Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

Have y’all heard of the Whole 30 January reset?

Well, that’s what I’m doing this month – for the very first time EVER following any sort of strict diet. I’ve heard of the Whole30 diet for a few years now, but I’ve honestly never been interested. Give up sugar and dairy and grains all that other yummy stuff for 30 days? Um, you do know my favorite food in the whole wide world is biscuits & gravy, right? Also, I can clear a whole bag of Sour Patch Kids in 5 minutes flat. Super powers, I tell ya.

When my husband passed away in July of 2015, I was pretty healthy & exercising 60-90 minutes almost every single day. I still ate all the things, but I ate all the things in moderation (most the time… I mean, c’mon now lol) and my energy levels were the best they’d ever been. I was a size 8/10 – and I felt so great. When he died, I tried to continue to work out but it was so hard. I barely had the motivation to get dressed, much less get on the treadmill or do sit-ups. And don’t even get me started on what my eating habits turned into being. Snacking & eating helped me cope with my overwhelming sadness… so I snacked a lot. Like, a lot. Fast forward to today – January 2018 – and I’m 22 pounds heavier (and in a size 14) than I was when he passed. My jeans no longer fit and since I refuse to buy new pants at this size, I live in leggings & pajama pants. The stretchier the better!

I don’t want to gain any more weight & I’m feeling pretty miserable. When Mike died, I had so much energy. Now, I’m tired all the time. I hate feeling so tired. And the bloat… on top of the extra fat. UGH. Bending over sucks. It’s like – what the heck is this all gathering together in my middle section? Can you go away now?? I’ve had enough…  I refuse to live another day feeling this way. I want to lose these extra pounds but more than that – I want to feel like I did a couple years ago in terms of my energy level. So, I’m committing to the Whole30 plan for the month of January and I’m committing to get 30-45 minutes of exercise 3-5x a week. I’d like to get back to my previous exercise routine, but I’m starting off small because with 3 kids that I homeschool and a full-time business, time is something I always need more of!

I’m going to try my very best to make this whole diet taste as yummy as possible because food is something that I do thoroughly thoroughly enjoy. I will be posting the best recipes that I come up with on the blog for your Whole30/Paleo eating pleasure & hopefully you will enjoy them too. Each week, I’m going to post an update of how I did, what I ate, & how I’m feeling. Hopefully it will benefit some of y’all as well as giving accountability to me. Also, if you don’t want to wait a week to see what I’m eating, you can follow my Instagram stories to see what I’m munching. I could use all the good luck juju y’all can throw my way! 😉

Today, I’m going to share the very first yummy recipe (it’s actually yummy, y’all!) that I came up with for this Whole30 journey that I’m taking – Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice.

Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

Y’all, I hate cauliflower with a passion – I just do. But I picked up a bag of frozen cauliflower rice at Costco & figured, what the heck. I made this one up from scratch after trying another recipe that I just didn’t like at all. I like a lot of flavor, and can’t stand bland foods. I think I did pretty darn good on this recipe. It’s actually really good! You can tell it’s not regular rice, but I expected that. But for what it is, it’s delicious!

I served it with a salad, a small sirloin steak, & sautéed mushrooms. It was SO YUMMY!!

Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice with thinly sliced steak and salad

If you’re on the Whole30 right now, I’d love to hear from you! Leave me a comment & let me know what you’re favorite Whole 30 recipes are! I could use all the inspiration that I can get!!

Follow along with me during my journey on Instagram or in my facebook group, Mrs Happy Homemaker’s Homestead!

Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
  • 3/4 cup onion chopped
  • 2-3 large cloves of garlic minced
  • 1-2 jalapeños chopped (seeds discarded if you don't like the heat, left in if you do)
  • 3 heaping cups frozen riced cauliflower
  • 3/4 cup organic chicken stock
  • zest from 1 small lime
  • juice from 1 small lime
  • 3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the chopped onion & sauté on medium heat until they are soft & translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic & jalapeño; cook for another minute, stirring often. Add the frozen cauliflower rice to the skillet, breaking up any frozen clumps with a spatula. Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of olive oil over the cauliflower rice & crank the heat up to high, stirring often. This will help give the cauliflower some depth of flavor because browned bits mean extra flavor!! Pour in the chicken stock along with the lime zest, lime juice & cilantro - cook for another couple minutes on high, stirring often. Reduce the heat to low & cook for another 5-7 minutes, stirring often, until the cauliflower rice has reached the doneness you desire. Season with salt & pepper.

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Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice