Tag Archives: meal planning

In which wheat and dairy come back to the party

04/24/2017 Nichole

The last few weeks I’ve put a good bit of energy into making sure we had wheat- and dairy-free meals, because Pete and I were doing an elimination diet. We finished that project and found that we both feel a bit better on limited amounts of dairy and wheat products. So this week finds us sliding back into our old ways a bit, and I’m kind of disappointed with that. We’ll see how we both feel at the end of the week; I may need to go back to a more restrictive menu plan next week.

Monday: Grilled cheese sandwiches: Well, it was meant to be grilled cheese, anyway.
Pete ended up asking if he could have a bowl of Quisp instead, and I acquiesced because it was that kind of evening.

Tuesday: Cracker Barrel chicken: I haven’t actually made this recipe the last several times it’s been on the menu. Maybe we don’t like it enough to leave it in the regular rotation. We’ll see if we actually have it tomorrow.

Wednesday: Leftovers? Sandwiches? Quisp?: We’ll be busy little bees on Wednesday,
so it’ll be kind of a fend-for-yourself evening.

Thursday: Breakfast burritos: I intend to make breakfast burritos, but there’s a pretty good chance the kids will request regular ol’ eggs and veggie sausages instead.

Friday: Pizza: I’m still avoiding dairy and wheat, but I’m not eschewing either all together. We tried a gluten-free pizza from a local place a few weeks ago. It was surprisingly lovely.

Hungry for more? Check out the Menu Plan Monday linkup at OrgJunkie.

I miss cheese

04/03/2017 Nichole

Hey Nichole, where’ve you been?
Mostly in the car. These kids with their activities, you know?

But why haven’t you been writing anything?
I think I lost my mojo a month or so ago, and I still haven’t found it. But Poppy tells me I should write something, so here we are.

What’s new?
I’ve spent a good amount of time recently trying to figure out what Pete and I can and can’t eat. We’ve both been having some stomach issues, and I’ve been having headaches and dry, itchy spots on my limbs. So we’re doing an elimination diet to try to figure out if my favorite foods — bread and cheese — are doing us wrong. It seems to be working. I haven’t had as many headaches, both of us have had fewer stomachaches, and I had a pretty bad Day 11 after eating some bread and cheese on Day 10. (I know 10 days isn’t long enough, but we had a special occasion.)

We’re trying to eliminate wheat/gluten and most dairy. I say “most” because I’m still cooking with butter. I’ve only struggled with it a couple of times, mostly when confronted with pizza or naan. I can’t figure out which item I’d prefer to be causing the problem, but I’m very much hoping it isn’t both of them.

Monday: Soy-Scallion Flank Steak: I didn’t use gluten-free soy sauce in this marinade. Hopefully that doesn’t do us in.

Tuesday: Balsamic chicken: I’ve been making this for awhile, since my father-in-law changed his diet for health reasons. It’s delicious.

Wednesday: Barbacoa tacos: We’re going to serve this with corn tortillas, and I already know I’m going to miss the sour cream and cheese. I’m hoping copious amounts of avocado will help.

Thursday: Breakfast for dinner: I have a meeting, so Rockford will be manning the pancake (and gluten-free waffle) station.

Friday: Pork tenderloin: I haven’t decided how I’m going to do this yet, but I’m leaning toward putting it on the grill.

Hungry for more? Check out the Menu Plan Monday linkup at OrgJunkie.

menu plan Monday

I intentionally ate mushrooms

02/27/2017 Nichole 1 Comment

Rockford’s parents have been joining us for dinner on Sunday evenings pretty much every Sunday night for nearly a decade. Rockford’s sister recently moved to town, though, so now we’re going to her house for dinner every other weekend. She and her fiancé are excellent cooks, and it was delightful to finish off a very busy weekend with homemade chicken marsala made elsewhere by other people. I even ate the mushrooms, which is a good indication that it was delicious. After dinner most of us trekked back over to our house for dessert and the Oscars. I didn’t put nearly as much work into dessert — eclairs and a triple-berry tart, thank you Trader Joe’s — as they put into dinner, but we still enjoyed it.

We also mostly enjoyed the Oscars. Jimmy Kimmel needs to lay off the Making Fun of People’s Names bit, though, and that ending was a doozy. I’m glad “Moonlight” won, but I feel bad that they didn’t get the full experience. I didn’t think “La La Land” deserved to win at all, but I also feel very bad for the folks who worked on it to literally have the statues taken out of their hands on stage. What a weird, awkward way to cap off the evening.

Anyway and apropos of nothing other than it’s Monday and we talk about food on Mondays: here’s what we’ll be eating for dinner this week.

Monday: Breakfast for dinner: I have a meeting this evening, and Rockford has promised the kids pancakes and eggs and veggie sausages. Overachiever.

Tuesday: Blackened Chicken with Avocado Cream Sauce: I’m pretty sure I found this one on Pinterest. I love “blackened” seasoning and avocados. Hopefully I love them together.

Wednesday: Spaghetti and meatballs: Wednesdays are pretty busy for us, so I’m going to have to make the meatballs early in the day to make this happen. We’ll see how that goes.

Thursday: Probably out: I have another meeting on Thursday. Rockford and the kids might meet me for dinner afterward, or they might have something delicious waiting when I get home.

Friday: Pizza: It might be nice enough weather for grilled pizza this week. But it might be a long enough week for ordering out or frozen pizza.

Hungry for more? Check out the Menu Plan Monday linkup at OrgJunkie.