Whole30 week 1 is done! It wasn’t easy, but taking on the challenge alongside my husband made it much better. Aren’t adventures always better when they’re shared?
Here’s what I learned during our Whole30 Week 1:
- Eating whole foods means more cooking. And more chopping. And more creative use of space in the refrigerator. But seeing a fridge full of fruits & veggies is a good thing.
- More cooking means scrubbing pots and pans more often.
- More scrubbing pots and pans means dry hands. This week I was really thankful for my MadeOn Hard Lotion. It’s the only thing that’s kept my hands from being so dry they hurt.
- Buying whole foods is more expensive, even if they aren’t all organic. Unfortunately that’s a fact around here. I did better shopping for Week 2, so hopefully that trend will continue.
- I definitely overbought many things for Week 1. Lesson learned.
- Aldi has a great selection of produce and frozen fruit! Oh, and kids dig Aldi. At least mine does. Maybe it’s the whole get-the-quarter-back cart thing?
- Emma (age 8) really liked most of the foods we were eating. In fact, I had to make a conscious effort to make sure she got her dairy and grains last week. She even helped with some of the prep.
- I really need to buy a few small cutting boards. I like to put those in the dishwasher, and we’ve gone through them like CRAZY.
- I also may need to stock up on dishwasher soap. We ran the dishwasher 3 times every 2 days last week. I’m amazed at how many more dishes we’re using.
- My food processor rocks.
- I don’t like plain avocados, but I love homemade guacamole.
- I need to plan for more (and a better variety of) snacks. We’re snackers. No way around that. May as well make them healthy, whole snacks.
So now we’re in the we-have-more-energy phase of things. But I’m also in the I’m-tired-of-eggs-for-breakfast phase. This week I’ll be on the hunt for some breakfast variety. Here’s what we have planned for the coming week. (Subject to change if I can find some amazing breakfast recipes.)
:: Breakfasts ::
Eggs (go figure), sausage, sauteed peppers, strawberries
Smoothies (with spinach) & sausage
Scrambled omelette (with eggs, peppers, mushrooms), oranges
Apple muffins (yes, a sort-of cheat), sausage, blackberries
Eggs, Cinnamon Hashies, kiwi & oranges
Breakfast Pumpkin Pudding, sausage
:: Lunches ::
Spicy egg salad, veggie tray, oranges
Taco salad with taco seasoned chicken, lettuce, tomato, guacamole, and this salad dressing
Sweet potatoes, apples, and hamburger skillet
Large salads with shrimp, spinach, greens, guacamole, tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, green onions
Applegate Farms hot dogs with chili topping, side salad, fruit
Leftovers
:: Dinners ::
Mexican Skillet (recipe coming soon!) with chicken, peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, salsa & guacamole
Almond Crusted Pork Chops, steamed broccoli, baked sweet potatoes
Meatballs with Homemade Marinara Sauce (Still have sauce in the freezer from last week!)
Italian Spice Rub Grilled Chicken, Cinnamon Hashies, steamed cauliflower
Italian Spice Rub Grilled Chicken (leftover) in Homemade Marinara Sauce, side salad, steamed broccoli
Chili (with no beans) over baked sweet potatoes
I’m going to spend some time this week hunting down more recipes for us to try. I’ll be sure to share them with you next week.
If you’re looking for some general menu planning inspiration, stop by Menu Plan Monday hosted by I’m an Organizing Junkie.
I’ve completed three Whole30’s now, and you are so right about the prep work and dishes! I use the steam saute method from theclothesmakethegirl.com and it helps cut down on the kitchen time by quite a bit. Good luck as you head into week 2 – it definitely gets easier!
Going to have to get over there and check out her steam saute method. I could definitely use fewer dirty dishes! Did you do your three Whole30s close together? Or just over the course of a year or so? The first week was rough, so I would definitely plan better timing-wise if we were going to do this again!
Thanks for sharing your menu plan and your thoughts on the Whole30. I am planning to do my first Whole30 next month. I’m both excited and intimidated about it.
Maybe next week I’ll share some of the great recipe sites I’ve found. What I’m learning now is that it doesn’t have to be extravagant. Simple is good. Plus it’s much less intimidating. You’ll do great! 🙂
Thanks for doing some of the leg work here for me! I will anxiously await your breakfast recipes, though I’m excited to try the “muffin” and pumpkin pudding recipe above.
I’m doing my first Whole 30 too. This crazy friend talked me into it 😉
Well that’s what crazy friends are for. 🙂 I’ll be glad to find something besides eggs to start the morning. And I’ll be happy to share!
Eating whole foods definitely increases the prep for them. My Mister and I put a food prep day (or two) on the chores every week, to knock out as much as we can so that the meals themselves are simpler to make. Say, for example, you’re using diced onions or shredded cheese in three meals this week, we grate one whole brick of cheese with the kitchenaid and dice up two onions on food prep day. Just those two things cut almost an hour of food prep out of our week (and made quesadilla lunches a simple quick meal). But it also cut down on the number of times I needed to wash the cutting board and knife. I make a list of everything that can be prepped ahead, write it in order to maximize cutting board space without even having to rinse in between sometimes. It also helps us remember to thaw meat for meals instead of getting to an hour before dinner and realizing we forgot to thaw the chicken. Oops. You know, just an example, not that that has EVER happened to us 😉
Oh also you might like to know that your blog entry is coming up with white text on a white background in Safari. It looks just fine in Firefox, though!
Oooh Heather! The food prep day sounds like a fantastic idea! I have noticed that we’re running out of clean knives & cutting boards on a regular basis. Maybe I’ll put food prep on the to-do list for tomorrow. Thanks!