Master recipes in ISWF book question

[perrybucsdad]

So I'm reading through the book still and I have looked at the master recipes, but I am a bit confused.  Let's say for example I want to make the 10-minute chili.

 

In the master recipe it tells me to use some ingredients and 2 pounds of ground meat.  Then in the box for the actual 10-minute chili, it tells me to use ground beef (doesn't say how much), 1/2 cup diced tomatoes, and then some more specific measurements for the other ingredients.  

 

All the recipes seem to follow this format, and it really has me puzzled.  How much meat am I supposed to use or how am I supposed to figure this out?  All two pounds!!??  If so, is that a single serving or multiple servings (and if so, how many?).  Am I the only fool that can't figure this out?

 

John

[Tom Denham]

The master recipe tells you how to cook the ground beef - all two pounds with a chopped onion, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. This is preparation to make an actual meal. 

 

The actual meal is one of the ground meat skillet recipes, in your case, 10-minute chili. That means adding diced tomatoes, green and red bell peppers, cumin, and chili powder to the cooked ground beef. This yields more than 2 pounds of mostly meat with a few vegetables.

 

To prepare a plate of food, you would follow the guidelines of our meal planning template: http://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-meal-planning.pdf  In this case, you would fill a plate with fresh baby spinach and then add one to two servings of the "chili" you have cooked. A serving would be about the size of the palm of your hand. Two servings would be double that. Then the recipe invites you to put some sliced avocado on top. 

 

Depending upon the size of your palms, you might get 4-8 servings of food out of the chili. 

[perrybucsdad]

That doesn't make any sense though to mix two pounds of ground meat with 1/2 cup of tomatoes peppers, etc.  The thing that makes it make less sense is the last paragraph on p 263 where it says "seasoning amounts are per person" so I would think that 1/2 cup of tomatoes, etc would be per person, but again, I don't know how much meat I need to use.  

[ultrarunnergirl]

I don't have my book handy, but I think you are looking at the Master Recipe and also the suggestions for quick meals that are in a table. If I'm recalling correctly, those are more of a guide to how to throw together a fast meal with food you have on hand.

So for the example you are talking about, you would use a single serving size (ie a palm to 2 palms) of ground beef, then toss in the 1/2 cup of tomatoes, other veggies, spices, etc. as suggested in the table.

 

A great approach is to cook up several protein servings every Sunday so you have it on hand to use. I try to brown a couple of different ground meats, grill a few chicken thighs, and have tuna or sardines in the cabinet. I learned how to make oodles of food in just one hour from Well Fed cookbook. I highly recommend it.

[perrybucsdad]

SO that's it then... okay... I didn't realize that two palms of protein is used for each meal.  I wish it would have stated that in that chapter someplace.  I thought it would have as I double and triple checked and didn't see anything... maybe it is someplace else in the book and not the chapter on the recipes.  I guess that's what happens when you skip ahead to read the recipes.

 

Thanks, even though I feel like an idiot.

 

John

[ShannonM816]

 

Thanks, even though I feel like an idiot.

 

 

Don't feel that way -- I know I've seen this question come up before in the forum, so you're not the only one to find it unclear.

[perrybucsdad]

Thanks Shannon... possibly the authors will fix that in a newer edition so it is more clear.

 

Are there any really good recipe sites that are strictly W30 oriented?  I love to cook, but the one thing that will make it hard for me is getting prepared before I start.  I want to make sure I can plan out 10 days of recipes easily so I can do this without having to worry too much on that.  The lunch and breakfast are he one that has me freaked out the most as I won't have time much to prepare this.  Morning has to be something quick that I can scarf down (I normally eat a breakfast sandwich that I make with whole wheat English muffins - big no no, Eggs, and turkey sausage with butter).  I like it because I can buy the egg patties and sausage patties at Walmart and then just toast the muffins and warm up the egg/turkey sausage patties.

 

Lunch is a frozen dinner and soup with fruit.  Again, except for the fruit, both are big no no's that I have to find substitutes for.

 

Anyhow, going through some recipe sites would really help me nail those two meals down.

 

God bless!

 

John

[ShannonM816]

You should definitely check out The Clothes Make The Girl -- most of her recipes are Whole30 compliant, and it's usually pretty obvious the ones that aren't. Start with this post about how she does a weekly cookup -- I find it very helpful to do something similar, so that there's plenty of protein and veggies ready to go.

 

Nom Nom Paleo is another good recipe site that has mostly Whole30 recipes. You can also check out Chowstalker's Whole30 section, they're usually pretty good about keeping the non-Whole30 stuff out, and if you do find something that's not compliant, if you report it, they'll remove it.

 

You can also google Whole30 breakfast to go to find past discussions of easy, make-ahead breakfast ideas that might be useful. Breakfast casseroles or egg muffins with eggs, veggies and sausage are good, or just have leftovers from the night before.

[perrybucsdad]

Thanks again Shannon... My wife might join me on this journey and she can't stand eggs... I see a lot of the recipes are with eggs which are an egg-cellent source of protein, so that may be hard for her.  I'm sure there are other things she can have for breakfast.  She was never one for breakfast food, so I hope we can find something for her.

 

John

[ultrarunnergirl]

John,

  here is the Meal Template for quick reference.

  A lot of folks make extra dinner, and have the leftovers for breakfast the next day.

  Good luck!

[perrybucsdad]

So what does 1 - 2 handful's of ground beef look like (based on the template)?

[GFChris]

So what does 1 - 2 handful's of ground beef look like (based on the template)?

 

To clarify, it's not handfuls.  It's 1-2 palm sized portions. Use your palm as the metric: length, width and thickness:  that's 1 palm.  Decide on whether you lean toward 1 or 2 based on how satiated you feel: you want to get to a place where your meals satiate you for 4-5 hours. This will likely involve some tweaking as you go through the process.

[MarinaL]

Okay, I'm still a little confused. The first and second moderator responses disagree here. I'm about to make Morrocan chicken. I cooked it ahead using the master recipe, and am now getting ready to add seasonings, etc. Is the "one onion, 2/3 c. Chicken broth, 1/2 c. coconut milk" etc. per serving, or for the a whole two pounds of chicken? It makes sense for it to be per serving of protein, per second moderator response, but some of the amounts (whole onion) make more sense with a whole two lbs, per first moderator response.

[missmary]

It's kind of both/and. The book expects you to make up a big batch of protein, so, for example on the weekend cook up 1-2T of fat, a medium onion, 2lbs ground beef, salt and pepper or 2lbs chicken breast with garlic and broth.

 

Then, on the day you want to eat, combine 1-2 palms-worth of that protein mix per person + 1-2 cups of vegetables (per person) + spice amounts listed (multiply by the number of people you are serving). 

 

Ultimately the meal map is intended as a guideline for improvisation, making suggestions on combinations of veggies and spices that work well together. Use your own judgement for the right proportions of ingredients.

[kirkor]

Morning has to be something quick that I can scarf down

Also, recall W30 is about *how* we eat not just *what* we eat, so if you can eat in a manner other than a quick scarf, that'd be tops!