As you surely are aware, I’m one of the thousands of folks out there starting a Whole30 on January 1st. And boy am I ready! I thought I’d take a moment to share with you this morning how I’ve stocked my fridge (so far) for week 1.
A rainbow of healthy foods!
Honestly, this was all pretty easy to prepare. It did take some time, though, for sure! Here’s how you can do the same:
Greens that’ll stay fresh all week:
- Tear leaves from tough stems if necessary (e.g. kale, swiss chard, etc.), otherwise, chop into appropriately-sized pieces.
- In the bowl of a salad spinner or a large bowl, add greens and cover with cold water. Swish around to remove all dirt. Drain.
- Spin your greens using a salad spinner until they’re as dry as possible.
- In a food storage container, place a layer of paper towels. Place one layer of greens on top of this, and cover with another paper towel. Repeat this process until all greens are accounted for, and wrapped in paper towels. You can reuse these paper towels next week, too!
- Your greens should stay fresh for up to a week, depending on how hearty they are, provided you don’t eat them sooner!
Hard-Boiled Eggs:
I’m pretty bad at boiling eggs such that they’re easy to peel. Older eggs are easier to peel. I usually don’t bother with vinegar and all that, but some people swear by it. Feel free to share any tips in the comments!
Meatballs:
I used this recipe, originally from Well Fed (which I totally purchased last night!), with a few personal adaptations. My meat of choice was ground turkey. I didn’t make them super spicy, since I find that if I’m gonna eat something all week, it is better to have milder flavor so I don’t get sick of it.
Steak:
I had a big ol’ 1.5lb steak in the fridge that had to be cooked. I’d never done this before, actually! I heated up some delicious Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil in a pan over medium-high heat, and seared it for four minutes on each side. But when I cut into it, it was a bit too rare for me, so I put it back in a covered pan over medium-low heat for a few minutes. Now it might be a bit over-done, but at this point in my life, I’d rather that. I sliced up about half of it, leaving the other half as-is so I can cut it later. I hope this keeps well over the next few days.
Sweet Potato Wedges:
I chopped three sweet potatoes into wedges, tossed them with some more coconut oil, and arranged them on two pans. Baked ‘em at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for ten minutes, flipped, and continued to roast until they were cooked through and crispy. I didn’t add salt or garlic or any delicious spices, though, because these are good, and I don’t want them to be too good. Why? Because if they are, I’ll eat them all right now!
Carrot and Cucumber Slices:
Peel and chop to the desired size. Um… that’s it, really.
Tomato Sauce:
For some reason, I insist on doing this the hard way. You could use crushed tomatoes, or you could be like me and pour one 28oz can of diced tomatoes and a can of tomato paste into the slow cooker, spray tomato juice everywhere with your immersion blender to get rid of most of those big tomato chunks, and then spend a few minutes cleaning the kitchen. There are plenty of good tomato sauce recipes out there. I kept it simple by just tossing in a bay leaf, some red pepper flakes, and a bit of olive oil at the end.
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I still feel like I need some things, though. I have plenty of frozen vegetables, which will be great for bulking up the veggie content of my meals. That said, nothing compares to the texture of fresh veggies, and there’s no other option when you want to eat them raw. So, if I can make it out to the grocery store, I’ll be sure to pick up some more fresh vegetables.
