Resource Management: Produce and staples

Despite having done a few Whole30s and having lived on my own for over a dozen years, I am still making rookie mistakes in the kitchen. I regularly allow produce to wilt and go bad, which is a waste of resources. I sat down and came up with a few ideas be a better steward of my resources.

• Only buy what you are going to be using right away in reasonable amounts. If you like variety, find recipes with ingredients you've never tried to introduce new foods.

• Make a grocery list, like the one created from your recipes on plantoeat.org, and only buy what is in your recipes. Don't go shopping when you're tired, hungry, or emotional. If you are using foods which have a short shelf life, plan to go shopping just before making those dishes. 

• Putting a reminder on my phone to remind me to prepare foods which are expiring soon, if I don't have time to go shopping just before.

Conserving my cilantro by creating a mini greenhouse

• When possible I will substitute with ingredients I already have which have the same properties. For example salads and soups can often work with different vegetables. It is important to learn what substitutes well. The internet will has been a good source of information, and experience is the best teacher. 

• Each week I will try to pick recipes with similar ingredients to help me get through the entire vegetable, and to allow for bulk buying. For example I don't often need a whole cabbage for one recipe, or all 5lbs of carrots. 

• During the fall, when many vegetables are sold in bulk for a fraction of the price, I have bought them in bulk and focused on recipes which include that ingredient until the bag is empty. It is important to consider the shelf-life to make sure that you can eat it quickly enough. "Shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried..."

• Plan just enough recipes for the week to avoid waste. I hate leftovers and love variety, so I'm learning to freeze half of a large recipe and to vary my cuisines.

• If I still have random vegetables left at the end of a week, I'll make a salad, soup or stir fry to finish them. I also use up extra produce by eating raw foods alongside my planned recipes.

Random ommlet at the end of a week

After doing multiple Whole30s, I have realized that some things are necessary for making most recipes. Then there are some which are just for preference, and others still which only add variety. Below is a list of things which probably going to be found in over half of your recipes which will help you get started. I will list them in categories and include some thoughts where applicable. Be careful to read ingredients on all labels. If in doubt, double check the list! This is very rudimentary, but for a complete list, use the Whole30 Shopping List (PDF).

Good Cooking Oils:
- EVOO Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil (lower temp cooking and dressings)
- coconut oil (high temp cooking)

Healthy seasoning:
- Apple Cider Vinegar

Spices:
- Kosher/Himalayan/Coarse salt
- turmeric
- cumin
- cinnamon

 

Flour of choice due to versatility

- chili or cayenne pepper
- black pepper
- the more the merrier!

Dry Foods:
- almonds and sesame seeds
- Dried Coconut, coconut mana/butter
- Coconut flour

Sauces:
- Whole30 mayonaise (homemade)
- canned or fresh Coconut Milk (watch ingredients!)
- nut butter (pick one favourite)

Preserves:
Olives

First Steps: Finding Recipes

When I began doing Whole30, I found that my temptation to eat out (and probably compromise my Whole30) was highest if I was bored with the meals I was preparing. I would never have survived the Whole30 if it weren't for good recipes and varied foods. I have been craving a Shish Taouk platter (or that warmed up Double-smoked bacon, cheddar and egg breakfast croissant I just prepared for a customer) for about a week - every time I am caught without food at meal time, I've been eating the same thing for a few days, or I'm emotionally raw, or sick and exhausted.

This round I am using plantoeat.com to help me store my recipes, plan my meals, and create my grocery list. In the past I have built boards on Pinterest for each week's worth of meals. I have also used Excel to calculate my macros because I was feeling like I had too much starch and not enough fiber. Buying books or printing off my recipes have also been a part of my journey - but soft copies always make integrating meals easier. 

Plantoeat.com Planner

 
Using this website helps me to have my food prepared for meal time, add delicious varied foods, and to plan ahead for difficult situations and busyness. Finding the recipes to use can take time but the internet, library and friends can be a great source of ideas. Whatever your source, I would suggest finding at least a dozen recipes that help you to enjoy each meal.

