Weekly Menu Plan – Week of June 13 (and a Thank You)

Like my new menu plan badge?  My very talented friend Alexa from Lexie’s Kitchen designed it for me (thanks Lexie)!  If you haven’t yet “met” Alexa, you really should stop by her blog, especially if you are on a gluten free/casein free diet.  I have made several of Lexie’s recipes over the past year and I want to take a minute and highlight some of my favorites (what I’m trying to say is this…you really need to make them, special diet or not!). 😀

Saturday Pancakes (gluten-free, casein-free and egg-free)

Justin’s Nut Butter on Apples

French Dressing (I’m going through this stuff by the gallons at the moment!  I do add about 1 Tbs. of agave or coconut nectar to mine, just to mellow out the vinegar a bit).

Cinnamon Pomegranate Glaze

Coconut Whipped Cream Topping

Unrefined Powdered Sugar (I use coconut sugar and arrowroot starch)

Slow Cooker Beef Stew

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chili

I also really like the homemade deodorant recipe that Lexie shared (I use arrowroot instead of cornstarch)

And I love the free pantry labels Lexie designed and I have used them to label all of my GF flours:

Now, for my menu plan:

Monday:

Breakfast: Lemon-Aide Smoothie and Jimmy Dean’s All-Natural Pork Breakfast Sausage, which contains no MSG or preservatives (I found a 3-Lb. chub at Costco for $8.03…typically, my homemade breakfast sausage runs at least $12 for 3-lbs. of free-range ground turkey so this will be a nice treat, saving both time and money!).

Lunch: Applegate Farms Smoked Turkey Rollups, Raw Veggies and Hummus, Mixed Berries

Dinner: Vertical Roasted Chicken on the Grill (I have this Non-Stick Vertical Poultry Roaster which I really like), I will use this chicken rub (subbing coconut sugar for the brown cane sugar) and chicken stock as the liquid.  I can’t have rice at the moment, but I had a few friends sample New Planet’s Off Grid Gluten Free Pale Ale for me and they loved it!  This would be a great corn-free beer to use for Shirley’s gluten free “Beer Can Chicken.”

Dessert: Homemade Dairy Free, Cane Sugar Free Strawberry Ice Cream (recipe coming soon)

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Squashberry Smoothie and breakfast sausage

Lunch: Applegate Farms Soppressata Rollups, Cucumbers and Carrots with Herbamare, Fresh Strawberries, Pistachios

Dinner: Cod in Parchment Packets (I will make these on the grill), grilled zucchini/yellow squash, salad

Dessert: Leftover Strawberry Ice Cream

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Pomegranate & Red Beet Smoothie and breakfast sausage

Lunch: Applegate Farms Organic Ham Rollups, Raw Veggies and Hummus, Marcona Almonds, Grapes

Dinner: Lettuce Wrapped Burgers, Sweet and Sour Cucumber Salad with Fresh Dill

Dessert: Watermelon Slices

Thursday:

Breakfast: Peter Rabbit’s Smoothie and breakfast sausage

Lunch: Applegate Farms Smoked Turkey Rollups, Raw Veggies and Hummus, Apple Slices with Almond Butter

Dinner: Butter-Fried Scallops (I will use olive oil), Grilled Artichokes, Salad

Dessert: Frozen Blueberries

Friday:

Breakfast: Creamy Dairy-Free Pumpkin Smoothie and breakfast sausage

Lunch: Applegate Farms Soppressata Rollups, Raw Veggies and Hummus, Homemade Trail Mix,

Dinner: Southwestern Grilled Chicken Salad with Tomato and Black Bean Salsa

Dessert: Fresh, Organic Strawberries 

Saturday:

Breakfast: Blushing Beet Smoothie and Wellshire Farms Bacon

Lunch: leftovers from the week

Dinner: Spaghetti Squash with Marinara Sauce, Salad

Dessert: Lemon Sorbet (I will use agave nectar)

Sunday:

Breakfast: Green Smoothie and Bacon

Lunch: leftovers from the week

Dinner: Weenie Roast with Applegate Farms Grass-Fed Beef Hot Dogs, Raw Veggies with Hummus, Fruit Salad

Dessert: Roast Marshmallows

Lastly, Shirley Braden from Gluten Free Easily “adopted” me for this month’s Adopt a Gluten Free Blogger.  Shirley wrote a lovely post but what meant the most to me was Shirley’s mention of you, my wonderful readers.  Check this out (bold emphasis added):

“she also is an avid and relentless researcher on topics associated with celiac disease and gluten issues.  She always shares what she learns, and she also shares her and her family’s health journey, as well as the “lessons learned” along the way.  Sometimes—when she hasn’t yet reached the actual lesson part—she asks questions of readers and online friends, initiating some very lively discussions. As Wendy (Celiacs in the House) has said in the past, Heidi has the most engaged followers who contribute to interesting, thought-provoking discussions you won’t want to miss.”

Talk about knowing how to choke a girl up! 😉

The conversations we have here (via the comment section) and on my Facebook Page are what I am most passionate about and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your thoughts and views, as well as your personal stories with me.

I also want to personally thank three gluten free experts (and personal heroes of mine) for contributing their professional opinions to our conversations:

• Dr. Rodney Ford, author of these 9 books, all of which I have read and recommend (especially The Gluten Syndrome and Eczema, Cure It! which are now available as e-books on Smashwords.com).

• Dr. Vikki Petersen (co-author of The Gluten Effect and one of the speakers on my favorite DVD, The 2010 Gluten Sensitivity and Celiac Forum)
  

• Ron Hoggan, Ed. D. (co-author of Dangerous Grains and several other books, plus this vast collection of articles).

By daring to ask the question out loud, I have discovered time and time again, that I am truly not alone on this journey and I learn so much from each and every one of you…allowing me and my family to lead our very best gluten free lives. 😀

If you have a question about living gluten free or a specific gluten-related health issue that you would like to know more about from my Facebook friends and Twitter followers, feel free to send me your question(s) at heidi AT adventuresofaglutenfreemom DOT com and I will post the question on Facebook in hopes of starting another one of our thought-provoking discussions. 😀