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CALLING ALL UK Whole30/Post-Whole30-ers!


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Somewhere on the Whole30 Forum I found a post with a few different UK-dwellers on it. Sadly, I can't find it again!!! Doing Whole30/Paleo is different in the UK as we don't have access to all the foods and companies that everyone in America does. I wanted to start some kind of forum for all of us who do live in the UK so we can share tips and tricks for doing the Whole30 here. Anyone else out there????

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I'm planning to start my first Whole 30 next Monday and am living in Wales.

At least we still have butchers on the high street here in the UK. (Not that there's much of anything else there)

Was the post you're on about the one that's in the Sourcing Good Food section?

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I finally found it.... it's this one: http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/7226-paleoprimal-in-the-uk/page__fromsearch__1 in Troubleshooting Your Whole30. Do you have a link for the one in the Sourcing Goof Food section? I bet they have some good ideas!

I actually havent gone to the butchers yet as the one time I did go to a local farm shop and asked if their beef was grass-fed with no antibiotics, etc they looked at me like I had two heads! They had no idea. Since then I've just stuck with organic meats from Tesco. Might have to venture to a butchers soon though... are they less expensive???

I do have some ideas of where to get different things down here in Kent... not sure if you have the same stores where you are in Wales... let me know if you're looking for something in particular!

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Hi there

I think most meat in the UK is grass fed as we have plenty of grass to feedon and none of the crazy subsidies that the US government gives to corn producers that makes corn so cheap for feed in the US.

Most of the supermarkets have some info on their website about meat like this

http://www.waitrose.com/home/inspiration/about_waitrose/about_our_food/pork.html

I'm starting on 11th April as have a few big events coming up but have started "warming up" by making quite a few changes already and practising some recipes

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http://forum.whole9life.com/topic/5466-sourcing-good-food-in-uk-andor-ireland/

My budget doesn't extend to organic meat from the supermarket, but I've found the prices at the Butchers to be quite reasonable and the meat to be far better quality than what you could get at Morrisons for the same price. And eggs are much better priced (£1.50 for 15 free range eggs) and from a Welsh farm.

And I'd much rather shop locally.

We've got all the big chains here: Morrisons, Tesco, Asda, Lidl, Aldi, Waitrose and M&S.

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I actually havent gone to the butchers yet as the one time I did go to a local farm shop and asked if their beef was grass-fed with no antibiotics, etc they looked at me like I had two heads!

:) Yes the first time I asked a farmer at the farmer's market what his cows were fed, he looked at me as though I was a sandwich short the picnic and said "Grass - what do you think cows are fed?" :rolleyes: I persevered and discovered they get nothing but grass in summer and in the winter when the weather's bad it's topped up with silage which is basically compacted, fermented grass. They get antibiotics if they're ill but he thought the practice of routinely giving ABs was ludicrous, who on earth would waste money on that. Apparantly because they're all outdoor reared it's never done here.

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My understanding of the different animals:

Beef cattle are usually reared on grass with hay/silage and some concentrated feed (which may contain soy and all kinds). Essentially grass is cheap and profit margins are very tight. We're not set up for feedlots. Dairy is more questionable - the diet is tightly controlled to maximise yield but still tends to be forage based.

Sheep - again, grass is cheapest and sheep can cope up on the moors and on poor ground. Commercial lambs usually have supplemental feed to fatten them up.

Pigs - are omnivores rather than ruminants, more "interesting" items can be recycled in to food.

Poultry - battery farms are accepted so lookfor free range if not organic.

Basic guidelines here http://www.defra.gov.uk/food-farm/animals/welfare/on-farm/

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So, a few of my finds...

Tescos - **You will find a larger selection online than in the shop!** They have some great stuff although they are a bit more spendy than Asda or Lidl or Aldis (I do most of my shopping for me and my family there as I'm a member and can double my rewards at Christmas to take care of a lot of Christmas shopping! I haven't done a full cost-savings check, but I think paying a bit extra now gives me more Christmas-time money than shopping at Asda for the family now and saving the savings for Christmas).

