I debated back and forth with whether or not I wanted to post a menu plan here, because let’s face it, they are not the most scintillating or inspiring posts. However, as I’m attempting to get into the meal planning habit, I decided to post today’s, at the very least, to give me a kick-start on accountability. Also, I have friends asking me from time to time about how we eat, since it’s not at all the Standard American Diet (SAD, and let’s face it, Canadians eat virtually the same way). I thought this might be a good way to get a glimpse into how we normally eat at home (very different from when we’re traveling and in other people’s homes, and the occasional tea house indulgence).
So, here we are.
We are a mostly gluten-free house (our three-year-old cannot tolerate gluten), and so our meals reflect that (which isn’t hard, since we don’t really eat a whole lot of grains anyway). Also, we generally only eat whole, REAL foods, and minimize starches and sugars, as hubs is trying to lose weight, and we just believe that’s a healthier way of living, regardless. All items and most ingredients (like mayo and salad dressings) in my menu plan are usually made from scratch.
I am planning breakfasts and suppers only, with a list of ideas for lunches and snacks. For me, that is a good balance between scheduling and flexibility.
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Monday
Breakfast: Cheesy Egg Loaf & Fruit (enjoying the last of pear and peach season while it lasts, and the beginning of apple season!)
Supper: Taco Salad
Tuesday
Breakfast: Eggs & Smoothies
Supper: Turkey Dinner: Gravy, Dressing, Acorn Squash, Peas, Carrots, Cranberries – everything made from scratch except for buying a loaf of rice bread to make the dressing.
*We got a turkey at the grocery store for 97 cents/pound, which was a deal we could not pass up. Ideally we get all of our meat from HERE, but sometimes the budget just won’t stretch quite that far… and their turkeys are 3.5 times more expensive. So we got the grocery store one, because it is one of the most frugal purchases – you can get tons of homemade stock from the bones, and there’s tons of meat for eating, casseroles, etc.
Wednesday
Breakfast: Eggs & Bacon
Supper: Turkey Dinner Leftovers
Thursday
Breakfast: Eggs & Smoothies
Supper: Turkey Stew, Salad (made with homemade broth, of course, with lots of veggies, and a very small amount of starch, like maybe some brown rice)
Friday
Breakfast: Eggs & Sausage (looking for a new sausage recipe to try, as hubs is tired of the old one)
Supper: Meatloaf, Scalloped Potatoes, 2 Veggies, or a Veggie and Salad
Saturday
Breakfast: Cheesy Egg Loaf & Fruit
Supper: Baked Lemon-Herb Salmon, Brown Rice, Steamed Spinach, Steamed Carrots, Salad
Sunday
Breakfast: Eggs & Sausage
Supper: BBQ Burgers, Pear & Feta Quinoa Salad (Hubs makes awesome homemade burgers)
Some Things to Note:
1) I don’t have any meatless meals on the menu this week (except that lunches are often meatless), but I normally have at least one or two meatless main meals every week to help off-set the cost of buying better quality meat (or minimal meat meals, like soups, etc).
2) Lunches are generally one of the following: leftovers, a snack tray, smoothies, a quick hamburger and frozen veggies, tuna melts without the bun, etc.
3) Usual snacks: all of the items included in this post: Snack Trays, as well as yogurt, applesauce, etc.
4) I absolutely *love* acorn squash, and find the flavour simply delightful. It takes the place of mashed potatoes quite nicely if you’re trying to eat less starchy carbs (which you probably should…). Just cut it in half, bake it at 400 for an hour, scrape out the guts, scrape out the squash, mash with lots of butter, and salt and pepper. So yummy.
5) When I met him just over ten years ago, my husband did not eat anything remotely green. In fact, his diet was basically steak, french fries, pizza, and caesar salad. Now, he’ll happily eat every single thing in the menu plan above, and more. I credit the last 10 years of retraining his taste buds slowly and surely, his willing attitude, and also the GAPS Diet, which is often credited with reforming picky eaters (long story on how that works, but if you’re interested feel free to ask!). My kids will also eat almost anything since doing GAPS.
