Menu Plan: Week of May 18 - Whole30 Detox, Week 4

So I was really lazy last week and didn't do a menu plan post.  I did have a menu plan though.  The highlights are

• We ate fish (Sonny D loves fish!).   
• I made a huge batch of beef stew that we ate for several days, including for my breakfast with a poached egg on top.  
• I went to Dubuque to visit my friend Renae.  I showed her how easy it is to make homemade mayonnaise and she immediately requested a second batch, which she turned into an awesome tartar sauce. 
• We made it through the week without a breakfast egg dish.  We ate leftovers for breakfast and made whatever sounded good, but it's a little too much work to have to cook something up to eat every morning.  

Whole30 Cleanse/Detox

This is the fourth week of our detox.  So far we've

• Learned - Jeff loves half an avocado for breakfast and he wants to continue that even after the detox.  I think sweet potatoes are great, I rarely ate them prior to the cleanse but I think I'll have them on hand in the future for a simple add-on for a meal.  Also, homemade mayo is amazing, I eat it with pretty much everything.
• Noticed - that I need less protein as the day goes on.  If I don't eat a big breakfast full of protein and fat I end up hungry by mid-morning, but for dinner I barely need any protein to sustain myself until morning. I've also noticed I have reduced my "love handles" and my tummy is less jiggly. 
• Been Frustrated By - not being able to eat a lot of fruit.  We're supposed to limit the amount of fruit we eat to break our sugar habit, but fruit is so easy -- it doesn't need much prep (maybe peel it) and doesn't need to be cooked.  
• Loved - avocado with as many meals as possible, taco salads.  I've cooked up taco meat three of the four weeks, I portion it out into jars so Jeff can grab one and some salad greens and take them to work.  
• Had a Hard Time With - different locations.  At home things are figured out for us, but our old habits come to the surface when we're somewhere else like the in-laws house for dinner.  This weekend I also ate at Renae's house and our friends' Brian & Kristen's house and I feel like I have to be so careful so I don't accidentally eat something I shouldn't. 
• Been Surprised By - How we sleep much more soundly.  But also surprised by a lack of good side effects.  We're supposed to have lots of energy (they call it "tiger blood") and that's not happening yet.  Jeff actually reports being tired more often.  I'm surprised that I haven't had any dreams about food.  I actually don't dream about food when I sleep, but I do think about it all day.  :)  I was already eating foods that were pretty consistent with the Whole30 way of thinking (less carbs, lean protein, veggies, etc.) so maybe my body didn't really need to do much adjusting. 
• Had to Readjust - We were eating WAY too much nut butter and fruit in the beginning.  We were eating both of them together to substitute for dessert, which we don't actually have anyway, but we do eat fruit with most meals.  I stopped buying so much fruit and I haven't really had nut butter since week 2.  
• Been Planning - all of the decadent treats I want to make/eat when we're done with the detox.  I listen to the America's Test Kitchen radio podcast and they've mentioned several things that sound great, like chocolate French silk pie and oatmeal fudge bars.  It's usually really rare that I even make desserts.  Oh, and I'm planning to have a doughnut when I'm done with this whole thing.  It's been so hard to be completely denied any sweets/desserts. 

This week we're supposedly hitting the stage where we're bored with Whole30, sick of our food choices and ready to be done.  I think I've done a pretty good job with a lot of variety for our meals, but I am certainly done eating so much beef and chicken.  I really don't like meat this much. 

Next week will be the end of our detox but I'm definitely going to do the gradual reintroduction of foods to see if I have any reactions to them.  I don't think I will have any issues, but you never know unless you try it out. 

Meal Plan

I made a breakfast egg casserole for the week, this time taco meat with bell pepper, tomatoes, chiles, and spinach.  

My lunches are going to be salads this week using my homemade mayo - I've already made chicken salad and will make another batch with the couple of cooked chicken breasts hanging out in the fridge.  Then next up will be egg salad because I make a dozen hard-boiled eggs every week.  And then tuna salad.  

Jeff's lunches will be taco salads, so good and so easy.  He found out today that a hard-boiled egg and a can of beets do not equal a lunch.  A few hours later he went to the grocery store to buy something more to eat because he didn't have anything else.  He found out most snack nuts are roasted with oils we can't eat, but eventually found something.  Maybe now he sees the beauty of a well-packed lunch (and appreciates what I do for him!).

• Monday - We had grilled sirloin tip steak, fajita veggies (grilled peppers and onions), and cauliflower rice
• Tuesday - Grandma and grandpa pick up Sonny D and Husband Jeff and I go to Zumba, so no real dinner but hard-boiled eggs and nuts.  It's actually the perfect amount of protein and fat before class.  After class we'll have some lean protein, last week I cut up chicken breast and we chowed it on the way home to get Sonny D.  
• Wednesday - Indian night with butter chicken and a package of Punjab eggplant and more cauliflower rice.
• Thursday - Greek bison kofta (ground meat on a stick) and some veggies.
• Friday - In the morning I'm going to my step-brother's graduation and in the afternoon I'm visiting my online friend Biz (from My Bizzy Kitchen) in real life when she comes to Milwaukee to do the Spartan adventure race.  So I'm leaving Husband Jeff and Sonny D for yet another Friday.  This time I'm planning they'll have frozen Trader Joe's chile-lime chicken burgers and a bag of steamable broccoli.  I'm
• Saturday - Core Fusion exercise class in the morning and Sonny D has swimming after that.  I think we'll have lime shrimp avocado salad for lunch and dinner will be Italian meatball soup or Mediterranean chicken skillet.
• Sunday - Northside farmers' market! There still isn't much at the market aside from asparagus, rhubarb, onions, and plants.  Oh well, still fun to go.  Last week I spent a ton of money on local grass-fed beef and some fish.  I think for dinner we'll have a lasagna where instead of noodles it uses zucchini and instead of cheese it's ground cashews.  I know it doesn't sound too amazing, but the recipe had a lot of good reviews.  It'll be a nice change of pace. 

I keep forgetting that this weekend is Memorial Day.  We don't have any plans at all. 

Menu Plan: Week of May 4 - Whole30 Detox, Week 2

Whole30 Cleanse - Week 1

The cleanse is going quite well. The food is no problem, but that comes from lots of research, planning, and preparation.  We did a lot of prep work to have veggies ready to eat.  On the second day I had a bit of headache (as expected) but it was barely anything. They say the second-day headache is directly related to the amount of crap you ate before the cleanse, it's your body working through it. Luckily I'm a pretty healthy eater, I can't imagine what it must feel like for those people who drink several diet Cokes per day and eat fast food regularly. 

Breakfast egg bake - potatoes, peppers, onion, and black olives.
And half an avocado for healthy fat.

Breakfast also looks like this.
Scrambled eggs with mushrooms, spinach, peppers,
sweet potato, and avocado.

