Dairy, Potato & Grain Menu: Eliminating Potato Version

Scrambled Eggs: Monday, and Saturday

Butter is not needed to fry eggs, use any light colored oil, or try coconut oil. Coconut oil can be found with the other oils, or in the health food section of your grocery store. It will be solid in the jar at the store, but melts at room temperature. You can cook at high temperatures without it burning, so it’s great for eggs.

If you’re scrambling eggs for a group, and like your eggs fluffy, use your blender! You just crack the eggs into your blender. Blend on low until combined and frothy, then add to your hot pan and cook as normal.

Smoothies: Monday, Thursday, and Saturday

You do not need yogurt or milk to have a smoothie! Add in a mix of frozen berries, such as, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. Adding a handful of fresh spinach will boost the nutrition of the smoothie, and you won’t taste it I promise! If you have any fresh fruit laying around that is a little too soft, add in some water, or orange juice, and blend. If you want it creamier you can add in coconut milk, but watch the ingredient list, some brands may add dextrose which is usually potato derived. The canned coconut milk is your safest bet.

If the blender gets stuck and the mixture isn’t moving you probably need more liquid. I’ve been known to add in pineapple juice, coconut milk, coconut water, of even leftover smoothie from the day before. If you’ve got that can of canned pineapple leftover in the fridge from your oatmeal, toss that in the mix. Play with your smoothies, and let the kids help.

During the colder months you can’t get quality fresh peaches, nectarines, pineapple, or any flavorful, sweet fruit, so you want to make sure the smoothie is sweet enough. You can do this by adding a little bit of honey at a time, or a few pitted dates thrown in will sweeten it quite a bit.

What I’ve learned does not work in all smoothies is peanut butter! It can work with maybe just some berries and coconut milk, but do not add in pineapple, mango, peach, with peanut butter, it does not work.

Toast: Monday, Thursday, and Sunday

You won’t miss the butter on your toast if you use a good quality fruit jam. Check your farmers markets for local jellies and jams.

When it comes to the actual toast, find a quality whole wheat bread with no dairy or bad potato ingredients. There’s some good options in the health food section of your store.

If fresh berries are in season, you can put some nut butter of your choice on toast, and then top with blueberries. If serving to precious smiling faces, take the extra couple seconds and make a smiley face out of blueberries.

Oatmeal: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday

Wonderful, versatile oatmeal! You do not need milk or cream to have a delicious bowl of comforting goodness. You can microwave rolled oats, or stovetop cook them, with coconut milk, or even water. There are many other milk alternatives such as, almond milk, soy milk, hemp milk, but it can be difficult to find these packaged foods without some form of potato additive, so remember to always read labels and usually the canned, or plain boxed versions will be safest. By plain, I mean not “enriched.” Enriched milks have vitamin A palmitate, which comes from potato.

You can find coconut milk in cans on the ethnic aisle of your grocery store, or by the milk alternatives. If your canned coconut milk is too thick, try stirring it, or just use half coconut milk, half water, and cook as usual.

Here are some exciting variations so you and your family will never get bored:

-Cook with half pineapple juice from canned pineapple chunks, and half water. When cooked, top with pineapple chunks, dried unsweetened coconut flakes, a little honey, and walnuts for healthy fats.

-Cook with your choice of nondairy milk, then top with frozen berry mix that you’ve microwaved to defrost, add a little pure maple syrup, or honey just to sweeten, and finish with sliced almonds.

-Cook with your choice of nondairy milk, top with raisins (no sugar added), raw walnuts or pecans, add in some fruit jam for sweetness.

-Cook with half your favorite milk substitute, and half canned pumpkin. If it needs more liquid as it cooks you can add in water, or your milk substitute. Top with cinnamon, raw walnuts, and a little black strap molasses just until sweet. This one is the most fulfilling right when the weather starts getting cold. When buying molasses, a good quality black strap molasses has trace minerals that some more processed ones have lost.

