Meal Plan 7/24/17: Whole 30 Recap + Food Freedom

We made it through the Whole 30! And since I know you’re all wondering… 

Overall, I felt great! I had good energy, no slumps, and no symptoms of anything that could have been a food sensitivity (such as headaches, breakouts, or brain fog). Prior to starting, I had gotten into the habit of enjoying a treat (NadaMoo, I’m looking at you!) a few times per week. While I did miss things like having a small piece of dark chocolate after lunch and enjoying something like Pressed Freeze while out on a drive, it feels really good to not have the cravings for sweets on a regular basis. In the past I have gone months on end without any added sugar at all, and while I’m sure I could do that again, I’m looking forward to bringing some of my favorite top quality treats back into the picture as part of my Food Freedom! (If you're unfamiliar with the phrase, you can see the official Whole 30 explanation here.) I also LOVED how many veggies and fruits I ate. I normally eat a lot, but I probably increased that amount by 30% on the Whole 30. I was also concurrently working on a physical goal of getting strong enough to do a handstand, and I definitely saw strength and skill gains in this area! I don’t know that I would directly attribute that to W30, as I have been diligently training as well, but the W30 gave me the freedom to eat intuitively and fuel my body as I felt that I needed to. 

It wasn’t all sunshine and roses though. There were a few things that I really missed, like my Rootz pre-workout powder ("wholedailylife" for 10% off), a daily piece of Eating Evolved dark chocolate ("traceygmt" for a free gift with your order), fun products like Mikey’s pizza crusts, and Equip protein powder ("wholedailylife" for 10% off). The powders are convenient, the dark chocolate is a little daily #treatyoself, and the pizza crusts represent creativity in the kitchen and my love of experimenting with the endless number of interesting products that have made their way to the market in recent years! I also found it a little challenging to get in as much carbohydrate as I felt that I needed, particularly around my hardest workout day each week. My digestion has come a long way, but is still a little sensitive to some starches and higher FODMAP foods, meaning that I relied mostly on fruit and sweet potatoes for carbs. This worked, but by the end of the W30 I was ready to have other options. In the past I would incorporate white rice on occasion, especially in a PWO refuel, so I look forward to trying that out again. Lastly, as anyone who has done a W30 (or seen my meal prep) knows, it does take some effort! Fortunately you can make a Whole 30 as simple or complex as you want, but it was still a step up in terms of weekly prep and cooking. 

Things I didn’t miss at all: alcohol, snacks, added sugar. I know that last one seems contradictory to what I just said above, but really, I think what I was feeling when I was “missing” my daily chocolate or a trip to Pressed Freeze was really just the act of self-care. I’m a foodie, and having something special like that is FUN for me, whether savory or sweet! 

What’s next? 

Both my husband and I plan to continue eating this way the majority of the time. I’ll probably add back in protein shakes, though I liked the challenge of having a real food breakfast and would like to continue to do that and save the protein shakes for when I’m extra busy and could use the added convenience (like this week). I’m going to test out the effects of dairy, as I had previously suspected that it might be giving me some skin trouble, which did clear up on the W30. I also have some other potential causes pinpointed though, so we’ll see what happens this week!

Speaking of which, how about this week’s meal plan! We were out of town this past weekend so I was out of my normal routine. I used a few shortcuts this week, but as you can see, kept things about the same for the most part!

Breakfast for me: Chicken Apple Sausage + Chard + Sweet Potato // These chicken apple sausages are from US Wellness Meats, and this is my first time trying them! They do contain a little bit of sugar, which is why I didn't use them during the Whole 30. I'll be having roasted sweet potato and sautéed swiss chard with them. 

Breakfast for him: Frittata + Banana // Prior to the W30 he was having a smoothie or an oat based breakfast bread in the mornings, but the frittata has been a winner ever since. You can see how I make it here. 

Lunch for me: Lamb Meatballs with Tahini Sauce + Spinach Cauli Rice + Zucchini + Apple // I was feeling creative in my meal planning this week, which is how this spread came about! For the meatballs, I started with a pound of lamb (again from US Wellness Meats) and seasoned it with about 1 tsp each of garlic powder, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, salt, and a handful of fresh parsley. After mixing everything together I portioned them out into meatballs using a 1 oz scoop and baked at 425 for about 15 minutes. The tahini sauce is simply tahini mixed with some garlic powder, lemon, and water to thin it out. To make the Spinach Cauli Rice I cooked up a bag of pre-riced cauliflower from Trader Joes in a large skillet with some ghee until soft and starting to brown, then added in a bag of frozen chopped baby spinach. I seasoned it with lots of lemon/lemon zest to brighten up the flavor, and added in some chopped parsley, chopped green onions, and Sari Foods Nutritional Yeast. To bulk up the meal a bit I also added some roasted zucchini, and brought an apple to have on the side for carbohydrate. 

