Getting ready for my Whole30
March 7, 2015 7:38 PM Subscribe
On April 6th, Mr Ruki and I will be starting a Whole30. What should I be buying now to prepare?
I placed an order today for some Tessemae's condiments (and realized too late that the $15 bottle of Green Goddess dressing I included is not Whole30 compliant, grrr) and will be buying ghee. I have a box of Chapul Aztec bars for work hunger emergencies. What should I be stocking up on now? I have a dehydrator and a vacuum sealer, if that helps.
I placed an order today for some Tessemae's condiments (and realized too late that the $15 bottle of Green Goddess dressing I included is not Whole30 compliant, grrr) and will be buying ghee. I have a box of Chapul Aztec bars for work hunger emergencies. What should I be stocking up on now? I have a dehydrator and a vacuum sealer, if that helps.
Best answer: Nom Nom Paleo is a generally good and sensible blog; here's her stuff about Whole 30. Also here and here. Plenty of recipes for you to make your shopping lists from.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:21 PM on March 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:21 PM on March 7, 2015 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: I bought them specifically because the Whole30 website says "Currently, only the Aztec bar is Whole30 compliant, but we are working with Chapul to create a new Whole30 Approved flavor in 2014!" I have reactive hypoglycemia thanks to the pituitary tumor in my head, so, while I have the best intentions of not snacking, I do need to have emergency food at hand. (I have no qualms about taking a glucose tablet while doing this, although I hope the lack of sugar will help.)
posted by Ruki at 8:24 PM on March 7, 2015
posted by Ruki at 8:24 PM on March 7, 2015
Best answer: I kind of liked the Sea Snax I bought when I did a W30. Have you reviewed their shopping list? Hope you have a Whole Foods nearby. If not, you may want to purchase some meat from their endorsed meat supply company.
Coconut oil in a jar and spray (available at Trader Joe's). Coconut milk and almond milk with no carrageenan (hard to find). Curry paste with no sugar (available on Amazon). Do you know if you like the Aztec bars? Some types of Larabars are also OK, and I just bought some of the new Wild Zora bars to try. I'll let you know if they're any good.
I liked the Well Fed cookbook, but I think all the recipes are also freely available on her website. If you don't have one and think you would use it, you can buy a thing that spirals veggies to make things like zucchini pasta. Good luck! Don't plan anything you need energy for on day 2-3!
For some reason when I was prepping for mine I bought a thing of Arrowroot powder and have no idea what I was supposed to do with it. If you want it let me know.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 9:47 PM on March 7, 2015
Coconut oil in a jar and spray (available at Trader Joe's). Coconut milk and almond milk with no carrageenan (hard to find). Curry paste with no sugar (available on Amazon). Do you know if you like the Aztec bars? Some types of Larabars are also OK, and I just bought some of the new Wild Zora bars to try. I'll let you know if they're any good.
I liked the Well Fed cookbook, but I think all the recipes are also freely available on her website. If you don't have one and think you would use it, you can buy a thing that spirals veggies to make things like zucchini pasta. Good luck! Don't plan anything you need energy for on day 2-3!
For some reason when I was prepping for mine I bought a thing of Arrowroot powder and have no idea what I was supposed to do with it. If you want it let me know.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 9:47 PM on March 7, 2015
Best answer: Arrowroot powder is used for thickening and binding in recipes. It can be used to thicken gravies and sauces, and for binding baked stuff. I find both it and tapioca powder to be really useful when I'm not eating wheat flour.
posted by RogueTech at 10:44 PM on March 7, 2015
posted by RogueTech at 10:44 PM on March 7, 2015
Best answer: Coconut milk is useful. I ate it by the spoonful sometimes. Cherry tomatoes became another go-to snack for some reason.
posted by slidell at 10:48 PM on March 7, 2015
posted by slidell at 10:48 PM on March 7, 2015
I think you might be overthinking this plate of [forbidden] beans. The Whole30 is supposed to be about placing the emphasis in your diet on fresh foods, almost all of which will have gone bad between now and April 6th.
That said, you might consider getting some frozen veggies, or going the extra mile and prepping some Whole 30 compliant freezer-friendly meals and snacks so you have an escape valve in case you simply cannot cook one day. Chili made without beans is great, Whole 30 compliant, and very freezer friendly. A breakfast/snack that freezes well and can be made Whole 30 compliant is to bake eggs with vegetables and breakfast meat in muffin tins so you have little "egg muffins". If you're more comfortable working off of real recipes, just Google "paleo chili" or "paleo egg muffin."
