Whole30 Meals for Your Workweek in (About) One Hour!

Alright folks, between this week and the two previous, there is now enough step-by-step content to create four weeks of Whole30 compliant meals in 4 hours! (That is, if you freeze some of the food from last week's plan and use it for two weeks.) That's enough for an entire Whole30, excluding weekends!!

Here's this week's meal plan:

Breakfast: Pizza Frittata with Pesto Spaghetti Squash

Lunch: No Cook with ZUPA, Turkey, and Fruit

Dinner: Garlic Rosemary Steak Bites with Roasted Sweet Potato and Zucchini

Optional Snack: RXBAR

Grocery List:

10 eggs

1 package compliant pre-cooked sausage (I used Bilinski's)

5 oz bag baby spinach

Green onions, about 2 cups chopped

Sliced black olives, 8 oz, drained

12 oz organic pizza sauce (check for no added sugar, I used Sprout's brand)

1 medium/large spaghetti squash

3 cups fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup hemp hearts

1/2 cup olive oil + 1/4 cup olive oil, divided

1.5-2# steak (I used mine from Bulkbox, wholedailylife for 15% off first 3 orders)

2 lemons

4 sprigs fresh rosemary, stems removed

6 cloves garlic, minced

4 small sweet potatoes, about 2#

4 medium zucchini, about 2#

Oil, for roasting

Salt

5 bottles of ZUPA (wholedailylife for 15% off)

No-cook proteins: deli turkey (I use True Story or Trader Joe's Organic, jerky, etc

Fruit, 5 servings 

Optional: compliant dressing, such as Primal Kitchens, for deli turkey

Optional: herbs, spices for veggies

Optional: RXBARs

Step by Step:

1. Start by thinly slicing your steak (1/4-1/2") and putting it in a large container to marinate. Add the juice of one lemon, 1/4 cup olive oil, rosemary, garlic, and 1 tsp of salt per pound of meat. Mix to combine, then let sit for 30 minutes up to overnight.

2. Preheat your oven to 375. Cut your spaghetti squash in half (don't bother to remove the seeds right now) and place in your Instant Pot with 1 cup of water. Steam for 8 minutes, then use quick release.

3. While squash is steaming, peel and chop the sweet potatoes into 1/2" cubes. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment, toss with oil and salt (2-3 tbsp oil and 1/2-1 tsp salt) and toss to combine. (Lately I've also been using World Seasonings on my roasted veggies and they have been delicious!) Chop the zucchini into 1/2" pieces and place on a second baking sheet. Add oil and salt, toss to combine, and place in the oven. 

4. By this point, the squash should be done. Remove it from the IP and carefully set aside to cool. Dump out the water from the IP, then transfer the steak with all of the marinade into the pot. Close and lock the lid, then run the Meat setting (35 minutes on high pressure). Allow pressure to release naturally when finished.

5. Check the veggies in the oven and stir with a spatula to help cook more evenly.

6. Prepare a large glass Pyrex dish by spraying with olive oil. Slice the sausage and distribute along the bottom. Roughly chop the spinach, briefly sauté on the stovetop to wilt (optional), then distribute over the sausage. Add half of the olives and green onions, then dollop half of the pizza sauce throughout the dish.

7. Crack the eggs into a large bowl and whisk to combine, then pour over the veggies in the baking dish. Top with the rest of the green onions and olives, then dollop the rest of the pizza sauce on top. Place in the oven with the veggies (which you can remove if they are done) and set a timer for 25 minutes. It might take longer, but will be done when it is firm in the middle.

8. While the frittata is cooking, prepare the pesto by placing the basil, juice of one lemon, 1/2 cup olive oil, hemp hearts, and 1 tsp salt in a food processor. Pulse until desired texture is achieved, and set aside.

9. Scoop the seeds out of the cooked spaghetti squash that you set aside earlier and discard, then scoop out the squash into a large bowl. Add the pesto and toss to combine.

10. Now you can portion everything out! Divide the squash into 5 portions along with the frittata. Divide the sweet potato and zucchini into 5 portions along with the steak. Portion out any no-cook items (fruit, dressing, etc) and call it a day!

