Wow, it’s already on to week 3 of the whole30! Last time I only made it to about this point before giving up. It was a difficult time to try and do a whole30 because I had just had my little guy and he was only about 3 months old. Sleep deprivation doesn’t help with food craving to say the least. Now I feel a lot stronger and its not so hard. Here’s to a fabulous third week of delicious nourishing food
The ideal soup. In the words of my father, probably my biggest food critic besides myself. The man that thinks everything I make needs more gluten. The guy that when I try to get him on board with our sugar cleanse, goes out and buys a box of halloween candy and claims he thought sugar cleanse meant MORE sugar.
If he loved this soup, i’m pretty sure everyone will. Best part, it uses a whole chicken which in my opinions is the easiest most economical way to eat chicken. A whole free range chicken feeds a crowd and you get the bones to make stock later. By far the easiest way to cook a whole chicken is to make a big soup.
There’s no risk of it not being cooked or worse, being dry and overcooked. The only downside is you don’t get that crispy skin, but I personally looooove the fat that the skin imparts in the soup. It’s so rich, and although the coconut milk isn’t a traditional addition, it adds a creamy comfort to my version of sopa de pollo like none other.
Hey I'm Chantelle, my alter ego would be a mermaid if I wasn't such a terrible swimmer. I love writing authentically and cooking in my pyjamas. My favourite pastimes include eating avocados, travelling the world and hanging out with a toddler.
We’ve pretty much made lettuce wraps the go-to lunch on the whole30. They’re just so easy, versatile and always hit the spot. Who needs tacos and burritos when you’ve got lettuce wraps. I love these pulled pork lettuce wraps so much, but the prep is a lot more involved. With these chipotle elk lettuce wraps you can literally whip them up in under 20 minutes. If you don’t have access to elk you can most definitely just use ground beef. Lucky me, a friend of a friend is a hunter and scored an elk not too long ago. As i’m making this beautifully fresh elk, my man starts you tubing elks in heat. What an appetizing sound it is, check that shit out AFTER you eat these.
Elk is such an amazingly rich meat. Wild meat is something else, when its hunted properly it doesn’t get those fear hormones that make meat taste off. Not to mention the amazing nutrition from an animal that spent its life grazing wild forests. Have you ever thought about how most of our meat is female? It’s a little out of balance if you ask me. I mean, we don’t eat the roosters, or the bulls, or the boars. Not for any good reason either. These guys just require different cooking styles, but they’re delicious none the less. I like to have some yin and yang balance in my meat eating, which is why wild is where it’s at.
It’s day 8 of the whole30 and I just posted a new meal plan for week 2. I don’t always follow my own meal plans, but they are inspiring and I think they paint a picture that the whole30 isn’t this wretched deprivation experiment. My major vice is cheese, mostly because of the way it melds flavours together. It’s like a fatty little vehicle that ensures a deep feeling of satisfaction. So I’m thankful for cashews, as they turn into this magical, creamy, cheese like substance with just a few pulses of the blender. You can keep the cashew queso liquid enough so that it can be used as a salad dressing. I like to make extra as a dip for raw veggies and last nights indulgence, tostones, aka fried plantains, aka basically fries from McDonald’s that are totally good for you.
1 C cashews (soaked for at least 20 minutes and drained)
3/4 C fresh water
juice of 1/2 lime
1 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs nutritional yeast
handful fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp sea salt
fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
For the Chipotle Elk
Melt oil in a large skillet, add onions and cook until golden.
Add elk and seasonings, cook on med-high until nicely browned. Finish with a squeeze of lime juice.
Separate lettuce leaves and assemble on a plate, put a neat little pile of grated carrots, followed by a small scoop of the chipotle elk and some lime wedges.
For the Cashew Queso
In a blender or food processor, combine cashews, water, lime, garlic, nutritional yeast, cilantro and seasonings and pulse until super smooth and creamy. You can add more water to achieve your desire thickness.
Wow, hey! It’s been a week already. The hardest part is over and I’m starting to feel like a functioning human again. There were definitely a few days of struggle, even with an abundance of healthy and damn delicious food. Once you get into the groove it feels really good. I’ve kicked my long term late night snacking habit which feel pretty awesome.
How’s everybody else doing? Hope you guys liked the meal plan from week 1 of the whole 30. I’m sure if you did the shopping for week one there will be a lot of things that you can ignore on this shopping list. But for clarities sake and to ensure you’ve got all the ingredients, I included them all. Hope it’s not too overwhelming. Happy week 2!
