Category: Uncategorized

From my kitchen to yours…. the Meal Plan!

I am not very inspired this week. Perhaps it’s all the good eating we did this weekend? So, I apologize if this week’s meal plan is lacking. It just goes to show that on uninspired weeks, my family still deserves a healthy meal each day! And on these somewhat “easy” weeks, I will often be inspired to make something out of the ordinary in addition to the meal. I’m thinking kale chips and paleo brownies….

Monday: Leftover chicken stew and salad (I don’t have the recipe for this stew yet – brought over by my mother-in-law, but it’s REALLY good!)

Tuesday: Yellowfin tuna, rice, green beans

Wednesday: Beef roast (haven’t decided if I’ll do the dutch oven or the crockpot for this) – adding potatoes, celery, carrots and probably a side salad.

Thursday: Either pasta or pizza! Using spinach, broccoli and goat cheese

Just because you’ve discovered that you (or a loved one) can’t have gluten, doesn’t mean you have to go buy every gluten-free cookbook you can find! You don’t even have to look for just gluten-free recipes. There are a lot of options for gluten-free cooking and with some simple substitutions you can make almost any recipe! (Note: this is for cooking, not baking – that’s a whole ‘nother beast). (This post is going to contain a lot of affiliate links to Amazon’s website, so you can see the products and easily purchase them, if you’re so inclined. Purchasing through this link does not increase cost to you, however, it does provide a small percentage of profit to me, in order for me to continue providing valuable information.)

If you’ve found that you need to go gluten-free, there is still so much food you can eat: rice, millet, quinoa, potatoes, corn, cornmeal, oats (some very sensitive individuals require gluten-free oats), vegetables, fruit, fish, chicken, pork and beef. So much is still available to you! Things that might be confusing are some grains and condiments. For instance, couscous is a popular “healthy grain” used in many recipes, but it contains gluten. Another one that contains gluten is graham (graham flour, graham crackers). When it comes to grains, a quick internet search will help you figure out if it contains gluten. Condiments, however, could very well be the biggest culprit in your refrigerator. So many sauces, dressings and spreads contain gluten. This would be where I would look first. There’s almost always a gluten-free version of your favorite condiment available on your grocery store shelves, especially if your store has a natural or gluten-free section.

Things you think you can’t have: pasta (I LOVE pasta!), bread (I also love bread), cookies, crackers, cereal, breadcrumbs, pancakes and pretzels. Let’s start with pasta. My favorite pasta is from Trader Joe’s. It’s made from organic brown rice and is available in spaghetti, penne, and spiral varieties. It comes in a huge bag that’s only $1.99 (compared to $4 for smaller boxes of other pastas at the grocery store). If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s near you, I’m sorry! My mother-in-law used to get me dozens of bags of pasta when she’d visit because I didn’t have a Trader Joe’s nearby. (I know, I’m lucky!) There are lots of other gluten-free pastas available too, made out of rice, quinoa and corn.

Bread. There are various gluten-free breads, usually in the freezer section (Udi’s and Rudi’s are my favorites), but once you get into it you may find making your own bread is more cost-efficient. The store bought breads usually have coupons you can find on-line and then wait for them to go on sale in order to make it more affordable.

Crackers and Cookies. Gluten-free crackers and cookies are readily available on many store shelves, though you may find baking your own to be tastier. Pamela’s is one brand that I like, but they’re a little dry. Making your own ensures that you get the ingredients you want and the texture you’re craving! Packaged gluten-free products can be a little lacking in the texture department.

Cereal. Cereal is also available gluten-free. I buy organic corn flakes from Trader Joe’s and these organic frosted flakes from Amazon:

Yes, I buy a pack of 6 boxes! With Amazon’s Subscribe & Save, it’s only $19.08! I mention “Subscribe & Save” a lot – for many items you’ll notice 2 prices. The lower price is for “Subscribe & Save”, meaning you subscribe to have this item delivered to you regularly and you save more money on it. You can cancel your orders at any time, so you’re not forced to get anything every three to six months, but it is a great way to save on items you know you’ll use. Try some things out from the store, discover what you like and then scour the internet for deals! Bulk is a great way to go!

Breadcrumbs. I used to make my own breadcrumbs from leftover homemade bread, you know, “when I had time”…., which means not often. Oats are a convenient substitute for breadcrumbs for many things, but not for frying fish or sprinkling on top of a casserole! Thankfully, my mother-in-law has found a wonderful gluten-free breadcrumb mix that works great in crab cakes and meatballs! It’s called Aleia’s and I love it. Who would’ve known you can also buy them on Amazon? (By the way, this price is for a 4-pack.)

