Molly

Don’t forget to check out the info on our Real Food Journey if you’d like the details of what we strive for in our home. There are links to each day and a printable PDF of the week as a whole.

Last, but not least, one of my favorite days of the week…Saturday!

Breakfast

Toast with nut butter, flaxseed, honey and a side of bananas and oranges

Sometime in the morning I placed the thawed chicken breasts in a container, smothered in italian dressing, and put them back in the fridge until tonight.

Lunch

Mac and Cheese with added peas

Dinner

Chicken breasts on the grill – the italian dressing gives it the perfect blackened and sweet flavor

Chopped potatoes, carrots, beets, onion roasted in the oven with oil, salt, pepper, rosemary and thyme (Pictured above is my son doing some of the prep for the roasted veggies, he’s only three and is regularly in the kitchen! Kids feel that sense of pride when they make the meal, just like we do!)

Greens with italian dressing

Notes

Our family mostly drinks water. You’ll notice these menus are usually a little lighter on dairy based on the government recommendations, but if you add in a glass of milk you should meet those requirements if they are important to you.

You’ll notice the menus are light on fruit as well, and that’s because grabbing a piece of fruit, especially apples, is a common snack occurrence in our household.  My kids would snack all day if allowed, but at least twice a day is normal. Typical snacks for the kids include: salami, cheese sticks, fruit (apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, berries), veggies (carrots, peppers, cucumbers, celery) and hummus or guacamole, crackers/pretzels/popcorn, Lara Bars, applesauce, raisins, greek yogurt & berries, or trail mix.

I am working on using The Wahls Protocol, along with other research, to follow an anti-inflammatory and nutrient enriching diet for someone diagnosed with MS. I am not a doctor and am in no way providing this as anything other than a documentation of what I am eating and how I eat this way alongside my children. Typical snack items for me include Suja green juice, kombucha, tea, raw nuts/trail mixes, popcorn, tortilla chips/veggies and guac. You can also find my husband with an old fashioned, and me with a glass of red wine or a Glutenburg with lime later on in the evening.

My Breakfast

Turmeric Tea

After such a light day yesterday, I was starving and actually ate salmon and saute alongside my kiddos toast. I have dropped all those rules that tell me what I can eat when, what time I can eat, etc. It is so freeing!

My Lunch

Pulled out some light snacks (since I had a pretty filling breakfast) for lunch while my kids napped – salami, peppers – cucumbers – and a few tortilla chips with guac, two dates, and a side of Suja green juice.

My Dinner

Same as the family – chicken, roasted veggies, greens

Don’t forget to check out the info on our Real Food Journey if you’d like the details of what we strive for in our home. There are links to each day and a printable PDF of the week as a whole.

Breakfast

We woke up on the later side today, and didn’t have time for a cook-your-own-breakfast, so we always try to have a decent store bought frozen set of waffles in the freezer. Accompanied by a pick your favorite fruit (apple, banana, tangerine) from the basket and we are set for a quick, filling, easy breakfast (pictured above).

Lunch

Last night’s leftovers. Once again we had a veggie start and then a slice of leftover pizza!

Dinner

Since we’ve been indulging on the pizza, I decided to keep it ultra healthy and anti-inflammatory with salmon and zuchinni, squash, mushroom, onion, garlic, and oil stir fry. (I usually buy a large chunk of wild-caught frozen salmon at Target and just keep it in the freezer for nights like these. Bake it in the oven with a squeezed lemon, salt and pepper for an easy and healthful meal.)

Notes

Our family mostly drinks water. You’ll notice these menus are usually a little lighter on dairy based on the government recommendations, but if you add in a glass of milk you should meet those requirements if they are important to you.

You’ll notice the menus are light on fruit as well, and that’s because grabbing a piece of fruit, especially apples, is a common snack occurrence in our household.  My kids would snack all day if allowed, but at least twice a day is normal. Typical snacks for the kids include: salami, cheese sticks, fruit (apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, berries), veggies (carrots, peppers, cucumbers, celery) and hummus or guacamole, crackers/pretzels/popcorn, Lara Bars, applesauce, raisins, greek yogurt & berries, or trail mix.

I am working on using The Wahls Protocol, along with other research, to follow an anti-inflammatory and nutrient enriching diet for someone diagnosed with MS. I am not a doctor and am in no way providing this as anything other than a documentation of what I am eating and how I eat this way alongside my children. Typical snack items for me include Suja green juice, kombucha, tea, raw nuts/trail mixes, popcorn, tortilla chips/veggies and guac. You can also find my husband with an old fashioned, and me with a glass of red wine or a Glutenburg with lime later on in the evening.

