Whole30 approved from grocery?

[laurengetfit]

I'm a working mom with 2 young kids. I love cooking and don't mind all the prepping for meals but I'm looking for supplements to meals that I can buy off the shelf (ie, approved kale chips, plantain chips, etc). I've logged a decent amount of time researching online but I'm still struggling. Any recommendations out there?

 

[ShannonM816]

You're not going to find any recommendations for approved chips here. Here's the official Whole30 stance on chips from the Can I Have list:

 

 

Chips: Not if they’re commercially prepared or deep fried

While we recognize that potatoes are a real food, we also know that eating them in the form of fries and chips has turned them from “produce” into an adulterated commercial “product.” It’s easy to find sweet potato, beet, or vegetable chips that meet the Whole30 ingredient standards. It is not easy, however, to consume those chips in a way that’s true to the spirit of the Whole30. It’s hard to find a suitable place for them in our meal planning template (no, half a bag of “Sweets and Beets” is not an appropriate way to fill your plate with vegetables), and even harder to stop yourself from eating them when the designated serving comes to an end. For most of us, chips are a bonafide food-with-no-brakes, and fall into that deep, dark area of less-healthy foods with technically compliant ingredients. For that reason we do not allow frying starchy veggies and turning them into chips during your Whole30. (However, if you want to roast some kale until it’s crispy, or thinly slice jicama into a scoop for your guacamole, be our guest.)

 

 

 

If you're looking for crunchy things to have with your meals, try keeping chopped raw vegetables in the fridge so you can just grab a handful when you need them. Or make your own chips by baking them. 

[Tom Denham]

The way to save time during a Whole30 is to prepare food in big batches so that you always have leftovers in the refrigerator that you can heat up. Buying snack foods, even when they are compliant, undermines getting the most out of this time of self-experimentation. 

[Munkers]

If you're really in a time-crunch for meals, most grocery stores offer some produce that's already cut and prepped. I can usually find fresh pico at my local shop along with various cut-up fruits, diced butternut squash, broccoli florets, sliced mushrooms, etc. It's more expensive than cutting up your own produce, but sometimes your sanity is worth a few extra bucks.

[ladyshanny]

In 25 minutes you can chop a fridge full of veggies (I did a butternut, four peppers, a bag of mushrooms, 5 onions) and then supplement with bagged spinach or kale, bagged coleslaw (make your own dressing or cook the shredded coleslaw and use as a "noodle" base), the bagged brocoli from Costco & a bag of snow peas.  Just before you start on the veggies, throw a dozen boneless skinless thighs on a greased cookie sheet into a 435F oven , throw some S&P, garlic and ginger powder at them bake them for 35 minutes.  Once the veggies are done and bagged, put two frying pans on the stove and put 2# of ground beef in one and 2# of ground pork in the other.  While those are sautéing, put a dozen eggs in a pot and start them hard boiling while you make a batch of immersion blender mayo and a batch of sunshine sauce.  And when that's done, your chicken thighs should be done.

 

So in about 45 minutes you have about 6# of protein + a dozen eggs, two sauces and a fridge full of veggies and your "during the week" cooking should be nearly non existant.  Do you really need storebought convenience foods now?  

 

One of the biggest goals of Whole30, besides eliminating certain foods, is changing the way you view food, nutrition, food preparation and planning.  As Shannon said above, no one is going to recommend these snacky convenience foods.

[ultrarunnergirl]

If you can find carrot "chips" - they are raw carrots cut on the diagonal. Perfect for a side veggie with a burger (or any meal really) and you can dip it in homemade mayo variations, guacamole or baba ghanoush.

[KellyJo]

OMG LadyShanny you are awesome.  Thanks I am going to do this for sure.  But what is sunshine sauce?

[ladyshanny]

OMG LadyShanny you are awesome.  Thanks I am going to do this for sure.  But what is sunshine sauce?

*blush*

 

Sunshine sauce is a peanut sauce substitute...sort of.  Check it out here: http://theclothesmakethegirl.com/2009/07/21/sunshine-sauce/

 

(If you don't have the coconut aminos that the recipe calls for, just skip it.  I never use them and it still turns out amazing!)

[Bianca201]

In 25 minutes you can chop a fridge full of veggies (I did a butternut, four peppers, a bag of mushrooms, 5 onions) and then supplement with bagged spinach or kale, bagged coleslaw (make your own dressing or cook the shredded coleslaw and use as a "noodle" base), the bagged brocoli from Costco & a bag of snow peas.  Just before you start on the veggies, throw a dozen boneless skinless thighs on a greased cookie sheet into a 435F oven , throw some S&P, garlic and ginger powder at them bake them for 35 minutes.  Once the veggies are done and bagged, put two frying pans on the stove and put 2# of ground beef in one and 2# of ground pork in the other.  While those are sautéing, put a dozen eggs in a pot and start them hard boiling while you make a batch of immersion blender mayo and a batch of sunshine sauce.  And when that's done, your chicken thighs should be done.

 

So in about 45 minutes you have about 6# of protein + a dozen eggs, two sauces and a fridge full of veggies and your "during the week" cooking should be nearly non existant. 

 

This is most amazing, and will be part of my upcoming weekend.  Thanks for sharing!