Meal Plan (gluten free, dairy free) Feb 22-28

March 03, 2015 by Scott in Meal Plans

I was reminded last night while chatting with a friend just how hard eating real food is. To me, its gets boring and redundant. I am a self-proclaimed non-cook and non-foodie and often say that if I could afford one luxury it would be a personal chef. Eating real food and cooking around food restrictions takes time, preparation and flexibility. I spend more time planning meals and going to the store. It forces me to think ahead for the week. And I have to be okay to try new things at the risk of throwing it all away in the trash. I get bored really easily with food. I won't lie, almost every week by Thursday I opt for popcorn rather than leftovers for dinner. That's a whole meal, right? Here is what we ate last week.

Sunday - Campfire Pouches (Publix recipe). I have been on a kick to clear out cluttered spaces and the first one was a glass cabinet in the kitchen that housed recipe books. I NEVER use recipe books. Pinterest and my iPad are my go-to's for recipes. Plus, most of the recipes that my recipe box contained were filled with gluten and dairy which no longer works for this tribe. However, I did find this tucked away and decided to give it a try. It was pretty good and Scott enjoyed the leftovers with rice and a fried egg on top.

Monday - leftovers

Tuesday - Crockpot Chicken (1 lb chicken breasts covered with Progresso chicken and wild rice soup. Cook for 4 hours on high) + sautéed green beans (cooked in skillet with some EVOO) + rice

Wednesday - leftovers

Thursday - Black Bean Soup + leftover rice + avocado. This is a super easy and fast dinner to pull together. Seriously. You need to add this to your meal plan.

Friday - leftovers

Saturday - It was a beautiful day here in Atlanta so we grilled some chicken marinated in Trader Joe's BBQ sauce and served it up with hummus + Trader Joe's quinoa chips. Sometimes simple is perfect.

Since we had an unexpected few snow days (with really no snow), we had the chance to play with friends. On Thursday, we made PB cookies and PB Banana mini muffins for our guests. Both of these were devoured in minutes.

Maybe I should start playing the lottery to afford that personal chef. Things to ponder.

Meal Plan (gluten free, dairy free) Feb 15-21

February 24, 2015 by Scott in Meal Plans

February in Atlanta seems to be a crazy time each year. Last week, my kids were out of school for winter break. Seriously? Do we need a week long break right before spring break? We survived. Barely. I am breathing. Sinclair went back to school yesterday only for school to be cancelled due to ice/snow today AND tomorrow. Heaven help. This is actually one of my busiest weeks thus far with my day job (which I need to tell you about). I am praying to embrace the unexpected and the wrench that was thrown into my perfectly made plans. I didn't get done today exactly what I needed, but His grace is sufficient. Can I get a high five?! Like I said, winter break was last week so our meals were a little different.

Sunday - We picked up pulled pork from Dickey's with green beans and slaw. Me and the girls headed up to TN for a couple of days so Scott ate on this while we were gone.

Monday - leftovers

Tuesday - leftovers

Wednesday - Advanced Plan chili. We had a serious breakthrough this week. My picky eater, Rory, ate this chili. ALL OF IT. And asked for more! This is such a huge milestone and encouragement for those of you who have picky eaters. She has been on this restricted diet for about 2 months now. We have served this chili several times over the course of that time and she just now decided to like it. Keep trying. Keep offering it. And hopefully one day they will eat it.

Thursday - leftover chili on top of baked potatoes. (Rory has been asking for this chili everyday!)

Friday - Crockpot Honey Chicken + rice + green beans. We really liked this recipe and it was delicious as leftovers. Scott served it up as leftovers for lunch with a fried egg on top.

Saturday - We decided to go out to eat at Ted's Montana Grill. We really haven't eaten out much with the girls since we started this diet for Rory. Scott had the salmon and I had a wedge salad with baked potato. The girls split a hamburger patty (no bun) and fries. You guessed it, Rory only ate the fries.

I treated the girls to Chick-fil-a on Friday for lunch since it was the last day of winter break and we had another small victory. Rory has refused to eat their grilled chicken nuggets since starting this diet and now she not only asks for them but eats them! Give me another high five!!

Meal Plan (gluten free, dairy free) February 1-14

February 19, 2015 by Scott in Meal Plans

For us, January was a rocky start to the new year. Then February hit and it feels like I have been paralyzed not sure how to take a step. It was like I had no mental space left to even put pen to paper. There was nothing in me that wanted to say anything to anyone about anything. And I realized it has been almost two weeks of silence from me to you. So to kick back into gear, I'm gonna throw some food at you. Sunday - Sweet Potato Hash I am all about repeating meals that work.

Monday - Hamburgers on GF buns (Udi's brand) + frozen fries + steamed broccoli

Tuesday - Trader Joe's fully cooked pulled pork + green beans

Wednesday - breakfast for dinner (scrambled eggs + waffles + bacon + fruit)

Thursday - Beef & Cabbage Stir Fry. Scott and I loved this but the girls did not. They be crazy.

Leftovers were so good the next day for lunch with these delicious black bean fries from Trader Joe's.

Friday - Trader Joe's GF chicken nuggets + popcorn. These nuggets are my kids favorite. We've tried lots of different brands of GF nuggets and they hands down love these.

Saturday - Trader Joe's nitrate free hotdogs. (Can you tell that I had lost interest in cooking by this point?)

Sunday - We had dinner at our friends' house. Jenni is such a good cook!! Always healthy. Always real food. Always tasty. Grilled BBQ chicken + roasted sweet potatoes & onions + guac. Serious goodness.