Lunch for him: Raw Veggies, Fruit, Deli Turkey, Nuts // I try to incorporate a "no cook" meal for each of us each week to help cut down on cooking over the weekend. This week he'll be having raw veggies (carrot, radish, snap peas) with grapes, deli turkey (we like Applegate and True Story brands the most, but this week I went with the Sprouts brand because it was on sale) and nuts. The only change here is that instead of cooking chicken we're using the deli meat for convenience this week. 

Dinner for me: Ample Shake // Ample is a meal replacement shake that I discovered a few months ago. It is designed as an all in one "just add water" kind of product, and after looking at the ingredient list, I was impressed! They have a whey and collagen based formula, which is the one I'll be having this week, as well as a vegetarian pea and rice protein based one. We'll see how I do with the dairy after having kept it out for the W30! While I do prefer whole food based meals, having something like Ample is an incredibly convenient backup for busy weeks. If you'd like to try it out for yourself, you can use the code "wholedailylife" for 10% off of your first order!

Dinner for him: Taco Salad // This is another of our go-to meals that requires very little prep. I use the taco seasoning from Trader Joe's on the meat, which is the only part of the meal that I make in advance. In addition to the lettuce, bell peppers, and salsa, he'll also be adding some black beans as a reintroduction. 

Last but not least, I'll be reintroducing my favorite Eating Evolved chocolate with lunch :)

This meal prep took me about 4.5 hours, not including about 75 minutes of shopping time at two different stores (or the dishes!). 

Have a great week!

-Tracey

Meal Prep: 7/17/17: Whole 30 Week 4

We've made it to our final week of the Whole 30! Though the food itself hasn't been all that different from my norm, it has definitely made me more aware of how often I like to snag a spoonful of nut butter or a bite of chocolate through the day. I've really been loving eating ALL the veggies and fruits though, and have definitely gotten a better feel for just how much food we need to get through the week without relying on any snacks or convenience foods. I'll do a full review when we're officially done!

Here's what we'll be eating this week: 

Breakfast for me: Chard + Sweet Potatoes+ Bilinski's Sausage // Chard was on sale this week so I chose that for both my breakfast and lunch greens. I chopped and sautéed the leaves with Primal Kitchens avocado oil until just wilted. If you've never had crispy chard stems, they're my FAVORITE! (Sometimes I buy the chard just for the stems!) I think they taste the best with ghee, but any oil will do. I just chop them up small and sauté over medium heat until starting to brown. For protein I chose Bilinski's sausage, which I appreciate because they are 100% transparent about their ingredients (they list every spice!) and they don't have any casings. I'll probably also add 1-2 Vital Farms eggs the day-of. Lastly, the sweet potatoes are just simply roasted in coconut oil and salt! 

Breakfast for him: Frittata + Banana // I think this will be a new staple for us! Here's how I made the frittata: I sautéed one diced onion with two chopped bell peppers until soft. In another skillet, I sautéed 12 oz of sliced mushrooms until toasty and brown. In yet another skillet I cooked up 8 oz of Whole30 compliant bacon (from US Wellness Meats), and lastly, while all of that was going on, I roasted up about 1 pound of fingerling potatoes in the oven. I layered all of those things in a large pyrex dish, then whisked up a dozen Vital Farms eggs and poured them over the top. I baked that at 350 for about 25 minutes until the eggs were set. 

Lunch for me: Tuna + Green Flatbread + Pineapple + Cucumber/Radishes // I recently had the opportunity to review the new Seasoned Elite tunas by Safe Catch and I loved the convenience of them! They are perfect for no-cook meals because they are already packed with flavor. I'll be mashing these up with avocado and then eating them with sliced cucumber and radish. I also made a fresh batch of green flatbread; this batch includes Almond Pro high protein almond flour, Guiltless Goodies Superseed flour, SariFoods non-fortified Nutritional Yeast, and Ancient Nutrition Pure Bone Broth Protein. I picked up some fresh pineapple for my carb at this meal!

