My Whole 30 Week of Recipes

My Whole 30 Week of Recipes

Chia pudding with blackberries, coconut, and pistachios

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients:

1/2 c blackberries

3 tbsp chia seeds

1 c unsweetened almond milk

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut

10 raw, unsalted pistachios (20 for men)

Directions:

In a small mixing bowl, crush the blackberries with a fork so that they’re the consistency of a thick jam. Add chia seeds, almond milk, vanilla extract, and shredded coconut. Stir everything together to combine, then transfer to a small airtight container and refrigerate overnight.

When you are ready to eat the pudding, roughly chop the pistachios and sprinkle them over the chia pudding to eat.

Our thoughts:

Mike doubled the recipe for our breakfast. Day 1 I ate only 1/4, instead of 1/2. And I didn’t read the part about adding the pistachios. I was starving within a couple hours. Mike also took 1/4 and decided he didn’t like the breakfast. The pudding was pretty runny day one. Day 2, I ate 1/4 but I added the pistachios. I decided the pudding was better without them. So, day 3 I ate the last quarter as is and had my pistachios on the side. Every day the pudding was thicker, due to the chia seeds. I honestly think day 4 would have been too thick, if we had made more in one batch. Days 2 and 3, Mike made himself eggs with a side of avocado.

Carrot Cake Smoothie

Makes 1 large or 2 small servings

Ingredients:

1 c carrots, peeled and grated

1 organic banana, frozen

1 1/2 c almond milk

1/4 c raw unsalted cashews, soaked for 2 hours (or 1/4 c cashew nut butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 medjool date

1 tbsp organic raw shelled hemp seeds or scoop of vega plant based protein powder

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground ginger or 1 tsp grated fresh ginger

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cloves

Directions:

Add all the ingredients to your high speed blender and process until smooth and creamy. Top with a little cinnamon and a pinch of grated carrots. Enjoy immediately.

Our thoughts:

We had this for breakfast day 4. Since I was so hungry with the pudding and this had even less fat, I made a large serving for each of us in our Nutribullet. I loved it so much I had it days 5, 6, 7, and have had it once a day since. I peeled and halved a bunch of bananas to freeze. Then I peeled a bunch of carrots, sent them through the grate attachment on my food processor, and stored them in a tupperware container. I have Garden of Life Raw Protein and it is vegan, no sugar added, etc to make it compliant. To make the recipe even easier, you could just use pumpkin pie spice instead of measuring each individual one out. Grace and Mike also give this their approval. Jack will drink some of it but doesn’t finish a small portion.

Healthy Taco Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil, divided

8 oz chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

2 c large carrots slices (about 1 of slices)

1 large red bell pepper, sliced

1/2 c onion roughly chopped

2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp cumin seed

salt

1 large avocado

1 lime, juiced

1 c salsa (make sure homemade or no sugar added)

2 c roma tomatos, chopped

1/2 c cucumber, chopped

1/2 c cilantro, roughly chopped

fresh spinach

2 q wide mouth mason jars

Instructions:

Heat 1/2 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the chicken breast until golden brown, and no longer pink on the outside. Set aside in a small bowl.

Add the remaining 1/2 tbsp of olive oil into the pan, turn to medium/high heat. Cook carrots until they begin to just soften, about 3 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and add in the pepper, onion, and garlic. Cook until soft and the outsides begin to look charred.

While the veggies cook, place the cumin seeds in a small, dry pan, over a medium/high heat and toast them. Stirring frequently until golden brown and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer them to a cutting board and crush.

Add the crushed seeds into the pan with the veggies and season with salt. Mix well and turn off the heat.

Scoop the avocado and the lime juice into a small food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.

To assemble: place 1/2 c of salsa in bottom of each jar, spreading evenly. Divide the avocado mixture on top, gently spreading out. Then, divide the cumin roasted veggies, followed by the chicken. You may need to lightly pack everything in to get it all to fit.

After the chicken, place the chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, divided cilantro, and then as much spinach as you can stuff in there.
Seal and refrigerate until you are ready to devour.

Our notes:

Mike made the salad the first day for our lunch. Since he cooked the chicken that afternoon, we didn’t store in a mason jar. He prepared everything into a regular bowl, in the same order listed. It was really simple and good. We made extra chicken and extra cumin veggies, so that we could have more on other days too. The cucumbers and tomatoes and cilantro all kept chopped up for a couple days just fine. We just made fresh avocado lime every time. And instead of the processor, I just mashed it in a small bowl.

Paleo Creole Ham and Cauliflower Rice

Serves 2-4

Ingredients:

2 heads cauliflower

1 pound ham (see note below)

1 medium onion

1/2 green bell pepper, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

2.3 tbsp cooking fat, melted

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tbsp dried thyme

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp cayanne

1/4 tsp celery seed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425.

