Week 3 Meal Plan

Week 3 Meal Plan

As I mentioned in my previous post, my goal this week is to maximize our budget on this meal plan. The majority of our protein will be from chicken, ground turkey, and eggs. I will also be taking a copy of the dirty dozen plus and only buying those fruits and vegetables as organic: apples, peaches, nectarines, strawberries, grapes, celery, spinach, sweet bell peppers, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, leafy greens (kale, collard greens), hot peppers, imported snap peas and potatoes. I will not be buying the clean 15 as organic items: avocados, sweet corn, pineapples, cabbage, frozen sweet peas, onions, asparagus, mangoes, papayas, kiwis, eggplant, grapefruit, cantaloupe, cauliflower and sweet potatoes. I am hoping to make it to a farmer's market or farm stand. With all that in mind, here goes week 3!

All kid lunches will be served with a fruit a vegetable of choice.

Monday

Breakfast: Breakfast of Champions
Lunch: Paleo sushi with cauliflower rice
Dinner: Taco Soup


Tuesday

Breakfast: Sweet potatoes and poached eggs
Lunch: Deviled Eggs (made with paleo mayo)
Dinner: Vegetarian Thai Red Curry with squash served on cauliflower rice

Wednesday

Breakfast: Roast beef cups
Lunch: Apple Sandwiches and Turkey burgers
Dinner: Pesto Meatballs served on spaghetti squash

Thursday

Breakfast: Chicken Apple Sausages with fruit
Lunch: Frittatas muffin
Dinner: Crispy Chicken Thighs with Roasted Vegetables

Friday

Breakfast: Omelettes 
Lunch: Leftover Crispy Chicken Thighs
Dinner: Tomato Basil Chicken

Saturday

Breakfast: Spinach Scrambled eggs and fruit
Lunch: Turkey BLTA Roll-ups
Dinner: Prosciutto wrapped chicken with vegetables

Sunday

Breakfast: Baked apples and smoothies
Lunch: Egg Salad
Dinner: Turkey Meatloaf

How's it going?

Week three is coming up. Here's how we are all doing on the plan: The children (toddler wasn't really participating as he can consume whatever he wants) fell victim to a birthday party and sweets from school. Twin daughter 1 won 3 batches of cookies at the birthday party! One was still in dough form so we froze that. The other two came home. Guess who fell victim to an entire batch of cookies. My husband. When confronted by twin daughter 1, he said you're not supposed to be eating that anyway. Great example dad. Sigh.

I am coming to the end of a successful two weeks. I really think that grains aren't in my best interest on an everyday basis. If you've read the Whole30 blog and book, you'll remember the classic signs of sugar and carb addiction. I have all of those. At first it was all the time, I wanted bread and sugar. Immediately after eating I would still be hungry. The up and down of the sugar roller coaster. While I won't say my sugar/carb addiction is fully gone, it is waning. It has hit me at night a lot. I snack on fruit instead and it sort of satisfies my cravings. But sometimes I just want a crunchy chip! Not sure how to solve that one. But hopefully by the end of the 30 days I will be in control of my cravings and be feeling like a new person. This is what I'm told will happen. Fingers crossed.

Even with my family "off the wagon," I am committed to seeing this plan through. I get to celebrate all by myself at the end of the 30 days. What should I do? Spa day? Night out? Ideas?

Although I am going to continue the Whole30 as closely as I can, I am going to allow some off-limit foods into the house for the kids. The toddler doesn't eat veggies consistently and meat is hit or miss. He also doesn't particularly like any of the fats so I am going to get some dairy for him: Milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, regular cheese. The cheese will be the hardest for me to keep from snacking on but I think I can manage. I will probably let the big kids have some dairy as well. I just think that the best "milk" is from animals. Almond milk has additives and sugar, soy milk has hormones, and pure coconut milk is way to thick to drink. Organic cow's milk it is! I don't drink milk at all so there you go. I would also like to add some vitamins into our routine: Multivitamin for the kids, Multivitamin and D3 for myself (sun is coming out so the kids should be good), and fish oil for everyone.

I have also found that my meal choices have been very expensive. I'm thinking we will have to cut out a lot of, it not all, of the red meat and stick to more inexpensive protein sources like chicken, ground turkey, and eggs. I love that my grocery lists consist mainly of protein, fruits, and vegetables. We finish the fruit every week and have been pretty good about the vegetables too. Although I had my husband buy way too many cucumbers than we needed. Oops.

