A Whole30 recipe roundup of the most popular Whole30 recipes from the Whole Smiths.

Who doesn’t love a good recipe roundup? I know I do. All nice and tidy in one spot. I’m lazy, what can I say. Actually, I take that back. I’m a woman of convenience, not laziness. Ok, moving on. Not only do I want to pack in my most popular Whole30 recipe into one tidy blog post, I also want to drop a few brief Whole30 insights to keep in mind along the way during your Whole30.

While I don’t have a magical wand to make your Whole30 breezy, I am an over thinker, super analytic spaz and have overthought my food consumption and subsequent clean eating patterns to death. So I’ve tied a couple of those tid bits into this post for you. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first Whole30 or the third, you’re in the right spot. Whether it’s a bomb-ass recipe or the most brilliant bit of thinking (not really) you’ve ever read, enjoy.

PINEAPPLE FRIED CAULIFLOWER RICE

First things first. Just because a recipe is Whole30 compliant doesn’t mean that’s the only time you should be eating it. These recipes are ones that should follow you into life after Whole30 as well. The purposive a Whole30 isn’t to be a 30-day cleanse where you feel awesome and go back to your old Mac’n Cheese errr’yday ways soon after. Nope. Sorry, that’s not how it works. You might be looking for the Master Cleanse in that case. (No, don’t do it. It’s the stupidest thing ever. Unless you’re going to the Academy Awards in three days, then by all means master cleanse away. Who am I to judge?) What you do and eat after those 30 days is just as important than what you’re eating and doing during those 30 days. So if you see a recipe labeled as Whole30 complaint after your Whole30, you should be jumping up and down, whip and nae-nae-ing, and saying, “Yessss”. Because that’s how you’re eating now.

CHICKEN TORTILLA-LESS SOUP

In my opinion, the goal of a successful Whole30 is to start learning how to eat and prepare real food that works for your body along with how to adjust your lifestyle to accommodate that. There’s more to it than just food.  It’s a 30-day period to start understanding your relationship with food under a tight framework to keep you on the path to success long enough (30 days) that you find successes (i.e. non-scale victories).

THE WHOLE SMITHS’ WHOLE ROASTED CHICKEN

It’s about creating healthy habits and patterns that don’t leave you running towards a bowl of pasta, three slices of cake and a Pop Tart for breakfast. Take a mental note of when you’re craving sweets. Is it at the end of the day when you finally have a moment to yourself? Are you bored? Are you stressed? For me, it’s a combination of stress and the end of the day ritual wanting a snack to relax with… which obviously ties into the stress bit.

SWEET POTATO “CHIPS’ + DIP

As well, are you reaching for a Pop Tart in the morning because you’re running late or because you haven’t grocery shopped lately? Start picking apart some of your behavior patterns to see what needs to be adjusted. And make the adjustment. Maybe it’s a matter of waking up 15 minutes earlier. Maybe it means you join Instacart, Thrive or some other way of ensuring you get your groceries into your fridge and pantry regularly. Figure it out and fix it. Do it. Without excuses. Because I know you waste 15 minutes somewhere in your day. The invention of social media pretty much guarantees that.

30-SECOND HOMEMADE MAYO

But what to do after that 30 days? The training wheels are off. What you do with this newly found information is up to you. You can’t unlearn it. You will always know, for example, that sugar makes you feel like shit. Or that gluten makes your stomach bloat. You.Can’t.Unlearn.That. But you can stray from your newly formed habits. It’s important in the days after your Whole30 that you continue to eat that way and make other non-compliant foods the exception to how you eat, not the standard.

PALEO BLT COLE SLAW

That shift in mentality will set you up on the path to clean eating. Oh, you’re going to dive face first into a bags of chips and a bowl of ice cream at some point in the future. I can promise you that. And that’s ok. It happens. And for me, I suspect that will continue to happen from time to time for the rest of my life because, #life. The important thing to do when that happens is acknowledge it and move on. I also tell myself when that happens, I’ll make sure my next day or two of eating is extra clean, it helps relieve some of that unnecessary guilt I guess. But good decisions begets good decisions. As time goes on you’ll find making the right food decisions gets easier and easier. As long as you keep with it.

NOT-SO SHEPHERD’S PIE

Here’s the thing. Don’t stop. Decide you are a clean eater now and as Dory says, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.” Decide that most of the food you will eat will be clean and work with your body  and make exceptions for the rest. If you find yourself making too many exceptions as time goes on, you may need a Whole30 reset to back the truck up. But just keep going, can I say that enough? It’s a process. The Whole30 isn’t going to make you a perfect eater overnight or even in 30 days because A. There’s no such thing and B. It’s a journey. So get that out of your mind. However, the framework of the program, if used properly, will set you up on the path to health for years to come.

Mango + Jalapeño Chicken Meatballs

With that said, enjoy these recipes. Pin them, save them, bookmark them and post them online if you make them (don’t forget to tag me because I love seeing what you’re making).

Happy Whole30ing and congratulations on your road to a healthier you!