Just a few months ago, meal planning seemed so overwhelming to me, but since I’ve spent a lot more time in the kitchen recently, it’s not such a daunting task. In fact meal planning helps the kitchen become fun! As you’re looking ahead at 4 weeks of strict eating, planning out your menu is key to succeeding with ease. Of course things will come up and change, but isn’t that just life?
Another way to set yourself up to success is leftovers. They’re great. Double (or triple, depending on how many you’re cooking for) your recipes so you’ll have plenty of leftovers so you won’t have to cook every single day.
Breakfast:
Eggs, eggs, eggs…this is what breakfasts are made of. Hard-boiled eggs are a super quick and easy breakfast. Hard-boil (learn how to do it super easy in the oven!) a dozen or two each week and keep them peeled in the fridge. This way on the crazy mornings rushing out to conquer your day, you can grab and go and keep yourself on track.
For our mornings, Jared and I juice an array of fruits and vegetables about once a week and have a glass in the morning before our coffee. You can read about Jared’s juicing obsession here.
The weekends are a good time to fry or scramble up eggs filled with goodies. Keeping your menu versatile so you don’t get sick of eggs.
Lunch:
Salads and leftovers are our most common. They’re easy. Jared stocks up his office with lots of fruit and salad packs (just lettuce no toppings). He also keeps a few salad dressings at work. Tessemae’s labels which of their products are Whole30 compliant.
Snacks:
Hard-boiled eggs, nuts (no peanuts) and fruit are your best options. We also stock Larabars and keep a few in our cars, my purse, and such for moments we’re out and about and hungry. Not all Larabars are compliant, so I made a list of which ones and a go and which ones are a no, read here.
Dinners:
Week 1: You’re excited and energized and ready to conquer the world, so cook a new meal every day, freezing the leftovers. This way, on those days you are farthest from interested in cooking and just want to order a pizza, you can pull a delicious, compliant meal out of the freezer and warm it up with little to no effort! I never quite realize how often we eat out until we’re on a round of Whole30. Crazy.
For weeks 2-4: cook at least 1 to 2 meals and eat leftovers for the other days. It’s a great way to keep you from getting burned out and tempted to go off plan. Mix up the sides to keep it fresh, swap green beans for baked sweet potato and such.
As each week approaches, make a list of ingredients you’re going to need. You can even use the Whole30 brand shopping list to help you prepare your meal plan and grocery list.
Next: Shopping and Stocking your Kitchen–
This post is part of a series on How to Prepare for a Successful Whole30. Click the picture below for more info:
