because I upped my weight by quite a bit.  Yay me, and thank you carbs for helping my muscles grow!

After my workout I had a fried egg with hot sauce and a side of some roasted sweet potatoes that were generously tossed with coconut oil, onion powder, garlic powder, and cinnamon.

Dinner was absolutely lame.  Friday (Day 12) was a late one for me because we had what we called a Midnight Madness Sale at work.  Yup, you guessed it — I had to be there until midnight…in reality I was there until 1 am.  I was running late for work and was never able to get a meal together…so I asked Jason if he would bring me some food.  Let’s just say I love this man, and I truly love him not just the idea of him.  This meal proves my intentions.  Before leaving I asked him, using the ground beef I defrosted, to come up with a stir fry.  Simple.  Easy.  I was thinking a hint of tamari, some veggies…  he brought me ground beef and kelp noodles.  That’s it.  Just the two together in a big bundle.  Love him!

Day 13 eggs and bacon, you guessed it.  Black coffee.  I woke up super early (yes, even after I had been at work until 1 am beforehand) to prepare my new recipe!!

From all the Midnight Madness and whatnot…didn’t have anything together for my lunch so I ended up ordering some Jimmy Johns for delivery.  Had an unwich (for those of you that aren’t familiar it means no bread, just a lettuce wrap).  The wrap had turkey, bacon, cucumbers, avocado, and some dijon mustard.  It was really good, actually…but much too expensive for a big iceburg lettuce leaf.

Dinner was where it was at, my friends.  I have had a veal heart in my freezer for a long time, and I have not made it because I just didn’t know what I wanted to do with it.  I have stuffed heart before; I have grilled it before…I wanted to do something different.  So, one day it hit me — a freakin’ chili!  Perfect.  Put it in the slow-cooker and it was awesome!!!

Ingredients

• 1 beef heart (grassfed if you can, of course)
• 2 strips of uncured bacon, diced
• splash of balsamic vinegar
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 sweet potato, cubed
• 1 can of fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1/2 c. water (broth would be better if you have some on hand)
• 2 tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tbsp. paprika
• 1 tbsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• salt and pepper to taste

Process

1. To start off you will have to clean and prepare your heart.  It takes some time and a decent knife, but you must cut off all the hard fat as well as any connective tissue.  Cut your heart into cubes and set aside.
2. In a large skillet cook diced bacon over medium heat, until browned.  Put bacon in your crockpot and reserve the drippings.
3. Turn the heat up a bit and sear your beef heart in the bacon fat.  A few minutes, until browned all over.  You may need to add more bacon fat if your two strips to render enough.
4. Meanwhile add your onion, bell pepper, garlic, potatoes, both cans of tomatoes (undrained), water, and all spices to your crockpot.  Stir to combine.
5. Add just a splash of balsamic vinegar to your hot skillet and scrape up any bits of bacon and beef heart.  Add all the beef heart and all the flavor to your crockpot.
6. Set cooker on low and let it do its thing for 7-8 hours.
7. Enjoy!

Topped my beef heart chili with some avocado — outstanding!!