The best way to change your diet is to prepare foods that you enjoy and that taste good to you. However, many people need some ideas to help them out.
Breakfast
In our family, we eat a big breakfast to get our metabolisms going and to give us plenty of energy. If you’re not much of a breakfast eater, you wouldn’t like our menu. We eat soaked oatmeal and scrambled eggs most mornings, but sometimes we’ll eat soaked cream of wheat, sprouted cream of spelt, an egg and potato casserole, or pancakes, waffles, or crepes.
When eating breakfast grains, be sure they are prepared properly. Oats are very high in phytates, and for best thyroid function, these need to be neutralized by soaking the oats in an acidic solution overnight.
For instance, to feed 8 people, I soak 4 cups of oatmeal in 4 cups filtered water, with a few tablespoons of yogurt, whey, or creme fraiche stirred in. In the morning, I boil another 4 cups water with some sea salt. I stir in the soaked oatmeal mixture and let it cook a couple minutes. I serve this with butter and either sucanat, maple syrup, honey, raisins, or homemade ice cream (yum!).
Secondly, I serve my grains with plenty of fat, such as butter or coconut oil. The fat helps us absorb the nutrients in the grains.
Third, I am sure to stay away from commercial cereals. These are very bad for us! (Here is an interesting article that explains why.) We also avoid store-bought pastries and donuts, since these are invariably high in trans-fats.
Since eggs are so high in nutrition (especially the yolks), I serve plenty of eggs in our home.
We avoid fruit juice (except for freshly squeezed juices) because they are high in sugar and have no enzymes because pasteurization has destroyed them all. We do enjoy hot tea and coffee, served with fresh cream and a healthy sweetener.
In other cultures, people eat soup, leftovers, rice, and more for breakfast. I have friends who enjoy a smoothie every morning. Be creative as you start your day with excellent nutrition.
Lunch
Gelatin-rich bone broths, made into nourishing soups… salads with homemade, enzyme-rich dressings… homemade bread made from properly prepared grains and smothered with healthful butter and honey… these foods form the backbone of a healthy noon meal.
We also enjoy raw cheeses, vegetables and fruits from the garden, and homemade cookies. Glasses of cold, frothy raw milk taste wonderful, as do cold cups of kombucha or beet kvass. A smoothie made with coconut milk, berries, yogurt, and even raw eggs tastes great on a hot summer day.
All of these foods are simple to prepare and provide innumerable benefits to our bodies.
Supper
Supper is a comforting meal when we can enjoy each other as a family and tell about our days. Soup always makes a good starting course, and when served with a dollop of enzyme-rich creme fraiche, it helps to get our digestive tracks moving. Meats that have slowly been simmering all day, served with rich sauces (homemade, of course) invite our taste buds to relax. Vegetables are steamed or simmered with complementary herbs, and then served with plenty of butter for the best assimilation of vitamins. Lacto-fermented vegetables and relishes add a kick to dinner, waking up our taste buds and our digestive systems. Salads are always accompanied by enzyme-rich salad dressings, prepared with love in only 30 seconds. Fresh rolls and butter are a delight. To aid with digestion, drinks are the lacto-fermented variety, such as ginger ale, root beer, berry kefirs, or kombucha. Desserts are low in sugar, plentiful in natural fruits, and high in healthy fats such as coconut oil.
Menus
Now it’s time to print out a menu that you can hang on the side of your refrigerator.
- “Menu Planner” — PDF download or Word file
- “A Week of Healthy, Easy Dinners”
- Things that have to be planned ahead are always hardest for me to remember, so don’t forget to print out this list of daily “Kitchen Jobs”
Some resourceful women have started home businesses by making menus for the rest of us. What a great idea!
Recipes and Classes
- Have you tried our free health class?
- Our recipes page
- Burn your recipes — and learn to cook without them!
- Learn to cook traditional recipes.
Next, let’s look at some daily and weekly kitchen jobs.
