February 1st – 7th
Week 4, We made it! (Almost.) This week we are adding dairy back to our diets. So dust off your cheese grater and let’s have have mac-n-cheese with every meal! Whoa, hold your horses, we were only kidding. I know, that was cruel, we’re sorry.
Dairy goes way beyond ooey-gooey nachos and includes lots of healthy and satisfying ingredients like whole milk yogurt, good quality butter and ghee, and a variety of cheeses. We add this back during the last week because it is common for many people not to tolerate dairy well – so proceed with caution, but enjoy every last bite.
Tips for the week
We’ve said it once and we will say it again, just because you are adding it back, doesn’t mean you should have it with every meal. Got it? Good.
Not all dairy is created equal, so experiment with different types and see how it goes.
- Cow’s Milk – try whole milk yogurt, a little milk or cream in your coffee, some butter or ghee. You may even notice variation just within the cow’s milk dairy products. Some people find they cannot tolerate butter or milk, but do okay with yogurt, and some harder aged cheeses like parmesan.
- Goat’s Milk – you can purchase goat yogurt at most grocery stores and use as a replacement for traditional yogurt. Goat cheese also varies widely from soft and creamy to aged and pungent.
- Sheep’s Milk – These are some of our favorite cheeses! We love sheep’s milk feta, the firm texture and salty bite of pecorino… We could keep going, but you get the point.
Recipes and Meal Planning
Never fear, meal planning help is here! We’ve got some creative Week 4 ideas for you that incorporate a little bit of dairy love back into your meals and snacks. You can also check out our Pinterest Boards for more inspiration
- Breakfast
- Yogurt with granola and/or fruit – Yogurt is versatile in the kitchen, acting as a creamy component in a salad dressing, all the way to a sweet treat at the end of a meal. Even better, it makes breakfast dead simple – just add your favorite fruit, a sprinkle of granola (ideally a homemade, gluten-free, no refined sugar kind) and you’ve got a killer start to your morning. We recommend organic whole-milk yogurt, but if you choose a low-fat version make sure it doesn’t have any nasty additives (sugar, thickeners, etc) which are often pumped in to replace the fat.
- Smoothies – A great breakfast option when you’re short on time, and want something you can take on the go. Including yogurt into this mix can add some additional protein and calcium into your morning routine. Just whiz up 1/2 cup yogurt, 1 cup fresh or frozen fruit, and a splash of liquid to thin it out (use milk, juice or even water). In less than 5 minutes, you’ve got a nutrient dense breakfast on the go. Options are endless, but here are a few combinations to get you started, and some tips on how to go recipe-free with this one.
- Lunch
- Chicken Salad – Turning leftovers into something that tastes brand new is a recipe for success. Try our Chicken Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad for dinner, and build in a leftovers plan along the way. Make a double batch of the yogurt-tahini dressing, cook some extra chicken, and use some different mix-in’s to create a delicious lunch for the next day. Check out our Chicken Salad blog post for some “no-recipe-needed” ideas.
- Bento Boxes – You may be asking, “what is a bento?” The style of packing? The box? The food? A bento lunch is a compact, balanced, visually appealing meal packed in a box. Historically, it’s a Japanese box lunch. Bento box lunches are having their moment in the sun in many 1st graders lunch bags, but who says they’re just for kids? Go ahead and play with your food. Bento boxes are a clever way to get us through the day. Check out our Pinterest Boards for a few ideas.
- Dinner: For our customers who received meal kits this week, we’ve already handled a few nights for you! In addition to that, and for everyone else, we are sharing 4 complete dinner recipes. Click HERE to download and/or print all 4 recipes and a complete shopping list.
- Snacks
- Tzatziki – We’re never 100% sure that we’re pronouncing or spelling it correctly…but we make up for that by being 200% sure that we love this creamy dip. A combination of yogurt, herbs, cucumber, lemon, and garlic, tzatziki is a traditional Mediterranean sauce that is delightful on pretty much every meat, fish, bread, veggie…perhaps everything? Check out the recipe for it as part of this week’s Mediterranean Lamb Patties, and consider doubling (or even tripling!) the tzatziki recipe so you have leftovers to munch on with raw veggies later in the week.
- Quinoa Granola – One of our favorite snacks is a handful of quinoa granola. It also pairs nicely with yogurt and/or fruit and almond milk! Our office favorite is Gwyneth Paltrow’s recipe for Quinoa Granola with Olive Oil & Maple Syrup.
Reminder
As always, we’re here to help where we can, so let us know if you have any questions. And have fun with this! This is meant to be a way to explore your body and diet, not to make you hate meal time. Happy Prepping!
Leave a comment or question below, and we’ll get back to you ASAP.