Rural area....

[NikayaSmith]

So I’m starting on Tuesday. I tried to prep but I can’t figure out how to cook the food. I live in a rural area where most of these things aren’t available. I can not afford to order from amazon. I tried to get the Whole30 book, but it’s checked out from our local library. I look up recipes on the internet, but they all require things like ghee, clarified butter, avocado oil, an emersion blender, or other ingredients or appliances I can’t get. 

Do I just stick a chicken breast in the oven? At what temperature and for how long? And won’t it be dry and tasteless? 

Is whole30 possible if you can’t buy fancy ingredients? 

 

Just in case, I won’t be able to cook the food without baking it, I bought about 10 cans of tuna and a ton of baby carrots, but I know I won’t make it 30 days if I can’t figure out some recipes without fancy ingredients. 

[SugarcubeOD]

7 hours ago, NikayaSmith said:

So I’m starting on Tuesday. I tried to prep but I can’t figure out how to cook the food. I live in a rural area where most of these things aren’t available. I can not afford to order from amazon. I tried to get the Whole30 book, but it’s checked out from our local library. I look up recipes on the internet, but they all require things like ghee, clarified butter, avocado oil, an emersion blender, or other ingredients or appliances I can’t get. 

Do I just stick a chicken breast in the oven? At what temperature and for how long? And won’t it be dry and tasteless? 

Is whole30 possible if you can’t buy fancy ingredients? 

 

Just in case, I won’t be able to cook the food without baking it, I bought about 10 cans of tuna and a ton of baby carrots, but I know I won’t make it 30 days if I can’t figure out some recipes without fancy ingredients. 

What did you cook previously?  You don't need fancy ingredients... you can make your own ghee (clarified butter) easily, just google how to do it and there are thousands of videos.  If you can roast vegetables, bbq or grill meat and cut and add a handful of olives to your plate, that's a great template meal.  It honestly doesn't have to be difficult and it requires zero special ingredients.  I personally wouldn't eat a chicken breast just dry from the oven but you could poach it in tomato sauce or roast a whole chicken in the oven with the skin on... 

[ladyshanny]

I don't understand why living in a rural area means you have to cook a dry chicken breast? For dinner tonight I chopped carrot, mushroom, potato and bok choy (you could sub broccoli) and put chicken thigh chunks raw with it and baked it for 25 minutes at 465F. No fancy ingredients or tools. 

Don't get hung up on the "special" stuff. 

[kirkor]

Rural area without fancy ingredients you say???

See all the links in my sig for Whole30s I've done under these very conditions! 

But really, you don't even need recipes at all.

Melissa Joulwan's "hot plates" concept in a good way of conceptualizing it:

PROTEIN + VEGGIES + FAT + SPICES + SAUCE = MEAL

See the rest here: http://meljoulwan.com/2013/07/27/whole30-week-1-food-plan/

[NikayaSmith]

I’ve not seen a single Whole30 recipe that didn’t include ingredients I can’t get here. 

 

I have no desire to eat a chicken breast from the oven, it will be awful, but I can’t figure out how else to cook it without butter. How would you cook a steak without butter. Or a porkchop? I use butter to scramble eggs and fry eggs. 

 

How do you roast vegetables without butter?

What’s the template?

And sadly olives are on the list of about 4 things I don’t eat. 

So like I said, unless the book has instructions on how to cook without butter, I’m pretty sure it’s boiled eggs, baby carrots, and snow peas for me. (I didn’t realize you had to buy special tuna, so the cat will be living fat for a while on the ones I bought for me)

[NikayaSmith]

Oh, and none of the approved sauces or fancy oils are available here. 

[kirkor]

As @SugarcubeOD mentioned, make ghee from butter. I got 2lbs of butter at WalMart for $6.61 inc. tax, and at 70% yield for ghee, that works out to $0.29 per ounce.