You might not be as picky as me, and can survive off eating the same few meals week after week. I envy you. Don't feel like you need to add variety for variety's sake. Just know yourself and your weaknesses. I have 80+ recipes saved to Plan to Eat, and I continue to refine and develop my list. Add me if you're using the website too!

Plantoeat.com Recipes

Having that database, I am able to plan a few week's worth of meals and foresee my groceries and the time needed for preparing new dishes. I definitely have room to improve and refine my planning, but this is a lot better than before. It is so helpful to have it all together and takes away some of the stress. I posted here about how I would manage to prepare a week's worth of meals in just a few hours. When you make everything together, you don't have to clean and prepare your mise en place multiple times. I included foods of many different colours (for vitamins) and different meats (for change) and different cuisines (for flavours).

Beyond the recipes I included in my one week plan, below I have included a few easy recipes which I continue to include in my meal planning. Easy is not always boring, but it helps to cut down on the time you need to invest in eating healthy, which is so helpful.

Let me know what recipes have helped you on your Whole30 journey, I'd love to try some!

Poultry Mains -

Chicken Tagine with Fig and Ginger by Cook Eat Paleo: http://cookeatpaleo.com/mediterranean-paleo-cooking-fig-and-ginger-chicken-tajine/

One Pot Paleo Chicken Curry Stir Fry by Sweet C's Designs: http://sweetcsdesigns.com/one-pot-paleo-chicken-curry-stir-fry/
 

Sweet C's Chicken Curry Stir Fry

30 Minute Clean Thai Turkey Zucchini Meatballs by ifoodreal: http://ifoodreal.com/30-minute-clean-thai-turkey-zucchini-meatballs/

Salads -

Chopped Thai Salad with Coconut Curry Dressing by The Wicked Noodle: http://www.thewickednoodle.com/chopped-thai-salad/

Pesto Chicken Salad by The Nordstrom Cafe: https://www.instagram.com/p/sq3rQXrDEe/

Thai chopped Salad with Lime Ginger Dressing by From Cup to Cup: http://fromcuptocup.blogspot.ca/2014/01/thai-chopped-salad-with-lime-ginger.html

Thai Turkey Meatballs by iFoodReal: http://ifoodreal.com/30-minute-clean-thai-turkey-zucchini-meatballs/ 

South Jordan Beet Salad by Whole Sisters: http://www.whole-sisters.com/#!South-Jordan-Beet-Salad/c1v9p/551cbdbe0cf21933cd2e24e4

Whole Sisters' South Jordan Salad

Beef Mains-

Sukuma Wiki (Kenyan Braised Collard Greens and Ground Beef) by The Domestic Man: http://thedomesticman.com/2013/07/02/sukuma-wiki-kenyan-braised-collard-greens-and-ground-beef/

Simple Skirt Steak with Romesco Sauce by PaleOMG: http://paleomg.com/simple-skirt-steak-with-romesco-sauce/#

The Perfect Burger by Stupid Easy Paleo: http://stupideasypaleo.com/2014/03/27/perfect-burger/

Perfect Burger by Stupid Easy Paleo

Egg Dishes -

Easy Artichoke, Spinach and Herb Frittata by Linda Wagner: http://lindawagner.net/blog/2014/06/easy-artichoke-spinach-herb-frittata/index.html

Chorizo Scotch Eggs by Popular Paleo: http://thehealthyfoodie.com/paleo-chicken-scotch-egg/

Time - Building a week's meal plan

I have found that building a week's Meal Plan can be a big challenge. I often over planned, over bought, and wasted foods. I've also made batches that were bigger than I could eat in a few days, and lost interest. And sometimes recipes flop, and I have to plan another meal.

Some people might just have a knack for planning meals for a week, but I have had to learn along the way. To help someone who is just starting, I wanted to provide a week's Meal Plan which you could follow, or adjust, or just use as a guide.

