I've been brainstorming some ideas in my food planning notebook, with particular focus on keeping meals Feingold-friendy, and I'd like to share my notes as I go. Eventually I hope to have a 2-week menu plan written out, but for now, I'm just getting the general ideas down on paper.
Mainly I'm working off a food list I made up long ago, adjusting it to to what we actually eat, and what EB can eat. I find that by sitting down with recipes and my Feingold food list, it is easy to quickly check ingredients, brands and possible substitutions. I note things to tweak right there on the page, then tear and file it away. I have a tote bag packed with my meal planning supplies - Feingold materials, magazines, recipes, grocery store flyers, coupon packet and notebook.
I do this at home, but you could easily do this at the library once a month or so. Just plan to spend some time poring over the current issues of food magazines, women's magazines - even parenting magazines, I find, have wonderful child-friendly recipes that are easy to adapt and assemble. Copy down recipes and ideas you want to try (long hand if you have the time, or make copies on the library machine).
I am slowly making notes as I go about how to make each food choice more economical and convenient, but in general, I try to watch for coupons (more organic varieties appear every week) and I check the weekly sales flyers for sale items. I am fortunate to live close to several markets, but I usually shop at one regular store and one natural market. In the summer months I will stop at the farmstand as well. If I can get my pantry better organized, I hope to buy in bulk more often (summer project!). Also, I hope to replace our freezer this summer (ours died a year ago or so). And I know I don't have to tell you all this, but the weeks I shop with a meal plan in hand, are the weeks we make much better use of our food!
Please keep in mind that any foods I mention are chosen in accordance with our Feingold Food List. You must join The Feingold Association in order to receive the comprehensive food list (which lists acceptable brands) as well as a plethora of other supportive materials, including a mail-order guide, fast food guide and a handbook with recipes, menu plans and coping stategies.
I hope that my notes here give you some breakfast ideas, whether you follow Feingold or not. :)
Cold Cereal:
- With milk (for those who can tolerate it)
- In single-serve snack containers
- Organic "krispy" cereal bars
- Homemade "trail mix" with any combination of dry cereal, dried bananas/pineapple/mango/dates, coconut, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, pretzels, milk or white chocolate chips (store in small baggies as a take-along breakfast)
Notes: My middle son and I are the only two who eat our cereal with milk; the rest of my family eats it plain. I'd like to cut down on amount of krispy bars consumed (limit to after-therapy treat if possible).
Hot Cereal:
- Serve with fruit (diced or stewed and sweetened slightly), brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, chocolate chips, cream, low-fat milk or yogurt
Note: I saw a neat idea in Family Fun magazine, where you take rolled oats and a bit of salt, grind them in a blender or food processor to the consistency of wheat germ and then scoop the mixture into plastic resealable baggies in 1/2 cup portions. Add natural flavorings as you wish (let the kids personalize their own set of bags), seal the bags and shake. To serve, empty contents into a bowl and slowly stir in 1 cup boiling water. Cover and let sit for 3 minutes. Stir again; add milk if desired. My boys like a brand of really expensive organic "kids" oatmeal pouches in chocolate chip and cinnamon flavors; there's no reason I can't make up baggies like this for way less money!
Oats:
- Homemade granola (plain oats with a bit of honey and perhaps cinnamon for us) served over yogurt and fruit
- Granola-over-fruit baked crisp, served with yogurt or cream (lovely on cold winter mornings)
- Breakfast "cookies" made with oats and pearsauce (instead of applesauce)
- homemade granola bars
Note: I've bought the Irish tubs of oats in the past, but I think I will price the organic bulk oats at the natural market. If I store it well, it would be less expensive I'm sure. It would make sense, too, to make up large batches of homemade granola to store in airtight containers for snacking and recipes.
Yogurt:
- Plain or vanilla, served alone or with honey, maple syrup, or pureed fruit stirred in.
- Smoothies made up in blender (keep portion size baggies of fruit in freezer, ready to go)
- Frozen smoothie bars (like popsicles) make wonderful summer breakfasts (made in a popsicle mold if you have one, or dixie cups with craft sticks work, too).
Note: We buy the large containers of Stonyfield Lowfat Vanilla, though I've toyed with the idea of making our own. It would be more work, obviously, but I would think, less expensive and probably healthier (not sure about how the shelf-life compares). It would be a great idea to make up smoothie pops or cups (in tropical blends) to keep in the freezer - a handy breakfast, snack or dessert!
