So I’ve spent the first day of 2014 meal planning for our….. Whole fam-damn-ily Whole30 which starts 1/6! By “whole fam-damn-ily” I mean my hubby and me. Our 8 year old and 5 year old will be nibbling on gluten free crackers and treats and mowing down bananas at an alarming speed as usual. And the baby is going to stick to the breast milk. 🙂
If you’re unfamiliar, here’s more info about the Whole30 program. I highly suggest reading the book It Starts With Food, though. Changed. My. Life.
I desperately need a nutritional reset after giving birth this past fall and spending 90 days at home eating (way too much) dark chocolate followed immediately by the nutritional nightmare known as The Holidays. Yipes… Bad combo.
The good thing about The Holidays this year is that I finally got to add Practical Paleo to my real food library. I pulled quite a few recipes from this book for our Whole30.
I’ll also be utilizing some of the freezer to slow cooker meals I prepped before I went back to work. This is such an easy way to make a Whole30 less daunting. This book has a handful of freezer to slow cooker recipes that are Whole30 compliant (or can easily be changed to be compliant). Mondays and Wednesdays are crazy for our family so I’m using freezer to slow cooker meals on those days.
My system is pretty simple. Grocery shop on Saturday. Prep food on Sunday. Eat well all week. 🙂
Sundays are busy! I make a big batch of meaty something (pulled pork, Paleo minestrone, Paleo sloppy joes, chili, etc.) so we have it for lunches during the beginning of the week (and dinner on Sunday night). I prep our breakfasts (baked eggs, a frittata, etc.). And I try to prep at least a part of each dinner for the upcoming week (chop veggies, brown ground beef, etc.).
I make liberal use of frozen organic veggies for sides (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, spinach).
Most nights I try to cook enough for dinner to have leftovers for the next day’s lunch.
Fridays and Saturdays are leftover night – whatever’s in the fridge we eat. We get creative and we don’t waste food!
So that’s the strategy. Here’s what we’ll be eating for the next 4 weeks:
Week 1 (1/6 – 1/12)
Batch o meaty something: Pulled Pork
Breakfasts: swirly crustless quiche, sauerkraut, greens
Lunches: leftovers from dinner!
Dinners:
Monday Freezer to slow cooker Valencian Paella
Tuesday Lettuce wrap tacos
Wednesday Freezer to slow cooker Healing Chicken Soup
Thursday Grilled chicken salads (I add a LOT of veggies like olives, avocados, carrots, celery, sugar snap peas, and usually some hard boiled eggs)
Friday and Saturday Clean up the fridge, folks! This is a great way to do it. Sometimes we’ll do breakfast for dinner on these nights, too.
Week 2 (1/13 – 1/19)
Batch o meaty something: Chili cilantro lime chicken
Breakfasts: sausage and sauerkraut (add a fried egg and a handful of spinach – amazeballz!)
Dinners:
Monday Freezer to slow cooker French dip (I serve it in lettuce wraps. Weird, I know but you get used to it.)
Tuesday Spaghetti squash curry plus grilled chicken thighs
Wednesday Freezer to slow cooker “Peanut” stew (I use almond butter rather than peanut butter)
Thursday Lemon and artichoke chicken
Friday and Saturday Leftovers!
Week 3 (1/20 – 1/26)
Batch o meaty something: Paleo sloppy joes (no sweetener, sub ghee for butter). I serve these on roasted sweet potato circles.
Breakfasts: Prosciutto wrapped frittata muffins.
Dinners:
Monday Freezer to slow cooker Italian beef
Tuesday Mustard glazed chicken thighs
Wednesday Freezer to slow cooker chicken curry
Thursday Sweet potato sliders
Friday and Saturday Clean up crew.
Week 4 (1/27 – 2/2)
Batch o meaty something: Chocolate chili
Breakfasts: Spinach and beef frittata
Dinners:
Monday Freezer to slow cooker beef veggie soup
Tuesday Buffalo chicken lettuce wraps
Wednesday Freezer to slow cooker ginger beef
Thursday Balsamic braised short ribs
Friday and Saturday Leftover night!
Whew! Can’t wait to feel like a million bucks again!