More egg bake - chorizo, spinach, tomato, green chile, and black olives.
Mashed avocado on top.

I'm supposed to be aiming for three meals per day to ensure you're eating enough protein and fat and also to make sure you're not having snacks (which tend to be sugary and uncontrolled), but I'm still hungry between meals.  It's getting a little better because I think my body is adjusting.  The hardest thing about being home all the time with nothing to do is that there aren't a whole lot of real distractions to keep you busy. I have lists of random chores that I work through each day, but none of them are actually important or busy enough to ensure I don't get distracted. The best is when I'm out of the house running errands.  

Taco salad for lunch.

Lunch of homemade breakfast sausage and leftover roasted veggies.

I've come to realize how much I usually taste things that I can't have right now - licking my sticky fingers after making a PB sandwich for Sonny D, testing the temperature of his ultra-creamy coffee, checking to see if toast is too crunchy to feed to him (ended up toasting a second time to warm up a leftover piece and it was too toasted/dark).  Just so many habits to break. Like snagging one of his gummy vitamins because they're good. 

Dinner of zucchini noodles with pesto and baked fish.

My attempt at french fries didn't work, too crowded on the baking sheet.
We still ate them!

Homemade BBQ sauce to go with shredded pork.  Turned out great!

Chicken with roasted veggies and sweet potato with cilantro pesto.

Husband Jeff found that his vitamins had soy in them so lucky he was able to switch to a different bottle we already had.

My favorite snack is pork rinds dipped in homemade mayo. Crunchy, creamy, tasty!  Pork rinds are awesome, they don't have any carbs and are less calories than potato chips. And homemade mayo is great!  I used extra-virgin olive oil that has a strong olive taste which is a little overpowering.  I'm glad I got light olive oil for my next batch so it's a little more milk.  I'm the only one who eats the mayo, but that's not a problem, I put it on a lot of things. 

Post-workout snack, pork rinds with mayo!

We've inspired some of our friends to look into what they're eating.  One gal is reading ingredient lists for added sugar and another friend is modifying what he eats to be more focused on protein and veggies without grains or sugar.  

I've found that I'm the only one in the family who eats celery or cucumber.  So sad.  And it's hard to really eat much of either of them if you're not dipping them in yummy hummus (not on the cleanse because it's made from legumes).

I thought I ate pretty healthy but apparently I still have a sugar habit.  I realize that throughout the day I want to occasionally have a little taste of something sweet. I keep trying to tell myself it's because I can't have anything sugary that I want it so much, but I don't feel that way for bread so it must be an addiction.  I definitely know that I was using sugar for a quick burst of energy, before my exercise classes I would have something small and sugary like 3-4 jelly beans. And we've definitely been substituting fruit for sugar, we've eaten four container of strawberries in just one week and two each of blackberries and raspberries.  We put almond butter or sunflower butter on them as a dessert.  I'm going to try to reduce the amount of fruit this week.   

I'm not having coffee during our cleanse since I found that coffee without both cream AND sugar is disgusting.  That's ok though because I don't need it for the caffeine since I drink decaf anyway.  

I thought breakfast would be hard, but we've made a couple big egg casseroles with potatoes and veggies and meat and it's fine.  I don't actually miss my oatmeal and I thought I would have a huge problem with that.  

We've gone through a lot of eggs on this detox, we bought three dozen eggs last Sunday and we needed more eggs before the end of the week.  Eight eggs went in our first egg bake (enough for 4 days) and I also made a dozen hardboiled eggs for supplementing lunches and quick workout protein.   The rest of the eggs went into individual breakfasts after the egg bake was gone and for Sonny D's breakfasts.  This Sunday I bought four dozen eggs and we immediately used a whole dozen to make this week's egg bake.  

We're eating a lot more food, I went grocery shopping several times to supplement what we already had.  But in other ways we're not eating much, like some of the veggies are sticking around a while. 

Zipper dog hanging out resting on my slippered feet at dinner.

Non-Whole30 Stuff

Sonny D loves swimming lessons.  Jeff took him to the pool for open swim on Friday and he had a great time jumping in and diving for the weights.  It's so great to see him work with his swim instructor and be so happy after each activity.  

We found some time on Saturday to start working on my coffee station.  Jeff cut out the boards and I drilled out all of the holes to connect everything.  Only need to glue it together and then screw it together and then paint it! 

Husband Jeff cutting out wood for my coffee station.

I'm using the Kreg jig to make holes for my coffee station.

And I have to declare that Craigslist is great.  I listed a Crate & Barrel rug on Friday and sold it a day later for $200.  And then later that same day we drove out to someone's house and bought a tagalong bike for Sonny D.  It connects to the adult bike and rides along behind like a tandem bike.  The kid can pedal if they want or just hang on and look around.  They went out for their first ride to try it out and I thought they would go around the block and come right back but they were gone for over an hour.  Money well spent!

Husband Jeff and Sonny D heading out on tagalong bike.

Menu Plan

It's Cinco de Mayo on Tuesday so I've got a theme of Mexican food this week.

I'm having a hard time planning veggies for our meals.  We seem to eat a lot of some things and nothing of others.  It's pretty easy to make something with whatever we've got around, either fresh or in the freezer or pantry. I also feel like we're stuck on the same veggies -- green beans, cauliflower, and broccoli.  I need to consult my Whole30 shopping list for some ideas of other things to try. 

• Monday - Mexican shrimp salads with roasted carrots
• Tuesday - No dinner because Sonny D goes to grandma & grandpa's and we've got Zumba class.  I'll have a couple hardboiled eggs and a handful of nuts before class.  After class I have some more protein and a sweet potato. 
• Wednesday - Continuing the Mexican theme with chile con carne.  It's going to be sad since we can't have beans in our chili and that's our favorite part.  But I'm going to upgrade us from regular ground beef to large meaty bites of beef chuck, hopefully that will satisfy us.
• Thursday - Having leftover chili for dinner before I head out to a board meeting for our Korean adoption group.  I love having leftovers around for minimal effort.   
• Friday - a quick meal of hot dogs before we head to family fun night at the local rec center.
• Saturday - I want to hit the plant sale at the local community garden.  I don't know what they'll have, but my garden planning is banking on them having what I need to finish my garden.  I don't have a dinner planned, but I've got a recipe for a Mexican chicken taco soup that uses pumpkin puree and I might make that.  Or if the weather is really nice we'll plan to get something from the meat market and grill out.
• Sunday -  Heading to the northside farmers' market like usual.  I'm glad it's already going but sad because there isn't much available yet and what is there isn't appealing.  I usually like rhubarb to make a rhubarb cake but we can't have that.  I also make a rhubarb puree for my oatmeal, but not eating that either.  And rhubarb isn't going to be any good without any sugar added.  And I like asparagus, but Husband Jeff doesn't like it much so I can't count on that for a veggie for dinner. 
  It's Mother's Day and we're having a meal with my in-laws.  I said I would come up with a couple things to make, but I haven't done that yet, gotta look at my bookmarks and Pinterest board for inspiration! 