Fruit:
- Fresh fruit servings
- Fruit salad
- Fruit kebabs
- Homemade "sorbet" (frozen pureed fruit)
- A frozen banana coated with peanut butter and granola stuck on a popsicle stick
- Pearsauce (cooks the same way as applesauce)
- Baked fruit crisp (see Oats above)
Note: Buy organic fruit in season as much as possible (farms, natural markets) and freeze or preserve when we can. My biggest problem right now is making use of the fruit we have on hand before it's only fit for the compost pile. It's a balancing act, to be sure. We do use some canned fruit (pineapple, pears and a tropical fruit salad).
Beverages:
Notes: Currently Earlybird drinks organic pear juice, Vruit (Tropical Blend) and occasionally lemonade (frozen, from concentrate). I would like to try making our own pineapple-carrot juice (we have a juicer) and homemade lemonade as well. I would also like to get him to drink more water. In the cold months it would be nice to start our day with homemade hot cocoa, hot vanilla milk or even hot lemonade with honey (nice for the throat).
Spreads:
- Butter (plain or flavored with honey or maple syrup)
- Cream cheese (plain or flavored with honey, syrup or perhaps crushed pineapple and shredded carrot)
- Pumpkin butter (as opposed to apple butter), made from scratch with canned pumpkin or fresh cooked pumpkin when available (lightly sweetened and spiced)
- Jam or jelly
- Homemade pineapple jam
- Homemade lemon curd
- Cinnamon-sugar
- Peanut butter
- Melted cheese
Serve with any of the spreads listed above:
- Rice cakes
- English muffins
- Bagels
- Homemade biscuits
- Toast sticks (We like peanut butter, jam and cream cheese, or butter and cinnamon sugar sandwiched between them.)
Notes: We have a bread machine that I never use. I would like to try making homemade bread, as we seem to go through several loaves a week.
Eggs:
- Quiche (large or individual size) made in homemade crust, with fresh organic eggs, milk and cheese, perhaps veggies and meat too
- Scrambled or omelette with above ingredients
- Served on homemade biscuit with a sausage patty or slice of Canadian ham (from approved shopping list). There's a recipe in the Feingold handbook for homemade sausage patties using ground turkey I'd like to try (cook and freeze). We call these breakfast sandwiches "scramblers." :)
- Wrapped in tortilla, or served in a pita pocket
- Homemade egg custards made in individual ramekins.
Cheese Quesadilla:
- Two plain flour tortillas filled with shredded cheese and pan fried or microwaved; serve in wedges.
Note: Currently we use a blend of Sargento shredded cheese because it's easier and the kids like the flavor. I'm interested in using our food processor to shred our own cheese - better for us and our budget.
Mozarella sticks
- Tasty and easy, but I think buying blocks of soft cheese and cutting them into logs or cubes would be worth a try.
Potato pancakes or zucchini pancakes
- Served with sour cream and/or pear sauce.
Homemade muffins and quick breads
- Using organic ingredients as much as possible as well as seasonal fruit. Bake and freeze in batches to have on hand.
Waffles:
Notes: We tend to buy frozen organic waffles, but it makes much more sense to make them ourselves from scratch ingredients or even a packaged mix. We do have a waffle iron; it cooks waffles in individual sticks - fun for the kids to dip in syrup or yogurt. We also like regular sized waffles served sandwich style with pb & banana or honey or jam.
Pancakes:
Notes: Use a FA baking mix or even better, make up a homemade pancake mix to store in bulk. When making pancakes, make extras to freeze. Pancakes are delicious with butter and syrup, or diced or pureed fruit, whipped cream too!
French Toast:
- Delicious with any of the spreads mentioned above!
Sunday Goodies: After Mass on Sundays we have coffee with my parents. I like to have a special goodie for that morning like a coffee cake, cinnamon rolls, pastries or homeade donuts. Any of these things can be made from scratch and kept Feingold friendly. We bought a donut pan at The Baker's Catalogue (only the mini version appears to be available now). We eat them plain, or we might frost them lightly. I'd like to learn how to make homemade pastries and fill them with pineapple preserves, lemon curd or fig jam.
Everything I've listed here, when using approved ingredients and brands are A-OK for someone following the Feingold diet. As you can see, there really is a good deal to choose from. We do not make all these foods by any means - we tend, unfortunately, to rely on the same few meals over and over. But hopefully a rotating menu plan will hopefullly allow for a more healthy and varied diet.
Thanks for stopping by, and I hope this post maybe helped someone today. I know there's a lot here, and it might seem rather disjointed, but I hope once I get my menus in place it will all make more sense. You can find my previous Feingold posts here.
Have a lovely day!
Recent Comments