Spring Break Meal Plans

Monday:
Paleo Battered Fish
Tarter Sauce (4 batches)
Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries (4 batches)
Red Cabbage Salad (This base recipe -swapped Paleo mayo and coconut sugar)
Broccoli

Tuesday:
Gluten-Free Spinach Quiche with bacon added
Paleo Spring Vegetable Quiche with this crust.
Fresh Fruit
Mixed Greens Salad with raspberry dressing

Wednesday:
Grilled chicken legs and thighs with BBQ sauce
Lemon Herb Roasted Potatoes
Garlic green beans

Thursday:
Whole30 Easy Steak Fajitas optional add ons:  gluten free tortillas, shredded cheese, guacamole
Brown rice
Grilled pineapple

Friday:
Easy Paleo Crock Pot Roast
Mixed Greens Salad with Ranch dressing
Frozen Mixed Berries, thawed 

Paleo Pumpkin Pancakes for a Crowd

If you want pumpkin pancakes and you want a lot of them, this recipe is for you!  These keep for several days and are delicious reheated.  They are amazing topped with butter and pure maple syrup, but can be enjoyed on their own for a grab & go breakfast.

2 cups almond flour
1 cup tapioca flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 heaping Tbsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
4 large eggs
2 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1/2 cup non dairy milk
1 stick grass fed butter, melted or 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1 cup pumpkin purée

Mix the flours, baking powder and spices in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, whisk eggs. Add syrup, milk, melted butter and pumpkin. Mix throughly and add to dry ingredients. The batter will be thick. Heat griddle on medium heat and grease well. Add scoops of batter to hot griddle and cook for 1 minute. Flip and flatten. Continue to cook on that side a couple minutes and then flip again. Cook an additional couple minutes until done in the middle. Devour!

Salad Dressing Line-Up

When eating a salad, it's the dressing that's the show stopper!  If it's a midweek salad for lunch or for a special occasion, you can feel great about how you're topping all those nutrient rich, healthy vegetables. Keeping base ingredients on hand and adding a few other ingredients will make this a less daunting task.

High quality fats-
Olive oil
Avocado mayonnaise
Full-fat coconut milk (the kind in a can)

Acids-
Fresh lemons to juice
Red wine vinegar
Apple cider vinegar (choose the raw with the "mother")
Balsamic vinegar

Add ins-
Honey
Spices
Mustard

Here are four Paleo style dressing recipes to appeal to a variety of preferences.

First up is this Honey Mustard dressing recipe.
  
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I use avocado mayo)  
1/4 cup light olive oil 
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons honey 
2 tablespoons mustard 
1 teaspoon onion powder  
1/2 teaspoon salt (I use pink Himalayan)

Place all ingredients in a blender and whirl briefly to blend thoroughly.  Alternately, you can place all ingredients in a mason jar, use an immersion blender or place the lid on and shake vigorously until the the honey dissolves and blends in.

Next up is my hubby's favorite, Balsamic Vinaigrette.  This is a perfect dressing for salads that include berries.  I always double the original recipe to make a whole quart.

1/3 apple cider vinegar

1/3 balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup of water 

1 1/3 cup of olive oil  (I use extra virgin)

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon of onion powder

1 teaspoon oregano 

1 teaspoon of salt  (I use pink Himalayan salt)

1/4 cup of honey

Mix dry ingredients (seasonings)  in a small bowl.  Add honey, water, vinegar and olive oil and whisk until all ingredients are fully combined.  Pour the balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing into a glass jar for storage.  Alternately, blend all ingredients other than oil in a blender.  Then pour oil through the lid in a slow, steady stream until emulsified.

Here's a French Dressing recipe that is not only free of anything French but it's free of refined sugars, artificial colors and common allergens.

1 cup olive oil

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar 

1/3 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 cloves fresh garlic

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 teaspoons coconut aminos   

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon molasses (optional)

pinch of cloves (I use one whole clove in my Vitamix)

Combine all ingredients in a blender until very smooth.

Lastly is the ever popular Ranch dressing.  This ranch dressing recipe is not only Paleo, but Whole 30 complaint also!  This is great for dipping fresh veggies in too.

