Whole30 Meal Plan – Week 2

Whole30 Meal Plan – Week 2

Thanks for sticking with us through week 1!  I hope the withdrawal symptoms weren’t too harsh.  I promise that it does get better… typically not this coming week (sorry) but it gets MUCH better after that!  Last week I included many of my favorite Whole30 recipes because I wanted you to see how yummy this way of eating can be.  I hope you enjoyed them.  This week, I have thrown in a few that are new to me, too.  Warning – There is a lot of chicken.  And bacon.  

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Sunday, 5/8	Fried Eggs with Plantain Apple Bacon* Hash (make lots of hash for leftovers)	Zesty Chicken Bites  (make extra for lunch tomorrow!)	Grilled Chicken, Pineapple and Veggie Kabobs with grilled zucchini  (While grilling, throw on a few additional chicken breasts to use on salads for lunches!)
Monday, 5/9	Bacon* and Kale Paleo Breakfast Casserole with fruit	Leftover Zesty Chicken Bites	Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Oven-Baked Italian Meatballs, Marinara Sauce and steamed green beans
Tuesday, 5/10	Hard-boiled or fried eggs with leftover Plantain Apple Bacon Hash	Chicken BLT Salad (I use romaine or mixed greens, not iceberg lettuce)	Chicken Broccoli Casserole with roasted carrots and beets
Wednesday, 5/11	Grain-free “Oatmeal” with avocado slices	Leftovers!	Grilled Mahi (or other fish/shellfish of your choice) with grilled pineapple and a side salad
Thursday, 5/12	Bacon and Kale Paleo Breakfast Casserole with fruit	Grilled Chicken on a salad with dressing of choice	Cauliflower Fried Rice
Friday, 5/13	Grain-free “Oatmeal” with avocado slices	Tuna salad on spinach/lettuce, raw veggies with dip (Tessamae’s or Homemade Ranch)	Chicken Apple Sausage Vegetable Skillet
Saturday, 5/7	Veggie Omelet (of your own creation – with raw veggies or leftovers) with fruit	Leftovers!**	Big O Bacon Burgers with Zucchini Fries

*If you can find/make Whole30 compliant sausage, feel free to replace the bacon in any breakfast with sausage.  I made my own during my first Whole30 and it was awful. Like mildly seasoned, dry ground pork.  Thus, we are bacon people.  Plus it makes shopping simpler.

** I make almost all dinners with leftovers for lunch in mind, which is why I have spots reserved for them on the meal plan.  Sometimes that means doubling the recipe.  If you run out and don’t have leftovers, you can always have a salad or raw veggies with any protein (hard-boiled eggs, tuna, sardines, etc.).  

*** There isn’t a ton of seafood on my meal plans.  I don’t eat shellfish, so that leaves fish, and I typically eat salmon, tuna or sardines.  I’m also just not good at cooking any other type of fish, to be honest. The mahi will be a stretch for me, assuming I can find good mahi (or other white fish).

Shopping List & Preparation Guide – Here are the Shopping List & the Preparation Guide for the Week 2 Meal Plan

Snacks – My mom has been into honeydew melon with prosciutto this week. I can’t get enough sugar snap peas. Also, I hear lemon Larabars are the bomb. We’ve totally gone through one of those big Costco jars of almond butter, too.  

Recipes

Recipes are either links in the table above or are described below.

Grilled Chicken, Pineapple and Veggie Kabobs with Grilled Zucchini with Herb Salt – Cut chicken up into 1.5 inch chunks and marinate.  (I am probably going to use Tessamae’s Lemon Garlic Dressing, but there are multiple options.  A mix of garlic, olive oil, ginger would be good; as would a mix of garlic, coconut aminos, and pineapple juice.)  Then thread chicken on kabobs with cut up sweet bell pepper, onions, cherry tomatoes, and fresh pineapple.  Grill until the chicken is cooked through (to 165F for us food safety nerds) and veggies are tender.  For zucchini – slice long-ways in ¼ inch thick slices.  A mandolin or mad knife skills help with this.  Season with some herbs (thyme, sage, oregano) and salt.  Grill until tender.  

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Oven-Baked Italian Meatballs & Marinara Sauce  – Recipes for the squash and meatballs are included as links.  I use marinara sauce from a jar.  Yep… This is a shortcut I am happy to take, and sugar free pasta sauce is not hard to find. I usually use Mario Batali’s Tomato Basil sauce, but this week I am trying Gia Russa Marinara Sauce (cause it was BOGO a few weeks ago when I stocked up).  I get both at Publix!  So check out your local store and read labels carefully to make sure there’s no sugar.  If you want to make your own sauce, knock yourself out!    

Roasted Carrots and Beets – I just chop them up, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roast on a foil-lined pan at 425F or so till they are lightly browned, crispy on the outside and tender inside.  

Grain-free “Oatmeal” – I am super excited to try this… a non-egg based breakfast.  Eggs get old after a while on Whole30, so I hope you aren’t too sick of them yet.  Instead of the cashew milk this calls for, I am using Califia’s Unsweetened Almond Milk.  No sugar and no carrageenan!  This is the first refrigerated milk alternative that I have found without carrageenan.  I found it at The Fresh Market but I hear Winn Dixie carries it as well.  A big thanks to my former student Sakyie for sharing this tip!  

Grilled Mahi with Grilled Pineapple – I’ll likely grill the fish unseasoned, then add lemon juice afterwards.  Feel free to marinate yours with something.  And as for the pineapple, I just peel and slice a pineapple and grill it until it is (more) tender.  So good.

Cauliflower Fried Rice – I love recipes from Nom Nom Paleo, but some of them are a bit fancy and I don’t always have the ingredients.  I have made this without the fresh herbs and it was fine.  I do use the fish sauce.  It makes a difference.  I found Red Boat Fish Sauce (as it is Whole30 compliant) at Publix.  I also keep coconut aminos as a sweeter alternative to soy sauce to use in stir fries.  

Big O Bacon Burgers  – I know, we like bacon way too much, so if there’s been too much bacon for you this week, feel free to just make regular burgers.  But add some seasoning and an over-easy fried egg on top.  Actually, add the egg on top either way.  It helps make up for the lack of cheese.  

Before you stage an intervention, we don’t cook this much bacon every week.  But week 2 is the hardest week on this thing.  If people quit, it’s usually on day 11.  And bacon makes us happy, so we are going to push through this week with it and I’ll dial it back in future meal plans.   

Happy cooking and stay strong!  It does get better.   🙂

 

If you have any additional questions on my meal plan, just add a comment below and I’ll get back to you!  If you have questions on what you can/cannot have on Whole30, check this link out.  http://whole30.com/2013/06/the-official-can-i-have-guide-to-the-whole30/