Chapter 9
Sample Menus and Meal Options
The options in this chapter have been created to show how some simple, healthy meals would look over the course of several days. Keep in mind that you may want to make extra food and eat leftovers for some of your meals. We did not account for this in the sample menus, but please feel free to do so when planning your own weekly meals. You can also freeze leftovers and heat them up at a later date.
In the beginning, you’ll likely be most successful if you create a plan for as many of your meals, snacks, and desserts as possible. Making things ahead of time and even packaging them up in single-serving containers for school or work lunches can make things much easier. Be sure to set aside some time for yourself to do this. You may have to take something else off your schedule so that you can free up time for meal prep—adding it to an already-busy schedule can be overwhelming.
To keep things simple, one way to approach each week would be to plan four main dishes that you love and cook them ahead of time on a day that you have the time to do this. Many people have extra time on the weekend, so that’s a good place to start. Invite friends over or cook with your family to make it fun. You can freeze meals you’ll want to eat later in the week, and take them out to thaw the night before.
You may also want to wash fruits and vegetables ahead of time and even slice them up if you want. This way, you can grab snacks on the go if you’re in a hurry.
About the Menus
The meal ideas and sample daily menus were set up to introduce some potentially new food habits into your routine, like vegetables for breakfast in the form of soups or smoothies.
The lunch and dinner options are interchangeable. If you’re already eating meat, fish, and poultry for dinner and don’t want a huge change in your routine right away, you might have the lunch meals for dinner and the dinner meals for lunch. If you’re having digestive challenges, trouble sleeping, or symptoms that start or worsen at night (like abdominal pain, reflux, headaches, night sweats, and the like), consider following the menus as stated. They were designed to make the harder-to-digest meals (animal protein) at lunch, when your energy for digestion is stronger. At dinner, the meals are vegetarian so that your body will have an easier time digesting at night. On its own, this habit of eating may resolve many symptoms that start or worsen at night. (Note that the recipes mentioned can be found in the next chapter.)
Breakfast Ideas
— Steamed apple slices and cinnamon. Cut a green Granny Smith or Gala apple into slices and boil or steam in one cup of water. Drain the water, and sprinkle in one teaspoon of cinnamon. Eat as slices or puree into applesauce. You may want to add some coconut butter, a mixture of coconut oil and coconut meat that you can get online or in the health-food store. (Look for organic brands like Artisana and Wilderness Family Naturals.)
— A bowl of fresh berries. If you need a protein fat to keep your blood sugar strong, have some almonds or coconut butter with it.
— Eggs. For the easiest-to-digest options, try those that have been scrambled on low heat, poached, or soft-boiled.
— Soup. This is a great way to start eating vegetables for breakfast! Some great breakfast-soup options from our recipes chapter are: Kale Carrot Soup, Louise’s Favorite Bone Broth or Veggie Broth, or Delightfully Sweet Zucchini Squash Soup.
— Smoothies —we have several delicious recipes in the next chapter.
— Leftovers from yesterday’s meal. This is the true “fast food” in that you just heat it up and enjoy! Please avoid your microwave, though, as it radiates the food and decreases the nutrient value. You can get better-quality food almost as fast by heating it up in a saucepan or skillet. Or try Ahlea’s favorite: little ceramic soup pots that can be heated on the stovetop and used as serving bowls to cut down on the number of dishes to clean (see Chapter 8 ) .
— Grain-free waffles or pancakes with raw butter (or ghee or coconut oil) and maple syrup, honey, or berries.
— Grain-free bread with organic raw butter, coconut oil, or ghee. (See Chapter 10 for grain-free breads. The Gingerbread recipe makes a wonderful slightly sweet breakfast if you’re used to eating doughnuts and want to change that habit.)