Pancakes. Aaah, some of my fondest childhood memories include freshly made apple pancakes. I still get to eat them, though. One of my staples is Pamela’s Pancake Mix. I started using Pamela’s Pancake Mix before I ever went gluten-free because it’s just that good. Not only does it make wonderful pancakes and waffles, but quick breads and cookies as well! It’s on my Subscribe & Save list on Amazon, meaning it gets delivered to me every few months so I’m never without it! (It’s $44.09 for 3 large bags with the Subscribe & Save discount.)

Pretzels. You might not think that pretzels are something you’d miss when you go gluten-free, but then one day someone might be eating them and you’ll really crave them. That’s why I suggest purchasing Glutino pretzels, also from Amazon. I get a case of these about twice a year; they last a long time and they taste great. They are not only gluten-free, but casein and egg-free too! They seem pricey, but if you wait for a sale price and incorporate them into Subscribe & Save, they end up being much less than the store prices. (Currently, the Subscribe & Save price is $38.09 for a case of 12.)

Other gluten-free cooking tips: Once you pick a flour brand that you like, most of your cooking needs will be met. You’ll be able to make mac n cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, crab cakes, casseroles, fried chicken, gravy and more! Just look at the recipe and simply replace any gluten item that it calls for with a gluten-free substitute. It helps if your gluten-free flour is an “all purpose flour” containing xantham gum. The flour I use for basic cooking, quick breads, cookies and cakes is called Better Batter:

For baking, which again, is another subject, I use Jules gluten-free flour (purchased directly from her website) because it makes the best bread products I’ve tasted. If you’re looking for more inspiration, feel free to follow my Pinterest boards which include recipes I’ve tried and love as well as recipes I haven’t tried yet, but am thinking about!

Back to reality, we go. No more random days off and half days off for my husband. All of our mom friends and baby friends are back in the groove and my kitchen is back in its original state as well.

This morning I tried a new recipe for a morning play date and I was really happy with it. If you’ve ever thought of trying some Paleo recipes, start with the desserts, in my opinion! I made an almond flour chocolate chip cookie cake that was slightly sweetened with honey. It tasted like cookie bars and I was very pleased. I substituted pecans for the walnuts (personal preference) and used Honeyville Blanched Almond Flour (affiliate link below) because it has the smoothest texture. It’s expensive, but worth it. Blanched almond flour allows you to make baked goods without the heavy carb fallout and with added protein. If you try it, let me know!

On to the week ahead!

Monday: Baked cod, rice and broccoli

Tuesday: Easy Roast Chicken with potatoes and carrots

Wednesday: My favorite ground beef casserole with veggies and pasta

Thursday: Quinoa Kale Patties and an Herb Chard and Feta Soup (except the store was out of chard so I’m going to try to make this with spinach… wish me luck!)

I also purchased some extra kale to try making kale chips again. I was not happy with my first attempt years ago. Do you have a favorite recipe for kale chips?

I hope your Christmas was merry and you have wonderful New Year’s plans. Ours will consist of getting a good night’s sleep to be up and ready with our 3-year old who wakes by 5 a.m. every day, “ready to start my day!” as she says. It’s another holiday week here, so I have a little bit more free time on my hands, with which I hope to spend with my kids and not too much in the kitchen!

Monday: crab cakes, potato fries and coleslaw (I love this recipe here)

Tuesday: shredded BBQ chicken sandwiches (I shred chicken breasts or tenders with the paddle attachment in my stand mixer), homemade GF rolls and green beans

Wednesday: Since my husband’s home, I’m letting him take over Wednesday with probably some grass fed organic rib eyes on the grill and roasted brussel sprouts

Thursday: GF mac and (goat’s) cheese

It may be Christmas week, but I still have to feed my family a healthy dinner each night! I don’t know about you, but I’m so excited for Christmas that it’s hard to think about the normal tasks like making dinner, doing dishes and laundry and all the regular daily to-do’s. So, I had to really buckle down and plan this week in order to have the groceries needed to prepare some healthy meals.

Monday: Flounder was on sale this week, so we’re having a light baked flounder with quinoa and red cabbage. With the cabbage, I just cut it up and cook it with onions, coconut oil, squeezed lemon, salt and pepper. Sometimes I had a chopped apple for sweetness.