Monday - Baked Chicken Fajitas. I will say that this recipe tastes better (in my opinion) with flour tortillas, cheese and sour cream--all things we can't eat. So we ended up not really enjoying this meal.

Tuesday - PBJ toast for the kids with the babysitter because I had fun-filled event for adults only benefitting our elementary school.

Wednesday - picked up a rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods + green beans + GF toast + sautéed sweet potatoes & onions

Leftovers the next morning with GF toast and a fried egg on top.

Rory had a valentines party at school so I made her these GF DF Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies. They were to die for and only a few ingredients.

Thursday - leftovers

Rory got to celebrate her half birthday on Friday since she has a summer birthday. She wanted to bring donuts to her class so I found some GF DF donuts in the frozen section at Kroger. These are unbelievably good! Of course I had to taste-test them.

Friday - leftovers

Saturday - date night. We went to prom on Valentines Day. You guys, this was seriously the most fun we have had in awhile. The whole event was designed to benefit an organization helping with AIDS in Africa. You can read my friend's post about the night here. Mark your calendar for next year!! You have to come with us! I'll leave you with our awkward prom dance photo. It is so very classic.

Thanks for following along!

Meal Plan (gluten free, dairy free) Jan 25-30

February 02, 2015 by Scott in Meal Plans

I can't tell you how much I smile when I hear that you guys are trying out some of these recipes. I really do wish I was a fantastic cook but since I'm not, figuring out an easy, achievable plan works for me... and hopefully you are the byproduct of that! Last week, I repeated several meals that we've had over the course of the month. I'm not a foodie or food blogger so I am completely okay with NOT recreating the meal wheel. You know what I mean? Meal planning for me is easiest when I repeat meals often and work in a new recipe here or there. I made the chicken in the crockpot again, Advanced Plan chili and breakfast for dinner. I have two recipes that I want to share with you today that we tried this week.

On Wednesday, we tried Almond Chicken Bake along with roasted broccoli + brussel sprouts. For the chicken, you basically coat the tenders in egg and then seasoned almond meal. I ended up baking them longer because I wanted a more crispy outside however it sort of dried it out on the inside. Naturally, my picky kids refused to eat them. (I may return them to the hospital and ask for a full refund.) But Scott and I really liked them. In fact, I think they were better the next day eaten cold. I tossed the broccoli in olive oil and S&P and for the brussel sprouts, I tossed them in olive oil, S&P, garlic powder and a dash of apple cider vinegar. I put everything in a glass dish and roasted them at 350 for 30 minutes (stirring them halfway through cooking time). For the record, the girls LOVE roasted broccoli but didn't like the brussel sprouts.

If you've been following along you will notice that we eat breakfast for dinner once a week and usually we do this on the night that I've worked from the office. I decided to try a new recipe since it didn't take much effort. I've started following a girl on Instagram called "FromPaulaToPaleo". She is a real mom who has real kids with real food issues. She is quite inspiring on what we makes for them. She posted a recipe for a Berry Crisp.

You guys. This was amazing. It was like eating dessert for dinner. Now, in a perfect world, I would have put a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. But alas I refrained. And again, my kids did NOT eat this! Seriously, I'm not sure what is going on. This dish smelled incredible and I've eaten it every morning for breakfast since I made it. You MUST try it.

And isn't this bowl the cutest?! Target does it again. I bought six bowls and envisioned them on the open shelves in my old kitchen. They would have been perfect there.

I hope this helps get your week kick started!

Meal Plan (gluten free, dairy free) Jan 18-24

January 28, 2015 by Scott in Meal Plans

I am at home with a sick kid this morning (not sure if it was the stomach bug or something she ate) so I will be quick with my words. Sunday - Chicken Sausage Sweet Potato Skillet. I really wanted to share this recipe with you because I know you will love it. Scott and I loved it however our kids didn't like it. I think Sinclair would have liked it if I had used a less spicy sausage. This recipe comes from Erin at 5dollardinners. If you haven't noticed, I like simple meals--ones that don't use a lot of ingredients and are easy to pull off during the hardest part of the day with the kids. And this meal delivers all the above.

You start by sautéing the sweet potatoes in whatever oil you want to use. I also added in some white potatoes because my Rory usually turns her nose up at sweet potatoes.

Then, you add in the other ingredients. The recipe called for green pepper but I only had yellow on hand.

And voila!

And let me tell you, this meal was even better the next morning for breakfast with a fried egg on top!

Monday - Grilled chicken (marinated for 30 minutes with olive oil, minced garlic, S&P) + coconut rice. Okay, this rice was really, really tasty. The recipe came on the back of a jasmine rice package from Target.

Tuesday - Trader Joe's GF chicken nuggets with leftover rice

Wednesday - Tex Mex Skillet from Maximzed Living Nutrition Plans book. If you want, you could serve with corn tortillas or over chips.

Thursday - leftovers

Friday - Trader Joe's nitrate free hotdogs + chips + fruit

Saturday - Whole Foods naked Rotisserie Chicken + lima beans + baked potato topped with cucumber mango salsa (Whole Foods). I enjoyed scrambled eggs the next morning with this salsa on top... delish!!

Rotisserie Chicken with Cucumber Mango Salsa

I hope this helps you in figuring out what to eat this week. I've had recent conversations with several different people who are starting a gluten free and/or dairy free journey. I know how overwhelmed you feel! It helps to just start with the basics. It doesn't have to be fancy to taste good and be healthy. Sometimes the simplest stuff is the best.