Happy Whole30!
Happy Sunday and day 2 of our Whole30! Things are going well so far, but it’s only been one day. The hardest part for me is definitely going to be dealing with dessert cravings. Michael and I are masters at eating Paleo-ized treats every night after dinner, so our brains are hard wired to expect it. The desire to have something sweet last night was excruciating, but a huge reminder as to why we need to do this in the first place.
As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted to talk a little bit about our strategy this time around. Our last experience with the Whole30 was more like a Whole21, so in order to make sure we make it all the way through I’m going to be doing the following:
1) Keep a Food Journal – I’m going to write down every bite I take throughout this Whole30. I feel like writing it down makes it concrete, and gives me motivation to keep it up. Plus it’s cool to look back and have an archive of everything you’ve eaten for 30 days, so get ready to read a lot of recaps!
2) Sunday Food Prep – This is really the most important item. Last time I just got tired of preparing food, especially after a long day at work, so I plan to take the edge off by preparing at least one large dish every Sunday. For week 1, I’m going to be making chili, roasting a spaghetti squash, and preparing some Paleo mayo to use throughout the week.
3) Variety – There’s nothing worse than being in the midst of the Whole30 and bored with the food you’re eating. I’m planning to mix it up with some new meals from a few of my favorite bloggers, as well as utilize some of the awesome Paleo recipe sites out there like The Foodee Project and Chowstalker. I also have a few recipe ideas of my own, so look for those in the days ahead.
4) CrossFit – There’s not much to be said here other than I want to kick some CrossFit ass this month. This is the first time in my life that I’m doing hard exercise regularly, so I’m excited to see how eating clean effects my performance. Plus, exercise helps keep me motivated and boosts my confidence – the perfect pairing to the Whole30.
And that’s it, my Whole30 strategy for this go around. I know there’s some tough days ahead, but I’m sure we’ll make it through them. I just can’t let my guard down – that’s when mistakes happen. Okay, enough planning talk, let’s move onto what’s really important here, the food. Before we get to the menu, I have to tell you about our delicious dinner last night. We made Slow Cooker Chicken & Gravy (Nom Nom Paleo) with Mashed Cauliflower and Roasted Asparagus.
This meal was phenomenal, you must try it. The chicken was cooked to perfection, but when paired with that smooth creamy gravy, it was AmAzInG! Talk about starting the Whole30 off right, Yum! I love when trying new things pays off, so I’ve added a couple of newbies to our menu below:
Sunday
B: Egg Scramble
L: Hot Dogs with Roasted Broccoli
D: Leftover Chicken with Gravy
Monday
B: Egg Scramble
L: Chili with Avocado
D: Ground Pork Spaghetti Squash Stir Fry
Tuesday
B: Egg Scramble
L: Leftover Stir Fry
D: Tandoori Chicken (Nom Nom Paleo) with Roasted Brussels Sprouts & Leeks
Wednesday
B: Egg Scramble
L: Leftover Chicken
D: Broiled Shrimp with Salad and Squash Puree
Thursday
B: Egg Scramble
L: Chili with Avocado
D: Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce and Salad
Friday
B: Egg Scramble
L: Chili with Avocado
D: Leftover Spaghetti with Salad
Saturday
B: French Toast Breakfast Scramble (Minus the honey)
L: Leftovers / Wing it
D: Something made in the Slow Cooker
Wish us luck!
Weekly Menu
Monday is here again signaling the end of yet another awesome weekend. Saturday was busy with errands and cleaning but Sunday was full of food and amazing weather. We’ve been having a bit of a heat wave here in the Bay and it’s been glorious. Upper 70′s was the perfect setting for a BBQ with some of Michael’s new co-workers followed up with an afternoon at Dish 2012. Dish is an annual food and wine event put on by a local newsgroup in San Francisco. They had over 40 restaurant and vendor booths giving out some amazingly delicious samples. I was a horrible blogger and didn’t take any pictures of the food, please forgive me. 
On our way to Dish!
Moving on to the menu for the week. Friday is still a bit up in the air. I’m waiting for my copy of Paleo Slow Cooking to get here, so I’m not sure what recipe I’ll want to try first.