It can be fun to go to town with the dehydrator and the arrowroot powder and all of that, but I find people tend to have more success with their Whole 30s if they focus on finding a habit/satisfaction in eating meals that are really just meat, vegetables, and seasoning.
posted by telegraph at 5:22 AM on March 8, 2015 [11 favorites]
That said, you might consider getting some frozen veggies, or going the extra mile and prepping some Whole 30 compliant freezer-friendly meals and snacks so you have an escape valve in case you simply cannot cook one day. Chili made without beans is great, Whole 30 compliant, and very freezer friendly. A breakfast/snack that freezes well and can be made Whole 30 compliant is to bake eggs with vegetables and breakfast meat in muffin tins so you have little "egg muffins". If you're more comfortable working off of real recipes, just Google "paleo chili" or "paleo egg muffin."
It can be fun to go to town with the dehydrator and the arrowroot powder and all of that, but I find people tend to have more success with their Whole 30s if they focus on finding a habit/satisfaction in eating meals that are really just meat, vegetables, and seasoning.
posted by telegraph at 5:22 AM on March 8, 2015 [11 favorites]
Also, here's a much more extensive post I wrote a while back about how and what I ate during Whole 30.
posted by telegraph at 5:23 AM on March 8, 2015
posted by telegraph at 5:23 AM on March 8, 2015
I definitely agree with telegraph's point about making meals ahead of time. Since nearly nothing you can buy that's prepared is W30 compliant, you have to have tons of time to devote to meal preparation during it - it would really be helpful to have a couple of things you could warm up from the freezer. For dressing, oil and balsamic (or other) vinegar is a good option if you like that. There are nearly no salad dressings you can buy at the store that are W30 compliant. I tried making a ranch dressing recipe with coconut milk that was pretty decent.
But, also yes to the point of fresh foods. I should have linked to the shopping list earlier when I mentioned it. You'll see it's nearly all fruits and vegetables, although as I mentioned, the meat you might want to get ahead of time if you want a variety of compliant meats and you don't have a Whole Foods nearby. If there's a place nearby where you can purchase nuts and seeds in bulk, those come in handy too.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 7:42 AM on March 8, 2015
But, also yes to the point of fresh foods. I should have linked to the shopping list earlier when I mentioned it. You'll see it's nearly all fruits and vegetables, although as I mentioned, the meat you might want to get ahead of time if you want a variety of compliant meats and you don't have a Whole Foods nearby. If there's a place nearby where you can purchase nuts and seeds in bulk, those come in handy too.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 7:42 AM on March 8, 2015
Best answer: I'd suggest menu planning, freezing ahead, making shopping lists, a small amount of recipe testing, and planning for hungry moments. Whole30 is planning and cooking time intensive unless you are happy with simple food with no variation (eggs and sausage/salad with protein/meat/veg every day for B/L/D for example).
Menu planning:
Are you happy with meat and veg for dinner with no recipe or do you want to start with a list of recipes?
Are you happy eating hard boiled eggs every day along with a sausage patty for breakfast or need a list of variations?
Can you pack leftover dinner every night for lunch or need a list of lunch ideas (nomnom paleo has a ton of resources including a great lunch list)?
Shopping lists:
Make shopping lists ahead and designate shopping and food-prep days so you don't end up hungry with no food in the house.
Fresh 20 has a 6 week paleo meal plan with shopping lists that has 5 dinners per week for $12. It is sent out 1 week at a time so you could sign up now and have 4 weeks in hand to use for planning the 30 days.
Freezing ahead:
Breakfast sausage - make your own because it is really hard to find sugar-free sausage and freeze the patties.
Cook and season ground meat - asian for lettuce wraps, mexican for taco-less salad.
As suggested above, meatless chili and egg muffins freeze very well.
Freeze contents needed for a slow cooker meal so it can be thawed the evening before and then popped into the slow cooker in the morning - if you like slow cooker meals.
Recipe testing:
If this is a huge change in cooking, then you may want to test recipes that you plan on relying on heavily such as breakfast sausage and egg muffins to make sure you like them.
Homemade mayo is really great to use as a sauce on everything (add various seasonings to make it useful in different recipes - lemon or chipotle pepper or tomato paste). If you have an immersion blender and avocado oil (I think that is compliant) and a 16-oz wide mouth canning jar, you may want to test this. It lasts for at least a week (I go longer) in the fridge.
Planning for hungry moments:
Eating out or takeout is very difficult to be 100% compliant (and maybe you decide 99% is okay). There is soybean oil in everything. My best preparation was to take homemade or compliant dressing with me to go with any salad realizing that the protein was still probably not 100% compliant.
Eat at Chipotle if desperate.
A bag of almonds in my bag also made for a meal of almonds that worked in many situations. Turkey slices along with an avocado was another really good on-the-go meal. Just need a knife and paper plate.
Coconut cream is a really nice treat at the end of a meal to make sure you are getting enough calories - aim for over what you need at the beginning because if you currently eat a lot of white carbs then the portions of protein and veg will need to be much larger than you anticipate.
