AHA!  eating too much chocolate - i'm not sure that is possible :) If you enjoy eating carbohydrates, then begin to look at WHAT carbohydrates you are eating and what you could replace a couple things with. For Example - instead of white potatoes, eat sweet potatoes.  Thave a lower glycemic index and provide longer lasting energy.  They are slower to digest, and are slower to turn into sugars in the body.  White carbohydrates are not the enemy, but in excess they are quickly converted to sugar (higher glycemic index) and can create unbalanced energy throughout the day.  People that eat lots of white carbohydrates may feel full for a little while, and then hungry shortly after.  Some more examples - replace white rice with whole grain rice, black rice, millet, brown rice, etc....replace granola with dried fruit and nuts.  granola is a sneaky sugar spike!  Granola carries the "face" of a healthy alternative, and then it is typically mostly made up of sugar and oats. check the label on granola and some type of sugar will be the largest ingredient.  dried fruit and nuts / trail mix make for a great alternative. Replace chips with popcorn or sweet potato chips and pairing these carbohydrates with good grass fed protein will create the best balance and weight management.  As a system, our bodies thrive on a balanced diet.  The protein and carbohydrates together are digested in tandem at different rates, releasing and absorbing vitamins as a team.  Together their slow release of vitamins, nutrients, and energy will balance our bodies systems.

On our Nourishing Abundance page, there are links to the How to use your food chart, Templates.  I talk at length about how to use the chart at the end of the 1st Zoom recording.  That is also available on the NA landing page.  I encourage any questions you have about the food chart!  It is a template meant to be filled out over the course of the program, changed at the end, and continued to be used.  It is versatile and personal to your own choices.  What I think is the best diet for myself, may be different from you. Also on the landing page there are the first set of Recipes.  The recipes are sent out weekly.  They are meant to build off of each other so as to learn new cooking techniques, create meal planning habits, and gain confidence in trying new things in the kitchen.  There is also an example of a filled out template to help guide you. One week's recipes will utilize sauces and techniques from the previous week's recipes.  I hope everyone will gain a better understanding of how to continuously keep a kitchen pantry of nourishment and create good habits in kitchen prep.  Gentle and slow, a week at a time we will build and grow ourselves into more nourishing lifestyles instead of a bombardment of new things all at once.At the end, you will look back and see a treasure chest of wealth :)

Yes I do!  I lived in a warehouse in Charleston where I had a very limited kitchen.  I got very creative with what I had.  With your insta pot, You can think of it like a little oven, as well as a slow cooker.  It is quite versatile.Try this for a very simple recipe to get used to the instapot
-chop up 1 chicken breast into chunks (about the size of a quarter)
-slice a zucchini and a yellow squash
-two tablespoons of oil
-1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper 
-mix everything together in the instapot, making sure to evenly coat the chicken and veggies
-if you have any rosemary, basil, cilantro, or other herbs you can rip them up and add them in too
-click the "sauté" button, change the temperature to medium, and the time to 12 minutes leave the lid off.  The Instapot will read "HOT" when it is to temperature and the time will start.  While it is a pot, it is actually a saute pan now !!
-stir the saute veggies and chicken every couple of minute, and remove it when its finished.  You can use this feature to cook anything like you would in a sauté pan.
Another option is to use the slow cooker for cooking like in an crock pot.  Add 1 potato, 1celery stalk, 1 carrot, 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms, 12-16 oz piece of pork or beef, with seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic, onion, etc) and add water until the meat and veggies are almost covered. Slow cook for 2 hours and its ready to go.  You can leave this on in the morning and it will stay warm until later in the day when you are ready to have iit for lunch or dinner.  Here are a couple insta pot videos to get some inpiration!  They are quite fun, easy to clean, and very easy to use.  
saute -https://youtu.be/x-zkEpmZit8?feature=shared
pecan chicken - https://youtu.be/inApXPYfENQ?feature=shared
salmon - https://youtu.be/y669OwFVFOQ?feature=shared