Also, if you've found Amazon to be too expensive, Vitacost is another alternative.  Here their coconut oil is $0.37 per ounce with free shipping: https://www.vitacost.com/vitacost-extra-virgin-certified-organic-coconut-oil-non-gmo-54-fl-oz-2

[scoakley13]

I live in a small town that only has a Kroger and Walmart and I refuse to order food online. I'm also a single mom on a tight budget and I'm not paying $10.00 for a bottle of $2.00 salad dressing. I've successfully completed three Whole30's in the past year. You don't need fancy sauces and a gourmet kitchen so you can prep 7 course organic meals. I promise. 

I don't like butter and have never really cooked with it (even my pre-Whole30 days). I cook with olive oil. So pork chops, eggs, etc. can be cooked in olive oil. People talk about the heat point of it and how other oils are better. Blah blah blah. I've never had any issue with olive oil. Any time I roast anything (meat, veggies, etc), I just drizzle it with olive oil, salt and pepper. I'm a big believer in "low and slow" so I typically set it at 350 and just keep an eye on it. 

This is a staple in my house: https://www.doyouevenpaleo.net/dutch-oven-shredded-chicken/  You don't even need a Dutch oven if you don't have one. I've used disposable aluminum pans covered with aluminum foil before and it still turned out perfect. That blog is also one of my favorites for recipes. Everything I've made has been simple but so delicious. Just learn the rules of Whole30 because not all of the recipes are compliant but can usually be adjusted.  

A lot of recipes I use do call for ghee (tastes so much better than regular butter) so I make my own. I buy organic butter when it's on sale for the same price as non-organic. I couldn't find cheesecloth locally so I did have to purchase that on Amazon. It was only like $4.00 though and has lasted me over six months. This is the recipe I use for ghee:  https://wellnessmama.com/24267/make-ghee/

I have found an extra low sodium by Starkist that is compliant and the same price as the other tuna. Just make sure you read the label - mine reads "tuna, water, sea salt". It shouldn't have anything else in it. The place that you bought your tuna might even let you exchange it. I've been able to that that before at both Walmart and Kroger when I've grabbed the wrong item. 

You can do it and you don't have to do it fancy and you don't have to do it expensive. 

[SugarcubeOD]

5 hours ago, NikayaSmith said:

I’ve not seen a single Whole30 recipe that didn’t include ingredients I can’t get here. 

 

I have no desire to eat a chicken breast from the oven, it will be awful, but I can’t figure out how else to cook it without butter. How would you cook a steak without butter. Or a porkchop? I use butter to scramble eggs and fry eggs. 

 

How do you roast vegetables without butter?

What’s the template?

And sadly olives are on the list of about 4 things I don’t eat. 

So like I said, unless the book has instructions on how to cook without butter, I’m pretty sure it’s boiled eggs, baby carrots, and snow peas for me. (I didn’t realize you had to buy special tuna, so the cat will be living fat for a while on the ones I bought for me)

The template is the meal recommendations - https://whole30.com/downloads/whole30-meal-planning.pdf

Maybe go and take a look at some recipes - there are some amazing resources out there... try www.meljoulwan.com (not all hers are compliant but the majority are), www.nomnompaleo.com, google 'whole30 recipes' and you should get lots of results... just make sure that if the ingredients are not compliant you either sub them out (like butter for ghee or olive oil) or skip them entirely. Even with recipes that have 'special' ingredients like coconut aminos and fish sauce you can still make, just season to taste once you're done cooking.

There's definitely no need to eat boiled eggs and carrots for the next 90 meals.  

[ladyshanny]

5 hours ago, NikayaSmith said:

I’ve not seen a single Whole30 recipe that didn’t include ingredients I can’t get here. 

 

I have no desire to eat a chicken breast from the oven, it will be awful, but I can’t figure out how else to cook it without butter. How would you cook a steak without butter. Or a porkchop? I use butter to scramble eggs and fry eggs. 

 

How do you roast vegetables without butter?

What’s the template?

And sadly olives are on the list of about 4 things I don’t eat. 

So like I said, unless the book has instructions on how to cook without butter, I’m pretty sure it’s boiled eggs, baby carrots, and snow peas for me. (I didn’t realize you had to buy special tuna, so the cat will be living fat for a while on the ones I bought for me)

What do you have for grocery store in your area? Are you legit in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a gas station less than a 3 hour drive away (one of our LONG time members is very remote)? If you have an actual grocery store, you shouldn't be in too much of a pickle. Roast meats with seasonings (sage, thyme, rosemary for chicken, pepper, garlic, onion for beef), toss veggies in olive oil or ghee that you make and roast them. 

