Give Your Family’s Favorite Meals a Healthful Makeover

Hello, friends! I'm Jessica and this is The Reclamation, a twice monthly publication from Meridian Integrative Wellness that Inspires Courageous Action for Inside Out Healing. 

One of the most enjoyable parts of my job as a health coach is showing folks that healthy eating, even the kind that requires precision to overcome chronic conditions like autoimmune disease and diabetes, does not have to suck the joy from your life! There's nothing worse than feeling like you're sitting on the sidelines, watching everybody else enjoy something that you're forbidden from. 

That's precisely why part of the process with my clients always involves reinventing their family favorite's into healthier versions without sacrificing the taste. And, as always, the focus is still on JOY and EASE. 

Today's Post Shares These 3 Things:

1. An example of a recipe conversion that is 100% delicious and also dairy and grain free.
2. A more expanded list of ingredients you can use to substitute for common food irritants like dairy, grains and more.
3. An easy-to-use worksheet that will help you transform your own family favorites into their healthiest version. 

So here's the story behind the recipe I'm sharing today. My mom had dental procedure last year that left her swollen and sore for a couple weeks. I asked her what soups sounded good and she sent over a recipe for a Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup that looked delicious, but didn’t exactly meet my own dietary requirements. (I have Psoriatic Arthritis, which is an autoimmune disease that I manage through nutrition, so I steer clear of gluten and dairy.) Since I was planning to make a double batch, keeping half for my family and sending the other half to her house, some adjustments were necessary.

A recipe conversion that is 100% delicious and also dairy and grain free.

The majority of the recipe was just fine, as it's mainly chicken and vegetables. But there were some problematic ingredients for me: butter, all-purpose flour, milk and rice. 

So the substitutions I made were 

• Cow Milk >>> Cashew Milk
• Butter >>> Ghee
• Rice >>> Cauliflower rice
• Wheat Flour (thickening) >>> Arrowroot powder

I have to admit, I was nervous in making such a big batch of this because I'd never made it before and had recently ruined the flavor of another soup by trying coconut milk that left a sweet aftertaste in what was supposed to be a savory dish. What I learned from that previous experiment was that I should use more neutral flavors like almond or cashew milk to replace cow milk in savory dishes. I really love cashew milk for cooking because I think it's the closest in flavor and texture to cow milk, which I grew up on and absolutely love. 

I'm really happy to share this recipe with you because it's so simple and delicious, despite the substations I made. 

A more expanded list of ingredients you can use to substitute for common food irritants like dairy, grains and more.

An easy-to-use worksheet that will help you transform your own family favorites into their healthiest version. 

Turn Your Insight Into Action

And Share your answers by commenting below!

• If Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup sounds good to you, when will you make it? 
• When will you carve out time to go through the convert your own recipes worksheet?
• How will you use this information to help you get healthier?

Now until next time, you know what to do.  Enter your email above for instant access to the Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup recipe, Common Substituions and the Convert Your Own Recipes worksheet, and carve out some time to think through which of your family favorites you want to make a little healthier.  

Thanks for reading, and I’ll catch you next time!