Menu Plan: Week of April 27 - Whole30 Detox, Week 1

This Monday is when we start our Whole30 detox where we go 30 days without eating grains, legumes/soy, dairy, sugar, or alcohol.  I've had a few worries come to mind when planning for this cleanse.

• I'm afraid that I am going to have trouble with my breakfast. I was joking about being addicted to oats because I have oatmeal for breakfast every single morning, but I might actually be addicted.  We'll find out.
• I'm also worried about what to eat before going to Zumba class. I typically have a couple pieces of toast with nut butter on them but bread is not allowed on our cleanse.  I tried a Whole30-approved pre-workout meal of two eggs and a handful of nuts and it worked out fine, so maybe I'll just eat that same exact thing every week.
• I'm afraid that I won't be able to do it, that I won't be strong enough to last the whole 30 days doing this change. This cleanse is generally pretty close to what I already eat, but occasionally I include a little bit of rice, bread, or pasta or something with sugar in it like a dessert.
• I'm afraid that I'll eat something without thinking about it, like clean off my son's spoon for him or while I'm packing his lunch in the morning.  It's just a habit to give a taste when packing his lunch, even if I'm not hungry.

Menu Plan for Whole30 Detox, Week 1

I don't know how much we'll eat each day so I've got ideas ready and we can make them as we run out of food.  Snacks aren't really condoned, so I came up with ideas that can supplement our meals since we're just figuring all of this out. 

I bought much larger amounts of things we already buy, like three dozen eggs from the local farmer, 14 bananas since Husband Jeff said he wants to eat bananas a lot, a bag of sweet potatoes, a bag of regular white potatoes, loads of fruits and veggies, etc. 

Prep - clean fruits & veggies, make a dozen hard-boiled eggs, make taco meat for lunch salads, make breakfast casserole

Breakfasts - egg casserole with homemade sausage, roasted veggies, fruit
Lunches - taco salads, leftover meat on top of salads, sweet potatoes
Lunch/meal supplements - apples and bananas with nut butter, some sort of dip with veggies, hard-boiled eggs, olives, monkey salad (banana slices, nuts, coconut flakes, raisins, nut butter)

My favorite random food item that I've found we can eat is pork rinds.  I want to make a creamy cashew dip and we can eat the pork rinds dipped in that.  

• Monday - The weather is supposed to warm up this week, so grilling out seems like a great option.  We'll grill up a whole package of chicken breasts and any leftovers we'll have on salads for lunch.  We've also got a grill pan, so we'll grill up a bunch of potatoes and veggies too.
• Tuesday - I've got a massage scheduled, that should be a really nice way to start the week, especially with this cleanse.  Grandma & grandpa are going to pick up Sonny D like usual, so we don't have to worry about dinner for him that night.  I don't know what Husband Jeff will eat for his pre-workout meal, but I'm going to have two eggs and a handful of nuts.  We also need to eat a post-workout meal of protein and carb-dense veggies, so I've got a bag of sweet potatoes waiting for us. 
• Wednesday - Around lunch time we've got Sonny D's conference at his preschool.  baked fish, spinach pesto (minus cheese) on zucchini boodles, and a frozen California veggie blend.
• Thursday - Trader Joe's spicy Italian chicken sausage (hot dog for Sonny D), homemade baked sweet potato fries with homemade mayo (which I made on Saturday, amazing!), a half batch of tomato-basil soup.
• Friday - BBQ pork shoulder roast, some sort of slaw, gold potatoes.  It's Me & D night but I think Husband Jeff is going to take him to the pool for open swim.  Lessons have been going great!
• Saturday - I've got exercise class in the morning like usual, and Sonny D has his swimming lesson.  We usually let Sonny D pick the lunch place after swimming, but I've warned him that Daddy and I won't be able to go out to eat at restaurants on our special diet, so I think I've convinced him to come home for lunch but we'll still take him out for the requisite post-swimmng ice cream.  For lunch we'll have leftover BBQ and slaw.  Dinner will be grilled burgers and potatoes.
• Sunday - I recently had to fill out some paperwork and give our dog's birthdate, so I randomly picked a date that worked with the age we estimate him to me.  So I picked May 3, so Zipper will be 2 years old on Sunday.  We'll probably treat the dog in some fun way, maybe make him a special doggie treat.  There's also the MadCity Bazaar (billed as "an urban pop-up flea market") that I'm going to check out and our little northside farmers' market starts up.  Lunch will be a random assortment.  We might have some leftovers from the week we need to eat up but if not, we can have tuna salad, hard-boiled eggs, nuts, and fruit.  For dinner we'll grill up a sirloin tip steak and have a frozen Price Edward veggie medley (green beans, yellow beans, and carrots). 

Menu Plan: Week of April 20

Here's a photo log of the past week.

Tuesday I took 9 boxes of stuff to Goodwill. Love getting rid of stuff!

Wednesday we got a load of dirt delivered for our garden beds.

Asparagus growing in our garden, harvested a day later for dinner.

Three bulbs of garlic growing in the garden.

Saturday's Food Camp demonstration about water kefir.

Husband Jeff built Sonny D a balance beam on Sunday morning.

Then Husband Jeff put together his new firepit (birthday gift).

Jeff also built this pair of garden beds on Sunday.

The closer bed is Sonny D's and he's planning to grow carrots and blueberries.  The next bed back is Husband Jeff's, he's going to put in flowers.The far-left bed in the back is my vegetable garden. 

Kefir grains, looks like water crystals.

At the water kefir presentation at Food Camp we were given about 1/2 cup of kefir grains.  The grains are a SCOBY, a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast. Water kefir grains are used to ferment sugar water and turn it into a probiotic fizzy beverage similar to soda. I didn't take notes at the presentation and I followed a recipe the presenter recommended but hopefully I did everything correctly!  I made a lime kefir water, inside the quart mason jar are a dried apricot (somehow dried fruits help it ferment), 1/4 cup sugar, about 1/3 cup of kefir grains, two limes cut in half, and filtered water.  This primary fermentation creates the probiotics and then there's a second fermentation to create the carbonation.

My lime water kefir right after making it on Monday morning.

My water kefir a little more than 24 hours old. Look at the grain growth!

The water kefir grains seem to be multiplying pretty quickly even though our kitchen is pretty cold.  They are mature grains and hadn't been dehydrated like the ones you buy online because I've read those take a little longer to get going.  I'll let it ferment for two days and then strain out the grains and combine the resulting fermented kefir liquid with some sort of juice and let that ferment a couple more days and then it will be ready to drink.

