While the carnivore diet can be good for relief from severe uncontrolled chronic health problems, or major food allergies, it’s typically not a diet I recommend. However, once in a while it’s fun to go full carnivore and embrace the protein.
This breakfast sandwich does exactly that! Dairy-free? Just omit the cheese. Not wanting to be quite this plant-free? Add in some slices of ripe avocado. Yum.
Read: What is the Carnivore/Zero-Carb Diet
My Naturally Carnivore Tot
Story time…
Back in 2009, when we started the GAPS diet for autism recovery, I had my preschooler with autism and a nursling 2 years younger. As we transitioned onto GAPS, I made GAPS food for all of us, so that meant that as he weaned, he weaned right onto the GAPS intro diet, which was soup and meat and more soup.
My Beautiful Baby Boy, 16 months
Because I was a maxed out mama, and I knew that GAPS was plenty nutrient dense, he pretty much only had access to nursing + GAPS foods as he started solid foods.
This little boy LOVED his meat. He cut teeth on beef ribs, and would cheer when he saw the cod liver oil coming.
And, more than that, though I’d serve both kids a serving of vegetables, meat, and a fruit if we weren’t doing ‘Keto GAPS‘, half way through their plates (above), the kids would get up and trade spots. When they traded, my daughter had barely touched her meat, and my son had touched his vegetables. Then they finished the other’s vegetables and meat until it was all gone.
Because I had read a study (source) about how, when given access to only nutrient dense foods, young children will choose what they need for optimal growth and development I wasn’t too worried. I was kind of fascinated by the whole process, with my children begging for cod liver oil and happily eating patties of meat and cultured sauerkraut by the bowl.
Occasional Vegetables
This boy wasn’t completely carnivore, as he loved sauerkraut, and peeled onions cooked in chicken stock (which you might recognize from GAPS Intro day 3, start at 23:40 for the recipe), but the majority of his diet came from human milk (me! my olders were slow to wean) and M-E-A-T.
As you can see from the picture to the right, he has now turned into a strapping young man.
As predicted, these breakfast sandwiches were still a hit for him, at now nearly 10 years old. So together we are excited to share both the recipe, and the encouragement that just offering your children nutrient dense foods is enough.
Between him avoiding vegetables, and my daughter avoiding protein for many meals, I was seriously questioning whether my grand nutrition experiment would work at the time. But you can benefit from my small case study by knowing that they did indeed grow into healthy vibrant children.
Note about child-directed feeding:
I do allow my young toddlers to choose from the nutrient-dense food that I offer, at set meal times. To accommodate growth spurts, I still nurse at-will at wakeup and sleep times. For us, this looked like 4 nursing sessions a day, another in the middle of the night, and 3 meals. As they cut back on nursing sessions, we just keep the 3 meals a day.
As toddlers develop into preschoolers and wean, I transition more into a parent-led approach, with the kids being allowed to ask for seconds after finishing what I put on their plate.
Young toddlers are operating nearly completely out of instinct. If they are in a ‘healthy food bubble’ where they have never tasted sugar or refined carbohydrates, they most likely will choose what they need.
As the children become strong-willed willed (this is developmentally appropriate as their brain develops!) they will notice all the other food-like products out there and will experiment with asserting autonomy. When this happens, the growing children usually benefit from a parent-led approach to eating.
You can see more of my picky-eating prevention or solution protocol to keep parents sane and kids eating in the free Picky Eating Solution webinar.
And now for Sam’s new favorite breakfast…
Carnivore Breakfast Sandwich
Easy, delicious, and full of protein, fats, and no plants... this breakfast sandwich is loved by those on the carnivore diet, as well as keto, or anyone who enjoys protein and fat in their diet.
While the Carnivore Breakfast Sandwich seems to be mocking the mainstream nutritional advice of avoiding cholesterol, what we really love about this breakfast sandwich is how YUMMY it is!
Ingredients
- 2 Sausage Patties beef used in picture and for calculations
- 1 egg
- 1 ounce cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon butter or bacon grease, if you have it
Instructions
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In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Form sausage into thin patties, about the size of your palm but only 1/2 inch thick. Cook patties until they brown on one side, then flip, cooking for another 2-3 minutes, or until cooked through.
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If you don't mind your food touching, fry an egg at the same time in the same pan. If not, you can use a little more butter in an additional pan (medium heat, and wait until the pan is hot to prevent sticking), and then assemble your carnivore breakfast sandwich. Keep the yolk runny, as your sauce.
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To assemble, place one sausage patty on a plate, then top with fried egg, slice of cheese, and another sausage patty.
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Enjoy! Sliced avocado, tomato, or sauteed spinach can be added as well.
