I am hosting the Gluten Free Menu Swap this week.  Woo-hoo!  I have picked salad as the theme this week.  It has been hot, hot, HOT and salads are a great way to feed my family, use all the delicious things coming out of the garden and keep my kitchen cool.  I like to make my own salad dressing.  It saves money, allows you to use really fresh ingredients, and keeps the dressing gluten and dairy free.  Whipping up homemade dressing is really easy and it is fun to mix and match different flavors to your meal.  Some of our favorite homemade dressings are dairy free ranch, basic vinaigrette, and poppy seed dressing.  Yum!

 

I also have several salads on my site that can be used as a side dish or as the main dish for a summer meal such as Santa Fe-Style Quinoa Salad, updated ABC Salad ( apple, bok choy and carrot slaw), Broccoli Salad, Chicken Blueberry Mango Salad, Corn, Tomato and Onion SaladFresh Spinach SaladGingered Beef & Broccoli Salad, Kale-idoscope Potato Salad, Papaya and Coconut Chicken Salad, Rainbow Slaw, Red Cabbage Slaw, Napa Cabbage Slaw, Sesame Chicken Veggie Salad, and Udpated Hot German Potato Salad.  What is your favorite type of salad?  Mixed greens, pasta, or one with a gluten free grain, egg or chicken base?

 

And speaking of chicken…  I know some of you have been wondering how our chickens are doing.  They are doing great!  But not as many pics as I had hoped because, well…  do you know how hard it is to get a chicken to pose for a photo?  LOL?  Anyhoo, we did a photo shoot a couple of days ago and I will be posting a full photo spread on Thursday.  In the mean time here is Camilla’s close up.  Isn’t she pretty?  (She is a bit of a diva chicken.)

 

Monday:  XC captain’s practice/son help friend on Eagle project/mommy works

Steak and Potato Salad with blender corn bread muffins and berries

 

Tuesday:  XC captain’s practice/little girl soccer/big girl soccer/farmer market day

Curried Chicken Salad and Honey-Orange Bean and Vegetable Slaw and mellon

 

Wednesday:  XC captain’s practice/mommy works/church summer drama group

Deviled Eggs Salad with GF French Bread and fruit salad

 

Thursday:  XC captain’s practice/little girl soccer/mommy works/date night for mom and dad 🙂

Quinoa Confetti Salad, broiled fish, veggie sticks and watermellon

 

Friday:  Family night:  Opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics!  Yay!  We will be having a fusion meal of Korean Shredded Beef Tacos (recipe Tuesday), homemade kimchi, cilantro cashew salad and mangos.  For dessert I am planning on serving gluten & dairy free neapolitan cupcakes.

 

What is on everyone else’s plate this week:

Paige at Not Missing a Thing has an activity packed week ahead, so has planned easy but yummy things for dinner this week. She’ll be serving Mini-Meatloaves with oven fries and salad, Salad Dressing Chicken and quinoa, grilled chicken drumsticks (they got a new grill to play with!  Too fun!), Gina Chicken with Broccoli and Cashews over Rice, and Slow Cooker Basil Chicken.  On the weekend she will be bringing a pasta salad to one of the two gatherings she is attending this weekend.  Sounds delicious, Paige!  Her menu is gluten free, dairy free and egg free.

Heather of Celiac Family is on the road again this week.  She has had a great summer traveling with her family, but is ready to settle into her new house.  I can’t wait to see what wonderful things she whips up in her new kitchen.  🙂  This week she is serving Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Red Potato & Green Bean Salad, Hamburgers with sweet potato fries and Rainbow Apple Salad,  Seven-Layer Salad with Creamy Dill Dressing, Rotisserie Chicken with Roasted Veggies and Tropical Fruit Salad, Pizza with Strawberry Spinach Salad, Egg Salad Sandwiches with leftover side salads.  Yum!  If you would like to host a week of the Gluten Free Menu Swap, drop Heather an email.  She would love to hear from you!

 

Need more menu planning inspiration?  Check out OrgJunkie’s Menu Plan Monday and this month’s gluten free menu plan from Melissa at Stockpiling Moms.

 

 

What was I cooking…

A year ago: Just a bloggy break… The sunshine is calling me, baby!

Two years ago:  We now return you to your regular scheduled program…

Three years ago: Mayo Clinic study finds celiac disease 4 times more common than in 1950s

Four years ago:  Saving money on food when gluten and dairy free.

Five years ago:  Menu Plan Monday – July 23, 2007

Six years ago:   Girl Scout Fun!