Have a great week!
 

-Tracey

120 Minute Whole30 Meal Plan for 2: Step by Step

Wow, I got so much positive feedback on the format of last week's blog post that I'm going to start writing it out that way more often! I shared some in my stories on Friday, but this week's prep was for both me and my husband and was done in UNDER 2 HOURS. That's 20 meals (plus 10 no-cook meals) in less time than it takes to do a full load of laundry. The photo above only shows my prep for 4 days, but the plan is written out to include all of the above!

Here's this week's meal plan:

Breakfast: Lamb Hash with Sweet Potatoes (me) // Smoothie (husband)

Lunch: No-Cook (me) // Date Shallot Chicken with Potatoes and Carrots (husband)

Dinner: Ginger Chicken Meatballs with Carrots and Collards (me) // Taco Salad (husband)

Ingredients:

4# whole carrots

1.5# yellow potatoes

2 medium/large sweet potatoes

1# ground lamb

2 organic yellow squash

2 organic zucchini

Green onions (about 3 cups chopped)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp dried oregano

1 16oz bag riced cauliflower

1 5oz bag organic baby spinach

1 can green olives

2-3" knob fresh ginger

1 bunch organic collard greens

2.5# chicken breasts, tenders, or thighs

2 medium shallots

8 dates

5 sprigs fresh rosemary, stems removed

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1# ground chicken

3 tbsp coconut aminos

1 tbsp fish sauce

2# ground beef

Taco seasoning

Olive oil

Salt

For taco salads: lettuce, tomatoes, bell pepper, avocado, salsa, cilantro, olives, etc

For smoothies: frozen fruit, frozen spinach, collagen, fat of choice (nut butter or avocado), etc

For no-cook: AYOBA-YO, Safe Catch, or sardines for protein, ZUPA for veggies (wholedailylife for 15% off), and grapes for carb

Prep list:

-slice carrots

-chop potatoes

-peel and chop sweet potatoes

-peel/mince ginger

-chop green onions

-de-stem/chop collards

-chop zucchini/yellow squash

-chop shallots

-pit/chop dates

-dice bell pepper/veggies for salads
 

Cook list:

-roast carrots

-roast potatoes

-roast sweet potatoes

-cook lamb hash

-saute collard greens

-bake date shallot chicken

-bake ginger chicken meatballs

-cook taco beef

Step by step:

1. Preheat oven to 375 and line 4 baking sheets with parchment. (The four that I have all fit in my oven at the same time.)

2. Slice the larger carrots lengthwise down the middle, and leave smaller ones (about 1/2 inch in diameter) whole. Distribute over two baking sheets.

3. Chop the yellow potatoes into 1/2-1" pieces, then distribute over another baking sheet. Peel and chop the sweet potatoes into 1/2-1" pieces and do the same with the final baking sheet. 

4. Drizzle all sheets with oil of choice and sprinkle with salt; toss to combine, then place in the oven. Set a timer for 15 minutes, then stir the veggie and rotate the pans so that those that were on the bottom rack are now on the top (not necessary if you have a convection oven). Repeat as needed.

5. While the veggies are roasting, set a large pot over medium heat and add the ground lamb; use a spatula to break it up as it cooks.

6. While the lamb is cooking, chop the yellow squash and the zucchini into small pieces (1/4-1/2") and chop the green onions. Add the squash into the pot when the lamb is cooked through, along with the seasonings (1 tsp salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tbsp dried oregano). Add the bag of cauliflower rice. Add about 1/2 cup water (or broth if you have it!), then cover and let cook for about 10 minutes for veggies to soften.

7. You should have tossed and rotated your roasting veggies by this point, and if they're cooked to your preference, pull them out and set them aside. If you're waiting for them to finish, go ahead and peel and mince the ginger, de-stem and chop the collard greens into 1/2" pieces, pit and chop the dates, and peel and chop the shallots. Remove the roasted veggies from the oven and either transfer the veggies to another container so that you can re-use the parchment or just re-line the pans.

