Here is our menu for the week...
Monday -
Breakfast: Eggs, Bacon, Strawberries
Lunch: Salad
Supper: Crockpot Baked Potato Soup
Snack: yogurt and granola
Tuesday -
Breakfast: Muffins (not sure what kind yet), Fruit, Yogurt
Lunch: Leftover Baked Potato Soup
Supper: Tacos or Taco Salad
Snack: Spicy Jicama Strips
Wednesday -
Breakfast: grapefruit w/ agave syrup
Lunch: Sandwiches and Salad, homemade salad dressing
Supper: Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes (or pureed steamed cauliflower), Brussel Sprouts
Snack: Apple Slices and Nutella
Thursday -
Breakfast: Yogurt, Granola, Fruit
Lunch: Tuna Salad served with apple slices, black grapes, sweet pepper strips
Supper: Lasagna, Salad, Gluten Free French Bread
Snack: Orange Slices sprinkled with cinnamon
Friday -
Breakfast: Oatmeal and Fruit
Lunch: Lettuce Wraps
Supper: Beans, Fried Potatoes, Salad OR Chop Suey
Snack: yogurt and fruit
Saturday -
Breakfast: Gluten Free French Toast, Fruit, Bacon
Lunch: Grilled Cheese and Bacon Sandwiches, Sweet Potato Fries
Supper: Salmon, Grilled Crab Stuffed Shrimp wrapped in Bacon, Baked potatoes, Sauteed Green Beans, Molten Lava Cakes (Gluten Free, of course)
Snack: 7 layer Bean dip, nacho chips
The baked potatoes for the soup are left over from Sunday. It's easier to cook 12 baked potatoes at once than 6 at two different times. I also cooked more bacon than needed yesterday; we had bacon pieces on our baked potatoes last night and there is enough left over to be sprinkled on top of the baked potato soup. Every Monday is crockpot night. If I don't do this, we tend to eat out on Mondays.
Tuesday we are having muffins for breakfast. I have many, many wonderful muffin recipes that I have collected over the last 15 years. We have many favorites, among them are Blueberry-Banana and Ginger Pumpkin along with many others. Since going gluten-free almost a year ago, we have not enjoyed our weekly, or sometimes twice a week muffins. I'm not sure if I will replace the flour with my gluten-free flour mix in one of my existing recipes or if I will make gf muffins from one of my gf recipe books. I'm going to let the kiddoes choose.
On Thursday, supper will be so easy because the lasagna is already made and in the freezer. I made spaghetti on Saturday night and made three times as much sauce as I usually would. Part was for supper that night, part was for the lasagna, and part was for the freezer for pasta or for pizza sauce. Little Miss Muffet wanted to make the lasagna, so I handed the kitchen over to her. She was excited to make it herself, instead of just helping.
The grilled crab stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon is something that I made for my dear husband last Valentine's Day. I made two for each person, placed them on a salad plate, curved one to the left and one to the right which made a heart shape. This is a tradition I plan on continuing. A couple of weeks before Valentine's Day last year, dear husband was at a conference for work. One night at dinner he had a steak and this shrimp. He raved about it. When he and his boss returned home, I called his boss to help me get better understanding of this dish my husband loved so much. I found out it was like a crab cake mixture and took it from there. He was so surprised to see the shrimp and impressed that I went to the trouble to recreate it for him.
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Monday, February 9, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Crockpot Taco Soup
I knew this afternoon would be busy. We had a prom committee meeting and didn't know how long that would take. There were a few other errands to do so I knew we would not have much time to make supper tonight. I took out my trusty crock pot and decided what to make. I changed up my Taco Soup recipe and this is what I came up with. It was delicious by the way.
Crock pot Taco Soup
3 large frozen chicken breasts
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large or 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 can Rotel, do not drain
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, do not drain
1 26.5 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups water
5 chicken bouillon cubes
1 package taco seasoning
1 package dry ranch dressing
1/2 cup onions, diced
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Place frozen chicken breasts in crock pot. Pour in Rotel and diced tomatoes. Do not drain. You need their liquid for the soup. Drain and rinse the black beans. Place all of the other ingredients in the crock pot. Cook on low 8 - 10 hours. Shred chicken before serving.
Optional garnishes: squeeze of lime juice, grated cheese, dollop of sour cream, and/or a few tortilla chips crushed
You may notice there is no corn in this recipe. Add it if you would like. Little Boy Blue is allergic to corn, so I omit it.
Eat and enjoy!!