Maybe get a really nice tea to have before bed if you are used to a snack then.
posted by RoadScholar at 8:09 AM on March 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
Menu planning:
Are you happy with meat and veg for dinner with no recipe or do you want to start with a list of recipes?
Are you happy eating hard boiled eggs every day along with a sausage patty for breakfast or need a list of variations?
Can you pack leftover dinner every night for lunch or need a list of lunch ideas (nomnom paleo has a ton of resources including a great lunch list)?
Shopping lists:
Make shopping lists ahead and designate shopping and food-prep days so you don't end up hungry with no food in the house.
Fresh 20 has a 6 week paleo meal plan with shopping lists that has 5 dinners per week for $12. It is sent out 1 week at a time so you could sign up now and have 4 weeks in hand to use for planning the 30 days.
Freezing ahead:
Breakfast sausage - make your own because it is really hard to find sugar-free sausage and freeze the patties.
Cook and season ground meat - asian for lettuce wraps, mexican for taco-less salad.
As suggested above, meatless chili and egg muffins freeze very well.
Freeze contents needed for a slow cooker meal so it can be thawed the evening before and then popped into the slow cooker in the morning - if you like slow cooker meals.
Recipe testing:
If this is a huge change in cooking, then you may want to test recipes that you plan on relying on heavily such as breakfast sausage and egg muffins to make sure you like them.
Homemade mayo is really great to use as a sauce on everything (add various seasonings to make it useful in different recipes - lemon or chipotle pepper or tomato paste). If you have an immersion blender and avocado oil (I think that is compliant) and a 16-oz wide mouth canning jar, you may want to test this. It lasts for at least a week (I go longer) in the fridge.
Planning for hungry moments:
Eating out or takeout is very difficult to be 100% compliant (and maybe you decide 99% is okay). There is soybean oil in everything. My best preparation was to take homemade or compliant dressing with me to go with any salad realizing that the protein was still probably not 100% compliant.
Eat at Chipotle if desperate.
A bag of almonds in my bag also made for a meal of almonds that worked in many situations. Turkey slices along with an avocado was another really good on-the-go meal. Just need a knife and paper plate.
Coconut cream is a really nice treat at the end of a meal to make sure you are getting enough calories - aim for over what you need at the beginning because if you currently eat a lot of white carbs then the portions of protein and veg will need to be much larger than you anticipate.
Maybe get a really nice tea to have before bed if you are used to a snack then.
posted by RoadScholar at 8:09 AM on March 8, 2015 [3 favorites]
I keep almonds and pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas) around for snacks all the time. They are filling, good for you, and so easy to carry around - in a pinch, they can substitute for a meal or at least tide you over until you can have a proper meal. Pumpkin seeds, especially, make a great evening snack, as they are high in magnesium.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 8:22 AM on March 8, 2015
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 8:22 AM on March 8, 2015
Best answer: Making a batch of the sriracha sauce from Nom Nom Paleo saved our life when we did W30. Also make sure you've got coconut aminos and Red Boat fish sauce.
posted by matildaben at 10:20 AM on March 8, 2015
posted by matildaben at 10:20 AM on March 8, 2015
Two more things:
If you plan to cook with coconut oil, either use one that has been deodorized or whatever they are calling it so it does have a strong coconut smell and flavor or make sure you are okay with everything cooked in it having a hint or so of coconut. I found this very offputting to have all my eggs and everything else tasting like coconut. I still use it on occasion when the flavor would be nice or masked but not all the time. Ghee as you mention will be a good alternative although has another flavor.
I tried to give myself a little thought to follow in the case of cravings - yeah sure it is okay that I want pizza right now and slice is sitting over there and I'm hungry but I don't NEED it and I can have it later when I'm done with Whole 30, for example. I also make a list of things I plan to have after Whole 30. The act of writing it down for later lets me put it out of my mind for another time.
posted by RoadScholar at 6:24 PM on March 8, 2015
If you plan to cook with coconut oil, either use one that has been deodorized or whatever they are calling it so it does have a strong coconut smell and flavor or make sure you are okay with everything cooked in it having a hint or so of coconut. I found this very offputting to have all my eggs and everything else tasting like coconut. I still use it on occasion when the flavor would be nice or masked but not all the time. Ghee as you mention will be a good alternative although has another flavor.
I tried to give myself a little thought to follow in the case of cravings - yeah sure it is okay that I want pizza right now and slice is sitting over there and I'm hungry but I don't NEED it and I can have it later when I'm done with Whole 30, for example. I also make a list of things I plan to have after Whole 30. The act of writing it down for later lets me put it out of my mind for another time.
posted by RoadScholar at 6:24 PM on March 8, 2015
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posted by kmennie at 8:15 PM on March 7, 2015