Whole 30 - Whole Meal Plan - week 1

Daniel, my husband, and I are doing the Whole30 diet in January...not because it is a new year's resolution, but because a local friend of mine is doing it at this time and running a support group for it and it happens to be in January.  Also, I'm off right now for maternity leave in December, so I feel like I can shop and prep for it way better right now, than when I'm working.  Obviously, while I'm doing the program, I'll be working, but at least I'll be prepared first :)

How will I do this diet?  It is a very strict diet.  Most of my food will be purchased from BJ's Wholesale and my local flea market that has an organic produce section.  I will be cooking most of my food in cast iron skillets, in my dutch oven, crock pot, cookie sheet, and glass Pyrex casserole pans.  I'll be preparing MOST of the food in 4+ servings - 2 for my husband and I to eat for dinner, and 2 servings to go in our lunch croc-pots for lunch the next day - especially because I work Tuesdays and Wednesdays and I'll need to have something ready made that I don't need to take time to prepare.  (Samuel, the 3 year old, eats small portions of our food, and he'll still have cheese and other normal parts of his diet)  I'll also be cooking/prepping all on Saturday and Sunday.  I have a newborn and a high-needs 3 year old, so I need all the help my husband can offer.  Monday-Wednesday dinners will be mostly croc-pot style meals, Thursday - Sunday will be quick and easy meals.  I LOVE cooking (it's actually my job) and I have a wealth (literally) of organic, non-irradiated spices in my home that I've been purchasing for the last few years - so I might make something with something you don't have readily available.  You will need a sharp knife, good cutting board, blender, food processor, spiralizer, and a mandolin would be helpful...I don't have one, but I wish I did :(

Why are we doing such a strict diet, for only 30 days?  Daniel will be basically 100% Whole30.  (Disclaimer: I won't be 100% into it.  I will be keeping oats to help keep my breastmilk supply sustained.  My infant is going to be about 7 weeks when we take the plunge and formula isn't an option.)  The reasoning behind me selecting such a diet for us is pretty simple - we need, especially Daniel, to starve out the bad bacteria in the gut that gear towards craving sugar, train the brain and pancreas to not need or want an insulin spike with every meal.  This is basically the only diet that does that, while keeping you full, and doesn't require crazy shakes, juicing, etc and maintains a high protein content.  I want to eat well, I want Daniel and Samuel to eat well, and this seems to be the best of all the worlds :-P  And thanks to the blogging health community, finding Whole30 compliant recipes is insanely easy...my mouth watered the whole time I was looking up recipes on Pinterest.

What is the Whole30 diet?  It is basically whole foods, for 30 days.  It is also no: grain, soy, dairy, legumes, additives (MSG, carageenan, etc.), refined and artificial sugars...its basically quality fats, proteins, veggies, and fruits.  It is sorta like jumping in the deep end of the paleo diet...Paleo does do substitutions - like you can have almond flour bread, or food sweetened with maple syrup.  Whole30 encourages you NOT to do those things...because you are training your body to not need or want those things in your foods and drinks anymore.  Here are the official rules.  Potatoes and sweet potatoes are allowed(they are technically veggies!), however...so I'm very thankful, as an English-Scotswoman...I know that I will not starve, because...potatoes.  And it's only for 30 days ya'll...we've spent well over 30 years eating whatever junk we want...we can give...no, we can TREAT our body to the break of eating nutritiously for a solid month...we're stubborn adults...we.can.do.this.

So with Jesus, a little will-power, my more-than-capable cooking skills, and a pinch of luck, we will be spending our January transforming our health.

So, let's start with breakfast:
Breakfast cups:  I'm going to mix spaghetti squash and a little shredded zucchini to make a crust in muffin cups.  Eggs and proscuitto go into the muffin cups with some seasoning...and enjoy.  The recipe calls for ground pork, and I'm picky with my meat quality...and will have a hard time finding good quality meat.  My proscuitto is pork and sea salt.  That's it.  It's pretty cheap at the BJ's deli too.  And seriously...who doesn't love proscuitto!?  I'm going to put homemade ghee in the muffin cups and a little on the veggie shred before I put them in the pan, so the crusts are nice and buttery and crisp!  I'm going to make 3 cups per person, per day - a total of 42 cups per week.  (I'll be having oatmeal in addition to this)

Lunch - lunch will be leftovers from dinner.  I'm going to make 4ish servings of dinner each night, and put 2 solid servings away before we even eat dinner.  The lunches will go in our lunch crock-pots and be convenient for heating up lunch the next day.  Our first lunch will be fiesta chicken salad.

Dinner:
Monday - Jan 2nd: Turkey, kale, and cauliflower soup.  This recipe uses really basic ingredients.  I hate prepping kale.  BJ's has organic kale and spinach though, in a bag, already done, and I'll be using that instead of fresh kale.  This will double as lunch the next day while I'm at work - I'll have my lunch crock and Daniel can heat this up at home in his lunch crock - easy dish clean up - no microwaves either!

Tuesday - Jan 3rd: hearty vegetable soup. I will top this with diced avocado and jalepeno coconut cream.  I will not use rotel, but regular diced tomatoes and add extra peppers or buy green chiles alone.

Wednesday - Jan 4th: chicken tikka masala.  I will serve this with zucchini latkes and roasted broccoli.  Both will be made in advance, and my hubs will put the masala in the crock-pot after I'm at work, and bring me my completed meal at work.

Thursday - Jan 5th: Thai chicken with "spicy peanut" sauce. I generally have time to make dinner on Thursdays, so this will be made fresh!

Friday - Jan 6th:  lemon rosemary chicken and potatoes.  We host game night on Fridays, and I generally feed people!  I wanted something very acceptable and this seems as such!  I'll serve it with balsamic roasted carrots too.

Saturday - Jan 7th:  egg roll in a bowl.  (note: we may not have leftovers after Friday game night, and the fiesta chicken salad will likely be our lunch today!)  Saturday is my prep day, so this should be easy and fast, and easy to reheat after church on Sunday for lunch.  Just don't use liquid aminos, use coconut aminos instead. And I'll probably use ground beef instead of turkey...we like really beef and have a good source of it!

Sunday - Jan 8th: paleo balance bowl - a fresh light dinner for Sunday night!

All snacks will be nuts(almonds and cashews), fruit(apples and bananas and frozen fruits as smoothies), the fiesta chicken salad, and any leftovers we accrue.

I'm hoping for success in this...I really am! Should we like this menu, I'll just repeat it four times!

I'll be making my grocery list next week to know exactly of how much I need to get with this.

I hope you've enjoyed!

In health,
Becca H.