Crock pot Taco Soup
3 large frozen chicken breasts
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large or 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
1 can Rotel, do not drain
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes, do not drain
1 26.5 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups water
5 chicken bouillon cubes
1 package taco seasoning
1 package dry ranch dressing
1/2 cup onions, diced
1 large clove garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Place frozen chicken breasts in crock pot. Pour in Rotel and diced tomatoes. Do not drain. You need their liquid for the soup. Drain and rinse the black beans. Place all of the other ingredients in the crock pot. Cook on low 8 - 10 hours. Shred chicken before serving.
Optional garnishes: squeeze of lime juice, grated cheese, dollop of sour cream, and/or a few tortilla chips crushed
You may notice there is no corn in this recipe. Add it if you would like. Little Boy Blue is allergic to corn, so I omit it.
Eat and enjoy!!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Produce Gems
I took an unplanned trip to the grocery store Tuesday, which is rare. Usually I have my menu plan made and the shopping list made from that before I go. We were in need of some fresh vegetables and fruit and I didn't want to wait until the scheduled shopping day.
I have read and heard over and over again, "Never go to the grocery store when you are hungry." Well, I didn't heed this advice. It was bad enough that I didn't have my trusty list.
With Celiac, it's not like I can buy cookies and chips and the regular junk food, but I wasn't hungry for junk food. I discovered many treasures in the produce department. I took time to stop and look because I didn't have my list.
We bought purple cauliflower, leeks, jicama, watercress, and broccosprouts along with the regular produce.
I decided to make pureed cauliflower for the first time, I even thought maybe I could pass it off for mashed potatoes to DH. I thought this wonderful, lavender find would turn white when I cooked it, just like the seeds I told you about in an earlier post from rareseeds.com. This variety became brighter and more purple as it cooked. Wow! How was I going to pull off purple mashed potatoes... I followed a simple recipe I found on http://www.recipezaar.com/ . I don't remember which recipe, but it had some water, chicken bouillon and a garlic clove that you cooked the cauliflower in. Then you puree it with some cream and butter. It looked like purple grits! It was tasty, it had a definite garlic taste, the texture was a bit different. I'm not sure what bright purple, look-like-grits, glop of goo is supposed to taste like but we never imagined garlic! It was all eaten but the white variety would probably work best next time.
I had chopped the jicama into thick matchsticks, so they looked like uncooked french fries. Some went into the salad. I thought it might be a good crouton substitute. We had fun munching on the left over jicama. We love jicama now. Tonight we finished it up, I spiced it up with some lime juice and lime zest and sprinkled it with chili powder and salt. It was yummy! It was a great snack, especially when you want something zesty and crunchy.
We are enjoying the watercress in our salads and on sandwiches. The sprouts are a welcome addition also. These new items have really dressed up our salads and made them more appealing. No more boring salads!
I've never bought/used leeks before, so I guess I'll be making potato and leek soup. These new produce items have really created some excitement. Everyone has been open to trying the new items, no matter what color they are!
I have read and heard over and over again, "Never go to the grocery store when you are hungry." Well, I didn't heed this advice. It was bad enough that I didn't have my trusty list.
With Celiac, it's not like I can buy cookies and chips and the regular junk food, but I wasn't hungry for junk food. I discovered many treasures in the produce department. I took time to stop and look because I didn't have my list.
We bought purple cauliflower, leeks, jicama, watercress, and broccosprouts along with the regular produce.
I decided to make pureed cauliflower for the first time, I even thought maybe I could pass it off for mashed potatoes to DH. I thought this wonderful, lavender find would turn white when I cooked it, just like the seeds I told you about in an earlier post from rareseeds.com. This variety became brighter and more purple as it cooked. Wow! How was I going to pull off purple mashed potatoes... I followed a simple recipe I found on http://www.recipezaar.com/ . I don't remember which recipe, but it had some water, chicken bouillon and a garlic clove that you cooked the cauliflower in. Then you puree it with some cream and butter. It looked like purple grits! It was tasty, it had a definite garlic taste, the texture was a bit different. I'm not sure what bright purple, look-like-grits, glop of goo is supposed to taste like but we never imagined garlic! It was all eaten but the white variety would probably work best next time.
I had chopped the jicama into thick matchsticks, so they looked like uncooked french fries. Some went into the salad. I thought it might be a good crouton substitute. We had fun munching on the left over jicama. We love jicama now. Tonight we finished it up, I spiced it up with some lime juice and lime zest and sprinkled it with chili powder and salt. It was yummy! It was a great snack, especially when you want something zesty and crunchy.