An example for one week (21 meals):

- Savory Pumpkin Pie (a sort of quiche) - makes 6
- Garlic Lime Chicken Wings (thighs) - makes 3
- Thai chopped Salad with Lime Ginger Dressing - makes 6
- White Fish with Black Sesame Seeds - makes 3
- Roasted cabbage/eggplant make for 6 meals
- Beef Stroganoff -  makes 4-6 meals
- Fresh vegetables to eat raw, fruit, olives, and probiotics
- and leftovers from last weekend, or meals out with friends.

A likely schedule:
On Saturday, I made the marinade for the chicken (about 10 minutes) and put it together with the meat in the fridge over night. Then I cut up:

• Pumpkin Pie onions, garlic and whatever else for a 'quiche'

I sauteed the onions and vegetables for the Pumpkin Pie (about 15 minutes). Then I mixed the rest of the recipe (about 10 minutes) and cooked the Savory Pumpkin Pie (unattended for about 45 minutes). Then I chopped:

• Raw vegetables for sides - carrot sticks, cucumber coins, pepper slivers, tomatoes, avocados, etc
• Thai salad vegetables, and tossed in a bowl
• Mushrooms and carrots for Beef Stroganoff (put aside for later)

I split the Thai salad between 6 containers and opened a can of tuna to split between 3 of the salads. Then I made the dressing (about 10 minutes) with my immersion blender (or a whisk) and put the dressing one the one salad to eat immediately, and left the rest in a container in the fridge.

Once the pie is cooled, I slit it into 6 containers. I would cut up a cucumber, or celery to eat with the pie in the following days.

Then prepare the White Fish according the the recipe (about 20 minutes), and steam some spinach (or any greens) with garlic (about 15 minutes). And enjoy this for dinner.
Once the Beef was finished cooking, I divided it into containers for meals later in the week.

On Sunday I would enjoy the Pumpkin Pie for Meal 1. The Thai Salad with tuna for Meal 2. For Meal 3, I sliced an eggplant or cabbage (enough for about 2 slices for 4 meals), and brushed it with extra virgin olive oil and topped it with my favourite spices (garlic, onion, cumin, and nutritional yeast). I roasted the vegetable on a cookie sheet (for about 30 minutes) and the marinated Chicken (about an hour) in a roasting pan together at 350F.

By day 4 (or one day before meals were low), I would put all of the ingredients in the Crockpot for the Beef Stroganoff and start just before bed, or before leaving for work in the morning. Be careful to time it so that you are home and awake when the time is up. I would add vegetables depending on availability.

I would then enjoy these meals for the week with an occasional meal out, or special event. I often make a stir-fry with any remaining vegetables, eat fruit on he side, and slice raw vegetables to add flavours to my repetitive meals.



I did eat most of these things in the past week and I think that they have good flavours and help me to preserve my precious time whilst prioritizing my health. I hope that this helps give you ideas for your own Whole30 journey!!

Whole 30 - Where to start?

I am always surprised when friends and acquaintances tell me that they've read my blog. I write in a different voice than I speak, and share more personally than I would with an acquaintance. It's not that I am ashamed of what I write, but it lacks the give-and-take of a new friendship and I feel like I need to catch up on what they've read. This weekend, a friend told me that she had read my blog so we took a minute to discuss the content of what she'd read. She tole me that she wanted to take her health more seriously. But she had no idea where to start, and lacked the experience to make up her own recipes.

So this post is a few suggestions for anyone who is considering eating more healthfully or to do a Whole30. She and I agreed that although she's working full-time and studying part-time, we're all busy. There is never a better time than NOW to put your health as a priority.

Let's assume that you don't have more than an hour every night to eat dinner and prepare for tomorrow's lunch and dinner, like my friend. What can you do?

Tips:

1. Batch cooking recipes that you like, and don't require a lot of attention. Slow cookers are really helpful!
2. Pick a day where you can prepare most of the recipes (a weekend!). Try to find the best way to maximize your time, and have your groceries ready.
3. Try to add variety with your meats, flavours, and raw foods on the side.
4. Think of your meals as #1, #2 and #3 to avoid getting into a rut.

