Meal Plans Week of 11-24-13

Happy Thanksgiving!  I've been looking forward to this week for a while.  My husband just got home from a week in India yesterday (which means I have help again).  My daughter only has two days of school.  My husband is only working for two days this week.  There is no dance class.  Soccer just ended yesterday.  And we don't have to travel!  All of this means we are going to RELAX!  That is something to be thankful for.

Of course there is still plenty to be done.  But at least we don't have to be on the go every day.  I still have my two chiro appointments.  The kids do have Kindermusik.  And I need to do some shopping - craft store and health food store.  We are actually just staying home and celebrating Thanksgiving as a family this year.  We might visit my grandparents (and possibly some other extended relatives) later in the day.

Dress up clothes from India.

Last week I was on my own since my husband was out of the country.  So I tried not to do too much.  I focused on getting the house clean (since we had a playdate) and keeping up with the kids.  Of course that means that I have a list a mile long of things I want to do in the kitchen this week.  I would like to make pumpkin pie and apple pie for Thanksgiving.  I need to make a new batch of graham crackers, granola, gluten free bars and possibly muffins (for my son the muffin monster...I'm thinking about making all of his meals into muffins since he loves them so much).  I've already made two batches in the last two days...but there are only a few left.  I might make yogurt if we have a lot of milk left.

In addition to food projects I want to get started on making Christmas presents, planning presents, making Christmas lists and ordering our Christmas cards.

Toys from India.

In health news, we seem to be staying on top of things with my son's allergies.  Overall he's doing very well.  And I keep doing my best to get him to eat nourishing/healing foods.  Unfortunately my daughter has had on and off hives for about 6 weeks now.  And I'm wondering if it is from coconut.  If so it means my cooking/baking job just got ten times harder.  I pretty much use coconut oil or butter for everything.  And my son can't have butter.  Now if my daughter can't have coconut oil I can never make them the same things.  So this should be interesting.  It will be a challenge, but if it means keeping my kids healthy I'll figure out a way to do it.  Even if I do have to make two of everything.

Not much to say about myself.  The last couple weeks I had a big flare of inflammation.  I think I was trying to add too many things into my diet and experiment too much.  It backfired big time.  I hope I'm finally getting back on track now, eating the foods I know my body handles well.  I did get around 8 hours of sleep a night last week.  That really helped.  And I've been able to exercise a little more.  As always I keep researching and finding new information.  It's often confusing.  But I'm trying to sift through it all to figure out what will work best for my body.  For now it's plenty of quality sleep, moderate exercise (including weight bearing exercise) and a good balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates that my body tolerates, consisting of enough calories to support my activity level.

Meal planning was harder than ever this week, adding the coconut factor into our long list of restrictions.  But I think I got most of it planned.  I might have to fill in a couple breakfasts as the week goes on.

What is on your Thanksgiving menu this year?  Have a happy holiday.  Eet smakelijk!

****MENU****

S (prep lunch, church, prep smoothies, puree vegetables, soak flour)
  B - scrambled eggs, bacon, toast
  L - bean and vegetable soup w/ bacon, muffins or crackers
  D - sweet and sour meatballs over rice, squash

M (make yogurt?, chiro, shopping?, make gf bars)
  B - smoothie, TBD
  D - goulash, corn, peaches

T (AKM, RKM, co-op)
  B - yogurt, granola, fruit
  D - quick prep/separate - leftover goulash, peas, peaches

W (chiro, shopping, bake pies)
  B - smoothie, TBD
  D - salmon cakes, sweet potato fries, beans

Th (Thanksgiving, visit grandparents)
  B -
  L - roast chicken, turkey?, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole or mashed potatoes, stuffing, applesauce
  D - leftovers/misc.

F (make graham crackers, make granola)
  B -granola w/ milk
  D - pancake and sausage muffins

S ()
  B - pancake and sausage muffins
  D - chicken noodle soup