Menu Plan Monday: Halloween

I've promised myself I won't get swept up in Menu Plan Mondays, Wordless Wednesdays and the like. But I am really excited about our menu plan this week and I actually have links to almost all the meals so I thought it'd be a great week to share.

All meals are wheat-free (and mostly gluten-free), dairy-free, and soy-free, or easily adapted to be.

Black bean quinoa burgers on Udi's bread with spinach, tomato and avocado.

Sunday: La Bamba Casserole (no cheese or corn) with blue corn chips
Monday: Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings (going to make biscuits on the side instead of dumplings bc both Glenn & Beanie prefer it that way)
(Meatless) Tuesday: (moved bc of Halloween) Black Bean Quinoa burgers (my friend who gave me this recipe said, and I agree, that the water to be added to the mixture must be a typo -- use about 3/4 of a cup)
Wednesday: Meatloaf Muffins from Cook It Allergy Free, with mashed potatoes and spinach salad
Thursday: Potato Omelet (from my Cooking Light cookbook, but I can't find a link online -- I'll keep looking!)
Friday: Mac and Beef (one of my mother-in-law's recipes that Glenn wants to try. We're using Ancient Harvest quinoa macaroni)
Saturday: Tostadas

I'm also planning on making some more pumpkin muffins (this is the same recipe I adapted earlier -- make sure you look around her blog, she has awesome ideas for bento boxes and more). Hopefully they'll last more than 24hours this time around ;)

Happy eating!

I'm linked up at I'm an Organizing Junkie, so click over to check out more menu-planning ideas.

The Itch.

I keep getting the itch to blog again. I've been horribly absent. I'd apologize, but I'm not too sorry actually. I've been focusing on my family and getting our lives balanced and in order. Glenn has had more late shifts ("late" for him being normal for everyone else) so we've had time together. I've been reading and trying to restore some semblance of order to this catastrophe of a house. I'm feeling better though. I don't feel like my depression or anxiety rules me every day, so that's good. I feel like I am thinking more clearly, able to communicate better, and able to connect with Glenn and the kids. The only downside is this is all happening at the dark time of year and I am struggling with that a bit. I've upped my Vit D and I do think that helps. I should exercise, but that hasn't happened yet. We signed Beanie up for preschool. She loves it and I am so positive it was the best decision for our family. It was a hard decision since we'd committed to the co-op with our friends, but, once Grandpa offered to pay for preschool, it was really the only decision we could make. We are all so happy with it -- Beanie looks forward to it every day, it allows Glenn and I some time together, Bubby can play without being told what to do, hit, kicked, or pushed. Yeah, it has been good for everyone. We've been menu-planning, couponing, baking, and raking leaves (lots of leaves). I've been using the TV as a crutch again and I'd like to get away from that. We've been smoothie-making fiends. Bubby hadn't gained any weight between 15 and 18months so we're on the "get good food in the kid" diet. Smoothies consist of almond milk yogurt, coconut or almond milk, coconut oil, avocado, flax seed, fruit, and spinach. We all like them.

I keep struggling with what I unreasonably think blogging should be and what I need it to be for it to be sustainable. I love writing. I think blogging through the changes that are going on right now could be a good thing. And since I haven't really learned my lesson I keep toying with the idea of signing up for NaBloPoMo for November. The theme is "Blogging for Blogging's Sake." Somehow I think for me to really blog for blogging's sake I need to not commit to doing it every day. We'll see.

I'm completely inspired to minimize and organize our stuff. Glenn and and I are both so much happier in an organized and uncluttered environment, but achieving that ideal has been hard for us. I know it would be helpful for Beanie, too. Anyone do Flylady? I'm thinking of trying that.

What else? I have lots on my mind, but I'll leave my blog ramble at this for today....

Sunday Surf: 09/18

Well, obviously it was a big fat fail at the blogging every day this month thing. Oh well. I'm not really worried about it as it's been a pretty crazy week here and, well, life got in the way of blogging.

• You're Stupid Mommy! Go Away! You're Yucky! Ah, yes, we've been going through a "You're a bad mommy," stage here so this article was quite helpful.
• Waking Up Full of Awesome I'm trying hard to remember I'm full of awesome, are you?
• Do inspiring blogs make you feel bad about yourself? I'm glad a friend shared this in her Sunday Surf today. I remember chatting in the #ppdchat about how some of us felt the need to step away from reading blogs for awhile. Reminder: No one is perfect. Not you. Not me. Not that blogger who does awesome crafts with their children every day of the week as has home-cooked, baked-from-scratch meals three times a day. Don't forget it.

Happy Surfing!

Menu Plan Monday 09/12

Now that we're back from vacation, I'm reading to get settled back in to our routine, including weekly menu planning. We really have been able to save a lot of money while still being able to eat organic (we mostly only buy organic for the dirty dozen and milk, although we add to our organic purchases as we are able to). Most of our food purchases are whole, fresh foods -- it's nice to see the grocery list coming together and the produce section overtaking everything else on the page. In recent months we've been eating out more than we'd like, but we really need to reign that in, too (and more than we'd like amounts to about two - four times a month). It's not as healthy for us and a real budget buster so we'd like to save any dining out for our date nights.

Without further ado, here is our plan for this week. All meals are gluten-free and dairy-free. Most are also soy-free.


