Happy New Year! I decided to do a Whole30 with my mom this January to help her determine if she was having a food allergy or not (her allergist test didn’t come up with anything so I said let’s try this see if it uncovers anything!).
I’ve done one successful round of this back in 2014 when I moved to Rhode Island and lived in my own apartment and it was intense! I made my own mayo, my own ketchup, all the things. This time around we’re going strong, but I have had my regular organic ketchup and I also have had Kerrygold butter, not ghee (I was too lazy to buy it honestly and know butter doesn’t bother me already). Otherwise going strong, said no to free pizza at work and saying no to wine or fun drinks is easy since Mike is doing a “dry January” to to kickstart half-marathon training.
So here are some of my favorite recipes so far this time around! I honestly think I am going to keep them on rotation! I wasn’t doing this for weight loss but doing this combined with my slight increase in activity has definitely made some positive changes on my body so far too! I’ll take it! Although I am reaaaaallllyyy looking forward to a grilled cheese eventually again on some fresh sourdough bread… I now know that there was a TON of sneaky sugar in my diet previously (Mike pointed out lol).
- Unbound Wellness Ground Beef & Broccoli – this was SO GOOD! and SO EASY! I made it twice, once with ground beef and once with some steak – both equally delicious with cauliflower rice or the first night I didn’t have any cauli-rice so I grated carrots, tossed with some cabbage and sautéed with salt and pepper and it was a great base!
2. Whole30 + Keto Italian Meatballs by Tastes Lovely blog – these are AMAZING! Salty, tasty, delicious – we served them with zucchini noodles and made a quick tomato sauce with some sauteed veggies and canned diced tomatoes that we immersion blended together. These meatballs were so good you can eat them without sauce!
3. Whole30 Fried Chicken Cutlets by Mary’s Whole Life – honestly, better than regular chicken cutlets! We are also a chicken thigh household so we did this with chicken thighs and let me tell you, these barely made it into the container for lunches the next day we ate it straight out of the pan they were THAT GOOD. Savory and salty and crispy and oh so good – would be amazing with sauce and cheese (after your Whole30 of course!) or honestly we loved them plain with some veggies or dipped in a compliant garlic aioli or something like that, or even cold! Keeping this on rotation definitely!! Did not change one thing!
4. Shephard’s Pie – I used a couple different recipes to blended them together and put my own spin on it a little and it was SO GOOD! I used unsweetened almond milk for the mashed potatoes and would have used ghee if I had it, I used the Kerrygold butter so not 100% compliant, and then in the meat and veggies of choice. (mushrooms, onions, peas, carrots) I used 2 lbs ground beef, beef broth, tomato paste, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, umami seasoning, arrowroot powder to thicken slightly. If you’re not worried about being Whole30 compliant some Worcestershire sauce I think is also key! I have to see if there is a Whole30 compliant one out there or how to replicate it without sugar, the one I used has some sugar I realize in it I didn’t even realize until writing this post ugh! I’m usually super diligent with my food labels, but hey mom brain and rushing to get it made and looking at multiple recipes for ideas I just went with it! And it was super delish approved by my husband and my dad!
5. Roasted Japanese sweet potatoes Benedict with lox and side greens! Mike has perfected his poached eggs recently and we had some everything but the bagel lox from Trader Joe’s to use, so we paired with side arugula and Primal Kitchen’s Oil and Vinegar dressing it was SO GOOD! These Japanese sweet potatoes saved my the first week of Whole30 when you are like where are my carbs!? Oh right I can eat potatoes lol, so gimme all the potatoes!
6. Go to everything but the kitchen sink lunch salad creation – any greens you have on hand – kale, lettuce, spinach, arugula will work! Add all the veggies on top – cucumber, tomatoes, beets, red onion, red pepper, and then add a protein of choice – I had Applegate turkey I cut into pieces (I also added a touch of Primal Kitchen Pesto Mayo because I was craving that on a sandwich which I couldn’t have, so I made a faux sandwich style salad!) Added some avocado, pumpkin seeds (could do hemp as well!) and your favorite dressing – I did the Primal Kitchen oil & vinegar dressing the past 2 weeks, just got another bottle it’s really good and easy – I usually go for my own homemade “French vinaigrette” with olive oil, red wine vinegar, coarse ground mustard, honey, salt and pepper, but since I am not doing honey during the whole30, this dressing is really good!
7. Snacks!
Not a dried fruit and nut person recently but that is my main source of snacks right now! I have been eating a few dried apricots, some pistachios, or go for a bit of fruit like an apple or clementine if I want a sweeter snack – I also had a banana and almond butter the other day when I needed some more fuel and tried to pair the fruit with a healthy fat to help fill me up.
On the go I bought the Coconut Cashew and the Cashew Cookie flavors of Larabars – I forgot how good they were! Bonus – Dempsey also LOVES them! I also grabbed a few Rx bars to try while at Trader Joe’s, and also a few of their pure fruit bars – the coconut apple was surprisingly delicious!
8. Coffee – I have a sweet tooth with coffee, I make my own syrups usually or try to use natural sweeteners at home, but I just don’t love it black. To make it sweet, I have been blending 2 dates (soaked in the hot coffee or espresso for a few minutes to soften, and blending with some almond butter, cinnamon and my collagen powder, and adding in my Whole30 compliant milk – almond or macadamia I have on hand right now unsweetened. it’s like a snickerdoodle and I don’t mind the small pieces of date that you can taste that don’t get blended well- it’s honestly really good! Yeah you’re supposed to try to drink your coffee and tea black if you’re doing a proper Whole30, but it’s not in the cards for me and honestly think I am doing pretty good with not snacking or craving sweets much!
Alright that’s my list so far! I’ll do a wrap up post when I’m done! Let me know if you try anything! Follow along on instagram for my stories each day!
xo – Sarah