This Week

• Monday - We watched our friends' boy who goes to preschool with Sonny D.  The two of them had a great time romping around and playing while I made dinner.  We had Trader Joe's Italian sausages, Syracuse salt potatoes (potatoes boiled in really salty water. try it, so creamy!), and roasted veggies. The veggies included seven spears of asparagus from our own garden.  I also made a creamy cashew-based dip/sauce with chives from our yard, it worked as a great sour cream substitute for the potatoes. 
• Tuesday - No dinner planned because Sonny D is hanging out with grandma and grandpa while Husband Jeff and I go to Zumba.  I want to try eating the pre-workout foods for the Whole30 detox we start next week, but I might wuss out and stick with my usual two pieces of toast with almond butter.  Next week I'll really have to do it though since we'll be on the detox.
• Wednesday - Pasta with red sauce since we have a leftover half a jar frozen.  The sauce doesn't fit within the Whole30 restrictions, so we need to eat it now rather than later.
• Thursday - Husband Jeff's birthday and a family celebration at his cousin's house.  We'll eat whatever they're making, sounds like brats and chicken breasts on the grill. 
• Friday - pesto pasta with cheese ravioli, corn, and salads. 
• Saturday - Sonny D's swim lessons again, we haven't discussed what we'll do for lunch afterwards, but it always includes getting ice cream.  We're also going to pull out the tent and try taking a nap in the yard in the afternoon.  If that goes well, we'll also try sleeping out there at night, but this weekend looks rather cold so we might have to wait a while. Dinner will be hot dogs grilled over Husband Jeff's new firepit (birthday gift) and of course we'll toast marshmallows for s'mores. 
• Sunday - I'm going to a vegetarian Indian cooking class in the afternoon while Sonny D and Husband Jeff go to a birthday party for the boy we watched on Monday evening. 

Menu Planning: Week of April 13

In preparation for our Whole30 cleanse/detox, this week I'm planning that we'll aim to eat up some of the foods that we can't have during the detox so we can get them out of the house. Next week I'm hoping our meals will skew even more towards gluten-free and compliant foods so we can prep our minds and bodies for the cleanse. 

It's a quiet week. I've been slowly adding to a pile of stuff for Goodwill, probably should take that in before it gets too large. We did a lot of garden/yard cleanup over the weekend, feels good to have it ready. I've also got my garden and plantings all planned out, can't wait to go buy seeds and seedlings. Just have to wait for Husband Jeff to put the plastic on the raised garden bed. 

Monday - Trader Joe's tomato & roasted red pepper soup with quesadillas.   The tortillas have been languishing in the fridge and need to get eaten up, same with the soup we opened this weekend. It's Sonny D's favorite soup, he calls it "red soup".

Tuesday - Sonny D will do his usual plan of hanging out with grandma and grandpa for the evening, but our Zumba class is cancelled for the next few weeks because our instructor had appendicitis last weekend and an appendectomy. Not sure when we'll have class next. I don't really want to skip the exercise, but it would be nice to have a date night with Husband Jeff.  I looked at the nearby movie theater and they've got Furious 7 playing, and I love cars and action movies, so it sounds great!  Plus Tuesdays are $5 movies, can't beat that price for the first-run movies. Maybe I can convince him to grab something quick to eat and head over there. 

Wednesday - panko-crusted tilapia, gnocchi alla sorentina, and peas, all frozen stuff from Trader Joe's and stuff we can't eat during the cleanse. 

Thursday - General Tso's tofu with rice and chicken-cilantro wontons. I really hope this is the last of the wontons, they're really good but it's like the never-ending bag from Costco. I swear I've made wontons from this bag at least 5-6 times and they're still not gone.  Another meal full of things we can't eat on the cleanse. 

Friday - I'm shopping at and working my volunteer shift at the Half-Pint Resale event, that leaves Husband Jeff and Sonny D to fend for dinner by themselves. When given options, Sonny D said he wanted pasta with red sauce. It's also open swim night at the nearby elementary school, hopefully they get to go because last week's swim lesson was cancelled because the instructor was sick. Sonny D took it all in stride, but he was really looking forward to class.  

Saturday - I'm spending all day at Madison Food Camp, I'm so excited!  They still have spots open if you'd like to come too!  Sonny D has his official swimming lesson, I hope he does as well as the last time, he actually stayed in the water for the whole lesson and did great. Dinner is Italian sausages, soycutash, and Syracuse salt potatoes (potatoes boiled in a really salty brine, it makes them tender). Only the potatoes from this meal can be eaten during our cleanse.  It's a recipe I haven't tried before, but if they're good I'll make them again. 

Sunday - We're going out with husband Jeff's parents for for Jeff's birthday (a few days early) and our anniversary. No idea where we'll go, but Husband Jeff tends to pick his favorite local pizza place, Glass Nickel. Since I get a tiny 1/3 vote, I'd like to suggest going somewhere else.  One of our well-liked Chinese restaurants (Imperial Garden east) is closing because they're getting torn down to make way for new development and it would be nice to go there one last time. Plus I like that it's one of the few nice eat-in Asian restaurants around, most of them are the quick takeout places. 

Have a nice week and enjoy the weather wherever you are, it's supposed to be in the 60s and 70s this week for us.  

Menu Plan: Week of March 30

Random Things From Last Week

Sunday - I bought the Garnier anti-dark circle eye roller and a lilac nail polish (Sally Hansen's 'No Hard Feelings). I'm totally in love with both!  I still haven't figured it out, but I think the eye roller is a combo of concealer (that part I'm sure about) and some form of skincare to make under eye circles look better without the makeup. And the lilac nail polish is perfect for spring, a lovely pastel.

Monday - Here's a pic from the gym, I'm still pumping iron.

At the gym.

Tuesday - Ever see some furniture out on the curb for the garbage truck and think "oh my gawd, that is so dirty. Was that disgusting thing in your house and you were sitting on it just yesterday?"

I'm interested in the whole 30 diet after reading this blog post from Yum Yucky. The girl's results are impressive and was thinking it might be something to try, you know kind of as a challenge for myself to see if I can go without sugar and carbs for a month.  I mentioned it to Husband Jeff and he's on board.  We've talked and we'll start it the day after his birthday (April 23).  So look for details on that coming up.  It means we'll go without any grains, legumes/soy, sugar, alcohol, or dairy.   That means no oatmeal for me!  Figuring out all our meals for the cleanse will be fun since I love planning.

Wednesday - Question overheard at the gym between three old gals on the treadmills - "what is your favorite snack food? " 

I didn't stick around to hear the answers because I had my headphones in, but I think one gal mentioned peanuts.  My snack of choice is popcorn. There was popcorn at the Honda dealership yesterday and I only had a small bag. But was quite good, especially for not-home-popped.  

On my way out of the gym I had a fantasy where the two people talking on their cell phones were trying to get me, and I needed to pull out some super awesome moves to avoid capture. Made me think that I either want to be a ninja or a superhero. Or maybe like a secret spy. Is there a place that'll teach me how to be a super-secret spy?

