Ok, so you’ve got PHFF down like the back of your hand (if you don’t know what I’m talking about yet, check this post out first.)

But also a quick summary: PHFF stands for protein, healthy fat, and fiber. It’s a great strategy to make sure you’re creating a blood-sugar-balancing meal that will satisfy you and give you the right balance of nutrients you need!

The concept is simple, flexible, and effective! What could go wrong? Well…your family. Your picky eaters. We love ‘em, but they might not jump on the PHFF train as easily as you did. 

Don’t fear. I’ve got you. Below are 6 meal ideas everyone will love so you’re not stuck making 2 completely different meals.

1. Nachos

Who doesn’t like nachos? You can use any chip you prefer. If you want to go above and beyond, you can take high-fiber or whole-grain tortillas, cut into triangles, spritz with olive or avocado oil and salt, and air fry until crispy.

Next comes your protein of choice. You can do a lean ground beef or ground turkey and season with your preferred taco seasoning. 

Toppings can be cheese, black beans, diced bell peppers, avocado, salsa, sour cream, cilantro, onion, etc. 

You can either make a giant batch or separate plates so each person can completely customize. 

For your PHFF version: 

• 25-35 g of starchy carbs from chips
• 20-30g of protein from taco seasoned beef or turkey
• 10-30g of fat from cheese, sour cream, avocado

Another option: if your family wants to make nachos, you can take the taco-seasoned protein and make yourself a taco salad if you really want to up the fiber. Start with a bed of greens, add your protein, and top with tomatoes, onions, peppers, avocado, etc. Your dressing can be sour cream or non-fat, plain Greek yogurt combined with your favorite salsa. Yum.

2. Sandwiches/Wraps

Going back to basics here, but you can’t go wrong with sandwiches or wraps for lunch. They are completely customizable and EASY.

When it comes to bread, I would opt for a whole grain/high fiber variety from your grocery store for yourself and then pick up what your family would eat if you need an alternative option. Same goes for tortillas/wraps. I like Flat-Out brand and also X-treme Wellness!

The rest is up to you! Fill up your sandwich with your preferred deli meat and veggies like spinach, peppers, tomato, onion, cheese, avocado, etc. This is very PHFF-friendly with lots of protein from the meat, fiber from the bread/wrap and veggies, and fat from meat, cheese, and potential mayo or avocado.

3. Smoothies

If you can’t tell, most of these ideas are very flexible! You can choose whatever your family prefers and it’s easy to customize for you without doing something completely different. 

Smoothies also fit the category! Build your smoothie with whatever ingredients your family likes best. The other hidden benefit with smoothies is that those certain picky family members (we all have ‘em) don’t have to know all the ingredients if you don’t want ;). SO, if you want to sneak in some greens, some chia or ground flax seed, or even frozen cauliflower, nobody is going to know. Probably. 

To make sure your smoothie is PHFF, build it as follows:

Protein: protein powder of choice (at least 25g of protein per serving). If you need help picking out a product, check out our Instagram post below!

Fat: add any nut butter you prefer or full-fat coconut milk, avocado, or coconut oil. 1-2 Tbsp will provide 10-20g of fat.

Fiber: add the fruit you prefer like berries or a banana and then add chia seeds or ground flax seeds if nobody else cares or would notice.

Check out this guide for building the perfect PHFF smoothie too.

4. Protein pancakes/waffles

Again, who doesn’t like pancakes or waffles? The key to making a PHFF version is adding more protein in some way. 

One option is to buy an already made high-protein mix like Kodiak Cakes or Birch Benders. Easy! And then when you make your stack, add more berries for fiber and maybe a few eggs on the side.

You could also make your own batter from scratch. This is my favorite recipe, which you can double, triple, etc. depending on how many people you’re serving:

• ¼ c Kodiak cake mix
• 1 scoop protein powder
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp ground flax seed
• Cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• Milk of choice, just enough to create your batter

We love this recipe too: 5-ingredient peanut butter protein pancakes

Bonus tip: meal prep your pancakes/waffles! They store beautifully in the freezer and then you can pull them out on a busy school morning for everyone.

5. Burgers

I don’t think I need to explain to you how to make a burger, but let me drop some helpful ideas to make YOUR burger more PHFF, and then everyone else can build theirs how they prefer. Again, you’re not doing something completely different for yourself.

• Choose a lean ground beef or ground turkey for the burgers
• Choose a whole-grain bun
• Add some greens, tomato, onion, pickle, etc. for fiber
• Add your favorite cheese or avocado slices for healthy fat
• Add a side salad to your meal for even more fiber and healthy fats! 
• You could also go bunless and chop up your burger on your salad! Load it up with all your favorites to make your own “Big Mac Bowl.” See this recipe for inspiration.

6. Pasta

Ok last idea for you is when you have a pasta night, there are a few easy swaps that your family has a 95% chance of not even noticing/caring.

• Swap your noodles for a high-fiber/high-protein variety like Banza or Barilla Protein.
• Blend cottage cheese with your pasta sauce! You can do an 8-oz or 16-oz container per jar of pasta sauce, just depending how creamy you want it.
• Blend cooked veggies like zucchini or cauliflower in with your pasta sauce or chop really small and mix into your pasta. 
• Add more protein to the picture in some way. This can be seasoned chicken breast, seasoned ground beef or turkey, etc.

Choose which tips make sense for your people, but you can totally make pasta night PHFF-friendly!

Other family-friendly recipe ideas:

Back-to-school breakfast ideas

Back-to-school lunch ideas

High-protein snacks

PHFF grocery shopping

Biggest takeaway: please do not be cooking separate meals for yourself even if you’re prioritizing blood-sugar-friendly meals! PHFF is supposed to be easy and flexible, so don’t overcomplicate it.

Happy cooking!

Elle, MM Coach