September is almost over! Which means I am WAY behind on getting my kids Halloween costumes made… Our family theme this year is going to be incredible, just wait!
Monday, I went grocery shopping, and literally less than 5 minutes in the store I lost my list. I could. not. find. it! So I had to guess what was on it, because I couldn’t remember, I made it Saturday or Sunday and the only thing on the menu I could remember was green chili enchiladas for Taco Tuesday! Hopefully, I am not running to the store a bunch more times this week.
So here it is, ONE STORE! HEB, I got some lettuce, shredded cheese (Y’all I KNOW block cheese is cheaper, but I do not have time to shred cheese or wash more dishes, plus 2 pounds shredded for $5 is a great price.) Chicken broth, and a misplaced can that snuck in masquerading, beef broth, HEB brand Shell Mac and Cheese (I have no idea what we will do if we ever leave Texas, this Mac and Cheese is the BEST EVER, well beside homemade.) More cream of rice, sour cream, diced green chilis, hotdog buns, grapes, tortillas, and two loaves of bread (2 for $2 sale! One went straight into the freezer.) Total spent: $26.16, which leave a grocery roll over of about $20. WHOOP!
I was planning on going grocery shopping Friday morning, but we had done a really good job cleaning out the fridge before we left for vacation. Now that we are home, we need something more than carrots… I want to share my experience, feeding a family of 3, while also doing Whole30 on a budget. Our total food budget for the month is about $450.
Today, I went grocery shopping with the goal of spending less than $100. Here is what I got:
Now, there was a few things I didn’t get (bacon), and a couple of things that I could have not gotten, like guacamole and mandarin oranges. I did purchase everything at Winco, and nothing was specifically purchased as organic.
We are excited to start on Friday, well at least me. Mr. Wonderful, is convinced he is going to starve.
I am trying to decide if I want to post daily like last time. Anyway, I wanted to post about how it is going so far, you know cause day two is so hard.
I haven’t officially said to Mr. Wonderful, “hey, I decided to do another round of Whole30.” Mainly, because he would just say either, “not again” or “stay within the budget”. But I am not keeping it a secret, I mean, my notes and cookbooks are left out in open, so I am sure he knows.
Also, I wasn’t planning on grocery shopping today, but since I started Whole30 a week early I kind of needed to. So I made a grocery list, I double checked what we had and what we needed. I checked our grocery budget. $68 until next payday, in two weeks…
So Mr. Wonderful and I sat down and chatted about robbing Peter the pay Paul, or how we can “roll with the punches”. We moved some money out of restaurants, especially since, Whole30 means little to no eating out.
I went grocery shopping, hoping to spend less than $50. I spent $62.15. There were a couple of things I did not get, mainly because Winco doesn’t carry it and I had already over spent on my goal. I did purchase more meat than we would be eating this week, so that will help next week.
I am mad or disappointed I over spent, nah.
Food Log:
Breakfast: I planned a fun big breakfast, but I was the only one up, so just eggs, cucumbers and an orange.
Whole30 Breakfast Day 2
Lunch: Leftovers! I do have in my plan to have a salad for lunch, but honestly, leftovers will probably be more appealing.
Dinner: This was really easy, and it sounds a lot fancier than the prep makes it, balsamic glazed chicken and roasted potatoes, I added a medium salad with paleo ranch, cucumbers, carrots and olives.
Whole30 Dinner Day 2
Snack: I was still hungry after dinner so Mr. Z and I shared some grapes and toasted Almonds.
I know, I said I more than likely wasn’t going to do another. But I have been trying to follow the Low-FODMAP rules, and I have found that I have been eating cookies all day, just because they were Low-FODMAP, and I am lazy.
Despite how much I hated the rules of Whole30, I actually stuck to it. So, I figured since eating cookies all day, is opposite of what I want, I thought Whole30 would be a good thing to do again.
But, I am going to not be crazy strict. That’s not a true Whole30 then. Yup, you are right. But I am not going to buy Fish Sauce on Amazon, just because I can’t find a compliant fish sauce in the area. I am not drinking fish sauce for the sugar, (who drinks it anyway!) and I guess in reality, I could just leave it out. But whatever. And buying an expensive dijon mustard just because it doesn’t have white wine it in. I already don’t consume alcohol, so then again, how much then would be in the ¼ tsp, I used to make some “compliant” mayo…
I need to keep this Whole30 in our budget. So, that means, I won’t be buying any crazy new different brand, just because it is “compliant” instead of the store brand that has sugar/wine/one non compliant ingredient. I am going to go with the 80/20 rule this round. Well, more like the 99/1 rule, I am going to limit my use of non-compliant ingredients to one.
For example, I decided to start today, instead of next week, so I didn’t everything I needed. Like, a lemon, I do have bottled lemon juice. But bottle lemon juice has a forbidden ingredient of a SULFITE. I said, “screw it”, and made my mayo, with it anyway. So now my homemade mayo isn’t Whole30 compliant, but that was the only thing that wasn’t in my lunch. Same with dinner, dinner called for fish sauce, which has sugar.
This is my personal, realistic, staying within my budget Whole30. It would be torn apart on the forum. So what, I don’t care, I am going to follow the rules as best I can, without going crazy about every single minuscule detail.
Yesterday, I started planning out 30 dinners for Whole30, thinking I would start in October, then I thought, nah, let’s just start next week. Spend the week getting ready. Then this morning I thought, why not just start today. Plus that way, I will be done in time for my Mother-in-Law’s birthday! (Wacky Cake! Yummy!)