Lunch for him: Chicken, Veggies, Grapes, Nuts, LARA Bar // I seasoned chicken thighs with plenty of Paleo Powder and then roasted at 400 for about 30 minutes. The veggies are in my favorite reusable bags by Stasher; carrots, snap peas, and radishes this week. Grapes were on sale again this week! I also packed a LARA bar just in case.

Dinner for me: Eggroll in a Bowl + Apple // I made this "recipe" up on the fly, but it's super easy! I started by cooking 1# of ground pork from US Wellness Meats, then added a bag of riced cauliflower, about 1# each of shredded cabbage and carrots (I bought them pre-shredded for convenience), and 2 cups of chopped green onions. When the veggies were soft, I seasoned everything with Red Boat Fish Sauce (one of my secret weapons for boosting flavor!), coconut aminos, ground ginger, and garlic powder to taste! This dish is pretty light, so I'm bringing an apple and some Artisana Coconut butter to have on the side.

Dinner for him: Grilled Chicken and Veggies // This meal required no prep over the weekend because he is going to grill it up night by night! I planned for a full potato, a whole bell pepper, a couple skewers of mushrooms, a whole zucchini, and 2-3 chicken thighs per night. Ever since we grilled out on Fourth of July we've been loving the simplicity of freshly grilled food!

And that's a wrap! Have a great week!

-Tracey

Meal Prep 7/10/17: Whole 30 Week 3

Seriously though, the amount of veggies and fruit that we go through on a weekly basis is astounding. It took a bit of adjusting to figure out how much food we each needed in a day (especially for my husband), but we're headed into our third week of the Whole30 and feeling like we've found a groove! 

In general, I start planning my meals on Tuesday for the following week. Since I go to multiple grocery stores, I usually try to do one on Wednesday (mostly shelf stable stuff), one on Thursday, and one on Friday to break it up a bit. I do the bulk of my cooking on Friday night and Saturday, and then make one more trip to the store on Sunday to buy things that need to be extra fresh, like lettuce or other raw veggies. This system is always changing through the years depending on my work schedule, our weekends, etc, but this is what is working for us right now!

Here's the plan for this week:

Breakfast for me: Root Veggie Hash with Ground Venison // I actually made this meal for breakfast last week (you can find the recipe here), but didn't need it because I was home on Monday and Tuesday and ate leftover grilled veggies with eggs for breakfast on Wed/Thurs/Fri. Since I had frozen it in portions, I'll just eat it this week instead, and that's one less meal to prep!

Breakfast for him: Frittata + Banana // This has been working well, so no need to change it! As a reminder, here's how I made the frittata: I sautéed up one diced onion with two chopped bell peppers until soft. In another skillet, I sautéed 12 oz of sliced mushrooms until toasty and brown. In yet another skillet I cooked up 8 oz of Whole30 compliant bacon (also from US Wellness Meats), and lastly, while all of that was going on, I roasted up about 1 pound of fingerling potatoes in the oven. I layered all of those things in a large pyrex dish, then whisked up a dozen Vital Farms eggs and poured them over the top. I baked that at 350 for about 25 minutes until the eggs were set. 

Lunch for me: Zupa Soup + Turkey + Avocado + Veggies + Apple // It really doesn't get any easier to get Whole30 approved veggies into your diet than with Zupa Soups! I make a point to add some protein and healthy fat on the side, and sometimes some fruit and additional veggies, like in this spread. These soups are PACKED with flavor and I find them nice and filling! They also make a great snack by themselves or with some added protein! If you want to give them a try for yourself, you can pick up a 6 pack, one of each flavor, for $34 (free shipping!) on www.drinkzupa.com with the code "wholedailylife!" 

Lunch for him: Chicken, Veggies, Grapes, Nuts // I seasoned the chicken a little differently this week by marinating it in a mustard/balsamic sauce then roasting at 425 for about 25 minutes. The veggies are in my favorite reusable bags by Stasher; carrots, snap peas, and radishes this week. I shopped the sales and ended up with grapes for fruit; I tend to buy whatever is the cheapest to help with the budget!

Dinner for me: Macadamia and Coconut Crusted Chicken Tenders + Roasted Sweet Potatoes + Asparagus // This is a recipe that I created for a project that I am working on with US Wellness Meats and it's AMAZING. The macadamia/coconut coating is so simple and so flavorful! In short, it's just 1 egg and 2 tbsp coconut milk in one bowl and finely chopped macadamia nuts (1 cup) and coconut shreds (1 cup) with 1 tsp each salt and garlic powder in the other. Dip the chicken in the egg mixture, then the nut mixture, and bake on a parchment lined sheet at 350 until cooked through, about 15 minutes. I kept the sides simple with sweet potato and asparagus, both of which were on sale this week as well!

