Whole30

The goal of whole30 is to change the way you think about food by eating moderate portions of meat, seafood, and eggs; lots of vegetables; some fruit; plenty of natural fats; and herbs, spices, and seasonings. Eat foods with very few ingredients, all pronounceable ingredients, or better yet, no ingredients listed at all because they're whole and unprocessed. Whole30 is meant to revolutionize your relationship with food to become a lifestyle change and to help your body (and mind!) feel its very best. Once you’ve mastered the mindset of whole30 living then you can find your “food freedom” and make exceptions/choices as you desire. 

Check out whole30 program rules for complete list of things you can/cannot eat. Here are the main things you CANNOT eat: dairy, sugar or added sugar (real or artificial), grains, legumes, soy, alcohol, baked goods/treats/junk food with approved ingredients. 

I am not fancy in the kitchen and really wanted to keep it as simple as possible so I wouldn’t feel overwhelmed. There are plenty of veggie/meat/fruit options but these are the ones we eat most so we created meals around those. I ate this complete list below and had a successful whole30 experience both physically and mentally. The first few days are hard, but if you persevere you will be glad you did and, if you let it, it will change your relationship with food permanently! 

Breakfast and snack ideas:

• Scrambled eggs and sliced avocado
• Banana with almond butter (I used Maranatha no sugar or salt added) 
• Handful almonds 
• Sliced apple with drizzled/melted almond butter, cinnamon, salt on top
• Egg casserole (egg whites, mushrooms, lean cooked ground turkey, diced tomatoes, green onions. Mix together and bake at 350 for 1 hour) 
• Sweet potato and egg casserole 
• Rx Bars (blueberry, mixed berry are compliant)
• Larabars (coconut cream pie, cashew cookie as well as a few other flavors are compliant.)
• Carrots or veggies to dip with homemade guacamole (3 avocados, minced garlic, ground coriander, pico, lime juice, salt)
• Hard boiled eggs 
• Fruit (pears, bananas, apples, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, cantaloupe- mix it up so you don’t get bored and always have fruit on hand to reach for as an easy snack)
• Smoothie (riced cauliflower, strawberries, coconut water, almond milk, spinach, peaches, powdered chia if you want to add protein)
• Sweet potato medallions (slice into medallions. Sprinkle with olive oil, cinnamon, salt. Bake at 425 for 30 min)
• Black Coffee with almond milk or coconut milk if desired 
• All natural 100% fruit juice 
• Water (no water flavorings/packets as those contain artificial sugar, soy, and artificial colors)

Lunch ideas: 

• Salad 
• Protein shake 
• Smoothie 
• Rx or Larabar with fruit 
• Leftovers from dinner (great for breakfast too!)

Dressings/condiments ideas:

• Greek dressing (great as marinade or salad dressing)
• 1.5 cups olive oil
• 3/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper 
• Tessemaes (love the creamy Caesar, Ranch, and Buffalo sauce). Order from Tessemaes website for best price. 
• Red marinated onions (great on top of salads, chicken, everything!)
• Balsamic 
• Oil and vinegar
• No ketchup, BBQ sauce, mayo, butter, jar salsa, etc. because they contain sugar and non-compliant ingredients. Double check seasonings to make sure they are compliant. 

Dinners (not necessarily in this order): 

1. Zucchini boats topped with marinated red onions (above) 
2. Spaghetti squash (microwave for 5 min to soften, cut in half, gut seeds, coat with olive oil, bake at 375 for 45 min) with homemade sauce (1. Brown lean ground turkey with curry powder and garlic powder 2. Combine in crockpot (low 3-4 hours) with diced yellow onion, jar of Muir Glen organic Italian herb pasta sauce, sliced baby bella mushrooms, one can of plain tomato sauce if like more sauce.) Pour meat mixture over spaghetti squash and serve.
3. Baked potato sloppy joes (use leftover meat mixture from zucchini boats to top baked potato) 
4. Taco Salad (every Tuesday) cauliflower rice or lettuce as base, pico, lettuce, lean ground turkey or chicken, homemade guac (above), chopped green onion, cucumber, Lindsey Natural olives, marinated red onions (above), Tessemaes Ranch
5. Crockpot BBQ ribs served with cooked carrots and cucumber salad (diced cucumber, chopped onion, rice wine vinegar, dill weed)
6. Chicken salad on romaine lettuce wraps (cook chicken with curry powder and garlic powder, shred and mix with compliant mayo, chopped green onion, chopped red grapes, salt and pepper). Serve on boat of romaine lettuce. 
7. Salad with chicken, almonds, avocado, sliced apple, oranges, balsamic and olive oil dressing 
8. One pan turmeric chicken served with sliced red potatoes  
9. Salmon (with Greek dressing as marinade) served with asparagus and sweet potato medallions (slice sweet potatoes into rounds. Add sprinkle of EVOO and cinnamon and bake for 20 min at 420 degrees)
10. Shrimp and scallops (saute with minced garlic and olive oil and sliced mushrooms). Serve with sautéed zucchini.
11. Chili lime chicken with potatoes instead of rice 
12. Zucchini chicken poppers with Tessemaes Ranch and roasted broccoli (tossed in olive oil and garlic powder)
13. Red potatoes, carrots, diced yellow onion, sprinkled with garlic powder, parsley, and olive oil in crockpot on low for 5 hours. Serve with grilled chicken or Aidells chicken apple sausage. (Great as leftovers for breakfast!)
14. Aidells Chicken apple sausage bake (1 red onion, 3 zucchini, 2 sweet potatoes, one package chicken apple sausage. Chop, place in baking dish, drizzle olive oil and cinnamon on top, bake at 400 for 35 minutes then bump it up to 425 for another 10 minutes to crisp it up)
15. Steak (marinate with olive oil and salt and pepper), brussel sprouts (cut in half, sprinkle with EVOO, garlic powder and sea salt, roast), and sweet potato medallions (above)
16. Grilled chicken (season with ground turmeric, olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper and grill). Serve with pan of chopped roasted veggies: broccoli, cauliflower, grape tomatoes, red onion, toss in olive oil and Italian seasoning. Roast at 400 for 45 min
17. Crockpot sun-dried tomato chicken (cover chicken breasts with garlic powder and jar of julienne cut sun-dried tomatoes and cook on high for 2 hours). Serve with boiled squash and onions. 
18. Chicken kabobs (marinate cubed chicken, sliced red onion, mushrooms, red pepper in Greek dressing (above) then grill on kabob sticks). Serve with grilled asparagus.
19. Tessemaes buffalo chicken (cover chicken in buffalo sauce and bake at 350 for 1 hour). Serve with fresh green beans. 
20. One pan chicken with mushrooms and tomatoes. Serve with roasted cauliflower sprinkled with EVOO and parsley flakes. 
21. Shrimp kabobs. (Shrimp, red pepper slices, and pineapple on kabob. Coat everything in EVOO/minced garlic/coconut aminos/lemon juice/salt/paprika)
22. Balsamic chicken veggie bake 

We did Taco Tuesday and Salad Sunday to make it easy for planning.