What Am I Eating?
Many of you are probably wondering what my daily meals are looking like. Given the absence of grain, dairy, legumes, sugar, and all processed food, that's probably the first thing I'd be thinking as well. This has been especially challenging, because those 'food groups' probably comprised about 75% of my pre-Whole 30 diet. Below is a picture of what my food pyramid looked like prior to starting this challenge:
I'll admit that eliminating all the ingredients I couldn't eat - while adjusting to all the new ingredients that I was 'restricted' to - was a little rough and frustrating; I outlined this in earlier posts. Thankfully I had prepped myself for cooking and preparing meals through my celebrity cookbook challenge last month. I even had most of the core ingredients and spices on hand to begin.
There are a couple 'core' ingredients that I've been relying on:
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| frittatatata |
Eggs: As I've mentioned, I've been eating a shitload of eggs. I apologize to the towns in New England that are currently experiencing shortages as a result. Obviously a great source of protein, and remarkably versatile. I egg chicken breasts and then coat them with a coconut or almond flour-based breading for baking or frying, put hard-boiled eggs in my salad, scramble with coconut milk, or make frittatas. I never get tired of all the egg combinations. Let's see if that's still the case on day 31.
Yams: A solid staple which is a welcome sweet addition to most meals. Even though it's not required, I've been conditioned to need a third starchy/grainy side to complement my 'protein' and 'vegetable'. WIth the required absence of grains, legumes, and white potatoes, yams have won the nomination. I've been making yam hash (with eggs and onions), eating them like baked potatoes, and baking herbed sweet potato french fries. Delicious, although I feel that my yam threshold may be nigh.
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| chicken w/ avocado |
Avocado: I liken selecting proper avocados to surviving bear attacks; no matter how many times I've been told, I can never remember whether a firm or a soft avocado means it is ideal for use. With bear attacks, I can never remember if I am supposed to jingle my car keys at a bear and otherwise make a ton of noise, or play dead in order to maximize my survival odds. Why are these two basic premises so hard for me to remember? Either way, avocados are delicious and bears are scary. I recommend putting avocados on anything and everything, and staying away from bears.
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| brocco/pepper sausage stir fry |
Spinach/broccoli: Good as steamed vegetable sides, or in salads. Spinach is also a sneakily decent source of calcium in my dairy-free world. I really like spinach in all forms, and use it as the base in all my lunch salads.
Garlic/Cilantro/Thyme: There is no better-smelling ingredient combination in the world than these two lovelies cooking in a pan, swimming happily around in a pool of olive oil. I have unfortunately been made aware that there is a sizable contingent of cilantro haters out there. You know who else hates cilantro? Al Qaeda, convicted animal abusers, communists, and deadbeat dads. I hope you're happy being part of this demographic.
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| coconut chicken fingers |
Coconut: Whether it's coconut oil, coconut milk, coconut flour, or unsweetened coconut flakes, coconut has been very helpful in its role as a dairy substitute, and providing much needed texture and flavor to many dishes.
Spices: Various combinations of paprika, cardamom, cumin, and cayenne powder seem to go in many Whole 30-approved recipes - especially rubs for fish/beef and breading for chicken.
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| spiced cauliflower, salsa chicken & squash |
With a little digging, recipes have been easy to come by. In addition to the wealth of Whole 30 and Paleo resources one can find on the internet with Google, Pinterest has also been surprisingly helpful. I was one of the many others who joined Pinterest a year or two ago when it suddenly became VERY popular; it seemed like 150 million people joined within the span of two days. After I came to the conclusion that Pinterest was mostly for wedding planning, learning how to make hummingbird feeders out of plastic 2-liter soda bottles, or posting 'believe in the power of your dreams' -type quotations independent of context (or worse, by 'Anonymous'), I quickly became 'dis-Pinterested'. (HEH!) Come to find out, this is a GREAT source for recipes for anyone with dietary restrictions. I found many of my Whole 30 recipes on Pinterest (the results of which are displayed in many of the photos throughout this post).
A Week in the Life...
One of the hardest parts of Whole 30 is the planning - not just the 17 hours I spend each week shopping for groceries between 4 stores and a farmers market - but having something ready to go for breakfast and lunch during work days. If I'd ever forget to prepare something the night before or the morning of work, I imagine there are very few places I can pick up food around the Financial District (where I work) that will be both satisfying and Whole 30 compliant. Per Natalie's advice (actually, she suggested similar egg 'muffins', but whatever), I started with learning how to make a frittata. This is remarkably simple, and takes 30-45 minutes from start to finish, depending on how many extra ingredients I decide to add. I make enough for 2-3 days' worth of breakfast.
On days where I'm not bringing frittata to work, I usually just have a lighter breakfast of fruit and a Larabar. If you haven't tried Larabars yet, run, don't walk to the nearest grocery store and buy some. Larabars are wonderful in their simplicity, and easily the best 'granola' bars I've ever had. My favorite is Pecan Pie. Three ingredients - pecans, dates, and almonds - and it really tastes like a fricking pecan pie. I don't know how they do it - they've got some real David Blaine magic shit going on in their kitchen. You will not be disappointed. And thank you Carolyn for the recommendation! After you enjoy it, try and enjoy a Nature Valley granola bar and it's 17 ingredients the same way. I dare you. I think embalmers use half of those ingredients to preserve dead people. And no, Larabar Corp. isn't paying me. But I'm not opposed to it, Larabar. I accept PayPal. And bags of cash.
Lunch tends to be either whatever leftovers I had from dinner the night before, or a big-ass salad...with either chicken, beef or salmon prepared the night before (or sometimes leftover). On days when I have frittata, I forego the hard boiled egg I usually add and just rely on the veggies, avocado and meat for enough sustenance. I don't want to overdose on egg - that sounds like a terrible (not to mention, embarrassing) way to kick it - so I try to cap my daily intake to around 4 eggs. If I'm still hungry later on in the afternoon, and especially if I'm going to the gym after work, I make sure to have another fruit, or some carrot sticks, to tide me over.
For dinner, I've been try to mix in two or three new recipes a week. As I mentioned, Pinterest has been extremely helpful in generating meal ideas. Main dishes and sides are conveniently broken up on the site, making recipe mixing and matching easy. Before I go shopping for the week, I look up a couple recipes that I've 'pinned' and add the ingredients I don't already have to my iPhone shopping list app. These are some of the things I've made:
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| 'chocolate' chili |
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| baked salmon (w/ spice rub) with avocado salsa and plantains |
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| beef with herbed sweet potato french fries |
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| Lemon herbed salmon |
And this is how I celebrate on the weekends:
Scrambled eggs with coconut milk and a PILE of veggies and sausage, OR fried eggs mixed into a sweet potato hash (made with prosciutto or sausage). With a black coffee in my 'Don't Mess With Texas' mug, of course.
So to answer my question, ALL THIS is what I'm eating. Probably better in the span of two weeks than I ever have.
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