Crazy Week Menu Plan & tips

Yesterday began a solid week of evening plans for our family.  I'm making a conscience effort to enjoy the joys of Christmas this year & not feel stressed out the entire month of December.  I'm trying to enjoy the concerts, parties and shopping instead of just checking things off my never ending to-do list.  When looking at the calendar and realizing we will be running around every evening I know I'm going to have to be very organized (not my strong point) in order to enjoy it.  With so many in the house that have food sensitivities, the days of popping in a couple frozen pizzas are long gone.  Here's how I manage gluten free home cooked meals on a busy schedule in no particular order (see? I'm not very organized):

#1 Use paper plates/bowls.  I do not like eating off paper, but this saves a ton of time with clean up.  As much as I don't like it, I dislike coming home to a kitchen full of dishes. 7 people make a LOT of dishes!

#2 Put away any clean dishes and run the dishwasher before going to bed.  This goes along with number 1 as a cleaned up kitchen is much more inspiring for food prep.

#3 One dish meals and Crock pot meals.  These can be prepped and mostly cleaned up prior to supper.  These take fewer dishes to serve & are eaten quicker. 

#4 Plan meals that use some of the same ingredients.  For example, if your meal on Tues & Thurs both call for shredded carrots, shred all you need on Tuesday and only wash the food processor once. 

#5 Have simple things that can be pulled out of the fridge or freezer to complete a meal.  At our house that is frozen applesauce or berries, cut up veggies & dip, GF or Paleo biscuits/ muffins/ breads.

#6 Thaw meat the day before.

Merry Christmas to you all!  May you enjoy the sights, sounds and tastes of the season, but most of all the best gift of Jesus!

Here's what we'll be eating with links to recipes:
Monday:
Sweet & Sour Meatballs
Cooked Rice
Green beans
Berries

Tuesday:
Leftover Roast Chicken Soup  I plan to use frozen turkey & broth I've already made
Crock pot Chili
Herbed biscuits -  I use this recipe and add about 1 Tbsp of dried herbs & brush the tops with garlic butter
Veggies & Ranch

Wednesday:
Double batch of Pad See Ew
Applesauce 

Thursday:
Choose Your Own Adventure (That's a fancy way of  saying warm up whatever leftovers are in the fridge!)  I intentionally will make extra Mon-Wed for this since this is the evening we have to be out of the house the earliest.

Friday:
Double batch of Hamburger- Rice Skillet
Fruit tray

Roasted Butternut Squash & Pear Porridge

Here's a breakfast porridge recipe I came up with.  It embodies all the flavors of Fall and warms you from the inside out.  Even though sitting down to meals is ideal, sometimes the busyness of life makes this difficult.  This can easily be sipped from a mug on the go.  This recipe makes 2 hearty servings.  Share, or warm up the second serving the next day. 
**Note:  I don't even try this with my kiddos since I'm sure it will be met with a negative response.**

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp coconut oil, divided
3 cups butternut squash, cubed
1 pear, cubed (I used a red D'Anjou)
1/2-1 cup coconut milk (Adjust according to desired thickness.)
1 pinch salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
Optional toppings:  Toasted walnuts, pumpkin seeds or walnuts; ground sausage

Preheat oven to 400.  Spread squash on a parchment paper lined baking sheet coated in 1 Tbsp of oil. Roast for about 20 minutes until edges become brown and squash is tender.  Spread pear on a parchment lined baking sheet coated in the remaining 1 Tbsp of oil.  Roast for about 10 minutes.  Place all in Vitamix after roasting.  Add coconut milk, salt, cinnamon and ginger.  Puree on high until steaming.  Pour into bowls and serve with desired toppings.

Paleo Chocolate Cake

Someone had a birthday this week.  I made a big chocolate Texas sheet cake to share, then I made another one with GF flour for our house.  I really wanted cake too, so I used this recipe from Elana's Pantry.  I made a half recipe of this recipe and it made 6 cupcakes.  The cake was moist and had a great texture. I then used a half recipe of the paleo chocolate frosting on the link.  It was delicious with 60% cacao chocolate chips.  Do not refrigerate these as the frosting gets hard.

Meal Inspiration

I've been wanting to keep a record of what I'm eating for supper.  If you need some meal inspiration, here's what I was eating this week.  Breakfast is usually paleo pancakes/waffles, eggs, meat, or protein shake.  Lunch is whatever needs to be eaten in the fridge on top of a salad.  :)

Thousand Island Dressing

When it comes to salad dressings, I'm a vinaigrette girl.  My kiddos love the thicker dressings like french or creamy ranch, but not me.  So, craving a thick thousand island dressing is unusual for me, but it's been sounding so good.  I scanned some recipes to get an idea on what is in it and here's what I came up with.  First things first, I needed a sweet pickle or relish.  Most conventional brands have corn syrup.  I found this jar at Target and thought the heat from the peppers would be great for a dressing.  No HFCS, but it does contain sugar, so keep that in mind if you are strictly avoiding sugar.

 

 Rena's Thousand Island Dressing:
1 cup mayonnaise (I used Spectrum Olive Oil)
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp raw honey
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup chopped pickles (I used Wickles brand)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp granulated garlic
1 Tbsp pickle juice

Combine together and chill.  Serve as a dip or salad dressing.

 

My kiddos loved this and it was delicious on a salad with leftover chicken fingers!

 

Grain Free Apple Pie Granola

I modified my original grain free granola recipe & made this Apple Pie Granola.  It's sweet enough to be satisfying and has all the spice of a traditional apple pie.  It is great dry or with some homemade coconut milk.  Getting all the ingredients out takes awhile, but it makes a big batch. Plus your kitchen will smell amazing!  If you make it, let me know what you think in the comments or by email.  renaeats@gmail.com

Grain Free Apple Pie Granola
1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
2 cups shredded coconut, unsweetened
1 cup roasted & salted sunflower seeds
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
2 Tbsp ground flaxseed
2 tsp cinnamon (I like Korintje)
1/4 tsp ground allspice

2 Tbsp raw honey
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup coconut oil (I used refined, unrefined will give a more coconutty flavor)
2 tsp vanilla

1 cup dried apples, chopped
**************************************************************************
Preheat oven to 300.
In a large bowl, mix all nuts, seeds and spices. 
In a saucepan combine honey, syrup, applesauce and oil.  Heat until all liquid and combined.
Add in vanilla.
Dump over the nut mixture & coat.
Spread on parchment lined baking sheet.  Bake for 30 minutes, stirring once.
Add in dried apples and bake for 10 more minutes.  Mixture should be toasted light brown.
Cool completely.  I like to store mine in a glass jar.

Leftover Roast Chicken Soup with Roasted Vegetables

I followed this soup recipe exactly and it turned out wonderful!  Very flavorful and satisfying.  I used a mixture of homemade and boxed broth.  More seasoning may be required depending on your broth.  Also, Danielle Walker did a live Q & A on her Facebook page last night.  Check out the recording for some good information on the paleo diet, pregnancy, auto immune diseases and just to enjoy listening to Danielle speak.  I find her & her story so inspirational!

 

 Looking at this picture makes me excited to eat the leftovers for lunch!