Your most delicious, high-reward foods? Ideas please!

[AmyCrawford]

Hi all!

Hey fellow whole30ers! I am EXTREMELY underweight due to a very bad flare of an autoimmune disorder, and am doing the Whole30 to hone in on some residual stomach problems I have been having. So far, I feel AMAZING.

However, I am a week in and have lost two pounds (Yikes!), which puts me at a 14% body fat - not good for a 30 year old woman!

I am eating a LOT of fat, protein and calories...but it's definitely not enough. I struggle with my hunger, and I can only eat small meals at a time due to lingering stomach inflammation.

I have found that if I eat super, insanely delicious food (bananas fried in coconut oil, bacon-drenched guacamole, etc) I am able to pack a lot more in!

So all that to say, I would love to hear about your most high-fat, delicious, over-the-top meals that you have made on your whole30. The more delicious and drenched in fat it is, the more I seem to eat, so I need ideas!

Thanks!

[amberino21]

if i were you, i'd eat more meals - maybe 4 or 5!

 

also up the fats and starchy carbs

 

(what about burgers, with sweet potato fries dipped in mayo?)

[AmyCrawford]

Thanks Amberino21! I did start to up my meals - I am doing 4 a day, which helps, though maybe 5 would be better.

Sweet potato fries dipped in mayo, a burger...OMG, that sounds like heaven on a plate. I will for sure put that on my menu! Great idea!

[Tom Denham]

My skillet roasted meals are very tasty. Maybe the tastiest is skillet roasted chicken thighs - bone in and skin on - with veggies. I especially like with Brussels sprouts, carrots, or parsnips. The fat from the chicken infuses the veggies and makes them fabulous.

[Amy4health]

Hi, I was in a similar situation 5.5 years ago and very ill.  I was placed on a diet of eating only 18 things for 3 weeks by a nutritionist working with my physician.  Then, I was allowed to add back one thing at a time, like apples were my first thing to eat for a week to bring the total to 19 possible foods.  It took nearly a year to have my full repetoire of foods back. 

 

I recommend every morning immediately eating eggs and bacon for breakfast.  Eat your bananas mid-a.m. with nutbutters (unless you are doing the whole30).  I make a lot of the curry options, every single "meal" I eat, 4-6 per day must have protein and fat, so think nuts for a snack, and high grade protein (beef, pork, chicken, and fishes).  By using coconut and olive oils, this will help with the healthy fats.  I frequently eat 3-4 eggs per day, and my cholesterol levels are in a healthy range instead of not being detectable like 5.5 years ago.

 

For yummy and filling lunch ideas, guacamole, salads with meats and olives, nuts, and olive oil dressing. But if you get tired of lettuce salad, start making "cold" salads with things like grapefruit and shrimp and avocado and a homemade mayo dressing. I use bacon through the day for condiments, making 4 pieces for breakfast, eating 2-3 and using the other 2 through the day to garnish, add flavor and that extra bit of protein.  I am not allowed to eat fruit without a protein source.  Make your own mayo (so easy and yummy) and that can get spiced for various types of other dishes (chipotle pepper is my fav!), and make ghee to use, it changes how everything tastes.

 

I have also found that just by "googling" an item and adding paleo brings up all sorts of fun and easy ideas for new meals.  For instance:  "shrimp paleo".  There are alot of really easy and quick recipes.  Make enough of whatever for one leftover meal, and your time will be well spent so that you don't have to spend more than an hour max in the kitchen for the whole day's worth of meals.

 

Good luck, it gets better.  I have never felt so good in all of my life, and all of my other odd ailments disappeared with the autoimmune issues handled, and all with just food no medications.

 

Amy4health

 

[Xandra]

One of my staples in the fridge is a pound of cooked ground beef (buy the good stuff and leave the fat in when you brown it) mixed with chopped kale in about even proportions. The kale is cooked by adding it to the pan of ground beef just after the beef browns; cover and steam just long enough for the kale to cook, too. Then for breakfast, I'll heat up a bowl of this beef/kale mix that has the fat in it, mix in some mayo for creaminess (and fat!), add a couple of poached eggs, some tomatoes, and even an avocado to make it more filling. Add whatever other veggies you like; this dish will keep you full for hours.

[CharDoll]

@amy4health

I totally google like that too! Paleo chicken, paleo casserole, paleo.salmon, paleo breakfast

I have found great recipe ideas that way!

@amycrawford-- baked/nuked sweet potato with ghee and salt is delectable. Chopped.green cabbage sauteed with chopped.bacon or.bacon fat. Yum!

[snowflower]

Try the scotch eggs (seasoned ground pork baked around a hard boiled egg) from Well Fed. She suggests eating them with a dollop of mayo. They are delicious and calorie dense.

I don't know if others experience this, but I can eat more ground meat than whole pieces of meat. If I make a skillet meal, I'll eat 8+ ounces of ground meat, but if I make a steak (tri tip, fillet, strip, etc) I'm full after 4-6 ounces.

[notacommittee]

-Duck fat. Everything tastes decadent smothered in duck fat. I recommend roasted root vegetables in particular. Or if you can't get any duck fat, try lard.

 

-I like to fry my eggs in fat, and then flip them over so they get crunchy on both sides. If you time this right, the whites are nicely crisp, but the yolks are still  little runny, so you get the smooth texture and the crunch; it's the same combo that makes m&ms so addicting.

 

-Super easy: take a big pork shoulder or belly and pop it in the slow-cooker for a few hours. It's so fatty it falls apart when you try to take it out, and the meat just melts on your tongue. I made one just today (which is why it's on the brain) and had it for lunch, and then wanted it again for dinner.

 

-If you have a pork shoulder, you can also fry up the skin into chitterlings. Om nom nom.

 

Also, salt can really raise food reward if you haven't been eating a lot of it!

 

It's my bedtime but I will probably be back in this thread tomorrow because it's just so much fun trying to think of W30 compliant recipes with super high food reward.

[Bethany Lannon]

Homemade nut butters and coconut butter are my faves... I have made coconut butter, mixed nut butter and coco-nut butter...

The mixed nut butter is:

6oz almonds

6oz cashews

4oz macadamia nuts

2-3 tbsp coconut oil

Pinch salt

The coco-nut butter is:

10oz almonds

6oz shredded coconut

2-3 tbsp coconut oil

1-2 chopped pitted dates

Cinnamon, nutmeg, pinch salt

Coconut butter:

12oz shredded or flaked coconut

2-3 tbsp coconut oil

For all recipes, throw your ingredients in the food processor and whir it up until it reaches your desired consistency. Use nuts with no added oils and roast them in your oven on parchment at 350 for about 10 min, stirring halfway.

I'll add that I am currently post-w30, so these are swypo for me and only limited to pre-WO fat sources, except for the coconut butter which I will put on top of a baked sweet potato (delicious!!!).

Good luck, I hope you're able to get things going in the right direction!

[MrsStick]

Sweet potato mash with coconut milk/oil and nutmeg/cinnamon/whatever spice you want. It's amazing (can be SWYPO though if that's your deal).

 

I'm a huge fan of stir fries (sauce = coconut aminos, fish sauce (if compliant), black pepper, red pepper flakes, ginger, garlic, etc.) as being delicious beyond compare. 

 

Brisket, smoked or crock pot-cooked or in the oven or, really, any way that makes it fall apart. So amazing. My hubby may or may not be smoking a just shy of 9 lb brisket tomorrow. It'll smoke for probably 8-12 hours, then we'll eat it. I'm seriously super-excited!