Week 1 Food Prep Feedback (from Book)

[togirl]

Hi Everyone,

I am on Day 6 and wanted to provide my feedback.  Firstly, I have to say that the recipes and meals are really amazing.  There was nothing that I didn't like and most things I would easily have (and did) cook for others.  

Not to discourage and the book does say over and over again about planning but you do really need to plan!  

1) Saturday I did a ton of shopping.  You really need to make room in your fridge/pantry as you're going to have a lot of vegetables to store.  I bought fresh herbs but here (in Toronto) they come in huge bunches.  That's lovely but again, this takes up a ton of room in the fridge.  For most recipes dried works just as well.  I have attached the shopping list I found on this forum.  I tried to make my own (as I didn't see this one) and then ended with a ton more trips to the grocery store.  You really need a extra light olive oil for the mayo.  I bought Filippo Berio based on feedback from someone else and it really did come out lovely.  

2)  Sunday was prep day.  It took me about 5 hours.  And I cook often, have good knives and a food processor.  Again they say prep is key so give yourself permission to take the time to create the food.  It is worth it.  If you are not generally someone who cooks a lot, be sure to check out the tools section in the book.  Our lemon juicer is now my favourite tool, with my food processor a close second.

3) The book does an excellent job of what you need to do in the evening to prep for the next day.  The only day that I found it challenging was Tuesday (which was my Day 2). I was so tired that day and while reading I figured out I needed to make pesto and it was now 9:30 pm and I all wanted to do was to go to bed (and then I didn't have enough basil), I was about to scream.  But a couple of deep breaths and I found some kale in the fridge and just used that. Not as nice as the basil but it actually tastes quite a bit better than I expected.

4) The recipes are for 2. If you are cooking for 1, then expect left overs which they usually use the next day, which is fine.  My family (husband and teenager) also wanted the meals so I had to double up to make sure we had enough for all of us and my leftovers.  Just something to think about - especially when you are buying the meat.

Good lessons learned for me for next week.  Tonight is the pork carnitas stuffed in the sweet potatoes.  Nice.

Enjoy!

Whole30 Week 1 Shopping List V1.docx