Notes from the Nelsens: Whole30 Recipes- Week 2

Today marks day 18 of our Whole30 month, so we are more than half-way finished!

And honestly, we're both pretty much in a groove with this way of eating. The prep work is another story. ;) But we love how we're feeling and have really enjoyed almost all of the new recipes we've tried.

I think it's different for everyone, but the first few days were the hardest for us, and the first week was the hardest for me as I figured out what I could and couldn't make for our meals.

Now that I have a better understanding of what we're allowed to eat, the meal planning feels easier, but there is definitely a lot of planning and prep work involved in making sure our meals are set for the week.

And also now that we've turned down some of our favorite non-Whole30 foods enough times (pizza, pasta, ice cream, popsicles, Chick-Fil-A), it's not nearly as hard to say no to it.

This was me with pasta the first week. I might have even texted my girlfriends the pot of mac and cheese I made for the kids:

Initially, the hardest part was not only saying no to the food, but to the convenience of being able to grab food out and not have to come home and cook, or just making one thing that I knew all of us would eat. So if we could just have a chef at home preparing our meals while we are out to eat with our kids, or while I was making their dinner, this whole process might be a breeze, hah!

But honestly, every time we sit down to eat a meal that I've prepared for us over the pizza or pasta that we served our kids while we were out, we comment on how much better we feel after the meal, and on how much we like what we're eating. So inconvenient, yes, but we're definitely noticing a difference in the way our bodies feel having cut out some of our favorite foods for a little while.

So that's a little update for now. I'll talk more about how we plan to reintroduce foods after the 30 days and some of the new habits we'll keep in place as we get closer to the end.

For now, here's a look at what we ate last week!

Day 8

Zesty Chicken Bites (recipe here)

from Lexi's Clean Kitchen

photo from Lexi's Clean Kitchen

If you have a crazy chicken nugget addiction prior to Whole30, this wouldn't technically qualify for you as Whole30. I just wanted to do something other than grill chicken this night, and I can count zero times that Matt and I have eaten chicken nuggets for dinner. ;)

Day 9

Whole30 Beef Stir Fry (recipe here)

We ate this twice in two weeks. It's a new fave for sure. And the leftovers the next day are so good for lunch in a lettuce wrap!

Day 10

I made a sesame chicken recipe that was not good at all, so I won't link that recipe for you. ;) Fortunately, it was the first meal in 10 days we didn't like.

Day 11

Shepard's Pie (recipe here)
from The Real Food Dietitians

photo from The Real Food Dieticians

Yum, yum, yum! This recipe was so good! It's a little more labor intensive, so either save it for the weekend, or do what I did and do all of the chopping and prepping during nap time. ;)

Day 12
Steak & Potatoes

I buy our steak from Trader Joe's, and the potatoes and broccoli come from Costco. I rubbed the steak in salt, pepper, and balsamic before grilling. The potatoes (image here) are pre-made and ready to toss in the oven or on the grill, so I grilled them in their container alongside the steak. I drizzled the broccoli with olive oil and sea salt and roasted on 400 for 15 minutes. And then we dip the potatoes in Tessamae's ranch, because we are dipping people, and Whole30 compliant ketchup is not our fave.

Day 13
Roasted Lemon Salmon in Foil (recipe here)
from Hungry by Nature

photo from Hungry by Nature

This recipe had great flavor! I don't know if it was just me, but the cooking in foil method took way longer than the normal time to cook salmon, which doesn't make any sense, so it was probably just me. Hah. Anyway, whether you use the foil method or not, this was a super quick (prep-time) and flavorful way to cook your salmon.

Day 14
Veggie Taco Soup