Pancakes: Saturday

Just replace nondairy milk for the milk in your recipe. You can find coconut milk in cans on the ethnic aisle of your grocery store, or near the milk alternatives. If your canned coconut milk is too thick, stir it while still in the can, or just use half coconut milk, half water, and cook as usual.

There are many other milk alternatives such as, almond milk, soy milk, hemp milk, but it can be difficult to find these packaged foods without some form of potato additive, so remember to always read labels and usually the canned, or plain boxed versions will be safest. By plain, I mean not “enriched.” Enriched milks have vitamin A palmitate, which comes from potato.

If your pancake recipe calls for buttermilk you can add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar per 1 cup of your nondairy milk, this should give the same flavor. You may want to mix the nondairy milk, and vinegar and let sit for a few minutes. This should work with most recipes, but due to the chemistry of ingredients some recipes may not taste exactly the same.

Homemade Sausage Patties: Saturday

This sounds more daunting than it really is. By making your own you can make a couple pounds and keep them in the freezer so they’re ready to go on quick weekday mornings, and you don’t have to worry about processed additives that contain potato, or even possibly dairy.

If you don’t currently make your own sausage patties all you really need is some ground turkey, an egg, dried sage, garlic and onion powder, sea salt, pepper, dried thyme, and ground cayenne if you like it hot.

For every 1 pound of turkey use:

• 1 egg
• ¼ tsp of the garlic powder, onion powder, and thyme
• ½ tsp sage, and pepper
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• pinch of cayenne, unless you like it spicy you could go up to ½ tsp

Mix all of the ingredients, form patties, and cook in the same skillet you’re going to cook the eggs in. Cook the patties in batches, and keep them warm by placing tin foil on top of the cooked ones.

Raw nuts, and fruit: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday

Divide up raw nuts, and seeds into little reusable plastic, or glass tubs. Some combinations could be: raw almonds, pumpkin seeds (the green ones that have been hulled), sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts, or walnuts. Play around, and when shopping for these, look in the bulk section. If you have little ones, involve them in looking at the shapes and colors of the nuts or seeds. The best nutrition is in raw seeds, which should be stored in the freezer.

For fruit you can wash fresh berries, and also pre-package them into reusable containers, or if it’s colder and you can’t get fresh, use frozen. Pour some frozen blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry medley into the container in the morning, and by snack time they’ll still be cold. Pack a spoon to eat the berries with so it’s less messy. For another punch of nutrition, top the berries with ground flaxseed. I buy whole flaxseeds in the bulk, or refrigerated health food section, and grind them in a coffee grinder once I get home. Remember to always store flaxseeds in the fridge or freezer.

Hardboiled egg: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday

Boil enough eggs for everyone’s snacks all at once in the beginning of the week, then individually portion them out, or keep in one container, and portion throughout the week.

Once the eggs have boiled, run cold water over them until cool. Do not wait to remove the shell later in the week. It is easiest to remove the shell right after the eggs have cooled. You can simply put sea salt and black pepper onto the shelled egg for seasoning.

Hummus, sliced cucumber, and baby carrots: Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday

If you or your little ones are new to hummus it’s a garbanzo bean based dip, full of protein and healthy fats. Your grocery store deli may make their own, and if they do, just ask for an ingredient list to make sure there isn’t cheese or any hidden potato ingredients. Some delis may put feta cheese in it. If they do, just look for a prepackaged one, and a sea salt hummus is easier to find in health food stores.

You can buy pre-cut baby carrots, and during the summer months you can find the smaller “pickling”  cucumbers that you can just dip and eat. If you aren’t able to find smaller cucumbers, look for English cucumbers and slice them into disks all at one time and package up individual serving sizes for everyone. You can also substitute flavored hummus, like roasted red pepper hummus, or swap out the veggies. I like to dip cut up sweet bell peppers, snap peas, or steamed artichokes into hummus.

