I think one of the most difficult parts of feeding a family is adding variety to a meal plan. I want my kids to appreciate the complex flavors in simple fresh food. I add spices or use different combinations of veggies, but meals follow a very simple template. It is important for your gut bacteria that you introduce a variety of starch, vegetable, and meat.
I don’t write out a meal plan for breakfast, but I always have an idea of what I am going to serve based on the rest of the day. I make one smoothie for all four kids and divide it between them. This morning I used the last of this season’s spinach from the garden, mojito mint, some leftover fruit salad from yesterday, frozen blueberries, grated ginger, and home-brew kombucha (for probiotic), coconut milk, and fish oil. They sip on the smoothie while I make their “eating” breakfast. This morning Cameron did not want to eat any veggies. He decided to “save” them for tonight. So, I made his protein, parsley scrambled pastured eggs with shaved Parmesan, and a roast sweet potato. William wanted beets with his breakfast, along with the parsley pastured eggs and Parmesan and a slice of seed bread with butter and homemade raspberry jam. So, the basic template is protein and a sustainable carbohydrate.
William’s eyes were bigger than his stomach and he left his bread and a little eggs behind. So, Maddy got a little boost to her breakfast with William’s leftovers. As long as nobody is sick and nothing has gone in and come back out…sharing leftovers is a great strategy to avoid waste.
Sometimes dinner is a casserole (look for a butternut lasagna recipe coming soon) or soup. Tonight we enjoyed some simple veggies combined with herbs from the garden along with a baked potato and baked salmon. I steamed the carrots, zucchini and yellow squash from the garden and topped it with fresh tarragon. I made a simple side salad with avocado, tomato, olives, cucumber and fresh basil and pineapple sage.
Finally, I quickly steamed some green beans with grated fresh ginger.
Dessert, was my version of a cobbler, I used some very ripe green pears, a couple pieces of pineapple, a couple strawberries, a sprinkling of coconut manna, cinnamon and grated fresh ginger. I baked it covered at 350 for 30 min until it was soft and bubbly.
The girls were asking for cheese, so they enjoyed a slice of raw cheddar. No sauerkraut tonight as they ate it at breakfast.
Keep it simple and enjoy real fresh food. Prep work becomes a quick effort with planning a practice. Every second of it is worth it!!
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