ALSO - your toaster oven may be small, but you can totally use it like a real oven, wrap your meat or veggies in tin foil with all your seasonings and put them in the toaster oven to bake at normal baking temperatures.  Don't put too much and it will come out great like with a real oven.  You can make batches of tea or broth in the Instapot too! 

for your honey garlic sauce, the first thing that comes to mind is stir fry sauce.  
2 tbsp honey
3 cloves garlic
1 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp soy sauce (tamari if gluten free)
1 tbsp vinegar (apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar)
1/2 cup broth (beef bone broth, chicken broth, or plain water is ok too)
smash the garlic up and mince it nicely.  Big thumbs up if you smash it in a mortar and pestle :)mix it in with all the ingredients.  You can mix this in a jar and it will keep for up to 5 days also! Sauté all your veggies and/or meat with oil, salt, and pepper.  As soon as it is about done, crank the heat all the way up and pour in 2-3 tbsp of the sauce.  quickly mix everything together and then remove from the pan and put on a plate.  The sauce thickens very quickly so have your plate ready! This sauce is also very very good on salmon.  But it has to be cooked. Follow the baked salmon recipe then warm a small sauté pan and add 2-3 tbsp of the sauce.  As soon as it starts to thicken, and even bubble a little, pour it over the cooked salmon.  I think you will find it is similar to teriyaki sauce :)

Use less coconut cream and add some bone broth/veggie stock/or chicken stock.  To thicken it you can reduce it in the pan on medium high heat (bubbling a little) for a minute or two.  Then throw in the noodles and it will be delicious and silky.

You can also use the cornstarch method.  Mix 1/4 cup broth/water and 1/4 cup coconut cream, add in a tsp of nutritional yeast and a tbsp of cornstarch.  Mix it together well and then pour in a pan to heat up, after about 1 minute in a hot pan it will be ready.  If you continue to cook it , it will get thicker. 

Another dairy free GF option is to use an egg yolk!  Thoroughly Mix one egg yolk with some broth or coconut milk and heat it on low until it is thickened.  Make sure to keep it on low as it will curddle if the temperature is too high.  It is kind of like hollandaise sauce without the butter! You can add spices and sauce in this as well. 

Alcohol is typically used because it is very effective for pulling out and holding/preserving the medicinal qualities of the herbs. You can make the tincture for the elixir with water instead of alcohol.  Think of it as a concentrated tea.  Keep the tincture refrigerated and use it within 5 days. In Chinese medicine, some medicinal herbs are cooked into teas! It is most beneficial to cook them in a clay pot, or stainless steel. Never use aluminum with herbs. Simply put your herbs in water, and warm them to a simmer (dont boil or it will kill the energetics of the herbs). Simmer for an hour or so.  Using a pressure cooker is even better as the medicinal qualities are pushed out of the herbs by the pressure. 

Cooling TCM enhanced pork broth

I make a simple broth of herbs for my dog and then use it to pour over the dog food or meat, and to eat in soups for myself.  Try this out for a cooling broth.
-lotus root
-lotus seed
-fennel seed
-parsley seed
-cumin seed
-celery seed 
-dried longan
-half rack of pork ribs *cut the pork ribs into individual pieces. 

Put all ingredients in a large pot and bring to a boil. simmer for 2-3 hours.  Or put all ingredients in a pressure cooker and pressure cook for 4 hours. Strain the ingredients and pull the meat off the pork hock or ribs. Keep some ribs for yourself and smother them in delicious bbq sauce with spices or make a bbq sandwich. Pork is a neutral meat so it is a great vehicle (and disguise for a dog's medicine) for the cooling broth.  So bacon is ok in my book also, as long as the bacon fat/oil is removed.

White fish, duck, and rabbit are more cooling meat alternatives also.  White fish is especially good for dogs as they age.  It adds a lot of omega 3 oils and fatty acids that help with bones and joint issues.  Wild Cod has some of the most readily available vitamins and nutrients due to its nature of being a deep swimming, cold water fish.

Seared Beef Heart is really good for aging dogs also!

If things are getting boring, here are some things you can do/add to make things a little different.  I (Justin) did a 1 month super high protein diet for weight gain and lowering body fat.  I get it!  These things worked for me.  Eat your biggest meals at breakfast and lunch, and smaller meal at dinner, or an earlier dinner with a late peanut butter and apple snack before bed.

