Our Favorite Whole 30 Meals…




– [Allyson] Hey, it’s Allyson and Alayna from CORE. We are here with our third blog on our Whole30 experience. And we’re going to tell you a little bit about how it worked out for us, a little demonstration.

– [Alayna] So, for me, I found a couple things that worked really well with my busy schedule. So, my favorite thing was definitely the breakfast hash that I kind of came up with. So, in the beginning of the week, I would sauté a bunch of sweet potatoes, cut up really small into cubes, with mushrooms, zucchini, and some onions… Then I found a great breakfast sausage that I sautéed all that together, and I would make four servings of it.

And then, in the morning, all I would do is just fry an egg or two, and that would be my really satisfying breakfast. Sometimes I’d put a little bit of avocado on top. So that just made it easy so that I could just do it, literally grab and go in the morning, just like if I had grabbed a croissant or something like that, which I don’t eat anymore.

And then, for lunches, I often just did a salad with a bit of protein. A can of tuna with the homemade mayonnaise was really great, or just some kind of cut up, cubed chicken, and so that just made my lunches really easy.

My favorite thing for dinner I think I found was salmon cakes, which there was a recipe in the Whole 30 cookbook. That was so easy, because I just got canned, skinless, boneless salmon from Trader Joe’s, and then just add almond meal and a couple of other ingredients. And they were incredibly flavorful, so they felt super gourmet, but they were really easy to make.

So those were some of my Whole 30 hacks that I found made it manageable and easy, and I didn’t feel like I was just eating chopped up spinach all the time.

– [Allyson] And I made those salmon cakes just like you did. They were fantastic. My kids even liked them. That’s always the test, can I make this for my whole family, and I’m not making my meal and then everybody else’s meal.

And your tartar sauce.

– [Alayna] Oh, my gosh. The tartar sauce was incredible.

It was so easy. I had already made mayonnaise that week, which takes about two minutes. So then, I just added some dill, and some pickles, and maybe a couple spices.

And my grandma said it was the best tartar sauce she’s ever had anywhere, so…and she’s a good cook, so that means something.

– [Allyson] Yeah. So, those are some awesome ideas, and then, I like your breakfast idea, and I would just, like, repeat again at lunch or give it to my husband for lunch, too, because it’s not just or breakfast anymore.

So, as far as my Whole 30 thing, I had some go-to meals, but I really liked…as she mentioned the sauce recipes. The homemade ketchup and homemade mayonnaise, homemade tomato sauce for pasta, and things like that. Those are ways that I think the world is sneaking sugar in our diet, and you really can’t notice a difference if you leave it out and you make it yourself, but if you buy it off the shelf, it’s going to have sugar. So, even if you’re not doing Whole30, you’re just looking to decrease your sugar intake…Those are some great recipes, the sauces.

Salad dressings are going to have tons of sugar in them, too.

So, the other thing that I learned how to do is make my own RX bars. I started with a recipe, but I’ve tweaked it so much it doesn’t really look like the original. An original RX is dates, and I would mix in figs with the dates to decrease the sugar. Figs have a lot less…maybe half the sugar of dates, and so I mixed some figs and dates, and we also put the nuts in at the end of the food processor, so it had some texture. You got a little crunch, and not just this smooth, blah kind of bar.

So, I’m going to include that recipe down below. And if you want to look at it, scroll down.

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RX Bar Recipe:

Preparation: 15 mins

Serves: 12

INGREDIENTS

1 cup raw almonds

1 cup raw cashews

1 cup pure egg white protein

18 large medjool dates, pitted (10 ounces) 2-4 TBS water

OPTIONAL FLAVOR ADD-INS

1 TBS cinnamon

1 cube fresh ginger (or 1 tsp ground)

1/4 cup cacao powder

1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes

INSTRUCTIONS

Line a 8×8 pan with parchment paper, set aside.

In the bowl of your food processor, process almonds, cashews, and egg white protein until nuts have broken down into small pieces. If using additional flavors (I used cinnamon and ginger here) add them with the first step.

Add in pitted dates and process until combined – the mixture will look a little dry. With the motor running add about 1 tablespoon of water at a time until mixture is sticky and everything comes together. Depending on if your dates were juicy or dry, you may need less or more water.

Once mixtures has come together and is sticky, transfer to lined 8×8 pan. Use slightly wet hands to press evenly into pan. I use a pastry roller to make it extra flat.

Place pan in fridge for 1 hour, or freezer for 30 minutes before cutting into bars. Use large sharp knife and cutting board, cutting bars into 12 or 16 squares.

Enjoy!

Allyson Marshall