Today marks day 19 of my Whole30 (plus Shakeology) experience, and so far it’s been great! The biggest challenge outside of feeling terrible on day 2 has been preparing foods–ideally you would be eating at home with all foods you’ve prepared yourself, and that is just a lot to do for anyone! Even though I stay at home, it’s not super realistic for me to have time to prepare tons of food every day. Enter these products that I refer to as my Whole30 Lifesavers–condiments, packaged foods, and restaurant meals that are tasty, easy, and Whole30-compliant! Where appropriate, I’ve linked the corporate pages for products so you can check them out and see where they are available around you!
Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo–I’ve been using this for tuna salad, chicken salad, egg salad, lettuce wraps, and a portobello mushroom BLTA that I made (YUM). It’s got a little spice to it, which automatically makes it awesome to me. And it’s super easy to dump some hard-boiled eggs, cooked chicken, or a can of Whole30 compliant tuna with a spoonful of this stuff for a quick meal. It’s a little bit of a splurge compared to regular mayo, but I’m 2/3 of the way done with my Whole30 and I still have a little over half a jar of it. If it lasts the entire 30 days or beyond, to me that’s worth it!
Tessemae’s Dressings/Marinades–specifically Lemon Garlic and Ranch–these have been amazing during my Whole30! I have used the ranch in mashed potatoes and as a dip for my baked potato fries, on burgers, and as a dip with other veggies. The Lemon Garlic has been a great marinade for my homemade potato fries–I just slice up a potato, toss it in the dressing, and put it in the oven. It’s so easy. I found these on sale at my local Kroger, too, and they will have lasted me the entire 30 days with some leftover.
Wellshire Farms Paleo Bacon–I was dismayed to see that EVERY SINGLE PACKAGE of bacon at my Kroger–even the ones labeled “all-natural”–had added sugar. Once I did some digging, I found this brand that is sold at Whole Foods and it’s fantastic. It’s considerably more expensive than regular bacon at the store at almost $1/slice, but frankly it’s totally worth it if you want bacon on Whole30. There are other brands out there that will deliver Whole30-compliant meats to your house, but those are expensive, too.
Larabars–these are great for a fast, portable snack, but you have to be careful with these. Larabars are not intended to be an everyday snack for you on Whole30, and not all of the flavors are Whole30-compliant: anything with chocolate is out, and some of the other flavors have vanilla extract, which is also not compliant. I like Cashew Cookie, Coconut Cream Pie, and Lemon Bar. These are perfect to carry in your car or purse to have if you need something and there are no other options.
Califia Farms Toasted Coconut Milk–I hesitated to include this because it’s kind of an iffy product. Technically, it’s compliant with Whole30, but the monk fruit extract makes it a little sweet, which kind of takes away from the spirit of Whole30. For me personally, I’m not worried about this iffy-ness because I’m already not doing a “true” Whole30 with my Shakeology, so this isn’t doing any damage. If you are doing a very strict Whole30 with no Shakeology, then I would stay away from this particular flavor and use the Califia Farms Unsweetened Almond Milk instead.
Aidells Chicken Apple Sausage–these are awesome. This helped me make a super quick breakfast that helped me get my days started with good flavor and protein, so that set me out on some good momentum. It’s important to note that the entire BRAND is not Whole30 compliant–just this particular product. Read your labels and double check EVERYTHING to make sure you are following the program to the strictness you are aspiring to.
Yellow mustard–pretty much all yellow mustards are compliant, but double check the label to be sure. I’ve used this as a condiment with burgers, potatoes, eggs, veggies, etc. Pretty much everything goes with mustard as far as I’m concerned, and it’s a great way to get more flavor in!
Coconut Secret Organic Coconut Aminos–this is the only Whole30-compliant soy sauce alternative, so it was important to me to find because I love Asian dishes and wanted to continue making stir fry during my Whole30. I was only able to find this online or Whole Foods.
For those times where eating out was needed (okay, I just didn’t want to cook):
Panera Bread–you have to stick with salads and either bring your own dressing or use lemon juice, but you can customize any salad to be Whole30 compliant if you check the ingredient list for your favorite salad. I’ve been ordering a Seasonal Greens salad with no dressing, then adding my own shredded chicken, pecans, other veggies, and Tessemae’s Lemon Garlic dressing.
Chipotle–this one has been a true lifesaver! The only compliant meal here is the bowl with carnitas, pico, and guacamole. I’ve just been asking them to give me as much pico as they can without getting into trouble. You can also take it home and add your own fajita veggies to bulk it up.
Five Guys–hamburger patty in a lettuce wrap with their fresh veggies–tomato, green pepper, jalapeno, and onion–with mustard. I got this and realized when I got home that they had given me ketchup instead of mustard, and you better believe I got back in my car to get it fixed.
Mexican–grilled chicken with chopped avocado and pico. Our favorite neighborhood Mexican place has a guacamole salad that is just avocado, tomato, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, and lime juice. I have gotten that with some grilled chicken and it’s to die for!
I’m sure that there are many more compliant restaurant meals out there, but these are the ones I’ve researched for myself. Do some digging and researching your favorite restaurants to see if there is anything you can customize for your Whole30 journey!
Owning It With Whit 