2 Weeks of #Paleo Dinners (Most are #Whole30 Compliant) Part 1

Lemon thyme chicken with braised Brussels sprouts (emeals), Whole 30

Bacon salmon patties with broccoli and red peppers (emeals), Whole 30

Maple mustard pork with sweet potatoes and apple coleslaw (emeals)

Salisbury Steak and mashed carrots/sweet potatoes and mixed greens on the side! (emeals) Whole 30

Chili lime flank steak with asparagus/zucchini with bacon and leftover mash (emeals)

Indian chicken thighs with butternut squash wedges and carrots (emeals) Whole 30 and almond butter cups for dessert, NOT WHOLE 30

Bbq sauce (Tessame’s) on leftover pork on baked potato with green beans Whole 30 (if you use compliant pork, this pork was not compliant, see above)

Kung Pao Beef on broccoli/cauli rice, (emeals) Whole 30

Shrimp and pork egg roll in a bowl, I used coconut aminos, added some extra shredded carrots, put the leftover pork in, and then added the shrimp on top until cooked.  Served with cashews! Whole 30 (without the leftover non compliant pork)

Buffalo Chicken Casserole,  I halved the hot sauce so the kids and I could eat it.  Whole 30

This is a yummy go to salad I make, I had it two ways.  On the right is greens with avocado, strawberry and copy cat chic-fil-a paleo chicken, on the left it’s with turkey hot dog.  Both served with Tessame’s Balsamic Dressing.  Whole 30

Pot Roast with potatoes and carrots in the slow cooker, Whole 30

Find more Whole 30 and Paleo posts

If you follow my Instagram you can see my daily meals!

5 Tips to Help You Succeed at #Whole30

1.  READ THE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can not stress this enough!  It is so important to read the book, this entails you 1. are doing it correctly and 2. understand WHY.  Knowing WHY the rules are what they are makes it A LOT easier to follow them!  Follow not only the RULES but the Recommendations too!  It makes a HUGE difference for a successful Whole 30!

This is more than just Do Not eat xyz, there is a meal template, there is a no snacking rule (unless you eat a mini meal), if you read the book, you will know all these.  You do NOT have to get all grass-fed, organic, etc..  however, this is not affordable for everyone and is not a requirement for success of the program (I never did).

2.  PRINT THE CHEAT SHEETS

W30 has graciously provided printable cheat sheets, PRINT THEM and CARRY THEM WITH YOU!

3.  SPEND SOME TIME LABEL READING IN YOUR LOCAL GROCERY STORE

Go to where you usually shop, take time to label read!  This may mean you have to go to the store WITHOUT your kids one time.  Once you realize what is available where you typically shop, it’s a lot less overwhelming!  Fresh fruits/vegetables and meats are a given, but you may find other items like pasta sauce, salsa, lunch meat, hot dogs, spices, etc…  It’s great practice at label reading, and it’s pretty reassuring when you see what you CAN eat and that it’s not so hard to find!

4.  ORDER MUST HAVES that you can’t find local

Amazon is a great resource, I order Mayonnaise, Salad Dressing, Raw Nuts and Seeds, Non-Sweetened Dried Cranberries and a few other things on Amazon.  They are more affordable, and I don’t have to store hop!  Otherwise, I shop my local grocery chain (Martin’s) and Costco.   If you have a Trader Joes or Whole Foods nearby, you most likely won’t have to order anything.

Tessemae's All Natural Whole30 Pack
Coconut Secret Organic Raw Coconut Aminos Soy-Free Seasoning Sauce-8 Oz (Pack of 3)
Primal Kitchen Paleo Approved Avocado Oil Mayo, 12 Oz (1 Jar)
Sincerely Nuts Raw Cashew Pieces Unsalted- Three (3) Lb. Bag
Food To Live Organic Sunflower Seeds (Raw, No Shell)(2 Pounds)
SUNBEST Dried Cranberries 3 Lbs

5.  PREPARE before hand

Make sure you have what you will need, menu plan, run a few trial meals to work out the kinks before you DIVE in head first!  Failure to prepare is preparing to FAIL!  Search recipes, try things out, exclude a few of the NOs at a time.  I have the benefit at being home most days, so meals weren’t a big thing I had to prepare in advance.  Pick a day to prep for the week, so you aren’t left scrambling one morning.  If you are going out to eat, take the time to research the menu, and prepare yourself!  Pull meats from the freezer for dinner, so you are ready!  It makes all the difference in the world when you are PREPARED!!