Celery and nut butter with raisins: Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Oh, the classic “ants on a log!” Try out other nut butters besides the usual. Almond butter and raisins are fantastic! Kids and adults love this one. Since it can be hard to transport, you could put the butter in a container, top with raisins, and dip in the celery. I think it’s more fun to have kids help top their own “logs” with the “ants.” If you’re not a fan of dark raisins, try golden raisins, or cranberries instead.

Chicken on Green Salad with Dairy Free Dressing: Monday

You can grill up a chicken breast, or cut one up and quickly sauté it with some healthy oil, like grapeseed, or coconut. Remember to season your chicken, try some dried herbs like tarragon, thyme, and my all time favorite, garlic powder. I don’t recommend the already grilled and seasoned ones in the freezer section since those will most likely be quite processed, but sometimes if that’s what you have to do then check for no potato or dairy, and go for it.

A quality salad for lunch should become a staple for you and your family. Kids may not want salads, but if they help with the preparation they’ll be more likely to eat the final dish. Kids can help by counting the cherry tomatoes, or washing the cucumbers, or while at the store picking out a leafy green salad mix that looks fun to eat. Always try to get the really leafy greens, such as spinach, arugula, or even red lettuce. Head lettuce has no real nutrition. If you need an easy dressing, mix 2 parts extra virgin olive oil to 1 part good quality balsamic vinegar, a squirt of Dijon mustard (check ingredients for Dextrose, or other potato words), sea salt and pepper, and finely chopped shallot. If you can’t find shallot, chopped green onion or a little garlic is delicious as well, but the shallot really makes something special.

Sandwiches, and Veggie Soup: Tuesday

For the sandwich, if you’re using deli meat then check for any no-no potato ingredients. The pre-packaged deli meats usually always have a potato derived additive, so as always homemade is the best option. Just roast some beef, or turkey, or chicken on the weekend and thinly slice for sandwiches for the week.   A vegetable sandwich with fresh cucumber, red onion, hummus, and greens is also delicious. If you miss the creaminess of cheese then a ripe avocado smeared on your bread gives great flavor and richness, as well as healthy fats.

You can find a canned vegetable soup that doesn’t contain dairy or potato. There are some organic brands that use sea salt, and do not have potato at all you just have to read labels. It is so easy to whip up your own, and I encourage you to do so.  Just heat up some good vegetable broth, and toss in a couple bags of your favorite frozen vegetables, and you can add in some beans if you like, diced tomatoes, a mixed herb Italian seasoning, granulated garlic and onion powder, and there’s your soup. Freeze soups in serving sizes for on the go lunches.

Leftover Meatloaf, Salad with Dairy Free Dressing: Wednesday

Again, leftovers are your best friend! Throw some meatloaf in the microwave, or toaster oven, toss some salad into a big bowl with our olive oil dressing from Monday, or just make some more and you’ve got a delicious and simple lunch.

Sandwiches, and Soup: Thursday

There are great canned, or boxed soup options at health food stores, or even supermarkets that are dairy, and potato free. I like tomato soup, or even a sweet butternut squash. Making your own squash soup is as easy as roasting (or even microwaving) a butternut squash, and once cooked putting the meat of the squash into your blender with some vegetable broth, some garlic and onion powder, and sea salt and pepper, and blend. If you want to add some flavor, sage and squash pair beautifully. The amount of liquid is up to you, how thick do you like your soup?

For the sandwich, if you’re using deli meat then check for any no-no potato ingredients. The pre-packaged deli meats usually always have a potato derived additive, so as always homemade is the best option. Just roast some beef, or turkey, or chicken on the weekend and thinly slice for sandwiches for the week.   A vegetable sandwich with fresh cucumber, red onion, hummus, and greens is also delicious. If you miss the creaminess of cheese then a ripe avocado smeared on your bread gives great flavor and richness, as well as healthy fats.

