"Ideal Meal"

This is a minimalist (few ingredients as possible), enviro-friendly, low-effort, economical diet for peak health/nutrition (esp for joint health and reducing inflammation) using ingredients that are cheap-per-meal and shelf-stable so easy to stock up and minimizes food waste. Each meal has almost all necessary nutrients (need minimal supplements - see list). You could eat nothing but any one of these meals for life and be completely physically healthy. I will add new recipes as they are developed (aiming for around 6 - 10).

Jump To:

• Strategy
• Preparation
• Recipies
• Benefits (Many!)

This could be your ENTIRE kitchen!

Strategy:

Based on current research, the ideal frequency of meals for optimum health is 2 meals per day at 10:00 and 18:00. Snacking during the day is fine, but the goal is to fast between 18:00 and 10:00 the next day for optimum gut health. With this in mind, each of the current meals being developed meets AT LEAST 50% of recommended daily intake of every nutrient (protein, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals), plus contain supplemental “super foods” that are shown to optimize brain health, metabolic function, insulin balance, combat inflammation, and promote healing of various organs and tissues (e.g. heart, gut, joints).

There are a few nutrients I couldn't find a good whole-food source for - Vit D, Vit K2, and DHA/EPA. See the “Supplements” section about these and other recommended supplements not part of each recipe.

Upcoming modifications planned include creating complimentary meals that don't contain half the daily recommended intake of each ingredient, but when eaten together in one day do. I might try a strategy of “combine one of these three meals (morning) with any of these other three meals (evening) to get complete nutrition each day”.

Another modification I'm contemplating is to have a fruit/berry - yogurt - hemp heart bowl (plus other ingredients as I figure this out) as a mid-day snack, offloading some of the ingredients from the meals into this to make each meal smaller, possibly make the recipes a little more flexible, and to add a sweet treat with different texture to add variety, plus make the morning and evening meals a little smaller.

Prep:

Pre-measure meals into 14 jars/ziplock bags for the week (minus amla and mustard - these get added once cooked and then cooled down)

To prepare - simply dump 1 pre-measured meal into a 1L food thermos, pour in 500ml boiling water (or whatever the recipe calls for) and give it a few good shakes to mix ingredients and water.

Let stand for 20 - 60min (again, whatever recipe calls for).

Open and let cool. This can take an hour or more if left in the thermos, so this is where the optional bowl comes in. I ordered a cast iron bowl to see if this will help quickly bring the temp down from boiling to edible, but then hold the heat while I eat (vs a regular bowl that would keep cooling it down quickly).

Once cooled to a temperature comfortable to eat, add amla powder and mustard powder just before eating (these have vitamins, antioxidants, enzymes and phytonutrients that are not heat-stable).

Supplements:

  • Dandelion greens or other bitters at beginning of meal (stimulate digestion and bike release - chew a couple raw leaves or put right on top of the dish)

  • Vit D (winter)

  • Algal oil soft gel capsule (Omega 3s DHA and EPA)

  • • Vit K2 supplement (aka "Mk-7" or "Vit K2-7")

  • Nettle tea (no closer than one hour before or after eating a meal)

MORE RECIPIES COMING SOON
Oats Khichdi

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