Adrenal Fatigue Recovery, Pt. 2: Menu

For background, see Adrenal Recovery, Pt. 1

Goals:

• Deeply nutritious food that’s fairly easy to prepare
• Protein, fat, and complex carbs every time you eat
• Avoid sugar and refined carbs like white bread
• Go ahead and eat salt – you need the sodium
• Keep blood sugar steady – so eat frequently (even if you have to get up and eat in the middle of the night)

For the week, prepare:

• 

  One batch of veg-heavy soup – 2 quarts

  • Make stock from a rotisserie chicken carcass – use good salt (Celtic gray, Himalayan pink, or Realsalt) and add extra gelatin or collagen
  • Chicken veg soup: stock plus carrots, celery, cabbage/bok choi/broccoli. Or just add a 1lb bag of frozen mixed vegetables to your stock.
  • Butternut squash soup
  • Mulligatawny soup
  • http://www.cottercrunch.com/curried-cauliflower-rice-kale-soup-paleo/
  • Minestrone (no noodles/beans)
• One batch of turkey and beef meatballs
• Optional: 1-2 big batches of cooked vegetables – just make a double batch when you’re cooking dinner some night
  • Salt’n’garlic beans
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Roasted root vegetables
  • Carrots and parsnips
  • Roasted veg salad
  • Dragon noodles
  • Mixed veg with pesto
  • Greens in coconut curry
  • Butternut squash roasted with chili powder and cumin
• Also helpful:
  • Be sure there are always a couple lunches in the freezer
  • Slaw mix: coleslaw, broccoli slaw, or shredded nappa w/carrots
    • Keep this shredded raw veg mix on hand
    • Use in cooked dishes, or add salad dressing for a quick side dish

Breakfasts

• Meaty:
  • Pick any 2-4 oz of meat: burger “sliders,” pork tenderloin, no-nitrate hot dogs (e.g., Applegate Natural), baked turkey breast, or a grilled chicken thigh
  • Complex carbs: Sprouted whole grain bread (or bun) or sweet potato slices
  • A vegetable, if you can swing it: Salt-n-garlic beans or steamed carrot sticks
• Veggie:
  • Calabaza queso on corn tortillas
  • Corn tortillas with refried beans and cheese
  • Raw carrot
  • Eggs are great, if you can have them
• Avocado toast + protein

Dinners

• See also “Good_carb” tagged recipes here

Soup, stew, etc.

• Butternut squash soup
• Mulligatawny soup
• Beef barley
• Ginger beef
• Dal and brown rice
• Tuscan bean and sausage

Pan dinners

• Tuscan chicken
• Fajitas or enchiladas
• Sausage, greens, and rice
• Salsa fry-up with extra veg
• Paella with brown rice
• Stir-fry or fried rice
• Pan fried soba noodles (must be whole grain)
• Potsticker stir fry
• Sweet potato hash
• Saucy chicken
• Chicken biryani (not really biryani but good)
• Sweet potato, spinach, grilled chicken or pork tenderloin (bowl)
• Roast butternut, sprouts, and pilaf on bed of greens (bowl)
• Grain, sausage/jerk pork, sweet potato, greens (bowl)
• Pork loin, greens, cilantro, rice or quinoa (bowl)

Baked/Pressure/Big Batch

• Meatloaf
• Pot roast
• Roasted roots with sausage
• Balsamic chicken and veg sheet pan
• Baked fish and bok choi with pilaf
• Pulled pork, sweet potato fries, and slaw
• Pulled turkey, kale, and sweet potatoes
• Pulled turkey, brown rice, cabbage, and carrots
• Baked pork loin, pineapple, and sweet potatoes

Super Quick

• Rotisserie chicken and salt’n’garlic beans or Brussels sprouts (I probably ate this meal once a week for a year – use leftovers for chicken salad and broth)
• Salmon burgers with veg
• Beef tips (keep the serving of mashed potatoes small, and add lots of butter)
• Chicken salad on salad, with Mary’s crackers or Triscuits

To have on hand

• Calabaza queso, Zucchini butter, hummus, or Baba ganouj
• Triscuits
• Nuts/Kind bars
• Meatballs, Grilled chicken thighs, and/or hot dogs
• Coconut bars (omit honey but keep choc chips – 1 g sugar per serving)
• Sweet potato wedges
• Praeger’s veg patties (check varieties)
  • Cali burger
  • Greens burger has some potato flakes mid-way down the list; lowest carb option
  • Asian burger has some potato flakes way down the list
  • Bibimbop burger has some potato flakes way down the list; higher carb
  • Others have too much white stuff and/or egg

Freezer-stocking meals

• Chicken “biryani”
• Salsa fry-up
• Sausage, greens, and rice
• Creamy chicken and mushrooms
• Chicken saagwala/saag dal (Indian greens and chicken or beans)
• Saag aloo (Indian greens and potatoes)
• Chicken with creamy spinach sauce
• Coconut curry with chicken and veg

Dining Out

• Japanese
  • Agedashi Tofu
  • Miso
  • Edamame
  • Yakitori (sauce on side)
  • Hand rolls and brown rice on rolls
  • Chicken Terriyaki w/o sauce
• Chinese
  • Get brown rice or don’t eat rice at restaurant
  • Moo goo gai pan
  • Hunan chicken
  • Chicken and vegetables
• Session Room
  • Sub corn tortilla for slider bun
  • Chicken tacos
• Qdoba/Chipotle
  • Burrito with brown rice
  • Tacos with soft corn tortillas
• Great Plains
  • Burger, 1/2 wheat bun, sweet potato fries
• Noodles & Co
  • Chicken Veracruz salad
  • Items on “zoodles” instead of grain-based noodles
  • They don’t have ww noodles anymore, and most stuff has a lot of sugar.