paleomama17 Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Hey all!I am currently planning my Whole30 to begin in February. It takes a lot of planning in advance for me for meals on any typical day/week and this is my first complete Whole30 and I could use any tips you got to help. I am a stay-at-home-mom of a 2.5 yr old and (breastfeeding) 7 month old. Sometimes I only have 1 hand to eat. Meal prep is a challenge on any regular day with 2 very busy kids and a hubby works either away or long hours, unable to help with either prep or the kids. I have planned lots of meals already (most of which are very basic, simple and somewhat plain, which I am OK with) but am looking for any tips from fellow moms or super busy folks out there that have any advice or specific recipes when tackling a Whole30 when you don't have a lot of time for prep. Anything throw together would be great. I am already Paleo so I do as much 'from scratch' meals as I can. Unless I can manage to do it in my sleep I don't think I can do much more. I have read posts that are geared towards breastfeeding already so I know how to keep on top of that part. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlennR Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Slow cooker meals. Letting the crockpot do most of the work is a great timesaver. Here's one thread with a lot of ideas. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munkers Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Any time that you cook something, cook extra. If you're roasting sweet potatoes for dinner, make double what you need and use the leftovers for breakfast and lunch. Same with any other roasted veggie or even meat. If you're baking a casserole for dinner, throw in another sheet tray of chicken breasts or thighs so that you can have grab and go protein. It will only require a few extra minutes of prep, but will stock your fridge very quickly. Sames goes for chopping vegetables. If you have to chop it for one meal, chop extra for the next meal or to have on hand for snacks. If you're already living paleo and doing most of your meal prep at home, I don't think that the Whole30 really requires any additional time in the kitchen, just a little extra time at the store to read your ingredient labels and a once-through of the kitchen to banish any non-compliant ingredients. You might also look into the ideas for Hot Plates in the first Well Fed. There's a condensed write-up of this on Melissa's blog. Basically, the idea is to have a few proteins and veggies in the fridge that you can mix and match for meals on the fly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannlib Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I find a cook up day at the weekend when my husband is around is useful. During the week he's out 12 hours from 6.30am so he doesn't feature in mealtimes at all. At the weekend he can take the kids so I can blitz it in the kitchen. Steaming and roasting veggies, cooking protein. Making yummy sauces and spice blends- I am not good with plain food. Always make more than you need,stuff keeps in the fridge or freeze the extra. All this makes my midweek prep easier. If that is impossible .. Slow cooker yes. Mine is a huge one and I always fill it and freeze extra portions. Our dining table is in the kitchen so I do bits of prep while the kids eat (they take longer than me!). Make the most of nap (ha!!) and evening times. My husband does his lunch and breakfast each evening. We are pushed for time before school so i put my breakfast in a tub all ready. Do you have a sling for the little one? My youngest is two now but I cooked with her in the sling a lot. We aim for busy mornings then I'm happy for her to watch an hour's TV when we get home so I can cook. Its hard work!! And my two are older than yours x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beets Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I'm also home with two littles (now they are a little older but they were 1.5 and 4 the first time I did this). My husband travels during the week so it's just me most days. When he is home, he's exhausted. I know everyone says weekend cookup and whatever you can do on the weekend is indeed wonderful. But I often found myself scrabbling just to get the grocery shopping done and the kitchen sorted out on the weekends. I did a lot of very simple meals that didn't involve a lot of cooking: this meant a lot of pan-fried ground beef patties + veg (often pre-cooked sweet pot with ghee), canned fish (sardines, mackerel or tuna) + sauerkraut (acquire taste perhaps). Roasted veggies are pretty to do while the kids are eating/playing/sleeping, sautéed cabbage with ginger is fast and yummy. I also did a lot of big hunks of slow-cooker meat I could eat all week: brisket, pork shoulder. I started cooking fillets of fish that I'd break into two meals. Bags of salad and a jar of homemade vinaigrette are always handy. I always have packs of Applegate grass-fed dogs in the fridge. Usually I'd do a really simple, brainless breakfast and lunch and for dinner I'd do something like chicken thighs or roast chicken or pork chops to share with kids and/or my husband. Going on auto-pilot for breakfast sounds boring but it makes things so much easier and gives you a kind of zen calm. At least for a couple minutes. There are a ton of delicious looking recipes out there but sometimes you just need simple food that will carry you through. You don't have to get jammed up with menu planning. Save special recipes for the weekend. This is actually a really freeing and wonderful aspect of w30--the idea of food as nourishment and sustenance but not always an art form or Instagram fodder. If you can do some cooking on the weekend or if you get an energy burst in the evening (HA!), I would suggest cooking a bunch of baked sweet pots (easy to grab and reheat in a pinch), roasting a pan or two of veg, cooking a hunk of meat and making a crock pot stock with bones left from a chicken carcass. If you are really hungry and running around a cup of hot broth with a sprinkle of nice salt can pull you through. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBC Posted February 4, 2015 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Don't know how you do with hubby work hours I freeze meatballs on a tray then bag them. Make heaps of tomato sauce and freeze. Defrost them both meatballs in sauce. Heaps of prep. Try and get up before kids wake of a morning or cook at night when they r alseep. Make sure there is meat defrostin in the fridge. Yes to slow cook or a quick pressure cook Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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