Going 3 weeks with no meat, dairy, wheat, sugar, caffeine and alcohol can be challenging enough. Add a family of picky eaters to the mix and the already uphill battle just got steeper.
The way you see it, the weeks will play out in one of two scenarios:
- Your family will be miserable because they fear there is a possibility you’ll force them to eat your “healthy” food too.
- You’re miserable because while your family eats “normally” at the dinner table, you choose to eat apart from them, keeping your cleanse-approved menu to yourself as not to be tortured by the forbidden foods of yore.
Fear not! You CAN still sit around the table together and enjoy the “essence” of the same dinner. It just takes a bit of planning.
The key is to find meals in which the majority of the ingredients are cleanse-approved, so you don’t have to prepare two totally separate meals. This way, you get the shared ingredients to a certain point and then customize into “their” meals and “your” meal.
Below are some ideas for familiar, non-intimidating meals that will keep your family safely in their comfort zone (eye rolls and tantrums averted!) and you won’t feel like you’re missing out either. You’ll all be eating the “same thing” with slightly different twists.
These are generic templates; you’ll have to utilize your googling skills to find exact recipes that suit your needs. Hopefully this will spark your idea engines and help to take the overwhelm out of family dinners during these 3 weeks!
Pin it or share it to save it for later! Show it to your kids and let them participate in the menu planning and prepping.