Steer away from recipes for the most part if you're frustrated. 

[lisac957]

6 hours ago, NikayaSmith said:

I’ve not seen a single Whole30 recipe that didn’t include ingredients I can’t get here. 

Honestly, doing your own research and being responsible for your own program is a huge part of Whole30. Said with love, of course.

"No recipe" meals like sweet potato hash are my go-to's when I don't want to bust out a recipe. Just throw a bunch of ingredients into a skillet: cubed sweet potatoes, onion, pepper, zucchini, apple, a compliant sausage or ground turkey - whatever you have on-hand - with a drizzle of olive oil and some seasonings. 

"No recipe" soups are also surprisingly simple and affordable. I like to make one with chicken broth, onion, celery, carrot, cubed potato and chicken sausage. Chili would fall in this category as well... ground beef or turkey, onion, pepper, carrot, sweet potato, tomato sauce, chili pepper - top with avocado. That kind of thing. 

Quick search yielded these recipes, all with simple ingredients.

Roasted lemon chicken with potatoes and rosemary

Jalapeno turkey burgers

Grilled salmon with mango salsa

Skillet beef fajitas

Pork roast with sweet potatoes, apples and onions

Tomato basil turkey meatloaf

Beef enchilada bake

[MeadowLily]

https://whole30.com/2016/07/travel-post-part-1/

http://whole9life.com/2011/07/whats-in-your-cooler/  see the comments, too.

https://forum.whole30.com/topic/15282-grab-and-go-breakfast/

Imagine you're camping or backpacking for 30 days. There are many Grab-N-Go Whole 30 ideas.  Google search for those.  The bottomline, you can do a Grab-N-Go but a certain amount of cooking will be required.  You could live on canned fishes, dill pickles, boiled eggs all from the gas station.   What's your end game and what kind of results are you looking for - beyond 30 days. 

 

[trexmafia]

Part of my strategy for whole30 (R1D17) is making recipes that I already know how to make but be mindful of non-compliant ingredients. For example, yesterday I made a beef pot roast for dinner and lunches this week. Normally when I make pot roast I would cook with red wine, but since alcohol isn't compliant I switched it up a bit. I cooked this pot roast with compliant fire roasted tomatoes and compliant tomato sauce - I ran out of bone broth, which would have been a lovely addition, but the dish is not missing any flavour without it. I just made sure to season and brown the roast thoroughly and create a nice frond on the bottom of the pan before adding the tomatoes. The only thing I bought from the grocery store for that meal was the roast and an onion because I used up my onions in a chili I made last week. The rest I already had in my pantry and refrigerator.

I'm more likely to continue doing something if it's easy. Therefore, I made this process easier on myself by not getting too concerned with buying avocado oil and whatnot. Like another poster above me, I cook with olive oil. Coconut oil is best in my life as a hair masque, not a food. I have never really cooked with butter, so the container of ghee I bought and used once before deciding "meh" will probably sit in my fridge forever (unless I find a friend who cooks with it then I will gladly gift it to them). The whole30 recipes that I have found and called for avocado oil, coconut oil or ghee I just ended up using olive oil for and it worked fine for me.

What I'm trying to get at is instead of getting hung up on things that aren't available to you or are out of your budget, maybe spend some time making a plan for the program that is based on what is available to you and what you can afford.

[laura_juggles]

The answer to all of your "butter" questions is: olive oil. 

Assuming you don't want to clarify your own butter (you can get cheesecloth at Walmart and it's really easy, but I'm assuming you don't want to). 

Making scrambled eggs? Put some olive oil on a paper towel and swipe it on the pan; it is the same effect as those Pam sprays but without the propellant. 

Roasting veggies? Toss them in olive oil and your seasonings. 

Chicken or steak? Mix your seasonings into the olive oil and put it on the meat before cooking. 