Tomorrow is the first day of my whole 30 full body reset. If I was a good little girl I would already have been scaling down my no-no foods but alas, I’m a rebel without a cause. Damn I’m gonna miss that chocolate almond milk.
Here’s my little guide to getting all your ducks in a row before doing a whole 30, hope its helpful. If there’s anything you want to add, hit me up in the comments!
Ok so the last time I did the whole 30, the main challenges were realizing that nearly everything has sugar or GMO’s or some weird ingredient that I want to avoid for the next 30 days. Ketchup for example (I actually HATE ketchup) packed with sugar, but if you like it, it’s pretty easy to make your own ketchup. As for other condiments like mustard, Worcestershire sauce and relish, it’s the same story so read on how to make those condiments as well (if you’re like me and loathe ketchup).
Mayonaaaaaaaaise, is another condiment that will make life ALOT happier on the whole 30. But conventional mayonnaise is loaded with GMO oils that aren’t good for you, nor are they particularly appetizing.
Story time: I used to cower in the face of mayo on a sandwich. I was literally scared of it. Thick weird eggy substance that isn’t refrigerated until you open it. I had the same feeling at Costco yesterday seeing their giant cases of chocolate milk just sitting there at room temperature. Anyways, making your own mayo is easy peasy, especially if you have a hand blender/immersion blender, but any blender will work. Here’s a great post on making mayo in 30 seconds.
Soy sauce or tamari is another flavour booster thats off limits. While soy sauce seems pretty harmless, its still soy, which is nearly 99% GMO and the whole point is to detox that shit from our diets for at least 30 days. Luckily the amazing coconut comes to the rescue with its on par flavour boosting magic. Coconut aminos can be found at most health food grocery stores or you can get it off amazon, check it out here.
Milks
As far as pre-made milks go, there’s not many that don’t have added careegan, guar gum and other thickeners/stabilizers/preservatives. Homemade nut milks are the way to go. All you need is a blender, a nut milk bag or cheesecloth and water. Here’s a great all around nut milk tutorial.
Coconut milk is our go to source for creamy rich goodness on the whole 30. But even uber expensive organic brands of coconut milk have strange additives. So you can make your own coconut milk (it’s darn delicious) OR you can stick to the natural value or thai kitchen brands that don’t have any weird additives or preservatives.
Sweeteners
Much to my chagrin, even natural sweeteners like stevia are technically a no no on the whole 30. Because the whole point is to not make foods that aren’t naturally sweet, sweet. Like coffee. Now I have to learn to enjoy coffees naturally bitter taste…grrrrrrreat. But I can see the point. As far as satisfying our sweet teeth, fruits and their dehydrated counterparts become the go-to.
Date paste, dried figs, and dried mango do wonders for healthfully satisfying those sweet cravings.
Fats
The biggest take away from my last whole 30 was to never underestimate how important it is to get enough fat. If we skimp on the fat, its really hard to feel deeply satisfied. Remember, the point of this isn’t caloric restriction or to cause us suffering. It’s to improve our understanding of our bodies and their relationship to certain foods. Saturated fats stabilize our blood sugar and help heaps with cravings. They are also a vehicle for transporting essential vitamins and minerals.
Plenty of coconut oil, coconut butter, ghee, animal fats like lard, beef tallow, bacon fat and chicken fat are all great for cooking. When it comes to salads and mayo it’s better to use extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil.
Omega-3 fatty acids are another part of the fat puzzle that so many of us are deficient in. I take a krill oil supplement to make sure I’m getting plenty of omegas alongside eating abundant amounts of wild fish. In the meal plans I’m going to aim for 2-3 servings of fish per week. It’s delicious aaaaand nutritious.
Carbs
Nobody can go from gorging themselves on pizza and croissants to cutting out all carbs. Unrealistic. Which is why I’ll be eating plenty of root vegetables like sweet potato and white potato especially in the first few days. Eventually the desire to nosh on carbs all day dissipates as our bodies adjust.
Bone Broth
Mmmm bone broth. I was trying to convince my friend to buy whole chickens so he could make bone broth and he did not seem impressed. Sometimes my little bubble bursts and I realize not everyone drinks hot boiled carcass for fun. But seriously, bone broth is the most amazing source of minerals, gelatine and collagen which helps us retain that youthful glow, keeps our joints happy, gives us a hearty dose of nourishing fats and I don’t know about you but there’s something about bone broth that’s just really comforting to me. Here’s a great tutorial onhow to make bone broth.