Tuesday: My 3-year old has been asking for spaghetti, which I’ve come to realize is more about the meatballs for her. Here’s my favorite spaghetti and meatballs recipe. I add spinach to the sauce to cover our greens for the evening.

Wednesday: Christmas day! We are going to have prime rib, mashed potatoes and kale salad. Can’t wait! This is probably our favorite meal ever!

Thursday: Ah, the day after Christmas and the bit of a let-down you can feel after all that planning… I’ve decided to try something different and make a chicken pot pie with gluten-free crust and roasted butternut squash. I’m going to make a combination of 2 recipes: This Betty Crocker recipe for the crust and this Bon Apetit recipe for the inside mixture of chicken and butternut squash.

A conversation with one of my best friends reminded me of a time when my eating disorder was discovered in unsuspected areas of my life. Truth is, an eating disorder emerges from a place deep inside. It’s different for everyone, but it’s not just body image and wanting to be skinny(er). So, yes, it is possible for said disorder to appear elsewhere, even after you’ve been in recovery for a while.

Oftentimes, eating disorders emerge in people with perfectionism traits; the kind of perfectionism that makes you really awesome at tracking every crumb, calorie and stick of gum that passes your lips. For me, excellent grades, orderliness, perfect handwriting, and probably countless other things pointed to the perfectionist “gene”. Not all bad, of course, but perfectionism can lead you on a dangerous path. Being perfect in things like rigorous work-out schedules and eating regimens quickly removes us from any sense of self-love and intuitive living. I was “perfect” at counting calories, burning calories and torturing my body into submission.

Alongside perfectionism is obsession. I can’t say it’s directly related to OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) but it must be pretty darn close. I can remember using my 10-key calculator to run tapes of my calories. I would start a new one every time I ate something, committing every number to memory, every bite accounted for. It calmed me and grounded me, reminded me of my purpose. I wish I could hug that version of myself and say, “Honey, that was not a purpose filled life.”

When succumbing to a lifestyle of disordered eating, secrecy can be an issue too. I mean these things are not exactly performed publicly. I hid my food journals. I ate somewhat normally in front of people, while keeping my more neurotic tendencies to myself. Somehow, those secrets empowered me, but really, they imprisoned me. Nothing is truly ever hidden and only darkness lives in those places.

Behind eating disorders is a great amount of control also. Sometimes it feels like the only bit of control you have. When I was sinking into the deepest part of my disorder, I was in an abusive relationship with a controlling man and the little games I played in my head, controlling what I ate and obsessing over the numbers, gave me a sense of control over something.

So, yes, while I finally found a lot of healing and worked through a lot of my food issues, I also found, working with a mentor, that my disorder was lurking in other places in my life. Perfectionism, obsession, secrecy and control hadn’t exactly disappeared. While I was feeding my cravings and giving myself permission to eat again, I was also throwing myself into other areas of life that would feed these unspoken needs. Cleaning, studying, having routines that I refused to break. My days were made up of chunks of time diligently allocated to specific tasks, much like my calories used to be divided by time of day. It was a big wake-up call.

I had to begin questioning why I did things. Why did I have to make my bed every morning? Why did I clean my baseboards, vacuum, wipe down all the counter tops, balance my budget, and organize my kitchen so religiously? I practiced letting things go. These things weren’t bad things, per se, but they weren’t healthy for me either, not the way I was doing them. Compulsions teach us things about ourselves, if we’re willing to look at them. Before we call them bad or good, we can simply express curiosity about them and learn from them. So, yes, I have a more cluttered life, certainly not the orderly way of my former life. And maybe that causes me some anxiety as I seek to exercise control over things. But when those compulsions hit me, I treat them like I do my disordered eating thoughts. I approach them with love and curiosity. I ask questions and I let things go that can be let go. What do I get in return? A lot of freedom.

You probably know by now that I am passionate about freedom, health and peace of mind. It is my mission to guide others on this path as well. I will continue to passionately protect the freedom I have earned in my life, over my thoughts and my “addictions”. I am not a machine and I will not act like one. I am a human being, and sometimes being is just sitting, or writing, or talking with a friend, or playing with my kids. It’s not doing something, somewhere all the time.

Shining light into the secret places is scary, because it illuminates all that you’ve worked so hard to keep private. You can do it alone or you can do it with a trusted friend, mentor or counselor. But I do encourage you to look honestly into yourself and give yourself permission to let go. You’d be surprised how much fun freedom can be.