Soup and Salad: Friday

Heat up some leftover soup either the vegetable or squash, or if you’re feeling crazy and have both soups, mix them. Yes, you can do it! It won’t be as sweet from the butternut, more savory, but it’ll be delicious, and you get more veggies into your day. Make sure to have some protein on your salad like beans, or almonds, or walnuts to keep you full. Also, the healthy fats from your olive oil and balsamic dressing help to keep you satisfied. If you want to mix up the dressing, try a different vinegar. There’s all sorts of rice wine vinegars. Even chain supermarkets are carrying a variety of different red wine vinegars, or flavored balsamics now. Some yummy add ins for your salad are pickled garlic, canned roasted red peppers, baby corn, fresh snap peas, frozen, and drained artichoke hearts, or canned, and drained water chestnuts.

Pasta Salad: Saturday

Pasta is a great go-to, but make sure you purchase a good quality pasta with no added potato ingredients. A great pasta salad needs a great dressing. My favorite is: mix 2 parts extra virgin olive oil to  part red wine vinegar, 1 part fresh lemon juice, a few dashes garlic powder, and sea salt and pepper. Dress the pasta while still warm so it soaks up the flavors and then the fun part…add-ins. This is where little ones can help out. Some options are, kalamata olives, green olives, fresh spinach, sliced almonds, pine nuts,  zucchini rounds, cherry tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, broccoli “trees”, cauliflower, green onion, red onion, fresh green beans, green peas, sugar snap peas, bell peppers, or any vegetable combination you like.

Leftover Grilled Veggies on Salad with Sandwich: Sunday

Leftover grilled vegetables are one of those all purpose great go-to ingredients. I say leftover because I’m assuming you made the Grilled steak, Salad, and Grilled Veggies on Friday night. For these leftover veggies, keep them cold and top a pile of fresh baby spinach, or spring salad mix, and then douse with some good extra virgin oil and balsamic vinegar.

For the sandwich, if you’re using deli meat then check for any bad potato ingredients. The pre-packaged deli meats usually always have a potato derived additive, so as always homemade is the best option. Just roast some beef, or turkey, or chicken on the weekend and thinly slice for sandwiches for the week.   A vegetable sandwich with fresh cucumber, red onion, hummus, and greens is also delicious. If you miss the creaminess of cheese then a ripe avocado smeared on your bread gives great flavor and richness, as well as healthy fats.

Orzo with Red Sauce, Shrimp, and Green Beans: Monday

Orzo is a tiny, rice shaped pasta. Again with pasta make sure you purchase a good quality pasta with no added potato ingredients.You can find orzo in the dry pasta aisle. If your store has whole grain orzo, of course opt for that to bump up the nutrition. Cook according to package instructions. Orzo cooks very quickly, and is therefore a great accompaniment to weeknight meals.

You can purchase already cooked frozen shrimp, and reheat per the package instructions. Before cooking the Orzo and shrimp look at the directions on the packages, and try to time them so they’re done around the same time.

Heat a jar of ready made marinara sauce (no bad potato words, look at labels) while the shrimp and orzo are cooking. Once all are done and hot, mix them together for a fast delicious pasta dish. For bonus points you can add in a couple cloves of fresh garlic, a box of frozen artichoke hearts, or frozen zucchini mix to the pan the shrimp is cooking in.

Frozen green beans can be just as nutritious as fresh. You can add a bag, or two depending on your family size, to a glass dish, and cover with a plate, or glass lid and microwave to steam the beans until hot. Once hot, drain off excess water by holding the lid on the dish, but slightly tilt it over the sink and pour out the water. You can add some garlic powder, onion powder, or any premixed herb seasoning that’s dairy, and potato free.

Premixed seasoning packets usually always have added dairy, and potato derived ingredients, as well as many other additives your food, and body, don’t need. There are bottled seasonings that have only dried herbs and spices that are readily available in all grocery stores.