— A bowl of quinoa flakes, buckwheat kashi (groats), cream of buckwheat, or gluten-free whole oats (not quick-cooking oats). You can buy these in packages at health-food stores or online and follow the package instructions to make a breakfast that is like oatmeal. We recommend you soak the grains first (see how in the next chapter) and then follow the package instructions, reducing the amount of cooking water by ½ cup. You can make this slightly sweet or savory; or just add a little organic coconut oil, raw organic butter, or organic ghee.
— Sweet Quinoa Bread. Using the recipe in this book, you can also skip making this into bread and just make the pilaf and enjoy as a nice replacement to oatmeal.
— Sweet Buckwheat Bread. Using the recipe in this book, you can make this as a breakfast cereal instead of bread—it’s similar to Cream of Wheat, only gluten-free!
Lunch or Dinner Ideas
— Chicken, turkey, lamb, or beef burgers with Carrots and Greens Veggie Mash and a chopped romaine lettuce salad
— Crock-Pot Lamb Shanks with Green Beans and Leeks and Pickled Pink Cultured Vegetables
— Hassle-Free Fabulous Whole Chicken for Busy People with steamed broccoli and Celery Root Veggie Mash
— Magnificent Mahi Mahi Salad with steamed zucchini and yellow squash
— Short Ribs One-Pot Crock-Pot Meal
— Heavenly Haddock and side salad or steamed chopped collards
— Kale Carrot Soup with Grain-Free, Gluten-Free Rosemary Brea d
— Thyroid Friendly Veggie Mash with salad
— Lovely Millet Loaf with spring-mix salad
— Good Luck Soup with Grain-Free, Gluten-Free “Rye” Bread
— Creamy Cream of Buckwheat with sautéed brussels sprouts
— Quinoa, Broccoli, and Leek Pilaf with Millet Pilaf—Super Thyroid Booster
— Outstanding Collards and Butternut Squash with Grain-Free, Gluten-Free Rosemary Bread
Snack Ideas
— Celery Basil Crackers with Pickled Pink Cultured Vegetables (or purchase cultured vegetables at your local health-food store; be sure to look for real, raw cultured vegetables made in brine and not in vinegar) or Mild Salsa
— Savory Beet Chips
— Savory Sweet Walnuts and Dates
— Tahini Crackers with coconut oil or dipped in leftover Carrots and Greens Veggie Mash
— Sunflower Granola Bars
— Almonds rolled in a piece of soft dulse. This one needs no recipe because you just use as much dulse as you like with each almond. Dulse is a slightly salty, slightly sweet seaweed that is full of vitamins and minerals; it is wonderful for your adrenals and thyroid. You can get beyond organic soft dulse at: TheSeaweedMan.com .
— A scoop of your favorite nut butter sprinkled with a little sea salt
— Apple slices with almond butter and a little sea salt
— Carrot and celery slices dipped in tahini and sprinkled with sea salt
— A piece of Grain-Free, Gluten-Free “Rye” Bread or Grain-Free, Gluten-Free Rosemary Bread with coconut butter, coconut oil, raw butter, or ghe e
— Toasted nori. There is no recipe for this, so we’ll explain how to toast this tasty seaweed here. Nori seaweed is full of healthy minerals. Make sure to get it in its natural state, which is more like small strips and not in sheets—there are some who feel that nori sheets have arsenic and are best avoided. Once you’ve bought the nori in its natural state, place it in the oven on a cookie sheet, and bake at 200° F. The nori will get crispy and turn a slight green color. This will make it more like chips and turn it into a delicious snack! We love TheSeaweedMan.com as a source for beyond organic seaweed, including nori.
— Real, raw green olives. Choose a brand of cultured olives that uses real brine and not white vinegar (as we’ve mentioned, white vinegar acts as an excitotoxin in sensitive people and indicates a pickled product instead of a probiotic-rich fermented product). Divina brand and Essential Living Foods brand are two good options. Or try real, raw, dehydrated olives, like those made by Essential Living Foods.
