For the month of February, my husband and I ate gluten and dairy free, or at least we tried to. This was a new way to eat for us, and we definitely had some bumps in the road, but I wanted to try it after reading the book, The Walh’s Protocol. I heard about this book, which was written by a doctor who talks about how to improve symptoms of autoimmune disease through diet, from a patient of mine. My husband and I do not have any autoimmune conditions, but in the book she talks about how everyone can benefit from following her protocol and rebuilding your cellular health. If you have an autoimmune disease or food sensitivities, I highly recommend checking it out for yourself. Click here for the link for the book.
There are three levels to her protocol. The first and most basic level is what we followed. The criteria are the following :
- Gluten and dairy free.
- Eat 9 cups of fruits and vegetables daily. (Can adjust the amount of cups for your height/weight).
- Eat organic lean protein daily.
In the book she breaks down each criteria in more detail. The 9 cups of fruits and vegetables are broken down into three categories: 3 cups leafy greens, 3 cups of vegetables rich in sulfur, and 3 cups of bright colored fruits/veggies.
If you know me or follow my blog, you obviously know I like to plan my dinners. However, to follow this protocol I also had to plan my breakfasts and lunches; I didn’t know how challenging this would be, but with a little time and effort we made it successful!
Week One
Monday
- Breakfast- Shake with 1 cup spinach, kale, 1/2 cup fresh fruit (I used blueberries, grapes, and raspberries), 1/2 cup left over broccoli stems/leaves, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1 1/4 cup water, and 1 tbsp ground flax seed.
- Lunch– Mediterranean quinoa salad minus the feta cheese. I cut the recipe in half and we still got three lunches from it.
- Dinner– Eggplant parmesan with vegan cheese, a side of chick-pea pasta from Banza, and roasted broccoli.
Tuesday
- Breakfast– Frittata with red bell pepper and kale and avocado toast with gluten free bread.
- Lunch– Salad with romaine lettuce, red bell pepper, avocado, cherry tomatoes, and rolled up/sliced deli meat.
- Dinner– Chickpea pasta and a spinach salad. This dinner was an “oops”, I planned for a whole chicken in the crockpot, but when I cooked it a few days in advance, I turned off the crockpot to let it cool and forgot about it during the dinner time rush! It sat out overnight, so we had to toss it.
Wednesday
- Breakfast– Shake – 2 cups spinach, handful of fresh blueberries and frozen strawberries, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1 tbsp ground flax seed, half an avocado, 1 cup almond milk, and 1 cup water.
- Lunch-Left over mediterranean quinoa salad.
- Dinner– Asian chicken chopped salad. I added half an avocado and fresh mango to our salad.
Thursday
- Breakfast – Two slices GF bread with avocado and a chopped hard boiled egg.
- Lunch- Smashed chickpea and avocado sandwich.
- Dinner- Turkey taco bowls. We added vegan cheese, guacamole, and salsa to ours. This was my favorite dinner of the week!
Friday
- Breakfast- Left over frittata.
- Lunch– Kale, edamame, and quinoa salad. I added a hard boiled egg to mine for more protein.
- Dinner– Pizza night. I used cauliflower crust from Trader Joe’s and topped it with tomato sauce and vegan mozzarella cheese (also from TJ’s)
Saturday
- Breakfast– Banana cinnamon paleo waffles. I used almond flour instead of coconut flour because that’s what I had on hand. I also doubled it hoping to have left overs, but we didn’t. My waffle iron must be bigger because it only made six. P.S. Noah loved these, he had two whole waffles, which I definitely didn’t account for!
- Lunch– Left over chickpea pasta and kale quinoa salad.
- Dinner– Beef and rice stuffed peppers. I used ground turkey. The recipe calls for 5 bell peppers, but I only made three, and didn’t cut back on the rest of the ingredients. I used the left over stuffing for salads the following week.
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