Thursday - So you know how sprouted seeds are supposed to be good for you?  I had a "duh!" moment the other day when I realized I should try sprouting chia seeds for my breakfast. I guess I always thought processed grains/seeds/whatever couldn't be sprouted, that the sprouting-ness was gone because it had been heat-treated or whatever. Like you can't sprout roasted almonds, right? Not sure when I'll get around to it, but that's on my list. 

Sunday - I decided to transfer everything left in the basement chest freezer to the upstairs freezer.  Then I turned off the chest freezer to let it defrost.  It ended up that everything fit in the upstairs freezer, but just barely.  So we're still on a mission to still eat as much from the freezer as possible until I can get the time to wash down the chest freezer.  And then if we're doing the Whole30 cleanse/detox, we certainly won't want all that bread around! 

Freezer remnants got moved.

This Week 

Tuna casserole with crunchy panko breadcrumbs and parmesan on top.

• Monday - Sonny D is on spring break, so we visited my parents.  I made tuna noodle casserole for dinner and it was great!  I loved the cream cheese in the sauce, it made it creamy and thick. The only ingredient it used from the freezer was peas, but we had a partial bag of them that we finished, so that felt good. 
• Tuesday - Husband Jeff is taking off to hang out with Sonny D and I.  Today's plan is to go to State Street, the pedestrian mall area downtown.  Think we'll attempt to eat lunch down there.  No dinner because we'll drop Sonny D off with Grandma & Grandpa and have a little something before we go to Zumba.
• Wednesday - I was originally planning we'd have waffles from the freezer with strawberry sauce (from the freezer) and salads, but the tuna noodle casserole made a lot so we should eat those leftovers.  Maybe we'll eat the casserole for lunches and still have the waffles for dinner.  
• Thursday - Hanging out with Sonny D's friends in the morning since they're off for spring break as well.  For dinner I was hoping we'd get a take & bake pizza from Aldi since I've heard great things about it, but we've already got a Trader Joe's deep-dish pizza in the freezer that we should eat first.  In the evening I'm having a WildTree party so I'll have lots of snacks and things to nibble on. Everything at the party will pretty much be gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free so my friend Heather can sample as much as possible.
• Friday - No plans for the day, but my friend Heather invited us over for dinner.  I'm making a fun non-alcoholic beverage to bring. 
• Saturday - I don't have Core Fusion in the morning because it's spring break, but I'll try to get some exercise in, especially since I won't get much time for it during the week. More swimming lessons for Sonny D.  He wasn't a fan of the lessons last week with his regular teacher, hopefully things go better this week.  In the afternoon my friend Heather and I talking about exploring an Asian/Indian market.  I was thinking I'd make Indian for dinner as well.  That's another meal where I don't think we'll use anything from the freezer (unless I can sneak in some shredded zucchini), but we would use up some packets in the cupboard. 
• Sunday - We're having Easter brunch at Jeff's Aunt Nancy's house, that'll probably be an indulgent affair.  I was thinking for dinner we'd have tofu parmigiana (tofu from the freezer) with a bit of pasta.  Maybe salads if we still have some greens left.   

Menu Plan: Week of March 23

Last week we went out a couple times, the first time was to Bassett Street Brunch Club for breakfast-for-dinner.  It was fine, we were all ok with our entrees but nothing was amazing.  We really liked the doughnuts though.  And our anniversary dinner at Cento on Wednesday was nice too. 

For Sonny D's first swimming lesson on Saturday he was the only kid (only three per class) so he had a private lesson.  It ended up being a great way to start out because he wasn't exactly thrilled to be there.  He told me that I couldn't watch him during his lesson because it would make him shy, so I was turned to the side the whole time, but I cheated and recorded video with my phone. 

This Week

We're still working on eating as much from our freezers as possible so I can defrost the chest freezer in the basement. I am really hoping we'll be able to defrost it later this week, maybe by Friday.

• Monday - French toast to use as much bread as possible, frozen chicken breakfast sausage, salads, and fruit
• Tuesday - I'm excited for my massage in the afternoon.  No dinner except for a couple pieces of toast before Zumba class.
• Wednesday -We're going out for Peruvian food at Surco with our friends Chuck & Buddha.
• Thursday - The weather doesn't sound too great but we're planning to grill tonight, along with a bag of Trader Joe's frozen gnocchi and home-frozen corn.
• Friday - More frozen tilapia pan-fried along with frozen hash-brown patties, and the remaining frozen green beans and frozen peas from two partial bags. 
• Saturday - Back to swimming lessons for Sonny D and lunch out with ice cream afterwards. Sonny D has been asking about using the food coloring so we're going to color Easter eggs in the afternoon.  For dinner Husband Jeff requested we go to Taqueria Guadalajara for Mexican for dinner.  
• Sunday -I think we'll skip the last winter farmers' market unless I decide that we need eggs.  We actually do go through eggs pretty quickly, so we might actually need to buy more.  We're meeting friends for lunch at the Asian sweet bakery and then shopping at the Korean market afterwards.  For dinner we'll have tuna casserole because by that point we won't had much else in the freezer to eat.    

Menu Plan: Week of March 16

I'm still trying to empty our chest freezer in the basement so I can defrost it since I recently realized it's lined with a thick coating of frost.  We're making progress on eating things but it feels so slow.  By the end of this week we should be pretty good and close to defrost time, but we have a few meals out at restaurants this week that will slow us down.  One thing that will be difficult is I counted NINE loaves of bread down there.  When I go to Trader Joe's I buy six to eight loaves of their sprouted bread.  They're petite loaves, definitely smaller than your standard bread.  We seem to go through them pretty quickly, that's why I buy so many at a time.  I'm regretting having so many right now.  Maybe there will be lots of sandwiches for lunches and snacks in our immediate future.  We also have a decent number of homemade frozen burritos that should be eaten up.

• Monday - Our Breakfast Club group is getting together for a dinner-for-breakfast at Bassett St Brunch Club.  I'll probably get the veggie hash or an omelet but there are lots of things that sound great, like the savory French toast.  I looked at the weather report and today is supposed to be 72 degrees, so this will be a great way to celebrate the definite arrival of spring.
• Tuesday - St. Patrick's Day.  We don't have any themed plans for the day but maybe we'll wear green shirts or something.  Grandma and Grandpa are picking Sonny D up from preschool while Husband Jeff and I are going to Zumba class.  No formal dinner as usual since I just have a couple pieces of toast with peanut/almond butter.
• Wednesday - Our wedding anniversary, we're celebrating nine years together.  Grandma and Grandpa are going to watch Sonny D again and we're going out for dinner at Cento. 
• Thursday - Ok, back to a normal night of dinner at home.  I'll defrost the smoked ham from the freezer and make ham and cheese pasta with spinach.  We'll have a bag of Trader Joe's veggie melange along with it.
• Friday - Pasta with red sauce, which unfortunately doesn't use anything from the freezer but I'm going to serve frozen Trader Joe's breaded eggplant cutlets along with it.  After dinner I'm going to a Korean craft night with our adoption group.
• Saturday - Our Korean adoption group is hosting a Korean culture day in the morning but we'll have to leave before it's finished so we can get Sonny D to his first day of swim lessons where he goes in the water without us.  I'm excited for it!  In the evening I'm going out for sushi at Restaurant Muramoto with some girls and I hope that Husband Jeff and Sonny D will eat a frozen pizza to help clear out the freezer.  I don't think it'll be too difficult to talk them into it since pizza is Jeff's favorite food.  
• Sunday - We don't have any plans at all.  Hopefully the weather will be nice so we can be outside all day. For dinner I'm going to defrost tilapia and pan-fry it because I've realized it's so incredibly good.  I want to serve it with frozen Trader Joe's eggplant and zucchini melange (I might be the only one eating that) and Trader Joe's frozen soycutash (peppers, soybeans, and corn).