My Journey

When I first decided to give Whole 30 a try, I bought the book and picked a date about a month out.  I paid attention to holidays that were coming, I started stocking up on necessary items (replacing non-compliant items with compliant as I used it up).  I choose to cut dairy, grains and legumes gradually after reading those sections of the book, and then started practice eating.  When my scheduled start date arrived, pretty much I only needed to cut the sugars and additives.  It made the transition so much smoother!

I joined a Whole 30 Facebook group too,  This was super helpful, make sure you join a group that is a stickler to the rules and recommendations though or you can easily be steered in the wrong direction (and since you read the book, you should recognize this!).  I have been in a few groups where they are posting smoothies and chia pudding pics…and while ‘technically’ compliant, they are against recommendations!

Whole 30 is a LIFE CHANGE PLAN, not a WEIGHT LOSS PLAN! 

The point of the program is to change you ENTIRE relationship with food, if you don’t follow it properly, you will not get these results!

If you fall off, get back up!

YOU CAN DO THIS!!

Other Whole 30 posts:

Round 1 Summary

Week 1 Meals

Week 2 Meals

Week 3 Meals

Week 4 Meals

My Whole 30 Pintrest Board

Whole 30–Round 2: My 10 Day Extension

So I originally wanted to do 90 days straight, but well… our anniversary just passed, so I decided to extend to 40 days and take the weekend off, with a restart afterwards. 

Round 1

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

With this being my 31-40 days there were several repeat meals, and in an attempt not to repost the same old things I’ve posted before, I’m only going to share with you the NEW meals and/or combinations I tried during this time.

Meal 1 Ideas: 

My Meal 1 typically consists of leftover veggies and eggs

Leftover Cauliflower gravy with chicken sausage and eggs (see Week 4)

A prosciutto and asparagus omelet with fried potatoes and avocado

Leftover veggies with sausage, eggs and avocado (a frequent meal 1, veggies vary)

Creamed spinach with leftover pork, eggs and guacamole

Leftover ratatouille with eggs and avocado (see Meal 3 ideas below)

Leftover salad with deviled eggs (see Meal 3 ideas below)

Meal 2 Ideas:

Applegate turkey hot dogs with a spinach/strawberry/almonds/avocado salad with balsamic dressing and deviled eggs

Turkey slices in cucumber loaves with fresh veggies

Leftover veggies and turkey dogs in lettuce buns with avocado

Meals 3 Ideas:

Garlicy pork tenderloin with Brussels sprouts and carrots (emeals)

Roasted chicken thighs with mushrooms and lemony asparagus with a baked potato and avocado


Tuna cakes and orange flavored carrots (emeals) with pears and pomegranate

Ratatouille (emeals) with mashed sweet potatoes and avocado

Pork chops with creamy avocado sauce, asparagus and mushrooms (emeals) and leftover broccoli

Stuffed Chicken with asparagus and carrots (emeals)

Ground Turkey Picadillo and an apple/broccoli salad (emeals)

So I successfully completed 40 days in Round 2.  I did not do a reintro.  On Saturday I still ate mostly compliant, with the exception of some fries at Five Guys for lunch, then I had some sweets (2 small dark chocolate minis and a chocolate chip cookie that was WAY TOO SWEET!) during the day as well.  We went out to eat, and aside from the spices on my steak (I didn’t check), my meal was compliant.  I had a molten lava cake for dessert, and man… I left feeling overstuffed and slept horrible that night.  TOO MUCH sugar during the day!  That morning we ate at the Bed and Breakfast we stayed at and she make me gluten free/dairy free breakfast.  I was still full and didn’t eat lunch, caved an had a cookie later in the day (at church), but we had a compliant dinner. 

