It’s January 30th and that means I made it to day 30 of this Whole30. Well, technically I did cheat one day, so it’s not an official Whole30, but since this is my third(ish) time through, I think it counts. So in the words of Vicki Gunvalsen, Wooooohooooo!

I haven’t updated here for awhile because, well, things have been pretty routine. Cook, sweat, shop, sleep, repeat. We’ve been using our dehydrator a lot for fruit, which I think has saved us some grocery money. However, I’ve yet to find a good shopping routine. We plan to stick with this Whole30 way of eating for the foreseeable future (while allowing a cheat meal or drink once every two weeks) so I’m still eager to fine tune the shopping and spending. I was spoiled in California. Within 5 miles of our house we had several big chain supermarkets, two Trader Joe’s, two Whole Foods, a Sprouts and, my personal favorite, Whole365. I even went to Whole365 when we visited last November, for old time’s sake. Here, I have to drive about 20 minutes for Trader Joe’s and a little longer for Whole Foods. I can certainly find enough of what we like at the in-town supermarkets and the couple small, natural food stores. But the mark-up is all over the place. And don’t get me started on how hard it is to find a good avocado.

Sad lil guys

The good news is that’s forced me to try a few new recipes. On Monday I made this beanless chili recipe in the InstantPot and it came out great. On reheating, the sweet potatoes fell apart, but that didn’t affect the taste. I used ground beef instead of turkey and I doubled the Rotel. I also didn’t measure the spices because I like to live dangerously. I’ll definitely be making it again!

Pretty much the only thing I need to go to Whole Foods for is compliant dressings and mayo (yet somehow I always seem to spend $140 there…) so I think I finally have the kick in the pants I need to start making my own. Biff has been kicking around the idea of making another batch of Kombucha, but I’m ok with not having a living yeast culture on our counter.

So I’m off to workout and then to the grocery store today! Tomorrow I’ll weigh myself and maybe I’ll have a gluten-free cider to celebrate. And then, it’s right back into another Whole30!