Meatloaf, with Garlic Collard Greens:  Tuesday

If I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, leftovers are your best friend! When making your meatloaf, prepare two. This menu guide is assuming you will have leftover meatloaf for lunch, so please, make more than you need for dinner alone.  It doesn’t take hardly any extra time, and you can make sure to have some for lunch the next day, or freeze it and have dinner one night the following week! I say even if you live alone, or with just one other person still double the recipe, and freeze the leftover. This makes life easier when you have a stock of properly labeled food ready to eat on a particularly busy evening. Always label what you freeze! Trust me, this is the best tip thus far.

If your meatloaf recipe calls to soak breadcrumbs in milk you can use any (no sugar added) milk substitute. Also, if you use pre-packaged breadcrumbs, make sure to read labels on those as well. It’s not always just bread crumbs in those cans. You can always use crackers in place of breadcrumbs if need be.

Collard Greens are related to Kale, and in the same family as broccoli. You can find collard greens in the frozen food section, but if not, they are available in produce in bunches. Cut the green leaf part off of the stem, and toss into a big pan with a couple chopped cloves of garlic, add some water and sauté until tender. If you are using them from frozen, you can just add them to the pan, and heat up with the garlic. When they’re done cooking, top with some extra virgin olive oil. This helps your body absorb all the nutrients it can.

Beans and Rice with Turkey and Fennel: Wednesday

Beans and Rice can be made into so many different, and budget friendly, variations. If you’re really crunched for time pick up a couple cans of black beans, or one can of black eyed peas, and one can of pinto beans. You can find salt free, or made with sea salt canned beans at health food stores. For the rice, you can find heat and eat brown rice in a bag at any grocery store. You may need a couple bags depending on how many people you’re serving.

Pick up a bag of frozen mixed vegetable that will also go into this quick dish. I like a bell pepper and onion mix for this.

Cook up some ground turkey with the frozen peppers, a small can of tomato sauce, your favorite dried Italian seasoning, or just garlic and onion powder, sea salt and pepper, and fennel. The amount of fennel seed depends on the amount of turkey. I use about a half teaspoon of dried fennel seed per pound of turkey. Once turkey is thoroughly cooked taste it for seasonings. The fennel adds a slightly sweet sausage flavor to the dish. Add all ingredients together, the beans, rice, veggies, and turkey.

Quick Asian Stir Fry: Thursday

The most important element to this, as with many dishes, is the sweet, yet salty sauce. You could use a bottled teriyaki sauce, it will probably be difficult to find one that doesn’t have potato ingredients. The soy sauce used in most bottled teriyaki sauces is not made for sea salt.  Instead, you can mix a sea salt soy sauce (which is easily found at any health food store, or maybe even a supermarket) with honey, brown sugar, or maple syrup. You can also use the pineapple juice from canned pineapple chunks, and use the chunks in the dish as well. The ratio I like is 2 parts soy sauce to 1 part sweetener. If you have time, a fresh chopped 1 inch hunk of ginger, and a couple chopped cloves of garlic take this sauce to the next level! If you’re in a rush, a couple shakes of dried ginger, and garlic also are delicious.

I like soba noodles with my stir fry, but if you can’t find soba noodles a whole wheat linguini, or whole wheat spaghetti works just fine. Always read labels on pasta. While the noodles boil, cook up the vegetables. To make sure the noodles are done around the same time as the other elements, I put the water on to boil before I start preparing chicken. Add noodles once water’s boiling.  If the noodles are done before the veggies, and chicken, just drain them, and add a little sauce so they don’t stick together.

Chop chicken breasts into bite size pieces. Half to a whole breast per person; depending on if you’re feeding little ones. Toss those into a little bit of sauce to marinate.

While chicken marinates, prep your vegetables by washing and cutting into bite size pieces. If you have fresh produce that’s maybe not so fresh, a stir fry is a great way to use them up. If you don’t have any fresh, frozen is also great! My favorite vegetables for a stir fry are broccoli, snap peas, red bell peppers, and zucchini. You can also find an Asian vegetable mix in the freezer section.

Once everything’s prepped, cook the chicken in your largest pan, then add vegetables, and finish with enough sauce to coat. Add all those goodies to the noodles. Add more sauce as needed.

