Linking up with Jenna at Call Her Happy today for some Five Favorites!
The most important step to ensuring you have a successful Whole30 experience is being prepared. Especially during those first crucial few days when all the angry feels are going to be attacking your brain and making you want to punch walls and gobble down bricks of cheese, you'll want to make sure your fridge and pantry are locked and loaded. Here's a quick list of things that I just couldn't do without during this #holidaywhole30!
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| Trader Joe's Coconut Oil |
Coconut Oil. You've heard those weirdo hippy friends of yours talking about it and wondered to yourself, "what's all the hubub, bub?" I'm no health expert, so I can't break down the scientific data for you here. However, I do know that this stuff is full of all the "good fats" and is a much healthier alternative to those yucky veggie oils you see lining the shelves. I keep this stuff on my counter for everything from frying eggs, to sauteing veggies, to plopping a little spoonful in my morning coffee (it's good for your brain, yo!) I like this Trader Joe's oil because it has a pretty subtle coconut taste, and I'm not the world's biggest fan of that "tropical" vibe. Ya dig?
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Trader Joe's Almond Butter
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Oooh, almond butter. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways: on apples, on bananas, in smoothies, right off the spoon... This stuff is just good, you guys. I may or may not have developed a slight addiction to this stuff, so I try and keep my intake to a minimum. Too much of a good thing can be
delicious counter-productive.
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| Wholly Guacamole Minis |
It seems like every time I go to the store, the avocados are in one of two states: they're either hard as rocks or total mush-footballs. This can be pretty frustrating on it's own, but add to that the fact that I'm really good at leaving avocado in the pantry, forgetting about them until they're completely disintegrated into mealy nothingness... it's a lose-lose situation here in my casa. Enter these little beauties! For less than $4 you can get a pack of four little guacamole cups, all seasoned up and ready to be added to a burger, salad, mashed with a hard-boiled egg, mixed with chicken for a quick chicken salad, used as a dip for veggies, or just eaten straight-up with a spoon. With a super-short list of whole ingredients (
and a spicy option, as well!) these things are fantastic to have in the fridge.
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| Purity Farms Organic Ghee |
When I first started researching the Whole30 plan, I was a little worried about the lack of whole butter. I've been in the "butter is better" camp for quite a long time, and have always given that weird margarine junk-in-a-tub the side eye at the grocery store. Olive oil and coconut oil were great and all, but no butter? Well, guess what? Ghee is butter. It's just been clarified, meaning all the milk solids have been removed. This is great news for people with a lactose sensitivity, as well as for my morning scrambled eggs. This stuff is delicious in mashed cauliflower, sauteed veggies, used to sear steak or get a nice browning on chicken. It really can be used in any way you would use regular butter. I just bought the Purity Farms brand for the first time today and have liked it so far. I've been buying the Trader Joe's brand up until this point, which is a little cheaper where I live.
You can also make this stuff yourself, but I'm too big of a pansy. I just know I would waste 8 bucks worth of Kerrygold and be ticked off for a week. No bueno!
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| Evolution Fresh Juices |
I was a little hesitant to add these to the list, but I'm doing it anyway. The Whole30 website discourages people from going nuts with juices and smoothies and recommends you just eat your fruits and vegetables instead. I totally understand that, and I'm not suggesting you go nuts, either. However, there are times when I just don't feel like physically eating anything, but I know I need something, and these (like the occasional fruit/greens smoothie) do the trick for me. That said, here's a warning: stay away from the ones that are super high in sugar! I saw one at the store this morning with amost 30 GRAMS of sugar - you may as well drink a soda! The juices that are mostly fruit are the ones that can be astronomically high in sugar, and not only is that just a bad idea in general (no matter if the sugar is from a whole food source) but it can also cause a crazy spike in your blood sugar, which can lead to a nasty crash a little while later. (Remember Halloween night when you were a kid? Yeah. Like that.) My two favorite juices are Essential Greens (7g carbs, 6g sugar) and Organic V (15g carbs, 14g sugar). Each bottle is TWO servings, so don't sit down and chug the whole thing. At $4 a pop, these are definitely an occasional treat during your Whole30, and worth having around for those times chewing and swollowing just doens't sound like fun (trust me - that can and will happen at some point!)
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