Honestly, stop looking at recipes. Just make simple meals and forget about coconut aminos this or sugar-free bacon that. My first Whole30 was done with food mostly from the Super Walmart (including the "special" tuna...check out the low/no-sodium variety. It's probably compliant.)

[NikayaSmith]

Thank you all for your responses. I can tell i have greatly offended several people. I apologize. I’m on day one, just finished dinner and I’m crying because I’m so hungry. I am willing to give my phone number to a stranger if someone would like to talk me through this. 

 

I tried making clarified butter. After throwing out two pounds of butter i ruined I quit trying because I can’t afford to waste butter like that. Last weekend I tried making scrambled eggs with butter and they were completely unedible (spelling?). I assumed there was some secret to cooking with olive oil that I don’t know. 

Since i couldn’t eat the tuna I bought for lunch this week, I ended up eating all the larabars I bought. That was five days worth of snacks. 

Tonight for dinner I threw a chicken breast in the oven with salt pepper and garlic thinking I could eat half for dinner and half for lunch tomorrow (since I am completely out of compliant foods for lunch until Friday/payday). I couldn’t eat more than two bites it tasted so bad. I bought an entire head of cabbage so I’d have a veggie for the rest of the week. Since I couldn’t sauté it in butter, I tried doing the same thing with olive oil. Again. It was unedable. I realize the problem is me, but I do not know how to cook with olive oil. I need someone to explain it to me. 

For all the people who say I’m not trying, I’m sorry I gave that impression. I want to succeed so bad I’m crying because I’m hungry but I WILL NOT EAT anything that is not compliant for 30 days or more. I think I mentioned I can’t get the book until it is available at the library. I don’t know when that will be. I spent all of January trying to get ready. 

Again, I’m sorry to those I offended. I really don’t understand the program except the things I can’t eat and all the foods I can’t find here. 

Thank you to everyone who responded. 

What do all the numbers and letters people put in parenthesis mean?

[kirbz]

One of the examples above is R1D17, which means Round 1, Day 17. So they're on their very first round of Whole30 and are on day 17 of the 30-day program. 

Is it too simplistic to say use olive oil the same way you'd use butter? I mean, add some olive oil to a pan, let it heat up, and then add some chicken and cook until done. I'd recommend adding some spices to make it taste better but it's not any different than cooking with butter, no? Same with veggies. Either add some oil to a pan and cook them or drizzle over vegetables and bake. Same as you would butter, no? 

I'm sorry you're having such a tough go of it! It really might help to name the groceries stores near you. I'm having a hard time fathoming what kind of ingredients you can and cannot access... 

[ShannonM816]

I don't think you've offended people, I do think people genuinely want to be helpful, but sometimes tone is hard to pick up on in text form like this. No one is angry at you, we really are trying to offer you ideas. 

 

Be sure when you're cooking things on the stove that it's not too hot -- unless you're searing meat or boiling water, you'll probably never turn your stove above medium. 

Taste a little bit of your olive oil, just on its own. Does it taste okay? It'll be a little bit bitter, because olives are a little bitter, and may be what I think is called "pungent" meaning it will have a bit of -- not spiciness like jalapenos do, but kind of a little bit of a bite to it. Some oils have more of this, some less -- the one I buy is not super pungent, it is a little bitter, and the first word that I thought of when I tasted it just now to try to describe it is "fresh."  That's how a decent olive oil should taste if it's not rancid or off at all, but if you don't like the flavor of it, you're not going to like it on a lot of things. Scrambled eggs, for instance, do not have enough flavor on their own to really mask a really strong olive oil flavor, so depending on how much oil you used, that may be why you don't like them. And if the oil tastes at all rancid (it'll smell bad, and taste really super bitter), it's not good and you're just not going to get good food cooking with it. If you just really don't like olive oil, you could try a light olive oil, which won't have as strong a flavor, or see if your store has coconut oil or avocado oil at a price you're okay with and try one of those. 

Right now, it sounds like this is a huge change for you, and now might not be the best time to start your Whole30. It may really be a good idea for you to try out a few simple recipes first, before you commit to the full 30 days. You can use the time to sort out how to cook some basics, scope out things like alternative oils, compliant marinara sauces or salsas or other things that you may be able to find at your store, maybe even ask your store to stock something for you if there's something you really think will make your Whole30 better that you just can't get. 

