Weekly Menu (5/1/11-5/7/11)

Okay, so I'm trying something new. I'm going to post what I'm planning on making for the coming week.  It's mostly to keep me organized, but to also hopefully help you get ideas on what to make for dinner.  I'm really lucky, my boys are very well taken care of at the day care that we go to, she provides breakfast, lunch, and snacks that work for their diets.  My older son does eat breakfast at home before heading off to kindergarten, but he's the only one I have to worry about, besides me, in the morning.  My little one will usually eat something, too, but sometimes he wants to wait until he gets to day care.  So, I'm explaining this, so you'll understand why I mostly just focus on dinners, and not on breakfasts and lunches. Next year, when my older one is in first grade, I will definitely focus a lot more on the lunches.

Weekly Menu (5/1/11-5/7/11)
Breakfasts: Daily choices are typically between:

• Cereal (Cinnamon Chex, Multigrain Puffins, etc.)
• Muffins (I always have my banana chip, pumpkin chip, and Udi's blueberry, lemon, and double chocolate ones in the freezer)
• Fresh Fruit and/or Smoothies
• One-Eyed Sandwiches (basically, fried egg and toast in one, my older son's absolute favorite breakfast)

Lunches: Since, it's just me I have to worry about, it's typically leftovers, with fresh fruit and veggies from my bountiful basket.

Dinners:
Sunday:

• Grilled Porkchops seasoned with Famous Dave's Rib Rub (this one is actually safe)
•  Roasted Red Potatoes (I toss them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and minced garlic and cook them for 20-30 minutes at 450F)
• Corn on the Cob (I got it in my bountiful basket this week!)
• Fresh Fruit (Strawberries, Watermelon, and Honeydew, most likely)

Monday:

• Pork Tamales (We buy them off of the 'Tamale Man' who sells them door to door in our neighborhood, I know, it may not be safe....but they are the best tamales we have ever had, and we've never gotten sick, so I'm sticking with them)
• Nachos (we use Daiya Cheddar Shreds for my little one)
• Fresh Fruit (Strawberries for sure, but probably watermelon, and the honeydew if its left)

Tuesday:

• Sweet Pork with Homemade Tortillas
• Basmati Rice (because that's my favorite cooking rice) :)
• Green Salad
• Pineapple

Wednesday

• Mini Corndogs
• Oven Fries and Sweet Potato Fries
• Apple Slices (and Pineapple if there is any left over)

Thursday

• Breakfast for dinner! Either Pancakes using GF Bisquick or One-Eyed Sandwiches
• Breakfast Sausage
• Bananas

Friday

• Pizza with my favorite pizza sauce and most likely pepperoni for everyone except my little one, and he'll have his Daiya cheese. :)
• Green Salad
• Apple Slices

Saturday

• Either Potato Chip Chicken or Chicken Nuggets
• Baked Potatoes (I actually cook mine covered in foil and placed in a crockpot on low 8-10 hours, perfect every time). :)
• Broccoli
• Apple Slices or whatever fruit we happen to get that day from Bountiful Baskets. :)

PB&J Bars

Okay, I've been home with my boys today with no car.  My hubby went out of town (and we are a one car family), so I wanted today to be fun for the boys, mainly so they wouldn't be asking me every five minutes when Dad would get home.  So, we had a great time volunteering at our Bountiful Basket pick up site (before my hubby left, actually we did it before he even got up). Right after my hubby left, we ran to the nearest bus stop...quite literally.  Isn't fun to be a kid?  I haven't ever taken my boys on a bus ride and they were so excited.  So, we ran the 6-7 blocks, hopped on the bus and headed to Juniper Takeout.  This is the one restaurant in town where we can get kid-friendly, gluten-free, dairy-free food...so it's affectionately call "Our Restaurant". We gorged ourselves, stopped at a couple stores then headed back home.  I thought that would wear the boys out, but once we got home they just kept going and going, but they were actually entertaining themselves, so I got to do what I love...play in the kitchen.  My older son wanted cookies, and wanted something new (he must take after me), so I wasn't being very creative, but I came up with these, they are basically my peanut butter cookies in bar cookie form, topped with my buttercream frosting with peanut butter mixed in, and then topped with grape jelly...easy. :)