(Meatless) Monday: Yam and Black Bean Burritos
Tuesday: Chicken Cacciatore (trying out my mother-in-law's recipe for the first time; I'll let you know how it goes!)
Wednesday: BBQ Pork Tenderloin with spinach salad w/ dried cranberries & almonds
Thursday: Rice and Beans
Friday: BBQ Flank Steak with quinoa salad (going to make quinoa with black beans and salsa -- super easy and yummy)
Saturday: Gluten-free pancakes (we've been using GF Bisquik because Glenn likes it the best, but I want to try out making some from scratch), eggs, and sausage
Sunday: Turkey burgers in a lettuce "bun" with spinach salad w/dried cranberries and almonds

I'm linked up at I'm an Organizing Junkie so click on over for more menu ideas.

Sunday Surf 09/11

I wasn't reading too much this week. I was busy enjoying the view while we were on vacation in Pacific City, Oregon.

I did read a few good things though and here they are:

• Are the "Terrible Two's" a cultural phenomenon? was quite interesting to me, especially given the fact that we have an almost 18mth old and four year old.
• Gentle Discipline: Expressing Anger Healthily was a great reminder for me. I've been struggling with being really frustrated with Beanie. I also sometimes struggle with allowing her to express her anger freely, but I don't want to teach her that she can't express what she's feeling.
• What Should a 4 Year Old Know? looks at what kids really need to know (and it has nothing to do with numbers, letters, or charts).

Short, but sweet. Happy reading!

Wheat. Take Three.

I can't think of a better way to reintroduce wheat than to celebrate our anniversary with a cold, award-winning beer on the beach at the local brewery.

Bubby has been having wheat for a few weeks. We made the decision to reintroduce to him and to hold off on any reintroduction for me. As far as we can tell he seems to be doing fine with it. There was some question after he'd had it for about a week, but, luckily, it seems he just have a stomach bug. I've never been so happy for a stomach bug! I wouldn't say we're 100% sure that he's fine with wheat -- maybe 98% at this point. It's hard to tell with the little guy sometimes. He is a bit cranky, but I'm pretty sure that can be attributed to his cutting three more teeth right now. They keep coming in bunches and I can't really decide if that's better or worse, perhaps better in the long run, no?

I've only had the beers and plan to remain wheat-free (and mostly gluten-free). I just feel better not eating it. After talking with a naturopath, I wonder if Bubby was reacting to my antibodies earlier. I'm not sure exactly how that works (so don't ask!), but apparently if I had a problem with wheat he could be reacting to my antibodies.

He most definitely still has a problem with dairy. We had planned not to reintroduce that for quite awhile due to his bad reaction last time, but unfortunately we ran in to a very ignorant waitress who didn't know that butter is dairy. Eh....perhaps with the rising incidence of food allergies she should have been better informed. You would think. We will probably give the soy a try again soon just so we know. I'm not too keen on him (or any of us) having a lot of soy anyway, so we'll just see if there is something we're eating that he can try. I'm not going to go out of my way to reintroduce soy to him as we try to avoid it for the most part.

Plans.

I had plans to blog today, but I had a clingy, cranky, I-was-up-every-hour-last-night, I-refuse-to-nap-until-I-basically-pass-out-from-sheer-exhaustion toddler on my hands.

So, I threw my plans out the window and more or less went along with his.

Nine Years.

Nine years ago I said, "I do," to the love of my life, my best friend and my partner in crime.

Nine years later, turns out he's an awesome dad and a better partner than I ever could have asked for.

We've had our ups and downs, but we persevere and work hard at our marriage. The last year-and-a-half has been hard. Like HARD. I honestly think if we can persevere through what we've gone through in the last eighteen months that we can make it through anything.

I love you, Glenn. Happy Anniversary.

Awful.

As a breastfeeding mom I'm glad that I have the support of my husband and the confidence to provide information to extended family members and/or let their comments slide right on down my back.

There are so many things wrong with the Evenflo advertisement....

The baby who is supposedly nursing, but so obviously positioned to just be cuddling on couch with mom.

The comments from the peanut gallery. About mom's breast size.

The husband sitting there playing on his phone while his mother gives his wife a hard time.

The mother feeling the need to go hide in a room and pump a quick bottle (which, seriously, did you see how much she pumped?? She has an awesome supply ;)) to placate her mother-in-law.

And the dad. Drinking the breast milk. The horrible looks on everyone's face. The slow motion. The comment that it must be 2% (i.e., sub-par in some way).

I mean, have you tasted breastmilk? It's pretty sweet. It'd probably be damn good in coffee.

I HATE this advertisement. I HATE that a company who used to be WHO code compliant is now so blatantly playing up the supposed "hard parts" of breastfeeding and undermining what many have worked so hard for -- REAL support for breastfeeding moms.

Read Annie at PhD in Parenting's take on the Evenflo ad. As always, she states things intelligently and causes you to pause and think.

Menu Plan Monday 09/05

Menu planning has become a bit trickier lately as I am eating some soy and Bubby is now eating wheat (more on that later). I guess not so much tricky as we just need to make sure we have all the bases covered. Dinners are largely still eating gluten-, dairy- and soy-free, or quite easily adapted. 


It's kind of a weird week for us, but here's our plan:

Monday: Teriyaki chicken wraps with broccoli and rice tortillas (We used San J gluten-free teriyaki sauce (contains soy), but we've used Coconut Aminos in the past with good results).
Tuesday: Dinner out with family???
Wednesday: It's our 9th wedding anniversary so we'll be going out :)
Thursday: Spaghetti (we usually use Trader Joes GF pasta, but I bought some De Boles gluten-free pasta because it was on sale at Whole Foods -- and had a coupon!)
Friday: Applegate organic hot dogs (OMG, I will never eat another kind of hot dog again!) with Udi's gluten free buns & fresh veggies
Saturday: Turkey Tostadas
Sunday: Chicken and Dumplings (I made the biscuits on the side this time because both Glenn & Beanie prefer it that way)

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