Menu Plan: July 6-15

Welcome back! I have been absent all week due to issues with my laptop. We officially started our grain-free at home journey this month. Since we do not have any known allergy or intolerance to grains, we will still eat them if we are served them in other peoples homes, but will make wise choices when we eat out to avoid them as much as possible. The only exception to this, of course, is Julian, who will not eat grains until his first year molars come in. The way that we eat grains is grossly distorted from how they used to be consumed and I am convinced this affects our health as a nation. Considering the government still recommends a large portion of your daily intake come from grains, many Americans are consuming WAY too many and not the right ones when they do. But, I digress.

Here is our menu for the next week or so:

Breakfast

• Friday: Chocolate zucchini muffins and fruit
• Saturday: Coconut flour pancakes and bacon
• Sunday: Eggs w/ sausage and fruit
• Monday: Chocolate zucchini muffins and fruit
• Tuesday: Eggs w/ salsa and fruit
• Wednesday: Almond flour muffins and fruit
• Thursday: Eggs w/ sausage and fruit
• Friday: Almond flour muffins and fruit
• Saturday: Coconut flour pancakes and bacon
• Sunday: Eggs w/ sausage and fruit

Lunch 

My husband takes a packed lunch (or dinner, if he works third shift) when he is working at the hospital, which consists of peanut butter and jelly or honey between two pancakes, veggies, fruit and a dessert. If he is working at the office, he eats lunch out, much to my chagrin! Julian and I had been eating leftovers, but too many times we were finishing everything at dinner, which left us with nothing for lunch the next day. I am going to try doing snacky style lunches for him and I. We will have smoothies and veggies everyday and rotate between hardboiled eggs and beans with cheese. He is typically home for lunch on Saturdays and we eat lunch at church on Sunday afternoons.

• Saturday: Pigs in a blanket, veggies and fruit
• Sunday: @ church
• Saturday: Shrimp curry w/ quinoa and smoothies
• Sunday: @ church

Dinner

•  Friday: with friends, bringing a salad
• Saturday: Leftovers
• Sunday: Salmon patties, veggies and fruit
• Monday: Chicken and potatoes
• Tuesday: Leftovers
• Wednesday: Red-Red w/quinoa and sauteed bananas
• Thursday: Salmon, veggies and potatoes
• Friday: Chicken cakes and veggies
• Saturday: Leftovers
• Sunday: Pigs in a blanket and bananas

What are you feeding your family lately?

Recipe Reveal: Salmon Patties

One of my goals for 2012 was to serve fish once a week. I know that eating good fish can do wonders for your health. However, have you seen the price of fish at the meat market? It is hard for me to stomach the $5/lb for grass-fed beef, let alone the $10-$15/lb for good fish. What's a mama to do?

One way that I have been able to meet my goal of serving fish once a week is by serving my family salmon patties. I buy canned seine net caught wild Alaskan pink Salmon from Aldi for about $2.50/can. One can feeds all three of us one meal plus enough for Julian and I to have leftovers the next day for lunch. This is a frugal way to still be able to eat good fish!

Salmon Patties

1 can (14.5 ounces) wild caught salmon

1 egg

1 tsp. onion powder

1 tbs. parsley

scant cayenne pepper

1/4 c. unsweetened shredded coconut (or breadcrumbs)

Butter or coconut oil

Mix all ingredients together in a small bowl. Melt a small amount of butter or coconut oil in a pan on the stovetop. Form the salmon mixture into patties and place in the hot pan. Cook on each side about 2-3 minutes. We like to eat ours with homemade ranch smeared on top!

this post is linked to: real food wednesday and healthy 2day wednesday

 

Menu Plan: June 25-July 1

You may notice some repeats from the menu I posted last Monday. We were blessed to spend time unexpected time with our families this past week, which meant getting to go out to eat twice in one day. I, of course, ended up not cooking, so we had some meals to use up from last week. I made a HUGE batch of chicken and potatoes last week as well, so Julian and I will be finishing those up this week. We start our grain free month on Sunday, so I am trying hard to use up the rest of the grains in the house this week. Here is the menu!