Break the cauliflower into florets, removing the stems. Place the florets in a food processor and pulse until the cauliflower looks like rice. This take 7 to 10 one second pulses. You may need to do this in multiple batches, keeping the stems with the florets helps add to the rice consistency.

Place the riced cauliflower in a very large mixing bowl. Add the ham, onion, and bell peppers. Toss with a spatula or two spoons until everything is evenly distributed.

In a small bowl, combine the fat, garlic, salt, thyme, black pepper, cayenne, and celery seed. Mix, then pour over the cauliflower. Toss for at least two minutes so the ingredients are evenly coated with the flavored fat.

Divide the rice between two, large rimmed baking sheets, or a roasting pan and roast in the oven 30-35 minutes, stirring about halfway through the baking time. At the end, the cauliflower should be tender, with little brown bits beginning to appear.

To make this Whole 30 compliant:
As weitten, this recipe isn’t whole 30 approved because most ham is cured with sugar. To make this whole 30 compliant, replace the ham with raw, boneless pork chops cut into cubes, and follow the instructions. To replicate the smokey flavor, you could add a 21/4 tsp liquid smoke to the fat and spices.

Our thoughts:

We used the pork chops. Partly because I was getting so many different things at the store, I didn’t grab the liquid smoke. It is usually in the bbq sauce section. I did have some smoked pink himalayan salt, and we added that after we were done cooking. It really helped create the ham flavor in the dish. It was super yummy. This is one that we used 2 heads of cauliflower but a pound and a half of pork chops, so we had lots of leftovers. This was our lunch several days.

Turkish Stuffed Eggplant

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants, cut in half lengthwise

2 tsp sea salt

1 lb ground beef

1 small onion, diced

2 medium tomatoes, one sliced into 4 slices, the rest coarsely chopped

1 tbsp tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper

1 small handful fresh parsley, chopped

2 tbsp coconut oil or ghee

4 long green chiles or 1/2 of green bell cut into 4 long strips

Directions:

Slice your eggplants in half lengthwise. Fill a large bowl with water, stir in 2 tsp of salt, then add the eggplant slices. Weight the eggplants down with a plate to keep them submerged. Soak for 30 minutes while you prep the filling. This step helps remove the bitterness from the eggplants.
Heat a skillet on medium heat for a minute, then add the ground beef. Saute until most of the pink is gone, stirring frequently to break up chunks, about 4 minutes.

Add the onions and continue to sauce until the onions start to soften, about 4 more minutes.

Add the coarsely chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, garlic, salt, and pepper; simmer until the tomatoes are softened, another 5 minutes.

Stir in the chopped parsley, season with more salt and pepper to taste, and set aside.

Remove the eggplants from the water, rinse, and pat dry. Season with a little salt and pepper.

In a large skillet, warm 2 tbsp ghee or coconut oil on medium high heat for a minute, then place the eggplant cut side down. Cook in batches until browned, about 4 minutes, then set on paper towels to drain. You only need to brown the cut side of the eggplant.

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Scoop out the seed part of each eggplant and set aside. You don’t need to spoon out too much of the eggplant, just enough to make a divot for filling.

Spoon in the filling then lay down half of a chili pepper and a tomato slice on each eggplant. It’s okay if you have leftover filling, you can saute it in ghee with the scooped out eggplant pieces.

Bake until the eggplants are soft all the way through, 20-30 minutes, then rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Our thoughts:

We made this with eggplant for Mike and I. The little kids we gave just the filling. They actually really liked it. It had good flavor. But to share the 1 pound between the 4 of us was not enough meat, even though Mike and I each also ate half an eggplant. I did end up making more of the filling and and mixing it with loose eggplant pieces for later in the week, and it hit the spot just as well as the stuffed explant, with less prep.

Sloppy Joes

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 red pepper

1 large onion

1 tsp salt

1 tsp garlic powder

1 lb grass fed beef

3/4 c paleo whole30 ketchup

1/4 c coconut aminos

2 tbsp tomato paste

Directions:

Melt coconut oil in a large skillet

Dice up the pepper and onion, saute in the coconut oil over medium heat. Cook for 5 minutes, until they start to soften and onions become translucent

Sprinkle with salt and garlic powder, stir in

Add the beef and break it up with a spatula. Cook until browned

Add ketchup, coconut aminos, and tomato paste and stir to combine

Let cook on low for at least 10 minutes. The longer it cooks the more the flavors will develop.

Serve over zucchini noodles, a sweet potato, or just eat it out of a bowl!

Our thoughts:

This was a huge hit! I baked white sweet potatoes and served the sloppy joe in a potato bowl. Instead of making the ketchup, we just mixed a little extra tomato paste with a dash of vinegar. I had extras and ate this for leftovers twice. I split the beef up into 2 sweet potatoes, so 4 halves. The little kids split half of a sweet potato at dinner, so I had some extra filling and one half of the potato stuffed for the two lunches.

