I’m just starting week 3 of whole 30 and it’s strange how quickly you can settle into a habit that seemed so restrictive in the beginning.
This week has had its challenges, but we stuck to it. A pastry chef friend asked me to come down to visit her bakery and I brought another friend with a sweet tooth to sample treats while I sipped my almond milk latte. My sister-in-law had her baby shower over the weekend and I had to battle buttery garlic knots, chocolate truffle favors and lemon layer cake with buttercream. After the shower, Marc and I went out and had an incredible salmon dinner on a pretty patio, which made everything worth it.
These stuffed cabbage rolls were the hit of week 1. Marc loved them. I’ve never made traditional cabbage rolls, but I thought the grated carrot was a fine substitute for rice. It’s like a mini meatloaf surprise in cabbage that’s smothered with tomato sauce. It’s great for lunch leftovers, too.
All of our dinners for week 2 were really delicious. The jerk chicken and lamb with eggs were my personal favorites.
Thoughts after week 2
- My sweet cravings are pretty much gone, but it was hard to resist the lemon layer cake at the baby shower over the weekend.
- We both feel really good and it’s nice to never feel overly stuffed. The meals keep us full on less food.
- We aren’t eating out very much and I’m realizing how often I relied on that after a busy day at work.
- I ate so many dates during week 1 and this week I hardly needed them to satisfy sweet cravings.
- Marc says he’s feeling great and people are telling him he looks great.
Day 8
breakfast: coconut milk + apple + frozen blueberry + swiss chard smoothie
lunch: leftover cauliflower fried rice
dinner: shrimp Pacifico and guacamole in lettuce cups (omitted Magi, worcestershire + parsley, added Old Bay seasoning, adapted from Pati) + sliced fresh mango
snack: key lime pie Larabar, apricot La Croix
Day 9
breakfast: coconut milk + apple + frozen blueberry + swiss chard smoothie
lunch: leftover shrimp Pacifico and guacamole
dinner: grilled ribeye steaks + grilled asparagus + fresh cherries
snack: Lemon La Croix, coconut cream pie Larabar
Day 10
breakfast: homemade almond milk + swiss chard + frozen peaches + apple + chia seeds smoothie
lunch: kale salad with grated carrots and lemon vinaigrette
dinner: Thai beef + portabello mushroom lettuce cups (recipe adapted from Martha Stewart) + fresh mango
snacks: Lemon La Croix, curry cashews
Day 11
breakfast: homemade almond milk + kale + frozen peaches + apple + chia seeds smoothie
lunch: chocolate coconut chew Larabar + scrambled eggs + fresh grapes
dinner: rotisserie chicken + blistered shishitos + fresh pineapple
Day 12
breakfast: homemade almond milk + kale + swiss chard + frozen peaches + apple + chia seeds smoothie
lunch: almond milk latte + greek salad with greek dressing (omitted feta – restaurant)
dinner: grilled jerk chicken (omitted sugar) + leftover greek salad with greek dressing
Day 13
breakfast: coffee with homemade almond milk
lunch: salad with fruit and grilled chicken (baby shower)
dinner: wood grilled salmon over arugula and fingerling potatoes (restaurant)
snacks: grapes + seaweed snacks
Day 14
breakfast: Iraqi Eggs with Lamb and Tomatoes + coffee with homemade almond milk
lunch: fresh pineapple + dates with almond butter
dinner: homemade chili with ground beef and zucchini + small glass of orange juice
Everything looks awesome and I’m glad to hear you’re finding the plan successful 🙂 I know I need to kick my sugar habit, but I just can’t bring myself to!!
I don’t know if I can imagine Sues without sugar, ha 🙂 It’s an interesting experiment, though, to kind of put food into perspective. And we’re finding delicious things to eat, which is nice!
Hi Nicole! I love cabbage rolls but never make them as they seem too time consuming. I love the idea of putting them in the slow cooker though–fantastic!! Way to go on sticking it out, you are doing a great job!
Thanks, Kate! And I found the technique of softening the cabbage rolls with water from the tea kettle was a fast way to get the cabbage rolls going as opposed to some of the other techniques I’ve seen. I hope you try them and love them!
I’m about to find out if this will cook for six hours on HIGH. I’ll let you know, haha! 🙂
I think that should work! Good luck! 🙂
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