Today, 2/15, I am starting Round 3.  I think I will be more on the Paleo side this round, but no sweet treats! (So honey or maple syrup in some meals if recipe calls for, but not desserts).  We will see how that goes.  I did a Round 2 b/c my sweets got out of hand, even on Paleo.  If I can keep them in control, I will maintain this way of eating, except for special occasions. 

UPDATE 2/18:  I have been mostly paleo, but have strayed slightly off paleo plan.  I’ve decided that instead of a 3rd W30 round at this point, I will be aim to maintain an 80/20 Paleo life style and then start a 3rd round later on, most like May (There are some special events coming up this month, as well as March and April).  I will limit my sweets to special occasions ONLY (though I’ll admit this is hard to do), and will stay Paleo the rest of the time.  This week I had some Paleo pumpkin bread, I ate some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (they were not even good!) and today I had PBJ for lunch (feeling blah from it).  I also used Maple Syrup in my Pork recipe last night. So because of these results, I will aim more for compliance, but won’t avoid paleo approved sweeteners at this point.

I didn’t notice any BIG changes in Round 2, like I did for Round 1.  I may have lost a couple more pounds, I have had to buy all new pants (one size down, which is still a tad big, and most of my M size tops are obviously too big).  I still feel great though, and know that I want to keep feeling great!  I have gotten out of habit from exercising (that I started the end of Round 1), I need to get back into that!  :/  I will do it, eventually.  In the mean time I can feel good about eating healthy, I am slowly replacing products in my house as well, so that our ENTIRE family is eating healthier.  It’s a slow process, but we are getting there!

You can see my daily meals on Instagram

^^THE BEST PLACE TO START^^

Whole 30 - Round 2: Week 4 Meals

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

R2D22

Meal 1 – Kale, butternut squash, chicken sausage, slivered almonds and eggs

Meal 2 – Leftovers

Meal 3 - Old bay seasoned wings and roasted zucchini and carrots

R2D23

Meal 1 - Left over veggies with chicken sausage and eggs

Meal 2 – leftovers

Meal 3 – Spinach Meatloaf (emeals) with sweet potato and carrots

R2D24

Meal 1 – Leftover sweet potato with spinach and eggs

Meal 2 – Chicken Salad with sunflower seeds, almonds, dried cranberries, chopped apples on a bed of greens

Meal 3 - Roasted Jamaican Chicken Thighs (emeals) with kale and cauli/turnip mash

R2D25

Meal 1 – Cauliflower grits and fried egg

Meal 2 – leftovers

Meal 3 – Chicken Tortilla Soup

R2D26

Meal 1 – leftovers

Meal 2 – Chicken salad on cucumber boats with carrot sticks, almonds and applesauce

Meal 3 – Spaghetti Pie (I’ve made this in past weeks, so I didn’t picture it).

I had an event to attend this day as well, and it was bring an appetizer.  I made these Zucchini Chicken Poppers.

R2D27

Meal 1 – leftovers

Meal 2 – leftovers

Meal 3 -Homemade applesauce, broccoli and the most delicious pork chops ever!

R2D28

Meal 1 – leftovers

Meal 2 – leftovers

Meal 3 – Pumpkin turkey chili with butternut squash (this recipe was received from a family member and I can’t find it online, it’s copyrighted, so I can’t share it.  Sorry.  I have seen similiar ones online though).

R2D29

Meal 1 – Spinach, butternut squash, chicken sausage and eggs

Meal 2 – Deviled eggs, celery with almond butter, carrot sticks and turkey

Meal 3 – Bang Bang Shrimp on cauli rice with roasted broccoli

R2D30

Meal 1 – Leftover brocoli with bang bang sauce, avocado and eggs

Meal 2 – Turkey, carrot sticks, grape tomatoes and celery with almond butter

Meal 3 – Flank steak with cauliflower gravy (emeals), roasted sweetpotato chunks (with old bay) and a spinach salad with strawberries, almonds and balsamic vinegar dressing.

Another 30 days done!  I have decided to continue for 10 days more, so watch for another post after this one.  Then it’s my anniversary, and well…  I’ll splurge a bit and then get back on track.  Balance in all things.  Otherwise, for the most part, I plan to maintain a Paleo diet, keeping my sugars at a low.