Dessert Ideas
— You’ll find several healthy dessert recipes in Chapter 10 . As your taste buds change, you may begin to feel like you don’t need a sweet dessert. A scoop of almond butter or tahini sprinkled with a little sea salt might be perfect for you, or perhaps some almonds with soft dulse seaweed will feel like dessert.
— An easy type of “fast food” dessert is to store some dates in your freezer, so you have them if you want the sweet taste, but don’t have any prepared desserts on hand. One date may be all you need. Some people find even one date too sweet and like to combine it with some almond butter or tahini and a little sea salt. Another idea is to eat the date with a handful of almonds, walnuts, or macadamia nuts with sea salt.
Sample Menus for Five Days
These sample menus are designed to show you what all of your meals could look like over the course of five days. Keep in mind that they feature a variety of daily scenarios; in reality, you may decide you want to eat leftovers because it’s a fast way to enjoy healthy eating. The easiest thing to do when you make a meal is to prepare extra and either eat the leftovers for various meals throughout the week, or freeze them and then thaw and heat when you want a fast meal .
If you don’t mind eating the same meal for two or three days in a row, it can be nice to just grab something from the refrigerator and heat it up! To give yourself variety, though, you could change up the side dish (see the next chapter for fast options) or have a meal you originally made for lunch as a dinner or breakfast meal instead.
When it comes to desserts and snacks, you’ll likely make one or two recipes at a time and either freeze or refrigerate them so that you have a healthy option whenever you need it. Remember, snacks can also be a small portion of any of your meals. The key is to listen to your body, and if you’re hungry, keep your blood sugar balanced throughout the day. Keep in mind that balanced blood sugar means better willpower and decision making, not to mention a happier, healthier body!
Day 1
— 30 minutes before breakfast: 1 cup of Louise’s Favorite Bone Broth or Veggie Broth
— Breakfast: Quinoa Flakes (follow package instructions or use Sweet Quinoa Bread recipe and make the pilaf, but not the bread)
— Midmorning snack: Sweet and Savory Walnuts and Dates
— Lunch: Hassle-Free Fabulous Whole Chicken for Busy People with steamed broccoli (see recipe for Easy Vegetable Side Dishes) and Celery Root Mash
— Afternoon snack: Celery Basil Crackers with store-bought raw cultured sauerkraut (or use the Pickled Pink Cultured Vegetable recipe)
— Dinner: Creamy Cream of Buckwheat with steamed asparagus (see Easy Vegetable Side Dishes recipe)
— Dessert: Sweet Squash Pie
Day 2
— 1 hour before breakfast: Great Green Smoothie
— Breakfast: Good Luck Soup and two slow-cooked scrambled or poached eggs. (Or if you want to do something fast and easy, crack two eggs in your hot-soup bowl and let the soup cook the eggs. When the eggs turn white and the yolk looks more cooked, your soup with eggs is ready to eat!)
— Lunch: Turkey burger with romaine lettuce, steamed green beans, and cultured vegetables
— Afternoon snack: 1 or 2 pieces of Chocolate Fudge
— Dinner: Lovely Millet Loaf with Kale Carrot Soup
— Sweet-taste satisfier: Ginger tea with 1 teaspoon raw honey
Day 3
— Breakfast: Grain-Free Waffles (topped with coconut oil, raw butter, or ghee; and either a touch of honey, maple syrup, or berries)
— Lunch: Magnificent Mahi Mahi salad with steamed slices of zucchini and yellow squash
— Afternoon snack: 1 cup of Louise’s Favorite Bone Broth or Vegetable Broth with Savory Tahini Crackers
— Dinner: Quinoa Broccoli and Leeks Pilaf with spring-mix salad
— Dessert: Sweet Buckwheat Bread with a touch of honey or Raw Chocolate-Chip Cookies (if you are focusing on food combining and you eat dessert just after dinner, the Sweet Buckwheat Bread is a better option).