Whole30 Guidelines:

• Build your Plate (PDF): palm size of protein, fill the rest of your plate with vegetables (especially leafy greens and fibrous vegetables), 1-2 servings of fruit per day, one or more fat source per meal (olives, avocado, nuts, oils and coconut). Add fermented foods like pickles, sauerkraut and kombucha as you like.
• No cheats, no slips, no excuses. Remember this is a marathon and not a sprint.
• Find a support network of friends and family who can help you make it through. I'd love to help :)

I've read from one blogger that for her first Whole30, she and her husband took it easy and just had roasted chicken breast, steamed vegetables and sliced avocado for all of their meals, for 30 days. I would have gone crazy! But I know people who do it and love it! No fuss :)

For me, if I eat the same thing for dinner 3 times in a row, I start to loose interest and will end up throwing out the wasted food. I have written a post that outlines one week's worth of meals for me - which maximizes my time without loosing variety in my meals. It explains how to prepare all of your meals in just one afternoon so that meals are ready for work through the week. You can find it here.

When I started doing Whole30, it was hard to find recipes which I could enjoy but didn't take hours to prepare. If you would like to find some simple recipes which could help you as you start to compile your own database, you can find some here. I have split them up by categories to help you navigate.

Don't loose heart as you persevere through the challenges towards better health! I am always learning more about myself and nutrition and realize some mistakes I made in my first round, and even just yesterday. This is an important journey, and you're worth it!!

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - Whole30 and Cravings

We all have cravings, and I think that most of us have some emotional attachment to food to varying degrees. But after my first 30 days without pastries, that was all that I could think of in my last hours! It doesn't help that I am a supervisor at a cafe where I have to close the pastry case every night, or set it up in the morning!

As I child I was rewarded and conditioned with foods. It was an attempt to maintain order with three kids in the house, and I can't judge the choices. But it's something which is being processed as I take into account what I am eating. If I'm tired, stressed, or frustrated I tend to eat something fattening without even being hungry. I eat my emotions. I think that mentally, this is my biggest challenge on Whole30.

This is why controlling which foods are in your house BEFORE you start, is very important in my experience. Don't leave the marshmallows in the cupboard; the chocolate chips and the brownies need to leave the house! I've actually given away non-compliant gluten-free flours and almond milk with additives so that I don't cut corners which aren't worth it!

I wish I could say that it's easy to start Whole30. Well actually starting IS EASY because it is a momentary CHOICE. You can choose right now to stop eating all of the sugary, nutritionally poor, processed foods that surround us every day. Some of my friends are pretty set-up and would only have to make some small changes to do a Whole30. But as for me, I love cheese, pastries, pizza and other unhealthy and non-compliant foods. I have a crazy emotional attachment to sweets, and the Holiday Season has just ended so there's great sales plus all of the gifts which I was given. So there's a purging step that I have had to go through.

But completing a Whole30 is not easy. It takes perseverance, vision, and creativity. I've had to learn to batch cook, meal prep, and buy strategically so that I don't spend my whole day cooking or my whole paycheck on alternative foods. I've also had to learn how to make a breakfast which I can pack and consume within in 15 minutes while starting work at 6am. And I've had to learn how to work on overcoming my cravings.

My lunch at work during Whole30

Here are some bullet-point thoughts on dealing with and exposing cravings. As I write them, I realize that awareness is a great first step, and I need to continue to mature in my ways of dealing with cravings.

1. As with other forms of temptation, I find prayer and worship to be preeminent. What is important in life? Will this thing going to actually change anything? If I never experience this one thing, will I die or lack joy? I've realized that temptations are empty lies, with no real long-lasting relief to be experienced. But they still pull at me.
2. My emotions can sometimes be ignored, but rather than avoiding the real issue I should dig deeper and deal with what's really bothering me. I am still learning to step back and process my feelings, and to make the hard changes to fix things within my control. But If I can come to the simple realizations like I'm just tired and I need to take a nap, it's a lot more healthy. Or maybe I'm just angry, I need to forgive that person - then I can grab a glass of water and buckle down for the ride. This list also helps to normalize the stages within a Whole30 - Whole30 Timeline.
3. The restrictions given by Whole30, mean that I cannot just eat whatever I feel like or what has been offered, and it takes away some of my favourites. Yes, it feels personal. So I try to find other foods to enjoy - a new recipe which is Whole30 compliant, a new cuisine with compliant dishes (mmm mmm... Persian food!), a new fruit or vegetable that I have never tried (props to LufaFarms.com), or rediscovering old favourites (like pistachios). I also have compiled a list of activities which make me happy and that I want to accomplish this winter - like painting, hiking, and writing letters to friends! Not to mention sharing my thoughts through this blog.