Menu Plan: Week of March 9

Our plan this week is to eat a lot of meals from the freezer because our chest freezer in the basement is pretty full and I realized there is a ton of frost built up.  There is so much frost that it's like the freezer is two inches smaller all around in the inside.  So we're going to eat as many meals from the freezer so we can empty it and the defrost it.  Not sure how long that's going to take, but we'll definitely be focusing on this for at least the next couple weeks.

• Monday - We're having the last freezer meal that Heather and I put together, pressure cooker Thai chicken soup with wontons.
• Tuesday - I'm picking up Sonny D early for a haircut, then he's going to grandma & grandpa's while Husband Jeff and I go to Zumba class. No dinner tonight.
• Wednesday - I bought a whole 5-pound chicken from the farmers' market and it's filling a large chunk of our freezer, so I'm cooking it up tonight as a Korean roast chicken along with some home-frozen corn from this past summer.
• Thursday - Sonny D has the day off for teacher inservice, so he and I are going to visit my mom in the morning.  For dinner we'll have leftover roasted chicken and gnocchi before I head out for a Korean adoption group board meeting at night.  
• Friday - Sonny D is off again today and Husband Jeff wants to take the day off as well so we'll go do something as a family.  Another meal from the freezer, a frozen pizza before we head to the community rec center for family fun night.  Maybe we can have pizza for lunch and fit another dinner from the freezer. 
• Saturday - I've got exercise class in the morning and the rest of the day doesn't have any other plans.  At dinner time we're going to a fundraiser event to raise money for the local kitchen business incubator.  It involves eating dinner there and I was really hoping to have dinner at home to have more food out of the freezer, but a fundraiser is a good reason to eat there.
• Sunday - One of the last two farmers' markets remaining before it finally ends.  Husband Jeff is having a massage in the morning to relax and enjoy himself.  In the afternoon my friend Jessica is in town and we're going for pedicures and then out for frozen yogurt.  I don't have dinner picked out yet, but I figured I could find something easy to throw together. 

Menu Plan: Week of February 23

Last Week

I cleaned the oven. Um, I have to admit, I don't think I've ever cleaned my oven in the 10 years we've lived here. I tried a method I found online - put ammonia and boiling water in the oven and let it sit for several hours.  I don't know if it really did anything because it didn't seem any easier to clean, but it looks much better!

My friend Heather and I made lunch together on Monday.  I made us cran-walnut balls for dessert, they turned out great!  I love the tart-sweetness of the cranberries along with the bitterness of the walnuts.  

cran-walnut balls. 

I made potato and veggie curry chowder for dinner on Monday and it turned out great.  With the Indian dishes Heather and I made for lunch and this curry chowder for dinner, our house smelled like Indian food until Thursday. 

potato curry chowder

Sauteed banana for porridge, it really improved the flavor but made it stringy.

pressure cooker pesto risotto with Italian chicken sausage

Morning porridge - the lentils with red rice wasn't that great, too earthy and savory.

This Week

• Monday - tacos with corn and black beans.  I'm going to make the black beans from scratch in the pressure cooker.  The corn will be home-frozen from this summer. 
• Tuesday - no dinner because Sonny D is hanging out with grandma and grandpa and Husband Jeff and I are going to Zumba.  
• Wednesday - pan-fried fish with Sonny D's requested red pepper and tomato soup.
• Thursday - chicken pesto lasagna 
• Friday - I bought a Groupon deal for Buck's Pizza, so we're going to over to our friend Chuck's house to eat pizza with him and our other friend Buddha.  
• Saturday - Core Fusion in the morning and later my friend Renae is coming to visit for the day with her friends.  No plans figured out yet, but I'm sure we'll have fun.  I'm planning Sonny D and Husband Jeff will have hot dogs for dinner if I'm away. 
• Sunday - the Northside farmers' market is going on in the morning.  We'll have coconut chicken curry soup made in the pressure cooker, this is the last prepped dish I've got in the freezer.    

Menu Plan: Week of February 16

I am still in love with Indian food. I've got more cookbooks from from the library, my favorite one right now is called "5 Spices, 50 Dishes". It uses only five main spices and the recipes seem easier than the dishes that use about 10 spices.  I went to the Indian market on Sunday and spent the last of my money to buy more ingredients like mustard seeds, asafetida, and moong dal (yellow mung beans).

I didn't pass my acuity exam for Oscar Mayer taste testing, so now I'm all done working there.  I ended up coming down with a cold the day before the big exam, so I couldn't smell anything. The only good part about not getting it is the job was mainly tasting expired meat, which doesn't sound great. And I was hoping that this job was going to be able to get me another job related to food, but it seems like it was pretty much a dead-end position.  Oh well, it was a neat experience. Do you know of any food related jobs in the Madison area? I'm not looking for food service but just about anything else would be awesome.

I was happy that Sunny D was actually pretty cool with eating stuffed lamb burgers, he ate most of his. Right now I've got a book from the library about how to encourage children to try new foods and so maybe will do more experimenting with that it helps to broaden his horizons.

Last week I made one of our freezer slow cooker dishes, this one was peas and greens. The mustard greens were really pungent and it and we didn't like it very much. I finished off all of the leftovers anyway, it wasn't so terrible that I couldn't eat it but I certainly wouldn't make it again.

On Friday we had fun at family fun night at the local community center, lots of Sunny D's friends showed up so it ended up being pretty wild, kids running around everywhere.

For Valentine's Day we ended up not having a dinner picnic because we realize the dog would try to eat all of our food. I got Jeff a T-shirt for the local Ale Asylum brewery and he got me a gorgeous watch. During the day on Saturday, Sunny D and I went to Half-Price Books bookstore and picked him up five Maisy books for his valentine's present.  He's really into Maisy mouse right now and likes to point out all of the ones that he wants, which is all of them. 

