Hi, and welcome to my first Whole30. You’ve probably done Whole30 before, but this is my first year. I’ve resisted it for a long time because my job is sugar and I love sugar. Each year, I’ve made a list of reasons why I could never do Whole30, and the most compelling one is that you guys would miss my steady stream of Valentine’s Day recipes from January 1 to February 13. The truth is, every year, only 2 or 3 of those recipes ’take off’ and become your favorites. So, I figured I could finally set aside an entire month to rid myself of sugar; I’ll spend the first 2 weeks of February furiously catching up on all things Valentine’s Day, deal? I’ve also thought that the idea of Whole30 is stupid because it cuts out foods that I know to be healthy (like my beloved grains), but I’m finally over that. I see the point of it. It’s about your relationship with food, not the actual food you’re eating. Did you read ‘It Starts with Food?’ It’s the guide to Whole30 and has wonderfully nerdy reasons to take the challenge.
I’m one of those people that always craves dessert after dinner—something small and sweet. But lately, the dessert craving has been showing up after lunch. Twice a day dessert cravings tells me it’s time for a re-set.
The Plan for my Whole30 challenge:
I’ll be sharing at least 4 new recipes each week for the entire month. Beyond that, you can search Pinterest for other amazing Whole30 recipes. I love that Whole30 recipes are always paleo and low carb, and as I noticed with my keto recipes, some of you guys are really into that! I’ve started with Whole 30 breakfast because if I start the day with a delicious breakfast I’m hoping to keep the sugar cravings at bay. Enter Sweet Potato Toast and Cauliflower Fried Rice (insert link). Though Cauliflower Fried Rice may be a little too savory for everyone, I love a warm, savory breakfast, especially when the temperature is below 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The truth is, small batch and the word ‘diet’ go together very well, so then Whole 30 diet shouldn’t be too much of a stretch. I’m also working to make these recipes fairly easy. I think it is important when trying something new to keep it as simple as possible. At the end of this month I definitely want to be able to file every recipe under Whole 30 Easy Recipes.
Whole30 Breakfast Ideas:
To successfully start Whole30, I had to arm myself with breakfast recipes, and I decided breakfast toast ideas would be a simple way to start. I mean Avocado toast was just an idea once and look at it now! While you can always count on me to make healthy dinners for two, breakfast is always my weakest meal of the day. Most of the time, breakfast is tea with protein powder, the rest of my daughter’s breakfast, or toast. Hardly filling, hardly nutritious, and not enough to get me to lunchtime. So, the success of Whole30 for me depends on amazing breakfasts. Oh, and fun fact: I don’t love eggs or meat, especially in the mornings! I know that most Whole30 breakfasts rely on eggs and meat, so immediately, I came up with other plans. I’ll admit that the idea of using sweet potatoes as a substitute for toast sounds insane. But, once you go through a few days on Whole30 and realize that you crave sweet in the morning, it starts to sound absolutely delicious. When you realize that the small squirt of honey in your tea is the sweetness you need to wake up, and suddenly you are without it–sweet potato toast sounds good. And it is good; it really is! If you never jumped on the Avocado Toast bandwagon, well here is your chance to get in early on Sweet Potato Toast.
Sweet potato toast isn’t exactly how it sounds; we don’t put thinly sliced sweet potato in the toaster. Well, we do eventually, but not in the beginning. First, the ½" thick slices of sweet potato are baked in the oven. This serves two purposes: even baking in the toaster and a great make-ahead breakfast method.
How to make sweet potato toast:
My favorite way to top sweet potato toast is with the salty combination of dates and bacon. The smear of almond butter makes it hearty and filling. By all means, top your sweet potato toasts with whatever Whole30 combo you love: avocado, fried eggs, compliant yogurt, anything you like. The chia seeds provide some crunch, but unsweetened coconut flakes and flax would be great, too! This breakfast toast is a great Whole 30 way to start your day. Yep, that was super corny, but it’s 2019 and I’m on a diet, so I’m trying not to take myself too seriously.