Following are sample menus for those who want to eat meat or fish for dinner:
Day 4
— Breakfast: Cinnamon Buckwheat Cereal
— Midmorning snack: Celery Basil Crackers with Mild Homemade Salsa
— Lunch: Joel’s Surprisingly Delicious Sea Vegetable Soup
— Dinner: Simple Crock-Pot Lamb Shanks with Carrots and Greens Veggie Mash
— Dessert: Just Like Shortbread Cookies and holy basil hot tea (see next page )
Day 5
— Breakfast: Sweet Blueberry Banana Green Protein Smoothie
— Lunch: Millet Pilaf—Super Thyroid Booster on top of a salad
— Afternoon snack: Savory Beet Chips
— Dinner: Heavenly Haddock and Louise’s Healing Asparagus Puree
— Dessert: Key Lime Pudding
Ideas for Beverages and Soda Replacements
— Water: Develop a love of water first and foremost! If you have an aversion to it, try adding lemon slices, the juice of half a lemon, or some organic pomegranate concentrate to an eight-ounce glass of water to make it more exciting to drink at first.
— Herbal teas: Nettles, dandelion, ginger, holy basil, peppermint, and chamomile are wonderful options.
— Sparkling cherry or pomegranate drink: To make one glass of this delicious fizzy soda replacement, start with six ounces of sparkling mineral water. Add four drops Urban Moonshine Citrus Bitters or use the juice from half of a fresh-squeezed lemon. Now add one ounce of organic cherry or pomegranate concentrate. Mix, add a wedge of lemon or lime, and enjoy !
Cravings: “Eat This Instead” Ideas
— Bread. Eat any of our bread recipes instead. Nuts are also a great bread substitute and may satisfy your craving—try Brazil nuts, macadamia nuts, almonds, or walnuts.
— French fries. Cut slices of red-skinned potatoes, drizzle with coconut oil, and bake in the oven at 350° F for 20 to 30 minutes, until the potato slices are soft. Or try any of the mashes in the next chapter. For a twist, try the Savory Beet Chips—you can make them in the shape of French fries, if you like.
— Pasta. One of the challenges with pasta is that it’s made from flour and, very often, wheat flour. Any flour product, even if it’s gluten-free, is not soaked and is therefore harder for the body to digest. As an alternative to pasta, try quinoa or millet with plenty of raw organic butter or ghee. Another option is to use spaghetti squash with homemade tomato sauce or an organic tomato sauce with good ingredients (read the label using the chart in Chapter 5 ). One of the red-skinned potato recipes may be a helpful comfort-food alternative to pasta as well. If all else fails and you really want pasta, consider the 100 percent buckwheat organic soba noodles sold in health-food stores (make sure to read the label because some soba noodles are a mixture of buckwheat and wheat).
— Sweets. Any of our dessert recipes will help satisfy your sweet tooth. The Delightfully Sweet Zucchini Squash Soup recipe is a naturally sweet soup that can be eaten as a snack to satisfy your sweet tooth as well.
To counteract a sweet craving, consider having a cup of hot tea with honey or stevia or some raw cultured vegetables. The sour flavor can help ward off a sweet craving—you can even take a sip of the brine of real, raw cultured vegetables.
— Doughnuts. Try the recipes for Grain-Free, Gluten-Free Gingerbread or Grain-Free, Gluten-Free Pancakes and Waffles.
— Ice cream. We’ve provided one Vanilla Spice Ice Cream recipe in the next chapter for those who want to put a little more effort into a recipe with big rewards! We even show you how to make it without an ice-cream maker. Another option is to put a banana or date in the freezer and take it out and mash it up when you’re ready to eat it. Mashed frozen banana makes a really nice “ice cream. ”
Keep in mind that frozen foods can be challenging on the digestive system, so you can also consider the Raw Chocolate-Chip Cookies or Key Lime Pudding recipes, since they have a slightly similar smooth consistency to ice cream, but without the cold temperature. You might also like a scoop of nut butter with ¼ teaspoon of honey as a nice, smooth snack that can be enjoyed at room temperature.
