Menu Plan Tuesday – April 21, 2009

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

This week it looks like we might actually get warm weather – Woo!  That would be nice…  At least so far it has been just warm enough to get things to sprout.  I love going out everyday and seeing what is peeking up out of the ground.  We just found tiny, tiny lilac buds in the back yard this morning!  I’m really excited at how great my seedlings are looking so far…  

What’s on your plate this week?  Head over to Laura’s for Menu Plan Monday.  With over 300 menus linked, you are sure to find some inspiration!  The Gluten Free Menu Swap is hosted this week by Asparagus Thin.  She picked rhubarb for the theme this week.  I love rhubarb, but we don’t have very much of it yet.  My rhubarb is only about 4 to 5 inches tall so far.  Cute, but not big enough for cutting yet.  However, I do have some in the freezer that should be used up, so I’m good to go!  I can make Rhubarb Strussel Muffins to get my rhubarb fix.  And the best part?  Well, my husband hates rhubarb with the deep burning passion of a thousand suns.  Weirdo…  So, more for me!  Woo!

On another note, Erin, the 5dollardinners mom, will be on Rachel Ray today!  I am super excited for her!  Guess what I’ll be watching at 2:oo?  Her blog is fantastic and great for those of us looking at trimming our costs at dinner time.  She follows a lot of the same principles I do to cut down on costs at the check out.  She also does GFCFSF (gluten free, casein free, and soy free) for her boys and has a site gfcfsf.net that she just started at the end of last year to share information on that.  I checked her site for some inspiration this week and have the links below.  

This week I will also be experimenting with some yummy juice I received from POM Wonderful.  Thanks, guys!  I had no idea they had a recipe section on their site which has some really nice things to try.  After I make a recipe from there, I will let you know how it turns out.  I already love to use pomegranate juice as a coloring for cakes and frosting (a VERY small amount makes a huge pop of color), and the seeds are so lovely and tasty on a salad, but I am looking forward to some new ideas.  So far the Persian Chicken in POM and Walnut Sauce, smoothies (using almond milk or my coconut yogurt and frozen banana pieces), and the POM syrup is catching my eye…  Oooo, jelly, too!   

Monday:  orchestra day/dance/Boy Scouts/mommy teach a class

    Daddy cooked:  Hamburgers, veggies and fruit

Tuesday:  Piano lessons/baseball practice starts

  Persian Chicken in POM and Walnut Sauce (replacing the flour with a gluten free flour blend – not a bean based one) and serving over quinoa or rice, and steamed veggies 

Wednesday:  Mommy volunteer in school library

    Slow cooker pot roast (probably braised with sweet onions, LOTS of garlic and some red wine), salad and pureed cauliflower 

Thursday:  Mommy help in kindergarten class/baseball practice

    Cranberry Pork Chops with Sweet Potatoes  (this will also be featured on Rachel Ray’s show here) and salad  (this is a crock pot meal.)

Friday:  Mom’s Bible study/possible big girl sleep over here/son at a half birthday party

     Chicken stir fry, rice, and salad      

Saturday:  

      Ginger Sweet Potato Chicken Bake and salad

Countdown to the breast cancer 3-day walk: 18 Weeks

Your Training Schedule for This Week:

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

Don’t forget to come back Friday for Gluten Free-zer Friday~ See you then!