PB&J Bars

For Cookies:
1 C creamy natural peanut butter
1/2 C palm oil shortening
1 C packed brown sugar
1/2 C sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup gf flour blend
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt


For Topping:
1/2 C palm oil shortening
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 C So Delicious Original Coconut Milk
1 16 oz package powdered sugar
1/4 cup creamy natural peanut butter
1/4 cup grape jelly

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F. In a large bowl mix together peanut butter and shortening until smooth.  Add in sugars and mix until blended.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl mix together flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture and mix well.
3. Press dough into an ungreased 13"x9" baking dish. Bake at 375F for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool on a wire rack.
4. In a small bowl, combine the 1/2C shortening with vanilla. Add milk and powdered sugar.  Beat until mixture is smooth and creamy, then mix in the peanut butter.
5. Spread the frosting over the cooled bars.  Spread jelly over the top of the frosting.

Homemade Flour Tortillas

I love when I find a recipe that looks too easy to actually work, and when I convert it, it actually works.  That's what happened here, I found this recipe, easily converted it and it worked.  It worked so well, that my older son and I gorged ourselves silly eating them straight up, out of the pan.  And he was sooo excited to eat cheese quesadillas with flour tortillas instead of our regular corn ones.
  

Homemade Flour Tortillas

6 cups gf flour blend
10 tablespoons cold dairy-free margarine
2 cups hot water
2 teaspoons coarse sea salt

Directions:
1. Cut the margarine into the flour until it is evenly distributed and looks crumbly. I use my food processor, and it takes all of the work out of it.
2. Dissolve the salt into the hot water.  Pour the water into the flour mixture and stir until combined. I actually used my hands and kneaded it to get all of the flour incorporated and the dough smooth.
3. Divide the dough into 12-18 balls.  Flour (with gf flour blend) a clean surface and roll each ball flat, try to make it as thin as you can.
4. Heat skillet on high then reduce it to medium.  Place the flattened dough into the skillet and cook until a few bubbles form then flip.  Allow the other side to cook about 1 minute (it was about 1 minute on each side, once I got going).
5. Stack the completed tortillas on a plate and continue to cook until finished.  The heat from the surrounding tortillas will both keep the tortillas warm, and keep them soft.

Note: If you are going to freeze them, place plastic wrap in between each tortilla and then freeze them in a ziploc bag.

This post is featured on Simply Sugar & Gluten Free's Slightly Indulgent Tuesday and Cybele Pascal's Allergy Friendly Friday.

Coconut Secret Coconut Aminos -- Review

So, I am inherently lazy.  If I don't have to make something totally from scratch, well, I won't.  I have a soy sauce substitute, but I do miss the days of just pulling out the soy sauce from the fridge to make my teriyaki sauce.  We know that my little one is okay with the soybean oils, but I haven't had the guts to reintroduce soy protein into his diet, and like I said, I've been lazy, so we haven't had any dishes lately that have required soy sauce, until last night. :)  I discovered Raw Organic Vegan Coconut Aminos and splurged and bought it, and I'm so happy I did.  It was expensive enough, we still won't have teriyaki that often, but it was so worth it, it is a better substitute than my homemade sauce.  The sauce itself definitely is not salty like soy saucy, but still have that deep, pungent taste (slightly different, but similar enough that in a teriyaki sauce you don't notice it).

Overall Rating: 10 out of 10. Even with the expensive price, it was worth it to be able to make my teriyaki for everyone in the family. :)

Grapefruit Yogurt Cake

Okay, I have to admit something, I'm not a big fan of grapefruit.  It's okay, but I can only handle it in small doses.  But, when you bake it into a cake, that changes everything.  I used my Pomelo Yogurt Cake recipe and just subbed in grapefruit...fantastic! Really, this yogurt cake is awesome and you could use whatever citris fruit you have on hand. :)

Grapefruit Yogurt (or mock pound) Cake

1 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup So Delicious plain coconut yogurt
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
3 large eggs
zest of 1-2 grapefruits (~1 tablespoon)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

for the glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
~2 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a large bread pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper.

Stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, the zest, and vanilla. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the canola oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup grapefruit juice and remaining tablespoon of sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place it on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the pomelo-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.

For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and grapefruit juice and pour over the cake.

This recipe is featured on Cybele Pascal's Allergy Friendly Friday and Real Sustenance's Seasonal Sunday.