Shopping List
Here's what we used to get us started the first week, and remember *NO CANNED FOOD ALLOWED.*
Meat:
Ground beef to grill burgers
Chicken breasts
Lamb
Veggies:
Celery
Carrots
Broccoli
Peppers
Peas
Asparagus
Green Beans
Tomatoes
Fruit:
Bananas
Grapes
Strawberries
Raspberries
Blueberries
Apples
Oranges
Lemons
Peaches
Avocado
Olives
Other:
Raw honey
Pistachios
Cheddar cheese
(Sliced for burgers and a block for shredding)
Babybel cheese
Parmesan cheese
Eggs
Mint
Spinach
Cilantro
With the above ingredients, you can prepare breakfasts (fruit salads, eggs), lunches (salads, grilled chicken), dinners (meat and vegetables), and snacks (celery/carrot/pepper sticks, cheese, nuts, fruit). You can also make drinks (orange juice, lemonade, smoothies).
I would try to find ways to use the same ingredients a few different ways the first few days. For example, we steamed broccoli one day, and made cheesy broccoli bites the next. We made smoothies and lemonade almost every day. But we also used the same fruits used in smoothies in fruit salads or on their own. We ate cold carrot sticks as snacks and baked carrot fries with dinners. Anything we didn't use got tossed into a salad for me!
I would also invest in a food processor, if you don't already have one. We have a cheap version of this. We also have a small, charcoal grill like this which has been great as we started this diet in the summer and my son finds grilling to be fun. It makes everything taste a lil better, too.
I would also invest in a food processor, if you don't already have one. We have a cheap version of this. We also have a small, charcoal grill like this which has been great as we started this diet in the summer and my son finds grilling to be fun. It makes everything taste a lil better, too.
>>Don't overwhelm yourself and don't buy too much fresh produce that will go off before you use it. Stick with the kinds of meals you are used to cooking, just extract the illegal foods. I'm used to stir frying chicken in olive oil and lemon juice with garlic and onions, and then tossing in some green beans. There's one quick and simple meal down and it's totally legal.
>>Do come up with a few fun recipes to make the first week as enticing as possible, but pace yourself! You don't have to try everything right away. Save the almond flour pancakes and pizza doughs for another week!
*By the way, I'm aware some of the above 'vegetables' are technically fruit. You don't need to write me to educate me, I'm just categorising them in the way they're used and found in the store.*