Breakfast

• Monday: Fried mush, cantaloupe
• Tuesday: Sauteed brussel sprouts, bacon and cantaloupe
• Wednesday: Eggs w/ sausage, cantaloupe
• Thursday: Pancakes in a pan, fresh fruit
• Friday: Eggs w/ salsa, fresh fruit
• Saturday: Coconut flour pancakes, bacon and fresh fruit
• Sunday: Eggs w/ salsa, fresh fruit

Lunch

• Monday: Chicken and potatoes, cheese cubes
• Tuesday: Salmon patties, carrots w/ homemade ranch dip
• Wednesday: Leftovers
• Thursday: Olive Garden (taking a friend out for her birthday!)
• Friday: Snacky lunch (veggies w/ dip, fresh fruit, cheese cubes, beans etc.)
• Saturday: Family picnic (celebrating hubby's maternal grandparents 57th anniversary!)
• Sunday: Church potluck (celebrating hubby's family friends 50th anniversary!)

Dinner

• Monday: Italian stew, smoothies and organic sweet corn
• Tuesday: Brown rice pasta w/ homemade red sauce, smoothies
• Wednesday: Taco potatoes, smoothies
• Thursday: Leftovers, smoothies
• Friday: Curried brown rice pasta, smoothies
• Saturday: Leftovers, smoothies
• Sunday: Grain free pigs in a blanket, smoothies

menu plan monday 

Menu Plan: June 18-24

 It has been almost three months since I last posted a menu. For some reason, my typically well-planned life has been not so well-planned as of late, which resulted in some less than stellar menu planning. I think I am back on track, although in about a month everything will be topsy turvy yet again as we move to Champaign!  As a side note, it has been far too long since I have been able to find organic potatoes around here. I found them this past week and promptly bought six pounds. Yikes! Hence all the potato dishes this week...

Breakfast

• Monday: Birthday berry crisp, fresh fruit
• Tuesday: Baby red potatoes with sausage and garlic, fresh fruit
• Wednesday: Perfect fall muffins, hardboiled eggs
• Thursday: Eggs with sausage and garlic, fresh fruit
• Friday: Soaked pumpkin oatmeal with walnuts
• Saturday: Coconut flour pancakes (recipe below!), bacon and fresh fruit
• Sunday: Eggs with sausage and garlic, fresh fruit

Lunch

• Monday: Rice with chicken, fresh fruit
• Tuesday: Grain-Free Pigs in a Blanket, carrots with homemade ranch dip
• Wednesday: Cheesy pan-fried potatoes, fresh fruit
• Thursday: Smoothies with cheese and veggies
• Friday: Italian stew, fresh fruit
• Saturday: Salmon patties, fresh fruit
• Sunday: Lunch at church

Supper

• Monday: Popcorn, fresh fruit
• Tuesday: Leftovers, smoothies
• Wednesday: Smoothies with cheese and veggies
• Thursday: Chicken and potatoes, fresh fruit
• Friday: Taco potatoes, smoothies
• Saturday: Herb roasted potatoes with sausage, smoothies
• Sunday: Leftovers, smoothies

Coconut Flour Pancakes

 Makes about 20 pancakes

9 eggs

2 sticks butter or 1 c. coconut oil, melted

1 c. coconut milk (or whole milk)

4 tsp. honey (maple syrup or sucanat works great, too!)

3 tsp. sea salt

3/4 c. coconut flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder (aluminum free, if possible)

Mix together eggs, butter/coconut oil, milk, sweetener and salt in a larger bowl. Add the baking powder and coconut flour and continue to mix until everything is incorporated. Melt a little more butter/coconut oil in a skillet and scoop about an 1/8 of a cup of batter into the pan. Repeat until you have about 20 pancakes. Server warm with more butter and real maple syrup!

This post is linked to menu plan monday

Birthday Berry Crisp

In honor of my husband's 25th birthday, I created this special berry crisp. He is not a huge fan of cake and I am not that great of a cake baker, so it works out well for me! This dish also got me one step closer to using up the remaining oatmeal in my apartment as we are preparing for a grain free experiment during the month of July.

