Saturday, August 31, 2013

Meal Plan Week of 09/01/13-09/07/13

Happy Saturday to you all!

Boy am I ready for a long, holiday weekend! I hope you all enjoy the last weekend of the Summer and that your Fall is starting off right! I'll give fair warning - fall is my favorite time of the year. I love the cool evenings, warm days, turning leaves, pumpkins, apples, football, etc. I will promise you will start seeing a lot of fall-related recipes and posts. Here's this coming week's meal plan. Have a safe and happy Labor day weekend!
 
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SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
veggies
spinach
egg
poached egg
cereal
scrambled
apple
egg muffins
omelet
muffin
oatmeal
almond milk
egg
pancake
fruit
banana
berries
bananas
berries
cereal
sausage
tea
tea
tea
tea
tea
tea
tea
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
grilled
blt
lettuce
leftovers
salad
chips
veggie
asparagus
wraps
wrap
salad
hummus
salsa
salad
shrimp
cheese
hummus
veggies
crackers
guacamole
fruit
water
water
water
water
water
water
water
Dinner
Dinner
Dinner
Dinner
Dinner
Dinner
Dinner
spaghetti squash
stuffed 
sweet potato
zucchini
leftover 
roasted chicken
round steak
chard/mushrooms
acorn squash
Swiss chard
spaghetti
squash
fennel salad
salad
tomato sauce
salad
quesadillas
garlic bread
salad
asparagus
corn
water
water
water
water
water
water
water
Snack
Snack
Snack
Snack
Snack
Snack
Snack
smoothie
celery
smoothie
cheese
trailmix
nuts
cheese
veggies
nuts
trailmix
veggies
fruit
carrots
almonds
ice cream
pudding
cookies
apple nachos
cookies
parfait
ice cream

Friday, August 30, 2013

Meditteranean Salad


This little salad is a real treat. I love the mixture of the olives, peppers and cheese. They provide a nice salty mixture to the fresh salad blend. I basically took things I like to add to a deli sandwich and turned it to a light and refreshing salad. It is perfect for lunch by itself. This is just for one serving, but you can easily double or triple for more people. Enjoy!

1 cup mixed salad greens (I used spinach, romaine, red leaf, and arugula)
2 small pepperoncini peppers, from a jar, sliced into rings
3 kalamata olives, chopped
½ large tomato, chopped
1-2 oz of shredded chicken, cooked
1 Tbsp feta or blue cheese
1 tsp Greek dressing
  • Put salad greens in a large cereal bowl. Add in peppers, olives, tomato and chicken. Top with cheese and drizzle over salad dressing. Serve immediately for best results.

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Banana-Peanut Butter Milk Shake


We are always looking for some good deals. We even have my mom being more frugal. She found some almond milk on sale for $0.50 a carton. I will say that it was a deal. However it was set to expire the next day. I’ve heard freezing it is not a great idea but we tried it anyway. My husband also recently got me a “YoNanas” maker for Mother’s day. So I decided one evening to make a milk shake for our evening treat. It turned out great! Now I have a use for the several cartons of almond milk in my freezer!


1 half-gallon carton of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, frozen but slightly thawed
2 frozen bananas
½ cup peanut butter
chocolate syrup, if desired
whipped topping, if desired
cherries, if desired
  • In a blender, combine almond milk, bananas and peanut butter. Blend until smooth, it will probably take several minutes.
  • Pour into a glass and put a little whipped topping, chocolate syrup and a cherry on top. Throw in a straw and enjoy!
    • Note: If you have a “YoNanas” maker, you can blend your bananas and then add to the blender.

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Homemade Twix Bars


I have two favorite candy bars, Twix and Reese’s. Before my health problems, I would buy the bags of the bite size bars for holidays (Easter, Christmas, etc). I always had to buy two bags at least because I knew I would eat one bag before I could give them away. Of course, we don’t have candy at the house now. One day I decided we would have a little cheat day and I would make my own Twix bars. They turned out great! I will also give you a heads up – I will be posting homemade gluten free peanut butter cookies (similar to the Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties). Those are equally fantastic!

1 package of cookie mix (sugar or shortbread preferably – I used Bob’s Red Mill Shortbread)
¼ cup coconut oil
½ cup applesauce or yogurt
1 large egg
¼ cup water
¾ cup caramel sauce (store bought or made with ½ package of Kraft caramels, melted)
½ cup chocolate chips
1 Tbsp almond milk
  • Mix together cookie mix, oil, applesauce, egg and water until mix is well combined and crumbly. It will look very dry – this is fine.
  • In a greased 9x13 baking pan, press cookie dough until it covers the bottom of the pan. Try to make the cookie dough as level as possible in the bottom of the pan.
  • Bake the cookie dough at 350°F for about 10 minutes or until just slightly browned along edges.
  • While your cookie is baking, make your caramel sauce or just warm up over low heat in a saucepan. Once the cookie has finished baking, pour over caramel sauce. Let set for about 20 minutes.
  • Melt chocolate chips and almond milk together either over the stove or in microwave according to your chocolate chip package instructions. Pour chocolate sauce over caramel cookie. Let this set for about 20 minutes.
  • Cut into pieces and serve. Cover and refrigerate leftovers.
    • NOTE: I froze my bars instead of letting them cool for 20 minutes. We also liked eating them cold.
    • Also – you can bake your cookies according to package instructions if desired – I just lightened ours up a bit.
    • This recipe will cover a 9x13 pan, but we ended up just using a 9x5 bread pan and also made some plain cookies, it all depends on how much you want to make!

