Whole Life Challenge Favorite Recipes

I'm now more than half-way through the challenge.  I've had to drink more water, sleep more, and meditate, and I'm feeling better for having done it all.  Next week's challenge is to *read* 10 minutes a day, anything I find inspirational, whether it be a blog, book, magazine, etc.  Awesome!  My clothes do fit better, although I still haven't dropped a ton of weight.  But I honestly do think my body is functioning better, and I definitely feel stronger.  I went from barely being able to do a modified push-up to knocking out 20 at a time (still not that impressive, but I only do them on weekends) and then another 10 after doing 30 seconds of another weight exercise in between.  So that is definitely measurable progress.

My go-to recipes throughout all this have been these, along with some other favorite recipes that I was able to keep eating by just modifying the ingredients slightly.  For example, we can keep eating buffalo chicken.  I just make it with Frank's Hot Sauce instead of the buffalo wing sauce I was using before (the buffalo wing sauce had chemicals in it.  Frank's is just vinegar, water, and chile.).

Banana Applesauce Cookies

Flourless PB Banana Muffins

Baked Salmon with Garlic and Dijon

Greek Marinated Chicken 

1 cup plain yogurt 2 Tbsp olive oil 4 cloves garlic, minced ½ Tbsp dried oregano 1 medium lemon zest juice from 1/2 lemon ½ tsp salt freshly cracked pepper ¼ bunch fresh parsley 3½ to 4 lbs chicken pieces ~ Combine marinade. Place pieces in marinade in gallon ziplock. Bake 375 45-60 minutes or grill

All of these recipes are good enough to remain in my repertoire even after this challenge is over.  And the good news is that there are many more things out there to try--I just haven't been as adventurous for the past week or two about exploring new things and have relied heavily on these standbys.

I actually have LOVED doing this challenge and will consider doing it again this summer, or at least at the start of every year to get back on track after a tough fall work-wise and heavy eating for the holidays.