If you still have some cabbage, try either this:  https://paleoleap.com/oven-roasted-garlic-cabbage/  or this if you have the spices she mentions:   https://meljoulwan.com/2017/09/11/roasted-cabbage-roses/ (just use olive oil instead of ghee).  In either case, if you only have part of the cabbage left, just reduce the amount of oil and spices, but cook it at the same temperature and same amount of time, although it's never a bad idea to keep an eye on things to make sure they don't burn.

Tell us what kinds of vegetables you like, or what you can get at your local store (fresh or frozen or even canned), what kinds of cuts of meat you can get, and let us see if we can help you come up with ways to prepare them. 

 

 

[MeadowLily]

https://whole30.com/2014/01/camper-whole30/

This is my favorite Whole 30 testimonial.  They did everything on a shoestring budget with no running water, no fridge and without an oven.  They owned one knife, one frying pan, one pot, two plates and one mug.

No one is offended.  How are you eating now, how do you get by.  I didn't order a single ingredient from anywhere. No fancy dressings or sauces.  No bars or convenience foods. Those are all there for those who can afford them but not required.

Don't overthink this.  Just take it one step at a time. I didn't use ghee and I don't even like coconut oil.  Start with olive oil.

 

[slc_melissa]

What cooking methods are you used to employing?

Do you generally cook with fresh foods or do you use a lot of canned/ frozen/boxed stuff?

Do you have a crock pot?

Can you list out, say 3, of your favorite pre-whole 30 meals?

Although you are in a rural area, do you ever get to a bigger town with more options?

[NikayaSmith]

Ok. This is a lot of questions to answer. I’ll see if I can do Them all. I apologize if I miss anyone. 

when I’ve  cooked with olive oil I’ve used it the same way I would use butter. Like for scrambled eggs, I put a couple tablespoons in the pan, let it get hot, broke two eggs into the pan and tried to scramble them. It was super bad. For the cabbage I did the same, put in the oil in the pan, put in an entire head of cabbage and tried to cook. It was real bad. Olive oil doesn’t go away when it cooks like butter does it just sits there on the food and in the pan and you have to try to fish the food out of the oil and when you can it just tastes so bad. I wasn’t able to fish the eggs out.

Foods I haven’t been able to find... ghee, any compliant dressings or sauces, those dates that so many recipes call for, the only coconut i can find is flaked sweetened, no aminos or milk in a can, no cauliflower rice. I can’t find bone broth, only chicken, beef, and vegetable broth and they all have non whole30 things in them. There’s coconut milk in boxes but it has sugar. The oils available are vegetable, canola, peanut, and olive. The only flours available are white bleached and whole wheat, no almond. 

I think olive oil tastes like death. I don’t think the bottle I have is bad. I just bought it Saturday and only used it to try eggs and cook the cabbage. It truly is disgusting. 

The cabbage was gone. I cooked it all so i would have a veggie for the week. 

I think we eat all the normal vegetables and meats. I don’t eat olives, yogurt, pudding, fruit, Lima beans, and hominy. I’m pretty sure i eat everything else I’ve ever tried. What meat we usually have is chicken breasts, porchops, pork ribs, pork roast, turkey when i can find it, steaks and ground beef, and fish. 

Cooking methods? I’m not sure I truly know any real methods. I melt the butter and add the food and stir until it’s done. Unless it’s a roast. Then I just put it in the pan with the sauce and bake until it’s done. But now that I can’t use butter or store bought sauces, I’m not sure what to do. 

I do have a crock pot, but I can only use it on the weekends because it takes so long to cook food in a crock pot. Plus, I can’t find any sauces at my grocery that don’t have forbidden ingredients. As I understand it, you can’t put food in a crockpot without liquid, but I may be wrong. 

