20 Easy Paleo (Whole 30) Meals

I’m starting my first Whole 30 tomorrow.  I made it “Facebook Official”, so that means it’s serious.  I’ve considered doing a Whole 30 several times over the past couple of years, but I always chicken out.  30 whole days without heavy cream in my coffee, dark chocolate, sour cream, and peanut butter????  How lame that giving up those few things for 30 consecutive days has me scared silly.  Plus my birthday is in the middle of the month… no birthday dessert?  Please.  Such First World problems.

I know that some people tend to freak out without a meal plan.  But, the thing is, I can’t help you with that.  I’m not a meal planning type of girl.  Sorry.  I’m just not.  I pull meat out of the freezer and figure out what I’m going to do with it when it’s time to cook.  I cook A LOT, though… so it’s not that big of a deal.  I just kind of know what I have to work with and pull something together from there.  However, if you are someone who needs a plan… I want to help!

Here are some meals that I eat regularly and are sure to be a part of my Whole 30 meal plan.  Hope you will find them helpful!  In case I forget to clarify for any of the recipes, don’t use butter (unless it’s clarified).  Use ghee / coconut oil instead.

(Disclaimer:  These are not “officially” Whole 30 approved recipes…  I don’t actually know the Hartwigs… I just admire them from afar.  However, these recipes do meet the Whole 30 criteria– as long as you adjust the cooking fats appropriately.)

1.  Slow Cooker Balsamic Tomato Pot Roast:  10 minutes of prep and you’re good to go.

 

2.  Taco(less) Salad Bowls:  You probably don’t need a recipe for this.  One of our family favorites.  Don’t forget to skip the sour cream, though!

3.   Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash:  Love this.  Not sure if I can still find any acorn squashes hanging around… but if I can, this will be on the menu!

4.  Slow Cooker Crazy Good Coffee Pot Roast:  I’m not kidding.  It’s crazy good.

5.  Salmon Sliders:   These taste better if you fry them in a skillet, but if you want to avoid the splattery mess, you can bake them in the oven.  You can also sub tuna for the salmon.

6.  Moroccan Beef Skillet:   While I’ve never actually eaten in Morocco, Google tells me that these seasonings are Moroccan.  You could also stuff this into squash.

7.  Pakistani Kima:  Is this legit Pakistani food?  Don’t know… don’t care.  It’s easy and delicious.  ‘Nuff said.

8.  Slow Cooker Lemon Basil Chicken:  I love my slow cooker.  It makes life simple– well, it makes food simple anyway…  Here are more slow cooker recipes that you might like.  Save the carcass for bone broth!

9.  Beanless Chili:  You can eat chili without beans.  Lots of people do.

10.  Curried Carrot Soup:  I eat tons of soup in the winter.  It’s freezing in Upstate NY and soup is warm and comforting.  Plus, while my family is not too jazzed about drinking just bone broth, they happily slurp down soup (made with homemade bone broth ofcourse)!  Just use ghee or coconut oil instead of butter.

11.  Puerto Rican Beef:  I adapted this recipe from Everyday Paleo.  If you’re not familiar with Sarah Fragoso, you should be!  Lots of great paleo recipes (and 2 cookbooks).

12.  Mexi Sliders:  You probably don’t need a recipe for this.  We love mini burgers around here.  However, only I like them topped with avocado… my family doesn’t like avocados except when they are hidden in this chocolate pudding– which is not Whole 30– so save it for February)… bunch of weirdos.

13.  Pesto Shrimp & Spaghetti Squash:  Just be leave the cheese out of the pesto and use ghee instead of butter.  No big deal.  Here is a recipe for dairy free pesto.

14.  Proscuitto Egg Cups:  2 ingredients (not counting salt and pepper).  Does it get easier than that???  Only if it’s one ingredient.  And you shouldn’t need a recipe for one ingredient foods…

15.  Rockin’ Meatloaf / Meatballs:  Seriously rockin.  This is so, so good in either form.  I never liked meatloaf until this experiment that went so very, very right.

16.  Baked Salmon with Chimichurri:  I LOVE chimichurri on steak, so I thought I’d try it on salmon.  Also good…. as long as you like chimichurri.   You do, right?

17.  Spice Rubbed T-Bones:  Or any steak.  So what if we have 18 inches of snow.  We still grill in the winter.  We just wear snow boots (and freeze our arses off).  Skip the butter unless it’s clarified.

18.  Simple Roasted Chicken:  You know how to roast a chicken, right?  Use leftovers for salads and / or soup.  Use the carcass to make bone broth!

19.  Spaghetti (squash) & Meatballs:  Just resist the urge to top with grated cheese.  I’ll miss that… for sure.  Or maybe I won’t????

20.  Spaghetti Squash with Chicken, Bacon & Pesto:  Just make sure your bacon is sugar free (or skip it… or sub sausage) and make dairy free pesto.

 

There ya go… you menu planning people can go forth and plan your little hearts out!  Set yourselves up for success.  We got this.

 

Shared at:  Fat Tuesday, Fight Back Friday, Whole Foods Wednesday