  • Meridian Nut Butter - Almond and Cashew (found in the peanut butter section)
  • Organic Veg - I look at the Clean 15/ Dirty Dozen lists to decide if I should buy it organic or not
  • Coming Soon!: Graig Organic Boerwors All-Meat Sausage (watch out- some of the other Graig sausages have rice flour)
  • Coming Soon!: Traditional Pork Sausage
  • Coming Soon!: Villanova Organic Salame Milano
  • Coming Soon!: Villanova Organic Mortadello
  • Green & Black's Organic Cocoa Fairtrade (found where the hot cocoa mixes are)
  • Dessicated Coconut (found with the nuts - not the ones by the fruit, however)
  • Flavoured (ie. garlic, basil, etc) EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
  • Clipper Organic Decaf Green Tea
  • Tesco Organic Wafer Thin Ham (ie. lunchmeat, but compliant!)
  • Tesco Organic Smoked Salmon
  • Nakd Bars (like the Lara bars you hear other people talk about... I can't have because I'm avoiding dried fruit, but they're good!)
  • Dove's Farms Xantham Gum (used in some Paleo baking when you're not doing Whole30)
  • Kelkin Free From Tomato and Basil Pasta Sauce (if you're feeling lazy! - found in the Free From section)
  • Groovy Virgin Coconut Oil (can't remember for sure, but think it was with the other oils)
  • Coconut Milk - they have several different brands - not all are compliant! I know that the Blue Dragon brand is compliant - and they are located in a few different places in the store... but one of the good places to look is the ethnic section

You can find these, but I'm hearing that it might be better to go to your local butchers for the money!

  • Organic Chicken (all forms, including whole)
  • Organic Beef (all forms, even meatballs)
  • Organic Bacon
  • Organic Lamb (all forms)
  • Organic Pork (all forms)
  • Organic Salmon
  • Organic Prawns
  • Organic Eggs

Holland & Barrett - Perfectly Pure Coconut Oil - you can get great deals if you watch the sales

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So my UK revelation from last night's research is that the almond flour mentioned in quite a few paleo (although not Whole 30 compliant I think) recipes is actually ground almonds! I have those in the cupboard and had been searching for the elusive almond flour online. I won't be eating it during my Whole30 but nice to know for afterwards.

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I'm loving Tesco's little jars of anchovies at the moment. Compliant and give a lovely flavour hit to frittatas. I just did my Tesco online shop and Albacore tinned tuna is half price - usually £4 a tin! Their finest frozen jumbo prawns are also half price at £2.50. Both are very handy staples to have on standby. Stock up!

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They also have a nice packet of blackforest ham that is compliant - the writing is in German. It makes great crispy bacon if you nuke it for 1 minute.

They also do the best value macadamia nuts - if you can trust yourself!

Their Finest range do do some meats incl outdoor reared pork.

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This is a great topic, glad I found it!

Almond flour is ground almonds then? i see......makes sense why I couldn't find it either!!

I am in Scotland near Falkirk/Stirling, I always buy my coconut oil from Tesco (the groovy one) , its actually cheaper than the one in H+B, I also do a lot of shopping in Aldi and they have some better options of compliant stuff like the parma ham mentioned.

I have tried almond, cashew, hazelnut butter etc but like sticking with almond butter. 2.79 in Holland and Barratt, found it in a big Sainsburys in Stirling for 2.29, but then saw it on Amazon as a 3 jar pack which worked out about 1.90 a jar. So I now get it on 'subscribe and save' from amazon and I get 3 jars delivered each month. My husband has started using it on his toast :( and banana instead of crappy peanut butter. So thats good. And my baby likes it too.

Sometimes I have bought a reduced price multipack of avocados from Tesco in the evening. However they end up being perfectly ripe for eating AND cheap. I always have avocados in the house now and stagger the timing of buying them, so once I buy the new ones, I will eat the older ones first etc. I used to get frustrated because I would randomly think oh I would really like an avocado today, or if we were planning Mexican for dinner and then they would all be too hard.