8. Turn the burner off for the lamb hash, then add in 1 bag of baby spinach (I like to rough chop mine first, but this is optional), along with 2/3 of the green onions. Roughly chop the olives, then stir those in too. This dish is finished! While you're at the stove, add the collards into a large skillet along with about 1 tbsp oil. Sauté over medium heat until cooked to preference.

9. Increase oven temperature to 425. In a large glass baking dish, place the chicken pieces and sprinkle with salt. Drizzle with olive oil and approximately 3 tbsp each of balsamic and apple cider vinegars. Distribute the chopped shallots and dates across the top and sprinkle with the fresh rosemary. Place in the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes. Check your collard greens and remove from heat if cooked.

10. In a medium bowl, combine the ground chicken with 1/3 of the green onions, the coconut aminos, the fish sauce, and the minced ginger. Form approximately 16 meatballs and place on one of the baking sheets. Put these in the oven for about 12 minutes, which should be around the same amount of time that is left on the chicken dish.

11. We're almost there! All that's left is to cook the taco beef, which I do in the same skillet that I cooked the collard greens. By the time that is finished, the chicken and the meatballs should be almost done too.

Now just portion everything out and celebrate that you prepared all of your weekday meals in 2 hours!!

If you give this a try, I'd love to hear what you think! Do you prefer this meal plan for two, or a meal plan for one like last week? Let me know over on Instagram!

-Tracey

Easy Meals For Your January Whole30!

Alright folks, who's doing the January Whole30? While I'm not officially participating, I generally cook Whole30 compliant meals during the week, so I'm looking forward to sharing lots of resources along the way! I'm also working on a project that involves LOTS of W30 everything, so there's that. If you want to follow along, be sure to connect with me over on Instagram, where I share lots of day to day tips and strategies, as well as glimpses into my non-W30/food-related life! 

Here's what's on the meal plan this week:

Pre-workout: Rx Bar Mini or Banana + Coffee // These are my go-to options for a W30 compliant pre-workout snack! Alternatively, I also LOVE the Rootz Energizing Superfood (which is not compliant, but is amazing and has super clean ingredients); use code "wholedailylife" for 10% off. My choice of creamer for my coffee has been Nutpods for many months now. I used to drink it black, but I LOVE this W30 compliant option!!

Breakfast: Butternut Soup with Venison Sausage and Pesto // Back in my SIBO days, I lived off of this soup! It was also one of the things that helped me transition away from breakfasts loaded with sugar and lacking nutrients (think sweet cereal, cinnamon rolls, toaster strudels...) because it has a natural sweetness and familiarity, similar to a cozy bowl of oats. It's super easy to make, too, and is one of the recipes in my e-cookbook, Weeknight Paleo! Here's the gist: 1 large butternut, peeled and cut into 1/2" cubes, tossed with ghee (this batch was about 16 cups squash and 1/4 cup ghee). I roasted that at 375 for about an hour until golden, then blended with 4 cups of bone broth and a can of full fat coconut milk. For the venison sausage, I cooked 2# of ground venison in a large skillet with 2 tsp each of salt, basil, oregano, and 1 tbsp each fennel and garlic. The pesto is another staple of mine, and you can find the recipe here! I added walnuts and nutritional yeast (this is the ONLY brand I use because it is not fortified with synthetic B vitamins) to this batch, which made it extra creamy and delicious! 

Lunch: Zupa + Sardines or Smoked Chicken + Avocado or Nuts // Zupa coming in clutch this week for an easy no-cook Whole30 compliant lunch! Each day I'll pair a bottle with either a tin of sardines or some leftover smoked chicken that I froze in single servings. I'll also add a fat, either avocado or nuts. Use code “wholedailylife” for 15% off of your order at Züpa and the additional code “fourfree” for, you guessed it, four free bottles of their seasonal flavors!!

Dinner: Macadamia Coconut Crusted Chicken with Roasted Carrots, Sweet Potato, and Asparagus // Another of my favorites; you can find the recipe here! When it comes to the sides, I usually just pick some veggies (often whatever is on sale) and roast in large batches, then portion out into containers for the week. 

What are some of your favorite easy weekday meals, Whole30 or not?

-Tracey