Help me before I throw this sweet potato out the window...

[thepurplepenguin]

Right, I am at the end of my tether with food.

I am a fairly good cook and I enjoy eating! However, I have a severely dairy intolerant 4 year old, a fussy 6 year old and a husband who is following the Paleo/Primal woe.

This means: no dairy at all, no spices, no unusual vegetables and no sodding grains, so no pasta, rice, couscous, bread, etc. Also no potatoes. We still eat pulses because I point blank refused to give them up.

What the heck do I cook? I used to love cooking, now it's just a chore. I would throw a sweet potato across the room as soon as eat it. Wholeheartedly sick of grilled meat/fish, bit of veg and sweet potato mash. Someone help me before I give up entirely....

Oh also on a budget so can't really afford the jazzy primal meals that DD wouldn't eat anyway....

Does Dh now how you feel? Could he do the cooking for a while?

Sorry, no real help except to say the person who follows the faddy diet in my house does the cooking.

Can you do separate dishes, or separate accompaniments, eg bake a sweet pot for DP but do a normal pot for you?

Unrealistic for you ALL to be forced to follow the primal thing, surely. Just cook some pasta or potatoes, he doesn't have to eat it.

Forgot to say, our almost 6yo is very fussy to but I don't tend to take that into consideration when cooking. After a long time of trying to tackle it she will rarely refuse a whole meal and has only gone to bed without eating in the evening twice.

And are you saying sweet potatoes are paleo?

Paleo recipe site

If your dh wants to follow,this very restrictive diet, then he should be writing the menu (taking your dd's dairy intolerance and your fussy 6-year-old's issues into account), doing the shopping within budget, and cooking the meals.

Otherwise he should shut up and eat what he is given.

Stir frys are an option aren't they?

Hearty Soups, with bread for those not on paleo

Could you try a hash out of grated sweet potato, onion and egg.

Sweet potato wedges are nice, if you section off the baking tray you could sprinkle some cajun spices over some of them for those in dire need of flavour variation.

Thanks for the replies.

Last time DH cooked he made bananas wrapped in bacon

And he can't cook anyway because he doesn't get home till 8.30/9.00.

I don't want to crush him by saying I won't cook/eat paleo because he has lost 3 1/2 stone on it so far. He struggles massively with diet/food/weight and cannot take responsibility for his own eating without cocking it up. It's a bit of a mare tbh but I do take on board your points about him meal planning/cooking.

Melanie sweet potato is paleo in small quantities afaik.

Julie I try not to pander to DD but because she doesn't do spices I obviously wouldn't make a chilli or a curry because she wouldn't touch it.

Mis thanks for the suggestions and the links. I do cajun wedges but am just sick of them! Haven't tried hash, will add it to the list.

Don't just mash sweet potato, you can mash carrots, parsnip, swede etc.

Can you have garlic? Pick a couple of veg and mash them with garlic and ginger (if that's allowed).

omelets? Fish poached in orange juice and water.

Dp can fuck off, all he's doing is making your life harder. Tell him to cook for himself!

Jamaican sweet potato pudding is lush and can be dairy free:

1.5 lb sweet potato
1/2 cup coconut - grated cream or dessicated
1/4 pint coconut milk, water, cows milk, whatever
1 cup flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp each ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg (or to taste)

Grate raw sweet potato. If using dessicated, soak in the liquid. Mix ingredients in a big bowl. Bake at 160* for an hour or so - it should have the consistency of a bread pudding, ie moist and squishy :)

My dd doesn't do spices, well she doesn't do anything really but she sat and ate a mild chilli the other night. Think she was hungry and knew there was nothing else coming her way. I'd try just serving the food and see what happens . Have you read My Child Won't Eat by Carlos Gonzalez?

You might find this thread useful too.

If DH is loosing weight with paleo but you are struggling with the budget and limitation of the meals, has he considered doing the 5:2 instead. Doesn't put a strain on your finances as you are effectively missing a days food for DH per week and he should continue to loose

That's great that he's doing so well on paleo, but I think you're finding it hard to make just one thing that everyone will eat. Maybe some more mix and match style meals- tortilla wraps with a choice of fillings, lettuce leaves for him to wrap in. Make up a big batch of sweet potato mash and freeze individual portions that can be nuked for him while you guys have pasta or rice

I eat paleo/primal (loosely)
I tend to substitute little gem lettuce for wraps if that helps. So if I do chicken fajitas or have tuna mayo or egg mayo I use lettuce as a wrap

I have a link to an online paleo PDF cookbook if you want it?