I can't think of anything else that hasn't already been mentioned.

:)

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Is that the Meridian brand of almond butter mrsmaggie. If so we are being done on the stg=euro, I pay €4.50 a jar, a full euro more than the conversion. I used to get the subscribe & save but I was eating too much of it :ph34r:

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Most supermarkets seem to have ghee in the Indian section. I've also noticed that dessicated coconut and spices are a lot cheaper in the ethnic section and sold in larger amounts

And speaking of larger bags...is there anywhere i can buy packages of nuts that are larger than 200g? I miss the lovely American bulk food sections.

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Yep Derval it is the meridian brand :)

Off on a tangent for a minute - we went to Edinburgh for the day to meet up with one of my Uni friends from way back and decided to go to the National Museum of Scotland - if you are doing a Whole30 there is practically NOTHING in the cafe for your lunch!!! Was very disappointed. There is a Brasserie place downstairs which might be posher/have more choice though, I'm not sure.

I am not on a Whole30 but am gearing up to start an April one, but apart from that I still would never eat a sandwich, on a Whole30 or not, bread just doesn't appeal to me anymore, and would make me feel crap.

Queuing up I saw bottles of juice and water, cans of fizzy juice, baguettes, wraps, sandwiches, pots of pasta salad, crisps, biscuits, cakes, muffins, meal box things for kids with carton of juice included. Soup of the day = minestrone! with a bread roll!

I asked "do you sell anything I can have for lunch that doesn't have bread or pasta in it?"

"Erm....we could make you a fruit salad?"

"No thats not really going to be enough on its own, I will just have the soup then but I don't want the bread with it thank you"

(soup had no sign of any minestrone in it just tomatoes and veg :) good enough I suppose)

I asked "can I please swap this carton of orange juice in the kids meal deal for water? my daughter will not drink juice only water"

"we could swap it for some apple juice instead"

???????????

The coffee was great though hahahahaha

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I know it's crazy isn't it! On the plus side though, that's the museum with the great kids room isn't it? MY best friend lives up in Edinburgh and we went there when he was about 1 and he loved it.

I fared better at lunch yesterday - went to a French place for lunch. On the menu "Steak and eggs" I thought I'd best check and asked the waiter what exactly it was - he clearly looked at me like I was crazy. Madam it is a bavette steak with an egg on top. Ok well that's good then!! I didn't ask about what the cooking oil etc as I'm not in a Whole30 yet but I think it will be harder in the UK than the US to be so demanding in restaurants - it's not the culture so much.

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Loubee, you just need to move out of your comfort zone with the trying to be demanding in UK restaurants. I'm not sure about London, but around here there are so many little mom and pop type cafes that are more than happy to accommodate awkward requests.

You'll have no joy in a Wetherspoons though.

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Like the sound of the steak and eggs!

Haha no joy in a Wetherspoons!

If the place Im eating out at turns out to be pretty decent with either good compliant food on the menu or decent staff who are willing to accomodate requests/answer questions then I will do my bit and go on facebook or their website etc and big them up. So its like the publicity and spreading of the word is their reward for making the effort. Then I don't feel like I am being too annoying at the time. I am probably too nice though.

I still think of the way I eat as a choice not a requirement, perhaps if I came across like I didn't have the choice then it would feel different. My stepmother is Coeliac and we were out at The Wheelhouse restaurant (at Falkirk Wheel) where she asked for the burger without the bun, as long as the burger is wheat free and the waitress looked at her strange, saying "oh yes yes they are very good quality burgers we get here, its just the burger theres no wheat"...we asked her to check (as it was implied they are delivered pre made) and sure enough she came back and said there was wheat rusk in the burger.

Ps yes the kiddie room at the museum is excellent, I had a great day but I did sound a bit negative in that last post!

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