My Breakfast

Hot Water with Lemon and Cayenne 

Suja Uber Greens Juice (There are lots of options for green juice, even within Suja. I try to find the one with the least fruit and most veggies.)

My Lunch

Smoothie – raspberries, pineapple, 1/2 banana, baby kale, flaxseed, water, lions mane

My Dinner

Same as the family – salmon and sauté

This was a pretty light day for me, but I didn’t work out besides some stretching and I like to give my body a light day after I indulge in something.

Don’t forget to check out the info on our Real Food Journey if you’d like the details of what we strive for in our home. There are links to each day and a printable PDF of the week as a whole.

Breakfast

Oatmeal with raisins and finely chopped raw mixed nuts

Lunch

Turkey rolls, crackers

Chopped peppers, carrots, cucumbers, and celery with hummus (I chop up all I have so I can use them tonight!)

Dinner

Tonight is an ordering pizza night! (Pictured above, on this lucky night, we were able to bring a partially baked Happy Joe’s Taco Pizza home with us after some travels! Normally we order from a local pizza shop we love called Detellos) Here are a few of my ways I keep the fun of ordering pizza healthy! (My older son loves when we order pizza, “Can we have the guy come to our house and bring it here?!”)

I order the pizza when I know it’s a little past ‘hungry time’. Once I order I set out a bunch of snacks/salad while we wait. Chopped up veggies from earlier with hummus or guac. I also plate a salad. They are usually so hungry that most of those good veggies are gone by the time the pizza comes.

As far as our pizza ordering goes, we never really order a plain pizza. We ask the kids questions like, do you want meat or just cheese? Do you want peppers, olives or mushrooms? Not an open-ended what do you want? We often talk about how your body needs the fuel from your meal to grow and be fast and strong. They have learned that vegetables are always a part of our meals, so questions like this go over pretty well here. But if you are working on this aspect I encourage you to just keep trying. Give them veggie options for their pizza that may seem weird to others but are their favorite to eat normally, or have plain pizza but then add some veggies on the side. Also, saying light cheese still gets you a good pizza with a little less dairy inflammation in the system, and many pizza places have gluten-free, organic and lots of other options – sometimes you just have to ask.

Never underestimate the power of teaching a child about their body, nutrition, and what food is for. They really catch on at a young age, and almost every kid wants to grow big and strong, so they’re usually up for it! 

Notes

Our family mostly drinks water. You’ll notice these menus are usually a little lighter on dairy based on the government recommendations, but if you add in a glass of milk you should meet those requirements if they are important to you.

You’ll notice the menus are light on fruit as well, and that’s because grabbing a piece of fruit, especially apples, is a common snack occurrence in our household.  My kids would snack all day if allowed, but at least twice a day is normal. Typical snacks for the kids include: salami, cheese sticks, fruit (apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, berries), veggies (carrots, peppers, cucumbers, celery) and hummus or guacamole, crackers/pretzels/popcorn, Lara Bars, applesauce, raisins, greek yogurt & berries, or trail mix.

I am working on using The Wahls Protocol, along with other research, to follow an anti-inflammatory and nutrient enriching diet for someone diagnosed with MS. I am not a doctor and am in no way providing this as anything other than a documentation of what I am eating and how I eat this way alongside my children. Typical snack items for me include Suja green juice, kombucha, tea, raw nuts/trail mixes, popcorn, tortilla chips/veggies and guac. You can also find my husband with an old fashioned, and me with a glass of red wine or a Glutenburg with lime later on in the evening.

My Breakfast

Hot Water with Lemon and Cayenne 

Smoothie – blueberries, greens, avocado, almond milk, water, chia seeds, collagen powder, lions mane powder

My Lunch

Same as the kids – turkey, veggies, hummus

My Dinner

Large Salad – 3 cups of greens, avocado, tangerine, raw nuts, oil and vinegar 

This way, by the time pizza gets here I am seriously stuffed with goodness! Sometimes I pass the temptation, but when I am in need of indulging I definitely allow myself. I usually order a gluten free crust, spinach, onions, mushrooms and very light cheese.

Don’t forget to check out the info on our Real Food Journey if you’d like the details of what we strive for in our home. There are links to each day and a printable PDF of the week as a whole.

Sometimes I feel like mid-week gets the best of me. The craziness picks up a little and I feel like I do, or want to, lose control a little. It makes everything so much better, and our choices so much healthier, when I do a little extra cooking early in the week so that leftovers are a plenty by Wonderful Leftover Wednesday.

