Menu for 9/19 - 9/24, DF & GF

With the change in the way we eat, we have had to become more diligent with the way we shop.  I have been lactose-intolerant for over a decade, but have only recently been actually trying to follow the body cues to dairy.  So... really no more dairy for me!  We still give the kids yogurt and cheese, but it really isn't as often as we used to.

We've also changed how much Gluten we eat in our house. While the kids like sandwiches, they are generally pretty easy about going without.  For lunches at school, it is usually a sandwich or yogurt for the main part of their meal.  I hate always giving them these things, but they are kids and they still need some nutrients (yes, I know many of you would argue with me, but this is the choice we have made for them, if you have ideas for meals that picky eaters will eat, by all means, send them along to me!)  Anyway, bread & bread-like items are hardly ever in the house, so we've had to be creative with meals.

One of the things I have to be careful of, is that there are two kids in Monkey's class at school that are allergic to nuts, etc. So, I plan their meals for those two days to be without nut butters or nuts in their trailmix. It can be tough!

On top of becoming more dairy free (DF) and gluten free (GF), I've added in an anti-inflammatory (AI) diet. Wow! With so much to consider, it's a wonder we can even figure out meals at all!  With that said, below is our tentative menu-plan for the week.  In trying to be diligent in this way of eating, when there is a recipe that has breadcrumbs or sandwich bread, etc I am omitting that for myself, but at times my family will be eating those items.  We are also trying to be diligent about eating at home. While there are so many amazing restaurants out there, the way they prepare their food is not up to par with how I want to eat, so this week is all at home!  We'll see how it goes!

Sunday 9/19/10:
Breakfast: eggs, ham/bacon, banana, OJ (me: eggs, ham, banana, water)
Lunch: leftover pizza for kids (me: salad w/ tons of veggies)
Dinner: Bean & Veggie Enchiladas (me: Enchilada filling on spinach)

Monday 9/20/10:
Breakfast: Chocolate Smoothie drink (using Almond Milk and Whey Protein) and Kashi Cereal
Lunch: Grapes, Pudding, Hummus with carrots, and half a PB&J (me: salad)
Dinner: Crispy Zucchini Dippers, Sirloin, Applesauce (Chicken Nuggets for kids)

Tuesday 9/21/10:
Breakfast: Oatmeal & Bacon
Lunch: Turkey Sandwiches, trailmix, oranges, broccoli with ranch (me: Spinach Salad)
Dinner: Italian Chicken, Salad, Baked Beans

Wednesday 9/22/10: We have Music & Missions, so need quick evening meal
Breakfast: Yogurt & homemade cereal bar
Lunch: Ham & Cheese rollups (no tortilla), veggie sticks, crackers & banana chips  (me: salad)
Dinner: Breakfast for dinner - Eggs, Fruit and Morning Glory muffins

Thursday 9/23/10:
Breakfast: Chocolate Smoothie drink (using Almond Milk and Whey Protein) and Kashi Cereal
Lunch: Oranges, Pudding, Hummus with carrots, and half a PB&J (me: salad with leftover Italian Chicken)
Dinner: Crockpot BBQ Chicken and BBQ Onion Rings (made with almond flour and shredded parm instead of flour and breadcrumbs), Green Salad w/ spinach and veggies

Friday 9/24/10:
Breakfast: Almond Flour pancakes, strawberry/banana smoothies made with Whey protein
Lunch: Cracker cutout sandwiches (think lunchable), fruit & pudding (me: salad with leftover bbq chicken)
Dinner: Kids Night Out (pizza) - Date Night for us

For more meal ideas, go to Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday!  So interesting that she went DF/GF too!

Backyard S'mores

So, we don't have one of those amazing fire pits. We don't have any rocks to create our own in-ground fire pit. We don't have charcoal for our camping grill. We don't have a gas stove.  What do we have?  A gas grill!  So... backyard, backwoods S'mores, we go!  The kids loved them!  They bought strawberry marshmallows last week and have been dying to eat them, so opened the bag we did and let them each have a S'more.  Not as fun roasting them as it would have been in a fire pit or around a real campfire, but they were pretty tasty all the same!  And of course the kids had fun, at least until the buggies came out.  We didn't want a repeat of this, so we finished quickly and came inside. Besides he already has two bites to contend with from last night.  Repellent just doesn't always seem to work.

don't even think about taking this from me!

 

Daddy's Truck

So.. a few weeks ago, The Hubster found a great deal on a truck, so we sold his car and brought the new baby home!  The kids decided it was time to start playing in the back of it, so over Labor Day weekend, they had fun playing on the back of and looking inside daddy's truck, as well as test driving it, but I didn't get a pic of that.

What fun it is, to be a kid!

Here, Piggy Piggy!

What to do on a rainy day?  We were thinking of going to the FMC to play, but opted to stay home for some good ol' arts and crafts.  While cleaning *gasp* (shocker, I know!), or shall I say organizing... I ran across a binder I made as one of my final projects in college.  It is FULL of arts and crafts pages ready to be copied or used as projects.  The kids couldn't stop flipping through the pages.

Monkey was excited to color INSIDE the lines and to use the scissors.

Sweet Pea did a great job coloring in the lines as well and made a fun piggy mask.  On, to the clown masks next!