6) I don’t always plan which specific veggie to have, because I like the spontaneity of choosing it on the day of. It’s usually either broccoli, carrots, peas, or green beans (the latter two we usually buy frozen, and they are the fastest options).
7) Lastly, our breakfasts are rather repetitive. I would love to have a break from eggs once in a while (though I think they are really the perfect breakfast food), but any wheat-based baked goods are out, and we haven’t been able to find gluten-free oats where we live. Also, if we could afford it, we’d eat meat with every breakfast, as I find that the higher the protein amount in the mornings, the better – for energy levels, healthy weight maintenance, etc.
***
OK… I think that’s about it. Thanks for indulging in the ins and outs of our family nutritional habits with me. If you enjoyed this, and would actually find it helpful if I posted our menu planning again sometime, would you let me know in the comments? If you snored your way through this post, you can let me know that too, just be kind 🙂
(Linking up today with Keeper of the Home’s Plan It Don’t Panic Meal Planning Challenge, as well as Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Mondays).
Stephanie
Love meal plans!! This sounds so good….wish I could get recipes for some of these. Are they from any particular cook book??
Beth
Hey Steph, which recipe do you want most? I can post it next. No particular recipe book – I use a mishmash and make a lot of stuff up as I go.
Ash
Bought an acorn squash today from the fruit truck and will make it just how you described! Yum!! Looking forward to it already!
Beth
I must remember to ask you about it next time I see you. Hope it worked out well!
lilmarsbar
I actually love the meal planning post! I’ve found meal planning essential – it helps me make sure we’re eating balanced meals, and stick to our grocery budget. It took me awhile to get the hang of it, but now that I’m doing it, I just keep it up lol….
I hear you on the eating less bread thing. I had no idea that I was feeling so drowsy all the time because of my grain consumption (supposedly “healthy” grains too! That shocked me). But once I stopped eating them, I started feeling alert all day (and pooping with no issues. I know. That’s TMI. But I always thought grains would help me poop…and I’m still surprised about this side effect. Maybe because I increased my healthy fat intake as a result of eating seldom eating grains? Who knows :)). I haven’t actually gotten tested, but I was pretty surprised to see what a change this all made, so for now I’m sticking with it 🙂
All of the food in your menu sounds great! What do you usually put in your smoothies? (Just protein powder and fruit?) Or other stuff?
Beth
So glad you’ve seen the benefits of eating less grains. It sure does make a difference in how I feel, too. I never really noticed it before, but I sure do now that I know what to watch for.
Increasing your healthy fat intake is definitely a good way to solve constipation issues and keep things working smoothly 🙂
I never use protein powder – usually just banana, berries (raspberries are our face), plain yogurt, and lots of raw spinach. And a little splash of fruit juice or else it’s way too thick. We don’t drink juice, but we just haven’t found another way to thin the smoothies out so they’re drinkable.
Serena
Ill find you some recipies for baked apples, and email it to you on facebook. Have you thought of potatoe pancakes? We do them about once a month and they are a favorite in our house, good for breakfast with some breakfast meat, or for dinner with sour cream and veggies. I have an amazing recipie if you want it. Also for the sausage you could try switching up the meat instead of the recipie….try making turkey sausage instead of pork if you dont already. It really changes the taste.
Also this website is pretty good. We tried the muffin recipie for ciara when we had her on gluten free
http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/breakfast/tp/glutenfreebreakfastrecipes.htm
I also tried a few of these recipies including the crepe reicpie…we love crepes with fresh fruit for breakfast…or dinner lol
http://glutenfreecooking.about.com/od/breakfast/Breakfast.htm
Beth
Potato pancakes would be starchier than our norm, but probably a welcome change once in a while, especially paired with meat and veggie. Can you send me that recipe?
Thanks for the links!
Mom
Ok, so I (and maybe Dad ) really liked the squash you cooked when you were here a few weeks ago (and I never liked squash before!). I’d like to try it for thanksgiving but I have a question. Do you take the guts out before or after baking? On another note, I agree with your thoughts on the economy of turkey. I find it’s one of the cheapest and easiest and most often impressive meat I cook. Also, I’m impressed with the price of the one you just bought!! Way to go!
