Ok, so I told you what we can't eat (grains, dairy, legumes, sugar, alcohol) and how we're supposed to eat (1-2 palm sized servings of protein, 1-2 thumb sized servings of healthy fat, lots of veggies), but what exactly have we been eating? Here's the part where I share the recipes (those that are worth sharing anyway).
Breakfast
As I mentioned, this is the hard part for me. I miss oatmeal so much and also I think it's a big pain in the butt to have to actually cook for breakfast. And it's hard to wedge the above eating rules into something that feels breakfasty enough for me. My initial solution was eggs, but that was going to get old fast. Then we bought a squash and some chard and I thought "I bet squash and chard hash is a thing" and I googled and of course it is. So hash has become my new go-to breakfast food.
Egg Muffins - I used this recipe as the base and put in sautéed tomatoes and zucchini, along with some smoked salmon.
Butternut Squash and Swiss Chard Hash - I used this recipe as written the first time and paired it with the turkey sausage below. However, while I liked it for lunch, I didn't find cumin so appealing first thing in the morning. (Raj had no objection.) I just made a new batch in which I subbed sage for the cumin and paprika. (I also threw in some cubed cooked chicken breast instead of making a separate protein this time.)
Turkey Sausage - We both liked this.
Asparagus and Pancetta Hash - I've had this pinned forever, but we hardly ever get any decent looking asparagus here. Until last weekend...
I also made an egg casserole that was uninteresting at best, so let's not bother with that recipe.
Lunch
As I mentioned, for lunch we pretty much just take leftovers. Last week, we did make a variation on my cabbage and tuna salad, subbing homemade mayo for the regular mayo and Greek yogurt. And this week Raj made some chicken salad of his own invention involving more of the homemade mayo on cubed cooked chicken breast, daikon radish and carrots, which we ate on lettuce. I only have one new lunch recipe for you.
No Fuss Salmon Cakes - This one comes out of the Whole30 book It Starts With Food. It turns out there was some fuss involved for me because the only canned sweet potatoes available here are packed in syrup. Fortunately, I didn't need all the butternut squash I'd roasted for the hash, so I mashed some of that to use instead. They suggest making tartar sauce, but I thought they were good with regular old yellow mustard.
Dinner
Dinner has been far less of an adjustment than breakfast has. Some things I've made over the past two weeks are recipes I've used before, just eliminating the cheese or polenta or whatever. That (along with learning not to snack) will I think be the biggest benefit for me - learning to cook more dinners based around protein and veggies, with no need to add grain-based side dishes. And while of course cheese is a wonderful thing, many dinners are still quite good without it. I know. No one could be more surprised about this information than me. Here are the recipes for our best dinners so far:
Steak Fajitas - The clear winner for both of us and a recipe that will definitely go into the post-Whole30 rotation. I wanted to make something special for Raj's birthday since he couldn't have cake or booze, so I followed this recipe for steak fajitas (though I cooked the steak on the stove instead of the grill) and we ate them over lettuce, topped with homemade guacamole (Raj) or pico de gallo (me), cilantro, and lime juice. I actually liked them better this way than in a tortilla.
Pecan Crusted Salmon with Roasted Carrots and Shallots - Dijon mustard is forbidden under Whole30 so I just stirred some mustard powder into homemade mayo for the salmon. It was really good the first night, but not as great for leftovers, so while I'll probably make it again, I won't double it next time. The carrots were very nice.
Chicken Zucchini Poppers - I tried following the directions to pan fry these, but they entirely fell apart, so I followed the alternate directions to bake the rest and they turned out quite well. I served them with a fake tzatziki sauce made of homemade mayo, chopped cucumber, fresh dill, and some lime juice. It was a dragon boat practice night and I don't get home until after 7:30, so I made these ahead, along with a salad that we had as our veggie side. I plan to make these again.
Balsamic Skirt Steak with Roasted Tomatoes - This is a recipe I've made several times before. We just skipped the polenta.
Crab Cakes with Faux Yucca Fries and Cole Slaw - Raj cooked this one. He subbed almond flour for the breadcrumbs to coat the crab cakes. We don't get yucca here, but we do have these white sweet potatoes that have a similar taste and consistency, so he made the fries using them. And the cole slaw was shredded cabbage coated in the dressing from the linked grilled chipotle fish tacos recipe. He subbed homemade mayo for the sour cream and Tabasco Chipotle for the adobo sauce. He also tried to make pub-style burger sauce for the crab cakes (you remember this sauce obviously since I told you it was the BEST STUFF EVER so you clearly trusted me and therefore began regularly making it - we call it crack sauce, as do our neighbors who still talk about having had it at a cook out here) but it was kind of a sad imitation due to the missing Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Still good, just not crack sauce.
Condiments
Homemade Mayo - If you've read this far, you've seen this mentioned several times above. I chose this recipe because it says it's so easy a blindfolded child could successfully make it. Clearly it has been a staple in our Whole30 thus far.
Spicy Guacamole - I've never made guacamole before because I don't eat it on the (admittedly juvenile) grounds that it looks like vomit. But I made this for Raj for his birthday and he liked it. The pico I made myself was just chopped tomato, onion, cilantro, and cucumber with lime juice.
Lemon Herb Vinaigrette - I used all olive oil since canola oil isn't allowed under Whole30 rules.
So there you have all our personally tested Whole30 recipes that are fit to share. So far. Seventeen days to go...