Canned fruit in it's own juice, as an ingredient in meals...

[Ancestral Foodie]

Hi, I assume eating tinned fruit is out on its own, but is it W30 compliant to put it in a dish? An example is Melissa Joulwan's Bora Bora meatballs - it has a can of crushed pineapple in it. I'm so worried that I'm going to stuff up again, so if I could have some clarification, that would be wonderful. Thanks.

[Tom Denham]

Fresh fruit is always a better choice than tinned, but compliant tinned fruit is okay during a Whole30 whether you are eating it or using it as an ingredient in recipes. And if Melissa says to use a can of crushed pineapple to make her Bora Bora meatballs, that might be better than fresh to get the proper effect. Melissa tends to research her recipes exhaustively.

Additional note: Many people eat too much fruit during a Whole30 because it is convenient and tasty and they are not used to preparing good tasting veggies. Don't fall into that trap yourself. I think it best not to eat fruit every day and to eat only one serving per day when you do eat fruit. Adding a little fruit as an ingredient to salads, stir-fries, etc. is different in my opinion. You can have some fruit that way at every meal as far as I am concerned. The big deal is depending on fruit for food when you should be learning to eat veggies. I am increasingly coming to believe that when people say they are tired of veggies, they are really tired of eating the same old, bland, badly prepared veggies they have been eating for years. That if they learned to prepare veggies well, they would be happy to eat them all the time. You see, I don't think I love veggies more than most people. I think I am a better cook that many people and my veggies taste better than most people are used to eating.

[Ancestral Foodie]

Thanks Tom, I had just been out and got all the ingredients, then I had that sinking feeling thinking it was probably off limits!

I'll let you know how they taste...... :-)

[Ancestral Foodie]

Hmmmm, great logic! I do tend to try and eat a piece of fruit with a meal, as it gives a different texture and adds a new flavour dimension (like parma ham & pear).

Excitingly today I managed to find pumpkin in a can (from good old Amazon) - I had to pay nearly £3 to get the £1.69 tin sent to me, but I am excited to have something on hand, to quickly make a meal out of. There seems to be loads of quick things to make out of canned sweet potato & squash, so soon I will be able to try them. Can't find canned sweet pot yet though, but the search continues...

Thanks for all your help Tom, you have been amazing!

[annabel]

Carlah, Waitrose stocks tinned pumpkin year round.