My normal meal is a protein shake for breakfast, the only allowed ingredient in those is the spinach so that’s out. Yesterday I ate two boiled eggs and was hungry in about an hour and a half. By the time lunch rolled around I was desperate to eat. Which is why I ate five larabars ( I bought myself 5 larabars for the same cost I pay for two boxes of granola bars for my kids to eat all week. 24 granola bars for the kids or 5 icky ones for me? Not a mistake I’ll be making again) Lunch used to be two sandwiches. The only allowed food from that is the lettuce, so that’s out. I bought five cans of tuna and five larabars for lunch this week. I didn’t know they put anything in tuna except tuna and water, so those are out and the larabars are gone. I was going to eat the other half of last night’s chicken breast and leftover cabbage for today’s lunch, but that all got tossed because I ruined it. Tuesday dinner is tomato soup and grilled cheese. There’s nothing in that I can eat so I bought myself a piece of fish. Since I can’t cook it in butter I was going to stick it in the oven. I’m terrified it will meet the same fate as last night’s chicken breast. I ate my two boiled eggs an hour ago, and I’m already hungry. That’s my fault though for ruining last night’s dinner. Hopefully by the time dinner rolls around it won’t matter if the fish is bad, I’ll probably be so hungry I’ll eat it anyway. Lol Wednesday dinner is spaghetti, and since I can’t eat any of that I’ll have another piece of fish. Now that I’m writing out my meals I’m getting kind of scared. It’s not enough food  I’m going to be hungry all the time.

My favorite meals. I don’t think I really have a favorite that i cook. I love chicken and dumplings but I don’t know how to make it. Same with fried chicken. The food i cook is just food. Not really anything good. Meat cooked in butter with some store bought sauce (usually Campbell’s soup) and veggies cooked in butter. We have spaghetti a couple times a week, but I buy the sauce from the store so all of that is out. Grilled cheese and tomato soup is a staple. So is chicken noodle soup but I couldn’t find any soups that didn’t have bad ingredients. 

I think I answered all the questions. Thanks so much. 

[ladyshanny]

@NikayaSmith - from reading through your outline in all these posts it seems to me that the real problem isn't that you live in a rural area. We've already explained that you can do this by cooking protein, vegetables and adding fat. The real problem, to me, seems to be that you don't know how to cook without canned soups, sandwiches, pasta etc. Unfortunately we're not here to teach you how to cook outside of the folks who have given you a rundown on making your own ghee and how to roast vegetables etc. You do seem to have the internet so I would go searching for some basic cooking videos on how to roast meats and veggies.  On instagram, @primal_gourmet has tonnes of little vids on how to cook. Maybe you can't find every ingredient but you can learn the skills and then make substitutions.

All the things you listed that you can't find, you really don't need.  The stuff you can find? That's the stuff you need. Protein and vegetables and some good fats. Don't get hung up on all the details on how to do a perfect Whole30. Learn to season and bake meats with normal grocery store seasonings. Learn to roast vegetables or try steaming them. Make the ghee. If you are at a grocery store that sells peanut oil, I cannot fathom that they don't also sell a lighter olive oil which will have less of a "taste". Also you apparently have a grocery store that sells larabars so you're maybe not quite as "gas-station-only-remote" as we'd been thinking. 

I'd also like to say, with the most love for your described predicament: you're creating road blocks for yourself. Instead of looking at how you can make this work, you just keep describing all the ways it doesn't work because it doesn't fit in exactly how you used to eat/cook. 100% this is a departure from how you used to do it. That's kind of the point. If you are trying to cram Whole30 without cooking and without convenience foods into your old framework, it's probably not going to work.

Honestly, cabbage and baked chicken sounds dreadful. I wouldn't want to eat that either. Tuna and larabars sounds dreadful and unfulfilling (and eating 5 of them in one sitting is excessive). 2 hard boiled eggs for breakfast sounds awful. There's no prize for how spare you do whole30. You obviously have the internet, go online to Instagram and look at some of the accounts that have been posting to @whole30recipes. Yes, some of them will include things that you don't have, but try to expand your mind for ideas and make substitutions. Eat color. Cabbage, bare chicken, hard boiled eggs, tuna is all just so............beige. It's no wonder you're starving.  For THAT matter go to my @stuffonaplate instagram account. It's mine. Hosted by me and is literally food on a plate and everything except the first picture of the fish taco bowl, is Whole30 compliant. There is NOTHING fancy and I have never used store-bought sauces or dressings, I don't use dates or bacon or nut flours.  Go online and do some research to help yourself out.