Sunday
B: Egg & Veggie Scramble
L & D: Out
Monday
L: Leftovers / Wing it
D: Smoky Seasoned Pork Ribs with Side Salads and Sweet Potato Fries
Tuesday
L: Leftover Ribs
D: Mustard Glazed Chicken Thighs with Braised Cabbage
Wednesday
L: Leftover Chicken
D: Spaghetti Squash with Meat Sauce and Caesar Salads
Thursday
L: Leftover Spaghetti
D: Pecan Chicken with Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Mashed Butternut Squash
Friday
L: Leftover Pecan Chicken
D: Something from Paleo Slow Cooking
Saturday
B: 2 Ingredient Pancakes with Sausage
L: Leftovers
D: Out
Back to Basics Day 2.. and a recipe!
Day 2 has come and gone and I think we did really well. I wanted some Paleo treats pretty badly after dinner last night, but made do with a few strawberries. Tonight’s dinner, Slow Cooked Pork w/Sauerkraut (recipe below), turned out really great. It’s a super simple recipe that Michael’s mom made for us the last time we visited.
Back to Basics: Day 2 Input
Holy cow amazing breakfast today! We had some Paleo “No Oat” Oatmeal, and it was delicious! I first saw a variation of this recipe on Carrots n Cake, a blog that I follow, and have been wanting to try it for a long time. Michael and I loved it! It had an oatmeal like consistency with a hint of sweetness. It may look like dog barf, but you should try it. I think we’re going to come up with our own variation so I can post the recipe to Paleo Kitchen Sync… Yum!
Lunch today was leftover Enchilada Stew, lettuce, salsa, and half of an avocado. After eating our lunch, we were still a bit hungry so we warmed up some leftover organic brats to share.
For a snack I shared 2 bananas and almond butter with Michael. We also found these awesome banana chips from Trader Joes made with coconut oil! So freaking good!
Dinner was Slow Cooked Pork w/Sauerkraut, roasted potatoes, and brussels sprouts. For dessert I had some strawberries and a glass (okay maybe of couple of glasses) of red wine.
Slow Cooked Pork w/Sauerkraut
2 Pork Tenderloins
2 cans of Sauerkraut
Salt & Pepper to taste
Dump all of the above ingredients into a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-7 hours. Enjoy!
Everybody Loves BBQ
Lately, I’ve been trying to utilize our crock-pot to save time cooking at night. Crock-pots can be pretty awesome if you get the time and heat set just right. I have a knack for over-cooking just about everything we try, but last weekend I had a win. I tried a BBQ rib recipe from the Civilized Caveman found here, and it was amazing! We did end up using a store bought gluten free BBQ sauce that had some added sugar, but it was worth it. I also made Everday Paleo’s No ‘Potato’ Salad and some broccoli slaw for that added “I’m eating BBQ” touch. Here’s the recipe for the broccoli slaw.
Broccoli Slaw
1 Bag Broccoli Slaw mix
1/4 cup paleo mayo
2 tsp cider vinegar
Salt & Pepper to taste
Mix all ingredients in a bowl… Instant slaw.
Slow Cooking the Day Away
I’ve never been great at utilizing our slow cooker. I’m not very imaginative, and I feel like our crock-pot cooks way too fast for its own good. If a recipe calls for 8 hours on low, we have to check it after 4. I did recently have some success using that hot ceramic monster, and I couldn’t have been happier. I found a recipe for some Spicy Chicken on AllRecipes.com that didn’t need any paleo modifications. The only thing we switched up is how it’s served, we left out the diary and used lettuce leaves for our tortillas. I highly recommend trying this one…
Spicy Slow Cooker Chicken
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2/3 (8 ounce) jar medium salsa (We used some organic salsa from Trader Joes)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small red onion, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
Salt & Pepper to taste
Pour all sauce ingredients into the slow cooker and mix well. Line the chicken breasts on the bottom of the bowl spooning the sauce mixture on top. Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours (ours took 3), or until chicken shreds easily with a fork. Serve with fresh avocado and lettuce leaves.
Roasted squash and spicy chicken taco.
