Menu Plan Monday – March 16, 2009

Woo!  It’s Spring Break here for my kiddos and (guess what?) it even seems like spring out there.  My door is open to let in the breeze.  Very exciting!  We have the seeds on the way (all those yummy heirloom tomatoes and eggplants, mmmm…), we ordered some fruit plants for the yard (dwarf plums, northern pie cherry, lingonberries, 3 kinds of raspberries and asparagus) and the seed starting shelves are set up.  I can even see my garden as all of the snow is melted off of it.  Nice!  I feel a great need to get out there and even out the mulch on the paths and sprinkle the compost around (my dad dumped a load on there that froze right away very late last fall.  I have had a frozen compost sculpture on my garden all winter).  I can’t work the soil yet (too wet, too cold) but I can clean it up a bit and just get out there.  I also need to measure the outside of the garden.  We are putting up a tougher, taller fence this year.  I am tired of battling the deer and bunnies, and would like to get more of my yummy herbs and veggies this year.

The kids and I have some fun things planned for break, but we are also leaving time open for play time with the little buddies of my kids and for making yummy things to stock the freezer with for breakfasts and lunches, and just to hang out.  My menu this week is dictated by fun kid times and a relaxed schedule.  I love breaks!  I wish we had them more often!

Menu Plan Monday is being hosted this week by Erin of $5 dinners.  Erin is a mom who won’t spend more than $5 on a meal for her family and cooks GFCFSF for two of her children.  Now that is something I can get behind!  I am able to maintain our budget really well as I make so much from scratch, however getting new tips is always a great thing.  I can’t wait to explore her site!  I found one blog that was supposed to be a gluten free “budget” site, but at $20 for a dinner for 4 people, that is NOT a budget dinner for us (to make 8 servings a meal it would add up to $280 a week/over $1,000 a month – no snacks, no breakfasts, no lunches… Yikes!)  Head on over and check it out.  I think $5 dinners is going to be a new favorite.

The Gluten Free Menu Swap is being hosted b y Sea of Book of Yum.  She has picked nuts as the theme ingredient.  Nuts is something we are not allergic to (yay, for us!) so we do use nuts and seeds liberally.  Nuts as a “milk” finds its way into my morning chai, cashews are used in my “cheese” sauce, and I make presoaked/sprouted crispy nuts for snacking.

Spring Break all week – NO SCHOOL!!  (And my hubby has Thursday and Friday off too!)

Monday:  Dance Class/start bread “sponge”/make new batch of coconut yogurt/make a batch of kimchee and kraut/make pizza for tomorrow’s sleep over – freeze/bake cupcakes for freezer and as gift

Tacos with all the fixings and a salad

Tuesday:   Orthodontist appointment/double batch millet blender waffles for breakfast and freezer/all of us play at a friend’s house/kids on a sleep over/experiment with a bread recipe I want to try

Pizza with cashew “cheese”, veggie sticks with dip for the kids, salad for me with avocados (the kid’s are bringing it to their sleepover and I am making one for me, too, with all my favorite toppings as my hubby will be at work that evening – an evening all alone.   Weird… But lots of reading and knitting sounds like just the thing!)

Wednesday: Roast 3 chickens – freeze extra meat, start stock/Make double batch of pumpkin waffles for lunch and freezer

 Roast Chicken, salad and roasted root veggies

Thursday:  De-fat stock and freeze/Daisy Meeting/presoak muffin ingredients for tomorrow’s baking

Leaving this open right now for kid’s and daddy’s choice (maybe something in the slow cooker or maybe fajitas or a teriyaki stir fry??)

Friday:  Bake muffins for breakfast and freezer and coffee cake for snack for mom Bible study/mom Bible study

Leaving this open right now for kid’s and daddy’s choice

Saturday:   Chicken and Basil meatloaf (altered to be GFCF), smashed cauliflower and salad

Sunday:  Oldest daughter in skit for Sunday School

(maybe spring rolls??)

I’m walking 60 miles in the Breast Cancer 3-day!  Will you help me reach my goal? 

Countdown to 3-day walk: 23 Weeks
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