Crockpotting does require some liquid. So use canned tomatoes. Or fattier cuts of meat and a dash of water. Or tomato paste mixed with water. And yes, crockpot takes long to cook.....which is why most people DO use it during the week. They can throw food in and let it cook while they are at work. 

 

 

[slc_melissa]

I've also never bought any fancy sauces or dates, they are not necessary at all.  (And I have easy access to them.)  I like looking at recipes for ideas, but I usually just put food on a plate like lady shanny.

For fats, it sounds you only like butter, so you probably need to make your own ghee.  If you don't have cheesecloth to strain, use coffee filters.  If you don't have those, just carefully pour off the liquid and leave the solids behind. (You'll lose a little bit of ghee by leaving it in the pan this way, but that's OK.)

I think it'd be worth trying a "light" or "extra-light" olive oil.  How much oil did you use and at what temperature were your roasting vegetables?  (I'd try, say, potatoes first.  Asparagus or green beans.)  Just enough olive oil to coat, salt and pepper to taste, roast somewhere between 350-400 for 20-35 min.  (Lower end for asparagus, upper end for potatoes.)  I cook a lot with olive oil and have never had to fish my food out of it, so I'm wondering if you're possibly putting on too much? 

Do you live in the type of rural area that has some local farms?  One of them might have tallow or other animal based cooking fats you can try.

You can make your own marinara sauce: Saute some onions and mushrooms, add a can of tomato paste and a can of diced tomatoes, add italian-ish spices like basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, etc. (and salt and pepper).

And now that you have that - put a cup of the marinara over chicken and bake until done.  Or add the chicken directly into the sauce and let it simmer until done.

Lady shanny is right that crockpots usually need some liquid - but not necessarily a "sauce."  A lot of vegetables release a fair bit of liquid, so that also works.  Onions+carrots+beef roast dry rubbed with some spices can make plenty of liquid on its own.  One of the easiest roasts I've ever done was a pork roast with a can of crushed pineapple on it.

How about a batch of chili?  Extremely flexible depending on what is available as far as type of meats and types of vegetables.

Also, don't fall into the idea of breakfast foods being one thing and lunches/dinners being another.  Breakfasts can be anything, not just eggs.  Good luck.

 

[slc_melissa]

I'd also re-iterate what Shannon said above - maybe try to learn some new cooking techniques first before diving into the Whole30 so you've got some comfort factors there.

[NikayaSmith]

I tried making ghee twice. It ruined both times and I had to throw it out. 

I never said I was gas station only. It’s a Kroger or a Walmart. I just know they don’t have the things the city Kroger’s and Walmart’s have that I’ve seen on the Internet. 

Im sorry my food sounds dreadful but I’m doing the best i can. I don’t know what else for breakfast is allowed. No grains.... so no cereal, oatmeal, or muffins. The protein drinks I was having milk and sugar so those are out. I can’t find bacon or sausage that doesn’t have bad stuff so that leaves eggs. 

I thought chicken and cabbage were good. 

I’m just so sorry.

[ladyshanny]

Can you go online to instagram? You don't have to have an account if you don't want to. My @stuffonaplate profile is public. You can literally eat any dish there for breakfast. Quite a few of those were my breakfast when I posted them. Any version of protein, veggies, fat and fruit. Breakfast!

I really think it might be wise for you to consider taking a step back. This is a voluntary elimination program designed to determine food sensitivities. We really don't like to see people this worked up and upset about it. Maybe step back, take a deep breath and then do some research for yourself, practice cooking techniques you don't normally use, schedule a few hours on a weekend to really scour the stores you have and see what's available. (we were just assuming your remoteness because several people asked several times for you to mention available stores to see how we could make suggestions). Since you have a walmart, go online and order walmart items for free ship-to-store and it won't cost more than it would if they had the item on the shelf. So avocado oil for mayo or just plain cooking, coconut oil etc.

I feel badly for you, you aren't eating enough, you sound horribly frustrated. Step back and do some planning and research and I think you'll have a nicer time of it.