Breakfast

Leftover pancakes  (warm in oven or microwave)

and a Smoothie (pineapple, spinach, avocado, 1/2 banana, flaxseed, OJ and water)

Lunch

We had a busy morning taking one to pre-k and taking my other and my nephew to tot time and the ball pit, so I was super grateful to have these little leftover egg muffins in the fridge. I threw together some yogurt with blueberries as well.

Dinner

Tuesday after dinner I pulled all the chicken from the bones and put in the fridge. Then I put all the bones and ‘stuff’ back in the crockpot and filled with water to make bone broth. After straining it out I was able to use the broth tonight, along with some of the pulled chicken, noodles, and a bunch of chopped carrots, celery, onions, and dill to make some warm and cuddly Chicken Noodle Soup (pictured above).

Notes

Our family mostly drinks water. You’ll notice these menus are usually a little lighter on dairy based on the government recommendations, but if you add in a glass of milk you should meet those requirements if they are important to you.

You’ll notice the menus are light on fruit as well, and that’s because grabbing a piece of fruit, especially apples, is a common snack occurrence in our household.  My kids would snack all day if allowed, but at least twice a day is normal. Typical snacks for the kids include: salami, cheese sticks, fruit (apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, berries), veggies (carrots, peppers, cucumbers, celery) and hummus or guacamole, crackers/pretzels/popcorn, Lara Bars, applesauce, raisins, greek yogurt & berries, or trail mix.

I am working on using The Wahls Protocol, along with other research, to follow an anti-inflammatory and nutrient enriching diet for someone diagnosed with MS. I am not a doctor and am in no way providing this as anything other than a documentation of what I am eating and how I eat this way alongside my children. Typical snack items for me include Suja green juice, kombucha, tea, raw nuts/trail mixes, popcorn, tortilla chips/veggies and guac. You can also find my husband with an old fashioned, and me with a glass of red wine or a Glutenburg with lime later on in the evening.

My Breakfast

Hot Water with Lemon and Cayenne 

Smoothie (same as the kids but added some lion’s mane (nerve health) to mine)

My Lunch

Leftover chicken and roasted sweet potatoes, carrots, onions from last night

My Dinner

Same as the family – Chicken Noodle Soup! This time I did use rice noodles so I could technically eat them, but lots of times we have it noodle free, or I just pull some noodle free for myself and then cook a batch with noodles for the family.

Don’t forget to check out the info on our Real Food Journey if you’d like the details of what we strive for in our home. There are links to each day and a printable PDF of the week as a whole.

Breakfast

Oatmeal with blueberries

Also, this morning I put a rub on a whole chicken (I love the one from 100 Days of RealFood Cookbook!) and placed it in the crockpot over some onions.

Lunch

Cookie Cutter Sandwiches – bread, turkey, cheese, greens, smashed avocado, and flaxseed cookie cuttered into dogs and donkeys and people and shapes and all the random cookie cutters that I have accumulated over the years!

Multi-Colored Carrots (my kids are fascinated by purple carrots!) with guac or hummus

Dates (These were new, so to avoid the ‘new food’ ordeal we celebrated them as ‘Gigantic Raisins!’ They both ate one and my older son said he didn’t want a second because it was too sweet, go figure!)

Dinner

Chicken from the crockpot

Roasted carrots, sweet potatoes, onions, oil of oregano, dulse flakes, oil, salt and pepper

Greens with poppy seed dressing

Notes

Our family mostly drinks water. You’ll notice these menus are usually a little lighter on dairy based on the government recommendations, but if you add in a glass of milk you should meet those requirements if they are important to you.

You’ll notice the menus are light on fruit as well, and that’s because grabbing a piece of fruit, especially apples, is a common snack occurrence in our household.  My kids would snack all day if allowed, but at least twice a day is normal. Typical snacks for the kids include: salami, cheese sticks, fruit (apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, berries), veggies (carrots, peppers, cucumbers, celery) and hummus or guacamole, crackers/pretzels/popcorn, Lara Bars, applesauce, raisins, greek yogurt & berries, or trail mix.

I am working on using The Wahls Protocol, along with other research, to follow an anti-inflammatory and nutrient enriching diet for someone diagnosed with MS. I am not a doctor and am in no way providing this as anything other than a documentation of what I am eating and how I eat this way alongside my children. Typical snack items for me include Suja green juice, kombucha, tea, raw nuts/trail mixes, popcorn, tortilla chips/veggies and guac. You can also find my husband with an old fashioned, and me with a glass of red wine or a Glutenburg with lime later on in the evening.

