Sunday, January 2, 2011

Menu Plan Monday 01/03


My first menu plan for the new year! Glenn really wants to exercise and eat healthy this year and, since my goal is to take care of myself, I think planning our menus follows along nicely with this. I'd like to venture into have one meatless meal a week, but Glenn isn't too fond of that idea (yet??). It's also hard to get enough protein in our meals without meat since we can't have soy. Any ideas?

As I said last week, reintroducing wheat is on the horizon, but I haven't yet. I think we'll take it nice and slow and see how it goes. Even as we reintroduce, we will keep our dinners gluten-free for the time being. Wish Bubby and I luck with our first reintroduction (well, our first reintroduction in round two, I guess); I'm a lot nervous and a little excited. I think the nervousness is winning out!

As always, we plan Saturday - Friday because that's how we roll. All menus are gluten-free, dairy-free and soy-free, or easily adapted to be.

Saturday: La Bamba casserole with blue corn tortilla chips (we omit the corn and top Beanie's and Glenn's with cheese afterward so it can be dairy-free)
Sunday: Chicken and broccoli with quinoa (this is a new recipe adaptation we'll try from Glenn's Men's Health Muscle Chow. It originally calls for turkey cutlets and couscous, but we have chicken on hand and will use quinoa for a gluten-free dinner. Recipe below.) Monday: Sausage, beans & rice
Tuesday: Indonesian chicken (I use balsamic vinegar + a dab of molasses in place of the soy sauce)
Wednesday: Leftover buffet
Thursday: Baked chicken breast, mashed potatoes, and green salad
Friday: Bean soup

Chicken and Broccoli with Quinoa
 Chicken and Broccoli with Quinoa

Ingredients:
1 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips 
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
Pinch of black ground pepper
12 boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders, sliced into 2" strips
1 tsp dried sage
1c quinoa, cooked according to package instructions with chicken broth (instead of water)
2 1/2 c broccoli florets

Directions:
  1. Cook quinoa according to package instructions (usually 1 part quinoa to 2 parts chicken broth).
  2. Drizzle about 1 Tbsp olive oil in deep skillet; heat over medium heat.
  3. Add the bell pepper, onion and black pepper and cook, stirring frequently, about two minutes or until onion is slightly translucent.
  4. Add chicken and sage. Cook until chicken is cooked through.
  5. Add broccoli. 
  6. Stir in cooked quinoa.
  7. Serve.
Enjoy!   
 

Image credit: Frank Jakobi on Flickr
The ingredient of the week for the Gluten Free Menu Plan Monday is pomegranate. Confession: I've never had one! (Glenn is totally making fun of me right now.) I always think they look yummy and interesting and neat, but I've never had one. I don't think POM and vodka counts. I'm off to buy one. NOW! Should I just eat it by itself? Or I've been craving some chocolate, so I might have to try the chocolate covered pomegranate seeds I saw on Gluten Free Goodness a while back.

I'm linked up over at I'm an Organizing Junkie and Angela's Kitchen, so click on over for more menu-planning ideas.

8 comments:

  1. Pomegranates are delicious! I Love your menu this week.

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  2. I have your menu hooked up to the Swap. Thanks for joining in! Your menu looks delicious. I need to make the chicken and broccoli with quinoa dish for my triathalon hubby's after workout snack. He'll love it. Thank for sharing that one.

    Good luck on your reintroduction of wheat. I know how nerve-wracking that can be!

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  3. Pomegranates have such great flavor and the nieces and nephews think it is the coolest thing to eat!

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  4. Your menu sounds great. Our goal is to eat healthier this year too!

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  5. Oh and ps I have links to meatless meals on my menu each week, but dont know how they will work with your dietary restrictions... We eat a lot of beans when we go meatless :)

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  6. We eat a lot of quinoa in our house and love it! One of our favorites is quinoa with garbanzo beans! yum yum!

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  7. That's a week of great gluten-free food. The Indonesian Chicken looked especially good to me and when I clicked on the link I was surprised to find myself on my friend Stephanie's Year of Slow Cooking. That is one of her recipes I haven't tried yet and I haven't even started on her brand new cookbook. Looks like your new year is off to a healthy start.

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  8. Poms are my favorite!! Have been since I was a little kid. Sparky and Spunky take after me it seems. I think oranges are their favorite and then poms right after. Yum yum yum!!

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