Additional toppings: chopped fresh green onion, cilantro, toasted sesame seeds, sesame oil, sriracha sauce.

Taco Salads: Friday

How are you supposed to enjoy a taco salad with no cheese!? Add more fresh deliciousness! Make your own pico de gallo with delicious fresh tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, and plenty of salt and pepper. Fresh summer tomatoes are a whole different flavor profile than a yucky winter tomato, so keep the time of year in mind. My favorite fresh addition is lime juice. Squeeze a quarter of a lime on the salad, and you’ll never be able to go without lime again. Fresh cilantro is usually available year around, and adding that brings a freshness that will also become a necessity.

Do you like it a little spicy? Great! Add fresh jalapenos, or branch out to other new peppers you haven’t tried. A red Fresno chile looks like a red jalapeno, but is spicier. You can add flavor, and a little spice, with canned chipotle peppers. Add 1 chopped chipotle, and some of the juice in the can, to your beans, or meat while they cook. Keep in mind, little ones will probably not want this heat, so you can add the chipotle and sauce to the beans or meat separately for the grown-ups.

The one condiment I thought I’d miss the most is sour cream. You don’t have to miss it! There are some great dairy free (vegan) options at the health food store now days. It can be difficult, but there are these alternatives made with no potato derived ingredients also! I now actually prefer just loading up on fresh green onions, spinach, shredded cabbage, and lots of spicy salsa, and I really don’t miss the sour cream.

Grilled Steak, Salad, and Grilled Veggies: Saturday

Grill your steak, and some large sliced zucchini, red bell peppers, red onion slices, and mushrooms. If you normally brush your vegetables with a processed sauce from the store, whip up your own! Add fresh chopped garlic, Italian herb seasoning, salt and pepper with some orange juice and brush over vegetables as they cook. Make sure to make extra vegetables for leftovers to have with lunch tomorrow!

A big salad is a great addition to steak and grilled veggies; you can even top the salad with the warm vegetables. I like a salad mix of fresh spinach, and arugula, with fresh cucumbers. If you need a yummy potato free dressing, mix 2 part extra virgin olive oil to 1 part good quality balsamic vinegar, a squirt of Dijon mustard, salt and pepper, and finely chopped shallot. If you can’t find shallot, chopped green onion or garlic is delicious as well, but the shallot really makes something special.

If you want some fresh bread to sop up your steak juices, add a good quality dairy and potato free bread to the menu. To kick the bread up a notch, grill slices of bread until just toasted, and the rub a peeled garlic clove over one side for a fresh garlic bread!

Roast Chicken with Lemon Asparagus and Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls: Sunday

Roast your chicken like normal, but if you usually put butter on the skin, omit that. If you don’t normally have leftovers from one chicken, then roast 2. Really it takes the same amount of time. If you only have one roasting pan, roast the other in a large enough glass dish. The next day send the drumsticks in someone’s lunch, one breast for your for lunch, and divide up the rest to whoever doesn’t insist on drumsticks.

You can purchase whole wheat dinner rolls, but if they have dairy, or potato ingredients then look at some other options. If you can’t find one without potato, you can always toast some good (dairy and potato free) bread and dip the bread in a quality extra virgin olive oil. There are some dairy free (vegan) butter substitutes, but you really have to search for one without any potato derived ingredients, that’s why I stick to olive oil.

Either sauté or broil asparagus, and at the end of the cooking time squeeze for lemon juice over it, and a little extra virgin oil, salt and pepper. If you’re in a time crunch, you could steam the asparagus in the microwave with the lemon juice. If you have little ones that won’t touch asparagus, of course always try to explain how it takes tasting things many  different times until they really know if they like it or not. Another option is any other green veggie they like, or at least fight with you less about. You can cook these in the microwave, or sauté them. I find a frozen bag of mixed veggies with green beans, carrots, and lima beans seem to always work. Top with extra virgin olive oil, and some dried herb seasoning for the little ones too.