Monday - my friend Heather came over for lunch because she lives nearby and had the day off for Presidents' Day. We made Indian food together, a mushroom and peas curry and a homey rice-and-lentil dish called kichri. We also opened a jar of tomato pickle, it is really pungent, very similar to a green olive paste. We also tried some chickpea snacks, they looked like Fritos but were a little spicy.

For dinner will have a curried potato chowder because I thought the concept sounded neat. I also plan to make rice with it and Parmesan cauliflower tots.

Tuesday - I'm going to spend the day visiting my friend Kate. Grandma and grandpa will pick up Sunny D.  Jeff has a meeting at night and might be done in time to join me for Zumba again. We didn't go last week because I was sick, but he liked it when he went the first time and he said he might keep going with me even after the month is over.

Wednesday - We're going out because a local pizza place is having a fundraising night where 10% of their sales will go towards the Humane Society. Husband Jeff doesn't hardly need a reason to get pizza so it was easy to talk my family into this idea.

Thursday - I think we're finally going to have the dish of shrimp and white beans and feta. Jeff pointed out we have a lot of carrots in the fridge so I'm going to roast them. And I want to try out a recipe for a gluten-free focaccia made out of flax seed meal.

Friday - Sunny D and Zipper dog are going to have a sleepover at grandma and grandpa's while Jeff and I go out dancing with friends. We might go out for dinner beforehand, we came up with a lot of possible restaurants to eat at so it would be pretty easy to find a place that we would like to go to.

Saturday - Husband Jeff is going ice fishing with friends, and I think Sunny D and I are going to go to the international festival downtown. I haven't been to it to know what it's like but it sounds interesting and I'm sure we can find something to eat there or out at any of the many restaurants. For dinner I want to eat the waffles we froze a couple weeks ago and have chicken breakfast sausage with it.

Sunday - I want to experiment by making italian sausage and pesto risotto. I like to make pesto using spinach and basil, Sunny D helps me make it and he doesn't seem to mind that there's a lot of spinach in it.  Nnormally would discard any green bits in his food, but he loves pesto. 

Menu Plan: Week of February 9

I should have planned a lot of egg recipes this week because I picked up two dozen eggs from our egg  supplier from the farmers' market. It felt like some shady dealings, we met in a parking lot, they handed me the stuff and I gave them money. 

I'm totally obsessed with Indian food right now, I've got a couple books from the library and I keep looking things up online.  I've found a few Indian food blogs to follow and I've been pinning a lot of recipes on Pinterest. The dish that interests me the most is khichidi, a porridge-like blend of rice and lentils. I think it's mainly done savory but it can also be a sweetened version. Sounds like heaven either way!

Monday - feta-stuffed lamb burgers with salad. These were supposed to be dinner last night, but we were feeling lazy and didn't want to go through all the work to make them. We have to make this tonight though, the meat is fully defrosted. 

Tuesday - Big day #1, the first half of my acuity exam. It's split over two days because it's so much stuff, plus it gets tiring to taste for several hours. Last week we did a mini practice exam and it was actually not too scary, so I feel ok for the big test. No dinner, Zumba class tonight.  Husband Jeff came with me last week and he really seemed to like the workout. I glad he enjoyed it. He's going to attend with me the entire month of February. 

Wednesday - Big day #2, the second half of the exam. Afterwards, all of us trainees and the veteran panel are invited out for a happy hour with our trainer. Then for dinner it's my mother-in-law's birthday and she wanted to cook, so the family is going over there.

Thursday - Sonny D's Valentine's Day party at preschool, I hope it isn't too much chaos and sugar. For dinner Husband Jeff might be a little late after a meeting, so I'm going super simple with hot dogs and sweet potato fries. 

Friday - another one of our premade meals from the freezer, this time slow cooker peas and greens along with quesadillas. Then Sonny D and I are off for another monthly family fun night at Warner park. 

Saturday - we're having our traditional Valentine's Day meal of sandwiches from the Italian deli as a picnic in the living room. Jeff and I have been doing that ever since we were dating.  

Sunday - we're going to go to the farmers' market in the morning, Sonny D wants to buy a bath fizzy.  For dinner shrimp with white beans and feta. 

Menu Plan: Week of January 26

Monday - I had originally planned pan-fried Rodrigo-style fish with salads and quesadillas, but Sonny D reminded me I had promised him a salmon scramble this weekend.  We probably don't want fish too often this week, so I'm not sure when we're going to have the Rodrigo fish, but I bought some fresh ingredients for it so it'll have to be soon or I'll have to find another way to use those ingredients.  I've also got the ingredients for a fennel salad/slaw, so I need to make that as well.  I don't have a real plan for when we'll eat it, I figure we'll just pull it out for lunches and dinners until it's gone.

Tuesday - Husband Jeff's parents pick up Sonny D from preschool on Tuesdays and I don't make dinner since I've got Zumba class in the evening.  For dinner on these nights I usually eat two pieces of sprouted-grain toast with almond butter and orange marmalade, light but enough protein to give me energy for class.  I'm trying to convince Jeff to come with me to Zumba class every Tuesday in February, not sure I've won him over on that, but I think it would be fun.

Wednesday - We're going to make individual thin-crust pepperoni pizzas on tortillas because we have an abundance of tortillas leftover from the Pampered Chef party I hosted last week.  Small tortillas were only offered 20-24 per pack, so we still have a lot to eat, that's why I had planned we would have quesadilllas on Monday.  Maybe I can still make that happen with the salmon scramble.  

Thursday - On Martin Luther King Jr. Day my friend Heather came over and we prepped some more meals, this time two slow cooker meals and two pressure cooker meals.   I'm going to make the slow cooker Moroccan butternut squash dish that Heather whipped up based on a similar dish.  I have a feeling Sonny D won't be excited about that, so I'm quietly planning to make him fish sticks as well.

Friday - I want to finally try out my julienne peeler to make zucchini noodles.  I figure I'll saute the "noodles" with some garlic and onion to give them flavor.  I figured I would give the guys real noodles while I tried the faux version, we're going to have it as spaghetti with frozen meatballs and a jar of marinara sauce.  We've got a bunch of petite hamburger buns in the freezer from a summer party so I'm going to turn those into garlic bread before they get even more freezer-burnt.

Saturday - I've got Core Fusion class in the morning but we don't have any other plans for the whole day.  

Sunday - Lentil soup and feta-stuffed Greek lamb burgers.  Husband Jeff says he's not into lentil soup like I am, so the burgers are mainly to satisfy him.  I need to pick up some plain Greek yogurt to make a sauce to go with them.  

Menu Plan: Week of December 29 - Soup Week!

This Week

I decided that this week would be soup week at our house.  I picked up three soup cookbooks from the library and they've really inspired me.  Although I have to admit, I don't think any of the soups I've picked out come from any of those cookbooks. 