Mary O’Malley writes, “Remember, we are not compulsive because we are losers at the beck and call of urges that are out to get us. We are compulsive because there is something we need to see, to embrace, to heal in order to become conscious human beings.” This is from her book, The Gift of Our Compulsions: A Revolutionary Approach to Self-Acceptance and Healing, which I highly recommend! See below (affiliate link) for book and Kindle versions:

For your weekly inspiration:

Monday: Spicy baked cod
             Quinoa
             Green Beans

Tuesday: Pot Roast
              Mashed Potatoes
              Salad

Wednesday: Chicken Broccoli Feta Pasta (based loosely on this recipe)

Thursday: Fried rice

As always, a plan is just a plan. My husband found Mahi-Mahi on sale when he was grocery shopping, so that will replace the cod, but I’m not sure how I’ll prepare it. The pot roast is a new recipe because I just got my very first dutch oven! I’m excited to try it. If it’s good, you’ll hear about it!

For more inspiration, follow me on Pinterest. This link will take you to my Favorite Recipes board!

Brrrrr, it’s time for comfort food in our house! How about yours? Sometimes I get a craving for something but don’t have a recipe in my repertoire. So, I go searching until I find a recipe that I can tweak to make it my own and sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t, but this isn’t one of those times!

I was craving a casserole of sorts with broccoli, chicken, rice, and cheese. I guess I was thinking of a “chicken divan” but I didn’t want that specifically. Of course, I googled “broccoli chicken cheese rice casserole” and began to browse the results. I landed on this recipe and if you follow along, you’ll see where I’ve tweaked it and how I alter recipes to make sure they’re gluten-free, incorporate only goat’s cheese (since we don’t eat cow’s cheese), and have easy substitutions like yogurt instead of sour cream. I also look for ways to add more vegetables and nutrition.

Cheesy Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole (Gluten-free)

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups brown rice
4 cups broth (I used our mineral broth, stored in the freezer)
4 cups broccoli florets
coconut oil
3 chicken breast tenders (boneless, skinless) chopped
salt
pepper
garlic powder
all seasons salt (from Simply Organic)
5 teaspoons gluten-free all purpose flour (I use Better Batter)
2 cups of milk (I used So Delicious Coconut Milk Beverage)
1/3 cup whole, plain organic yogurt (I used Stonyfield)
6.7 oz shredded goat’s cheddar cheese

Directions

Depending on your broth situation, you may have to thaw your broth like I did. I placed a jar of frozen broth in a pot on very low. It takes a while but ensures the jar doesn’t crack from temperature changes.

Chop onions and garlic. Add to a pot and sauté in coconut oil until wilted. I don’t really specify amounts of oil here. It depends on your pan and your preference. Besides, don’t all recipes say 2 Tbsp?

Add 4 cups of broth and 2 cups of rice and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce to medium-low and simmer for 25-30 minutes.

While cooking the rice, add more coconut oil to another pan and begin cooking the chopped chicken. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

During the rice-cooking time, chop and wash broccoli, shred the cheese and measure out the yogurt.

When the chicken is cooked through, remove it to a plate and add half a cup of milk to the pan with flour. Whisk thoroughly and add the remaining milk. This will cook for approximately 7 minutes, while stirring constantly, until thickened. As it thickens, add salt, pepper, garlic powder and all seasons salt. Also add half the shredded cheese and the yogurt to the milk and mix together.

When the rice is almost done, add the broccoli to the pot (and cover) to steam.

Finally, the rice should be cooked, the broccoli should be steamed, the milk should be thickened and the rest of your ingredients ready to go. It’s time to put it all together.

Spoon the rice and broccoli into a 9×13 pan. Add the chicken and fold it in, distributing evenly.

Pour the milk-cheese-yogurt sauce over top and mix it in.

Sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese on top and broil in a preheated oven for 5-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it; it can burn!

We loved this. It was even better the next day. I thought I might have enough leftover to freeze or share with other families, but it was gone. That’s always a good sign!

In case you need some inspiration, I thought I’d share my meal plan for the week with you!


Monday: Easy Baked Tilapia
               Quinoa
               Steamed Broccoli

Tuesday: Cashew Chicken (crockpot)
              Roasted Potatoes
              Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Wednesday: Ground Beef Tacos
                   Sides: shredded lettuce, yogurt, shredded (goat) cheese,           
                   avocado and tomatoes

Thursday: Gluten-free Mac n Goat Cheese