Menu Plan Monday- March 31

Last week, I gave a bit of a review of recipes from the week before. I received several comments saying how much they liked it and I realized that I would love it if other menu planners did the same, so from now on, I will try to give a brief review of recipes we tried. Here are a few thoughts from last week:

1) My request for cabbage/beef recipes got me some great ideas (check out the comment with the recipe for Beerocks- we didn’t do it this time, but I really want to try making these!). I ended up doing the crockpot layering idea, which was simple. It ended up like a beef and veggie stew, with a new flavor and texture added by the cabbage.

2)For the chicken legs, what I ended up making was yogurt, with dijon mustard, a bit of apple cider vinegar, some salt and pepper, and a few drops of stevia. It was really nice, although it would have been richer with the cream.

3) The blender batter pancakes were great! The recipe was so easy to make, and ended up making quite nice and light pancakes. They were thicker than I usually make them (I’m a thin pancakes kind of girl),; but because they were so light, they were still totally fine with us. I loved being able to use spelt berries and grind them fresh, right in the blender!

And now, my news for the week… we’re on another special diet, this time for my hubby. As he watched me progress in my diet these past 8 weeks, he realized that his Candida has really come back quite strong, as his sugar cravings are really bad. He did a cleanse last spring, before his cancer treatments, but all his hard work was undone with many rounds of antibiotics for multiple infections over the course of his treatments.

So, just as I am nearly free and ready to eat normally again, we’re back on a cleanse for him! We’re going to do the The Maker’s Diet again, which is basically a little over a month of no grains and sugar, and a 3 stage diet. We’ve done it before, multiple times, and it’s great. Would anyone like to join me for the encouragment?

I decided I might as well just plow right on into the new diet, so I’ve already planned my first two weeks of it (I’ve only included one week in this post). I will still be adding some grains in, because I can’t afford to lose any more weight, which I would if I stayed off grains. So the meals are grain-free for my husband, and I will make things like millet, quinoa, or sourdough bread for my daughter and I. I am keeping myself off of wheat/barley/oats, as well as sugar and yeast, for the rest of April still (but everything else I am eating normally again).

I’m sure you must be thinking, "Does she enjoy torturing herself? First her two month diet, then her hubby’s and an extra month of self-imposed restrictions?" The answer, of course, is yes, I guess I do. 🙂 Ok, not really, I just want us all to be healthy again, and I am not willing to risk un-doing what I have worked so hard for by jumping back into these grains, sugars and yeast right away. For now, I am just thoroughly enjoying my tomatoes and potatoes and beef and citrus fruits and raw cow’s milk and cheese… it’s the little pleasures that do it for me these days!

Monday: Spaghetti squash with Janet’s tomato sauce (if you’ve never tried using spaghetti squash instead of pasta, I highly recommend that you do- I simply cut it in half and bake it until I can use a fork to pull out the strands, like spaghetti).

Tuesday: Baked white fish (whatever is a good deal when I go shopping), with steamed broccoli and cauliflower with cheese sauce (probably grains on the side for my daughter and I)

Wednesday: Red Robin "Chicken Tender" salad. This comes from a local restaurant, and it is such a delicious salad, I decided to try to recreate it. I use whatever lettuce or salad mix I have on hand, although the organic baby greens are really nice. I top it with finely diced red onion, tomato, cabbage, shredded carrot, and hard boiled egg. Then I bake a chicken breast with a crumb coating (usually a mix of bread crumbs and cornmeal and flour, with some spices, dipped in an egg wash first to make the crumbs stick), and layer the sliced chicken on top of the salad. It’s served with a honey mustard dressing, but I’ll just use a mustard vinaigrette this time.

Thursday: Crustless salmon and mushroom quiche (based on the basic recipe from Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook)), with side salad

Friday: Cabbage Tacos. Instead of taco shells, we use whole cabbage leaves! Fillings are ground beef, cheese, guacamole and salsa, and sour cream. These are light and crunchy, but still filling. It’s a nice change from a regular taco, in our opinion.

Saturday: At a friend’s wedding

Sunday: Tomato Vegetable Lentil soup. No recipe, just something I’ll put together in the crockpot.

As always, hosted by Organizing Junkie!