SAUCES and BOLD FLAVOR!!  For Lunch and dinner, add in different sauces with big, bold, different flavors.

I fixed my boredom by noticing I was trying to eat differently without cooking any differently.  I really needed to add some life into it!  I started thinking "What am I missing? What can I add to make this yummy and interesting?" instead of "why is this not so good?"

a couple of examples-

My easiest suggestion to add- buy a couple very different style sauces and using them to marinade or dip your meat in. Spicy sauces can increase your metabolism and make you sweat (free workout haha). Try
- Korean BBQ, Thai Coconut, Japanese Stir Fry, Ponzu sauce, Ginger Curry Paste, Greek Balsamic Vinaigrette (yes vinaigrettes work amazing as marinades and dipping sauces for meat, not just salads).  Check the ingredients and make sure they do not have an abundance of sugar.  

Oven baked shrimp with pineapple, onion, red peppers, cilantro, and basil - toss everything in oil and Jamaican jerk seasoning, vigorously rub the seasoning and oil into the ingredients with your hands- make sure its coated nice and evenly.  In a oven bake dish, bake at 375 for 20 minutes, check to see if it is done.  Finish with salt and fresh lemon to taste.  

When meat and veggies are warm and moist it makes them easier to digest, and easier to eat more of if you are shooting for higher protein.
Change up your the way you cook your veggies and meat such as cooking your meats into soups. Pork rib soup makes the most tender pull of the bone ribs! No need for hours of slow cooking, 35 minutes cooking in simmering water and they are done. Keep some of the ribs for lunch the next day with BBQ sauce and sauteed Cabbage with bean sprouts. The broth makes an excellent soup broth for other dishes too.
**Bak kut teh - pork rib tea soup (spice pack https://a.co/d/evPlvJD)
here is a good recipe for it in a hokkien Singapore style
https://www.nyonyacooking.com/recipes/bak-kut-teh-ultimate-guide~rkJWp0EUQ

Hainanese Chicken https://www.seriouseats.com/hainanese-chicken-rice-set-recipe
whole chicken cooked in a pot of water! for this recipe, you can just look at how the chicken is cooked for the technique and seasoning, or go for the whole thing with the sauces and all. I made Hainanese chicken rice 15 Saturdays in a row so I could dial in how to cook meat in a pot of water and get the sauces correct for the ingredients available where I am at. The techniques I learned I use in all kinds of recipes now!

The excess chicken can be turned into bright citrusy chicken salad for a chicken wrap. https://joyfoodsunshine.com/avocado-chicken-salad-no-mayo/

For low calorie, high protein wrap, use an egg wrap instead of flour.  You can get these at a health foods store.

For snacks, the date and nut power green balls and the chia pudding are great.  They will help your body with having long winded energy for burning fat throughout the day, and for muscle recovery from workouts.  The chia pudding will help clear your gut and reduce inflammation.  Add chocolate to both to make them different!

A breakfast/lunch casserole of egg, chickpea, and chicken is an awesome protein rich meal also. Once you eat some for breakfast, make a wrap out of it with cranberries, fresh herbs, greens with a creamy sauce for lunch.
https://littlespicejar.com/veggie-loaded-breakfast-casserole/ add chopped chicken for the added protein.

And for rice, I cut rice out of my diet to lessen my caloric intake. I ate some other grains like wheatberries, farro, and barley. I also added lots of mung beans.


AND LAST- my favorite snack during my high protein low calorie

baked sweet potato *loaded but not how you think!
stab a sweet potato with a fork 10 times, wrap it in tin foil and bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Take it out and cut it about half way down so you can spread it apart. put a couple pieces of bacon or some ground beef inside, salt, pepper, olive oil, and chopped garlic. Wrap it back up and continue to bake for 15 more minutes or until it is soft. Fry an egg, take out the baked sweet potato and top it with the fried egg. Pour the juices from the tin foil on top. YUM. Kind of a funny thing, but it really worked for me to be able to eat a lot at once without it being too dry and heavy.