So my goal for the next two weeks is to figure out a way to keep this meal plan under budget (or to alter our budget if this is unrealistic). I have tried Safeway and Trader Joe's so far each week. Both stores were missing items that I needed and I had to do an extra run to a different store to finish my shopping list. For example: Mainstream Safeway doesn't have any Whole30 approved deli meats or ghee. Also their "speciality" items are way more expensive than TJ's. TJ's was out of ingredients that I needed due to supply and demand as well as them not carrying pure coconut milk. I am going to try Central Market this week to see if they will have all of the items I need as well as at a good price. Here's hoping. I will let you know!

Wish me luck in week 3!

Week 2 Meal Plan

Here's week 2! The fact that I am posting this is testament to the fact that I'm still doing our Whole30.    Lots of repeats but when you have a winner, YOU HAVE A WINNER!

All kid lunches are served with fresh fruit and vegetable of choice.

Monday

Breakfast: Chicken Apple Sausage with Scrambled Eggs (onions, bell peppers, & spinach) topped with Avocado 

Lunch: Frittata muffins

Dinner: Crispy Chicken Thighs with Roasted Vegetables

Tuesday

Breakfast: Roast Beef Cups

Lunch: Tuna Salad (celery, apples, grated carrots, raisins, paleo mayo, salt & pepper) served on romain lettuce (stuffed tomatoes for the adults)

Dinner: Carne Asada "Tacos" served on Romain Lettuce with Paleo Salsa

Wednesday

Breakfast: Breakfast of Champions served with Apple Chicken Sausage

Lunch: Apple Sandwich with Turkey Burgers served on lettuce

Dinner: Crab Cake Eggs Benedict 

Thursday

Breakfast: Bacon Mushroom Quiche 

Lunch: Chicken Soup (variation of this recipe)

Dinner: Stuffed Bell Peppers served with salad and paleo ranch

Friday

Breakfast: Sweet Potato Hash browns, Poached Eggs, and Turkey Sausage Patties

Lunch: Curried Fried Fish served with Tartar Sauce (paleo mayo)

Dinner: Prosciutto wrapped chicken breast served with asparagus (salad for kids)

Saturday

Breakfast: Steak and Eggs with roasted veggies and fresh fruit

Lunch: Roast Beef roll-ups

Dinner: Chicken Stir-fry with Cauliflower rice

Sunday

Breakfast: Bacon butternut squash quiche

Lunch: Teriyaki Chicken Skewers

Dinner: Zucchini and sweet potato latkes topped with a poached egg

Whole30 Day 1: MONDAY. MONDAY. MONDAY!

The day is here. We have started our Whole30. How's it going? Well so far so good actually! I went shopping last night at 9:30pm-11:30pm. I had to go to the Safeway down the road from us instead of our usual Trader Joe's so it took way longer because I couldn't find all the things I wanted. You wouldn't believe how many additives they put in things and how hard it is to find just good old straight up food! But more on that in my shopping post. This is to breakdown Monday.

My breakfast!

Breakfast was delicious! This morning we had Scrambled Eggs topped with Avocado and Open Nature Chicken Apple Sausages. The kids also got apple slices and almond butter. For the scrambled eggs, I used 5 eggs, about 1 diced onion and 1 diced red bell pepper, and about 1 cup of spinach. I sautéd in olive oil until the vegetables were tender then added the 5 scrambled eggs. Daughter 2 really enjoyed the breakfast but she didn't have avocado. Daughter 1 was sick so she didn't eat much of anything all day (Darn stomach bugs!). The toddler took maybe 2 bites and was done. He prefers plain eggs. This meal was very filling and I wasn't even hungry until around 2pm.

Daughter 2's lunch

I forgot to take a photo of my lunch but I had baked chicken salad with carrots, cucumbers, strawberries, and spinach topped with the Moroccan dressing. Yummy! Daughter 2 took carrots and cucumbers for her vegetable with strawberry and grape kabobs. She said she enjoyed it. Finished 2 kabobs and the chicken at school and had the rest for a snack after school.