— Chips and salsa. Use one of the homemade cracker recipes with the Mild Homemade Salsa recipe for a healthy version of this snack. You can also try a cracker recipe with some raw, cultured vegetables to get a great chips-and-salsa taste. See the recipe for Pickled Pink Cultured Vegetables or purchase them from a health-food store. Again, we want to emphasize that you make sure to buy real, raw cultured vegetables in brine, not white vinegar.
Recipe Shopping List
We have included this list as a helpful tool for meal planning when you’re using recipes in this book. You may want to make a copy of this list and use it alongside the recipes as you plan meals for the coming week—once you’ve decided which recipes you want to make, you can use it to check off the food and ingredients you’ll need to purchase.
For your ongoing shopping needs, we have also provided a separate Master Shopping List at the end of this chapter, which includes all of the No-No foods to avoid and Yes-Yes foods to emphasize. (Note that although these foods were already laid out for you in Chapter 5 , we felt that having them all here for you again would be very helpful as you prepare to go to the grocery store, health-food store, or farmers’ market to gather foods for the recipes.)
— How to use the list: This shopping list is set up with all of the ingredients from the recipes section of the book. It’s important to note that you do not have to buy all of the ingredients on this list; you only need to purchase the ingredients for the meals you want to prepare. One great way to approach this is to plan the recipes you want to make, then check off the ingredients and write in the amounts you need on this shopping list.
— How much to buy? Since everyone cooks for different numbers of people in a household, you can go to each recipe and look at the serving sizes to identify how much of an ingredient you’ll require .
Vegetables (choose organic whenever possible)
Fruit/Sweeteners (choose organic whenever possible)
Grains (choose organic wherever possible)
Animal Protein—Meat, Poultry, Fish, Eggs (look for organic, grass-fed/pasture-fed meat, eggs, and poultry; and wild-caught fish)
Nuts and Seeds (see if you can get raw, organic nuts and seeds in the bulk section of your grocery store)
Nut Butters (choose organic, raw, and sprouted whenever possible—sprouted nut and seed butters are harder to find and have a higher price, however)
Sea Salt, Spices, and Ground or Dried Herbs (choose organic whenever possible)
Condiments and Extras
Healthy Fats and Oils (choose organic, unrefined oils)
Teas and Beverages (choose organic where possible)
Supplements for Smoothie Recipes (note that most can be purchased at Amazon.com if you can’t find them in your health-food store)
Master Shopping List
This is a master shopping list for your ongoing shopping needs beyond our recipes. This list includes the No-No foods to avoid and the Yes-Yes foods to emphasize, as discussed in Chapter 5 .
No-No’s: Avoid These at the Grocery Store
Sweeteners
Excitotoxins
Gluten grains
Other
Fats and oils —avoid fats and oils that are refined, hydrogenated, partially hydrogenated, or trans fats, such as:
Y ES -Y ES !: I NCLUDE T HESE IN Y OUR H EALTHY D IET
Whole foods —typically found in the outside perimeter of the grocery store (produce; the fish and meat counters; some refrigerated areas)
Fruits and vegetables
Animal protein
Healthy fats and oils (choose organic, unrefined oils)
Whole-food sweeteners (organic preferred)
Nuts and seeds (organic and raw, not roasted or salted) —most are great, although you may want to avoid peanuts, cashews, and pistachios due to mold contamination
Nut and seed butters —look for raw nut and seed butters, and make sure to read the labels to avoid unwanted additives (some companies, like Better Than Roasted, have presoaked or sprouted the nuts and seeds to make them more easily digestible)
Gluten-free grains (organic preferred) —amaranth, buckwheat, millet, and quinoa (and if you do eat rice, consider Lundberg brand Organic California White Basmati because it was found to be lower in arsenic than other brands)
Sea salt, spices, and ground or dried herbs —look for organic herbs and spices and real sea salt or Himalayan salt, and choose Ceylon cinnamon instead of cassia cinnamon
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