Birthday Berry Crisp

1 c. organic rolled oats

1/4 c. melted coconut oil

1/3 c. organic sucanat

1/4 c. coconut milk

1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

3 c. organic berries (I used strawberries, but raspberries, blueberries etc. would work too!)

1 tbs. lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Mix the first six ingredients together in a small bowl, cover and allow to soak for 12-24 hours. After the soaking period, mix berries and lemon juice together in small baking dish (I used an 8 x 8 in.). Pour/spread the soaked crumb topping over the berries. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Enjoy as is or with homemade ice cream!

Simple Cobb Salad

In the winter, we love to eat soups and chilis several times a month. In the summer, we much prefer salads. Although I am always looking for new dinner salad ideas to serve, this is an old favorite of ours.

Simple Cobb Salad

10 oz. bag organic lettuce

10 grape or cherry tomatoes

2 hardboiled eggs, sliced

1 avocado, sliced

6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

Homemade ranch dressing

Place bacon in a deep frying pan and cook over medium heat until done. Remove to plate and allow to cool before crumbling. Arrange lettuce on two plates. Top with tomatoes, eggs, avocado and crumbled bacon. Finish with the dressing and enjoy!

This post is linked up to Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop. 

 

Julian turned UNO!

Although Julian's real birthday is May 5th, we celebrated with family this weekend. The theme for his party was UNO, the card game of yesteryear, and I had so much fun incorporating it in all the details.

The Invitations (Design: Randie Kocher ; Photo: Kelsey Sliger)

My good friend Kelsey took some adorable photos of Julian playing with UNO cards and my husband's cousin Randie came up with the awesome design. I fear I set a precedent with these invites and will have a hard time topping them in the years to come!

The Decorations (Dollar Tree and Party City)

I borrowed the color scheme from the UNO cards, so everything was black, red, yellow, blue and green. We had yellow and red plates, blue and green cups, yellow and green forks, red and blue napkins and black tablecloths. Each table had a bunch of balloons in the same colors. We scattered UNO cards throughout the house as further decoration. I also used mini UNO cards that we found at Party City as the cupcake toppers. My favorite part was the banner that my husband put together using the photos that Kelsey took of Julian playing with UNO cards and some vintage UNO cards from his mom.

The Memories (Book Design: Grace Lawler ; Materials: Scrapadoodle)

I borrowed this idea from my friend Kelsey, as well (...do you see a theme here? Kelsey has great ideas!) She made a small scrapbook that she gave me at the baby shower she hosted for friends and family to write notes to Julian in before he was born. I LOVED that idea, so I had my crafty sister make a similar one for Julian's first birthday since he won't be able to remember anything about it on his own.

The Food (Hyvee and homemade)

I served chips with homemade salsa, broccoli and cauliflower with homemade ranch dip, fruit and organic whole wheat chocolate cupcakes with sucanat buttercream frosting. My mom and I attempted to arrange the fruit to look like a UNO wild card.

The Outfit (Amazon and Jo-Ann Fabric)

I got the idea for Julian's party outfit from my good friend Kelsey. She introduced me to freezer stenciling at the baby shower she hosted for me a little over a year ago. Since I am really not crafty at all, she came over and helped me make the stencil on Thursday afternoon. Thanks, Kelsey!

 

 The Cake (Homemade)

 I made Julian a small cake version of the same cupcakes I made for the party. I used pineapple to make it look like a yellow UNO card. I don't claim to be a fantastic (or even mediocre!) cake decorator, but it was as healthy as sweets can be, which was the goal. He was not too interested in his cake, but we got some good photos of him playing with it!

 
The Family

We are so grateful the Lord saw fit to bless us with a healthy baby boy almost one year ago. We look forward to seeing how the Lord uses Julian to further His kingdom in the years to come!

Menu Plan Monday 12/12-12/18

Thanks for coming by from Modern Alternative Kitchen! CLICK HERE to see the recipe linked to the menu plan this week on my new site!

Whew! There are 14 days left until Christmas and the decorations (humble as they may be!) are finally up at the Storms house.