Chicken, Sweet and Spicy

Serves 2

Ingredients:

for the sauce:

2 1/2 tsp coconut oil, divided

1 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, minced

1 tsp garlic, minced

1/2 tsp habanero pepper, minced

3/4 c orange mango or mango juice

1/2 tbsp coconut aminos

1 tsp tapioca flour

for the chicken:

3 tbsp tapioca flour

8 oz chicken breast patted dry and cut into one inch cubes

salt and pepper

2 tbsp coconut oil

for the rice:

3 c cauliflower cut into bite sized pieces

2 tsp coconut oil

2 tbsp unsweetened coconut flakes

for the garnish:

1/2 large mango cut into cubes

roughly chopped cilantro

diced green onion

toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

In a medium pot, over medium heat, melt 1 1/2 tsp coconut oil for the sauce. Add in the ginger, garlic, and habanero pepper. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute

Add in the juice and coconut amigos. Raise the temperature to high heat and bring to a boil. Additionally, place the tapioca flour in a small bowl

Once the liquid comes to a boil, add 2 tsp of it to the bowl and whisk with eh flour until smooth. While stirring constantly, pour the tapioca mixture into the sauce and boil for 2 minutes

After the sauce is boiled, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring frequently, until the sauce reduces by about 1/4 and becomes shiny, about 6-7 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl to let it cool and thicken while you make the chicken

Place the tapioca flour into a large ziplock bag, season chicken with salt and pepper. Add the chicken cubes into the bag and shake around until evenly coated in the flour

In a medium pan, heat 1 tbsp of coconut oil over a medium high heat. Place half the chicken into the pan, being careful not to crowd it, and cook until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and repeat. Transfer chicken to a paper towel lined plate and blot off excess oil. Repeat with remaining chicken

While the chicken cooks, place the cauliflower into a large food processor until broken down and rice like

Heat 2 tsp of coconut oil in a large pan over medium high heat and add cauliflower and coconut flakes. Cook until lightly golden brown, caulflower is tender, about 2-3 minutes. Cover, reduce the heat to medium and cook until cauliflower is tender, about 2-4 minutes

Transfer the chicken and mango cubes into the bowl with the sauce and toss until evenly coated

Divide the chicken and cauliflower between two plates an garnish with cilantro, green onion, and sesame seeds.

Our thoughts:

We doubled the recipe when we first made it. And then we cooked an additional pound later in the week. So, in the end, we quadrupled the recipe. It was a huge hit. Jack liked the rice best and Grace loved the chicken and sauce. I de-seeded the peppers, so it did not increase it’s heat as it sat in the fridge between servings.

Paleo Skillet Beef Fajitas

Serves 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 lb flank steak, sliced into thin ribbons

1 lime juiced

1/2 tsp chili powder 1/4 tsp ground cayenne

1/8 tsp cumin

1/8 tsp paprika

1/8 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

for veggies:

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 yellow bell pepper, trimmed, de seeded and sliced

1 red bell pepper, trimmed de seeded and sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

5 oz shitake mushrooms

2 green onions, green part, sliced

1 c vegetable broth

1 jalapeno, seeded and sliced thinly

1/4 c chopped cilantro

1 avocado, peeled and seeded and thinly sliced

Directions:

Place steak, lime juice and spices in a large bowl and toss together until steak is evenly coated. Set aside

Place a large heavy skillet over medium high heat. Add coconut oil too the pan, add steak when melted.

Let steak sear 3-4 minutes (make sure steak is a flat single layer), then flip and cook the other side for an additional 3-4 minutes. Remove steak from pan and set aside on a plate

Add onions, peppers, garlic, and mushrooms to the pan tossing to coat. There should be enough juice from the steak to toast and coat your veggies. If not, add about 1/4 c of vegetable broth. Try to scrape any excess brown bits that are stuck to the bottom of the pan. Toss your veggies until they start to soften, about 5 minutes. Add green onion, jalapeño, vegetable broth, steak and any juices that collected on the plate

Toss and cook for an additional 5-8 minutes

Remove from the heat, top with cilantro, sliced avocado, and additional jalapeño slices

Save with rice, fajitas, or lettuce cups

Our thoughts:

Fajitas, tacos,  quesadillas and the sort always go over well at our house. We served these to the little kids on corn tortillas for tacos, and the big three of us ate them over a bed of baby spinach. The pound and a half did give us some leftovers too. Now I’m thinking Tyler must not of eaten this one either. Usually, we feed 3 adults and 2 littles. But lately, Tyler has been coming home from work, having grabbed dinner there, so my food is going a little further this summer.

So, that was our week of whole 30. I had actually planned for a couple more meals, so I had leftover food. I was able to continue for the next week. The kids had their normal breakfast and lunch, but they ate whole 30 again with me for dinner.

Are you ready to take the leap to whole 30? Have you tried it before? What did you love? What are your favorite recipes/ Leave a comment for me, I’d love to see what you liked.