Changing your diet is HARD. We have a multitude of food sensitivities in the house right now.
Makes me want to pull my hair out a lot of the time. We are learning how to do this. SLOWLY.
It is really important for my daughter so she can heal from the pain and fatigue that she is experiencing.
The basics building blocks of our meals
Meat
Thankfully we have no food sensitivities in this food group.
This is the foundation of all our meals.
I’m so grateful that we have a freezer full of beef and chicken. We don’t eat much pork. However we do buy Hormel bacon and I’m planning on searching for Applegate sausage this week on the recommendation of a friend.
Vegetables
My people are carb people. They love rice, potatoes, bread, noodles etc and consider them the best part of the meal.
Many of those are off limits for Elizabeth.
So we are substituting LOTS of vegetables. It is a BIG change and I still give my growing 13 year old the option of bread to fill in the chinks of his bottomless pit stomach.
- Side Benefit! All the vegetables we are consuming are just what I need to chase away the last 10 lbs that I want to loose before surgery in December. I've almost relost the weight I gained a year ago when I was super frustrated over my weight gain on the Trim Healthy Mama plan
Fresh or steamed carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, cucumbers or peppers are our favorites. Salad has been another mainstay. I buy spinach, green leaf & romaine frequently.
Fruit
We reserve fruit mostly for snacks. It’s quick and as long as I have apples and oranges around it keeps them all happy. My favorites are strawberries and blueberries.
Dairy?
She didn't test sensitive to it but she's been off of it since August and we are being very slow to reintroduce foods that have caused problems in the past.
I can report that she has tried milk chocolate in tiny amounts. Ha!
Homemade meals
As you can see there aren’t many processed foods in that mix. That means cooking each and every meal from scratch.
It is doable though.
Making a meal plan is essential so that I can keep things on hand. I am learning that I need to teach my kidos more meals so that they can make food when I am not able to do so. Here is a two week menu printable that we use. Go on get it--it's free and very helpful!
Rules to keep on track
- Keep it simple things. Meat, vegetables, salad. It sounds boring but it really isn’t and you can mix it up differently at every meal.
- Read the labels on everything. The big whammy for us has been corn. It is in everything.
- Pinterest—it has been my place to search out good recipes and ideas when I am stuck.
I’m posting our menu for the week below in an effort to help others who might need some inspiration.
We are all pretty much on our own for breakfast and lunches. However I do have frozen “made ahead” items for breakfast which makes the first hours of the day SO much easier. We made a breakfast list and posted it on our refrigerator so there is less “thinking” in the morning.
It’s hard to think when you are hungry.
Breakfasts
- Chia Porridge w/ Strawberries
- Oatmeal w/ maple syrup
- Bacon & fruit
- Apple & Peanut Butter
- Smoothies
- Buckwheat porridge w/ blueberries
Supper Menu for first week of November
- Black Bean Mexican Stew
- Lemon Chicken w/ quinoa & steamed veggies
- Chili
- Fried Fish using THM Baking Mix
- Baked Chicken w/ fried potatoes, steamed green beans
- White Chicken Chili
- Sweet Potato Soup
The goal is to heal Elizabeth's gut by avoiding these foods and not overusing on any one food. That seems to be what has caused her body to react to corn, rice & eggs. This could take a while but we are hopeful that someday she will not be having so much pain & fatigue and can leave this trial in the past.
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