RepairVite Challenge, Part 1
Ok, so my naturopath never called this a challenge when she put me on a 21-day RepairVite cleanse. I had to call it that to make myself feel more excited about being on a super restrictive protocol even though I don’t have any food or gut issues that needed to be addressed. Yep, still feeling salty about that. And it was definitely challenging to come up with 21 days’ worth of dinners that didn’t involve legumes, nightshades, dairy, fungi, nuts, or grains. Breakfasts and lunches were simple. Every morning, I had Aldi chicken breakfast sausages and coconut yogurt with blueberries, cinnamon, and a scoop of RepairVite powder mixed in. Lunches consisted of baby spring mix greens, shredded carrots, some form of protein, and olive oil and vinegar dressing. She provided me with the guide lines and several recipes, but I found myself less than enthused after reading through them, so off to the internet I went in search of ideas and came up with several possibilities.
Meal 1: Roasted acorn squash and brussel sprouts; salmon with avocado sauce. Serves 4.
This was by far the oddest combination of flavors I’ve ever thrown together. Leaving the sauce off would make them mesh better, but I have a weird hang up about serving fish or chicken without some sort of condiment. Maybe it’s a Southern thing? The great thing about this meal is that you can easily time it so that each element finishes cooking simultaneously. It takes about an hour from start to finish.
Ingredients:
2 acorn squash (squashes? 🤔)
1.5 lbs of brussel sprouts
3 ish tbs of olive oil
1 tbs of coconut oil
4 4 oz salmon fillets
salt and pepper
1. Roast the squash. Preheat the oven to 375. Cut 2 acorn squashes in half and scoop out the seeds. Rub the insides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and pop it in the oven for 50 minutes. So easy!
2. Roast the brussel sprouts. Cut the brussel sprouts in half and place them in a zip lock bag. Pour about 2 tbs of oil in the bag along with salt and pepper, then shake until the sprouts are coated. Line another baking sheet with parchment, spray it with cooking spray, and dump the sprouts on it, spreading them out in a single layer. Pop it into the oven when the acorn squash still has 30 minutes left. If you’re as slow in the kitchen as I am, it should take about 20 minutes to prep the brussel sprouts, so the timing should work out nicely.
3. Pan-fry the salmon. Blot the fillets dry and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a pan over medium heat and add 1 tbs of coconut oil. Once the oil starts to sizzle, place the fillets in the pan skin-side down. When the fish has cooked almost all the way through, flip the filets to brown the top.
4. Optional: whip up a sauce of some kind. This first time around, I tried out the recipe my naturopath gave me for an avocado-based sauce. It was sadly disappointing. I’ll include the recipe for that under a meal it actually goes well with. Just keeping it real and admitting my mistakes so you don’t have to make the same ones.
Meal 2: Italian seasoned lamb with asparagus and mashed cauliflower. Serves 4 (left over lamb can be used in future meals or as protein on a salad.)
Ingredients:
Leg of lamb (it was on sale at Aldi, so I pounced)
3 tbs Italian dressing dry mix (see below)
2 bunches of asparagus
2 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper
2 packages of Birdseye cauliflower mashed potatoes
1. Place one leg of lamb in the crock pot with 3 tbs of Italian dressing mix on low for six hours. To make the Italian dressing mix, combine the following and mix well:
1½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoon oregano
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoon pepper
¼ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon dried celery flakes
2. Roast the asparagus. Preheat the oven to 425. Trim the ends of the asparagus (I used 2 bunches), then place them in a zip lock bag with just enough salt, pepper, and olive oil to coat them (about 2 tbs), seal the bag and shake until evenly coated. Bonus points if you used garlic infused olive oil. Prepare a baking sheet with tin foil and cooking spray and place the asparagus on the tray in one layer. Bake for 15 minutes.
3. Y’all, I’m not too proud to admit that I just heated up some premade Birdseye cauliflower mashed potatoes in the microwave. However, if you want to make some from scratch, have at it: https://detoxinista.com/mashed-cauliflower-vegan-paleo/
Meal 3 (Sauce Success!): Roasted acorn squash and brussel sprouts; salmon with artichoke sauce.
Same process as the first night.
Ingredients:
2 acorn squash (squashes? 🤔)
1.5 lbs of brussel sprouts
3 ish tbs of olive oil
1 tbs of coconut oil
4 4 oz salmon fillets
salt and pepper
1 jar of marinated artichoke hearts
2 tbs of coconut milk
lemon juice
dill
garlic powder
1. Roast the squash. Preheat the oven to 375. Cut 2 acorn squashes in half and scoop out the seeds. Rub the insides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place them on a parchment-lined baking sheet and pop it in the oven for 50 minutes. So easy!
2. Roast the brussel sprouts. Cut the brussel sprouts in half (I used about 1 1/2 lbs), and place them in a zip lock bag. Pour about 2 tbs of oil in the bag along with salt and pepper, then shake until the sprouts are coated. Line another baking sheet with parchment, spray it with cooking spray, and dump the sprouts on it, spreading them out in a single layer. Pop it into the oven when the acorn squash still has 30 minutes left. If you’re as slow in the kitchen as I am, it should take about 20 minutes to prep the brussel sprouts, so the timing should work out nicely.
3. Pan-fry the salmon. Blot the fillets dry and sprinkle salt and pepper on both sides. Heat a pan over medium heat and add 1 tbs of coconut oil. Once the oil starts to sizzle, place the fillets in the pan skin-side down. Once the fish has cooked almost all the way through, flip the filets to brown the top.
4. Whip up some artichoke sauce. I poured the contents of an entire jar of marinated artichoke hearts in a food processor (oil and all) and puréed them then added about 2 tbs of coconut milk to give it more of a saucy consistency. I added lemon juice, dill, salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.
Meal 4: Cabbage, apple, and chicken stir fry. Serves 6.
This took me an hour because I move at a glacial pace.
Ingedients:
2 lbs chicken
2.5 tbs coconut oil
1.5 lb cabbage finely chopped
1 large apple, cored and thinly sliced
1 thinly sliced onion
1 tbsp chopped thyme
3 tbs apple cider vinegar
3 tbs coconut aminos
salt and pepper
1. Cut chicken the into 1” pieces and sauté in 1 tbs of coconut oil in a wok or large skillet. Remove the chicken once thoroughly cooked and set aside.
2. Add 1/2 tbs of coconut oil to the skillet. Stir fry the apple for a minute in coconut oil until it just barely starts to soften. Remove the apple and set aside.
3. Stir fry the onion for another minute with the remaining coconut oil. Add the cabbage and stir-fry for another 3 minutes. Return the chicken, apple slices, add the thyme, cider vinegar, and coconut aminos and cover to steam for 2 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste
4. Optional: serve over cauliflower rice.
Meal 5: Steak with artichoke sauce and sautéed collared greens. Serves 4.
Ingredients
4 eye of round steaks (again, on sale at Aldi)
3 tbs olive oil
2 tbs minced garlic
4 cups chopped collared greens
salt and pepper
artichoke sauce (see recipe above)
Pat the steaks dry, sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, and pan sear using 1 tbs of olive oil.
Heat 2 tbs of olive oil in a large skillet, add minced garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add collared greens one handful at a time and sauté until wilted.
Optional: serve with mashed cauliflower or mashed sweet potatoes.
Another recipe dump is coming next week. For more RepairVite resources in the mean time, check out https://www.austinholisticdr.com/repairvite-diet/ and http://camclinic.com/images/uploads/article-pdf/Repair_Vite_Recipes.pdf