1 egg

1 cup light olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

3/4 teaspoon onion powder

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 cup full fat canned coconut milk, stirred

1 handful fresh herb of choice or 3 tablespoons dried parsley (I also add a 1/2-1 tsp dill)

Blend with an immersion blender in a wide mouth mason jar for approximately one minute. Don't start incorporating herbs until the last 15 seconds or it will turn your ranch green. Store in the fridge up to one week, if you still have any left!  Alternately, combine all ingredients but the oil in a blender than add oil through the lid in a slow steady stream to emulsify. 

Instant Pot Coconut Milk Yogurt

Wow, summer sure gets crazy around here!  I find that our meals are basically whatever is ready in the garden and some grilled meat.  I have missed working in my kitchen and blogging. So how could I resist using my favorite kitchen toy......er appliance?  Here's a super simple, 5 ingredient recipe that I really enjoy. It really works well to put it in before I go to bed, then in the morning the yogurt can be chilled and ready to eat in an hour or so. It's slightly sweet and so much better than store bought coconut yogurt.

Gather up the following

 About 12 hours later you have 4 cups of this.

Weekly Meal Plan March 5-9 (All Paleo and/or Gluten Free)

Monday-
Paleo Italian Wedding Soup
Crock Pot Chili
Paleo Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Tuesday-
Paleo Waffles
Chicken Sausage Links
Scrambled Eggs

Prep for tomorrow:  defrost beef

Wednesday-
Tumeric Fried Rice with Beef
Mixed Greens Salad
Fruit Tray

Prep for tomorrow:  defrost beef

Thursday-
Meatloaf
Mashed Potatoes
Green Beans

Prep for tomorrow:  defrost chicken

Friday-
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Paleo Oven-Fried Chicken Tenders
Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Weekly Meal Plan February 26-March 2 (All Paleo and/or Gluten Free)

Well, it looks like February is ending with lots of evening activities for our family.  I always like to simplify our meals when this happens.  That means a week of 1 dish, Crock Pot and Instant Pot meals coming your way!

Monday-
Paleo Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore
Gluten free pasta
Berries

Tuesday-
Taco Bar (Taco meat, corn chips, corn, lettuce, tomato, olives, avocado, cheese, sour cream, cilantro)
Pineapple

Wednesday-
Beef Enchilada Breakfast Bake
Gluten-Free Breakfast Casserole -sub seasoned ground turkey for the sausage
Mixed Fruit

Thursday-
Loaded Chicken & Potato Casserole
Chili

Friday-
Instant Pot Beef Roast
Baked Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans

Weekly Meal Plan Feb 19-23 (Paleo and/or Gluten Free)

The temperatures are warming up in the Midwest.  This got me thinking that grilling is a MUST this week!  Also trying 5 new recipes.  Try them along with me, or wait for my reviews throughout the week.  Cheers to a week of healthy eating!

Monday:
Copycat Royal Red Robin Burgers, lettuce wrapped (burger, bacon, egg, tomato, mayo, cheese)
Sweet Potato Fries
Caprese Avocado Salad- Sub honey for the brown sugar called for in this recipe

Prep for tomorrow:  Thaw ground turkey for soup, thaw chicken for Wednesday

Tuesday:
Creamy Sausage and Kale Soup  Sub seasoned ground turkey for the sausage
Lemon and Garlic Butter Fish
Roasted Carrots

Prep for tomorrow:  Clean and chop veggies for salad, thaw hamburger for Thursday

Wednesday:
Apple & Herb Roast Chicken
Instant Pot Paleo Carrot Thai Soup
Brussels Sprouts- Sliced thin in food processor and cooked with olive oil, dried cranberries and almonds
Mixed Greens Salad

Prep for tomorrow:  Make lasagna

Thursday:
This Lasagna  with gluten free noodles
Green beans
Salad

Prep for tomorrow:  Thaw chicken legs

Friday:
Paleo Fried Chicken
Roasted Baby Potatoes with Herbs
Steamed Broccoli with grass fed butter