whole boyles: week 1

I kept this post as a log while eating my way through the first week of my second Whole30. It has most of the links but nothing for Tuesday? So, we all got sick halfway through week 3 and canned the whole thing because who really wants to worry about if there is sugar in your red sauce when your nose is plugged with tissues? Sorry…anyway, I hope this helps someone! Anyone! Give it a try! It really is worth it!

WEDNESDAY:

Breakfast:

I had a wonderful plan to bake a fritatta to get the week started strong. It turns out I have two kids under two so that didn’t happen. Go figure. After making an elaborate waffle, peanut butter, honey, raspberry, blackberry breakfast for Ollie, she and I split an apple and she let me eat most of a banana.

Lunch:

Trader Joe’s has these amazing chili lime chicken burgers. Since I had decided the night before to start whole30 today and we always have these in the freezer anyway, it was a quick lunch over a bed of lettuce topped with a little yellow mustard. Side of carrots (about double what’s shown here) and a giant bowl of berries to round it out.

Dinner:

I did really well today and actually got dinner in the crockpot early enough to not be eating dinner in bed. We had 3-Ingredient Chicken Curry. I only used 2 chicken breasts in the meal so it came out a bit watery but once the chicken was shredded, there was just enough juice left to soak into the cauliflower rice. The curry flavor on this is pretty mild. Also of note: one head of cauliflower makes several nights worth of cauli-rice for two people. I refuse to eat cauliflower but I really love cauli-rice! Fry up more than you think you’ll want in a skillet over coconut oil.

Snacks:

We didn’t really have any in the house so I had a few sips of Ollie’s apple juice, an apple and more berries.

THURSDAY:

Breakfast:

I’m starting out horribly and ended up with another banana. Most of it.

Lunch:

I had a really rough morning of Calvin not allowing me to so much as take one step away from him before he’d totally freak and he had zero naps. Add to that a toddler who is constantly asking about her next snack and I caved. I knew Jerry was coming home for lunch so I asked him to hit up Chipotle for us. Basically, lettuce, chicken, hot salsa as dressing.

Dinner:

Leftover chicken curry.

Snacks:

All of it. I went shopping tonight at Trader Joe’s and sampled everything when I got home. Plantain chips, dried mango, dried apples with almond butter, Apple Pie Lara Bar, freeze dried bananas, an apple, berries…I ate it all. Can you tell I’m an emotional eater?

FRIDAY:

Breakfast:

I made the frittata! I used this recipe for cooking guidelines but doubled the broccoli, coconut milk and eggs, added like 6 cloves of garlic (we love garlic) and omitted the meat (I didn’t have any on hand). Not bad considering I really don’t like eggs

Lunch:

I made my own mayo and then added it to tuna for tuna salad lettuce wraps. Sides were plantain chips and freeze dried bananas.

Dinner:

2-Ingredient Crockpot Verde Chicken. Holy hell, is this easy. I made it while Calvin started his grunting cry-thing he does when he’s starting to wake up. Meaning? It takes two seconds. All the verde sauce does make it a bit salty. We dumped ours over cauliflower rice which helps to cut back on that.

Snacks:

Dates, Cashew Cookie Lara Bar, freeze dried bananas.

SATURDAY:

Breakfast:

Day two frittata. I had to look up how to reheat it and I definitely recommend a damp paper towel over top to make sure the eggs aren’t rubbery. It works. Well, I refuse to try it without it so I don’t know if it actually does anything or not but my frittata was just as good today as yesterday!

Lunch:

Leftover tuna salad lettuce wraps, carrots, freeze dried blueberries.

Dinner:

Leftover crockpot verde chicken over cauliflower rice (it tasted way saltier tonight, not sure why).

Snacks:

More of the usual suspects plus dried apricots.

SUNDAY:

Breakfast:

More frittata! I’m shocked that I’m not grossed out by the eggs yet. Garlic is a magical thing. Plus a banana that Olive mostly let me eat by myself.

Lunch:

TJ’s Chili Lime Chicken burger, once again. Bed of lettuce, side of carrots and plantain chips. Plus an apple.

Dinner:

I managed to cook up the spaghetti squash earlier today with the rest of some sweet potatoes for later on in the week. I mixed it up with some Trader Joe’s Marinara Sauce and ate it like a bowl of spaghetti. Does it taste like spaghetti? Absolutely not. Does it satisfy my craving for pasta? Eh. It’s still pretty delicious and the marinara sauce satisfied a big saucy craving.

Snacks:

It was a weird schedule plus overtired parents kind of day (aka Cal didn’t sleep so great last night) so I ended up needing a bit more fuel through the day and ate a Cherry Pie Lara Bar and a Kit’s Organics Dark Chocolate Almond Coconut bar. Guys. It was a rough day. I also had an apple, a piece of dried mango and a small handful of freeze dried blueberries.

MONDAY:

Breakfast:

If you guessed frittata, you’d be right. Making this was the best idea I had. It’s hard to miss breakfast when it’s this easy. Having said that, it was a struggle to get it down this morning. Ollie and I shared a bowl of strawberries and raspberries, too.

Lunch:

Ugh! Missed prepping chicken for chicken salad last night so I had a Coconut Lara Bar, plantain chips, dried apricots and a banana.

Dinner:

Dinner tonight was good, you guys. Sweet potatoes, green beans and Chicken with Basil Avocado Cream Sauce. We cooked the chicken in a frying pan with a little olive oil and then just dumped the remaining ingredients over top of it. (It cooks up much much faster that way). I didn’t have fresh basil so I subbed 2 Tbs and 1 1/2 tsp dried basil. The sauce had a bit of bite to it that I wasn’t expecting (maybe it was the dried basil?) and I think it might taste better the longer the ingredients sit together. The chicken from this recipe is a huge winner and will likely stay in rotation well after Whole30 but the fate of the sauce is TBD.

Snacks:

Grapes! Since when do grapes taste so good?! Some friends helped me polish off an entire bag in a couple of hours during game night.

TUESDAY:

Turns out I skipped logging Tuesday…

NOTES:

• I had at least a swig of juice every day. It really helped me get through this week. It was either organic apple juice or Trader Joe’s Power of 7 juice.
• I also had one glass of iced green tea every day. Other than that I drink a ton of water.
• About halfway through the week, I realized I needed to be doing a little more prep than I had been and made up the spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes and about 10 chicken breasts (that involves boiling and shredding in my mixer). Needless to say, I’ve given up on the idea that I don’t need a prep day. I am trying really hard to plan ahead, too.