Hello again! I’m back with my update on week three of my whole30 challenge. If you’re just joining me now, I would recommend you read my other posts about my Whole30 journey, starting with a post Why I’m Doing the Whole30 Challenge. Just to make sure that we’re on the same page. 🙂 Don’t worry, I’ll be here, waiting for you until you read.
Are you done? GREAT! Now let’s move on…
Week 3 was very busy for me
During the third week of my Whole30 journey, I was also very busy just as I was the week before. BUT, I was prepared for (almost) everything when it comes to cooking. And why I said „almost“, you’ll see in just a second. Because first I want to share my shopping list and meal prep that I did.
I went shopping for groceries on Monday because I ‘ve been on a long hiking tour through the forest with my friend on Sunday. We were caught by a heavy rain and when I got home, I was soaking wet, and all I wanted was to roll myself in a blanket and get warm. But that didn’t stop me from making my meal plan for the upcoming week.
Here is what I’ve bought:
- Coconut milk,
- Desiccated coconut (unsweetened),
- Almonds,
- Pork chops,
- Beef chops,
- Chicken legs,
- Ground turkey,
- Eggs,
- Zucchinis,
- Carrots,
- Green olives,
- Butter (to make ghee),
- Apples,
- Pears,
- Bananas,
- Sour cherries,
- Sultanas,
- Sweet potatoes,
- Potatoes,
- Cauliflower.
My plan was to try and make some of my favorite dishes, by using whole30 compliant ingredients. And I have to be honest, I was really surprised how good everything turned out. My first attempt to adjust the recipe was to make the chicken korma. And OMG, you can’t believe how DELICIOUS it was. I even made it all in one skillet! YASSS! It was that good, that I’ve decided to share the recipe here on my blog, and you can find it here –> One-Skillet Chicken Korma Curry.
When it comes to meal prep, I had more to do, than I did last week (when I was trying not to plan). And it most definitely helped me during this week, because of my busy schedule. Here is what I did during the meal prep session:
- First I’ve roasted some sweet potatoes so that we can have them as a side dish for the breakfast. They have become a life savior during this challenge because we are not allowed to eat bread, and these are filling and keep us satisfied for a long time (or at least until lunchtime). If you want to get the recipe, you can find it on my Instagram account, or let me know in the comments if you would like me to share it in a separate blog post.
- Then I made almond milk and chia pudding, only this time I did something slightly different than usual, and I LOVED IT! So first I soaked almonds for a couple of hours in cold water. Then I strained them and whizzed in the blender with fresh water. And before I strained the milk from the ground almonds, I mixed ½ cup of chia seeds with 2 ½ cups of unstrained almond milk. And OMG, this was THE BEST chia pudding w/ almond milk EVER! You should definitely give it a try! It will keep you fuller for a longer time.
- I’ve also hard boiled 6 eggs again, to have for lunch and to put on salads.
- And at the end, I’ve roasted pork chops in the oven, and when they cooled down, placed them in the fridge.
That was my meal prep session. It took me about 2 hours to complete (not counting the soaking time for almonds). Those 2 hours saved me a lot of time during this week, and I am looking forward to starting meal prep on a regular basis.
How did the week go?
On Monday, June 18th, it was our 2nd marriage anniversary, and I really had to make something special for Vesely. We invited over his and my brother so that they can watch the World’s Cup 2018. I made a pizza for the two of them, and some fruit salad for all of us. I have to be honest, pizza didn’t smell that good as it did before I started my whole30 journey (YAY!), but I just couldn’t wait to try a fruit salad.
All I did was chopping and mixing banana, apple, pear, sour cherries, orange, and sultanas, and juiced one lemon. Then I topped it with some whipped coconut cream! TRUST ME! I’ve never had better fruit salad in my entire life! And this is going to be the only way I’ll have it in the future! Everyone loved it and asked for more.
Now, here is the „almost“ part of the perfect whole30 week. One day I had to assist during the labor of a Shih Tzu, I stayed at work for 5 hours longer than I planned. So, I was hungry and couldn’t go out to buy anything to eat. Then I asked Vesely if he could at least buy me the bananas, and bring them for me, and he did. I came home really exhausted that day, and just took a shower and went straight to bed. I believe that I’ve eaten more than 2 lbs (1 kg) of bananas that day. But what can I do? That is the nature of my job as a veterinarian. I really LOVE my job, and that is something that can happen. But at least I haven’t eaten something that wasn’t whole30 compliant.
They’re so CUTE!!!?
Another recipe that I’ve tried adjusting for the whole30 is fried zucchinis with marinara sauce. It was a „BINGO“! I didn’t deep fry the zucchinis. All I did is replacing the regular wheat flour with tapioca starch. I fried them on a little bit of ghee (to add more flavor), and then stack them in layers with marinara sauce. Topped with a few fresh cilantro leaves, and it that was a dinner to remember.
For the weekend we were again at my parent’s house, „catsitting“. So I made the cooking as easy as possible. I’ve roasted some potatoes with beef chops and used the leftovers the next day to make a frittata.
I have to say that I feel AMAZING, and I have a lot more energy than I did before. Just as it says in The Whole30: The 30-Day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom, I feel like I have the Tiger Blood, and I believe this is because I’ve already been eating healthy-ish food before this challenge. Vesely is the whole another story. He’s feeling tired all the time, but he can see the GOOD results with his digestion and he’s glad that he joined me. I know this must be hard for him, but I also believe that this will help him realize what is bothering his stomach.
That is all from me for the week 3 update. The next week is going to be a bit longer because we have 10 more days left before we go to the reintroduction week. And I plan on sharing everything with you.
If you have any queastions, feel free to share them in the comments below. I would be more than happy to give an answer and help you with more tips.
Until next week,
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