Dinner for him: Balsamic Chicken + Sweet Potatoes + Green Beans + Salad // I meant to cook the chicken two different ways, one for lunch and one for dinner, but wasn't paying attention and ended up marinating it all in the balsamic mustard sauce, so it's the same protein for both meals. However, I shredded the lunch chicken to make it a little different, and there will be some Tessemae's BBQ sauce to mix it up at dinner! The sweet potatoes and green beans are simply roasted with Primal Kitchens Avocado Oil and salt, and I mixed up a vinaigrette for the salad with balsamic and Kasandrinos olive oil. 

Snacks (if needed): W30 compliant Rx Bars for him and Artisana Coconut Butter for me!

I spent about $130 on groceries this week and 4 hours on prep + cooking. Using my breakfast leftovers from last week and having two no-cook meals on the meal plan this week definitely helped!

Have a great week, and stay tuned, I have ANOTHER giveaway (I'm teaming up with @tristynleighh) this Thursday!!

Meal Prep 7/3/17: Whole 30 Week 2

We're officially a full week into the Whole 30 and feeling great! I don't have any sugar cravings at all, and I'm loving the food freedom to eat whatever and whenever I feel like I need to. In general I'm pretty good at eating intuitively, but the fact that the Whole 30 prohibits any kind of calculating your food macros/calories/etc is actually a lot more freeing than I expected, because it's been making me really pay attention to my own hunger and satiety.

The only downside of the W30 is that I'm definitely spending a lot more time in the kitchen than I usually do. Pre-W30 the mister and I would both have smoothies for breakfast, which required minimal prep, and his lunch was always no-cook. Now I'm preparing 6 full meals for the work week as opposed to the 3 that we were used to before. However, as with anything, it takes practice, and I'm sure that my time investment will go down as I get into more of a routine!

Here's the plan for this week!

Breakfast for me: Root Veggie Hash with Ground Venison // I started by shredding 1# of carrots and 1# of parsnips (with the bitter cores removed) in my food processor, then sautéed that with 2-3 tbsp of bacon fat in my Le Creuset pot. In a separate skillet I cooked 1# of ground venison with about 1.5 tsp salt, 1 tbsp garlic powder, 2 tsp ground sage, 2 tsp fennel seeds, and 1 tbsp Italian seasoning. After the meat was cooked through, I added it to the root veggies along with about 10 cups of chopped chard (from about 1.5 heads). When the chard wilted I portioned everything out! 

Breakfast for him: Frittata + Banana // To make the frittata, I sautéed up one diced onion with two chopped bell peppers until soft. In another skillet, I sautéed 12 oz of sliced mushrooms until toasty and brown. In yet another skillet I cooked up 8 oz of Whole30 compliant bacon (also from US Wellness Meats), and lastly, while all of that was going on, I roasted up about 1 pound of fingerling potatoes in the oven. I layered all of those things in a large pyrex dish, then whisked up a dozen Vital Farms eggs and poured them over the top. I baked that at 350 for about 25 minutes until the eggs were set. 

Lunch for me: Mustard Roasted Chicken with Butternut and Kale // This recipe can be found in my e-book, here! It's one of my favorites and it has been entirely too long since I've make it. In short, it's chicken, butternut, and kale all roasted with a mustard/sage/coconut sauce. Delicious and super easy to put together!

Lunch for him: Chicken, Veggies, Strawberries, Nuts + Dried Figs // I heavily seasoned the chicken with Paleo Powder all purpose seasoning blend, then baked at 400 until cooked through, about 25 minutes. The veggies are in my favorite reusable bags by Stasher. He had a similar meal last week and it wasn't quite enough to keep him full, so I added some extra chicken, nuts, and the dried figs this week!

Dinner for me: Curried Ground Meat with Veggies and Cauliflower Rice // This is another recipe from my cookbook, Weeknight Paleo. I didn't have any ground beef on hand so I used ground wild boar instead! I enjoy incorporating different and more unique proteins into my diet for the sake of variety in both flavor and nutrition. The other ingredients in this dish are jicama, onion, bell pepper, and of course, coconut milk and spices. 

