My Family's Winter Diet

I wanted to share a snapshot of what my family's diet looks like these days.  We've been following a Weston Price-inspired diet for over 10 years now, including about 18 months strictly following the GAPS Diet in 2010-2012.  I was very strict with our diets for many years, but over time I have found that approach to be unbalanced, anxious, and stressful. Being very strict with our diets also did not improve our health over the long-term (homeopathy has worked much better for that).

Over the last few years, rather than continuing to exert extreme dietary control, I have shifted to a place of finding balance. My emphasis has been to find a healthy diet that we can sustain and enjoy for many years to come. We are still eating a primarily nutrient-dense diet, but rather than aiming for perfection, I am aiming for an unstressed, maintainable diet.

Because we eat somewhat seasonally, this will be the first in a series, with more dietary snapshots to come in the Spring, Summer, and Fall. Here is a snapshot of our Winter diet.

Breakfast

• Since I wake up early, I often eat two breakfasts. My first breakfast is generally simple, followed by a more substantial breakfast a couple hours later. 
• My first breakfast is often either maple brown sugar granola with plain yogurt or re-warmed homemade muffins with a glass of raw milk. In the winter months, the muffins I make most often are:
• Chocolate, orange, and molasses muffins 
• Blueberry muffins
• Carrot, coconut, and ginger muffins

• My second breakfast is most often sprouted whole wheat or white sourdough toast with eggs and frozen veggie mix sauteed in butter, usually with a glass of raw milk. I have a dose of extra-virgin cod liver oil with my second breakfast about twice a week (as determined by when I feel a craving for it).

• My husband eats homemade custard cake for breakfast 6 days of the week every week. (He likes eating the same thing over and over; I can't stand doing that!) In the winter, I most often make one of the following custard cakes for him to have for breakfast each week:  
• Gingerbread custard cake
• Applesauce custard cake
• Pumpkin pie custard cake
• My nearly-6-year old son often eats sprouted whole wheat or white sourdough toast for breakfast, always buttered, sometimes with honey or jam, sometimes with an egg, and always with a glass of raw milk. On days when he doesn't want toast, he often eats a homemade muffin with a glass of raw milk for breakfast. He chooses to have a dose of extra-virgin cod liver oil with his breakfast about 2-3 times per week.
• My 8&1/2-year-old daughter often has one of the following for breakfast, alongside a glass of raw milk. She also chooses to have a small dose of extra-virgin cod liver oil with her breakfast about once or twice a week.
• Lemon blueberry grain-free muffin
• Homemade Gluten-free waffle, sometimes with a fried egg on top
• Grain-free cinnamon raisin bread
• Apple with cheese or nut butter

Lunch

• My husband takes frozen homemade leftovers to work for lunch everyday, which he re-heats in a toaster oven.  In the winter, his favorite leftover lunches are:

• Ham, bean, and bacon soup
• Beef and beans
• Beef and veggie soup with a side of cheesy bread 
• Bunless cheeseburgers with cheesy bread or chips
• At this time of year, the lunches my children and I eat most often are:
• Grilled cheese or grilled ham and cheese
• Lunchmeat rolls with cheddar cheese, homemade honey mustard, and fermented pickles, with a side of kettle chips
• Leftover soup (from the freezer)
• Mussels or smoked oysters served with buttered crackers or sourdough toast (or waffle for my daughter)

Snacks

• The only snacks my kids are allowed between breakfast and lunch is fruits or veggies, which they have to get for themselves. That makes it where they are certain to be hungry at lunch (whereas previously when they were allowed more-filling snack options, they often didn't eat well at lunch). In the winter, their fruit and veggie snack options are:
• Apples
• Tangerines
• Bubbies fermented dill pickles 
• Carrots
• Dried fruit, such as Just Bananas or Just Fruit Salad
• Dried Just Peas
• Perhaps 40-50% of the time, the kids will have a small snack after our afternoon Quiet Time, usually consisting of nuts, fruit, or cookies (such as butter shortbread). I am always ravenous when I wake from my daily nap, so I always have an afternoon snack such as butter shortbread, plain whole milk yogurt with maple brown sugar granola, apple and cheese, etc.
• The kids have a snack before bed every night; usually fruit, yogurt, or applesauce. About twice per week they will have dessert such as ice cream or cookies. 

 

Drinks 

The drinks we consume the vast majority of the time are:

• raw milk
• homemade kombucha
• fresh-squeezed lemon or lime juice in sparkling spring water
• homemade soda

 

Dinner

• I make a from-scratch dinner meal about 2-3 times per week (and I always make a large portion so there will be enough to freeze for my husband's lunches, or for us to have as leftovers). I can't stand eating the same thing two days in a row, so I plan to eat leftovers a few days later, or freeze them for a future use. In the winter months, the dinners I make most-often are:
• Beef, sweet potato, and veggie stew
• Slow-cooker roasted chicken
• Slow-cooker chili
• Beef and veggie soup 
• Bunless cheeseburgers
• Crustless quiche 
• Side dishes I commonly make in the winter months are:

• Roasted potatoes
• Baked sweet potatoes 
• Cheesy bread
• Frozen hash browns cooked in lots of butter 
• Maple butter Brussels sprouts
• Simple buttered veggies with frozen peas or broccoli 
• Green salad with lettuce, cheese, snap peas, and homemade ranch dressing
• On days when I don't make a from-scratch dinner, we have leftovers or dinners which include some already-prepared ingredients (which I consider to be compromise dinners). The ingredients in our compromise dinners aren't absolutely perfect, but they are pretty good, and incorporating these items into our diets allows for busy days when I don't have hours to spend in the kitchen. Our most commonly-consumed compromise dinners in the Winter are:

• Pizza made with Against the Grain crust, quick-and-easy homemade pizza sauce, mozzarella cheese, sauteed mushrooms, scallions, and nitrate-free pepperoni, kielbasa, or ham
• Nitrate-free sausages such as kielbasa, hot dogs, or mild italian sausage, served with hash browns or frozen sweet potato fries, and fermented pickles
• Spaghetti marinara sauce with added ground beef and veggies (onions, carrots, celery, and/or mushrooms), served over white rice noodles or bean thread noodles
• Tuna salad or chicken salad sandwiches, made with canned tuna or chicken, served with kettle chips and fermented pickles
• We eat out at a restaurant about 2-3 times per month. We also often eat Sunday dinner at my mom's house, and are often blessed with leftovers to often bring home which will make for an easy meal some other day of the week.

Do you find it helpful or interesting to see what we're eating?  What are your favorite Winter meals?

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