Food from my Lufa Farm basket this fall

4. No one else has my body, with my health issues and needs. I cannot depend on others to eat healthy for me, and I cannot eat everything anyone else is eating. But this is true of other things - and it helps to keep it all in perspective. I cannot climb Mount Everest like some athletes (heck Mont Royal is a challenge even on a good day!), I cannot sleep less than 8 hours and function - like some of my coworkers, and I cannot live with a cat without having an asthma attack, as much as I'd love to have a furry friend! This is my life and I need to take care of my body. 
5. Which leads me to my final thought.. I have to keep my motivation front and center: You only have one life to live, and one body - and you're worth it! The Bible teaches me that my body is the temple of the living God, made holy by his residence there, but also to be honoured as a gift from God and under my stewardship. I can worship God by making healthful choices! There may be aspects to my body which I cannot control, but Whole30 is a tool of which I DO HAVE CONTROL. So let's do this!

Somethings I can do immediately when I have a craving:

• Think about something else, sing a song or turn my attention away from food
• Grab a glass of water, sometimes I'm just dehydrated
• Pull out some nuts instead of focusing on what I can't have
• Focus on a project or email I need to write, to keep my mind busy.
• Make my meal if it's an appropriate time (they say if chicken breast and broccoli sounds fulfilling you're probably just actually hungry!)

So far, at the end of my Whole30s I've had some particular craving which I just had to have first. It was a different food each time, but the craving was all-consuming. It's funny to think that as I began my Whole60 last week, I didn't even worry about eating one last this or that food I was craving. It kind of just began and I didn't make a big deal of it. But as I approach the finish line, in my experience, there is going to be a list of things that I JUST NEED TO HAVE. Actually, I want to pray that God would continue to break down the lies that certain foods will make my life better, or that I need something.

What are some of your ways of dealing with cravings in a healthy way?

Introduction to Montreal Whole30

Hello there, it's Rebecca here.

I am starting this blog to try to help people become acquainted with Whole30.org and to give some insights from Montreal, Canada. The Whole30 Network is already so big and gives such helpful hints and encouragement. However I find that the noise from Montreal is dim and I'd like to hear more hints as I attempt my 4th Whole30 (actually my second Whole45 of the four rounds).

About me: I am a single woman on a tight budget, trying to find new recipes and flavours, and to save my health from the downward slope it has been on for years. I work part-time at a coffee shop and part-time with childcare. My schedule is a bit unpredictable making meals harder to plan for.

Actually, I typically pack three meals into an industrial-sized lunch pail and head out for the day. I also host friends at my house almost weekly, and I need good crowd pleasing meals to deliver. I love creating things and sometimes a recipe fails! I am trying out the plantoeat.com meal planner to help me budget my groceries and meal prep time.

Nutritionally, I am interested in limiting my nightshade intake more than ever before (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers - including chilies - eggplant and more) but not strictly. I am also trying to limit my intake of eggs (it's so easy to whip up an omelet or boil some eggs), nuts, and caffeine (did I mention that I work at a cafe?).

I have been using a LufaFarms.com basket to gain access to local and organic products, and will focus on getting my proteins from there.  I live close to a farmer's market, but I love the convenience of a one-stop shop with comparable pricing. As much as possible, I will be buying organic produce whenever it's considered a dirty dozen.

Join me as I travel through my non-scale victories (#nsv) and discover a healthy lifestyle which is made to last!

Rebecca