My Breakfast

Turmeric Tea to start

Oatmeal with chopped raw nuts, chia seeds and two dates

My Lunch

Pretty much the same as the boys, but

Turkey Rolls (slices of turkey rolled up) instead of a sandwich

Multi-Colored Carrots and Guac

Mixed Greens Salad with Oil and Vinegar and sprinkled flaxseed

My Dinner

Same as the family – chicken, roasted veggies, and greens. It’s the best when this happens and the more comfortable we all are getting with eating real, whole food, the easier this is becoming!

Don’t forget that after you pull the chicken from the bones, you can use the bones to make broth!

Don’t forget to check out the info on our Real Food Journey if you’d like the details of what we strive for in our home. There are links to each day and a printable PDF of the week as a whole.

Oh, Monday. Mondays can be hard, so it’s nice to make a favorite, hearty breakfast that will get everyone up and going.

Breakfast

Egg Muffins (pictured above)-  I mixed twelve eggs with chopped spinach, yellow peppers, and a bit of cheddar and put in muffin tins to bake. I make at least twelve so there are leftovers. We eat them throughout the week, or they are even great to make a bunch of and freeze!
Leftover Sweet Potatoes

Lunch

We spent most of the morning out sledding so the boys were looking forward to a really warm lunch, I didn’t have any soup frozen or on hand so we grabbed:
Amy’s Canned Lentil Vegetable Soup and made
Grilled Cheese with spinach and flaxseed sprinkles.

Dinner

We got in our pajamas before dinner just to make it a little more fun and had
Pancakes
Bacon
Smoothies (berries, banana, greens, chia seeds, almond milk and some protein powder)

Notes:

Our family mostly drinks water. You’ll notice these menus are usually a little lighter on dairy based on the government recommendations, but if you add in a glass of milk you should meet those requirements if they are important to you.

You’ll notice the menus are light on fruit as well, and that’s because grabbing a piece of fruit, especially apples, is a common snack occurrence in our household.  My kids would snack all day if allowed, but at least twice a day is normal. Typical snacks for the kids include: salami, cheese sticks, fruit (apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, berries), veggies (carrots, peppers, cucumbers, celery) and hummus or guacamole, crackers/pretzels/popcorn, Lara Bars, applesauce, raisins, greek yogurt & berries, or trail mix.

I am working on using The Wahls Protocol, along with other research, to follow an anti-inflammatory and nutrient enriching diet for someone diagnosed with MS. I am not a doctor and am in no way providing this as anything other than a documentation of what I am eating and how I eat this way alongside my children. Typical snack items for me include Suja green juice, kombucha, tea, raw nuts/trail mixes, popcorn, tortilla chips/veggies and guac.

My Breakfast

Water with Lemon and Cayenne
Suja Green Juice
Raw Nuts

My Lunch

I joined the kiddos for lunch with:
Amy’s Lentil Vegetable Soup
Red Butter Lettuce Salad with chia, avocado, red peppers, olive oil and vinegar

My Dinner

Even though I am gluten-free I try to limit my “gluten-free” purchases to a minimum.

Gluten-Free products can often be quite a trap, being just as bad for you with additives and poor ingredients. My version of being gluten-free means that on occasion, I choose to eat quality grain products that do not naturally contain gluten. So in other words, if I’m feeling a little deprived I’ll purchase a gluten-free pancake mix, but most often I opt out and have

Smoothie (same one as the kiddos)
Leftover Burger on Greens and Sweet Potatoes.

Don’t forget to check out the info on our Real Food Journey if you’d like the details of what we strive for in our home. There are links to each day and a printable PDF of the week as a whole.

Breakfast

Sunday started out with He-Man (yes, our kids found a He-Man DVD in the archive at the library and now love He-Man!) and

Toast (covered in nut butter and sprinkled with ground flaxseed)

Greek Yogurt (with frozen blueberries and sometimes added honey)

Lunch

While they sat and complained that they were ‘starving’ and needed lunch, I set out some red pepper slices and guac and hummus and let them munch on that while I cooked

Mac and Cheese w Added Peas (pictured above)

Dinner

After we said our Thank You Fors (see the post on gratefulness), dinner consisted of

Burgers on the grill (with onions and spices) and served with a bun, cheese option, greens and ketchup. 

Chopped Sweet Potatoes with onions, garlic, oil and spices roasted in the oven (I made a lot of these so there were leftovers) and Red Butter Lettuce Salad 

Notes

Our family mostly drinks water. You’ll notice these menus are usually a little lighter on dairy based on the government recommendations, but if you add in a glass of milk you should meet those requirements if they are important to you.