• Monday - our friend Chuck is coming over for vegetarian buffalo-wing chili with toasted pita bread and salads.  I figure the soup is going to be too spicy for Sonny D so I'm going to make him some fish sticks.
• Tuesday - our friend Buddha might come over for chicken parmesan soup with garlic bread and roasted butternut squash with feta cheese.
• Wednesday - I invited Husband Jeff's parents over for New Year's Eve dinner of creamy fish chowder,  a bag of frozen Szechuan asparagus, and rice.
• Thursday - red chili with green-chile cornbread (a box of Jiffy mix!)
• Friday - my friend Heather is joining us for Santa Fe sweet potato soup made in the slow cooker along with lemon-pepper risotto and a can of corn.  I'm also going to attempt to make some more vegan cheese, maybe the same cashew goat cheese recipe as last time or maybe try my hand at something new. 
• Saturday -  This is where my plan falls apart, I don't have a soup picked out for Saturday.  We'll probably have lots of leftovers to eat or maybe be sick of soups by this point.  We'll definitely be able to find something to eat, maybe melt sandwiches or a bag of frozen gnocchi.
•  Sunday - Another day without any planned meals.  Once again, we'll figure something out.  Maybe we'll have a meal out somewhere or eat more random food like grilled peanut butter sandwiches or pancakes. 

Menu Plan: Week of December 15

Last Week

Soaked cashews.

My friend Heather is dairy-free and so when I saw a few recipes to make "cheese" using nuts, I sent her the link.  And then I totally became interested in trying it myself.  They had good reviews so I would make a couple.  So I picked up cashews and almonds to give it a shot.  I've got cashews soaking in water overnight to make the first recipe, pepper-crusted cashew goat cheese.

Processing the  soaked cashews with lemon juice, salt, oil,
and a touch of peanut butter (I'm out of tahini).

This is the year of booze for me.  

On Saturday at Core Fusion class our talk was of Christmas cookies and someone mentioned rum balls.  I've never tried them before (that I know of), so after class i looked them up.  Then we went out to run errands and I picked up the ingredients that I needed to make them (Nilla wafers and spiced rum).   Sonny D and I mixed up the "batter" tonight and it needs to rest for a few days to fully saturate. I had to taste it right away to see how it progresses, I can see how they will be really good.  On Tuesday we'll scoop them up into balls and roll them in something to finish them off.  Right now I'm leaning towards chocolate sprinkles, but we might also try a blend of cocoa powder and sugar.  Or maybe just powdered sugar for a "snowball" look.

So these plus the brandy-soaked cherries still hanging out in my pantry, the jalapeno-infused tequila, spearmint vodka, and chocolate-mint vodka makes this year very liquor/booze-filled.  

Making rum balls.  Tasty!

I'm still working out most days of the week.  I lift weights on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday; Zumba on Tuesday; elliptical workout at home on Thursday, and Core Fusion on Saturday morning.  The only day I don't work out is Sunday.

Flexing at the top of the chin-up/dip machine. 

On Sunday my friend Heather and I went to a gluten-free (and dairy-free) holiday baking class at Willy St Co-op. Everything we had was so good!  We were both impressed.  And it wasn't just "good for gluten-free", they were good desserts without any qualifiers.  My favorite part might have been the sweet potato frosting on a cupcake or the peppermint chocolate truffles. 

Heather with her apple cupcake, a peppermint chocolate truffle, and granola balls.

This Week

• Monday - baked potato soup with salads.  The soup is going to have hidden cauliflower pureed in it for creaminess. 
• Tuesday - leftover baked potato soup with salads then Zumba
• Wednesday - dinner at Graze with one of Husband Jeff's colleagues and his wife
• Thursday - going to our friends' house and I'm bringing a slow cooker dinner, sage & onion chicken with cranberry rice. 
• Friday - going out to dinner with our Breakfast Club at Short Stack, a breakfast place that is only open on the weekends.
• Saturday - I've got Core Fusion class in the morning, maybe we'll go to the Kids in the Rotunda performance to see a drumming group.  In the evening we're going to a friend's holiday open house.  For dinner we'll have BBQ pork sandwiches with a veggie. 
• Sunday - enchilada skillet with homemade black beans.

Menu Plan: Week of December 8

Last Week

Last week's menu was changed almost as soon as I came up with it, so that's why I didn't blog about it. so here's a rundown of things that have happened recently. 

I'm loving Swad Indian restaurant.  We went to their buffet last Saturday and I totally loved it.  I'm trying to see if we can go again this week and have recommended it a few times.  A coworker says her family goes pretty much every weekend since they live nearby. 

I'm glad I tried O'Keefe's Working Hands hand cream.  I saw it promoted at Bed, Bath & Beyond and they almost talked me into getting it but I've already got three lotions on my nightstand.  Then I went home and looked it up and saw the 2,000+ positive reviews on Amazon and realized it was a good product to try. I've tried tons of hand lotions for my dry hands and this one is great.  We both put it on every night. 

I got obsessed with trying fruitcake and found Clasen's European Bakery in town that makes them.  I had Husband Jeff pick up a 1 pound loaf and I found that I really like it.  I was a bit disappointed to see that they use neon candied fruit in it, but it's still tasty.

At taste training last week we learned about herbs and spices -- black pepper, garlic, fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, sage, etc.

We went out for a Breakfast Club "meeting" at the Mermaid Cafe and we all got great breakfast sandwiches.  Their mermaid tail logo is really cute, I would love one of their mugs. 

My Japanese fried Chie and I went shopping at Viet Hoa Asian market.  She lives on the same side of town but has never been there.  She found loads of great things and we spent over 1.5 hours chatting about products.  I'm glad I showed it to her.  She said she has gone all the way to Chicago to get some of the ingredients we were finding right here.

This Week

• Monday -  completely homemade black bean soup.  I made the stock this morning from leftover pork bones and veggies, started with dried beans, and put it all together in the slow cooker.  I made rice in the rice cooker and picked up some "take and bake" bread (you're not really baking it, you're just heating it up) to go with it.
• Tuesday - leftover black bean soup.  We're going to watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer since Sonny D loves the song. 
• Wednesday - Grandma & Grandpa are going to pick up Sonny D from preschool but then we're going to have dinner together.  I'd like to have dinner at the Indian place Swad, but I am open to other options. 
• Thursday - I work in the afternoon so I figuring a slow cooker meal would be good.  I picked out Moroccan chicken tagine that my friend Heather and I prepped a few weeks ago. 
• Friday - I work most of the day and figured an easy dinner would be good, so we're having Italian sausage, gnocchi, and a can of tomatoes, corn, and okra.  Then we're going out for family fun night at the local rec center. 
• Saturday - I've got Core Fusion in the morning but we don't really have any other plans for the day other than my step-brother and his wife taking Sonny D out somewhere fun for his birthday present and out to dinner.  Maybe Husband Jeff and I will go out to dinner or stay home and relax in the quiet. 
• Sunday - My friend Heather and I are going to a gluten-free baking class at the co-op in the afternoon and for dinner I'm going to make baked potato soup.