{Meal Prep Whole30 Week2}

Hello Cupcakes!

It's Week 2 of Whole30 for me! Time is flying by. This weekend I got to meal prep at my parents' house. I cannot wait to have a house of my own. I need my kitchen space!

I like to meal plan during the week so I have an idea of what groceries I will need. My plan was as follows:

-Eggs & Potatoes

-Pulled Pork with Greens and Potatoes

-Stuffed Acorn Squash

-Chia Seed Bowls

-Fruit for pre-workout and snack

I also picked up a few other things from Kroger in my hometown since we don't have a Kroger in my college town. For example, the chicken sausage, almond butter, and prosciutto. 

I woke up early Saturday morning to go to the grocery. I love waking up before the sunrise. This picture doesn't even do it justice. 

The first thing I did when I got back from the grocery was start my pulled pork in the crock pot. I added apple cider vinegar, water, chili powder, salt, pepper, parsley, basil, curry powder, garlic powder, and onion powder. I cooked this on low for 5 hours. 

The next thing I wanted to get started was the stuffed acorn squash. I modified the recipe by @vanessa_eats_clean_food . 

Apple, Sausage and Cauliflower stuffed Acorn Squash

Ingredients:

2 small acorn squash 

1 pound of pork sausage* (I used ground deer burger) 

2 cups of cauliflower, finely chopped (I used pre-chopped cauli rice)

½ onion, minced

1 apple, cored and diced

½ teaspoon fennel seed

½ teaspoon ground sage

¼ teaspoon celery seed 

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

¼ teaspoon freshly cracked pepper

½ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

1 egg, whisked

¼ cup almond meal 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Slice 2 small acorn squash in half. Remove seeds and brush the flesh with olive oil. Bake squash, cut side up, in a small casserole dish in a preheated oven for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, brown sausage, adding the onions half way through. Add cauliflower and apple. Cook, stirring often, until sausage is thoroughly cooked and the cauliflower and apple are tender. Add fennel, sage, celery seed, garlic, pepper and salt, incorporate well.

Once the meat mixture cools, add almond meal and egg and mix well. Spoon filling into the cavity of the cooked squash and return to the oven for 20 more minutes. 

I used Olivado Extra Virgin Avocado Oil to meal prep this week. I posted about this awesome company in this blog post: Paleo Pancakes using Olivado Oil. I love that the bottles are smaller and that the bottles are made from dark glass. The flavor is amazing!

Here is what the mixture looks like before stuffing the squash. 

Here are the squash before going into the oven. These would be so fun to make in the fall. 

And... the finished product! YUM!

Next, I sliced some white sweet potatoes. I used Olivado Avocado Oil, Flavor God Everything Spicy, and diced red onion. I baked these in the oven at 400 for 30-40 minutes. Make sure you stir them half way through. 

I also cooked some sunny side up eggs. I made 2 eggs per breakfast, so I cooked 10 eggs total. I used Olivado Avocado Oil to coat the pan. I used Pink Himalayan salt to season the eggs. 

Here is what the meal prep looks like with all my containers. I made kale chips in the oven as well. 

Here is what the final product ended up consisting of:

Breakfast: Oven baked potatoes, 2 eggs, green onions, Primal Kitchen Chipotle Mayo, & Trader Joes Salsa (Whole30 approved)

Snack: Chia Bowls- chia seeds, cashew milk, hemp seeds, tigernut flour, blueberries, & almond butter

Lunch: Oven roasted kale, oven roasted potatoes, pulled pork, 1 slice of avocado

Dinner: stuffed acorn squash with 1 slice of avocado & 1 dollop of Primal Kitchen Chipotle Mayo

I will also have apples and bananas.

To back track, on Friday night my parents took me to dinner. We went to one of my favorite places in my hometown. They have THE best salad bar around town. Here was my huge salad.

I also made a bomb breakfast Sunday. It consisted of steak, eggs, & blueberries.

Here was a chia seed bowl I made last week using dried Mulberries. If you have never tried these, you need them in your life. I found them on clearance at Target. 

Here is what it looks like before adding unsweetened cashew milk. 

Also, update on my foot... I got my cast off last Wednesday. YAY! I am currently in a boot until March 1st & I start physical therapy tomorrow. Today I did legs at the gym which consisted of 

-leg extensions X 12

-single leg extensions X 8 each leg

-hamstring curls X 12

-single hamstring curls X 5 each leg

-inner thighs X 12

-outer thighs X 12

-donkey kicks X 30 each leg

-donkey kickback X 30 each leg

-leg lift plank X 30 each leg

I did 4 sets of each exercise

I ate a Coffee Chocolate RX BAR as my Pre-Workout snack Sunday afternoon. Did you know RX Bars are Clean Protein Bars? They are also Whole30 approved.

 No Added Sugar    |    No GMO    |    No Dairy    |    No Soy    |    No Gluten    |    No B.S. 

I've had the Pumpkin Spice, Coffee Chocolate, & Blueberry. So far, the Coffee Chocolate is my favorite, but the others are also so tasty! The Blueberry tastes like a Blueberry Poptart. The Pumpkin Spice would probably be my favorite in the Fall.  I wrote a post about these a while back: Pumpkin Spice Rx Bar

I cannot wait to get released from Physical Therapy and start the Pre-Training for BBG! Before surgery I got to Week 4 of BBG, so I am eager to start the guides back up. Last time I did not start with the Pre-Training because I was in good shape. This time, my endurance will not be as high. 

I am proud that I kept up with working out through this whole process. I think it will make it easier to bounce back!

Let me know if you have any questions or comments!

Later Taters

"It's a beautiful day, don't let it get away."