Whole30 for August 2012 page 13

[jenn26point2]

I've never had any issues with coconut oil. I use it a lot. LOVE the taste too.

[Jaradel]

Surely not Jaradel, come on! You'll trade five days of Whole30 because of one tiny little cracker?

People don't worry so much about perfection!

LOL was more of a joke than anything - No, I'm delaying my start to coincide with the beginning of the next challenge over at NerdFitness, which starts August 6th - and a group of us over there are also doing a Whole30 challenge as part of the larger challenge. So, many reasons to delay starting, but I have every intention of going a full 30 days, so I'll finish in early September.

[SophieScreams]

I've got a minor dilemma in that my normal chili recipe dumps a beer or so into the slow cooker, will have to substitute that. Any ideas? I was thinking maybe chicken stock or something, but maybe a little vinegar for the acidity too?

Call me crazy, but a couple tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder really amps up a pot of primal chili! Ghiradelli makes a good one.

[JackieKessler]

@kmariella - CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[JackieKessler]

I've been Whole30 starting this Monday, so this is day four for me. And guys...so far, so good. Maybe the walking in the morning is helping. Dunno. But the water weight is dropping off -- almost four pounds in three days. Feels good to let my body heal.

Tips for minimally processed foods: If you like chicken sausage, Billinski's has an organic chicken sausage with no pork casing -- very minimally processed (like, five ingredients) and tastes great with my scrambled eggs. Also, Applegate Farms has nitrate/nitrite-free bacon called Sunday Bacon. Good stuff, but there's cane syrup (or some other sweetener) in there. US Wellness Meats has a Whole30-approved bacon listed, but every time I've checked, it's been out of stock. Finally, Boar's Head meats are all gluten-free...and they have a nitrate/nitrite-free turkey called Natural Turkey. I had it yesterday with organic mustard and a BAS. Good times!

[jenn26point2]

I found the Applegate lunch meats have carageenan in them. Is it in their bacon? I have found two forms of nitrate/nitrite free bacon. one by Hormel and one by Farmland. However, each has a form of sugar in it. Hormel uses turbinado and farmland uses cane syrup or something like that. The only problem with these is that I think they're CAFO. I was intrigued by the Farmland b/c the package features a family farm from Iowa, but looking at the Farmland website, it looks like they treat their hogs with antibiotics, however the farms are required to keep the wellbeing of the hogs in mind with comfort, feed, etc. It didn't go any further than that regarding how the hogs are raised.

A natural pork farmer in our area sells bacon and I bought a pound, but later learned he uses MSG in the curing process. Hormel and Farmland are un-cured.

Which is the lesser of the two evils???

[impala454]

Call me crazy, but a couple tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa powder really amps up a pot of primal chili! Ghiradelli makes a good one.

I have heard that, sounds good and I do have some. Thanks for the idea!

[impala454]

I'm not terribly worried about the minuscule amount of sugar that may be in cured meats like bacon. You'd be really hard pressed to find any bacon (even uncured) that did not have at least a tiny amount of sugar in the processing. It's usually one of the last ingredients and hardly any remains (not even enough to have 1 carb in the macro listing).

[jenn26point2]

Okie, then I won't worry about the sugar...

Now how 'bout the question of possible factory farm uncured with no MSG vs pastured cured with MSG... I'm assuming the MSG will win over factory farming, but again, I don't know that it's factory farmed... just know that they allow antibiotic use, but with certain rules and guidelines. Farmland has a pdf on their website about their company and that's where I got the info about animal health and wellness and the use of antibiotics. I'd have to look again to see if they advise sustainable farming or not. They're a large meat producer so likely not into sustainable farming, but they buy from small family farms, so maybe?? In the meantime, I'm going to assume it's factory farmed pork they're using to make their uncured with no MSG, nitrates/nitrites bacon...

[SophieScreams]

Okie, then I won't worry about the sugar...

Now how 'bout the question of possible factory farm uncured with no MSG vs pastured cured with MSG... I'm assuming the MSG will win over factory farming, but again, I don't know that it's factory farmed... just know that they allow antibiotic use, but with certain rules and guidelines.

I think the answers you're looking for are outlined in the Whole30 guide:

"Do not consume carrageenan, MSG or sulfites. If these ingredients appear in any form on the label of your processed food or beverage, it’s out for the Whole30."

"Do not consume added sugar of any kind, real or artificial. No maple syrup, honey, agave nectar, Splenda, Equal, Nutrasweet, xylitol, stevia, etc. Read your labels, because companies sneak sugar into products in ways you might not recognize."

"...you don’t need to stress about organic, grass-fed, pastured or free range. Just figure out how to stick to the Whole30 in any setting, around every special circumstance, under any amount of stress… for the next 30 days. Your only job? Eat. Good. Food."

Sounds like bacon may be out for the time being... the very definition of a Paleo Nightmare!
Keep looking though!