You’ll notice the menus are light on fruit as well, and that’s because grabbing a piece of fruit, especially apples, is a common snack occurrence in our household.  My kids would snack all day if allowed, but at least twice a day is normal. Typical snacks for the kids include: salami, cheese sticks, fruit (apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, berries), veggies (carrots, peppers, cucumbers, celery) and hummus or guacamole, crackers/pretzels/popcorn, Lara Bars, applesauce, raisins, greek yogurt & berries, or trail mix.

I am working on using The Wahls Protocol, along with other research, to follow an anti-inflammatory and nutrient enriching diet for someone diagnosed with MS. I am not a doctor and am in no way providing this as anything other than a documentation of what I am eating and how I eat this way alongside my children. Typical snack items for me include Suja green juice, kombucha, tea, raw nuts/trail mixes, popcorn, tortilla chips/veggies and guac. You can also find my husband with an old fashioned and me, with a glass of red wine or Glutenburg with lime at the end of the day.

My Breakfast

During the kids’ breakfast I had hot water with lemon and cayenne. Not much, I know, but I am researching the importance of breakfast right away vs. full night fasting right now, and am doing some experimenting.

My Lunch

Between 10-11, before I cooked their lunch I made myself a large smoothie with multiple servings of greens, colored fruits, seeds, avocado, coconut or almond milk, water and sometimes an added powder like protein, collagen, lions mane (nerve health), chia or hemp seeds and so forth. Then I munched on the red pepper and guac with them!

My Dinner

For dinner, I had a burger too, but I put mine on a bed of greens with some horseradish mustard and a serving of sauerkraut on the side. I made a large, simple salad with some red butter lettuce, chia seeds, oil and vinegar and I enjoyed the sweet potatoes, too.

No matter where you lie on the belief system of eating real, whole food, I think most of us agree that the Standard American Diet can be pretty rough on our bodies. Because I am a nutritionist, and because I eat as a way to feed my body with it’s MS imbalances, I am often asked the question – What do you guys eat? So, here it goes.

In this post you will find some main start-up points and theory. At the bottom of this post will be a weeks worth of meals, with a few photos and a little explanation. It is here to give you simple ideas for feeding yourself, feeding your family, or combining the two. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be hard.

To begin, our family goals for eating include the following:

• to eat from all the categories in the food pyramid
• to find alternative ways to get protein and calcium besides meat and dairy
• to eat extra and very colorful vegetables
• to strive for real, whole foods
• limit processed foods – always reading labels so that we are informed
• enjoy our eating experiences
• allow ourselves a night out on occassion
• allow choice
• and most importantly, educate and explain food and nutrients to our children

As a family, we do choose to eat mostly organic and non-gmo. We are at the beginning stages of looking into eating locally, and love the farmer’s markets when it’s the season, but we definitely don’t have this as a constant priority right now. If there are not organic options for what we need available, or the cost is outrageous for that product, then we find a different organic option, or we choose a non-organic whole food option that suits us. We have found in changing our eating style that although organic foods seem more costly, we stay out of the processed food aisles and we actually end up eating less food all around.

On average we spend about $800/month on groceries with our family of four. We also go out about 4 nights in a month (which is where we can either tighten or explode our budget depending on the places we go!). I’m not going to include specifics on brands or types of each product because I want people to feel that this is an option for their family (organic or not, whole wheat or multi-grain, etc – everyone is on this journey at their own pace). I do most of my shopping at Target right now, with occasional visits to Cub Foods and Lakewinds Co-op. If you want to know any more specifics don’t hesitate to ask.

You have to start at the step you are ready for. If adding in more vegetables is the only change you’re interested in, then do that. If you want to go organic, go. As I said, we are just starting to experiment with eating local. Everyone is at a different step. There is no right or wrong place to be. You have your own beliefs, your own budget, your own needs. Just do some research/reading in the meantime, because there is always room for improvement. For now, do what feels right for you. Small steps are still steps.

Pictured above is an example of my meal planning board. It often looks like this in the middle of the week because, what I have found is that even when I’m meal planning I still want to be flexible. We still want to randomly meet up with some friends for dinner, and sometimes you just don’t feel like what’s on the menu that day. So really, the plan is a list of the meals that are in our house that week. It helps our budget when we grocery shop, and it helps us choose a healthy meal no matter what’s in store that night. I often try to include a few bigger meals, a few easy meals, a night of leftovers, and a night out every week.

So, I guess all that’s left is to let you take a look at our week of eating. Included with each week is a description, a picture, and also the way I change what I’m serving to the family to fit the needs I personally have with my MS diagnosis, as well. If you have any questions or want to chat feel free to hit up my contact page.

Full Menu and Notes (pdf, printable format)

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Saturday