Today, I spent some time making a spreadsheet of meals to keep me on track. It isn’t finished, but go ahead and check it out. Also, made a shopping list for this week, and will go shopping tomorrow. (Oh! and I figured out how to edit pictures on my phone, and how to take fairly decent ones too! Hopefully, WordPress uploads them right.)
Whole30 Menu Planning
Like last round I will post meals, it was fun. And it helps keep me honest.
Breakfast: 1 whole egg and 1 egg white (leftover from making mayo), scrambled with some garlic infused olive oil and sauteed green peppers, cucumbers, bacon, and a banana.
Whole30 Breakfast Day 1
Lunch: Tuna fish mixed with homemade mayo, cucumbers, black grapes.
Whole30 Lunch Day 1
Dinner: Slow cooker Thai Beef Stew with mashed potatoes.
The good:
I get to step on that scale!!
Start: 208
Day 31: 199.2 WHAT! WHAT!!
Sleep?
Meh, I have a toddler who joins us almost nightly
Energy?
Ebbs and flows, but it mostly up
digestion?
I do not believe Whole30 helped it, especially since I had more occurrences of flares toward the end.
Reintroduction plan (5 days between new foods):
Day 1: CHEESE
Day 2 through 6: Whole30
Day 7: Peanut butter and beans
Day 8 through 12: Whole30
Day 13: Rice and corn
Day 14 through 18: Whole30
Day 19: Gluten
So far dairy has been fine. I had straight cheese, pizza (paleo with cheese) and frozen yogurt!
Cheese and applesPIZZA
Froyo with lots of chocolate!
I did also have some popcorn at the movie in the park, and some potato chips at the park with some friends tonight.
Over all I am feeling good. A little sluggish, but over all fine.
So now that Whole30 is “done”, I am going to start the 21 Day Fix Extreme, while finishing up the reintroduction phase.
Also, I think I want to do a local half-marathon in October. So, need to start training for that if I really do want to do that.
For having “dieted” as long as I have, I am always surprised when I finish a program. Whole30 isn’t really a program, but you know what I mean. Whole30 has been an interesting experiment for me. I went through the typical, I HATE THIS phase, and now I am kind of content.
Am I going to keep going, sure, but with some changes.
I am really looking forward to tomorrow, PIZZA! Oh, and I get to see if I dropped any weight. To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised it I was up from the start. My body hates me.
Food Log:
Wednesday: Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, blueberries and cucumbers Lunch: Leftover taco salad Dinner: Curried chicken with zoddles and carrot noodles Snack: Apple and sunbutter
Thursday: Breakfast: GGS and a hard boiled egg Lunch: Leftover taco salad Snack: Banana Dinner: Sloppy joes over sweet potato fries and cucumbers and ranch
Dinner whole30 day 30
Coming soon a post on my over whole30 feelings and what is next.
Two full days left! 6 meals! I am looking forward to kicking the no SWYPO rule out the window.
No, I won’t go “carb” crazy, but being able to have the option to have a “real” sandwich is freeing.
Started my SIBO antibiotics today. Hopefully, this is the cure! Or at least helps, significantly.
Food Log: Breakfast: 2 hard boiled eggs, cucumbers, and blueberries
Breakfast whole30 day 28
Lunch: leftover meatloaf, carrots, and cucumbers Dinner: a giant taco salad, lettuce, taco meat, guacamole, “sour cream” olives, and cucumbers
Dinner whole30 day 28
ALSO! Today, I went on my first run (ok, walk/run) in over 2 months! At my last race, I sustain a bad muscle strain and have been in physical therapy since. It wasn’t pain free, but using the tools I learned in PT, I was able to stretch and relief my discomfort.
As we were walking out the door for church, we got invited to lunch. We also already had plans for dinner. We spent all day out of the house, with friends, family, and food!
Breakfast: Leftover carrots, onions and potatoes with a chicken sausage
Snack: GGS
Lunch: Tuna Salad, carrot sticks, salad with paleo ranch (Lunch was not a whole30 friendly meal, so I brought my own food. Glad our friends understand!)
Dinner: (I took a picture, but it isn’t on my phone…) grilled, marinated chicken, salad, roasted carrots and green beans. It was delicious!
Monday:
Monday’s are always crazy, and I tend to dislike them. But today I got some great news. More details in a coming post.
Breakfast: GGS and I added some hemp hearts and coconut oil to make it a full meal.
Lunch: Hamburger over lettuce with caramelized onions and guacamole
Food Log: Breakfast: I woke up wanting a Sausage Egg McMuffin ( I haven’t eaten McDonald’s since before I was pregnant), so with some inspiration from the Whole30 recipe instagram feed I made myself one.
Crispy hash browns
Made hashbrowns in the waffle iron, so they would be crispy, added some homemade sausage to a egg, and wham bam, YUM!
Breakfast whole30 day 25
Lunch: Mr. Wonderful asked for some crispy hash browns, so I made some more and add some sausage to it for me.
Dinner: Roasted Vegetables (recipe coming soon) and chicken sausage.
A month or so ago, I took a Stool Test to figure out what all my gut issues are. Saw my doctor today about the results. Other than having some low good gut bacteria, nothing was of noteworthiness.
No sign of inflammatory bowels or yeast overgrowth.
Mr. Wonderful jokes that I should just get a colon transplant.
Well after some sleep, I am off to research SIBO.
Food Log: Breakfast: GGS, sausage and eggs Lunch: Enchilada salad-lettuce, green beans, enchilada sauce, ground beef, “sour cream”, and guac
Lunch Whole30 day 24
Dinner: was a disaster! We were going to grill burgers at the park, but we didn’t bring enough charcoal and they were cooked, but undercooked to my liking, and I couldn’t eat it. Luckily, I brought carrots and apple slices and some sunbutter.