Dinner was different than planned. At 1pm, I realized that I had planned a 6 hour crockpot meal for dinner. OOPS! So we swapped Tuesday's dinner for tonight. The Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Curry was delicious. I made the following modifications to the recipe:

• I made it in a regular stockpot.
• In loo of the Vindaloo Curry (which I could not find at the store), I used 1tbsp of curry powder.
• I also hadn't planned anything for the rest of the can of diced tomatoes so I simply added the whole thing in. I didn't want it to go to waste. 
• After adding the chicken stock and before adding the tomatoes, I used my immersion blender to blend the cauliflower. My kids aren't big cauliflower fans so I figured this would be a good way of hiding it in the curry. I ended up blending it some more after adding the tomatoes and again once the cauliflower was fully cooked. Next time I will just blend at the end before adding the coconut milk and the sweet potatoes.
• How to roast the sweet potatoes was not included in the recipe, so I just tossed it in rosemary, salt, pepper, and olive oil and roasted at 375F for 25 minutes. YUM!



It may not look good in the picture but it tasted
delicious!

• I added some cubed chicken that was leftover from what I made for lunch. Next time I will add shrimp (hubby's brilliant idea!).
• I didn't garnish it.

Overall today went very well. I was a little hungry before dinner time but nothing unbearable. Also I 

am a little hungry as I am writing this but it is almost bedtime so I can make it. We got a lot of things prepped for the week which I will include in my shopping post. I am looking forward to tomorrow and continuing on this journey.

On a side note, I really need to drink more water. Anyone have any tips on how to drink enough water to stay hydrated? I think I am at a constant state of dehydration. Thoughts?

See you tomorrow!

Week 1 Meal Plan

Well here it goes! My meal plan for week one of our first Whole30. As I mentioned, there are five of us to feed: My picky husband, my two 9-year old daughters, my 2-year old son, and myself - a sugar addicted, emotional eater. I did my best to have each meal follow the Whole30 Meal Planning Guide when making this meal plan. I don't think I did too well planning the right amount of veggies for breakfast. I will follow-up this post with my shopping guide and cost breakdown as well as a day to day run down of how the meals turned out and the portion sizes that the recipes actually made. I hope that you will find this helpful in your journey. More detailed recipes will be in a follow-up post if they are not linked below.

All week: Snacks for kids will be Fresh fruit and veggies

Monday

Breakfast: Nitrate free Turkey bacon, 2 Scrambled Eggs (we have backyard chickens so eggs are not included in my shopping list) with onions, bell peppers, and spinach topped with 1/2 avocado
Kids: No bell peppers or avocado for the kids. Apple slices with almond butter.

Lunch: Grilled chicken tenders on a salad with Moroccan dipping sauce
Kids: Just chicken tenders and Baby carrots & cucumbers, Strawberry & Grape Kabobs 

Dinner: Slow cooker pork chops with apples, onion, and sauerkraut  served with spinach salad and orange-balsamic vinaigrette 

Tuesday

Breakfast: Ham cups with sautéd veggies

Lunch: Apple-sun-wich (Almond butter with apple as the "bread"), cucumber&tomato kabobs (No tomatoes for 1 daughter), Turkey burgers with lettuce

Dinner: Cauliflower Sweet Potato Curry

Wednesday

Breakfast: Variation on Bacon Mushroom Quiche

Lunch: Frittata muffins, cherries, salad
Kids: Baby carrots instead of salad

Dinner: Italian Meatballs served with salad and/or roasted veggies

Thursday

Breakfast: Sweet potato and spinach hash & ground turkey skillet topped with over easy eggs

Lunch: Chicken salad (with paleo mayo), Paleo Trail Mix, Mixed Veggies
Kids: Cucumbers & baby carrots instead of mixed veggies

Dinner: Turkey Burgers, roasted potatoes, salad

Friday

Breakfast: Baked apples with turkey sausages

Lunch: Zoodles and Meatballs, banana, macadamia nuts

Dinner: Chicken Curry with cauliflower rice

Saturday

Breakfast:Steak & Eggs with sautéd veggies

Lunch: Ham roll-ups (ham wrapped around veggies and fat of choice), salad
Kids: Cucumbers

Dinner: Pork with "Caramelized" Apple Salad

Sunday

Breakfast: Spinach scramble

Lunch: Hard-boiled eggs, chicken apple sausage, cherry tomatoes, grapes
No cherry tomatoes for 1 daughter - baby carrots instead