We are enjoying the watercress in our salads and on sandwiches. The sprouts are a welcome addition also. These new items have really dressed up our salads and made them more appealing. No more boring salads!
I've never bought/used leeks before, so I guess I'll be making potato and leek soup. These new produce items have really created some excitement. Everyone has been open to trying the new items, no matter what color they are!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Stealth Vegetables
In an attempt to provide adequate vegetables and fruits for my family, I added a stealth vegetable to a meal a few nights ago.
I made chili, I knew it was going to be a one dish meal, so I wanted to make sure to pack in some vegetables. I added a large can of organic diced tomatoes, but I do that every time. This time I added shredded carrots. The thick rich sauce of the chili hid the carrots. The carrots cooked and were tender. Mission accomplished.
I did not sit down and write out a list of New Year's Resolutions, but there are things on my mind that I want to accomplish this year. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely a list person. I love making lists, although they always seem so long ... I love marking through a task as it is completed and have the satisfaction of accomplishment, no matter how small or large the task. I hve come across lists that I have made, thankfully I have dated them, a year or two later and have found I have accomplished many things on that list even though I don't remember writing the list.
I didn't want to make "Resolutions", I just have a mental list of things I want to integrate into our daily life. One was start a new blog - well, that is done, you are reading it. I started one about four years ago, but abandoned it three years ago. I wanted a fresh start, so many things are different in my life now so I wanted a new blog to reflect that.
Sometimes we have one dish meals. Before finding out about having Celiac, we had homemade pizza quite often, once a week sometimes. Little Miss Muffet had even memorized the recipe. I would also make a salad to have with the pizza, but the salad was ignored. I don't know if we just got tired or bored with salads but they were ignored quite often, I was tired of wasting the money on salads only to see if the dogs would actually eat it. I decided it is just easier to add the vegetables to the pizza or whatever else might be on the menu. Tonight was stuffed baked potatoes. I seasoned the ground meat with Simply Organic's taco seasoning (it's gluten free). I thought about adding some stealth vegetables to it, but decided against it. There were the usual offerings; cheese, sour cream, onion, ground beef, sliced kalamata olives, but I also put out sundried tomatoes, organic baby leaf lettuces, mini sweet peppers (I love those things) and pepperoni. Okay, pepperoni isn't a vegetable but it was eaten just the same. I'll chronicle my attempts at stealth vegetables to save uneaten salads from the non-existant compost bin. In the middle of winter, there just isn't enough green matter to begin a compost bin.
Okay, all of this talk of food reminds me, I need to make out the menu for the coming week.
I made chili, I knew it was going to be a one dish meal, so I wanted to make sure to pack in some vegetables. I added a large can of organic diced tomatoes, but I do that every time. This time I added shredded carrots. The thick rich sauce of the chili hid the carrots. The carrots cooked and were tender. Mission accomplished.
I did not sit down and write out a list of New Year's Resolutions, but there are things on my mind that I want to accomplish this year. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely a list person. I love making lists, although they always seem so long ... I love marking through a task as it is completed and have the satisfaction of accomplishment, no matter how small or large the task. I hve come across lists that I have made, thankfully I have dated them, a year or two later and have found I have accomplished many things on that list even though I don't remember writing the list.
I didn't want to make "Resolutions", I just have a mental list of things I want to integrate into our daily life. One was start a new blog - well, that is done, you are reading it. I started one about four years ago, but abandoned it three years ago. I wanted a fresh start, so many things are different in my life now so I wanted a new blog to reflect that.
Sometimes we have one dish meals. Before finding out about having Celiac, we had homemade pizza quite often, once a week sometimes. Little Miss Muffet had even memorized the recipe. I would also make a salad to have with the pizza, but the salad was ignored. I don't know if we just got tired or bored with salads but they were ignored quite often, I was tired of wasting the money on salads only to see if the dogs would actually eat it. I decided it is just easier to add the vegetables to the pizza or whatever else might be on the menu. Tonight was stuffed baked potatoes. I seasoned the ground meat with Simply Organic's taco seasoning (it's gluten free). I thought about adding some stealth vegetables to it, but decided against it. There were the usual offerings; cheese, sour cream, onion, ground beef, sliced kalamata olives, but I also put out sundried tomatoes, organic baby leaf lettuces, mini sweet peppers (I love those things) and pepperoni. Okay, pepperoni isn't a vegetable but it was eaten just the same. I'll chronicle my attempts at stealth vegetables to save uneaten salads from the non-existant compost bin. In the middle of winter, there just isn't enough green matter to begin a compost bin.
Okay, all of this talk of food reminds me, I need to make out the menu for the coming week.
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