Menu Plan Monday: February 7, 2011

Cooking has been an adventure around here lately! I haven't been able to stand in the kitchen as long as I would like, so that has limited it a bit. We've also become a gluten-free family, and our commitment to being casein-free has been renewed. In reading and researching about a gf/cf diet (and paired with my units in my Vintage Remedies Family Herbalist course) I've also renewed my interest in health and nutrition. All of that adds up to Mom trying new recipes!

Here are a few that we tried this weekend:
Quinoa Black Bean Salad (I did a quick google of my ingredients and this came up. It's fantastic!)

Teriyaki Veggie Cakes and Garden Veggie Cakes, both from The Spunky Coconut (now one of my favorite foodie blogs! Great for allergies! And these are now going into a regular rotation. Even the meat-gnawing carno-husband loved them... and they are raw-inspired! I used a combination of cannelloni beans and black eyed peas because that was what I had in the fridge!)

Kale chips - fantastic... though I want to try curly kale next time instead of dino kale to see if there is a texture difference, and I might toss them in the dehydrator as well. (I just threw it together on the fly using olive oil and a Greek seasoning mix after reading several recipes, but you can peek at a video on Kath Eats Real Food - another new find!)

Tomato Soup from Veggie Converter (another go to blog if you are vegetarian/vegan! Watch her go through her converting challenge this year! This soup is a keeper. I'm going to add some roasted garlic next time, and I used almond milk - doubled - instead. Yum!)

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On to this week's menu! My goal is to plan three meals a day plus snack, and actually cook all of it. This has been hard with my back lately, but we really need to have meals planned so we aren't eating ick or tempted to throw a - very expensive - frozen gfcf pizza in the oven. We'll see how successful I am. (Maybe I'll even update!) I'm hoping that the excitement of some new-to-me recipes will carry me through. Because I'm going to focus on shopping at the local winter farmer's market on Saturdays I'm going to run our menu planning Sunday to Saturday. I'm hoping that this makes it easier for me to plan based on what I find while shopping. It will definitely be easier once the growing season begins around here, but for now we'll do what we can. Here's to locally grown whole foods! :) And, these are gluten-free and casein-free, vegetarian, and in a lot of cases labeled on the original site as being free of other common allergens. So get your allergy-free cooking groove on!


Sunday: church potluck lunch for our new student minister! (Our first since becoming gf/cf.)
b: Green Smoothies & choice of cereal, leftover muffins, waffles from freezer, etc
l: Potluck fare (bringing Creamy Scalloped Potatoes, gf chocolate chip cookies)
d: Leftover Raw-inspired Veggie Cakes (see links above), GF/CF Rice and Broccoli Casserole (recipe from The Ultimate UnCheese Cookbook)
s: GF Chocolate Chip Cookie
To Do: Make muffins. Make breadcrumbs with last week's leftover bread and ends.

Monday:
b: Apple Cake with Cranberries (made as muffins)
l: Mac and Cheese (recipe from The Ultimate UnCheese Cookbook)
d: Savory Vegetable Quiche (- sausage + red bell pepper), Salad
s: Clementine sorbet
To Do: Make breakfast bread. Prep CP items.

Tuesday: Bible study with the church ladies
b: Sweet Potato Bread with Chocolate Chips
l: CP Split Pea Soup (no ham + veg broth) and Cheese (nutritional yeast) Toast
d: Spaghetti with Karina's Veggie Loaf done in Meatball-Not style (noted on her site); salad
s: GF Cheese Straws
To Do: Soak garbanzo beans and black eyed peas.

Wednesday: evening church activities
b: Vegan Mom's Scrambled Tofu (+ veggies to make it more like a scrambled omelette-ish.)
l: Garbanzo bean spread sandwiches (smashed gb's, mayo, nutritional yeast, salt/pepper/garlic to taste) & fruit or veggies in ranch
d: Hoppin' John over rice, Southern Greens mix (collards, mustard, etc), Cornbread
s: GF Pecan Crackers (but with almond meal and no caraway seeds)

Thursday:
b: Biscuits and Gravy (I miss this. Trying it w Pamela's Baking Mix to see if it works!)
l: leftover Spaghetti and Meatball-Nots
d: Roasted Parsnip and Garlic Soup with Mushrooms, quinoa with sauteed veggies, garlic toast
s: Hummus w veggies, leftover cheese straws, pretzels, etc.
To Do: Make buns for breakfast and rolls for dinner. Prep CP ingredients.

Friday: babysitting day!
b: Banana Hot Dogs and fruit (I'm going to attempt to make buns with a cinnamon flavor.)
l: GF Pizza with Daiya "cheese" and whatever toppings the kids want (I'm voting for spinach & olive)
d: CP Lentil Sloppy Joes with GF Buns and Crispy Potato Sticks (oven fries)
s: Popcorn (air popped with a buffet of spices to choose from!)
To Do: Make polenta and set in fridge overnight.

Saturday:
b: YOYO (You're On Your Own - we wake up at different times, so it's just easier this way!)
l: YOYO (trip to the farmer's market usually means that some of us snack there, some eat breakfast late, and some eat leftovers when we get home! Day off for me!)
d: Roasted Vegetables on Broiled Polenta & salad (using up all the veggies left in the fridge from the week!)
s: Peanut Butter Quinoa cookies

I'd love to hear if you will be trying any of these! Let me know it goes, or if you found that you love one of the websites listed!

Hop on over to OrgJunkie.com's Menu Plan Monday thread. Check out great menus, and link up your own!