These days I’m moving my online business and personal finance content to penniesnotperfection.com since that has grown into it’s own brand and business, but I’m craving a place to still share my favorites in the world of health and food. Those are the topics I started blogging about forever ago and while I come and go, I still love sharing about these things!
Today I wanted to go over my favorite Whole30 meals I’ve been eating regularly. I did Whole30 last year and it inspired me to eat more Whole Foods regularly in my diet.
If you’re interested in watching my Whole30 experience, you can catch up on those posts here.
It’s been a year since I finished Whole30 and while I didn’t make a Whole30 Thanksgiving stuffing this year, I still have been enjoying many Whole30 compliant meals! My mother-in-law recently gave up sugar and it inspired me to once again get back to the healthy way of eating that made me feel my very best.
Whole30 Recipes I’m Loving
In an effort to eat better I’ve been working more Whole30 compliant recipes back into my diet. Here are some of the meals I’ve been loving.
Chicken Pot Pie Soup
This healthy Whole30 chicken pot pie soup by 40Aprons is my favorite recipe I’ve had in the last year. It’s technically a recipe for the InstaPot craze, but since I don’t have an InstaPot I make it in my crockpot.
This meal is soooo good. It is one that I consistently make over and over again and my husband will eat as well. Its delicious on it’s own or with a side of some type of bread like item. I wasn’t sold on the cashew cream concept before I made this meal but it ended up being the key to success here. Before you add the cashew cream you don’t have the right consistency or texture.
Slow Cooker Butter Chicken
Slow Cooker Butter Chicken by One Lovely life has been another huge favorite of mine. I loved this one because it was very easy and there was even a video instructions!
I love Indian food but it often isn’t the healthiest option for someone who has a delicate digestive system (hi, it me). This recipe completely solved the problem for me and gave me another great meal rotation.
Full disclosure though: husband and child won’t eat this one! Because it’s super tomato based it causes reflux for my husband so he passes when I make it in the crockpot. I’m fine with that decision because that means more for me.
Whole30 Reflections After A Year
All of these meals have reminded me that I truly feel my best when I’m eating a Paleo/Whole30 type style. After finishing Whole30 last year I felt the best I’d felt possible ever.
Unfortunately, the holidays followed and I fell back into eating poorly and with lots of sugar. Sugar drains my energy, ruins my skin, and highly affects my moods in a negative way. It’s super addictive to me and leads to binge eating I’ve struggled with for decades. Once I introduced it back after the last Whole30, I was sucked back into a negative sugar eating cycle.
In fact, it got so bad that I eventually went to the doctor complaining of low energy and fatigue. After a ton of testing it was determined that technically I was perfectly healthy. I had a small child so and a full time job so that affected it on some level, but the true culprit was… my diet. A steady stream of sugar and caffeine led to spikes and crashes that eventually led me to an overall feeling of being burned out and run down.
Hopefully the experiences of eating well and feeling well with Whole30 and then feeling terrible with a standard diet full of sugar afterward will remind me that my body deserves the healthy foods that make it feel it’s best. More Whole30 recipes and more Paleo eating in my life and less fast food and sugar bombs.
Hopefully as I continue to add to my Whole30 / Paleo style of eating I can find more recipes I love and will be able to share them here with you all.
Until then, keep yourselves healthy and happy! <3