Whole 30, Week 1 – Menu
One of the most difficult challenges in changing a diet/lifestyle is the organisation and for a large family it may indeed seem overwhelming. Reading blogs/websites is a wonderful help but many of the recipes/menus are for a family of four, and some food choices would make the costs for a family of eleven or a family on a tight budget incredible. My hope is by sharing the reality it may aid families transitioning or those wanting more ideas. Whilst I am striving to be Whole 30 (and not always succeeding) my family is not yet totally Paleo/Primal. Angela also has a large family and her menus for Week 1 and Week 2 on Whole 30 are interesting and inspirational.
* The items on the menu which are not Whole 30 will be in italic. Mostly they have been eaten by the non-whole 30ers, not me. Potatoes in particular still occur on our menu as we find them difficult for a large family budget to eliminate.
My apologies for an incomplete list as relying on memory rather than a food diary is not the most accurate.
Breakfasts
- Vegetable Juice; Carrot, Celery and Beetroot.
- Yoghurt and Fruit (Children)
- Fruit Smoothies; Orange Juice, Frozen Banana and Peaches.
- Omelette; topped with spring onion and tomato
- Bacon and Fried Eggs
Lunches
Variety and presentation are key elements in salads, each salad has a slightly different variation, we are also enjoying introducing new foods. Salad choices in the past week include; lettuce, tomato, carrot, capsicum, cucumber, broccoli, green beans, mushroom, radish, baby spinach, red cabbage, white cabbage and red onion.
We never add dressing to our salads, but I did make a French dressing, no-one was keen preferring the unaltered taste of salad.
- Shipwreck Stew with Green Salad (Beans were not Whole 30) (A Favourite.)
- Bacon, Eggs and Fried Tomatoes.
- Tuna Salad and Garden Salad (Another success)
- Chicken and Salad (purchased at Healthy Habits when I met PC for lunch)
- Plenty of Salads (better recording next week)
Dinners
- Grilled Chicken Thighs with Potatoes in their Jackets and Green Salad. (Hit!)
- Homemade Rissoles with Mashed Pumpkin, Mashed Potato, Broccoli and Peas.
- BBQ; Sausages and Lamb Chops with Mashed Potato, Mashed Pumpkin, and Green Beans
- Leftover Shipwreck Stew with Roasted Bacon Brussel Sprouts and Zucchini and Mashed Potato and Pumpkin. (A huge hit! I just added sliced zucchini in with the brussel sprouts)
- Chips (fast food)
- BBQ; Sausages, Lamb Chops and Green Salad
- Baked Dinner; Roast Lamb with Baked Sweet Potatoes and Potatoes and Green Beans.
- * Bonus, previous week, Chicken Thigh in Tomato and Mango Sauce with Mashed Potato, Mashed Pumpkin and Broccoli. (Hit!)
* For four meals we had 5 extra teenage boys visiting, I was cooking for 11 boys in total, plus three adults (younger girls were visiting elsewhere.)
Snacks
We often buy a box or two of fruit per week, although with Whole 30 the emphasis is on vegetables rather than fruit.
- Bananas
- Nectarines
- Water
5 Comments
Anonymous
Makes me hungry just reading it … Great job. And some great meals.
PC
JOYfilled Family
praise God for your perseverance. this is no easy feat.
i've found that making double the dinner helps for lunches. my little guy is only 4 but he can eat a whole tri-tip/3 days. he's actually giving my husband a run for his money.
Angel
I had to look up rissoles 🙂 They sound good! How do you make them?
Cinnamon
Thank you for sharing your menu. I love to see what other healthy eaters are enjoying.
You reminded me to juice….carrot juice with apples or pineapple is soo yummy.
~Cinnamon
Erin
PC
Glad you are happy:)
Joy
I try but leftovers with teen boys aren't that common.
Angela
Are rissoles meatballs there? I'll post a recipe for you.
Cinnamon
I've never tried carrot and pineapple! I will have to. Really nice to be sharing food journey with you:)