We’ve all been there haven’t we…? ‘What shall we have for dinner tonight?’ It’s pretty exhausting trying to think up things each day, and then matching what we fancy to what’s actually in the cupboard and fridge.
I first started writing a meal planner when we were seeing a dietician for my daughter’s allergies which at the time included gluten, dairy, egg, soya, fish, peas, haricot (baked) beans, butterbeans, strawberry, raspberry, orange and kiwi - feeding her a balanced diet was not a simple task! Given her own way my daughter would quite happily have lived on plain gluten free pasta as she’d had a few reactions that naturally made her cautious of trying new foods and of strong tastes so I had to be really creative to get her eating well.
Fast forward a few years and thankfully the only fruit she’s now allergic to is kiwi and she can eat all legumes except for soya but that still makes finding a balanced and interesting menu challenging with her other allergies as we still have to avoid all gluten, dairy, egg and more. We had always been quite last-minute with our meal choices depending on what sort of day we had but then in October 2019 my daughter had to have major surgery on both legs (she’s a wheelchair user and has a lower limb deficiency) and we knew we should try and cook ahead and freeze meals to make life easier post-surgery. We’d just emerged from surgery and into rehabilitation when the first national Covid-19 lockdown began here in the UK and we were all at home all the time needing three meals a day. Every day involved a family chat about what to have for lunch and dinner so we decided to make a menu and soon found ourselves looking forward to curry day or tomato soup for lunch or spaghetti bolognese.
Can anyone share a meal planner? Is a frequent question on allergy groups and social media posts and when we asked people what they’d like to see on the blog bread recipes and a meal planner were top of the list so here it is!
Use this planner to inspire you and adapt the meals to suit your own needs. The idea is to share what works for us, and let you turn them into what works for you. We’ll be following up with recipe posts for many of these meals. We’ve deliberately not included any days of the week and there are 10 options per mealtime so you can fit these ideas into your busy lives and have a bit of variety!
Do speak to a medical professional, a doctor, allergist or dietician before removing major food groups from your diet. This blog does not offer medical advice and is based solely on our personal experiences only.
Comment below and let us know how you’ve been inspired by our meal planner!
See you soon
Chickpea Flour Power
