Meal Plans Week of 4-14-13

Good morning.  It's amazing what a difference a week can make.  The whole family is fully over the flu.  My inflammation is going down.  Life is mostly back to normal.  Feels good.

Now it's on to party week.  My "baby" girl will be 5 this week!  How is that possible?  We will celebrate as a family on her birthday.  And we will have a party with extended family on Saturday.  So this week is all about party prep.  I've made it my mission to make it a gluten free, food dye free party.  I am making one exception...there will be some colored fondant cake decorations...that can easily be removed before eating :)  Of course Rebecca chose pizza for the party food.  Something real easy to prep ahead and make gluten free...not :P  But I'll do my best.  I've been working on the pizza dough recipe.  The kids devoured their experiment pizza last night :)  So it can't be too bad.  I've already made 2 out of 3 layers of her birthday cake.  So far so good.  Just chocolate left to make (she's having a vanilla, strawberry, chocolate cake).  And a couple batches of ice cream left to make as well.  Then it's on to frosting and decorations.  Plus the rest of the party food.

Not too much else out of the ordinary this week.  We have our first milk pick up for 3 families.  Not really looking forward to that.  But at least I only have to do it once every 3 weeks now.  We have MomBreak on Friday.  It's been a little while since we've had a meeting.  And I think Katie from Kitchen Stewardship is speaking!!!  I'm beyond excited.  Katie is a wonderful woman and blogger that I've had the privilege to meet already.  I'm still excited to hear her speak.  I love hearing anyone spread the word about real food.

My in-laws will also be here for the weekend.  So I've got food and house prep to do for that on top of the party.  My goal is to do as much as I can ahead of time without getting too stressed or too tired.  I don't want to have a bunch of super early mornings to get things done and get run down again.  So I'm trying to plan well.

My body is doing ok.  I've been trying to get back on track this week and be really good about avoiding my food sensitivities.  When things are inflamed even tiny bites of the wrong food can perpetuate the problem.  Right now the inflammation is finally going down.  The cysts on my face are fading (hallelujah! :P).  My belly is deflating.  There is still more healing to be done, but I'm getting there.  I got my thyroid levels rechecked and met with my naturopath.  Thyroid looks good!  And we discussed some other issues.  So yesterday I did more bloodwork to recheck vitamin D and some other hormones.  I'm anxious to hear the results.  I'm also starting to take Natural Calm as a magnesium supplement.  So far magnesium seems to be what helps me the most.  I just need  high doses and have struggled to find the right one to take.  So I'm crossing my fingers that this will help.  I'm also going to try GABA for anxiety.

We are sticking with gluten free for now with Rebecca.  I am also wondering about dairy.  I think after all the party stuff is over I will do a dairy free trial just for a couple days and see what happens.  At the end of the month I might try adding gluten again and see if I notice a change.  Yesterday I bought some gf pasta and some decent gf bread.  So that will give us more gf options.

On to the menu.  There are still a few holes to fill in.  Hopefully I'll be able to keep on track with my to-dos this week.  And I hope the kids are ready to have some fun in the kitchen :)  And help clean.
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S (make scones, chop veggies, soak gbf for pancakes, church, bake chocolate cake, make chocolate ice cream, make frosting, prep smoothies, soak flour for muffins) D4
  B - granola bar, lemon yogurt (J), squash, beets, scone (M), (R/A)
  L - gf beefy mac 'n' cheese w/ squash, broccoli, applesauce
  D - sausage, gf waffles w/ blueberry topping, strawberry milkshakes (family), squash, scone (M)

M (bake/freeze gf muffins, make coconut milk ice cream, make pancakes, Meijer, PS) D1
  B - smoothie, muffin (J/R/A), gf pancake, broccoli (M)
  L - tuna salad on gf pancake
  D - roast chicken legs, sweet potato fries, roasted cauliflower

T (cake deco, KM, chop veggies) D2
  B - yogurt w/ granola (J), salmon w/ pesto, rice bar (M), (R/A)
  L - salmon w/ pesto, snap peas (M), pb/honey sandwich (R/A)
  D - pork chops in gravy, hashbrowns, peas (family), pork or salmon, peas (M)

W (soak beans, cake deco, make pizza crust, milk, PS, Rebecca's birthday) D3
  B - smoothie, granola bar (J), pumpkin, tuna, soaked amaranth bar (M), yogurt, cupcake (R/A)
  L - gm yogurt, pumpkin
  D - out to eat

Th (cook beans, thaw cake, make pizza crust, clean) D4
  B - toast w/ pb, pear (J), squash, scone (M), pear slices, yogurt (R/A)
  L - squash, beans, scone
  D - (Justin out for dinner) - hot dogs, sweet potato fries, broccoli

F (fill/shape/crumb coat cake, shred cheese, chop veggies, MB, PS, family, make trail mix, thaw cupcakes, clean, prep soup for Sat.) D1 (FLOODING - can't do much)
  B - yogurt w/ granola (J), navy beans, ice cream, amaranth bar (M), (R/A)
  L -
  D - baked chicken, sweet potatoes and mixed veggies
  dessert - gf chocolate chip cookies

S (frost/decorate cake and cupcakes, boil eggs, prep pizza toppings, make avocado dip, make veggie dip, prep fruits and veggies, roast veggies, clean/set up, party) D2
  B - hb eggs, toast, fruit, yogurt (family), snap peas, soaked amaranth bar (M)
  L - cp split pea soup, gf muffins, carrot sticks w/ dip
  D - gf pizza (1 ham/pineapple, 1 supreme, 1 pepperoni, 1 ham and veggies for adults; kids top their own - ham, pepperoni, peppers, mushrooms, olives), roasted vegetables (potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, asparagus, zucchini), fresh fruit (strawberries, grapes, pineapple, blackberries, apples, oranges, bananas), tortilla chips w/ salsa and avocado bean dip, kettle corn, carrots, cucubmers and peppers w/ dip, trail mix (dried fruit, crispy nuts, df/gf chocolate chunks), gf strawberry/chocolate/vanilla cake, dairy ice cream (chocolate, strawberry and vanilla), gf df strawberry cupcakes, chocolate coconut milk ice cream