Dinner for him: Date Shallot Chicken + Broccoli + Potatoes // This Date Shallot Chicken recipe by PaleOMG is one that we come back to time and time again! I added garlic and rosemary to the potatoes too so they're a perfect complement to the chicken. 

Snacks: W30 compliant LARABARs or Rx Bars for him and an apple with Artisana Coconut Butter for me!

I spent about $160 on groceries this week (a little higher than usual because we were out of some bulk items that I usually have on hand), did about 1 hour of veggie prep (both of us at the same time), and probably 4 hours of cooking. That's a lot of episodes of Gilmore Girls :) 

Have a great week, and stay tuned for another giveaway this Thursday!!

-Tracey

Meal Prep 6/26/17: Whole 30 Week 1

When the non-paleo eating husband proposes a Whole30, you say YES! To be honest, as familiar as I am with the Whole30, I've never actually done one myself. I've done a 21 Day Sugar Detox and pretty much every therapeutic diet known to man in my journey to heal my gut, but never a "by the book" Whole 30! In full disclosure, this one won't be a full 30 days; we'll be just a few days short when we take a trip up to central CA for one of Craig's best friend's weddings, but we're not going to sweat it. I think it will be 26 days total, which is still a great accomplishment!

If you're not familiar with the Whole30, you can find the rules here. In short, it's a paleo diet that also eliminates all added sugar, alcohol, and "paleofied" treats and snacks. All the real foods, all the time! One other thing that I really appreciate about the Whole30 concept is that it really has you evaluate why you choose to eat certain foods. It's also a great platform for teasing out food sensitivities as you reintroduce foods back into your diet on the tail end. 

Conveniently (for him), the husband was out of town this weekend, which meant that my time in the kitchen basically quadrupled from previous weeks since we had to cut out some of our time saving strategies for more Whole30 compliant options (my favorite protein powder has stevia and I usually bake an out based breakfast bread for him each week). I actually had to go buy more glass Pyrex dishes because I used them all up!! I also think I used and washed every pot/pan/bowl/appliance that we have at least twice. At the end of the day though, I love seeing all of this delicious and nutrient dense food ready for both of us to eat all week long. (Plus more on the counter that wouldn't even fit in the picture!) 

Breakfast for me: US Wellness Meats Pork Sausage + Veggies // The veggies include sweet potatoes roasted in coconut oil, spinach sautéed in Kasandrinos olive oil, and asparagus crisped up in Primal Kitchens avocado oil.

Breakfast for him: Frittata + Banana // To make the frittata, I sautéed up one diced onion with two chopped bell peppers until soft. In another skillet, I sautéed 12 oz of sliced mushrooms until toasty and brown. In yet another skillet (oy, the dishes!) I cooked up 8 oz of Whole30 compliant bacon (also from US Wellness Meats). And lastly, while all of that was going on, I roasted up about 1/2 pound of fingerling potatoes in the oven. I layered all of those things in a large pyrex dish, then whisked up a dozen Vital Farms eggs and poured them over the top. I baked that at 350 for about 25 minutes until the eggs were set. 

Lunch for me: Tom Kha Soup with Chicken // This recipe can be found in my e-book, here! It's a staple that I make all the time, and includes zucchini, mushrooms, and chicken in a bone broth and coconut milk base. (I use Golden Star coconut milk. It is additive free and has the smoothest consistency of any that I've found!) 

Lunch for him: Chicken + Veggies, Grapes, and Nuts // I heavily seasoned the chicken with Paleo Powder all purpose seasoning blend, then baked at 400 until cooked through, about 25 minutes. The veggies and grapes are in my favorite reusable bags by Stasher. 

Dinner for me: Green Flatbread + Veggies + Braunschweiger + Apple // My green flatbread has evolved over the years from the original recipe. Currently I love adding in some Guiltless Goodies Superseed flour, Almond Pro almond flour, Ancient Nutrition Pure Bone Broth Protein, and Sari Foods Nutritional Yeast. 

Dinner for him: Chili // Another recipe from my cookbook, and always a crowd pleaser! It includes ground beef, onion, bell pepper, tomato, and lots of spices! 

Snacks: Rx Bars

My weekly meal prep usually takes me 1-2 hours, but this week it took closer to 4-5. Even so, 4-5 hours of cooking for a week's worth of food isn't a bad trade off at all!

Have you done a Whole30? What was your experience like?

Have a great week!

-Tracey