It’s easy to overlook how much chocolate you have until you start giving it away. My whole desk is full of chocolate and snack foods. The funny thing is – I don’t normally snack. I just hoard food. So I went about gifting my co-workers with a good amount of my stash to reduce sugar dragon temptations.

Next, I ventured to a nearby Whole Foods and picked up a bottle of coconut aminos and a bottle of avocado mayonnaise. The coconut aminos are supposed to be a good substitute for soy sauce. The initial taste is pretty close, but the aftertaste is a little too sweet. I’m not sure how much I’ll use it. And the avocado mayonnaise is not sweet at all, it’s creamy but has a slight bitterness to it. I’m guessing this is because of the avocado oil. I’ll use this probably, but only sparingly.

I bought a whole rotisserie chicken from Costco, eggs, and frozen salmon fillets. But I splurged on some Harmless Coconut water. After I had a sample, it just seemed too good to pass up. Whole 30 approved but still sweet enough to keep me happy.

Actually Cooking

I removed the meat and skin from the chicken and set them aside in separate containers for later use. I then boiled the carcass, half an onion, and three carrots to make stock. My plan was to make enough soup to make other dishes for a week.

Though I knew I could prepare a whole week’s worth of food at a time, I decided to cook every two to three days so that my food would be fresh and so I could take up less space in the fridge. This also allows me greater flexibility as I try to figure out what does and does not work for me.

I prepared and portioned out spinach into smaller two cup containers. Cut up my yams, a mango and some green onions.

Day 1

I intentionally over-packed food for my first day. I wasn’t sure how much I would eat / could eat. Because I corset my appetite is greatly reduced, but I didn’t want to risk spending the whole day hungry.

Breakfast was chicken soup with a whole, cubed chicken breast and scallions. It was surprisingly filling. So much so that I decided to pass on the chicken mango salad I made for lunch and had the red yam and walnuts that I had made for snack instead. Additionally, I drank close to 2 liters of water so I felt pretty full all day.

After work I came home and rested for a bit. But I went out with my Bible Study small group for dinner at Urban Plates. There were plenty of selections that were Whole 30 compliant so it wasn’t difficult. I had the Albacore Tuna with Sesame Broccolini and Roasted Summer Squash. I liked the fish and the broccolini but I didn’t like the squash. I will consider cooking  broccolini myself in the future!

Thanks for reading!