whole30 | a well-behaved guide | week one
'Tis the season. No, not that season (not quite yet anyway.) It's Whole30 season - a reset for my mind, body, soul, and refrigerator. After I had the baby and a summer of debauchery - I finally hit my tipping point and realized a reset was needed. I typically reset with nutrition, and Whole30 in particular, because it feels like it allows me to wipe the slate clean. At this point, I'm a ninja at it, and I always feel incredible after the 30 days. I also will very often start clients on Whole30, or some variation of an elimination diet. With that being said, I often get asked a lot of questions about what I cook, how I shop, and how it happens, so I figured - the best way would be to share it! So here we go - the next four weeks will be a guide to how I'm managing a Whole30 in my house!
Now, as I'm doing this Whole30, my husband is joining me + we're introducing solids to an infant. I also will sometimes give food to Jacquelyn or have her kids come to eat things so they don't go bad if I overcook.
First thing we did this week: Mark and I sat down and created a menu. We decided on the following things to eat for the week:
Carnitas (recipe HERE)
Salads
Eggs + compliant chicken sausage
Meatballs + zucchini noodles w/ marinara
Roasted vegetables
Sweet potatoes
Shepherd's pie
Once I wrote that out, I took the recipes and created my shopping list. We always shop on different days than we prep, versus days we cook. We don't typically take an entire day to do it all. It can be too much and make us not want to engage.
So! We made the carnitas - I bought a 14-pound butt, and we have gone through it, but to be fair, Jacquelyn and family were over and have helped with that. I make the butt in the slow cooker and leave it overnight for 12 hours. I pull it, and reduce the juice, and use that to keep the pork moist when we fry it to eat it. The carnitas have been used for breakfast, with the roasted vegetables and poached eggs, as well as with a taco salad I made. I try to choose things that have multiple uses and it's able to freeze well. The carnitas were also used in tacos for the kids and as a protein bowl.
I make sure I have spring mix, baby spinach, and romaine lettuce (all purchased from Costco) to keep salads and greens interesting.
A little hack here for me is to create paleo mayo (RECIPE)) or buy some off Thrive market. This way I can use this as a base for different dressings depending on what I'm doing. The paleo mayo I used as a base for Caesar dressing and taco salad dressing this week.
The Caesar dressing I blend about a cup of mayo w/ a tin of anchovies, at least 3 garlic cloves (AT LEAST! we do more, we like it garlicky), lemon juice, dijon mustard, and salt and pepper.
The taco dressing was a mix of cumin, chipotle, salt, pepper, dijon, and dried jalapeños.
You can get these Whole30 approved if you don't want to make them from scratch.
Carnitas are really versatile; it freezes well too - take the time to make a big one, and you'll be golden!
The other thing we do is prep a TON of vegetables - I mean eggplant, mushrooms, tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash - Mark cuts it all. A lot of it we roast at 400 for about 45 minutes (check it, and stir every 15 to 20 minutes). I typically just season with oil, salt, and pepper. If I'm feeling froggy, I'll use Green Goddess seasoning from Trader Joe's.
Another hack, to keep things interesting - find premade-compliant seasoning blends and sauces. It can make your eggs go from meh - to woooo! (Or anything else really)
For the marinara, zucchini noodles, and meatballs, I had Mark prep the noodles for me (you can also buy these - really- its a time versus money thing sometimes, and you can make that call!) For the marinara - I used THIS recipe, and make it EXACTLY so. It is literally perfect. For the meatballs - I use the recipe from the Whole30 book - chicken meatballs - and use red meat instead. I add red pepper flakes, and use Italian seasoning because I like a little more bang - but it's a solid recipe as well.
I mix the meatballs, then stick the mixture in the fridge. I cook the marinara and preheat the oven. Then while the marinara is simmering, I roll the meatballs and throw them in the oven. The zucchini noodles are last, and I just fry them in a bit of olive oil, and BAM, it's good to go.
Make EXTRA meatballs - these freeze great. The name of the game is to make extra so you have backup, so you're not killing yourself cooking constantly.
I would literally cut like 8 onions and 15-20 cloves of garlic. If you're following this like I did, you will use it (and then some!)
And finally - the shepherd's pie. I follow this recipe verbatim from the Whole30 cookbook. It's a crowd favorite. I cook it on a cast iron - so I stack the vegetables, then brown the meat, add the sweet potato mash on top, and throw it in the oven. This also freezes REALLY well and is just delicious.
Now, if you haven't caught on - the name of the game is prep. Once everything is cut, I don't think any of these meals take longer than 30 minutes of your direct time to cook (slow cookers are a do-and-be-done).
Please reach out with any thoughts or questions! elizabeth@well-behaved.co
