Week 1 Whole30 Meal Plan

Week 1 Whole30 Meal Plan

This round, I am posting our meal plans AFTER we do them.  This guarantees that you don’t get dud recipes, and you know they are somewhat realistic because we just DID them.  And we don’t just sit around cooking all day… Both of us work full time and have a toddler to distract us at home.  So if we can do it… You get the gist.

Here was our week 1 Whole30 meal plan… We ate alot of eggs.  🙂  

Also, this round I am including Instant Pot recipes because it is an amazing machine and makes my life SO much easier.  For each of these you could also make the dish in either the oven or slow cooker.  Consult the Google for alternatives!

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Monday	Bacon Butternut Squash Quiche with fruit	Spinach Salad with veggies, balsamic vinaigrette & hard boiled eggs	Salmon Cakes, raw cut veggies and Homemade Ranch Dressing
Tuesday	Hard boiled eggs, slices of avocado and fruit	Leftover Salmon Cakes, raw cut veggies and Homemade Ranch Dressing	Instant Pot Chicken with Tessamae’s BBQ Sauce, steamed green beans
Wednesday	Bacon Butternut Squash Quiche with fruit	Leftover BBQ Chicken and a salad	Spaghetti Squash (cooked in the instant pot!) with Meat Sauce and steamed green beans
Thursday	Hard boiled eggs, slices of avocado and fruit	Leftover Spaghetti Squash & Meat Sauce with green beans	Bacon & Eggs on a bed of spinach with blackberries
Friday	Bacon Butternut Squash Quiche with fruit	Leftover Salmon Cakes, raw cut veggies and Homemade Ranch Dressing	Citrus Roasted Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes
Saturday	Hard-boiled eggs and fruit	Canned tuna mixed with Homemade Mayo on bed of spinach, baby carrots with guacamole	Chicken apple sausages sauteed with bell peppers and onions
Sunday	Warm Coconut Banana Bowl, slices of avocado, side of fruit	Bacon & Eggs on a bed of spinach with strawberries	Pan-seared steak with roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts

Snacks 

Ideally, you eventually won’t need snacks.  However, they are key in the beginning and we actually use them throughout.   Here are some of our go-to snacks:  a banana with almond (or cashew) butter, a Larabar, a handful of mixed nuts (cashews, almonds and pecans), carrots and ranch dressing or guacamole, a handful of raisins, a hard boiled egg, herbal tea (Tazo Passion is my favorite.).  I’d love to hear more suggestions if you have them!  

Recipes

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

Salad dressings –  I buy Tessamae’s dressings at Whole Foods (and other fine retailers, I am sure).  You’ll find them in the refrigerated dressing area of the produce section.  (So don’t bother searching the regular dressing aisle for them, then cursing the lack of availability at even such a fru-fru establishment as Whole Foods, then find them on your next trip there and feel silly.  Been there, done that.)  

Clarified Butter or Ghee (basically the same thing) – You can buy this or make it.  Making it is cheaper and it is not hard.  Here is a link – http://gabbysgfree.com/2013/01/clarified-butter/.  I use Kerrygold butter.  I haven’t found much difference between the salted and unsalted versions after it’s clarified.  

Homemade Mayo – Just do it.  It is SO good and not that hard.  (I usually have very good luck making mayo.  Every once in a while, it won’t emulsify, but I am fairly certain that is punishment by the Whole30 gods for snacking or sneaking in a smoothie.)  Here is how.  http://whole30.com/2014/05/mayo/

Homemade Ranch – Make the homemade mayo, then add the following to 8 oz of mayo and stir.

• 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp dried parsley (or 1 Tbsp minced fresh parsley)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• ¼ tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

Chicken Apple Sausages with peppers and onions – Cut up a couple of sweet bell peppers (I like the yellow, orange or red ones.) and an onion, fajita style.  Saute them in fat of your choice – I usually use coconut oil.  Then cut up a few Aidell’s Chicken Apple Sausages and add to pan when your veggies are almost done. Cook until your sausage browns a little and veggies are tender.   

Citrus Herb Roasted Chicken with Carrots –  The link is above, but here are some notes.  I use the one from the Practical Paleo cookbook, and this one is close to that.  I use lemons instead of oranges though, and make sure you use clarified butter instead of regular butter.