Beth
Yay! I’m glad you like the squash – it’s so easy and yummy! I’ve actually done it both ways – take the guts out before, and take ’em out after. Chris thinks after is easier. Either is fine. Hope you can convince Dad to go for it 🙂
Katie
I loved reading your menu plan and hope you’ll post more!
Beth
Thanks Katie! I don’t think I’ve seen you comment before… welcome! 🙂
Serena
Baked Apples make a really good breakfast treat once in a while. You can fill them with nuts and raisens as well too as a way to cut back on the sugar they are usually cooked in. =)
Beth
Hey, I like that idea too… do you have a recipe? I think that would go nicely along side an egg or two. Really, it’s about the variety – if I have something new to go with my eggs, it makes them much more exciting 🙂
Kate Selig
Hey you,
I also enjoyed seeing your meal plan. 🙂 I sometimes do soaked grains for breakfast. Quinoa is especially good – I cook it in half milk, half water with a pinch of salt and a bunch of cinnamon, and serve it with a bit of extra milk or cream, dried cranberries, pears and soaked/toasted almonds, and a drizzle of maple syrup. Super, super yummy. I’ve done it with rice too, and different fruits/toppings. I know you guys mostly avoid grains, but it’s an option for when you just can not stomach another morning of eggs (oh, been there!).
You may have inspired me to make a meal plan…
Beth
Quinoa for breakfast – now that is a brilliant idea. I love it! I’m so trying it! Does it taste like oatmeal when you have it with milk and all that?
Marissa
We too love quinoa in our morning rotation, well actually the girls really do whereas I prefer it in other meals, and almond pancakes…they do take a little longer though.
Beth
Oh yes, I had forgotten about almond pancakes – great idea! High protein, too. I still haven’t found a great way to make almond flour though. I burned the motor of our coffee grinder…
Marissa
Do you grind with skins on or off…I find that it grinds much finer with the skins off…and I freeze them prior to grinding. I then grind, sift, regrind, and sift. It does take me about 15 minutes to get 4 cups though….still, I bought a small amount last week for the same price as one of my large bags of nuts.
I also use the food processor but that doesn’t grind as fine. Still works well for our pancakes though.
http://thismama.wordpress.com/2011/04/17/all-of-this-work-for-a-cake/
Beth
thanks for the tips – i will try again!
Crystal
PS. I’ve linked you into my meal plan for the week. It’s not nearly as scrumptious as yours, but it was kind of a seat-of-my-pants plan just now. http://anearlierheaven.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/this-week-for-dinner/
Crystal
Yummy! Can we come over…for the whole week??? I need to start menu planning again now that we’re out of the frozen meals people kept giving us after the whole hospital thing. You have inspired me. I have a feeling we’ll be having taco salad this week…
Beth
Heck yeah, when are ya coming? 🙂
kelly
Honestly, I normally find meal plans intolerably boring .But I’m so intrigued and inspired by the way you guys eat that I clicked over to this and found it really interesting! Thanks for sharing!
We eat very much the same way except that we eat bread, waaaaaay too much bread…
Beth
Well if you normally find meal plans boring but enjoyed this one, then that’s quite a compliment. Thanks! (I love bread so much too… but not the way it makes me feel… so it’s an occasional treat instead of any everyday thing).
Marissa
I love meal plans!! I am just making supper, my real reason for being on the comp to find a recipe for scarlet runner beans, right now (from my meal plan:) which is including acorn squash. Right now, I basically need to plan all three meals plus snacks…otherwise, I forget until meal time and then my hungry baby brain and children get a little crazy…making it really hard. I have seen some really interesting frittata type things using squash lately, I will let you know how they turn out once I try them if you like.
Oh and for oats. We eat Bob’s Red Mill wheat free oats once or twice a week (just to be sure with Aneliese) and they sell them at the health food store in your little town and also Super Store carries them. They won’t be gluten free, just wheat free, and there are differing opinions on how they are tolerated, we find them to be fine but still limit.
Beth
Oooh, thanks for the tip on wheat free oats at the health food store. I’ll definitely check that out. Hopefully Isaac can tolerate them! It’s nice just for those days when the idea of eggs make you queasy… and we get those once in a while!
I would LOVE some great frittata recipes – please do pass them on 🙂