Dinner: Slow-Cooker Mocha Rubbed Pot Roast

Gearing up

My empty looking closet pantry

My fridge, freezer, and pantry are all pretty empty right now. We have started eating, tossing, and giving away things that will either expire before we get around to eating them, things that we really should never have bought in the first place, or things that are pretty unhealthy that we don't plan to have in the house anymore. It feels really good to get these things out of the house. I feel like I am taking a bold step in the right direction. My husband isn't too happy as he feels like we are throwing money away and I am pretty sure he thinks this is just a fad that we will get over. But I really want to curb my sugar addiction and I want to have a healthy relationship with food. My kids love me because they got free range on the candy bin and we had hot dogs, french fries, and mac and cheese for dinner. My husband thinks that "this diet will work because we will be sick of all this junk food." Hey! If it works!

My once full now empty lazy Susan

It may seem odd that I feel healthier eating all this junk food but this is the first time that we are getting it all gone and out of the house. It feels like a serious commitment. It IS a serious commitment and I am ready to take it on. Now the questions is what will I fill my fridge, freezer, and pantry with now? That's an easy question to answer even if not to execute: Proteins, Vegetables, Fruits, and Fats. Yep. That about covers it. Here is what I plan on filling all that new empty space with.

Pantry

• Wild caught Tuna
• Organic Tomatoes
• Organic Mushrooms
• Beets
• Sweet potato
• Red potatoes
• Onions
• Apple Sauce
• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Ghee
• Avocado
• Almond butter (occasional use)
• Almonds (these too)
• Olives (a toddler favorite)
• Coconut Milk
• Coconut meat/flakes
• Macadamia Nuts
• Sunflower Seeds (These are limited but since we already have some...)



At least my spice cabinet is well stocked and well organized

• Walnuts (Same for these)

Fridge/Freezer

• Strawberries
• Blueberries
• Melon
• Cherries
• Apples
• Bananas
• Kiwi
• Wild-caught seafood
• Grass fed organic beef
• Eggs (from my backyard!)
• Skinless Chicken (whole, breasts, legs, thighs)
• Ground Turkey
• Lean Pork Chops
• Bacon (Organic or with no additives like sugar, MSG, sulfites)
• Sausage (same here too)
• Deli ham (and here)
• Deli turkey (and here too)
• Spinach
• Garlic
• Zucchini
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli
• Lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Kale
• Bell Peppers
• Bok Choy
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Cucumber
• Asparagus
• Cabbage
• Onions (I have my husband dice up a large bag & put each onion in a ziplock for later use)

The hardest part of this change, besides kicking my own addictions, will be to make sure my children are getting adequate calories and nutrients. We have typically used dairy as a calcium, protein, and fat source so this will be a change. One of my daughters doesn't like coconut or avocado so I will have to make sure I cook foods with fat and also give her some macadamia nuts for added fat. The same will be true for my toddler. He will be eating off the plan throughout the day when he goes to the sitter while I work part-time but at home we are going to stay committed.

I see some creative cooking in my future! Perhaps lots of blended soups. Fingers crossed that I don't have a full blown rebellion on my hand in a week or two. We are going to come up with a reward for completing the Whole30 so that we are all motivated. My kids think we should go camping but the weather may not be right for it yet. Share with me your thoughts on a good non-food reward. I'd love your opinions. Keep following along with me as we gear up for our first Whole30 starting on Monday!

Time to motivate

Gah. Looking at my last post I am pretty much repeating myself but hey... It's my blog. So here we go with my attempt to Renaissance the way my family and I eat. Starting Monday my whole family is going to do Whole30. I have a picky husband, two 9-year old girls, a very picky 2-year old son, and myself- a sugar addicted, emotional eater. I am so nervous about making this commitment. Obviously I start a whole lot of things that I don't finish. But I will finish this challenge. There are no slip-ups or accidents - I'm not accidentally falling into a box of chocolates and a glass of wine. Cheats are just that - cheating. I am committed and here is my public declaration.

Now time to meal plan because failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Cheesy? Maybe. But as I will be cutting out the cheese for 30 days I can do with a little here. So follow with me on this journey as I seek to free myself and my family from being owned by food to eating to nourish our bodies. I will post our meal plans, shopping guides, and keep you up-to-date on our progress. Here we go!