Kerry finally spoke up and requested something other than oatmeal for breakfast on Saturday. Thankfully, he told me Friday afternoon, so I had plenty of time to prepare our favorite homemade pancake recipe. I certainly missed Saturday morning pancakes this past month while we were having oatmeal every single day, so I was glad for the request. If you have been following our menu for the last few months that I have been posting them, you may notice that we no longer have pizza on Saturday nights. I had been struggling for a long while with finding a good pizza dough recipe. In my search for a recipe, I came across a recipe for homemade calzones. I decided to try it out last week and, as it turns out, we LOVED it (not to mention it was so EASY!). So, no more pizza for the Storms family on Saturday nights. We have moved on to bigger and better things :)

Here is our menu for the week, along with a recipe!

Monday

• Dinner: Leftover soup, homemade whole wheat biscuits and fruit 

Tuesday

• Dinner: Hamburgers, sweet potato wedges and fruit

Wednesday

• Dinner: Lentil Shepherd's Pie (AKA Lentil Bake, since my hubby claims to HATE Shepherd's Pie, but loves this dish, as long as I don't call it Shepherd's Pie...), homemade whole wheat biscuits and fruit

Thursday

• Dinner: Sausage, beans and potatoes (recipe below), homemade whole wheat biscuits and fruit

Friday

• Dinner: Bringing this pear salad to Family Group 

Saturday

• Breakfast: Soaked whole wheat pancakes, bacon and fruit
• Lunch: Hot dogs, chips and fruit
• Dinner: Homemade calzones and fruit

Sunday

• Lunch: Cracker Barrel (celebrating Christmas with my parents and sister)
• Dinner: Popcorn and smoothies

Sausage, Beans and Potatoes (adapted from this recipe)

  

1 lb. fresh green beans ( of course, fresh is better, but I used frozen ones I bought at the Farmer's Market this summer...they were fresh once!)

1 lb. organic fingerling potatoes (I like fingerling potatoes better than baby red, just a personal preference)

1/2 lb. sausage links, cooked (I buy our sausage from the local health food store...it is local, nitrate free and from pigs that live the good life)

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

6 c. chicken bone broth

Salt and pepper, to taste

Wash the green beans and potatoes thoroughly. If the green beans are fresh, snap the ends off. Depending on how long they are, snap them in half, as well, otherwise they will not fit in your crockpot (experience speaking here!). Cut the potatoes in half, or if they are shaped odd like my potatoes usually are, cut them in half-like pieces. Chop the cooked sausage links in approximately one inch pieces. Place all ingredients in your crockpot. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 8-9 hours.

I linked up to menu plan monday at Organizing Junkie

 

Chicken

This summer I was encouraged to try cooking a whole chicken in the crockpot and then using the bones for broth. Not only is it extremely nutritious, it is also frugal. Since then, I have done it three times and am amazed by the results each time! I was intimidated at first, but once I decided to give it a try, I realized I had nothing to be scared of. Seriously, SO easy!

Here is what you do:

1. Get a chicken.

2. Rinse your chicken and put it in the crock-pot.







3. Put the lid on, turn the crock-pot on low, set the timer for  8-10 hours and walk away (or go to bed, like I did!).

4. Turn the crock-pot off and let the chicken cool (if you are wanting to eat the chicken for dinner, put it in the crock-pot in the morning instead of overnight).
                                                  

5. Now, I hate to waste food, so at this point I take the skin off
of the chicken and put it in a frying pan. I cook the skin according to these directions and put the fat in a glass jar in my fridge. I cook our eggs, veggies and various other foods in it. I would only recommend doing this if you buy pastured chickens.

6. Take the meat off the bones. I freeze ours and use it in various soups and casseroles. From this 5 lb. chicken, I will probably be able to get meat for 5-6 meals, not counting the leftovers from those meals.

7. Put the bones back in the crock-pot and cover with 5-6 cups of water. Cook on low for 24 hours. I was able to get a gallon of broth from these bones.




And that is all there is to it! Check out these resources for reasons why homemade broth is so good for you: here and here.