Meal Plan (Gluten Free, Dairy Free) Jan 4-10
Here we are, going on 3 weeks gluten free + dairy free for the girls. I finished my first week of grain free + sugar free and I am feeling really good--sleeping well, not hungry throughout the day, stopped night time snacking, drinking more water and exercising. Granted I have done this diet before, but this time around has definitely been easier. It does help when I make my mind up about something. Are you like that, too? The girls have been superstars with their diet change. I took Rory to a homeopathic doctor last week because I was TIRED of her getting sick so much and doctors continuing to treat symptoms without looking into why she keeps getting sick. We discovered that she has candida, large intestinal stress and immune deficiency along with food sensitivities to dairy, wheat, soy and pork. SOOOOOOOO, we are working to get her body healthy by continuing the gluten free and dairy diet along with eliminating sugar. (PRAYERS ARE WELCOME) It is hard for me to limit my sugar intake and I'm an adult so imagine how hard it is to do that for a picky 4 year old. It's amazing how much sugar is in things--even some fruit has a lot of sugar. Along with diet, she is taking some supplements. We go back in one month to see her progress.
We really enjoyed this week's meals. I knew I needed to start with recipes I loved while kicking off the grain free + sugar free diet. That really makes all the difference. I planned out my meals in my new DIY planner (which I will share soon!)
Sunday - chicken zucchini poppers EPIC FAIL. Ya'll I almost gaged while preparing them. I don't really like dealing with raw chicken as is so I don't know if the chicken smelled or the combination with the zucchini but none of us could handle it. So the back up plan was scrambled eggs + bacon.
Monday - Advanced Plan Chili
Tuesday - leftover chili
Wednesday - Turkey burger patties + coleslaw + avocado slices + roasted broccoli (baked fries for the girls). I am by no means a good cook. In fact if I could have one luxury in life it would be a personal chef. Sweet Rory watched me prep this dinner and said, "Mommy, when you grow up, you should be a chef! You look like one and act like one." Presh.
Thursday - Breakfast for dinner: Pumpkin Coconut Flour Waffles + scrambled eggs + bacon + fruit. The waffles were a big hit. I used the slightest amount of maple syrup in the batter and only put dairy free butter on their waffles. We made these again (per the kids request) on Saturday morning and froze the leftovers to use throughout the week.
Friday - leftover chili + baked potato (for Scott). I made GF spaghetti with marinara sauce + GF Udi's toast for the girls. For the record, my girls do not like chili which is such a crying shame because it is DELISH.
Saturday - Taco Salad/Burrito Bowls. For me, I started with a base of romaine lettuce and topped with taco turkey meat, black beans and grilled onions + peppers (inspired by Chipotle). All my avocados were bad so I couldn't make guacamole. Tears. Scott added rice and corn to his bowl and the girls basically had a deconstructed burrito bowl. To make the taco meat, I simply brown the ground turkey (or ground beef), then add the following spices for 1 pound of meat: 1 t chili powder, 1 t cumin, 1/2 t paprika, 1/2 t garlic powder, 1/4 t salt. I usually add my black beans into the meat.
I tried making Banana PB Breakfast Cookies but the girls turned their noses up at them. I thought they were pretty tasty. The girls pretty much ate GF cereal, bacon, GF waffles, & fruit for breakfast. Their lunches included items like rice cakes with PB, chips, fruit, chicken salad, almonds, cucumbers, tomatoes, GF lunch meat, & GF granola bars/Lara Bars. For me, my go to lunch this week was my homemade Chicken Salad on a bed of spinach. I also ate a leftover turkey burger one day. My other tasty lunch was chopped up granny smith apples (1 1/2 small ones) with almond butter and sprinkled shredded coconut on top. I snacked on dry roasted almonds, raw pecans, peppers, celery and berries.
I hope that gives you some inspiration for what you can eat this week!