What I Eat in a Week

I've been asked by several people to give them a sample menu plan to help them get started living a healthy or gluten- and dairy-free life. When you're new to this, it can be difficult and you feel as if you're eating the same food ALL the time. Plus, everything that you used to eat you miss. ALOT. Some of this you'll just have to get used to and some of it you can change.

A few ground rules before the menu plan:

-I try to vary my diet as much as possible. The rule of thumb is don't eat one food more than 3 to 5 times in a week. (Again, this is difficult in the beginning before you find all the other delicious foods you've been missing over the years.)

-At least 75 percent of my diet is produce. To eat fresh produce and keep it from spoiling, I grocery shop about every five days. This may seem daunting at first, but you'll be purchasing less each time you shop and as you progress in healthy living you'll know quickly which foods to grab if you need to make the grocery trip fast.

-Explore different kinds of veggies and seasonings. You'll be surprised what you find that you like.

Note: I could have incorporated more meals from the blog too, but I don't cook every night (I really wish I could) and I end up with leftovers quite often. Therefore, I eat them for lunch.

And now...the plan.

Sunday

Breakfast: Berry Banana Smoothie

Lunch: Cashew Tomato Pasta.

Dinner: Salad. Hardboiled eggs, sweet potatoes, avocado on spinach with balsamic vinegar dressing.

Monday

Breakfast: Egg Scramble

Lunch: Salad. Chicken, cabbage, broccoli, avocado, carrot, olive oil and vinegar dressing.

Dinner: Leftover Cashew Tomato Pasta with asparagus.

Tuesday

Breakfast: Gluten free granola with almond milk and banana.

Lunch: Mighty Bowl! Check their FB page out.

Dinner: Cumin Spring Rolls.

Wednesday

Breakfast: Egg Scramble

Lunch: Leftover Spring Rolls

Dinner: Curry Bake

Thursday

Breakfast: Berry Banana Smoothie

Lunch: Salad. On the Go! Whole Foods is where it's at.

Dinner: Pumpkin Quinoa Soup w/ avocado and maybe half a gluten-free bagel.

Friday

Breakfast: Egg Scramble.

Lunch: Mediterranean: Garlic Chicken, carrots, tomatoes, other veggies dipped in hummus. Maybe some sweet potatoes too.

Dinner: Chicken Salad.

Saturday

Breakfast: Protein Pancakes

Lunch: Gluten-free, vegan pizza from Mississipi Pizza. (Basically lot's of veggies w/ a pesto sauce. Yummy!)

Dinner: Beef and steamed veggies.

Snacks

Here are some snack ideas. Be creative!

-Almonds
-Apple w/ peanut (or other nut) butter
-Any fruit
-Carrots/Broccoli and hummus
-A spoonful or two of sweet potatoes w/ ketchup
-Small side salad
-Avocado
-Smoothies

Remember, cheating on your allergy isn't worth it. I've learned this several times. Stick through the craving...and eat an apple!

Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup

What is better than a warm bowl of soup after a cold, long day? Mexican soup, that's what! As I mentioned recently, I'm in a cumin phase, and I warned you chicken enchiladas were coming...but I had to make soup. I can't apologize for wanting something this delicious.

One of my mom's friends made this to-die-for, eat-three-bowls -of-chicken enchilada casserole. It used coriander, a spice ground from seeds. Described as having a sage-lemon taste, these seeds sprout the plant which has cilantro leaves, a commonly used herb in other ethnic dishes.


Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium to large onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 chicken breasts, cubed
1 7 oz. can mild (you can use hot if you like spice) green chili peppers. I find these in the ethnic food section of my grocery store.
1 can black olives, sliced
1/2 cup brown rice or quinoa flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp coriander
1 tbsp cumin
1 quart chicken broth
1 quart butternut squash soup (there's a kind that's gluten and dairy free!)
2 avocados
Fresh cilantro
Corn chips to garnish

Method:

Saute onion, pepper and chicken in olive oil until onion and pepper are tender and chicken is cooked through. Transfer to crockpot. Drain juice from can of chili peppers and olives. Add to chicken mix.

In same pan, mix flour, salt, coriander and cumin to make a paste. Slowly whisk in chicken broth and heat over medium - high heat. Stir more than occasionally and let cook until thick (ish) and bubbly. Add butternut squash soup. Continue to stir until slightly thickened. Add soup to crockpot.

Cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Serve garnished with avocado, cilantro and crumbled corn chips. Yum!

Gingerbread Cookies

This post has been long overdue. December has been just as busy for me as I'm sure it's been for you.

I was really craving gingerbread cookies. I never used to be a fan. Maybe the large quantities of coma-inducing sugar turned me off. But then, a friend had a Christmas cookie party, and I suddenly craved gingerbread cookies and milk. Unfortunately, I forgot my almond milk at home and had to settle with water :(  Oh, well. Next time.

Ingredients:

2 cups almond flour

1 cup quinoa flour

1 cup coconut flour

1 tsp. salt

1½ tsp. baking powder

½ tsp. baking soda

1 tbsp. ground cinnamon

1½ tsp. ground cloves

3 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp. ground nutmeg

1 cup coconut oil, at room temperature

1 cup coconut sugar

1 cup molasses

1 large egg

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and spices to combine; set aside.  In a separate bowl, cream together the coconut oil and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Mix in the molasses and egg until combined.  Add in the dry ingredients, 1/2 cup at a time and mix just until incorporated.  Cover the bowl and chill the dough for at least one hour.

 Preheat the oven to 350° F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.  Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to about ¼-inch thickness.  Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.  Place the cookie shapes onto the prepared baking sheets, about 2 inches apart.  Bake for 10 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through baking.  Remove from the oven and let cool on the baking sheets for 10 minutes.  Transfer to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely.  Decorate as desired.