The Sweet Life: Diary of a Health Nut: Whole30 Round 2 plus Meal Prep

Good afternoon cupcakes!

Today is my first day of my second whole round of Whole30 (I did a Whole30 back at the beginning of summer and I did two rounds of about 7 days between then and now). This past weekend I meal prepped for Monday -Friday. If you want the rules to Whole30 or tips, check out this blog post: What to Expect on the Whole30 & Whole30 Rules.

First a little recap from the weekend. This weekend I stayed at my apartment and had absolutely no plans for once in my life. It felt so great to relax, but I did not do as much school work as I probably should have done... It's catching up to me today.

Anyways, Saturday night my roommate, her visitors from Wisconsin, and I watched Hocus Pocus. Such a classic fall time movie and it brings back memories from my childhood! My breakfast Sunday was egg whites with Frank's Red Hot Sauce and an apple with Youfresh Naturals White Chocolate Coconut Cashew Butter.

My dinner Sunday, while watching football, was chicken breast, zucchini, sweet potato, and YouFresh Naturals Cookies and Scream Pumpkin Coconut Cashew Butter.

Saturday I decided to go grocery shopping at Meijer. Here is a picture of most of my groceries before meal prepping. Below will be my complete grocery list.

Grocery List:

- 2 big packages of chicken (5-6lb pkg. each)

-3 cartons of egg whites (large ones)

-2 jugs of unsweetened almond milk

-raw almonds (12 oz bag)

-2 bananas

-2 apples

-2 plantains

- 2 jicama

-2 bunches of kale

-4 lemons

-1 bulb garlic

-Frank's Red Hot Sauce

-2 avocaods

-1 pkg. celery

-lots of zucchini- I think I have like 8-10

-5-6 sweet potatoes

Other things I already have:

-Pink Himalayan salt

-coconut oil

Now I will walk you through my meal prep:

Sweet Potatoes:

I like to cook my sweet potatoes in the microwave because it takes way less time than the oven. Here I have six sweet potatoes that I washed and poked with a knife to prevent them from exploding. I placed them in the microwave for 10-15 minutes or until they are soft.

Plantains:

I also fried some plantains. I took two plantains and sliced them up. I heated a skillet and added coconut oil to the skillet. Once hot, add the plantains and sprinkle with Himalayan salt. Fry up until golden brown.

This is the coconut oil I use. Tip: don't cook or bake with olive oil. It actually doesn't hold up well to high temperatures. I always cook with coconut oil for this reason. All the benefits of olive oil disappear when you use them for cooking or baking at higher temperatures.

Here is the salt I use. This salt is not processed as much as table salt. I use this stuff to flavor up many dishes.

Homemade Almond Butter:

This stuff is seriously so easy to make if you have a food processor. Simply roast your almonds on a baking sheet at 275 degrees for 5-10 minutes or until they are fragrant and start to turn a little brown. Don't burn the almonds unless you like stuff to taste burnt. Let the almonds cool to room temperature and then add them to the food processor. Blend the almonds until smooth. It will take a while until it totally gets smooth, but have patience and I promise you it will get there. You will not need to add anything else to make it smooth. When in doubt, keep blending. I think it probably takes 6-10 minutes for it to be thin and smooth. I add some Himalayan salt at the end.

Chicken Breasts:

If you have a slow cooker, it will be your best friend for meal prep. Place chicken breasts in the slow cooker and cover with water. Add whatever Whole30 approved seasonings you would like such as: chili powder, cumin, Himalayan salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, etc. Place the slow cooker on low and cook for 8-12 hours. Your chicken will be so juicy and delicious.

Egg Whites:

I like to microwave my egg whites in a ceramic dish or mug. I placed 1 cup of egg whites in a ceramic bowl and microwaved for 1 minute. Take the bowl out and stir then cook for another minute. If the eggs are not done, keep cooking in 30 second intervals until done. Tip: you may want to grease the bowl with something before cooking or you will most likely struggle cleaning the bowl later... coconut oil?!

Zucchini:

Wash and cut the zucchini into rounds. Place parchment paper or aluminum foil on a baking sheet and add the sliced zucchini. Crush garlic and sprinkle on top with Himalayan salt. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until the zucchini is tender.

Kale:

Oven roasted kale is my favorite. First I take out all the stems. Cover the baking sheet with 1-2 tsp of coconut oil. Add the kale pieces to the baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 375 for 5-10 minutes or until the kale is crispy but not brown. Keep a close eye on it because it will burn fast and easily. I usually stir about half way through cooking.

Jicama:

Peel the jicama and then slice into pieces. Add to a pan and cover with a lid (you can add garlic or other seasonings if you wish & coconut oil) cook until the jicama starts to brown or until it is your desired done-ness.

That is a wrap on how to bake/cook everything for my meal prep. I have my meal plans created in an excel sheet. If you are wondering... I am doing carb cycling while following the Whole30. I have high carb days on my leg and back days and lower carb/higher fat on all the other days. Here is a picture of my complete prepped meals. I measured everything out using a food scale.

How delicious do all these meals look? Each column is a days worth of meals. If you guys are interested I can share my complete excel meal prep sheet, but keep in mind they are personalized for me and based on my body/ goals. Therefore, other people's daily food intake may be different.

Here are my meals from today so far (meals 1-4 out of 6)

Meal 1: Oven roasted kale, 1 c. egg whites, and Frank's Red Hot Sauce.