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Grilled Summer Squash


As I’ve mentioned before, we have a ridiculous amount of summer produce. I’m talking yellow squash, zucchini, tomatoes, etc. We love it. This is probably my absolute favorite way to cook and eat yellow squash. Since we are grilling all of the time, it is so easy to just throw it in a foil pack and let it cook outside. I won’t lie – my husband cooks it better. He has perfected the temperature and cooking time so it is still a little crispy but cooked just right.

1 small yellow squash, sliced into small slices
1 small zucchini, sliced into small slices
½ onion, sliced into rings or strips
1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
½ tsp garlic salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
  • Get a long strip of foil, enough that will hold all of the squash.
  • In a bowl, combine the squash slices, onion, seasonings and oil. Mix together until all vegetables are coated. Pour the mixture on the foil.
  • Gather up to foil sides to make a little packet. Throw the packet on the grill at about 400°F and cook for about 10 minutes.
  • You may want to check it periodically to make sure it isn’t burning. Leaving a little opening at the top of your packet will allow some steam to help cook the squash also.

Monday, August 26, 2013

Bean & Corn Nachos


My son loves nachos. However, he typically eats the tortilla chips or shells first and then eats the “nacho” part with a fork. However you eat it, this nacho mixture is great! We don’t eat too much dairy or cheese so we had to improvise in order to get enough ingredients in this dish. We also added the beans to give it a little more protein and fiber. You could also put this into a burrito and serve it that way instead of over chips.

1 can of cannellini beans, rinsed
1 cup of corn (we used fresh corn, but easily substitute a can of corn)
½ cup salsa
1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp salt
Zest from 1 lime
Juice from the same lime
¼ cup shredded cheese
1 avocado, diced
¼ cup diced green onions
Toppings if desired, salsa, sour cream, ranch, etc
  • In a large skillet, combine beans, corn, salsa, cilantro, pepper and salt. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until mixture is warm.
  • Add in lime juice and zest.
  • Scoop this mixture over tortilla chips or onto a plate to dip from.
  • Sprinkle cheese, avocado and onions over nachos.
  • Top with whatever else you’d like. We like to add some more salsa and sour cream or yogurt.

Sunday, August 25, 2013

Cinnamon Raisin French Toast with Bananas and Walnuts


I am not kidding when I say that this is the best French toast I have EVER made. And trust me – I’ve made a lot of French toast! For some reason, this is the first time I’ve attempted since going gluten free a few months ago. I had some bread I needed to use up quickly and this turned out to be the perfect way to not waste it! I’m thinking this may be on our regular menu for the fall…

6 slices of cinnamon raisin bread (either homemade GF or store bought)
2 eggs
½ cup milk (I used almond)
½ tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp coconut oil (or shortening)
1 over-ripe banana
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ cup walnuts, chopped
1 tsp honey or maple syrup
  • Preheat griddle to 375°F and add coconut oil to griddle.
  • Whisk together eggs, milk, vanilla and 1 tsp cinnamon in a medium sized bowl until combined. Dip both slices of bread into egg mixture.
  • Place “battered” toast onto a hot griddle. Cook first side for about 10 minutes or until browned and crispy. Flip and cook the other side for about 5 minutes or until crispy and brown.
  • While your toast is cooking, cut banana lengthwise in half. Then cut each half lengthwise to make four long slices of banana. Add banana slices to griddle and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon.
  • Top bananas with walnuts and drizzle honey on and “fry” until slightly browned. Remove toast from griddle and put onto serving plate.
  • Top each serving of French toast with the caramelized banana/walnut mixture. Serve with additional syrup if desired, but really these are sweet enough already.

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Meal Plan Week 08/25/13-08/31/13

Good Afternoon!

Wow - the last week of August is sneaking up on us. Summer flew by! You may soon notice that my meal plans and recipes will be a little "lighter". I recently saw my doctor and have been put on a low-carb diet in addition to the low-fat, gluten-free diet I'm already on. It's going to be a struggle but I'm trying to get in a good mindset. I could never understand people's obsession with food, but I get it now. I can also totally understand why diets are so hard and rarely work. I have drastically changed my own diet to improve my health. I'm still now where I want to be but I can only hope that this new adjustment will help. Anyways - I will be adapting a lot of my recipes to better reflect this new change. Wish me luck! :)

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SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
Breakfast
egg muffins
egg muffins
oatmeal
scrambled
egg
scrm egg
baked
bacon
bacon
almond milk
eggs
toast
milk
eggs
fruit
fruit
berries
banana
fruit
smoothie
fruit
tea
tea
tea
tea
tea
tea
tea
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
Lunch
veggie
avocado
chicken
turkey
chicken
turkey
veggie
skewers
orange
cucumber
veggie
salad
veggies
mac & 
cheese
chicken wrap
radish
rollup
cheese
wrap
cheese
water
water
water
water
water
water
water
Dinner
Dinner
Dinner
Dinner
Dinner
Dinner
Dinner
turkey
shrimp
baked 
pressure cook
quesadillas
bean
asparagus
meatballs
beets
sw potato
chicken
corn
salad
soup
spaghetti
salad
salmon
veggies
veggies
shrimp
bread
water
water
water
water
water
water
water
Snack
Snack
Snack
Snack
Snack
Snack
Snack
yogurt
trailmix
cheese
trailmix
guac dip
PB celery
veggies
almonds
carrots
grapes
peaches
veggies
trailmix
trailmix
red wine pears
ice cream
popcorn
PB celery
fruit pizza
ice cream
GF granola