Detoxifying Medicinals
My favourite part of this entire post, hooray for herbs! I don’t think they talk much about this component in the actual “It starts with food” book BUT I think these additions can just amp up all the benefits we experience from changing our diets.
As always, no two people are the same and not everyone will want to add medicinal herbs into their lifestyle. No worries. If you have concerns, talk to your local herbalist or naturopath, they can ensure that any herbal remedies won’t interfere with prescription drugs and so forth.
I tend to stick to the whole form of herbs instead of tinctures of supplements. These things are useful at times, but for simplicities sake just making teas from herbs is the easiest for anyone beginning their herbal journey. Also, there’s no alcohol on the whole 30 so tinctures are off limits anyway.
Adaptogens are great if your dealing with energy/hormonal issues. These herbs are ‘intelligent’ in that they don’t do the same thing for each person. They work with your body and help to balance out your unique chemistry and hormones.
The whole 30 is a great opportunity to balance our gut flora. Bad bacteria and yeasts thrive on sugar, so when we cut them off we give the good guys a chance to thrive! The research on our gut bacteria is clear. There is perhaps nothing more important and critical to good health in all aspects including mental and hormonal. Probiotics have been shown to go way beyond digestive health.
Fermented foods
If you’re new to making your own ferments, this is hands down the best way to replenish our guts with a hearty dose of probiotics. Don’t be intimidated! Sauerkraut is a good place to start, here’s a guide on a few variations and the benefits of homemade sauerkraut.
If you’re interested in trying some more adventurous ferments, this website fermented food lab is the absolute best! With everything from fermented hot sauce, watermelon shrubs, ketchup and way more it’s sure to inspire you to get chopping.
The Mental Stuff
Okay this post is a wee bit longer than I planned but OH well. Congrats to you if you’re still reading.
Preparing for a successful whole 30 means preparing for the challenges of your mind.
The mental piece of the puzzle is staring at our attachments dead on and telling them where to go. It’s knowing that we are stronger than our addictions and that inevitably we always have a choice. One of the most beneficial things about removing less than great foods from our diets is seeing our minds reaction. Seeing where we use food as a crutch or something to smother our deeper inner experiences in.
What helps me is deep breaths and water. And you a know what, if you slip up, which is pretty much inevitable unless you’re a saint, it’s not the end of the world. It doesn’t mean you’ve failed and you should give up. Just brush it off and keep at it, cause guess what, you’re pretty awesome.
Woohoo, getting ready for week 1 of the Whole 30 Challenge! If you want to jump on board you can still join the October 30 day detox challenge Facebook group right here. Week 1 is usually wrought with challenges. For a lot of us, were not used to cooking this much, or being so careful about our ingredients. As our bodies start to process the fact that were not going to give them that quick sugar fix there can sometimes be an inner rebellion.
Your mind will tell you that this whole thing is bogus and won’t do you any good. It’s lying. Being prepared makes the work a lot easier. Having delicious nourishing recipes to turn to makes cooking FUN.
So keep in mind if your doing this solo, most of these recipes serve 4. No biggie, just cut them in half and have plenty of leftovers.
In the next few days I’ll be posting some Whole 30 Essentials so stay tuned.
*As for this weeks shopping list: You aren’t going to use ALL these ingredients in the first week. Some will carry you through to the end. Remember the meal plan is for feeding more than one person so scale down accordingly.*
*Spices, nuts and seeds can be bought in bulk*
Shopping List
Meat/Poultry/Eggs
2 lb ground pork
addictive free chorizo sausage
1 package nitrate free bacon
2 lb ground beef
1 lb ground bison
2 lb ground turkey
1 1/2 lb boneless chicken breast or thigh
3 dozen free range eggs
Seafood
4 filets Tilapia
smoked salmon
can sustainable fished BPA free tuna (I like the raincoast brand)
Hey I'm Chantelle, my alter ego would be a mermaid if I wasn't such a terrible swimmer. I love writing authentically and cooking in my pyjamas. My favourite pastimes include eating avocados, travelling the world and hanging out with a toddler.
can be found at most health food grocery stores or you can get it off amazon, check it out here.
or 
brands that don’t have any weird additives or preservatives.
