A whole 30 update

Day 22.... I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

No but seriously, we're doing great! Our family has been amazed at how poorly we were eating before, and how easy it is to make some little changes. Cutting out carbs, dairy, and sugar is HARD. We miss dairy most of all. But we've found some really good recipes and we plan to continue following a paleo diet even when our 30 days are up. Here's our thoughts on the Whole 30 so far:

1. Simple switches are EASY - we've switched out butter for ghee and rice for cauliflower rice. We don't miss butter or rice AT ALL. Both ghee and cauliflower rice make awesome replacements.

2. We miss dairy... A LOT. There's just something about not being able to top your chili with sour cream, or not being able to add cheese to your salad or burger. We miss dairy way more than carbs or sugar.

3. Bananas are LIFE. Seriously, we use them mixed with an egg to make pancakes, we add them to shakes, we blend them with almond butter, cocoa powder, coconut milk and vanilla to make ice cream, the list goes on and on. We go through several bunches a week.

4. Pinterest is a GODSEND. We have gotten every single one of our recipes from pinterest. Some have been awesome, some not so great. We would be stuck in a serious rut eating the same things over and over without pinterest. I'll share some of our favorite recipes below.

5. The prep/cooking time is MASSIVE. I'm now on a first name basis with my kitchen, instead of being a casual acquaintance. Cooking several meals a day is tough, but we're determined.

6. The dishes NEVER END. Ever. All that cooking means constant dish washing. we run our dishwasher nightly and sometimes during the day too. Unloading and re-loading has suddenly become our biggest chore.

7. Lara bars are DELICIOUS. The first week we started I had a Lara bar and thought it was disgusting. It was no where near as sweet as other bars I was used to, and it was much softer. Now that I've completely detoxed off sugar, they are delicious. The very slight sweetness from fruit is all they need. Our favorite flavors are Apple Pie, Lemon, Cherry Pie, and Key Lime Pie. All the fruity ones basically.

8. Black coffee is DISGUSTING. I've completely cut out coffee because I just can't stomach black coffee without any milk or sugar. Then again, I used to take my coffee with more sugar and cream than actual coffee, so maybe I'm just not cut out for coffee.

9. The crockpot is your FRIEND. I get so excited when I look at our menu plan and see a crockpot meal. I love being able to throw everything in there and having it ready at dinner time without spending nearly as much time in the kitchen as usual.

10. Planning ahead is KEY. We've been mapping out a meal plan for two weeks at a time, but heading into summer I'm going to start planning for a whole month. It's such a relief to look at our calendar, have dinner already planned, and know that my kitchen is stocked with everything I need to make it. We would have fallen off the bandwagon weeks ago had we not planned ahead and had to plan and shop on the fly instead.

And without further ado, here are our favorite recipes so far! These are, of course, from Pinterest.