Menu Plan Monday was a bit delayed this week.  Can you tell?  Yep, the blog got ditched on Monday, but I swear it was for a good reason.  (My menu plan for the week is at the bottom of the post.)

Monday morning I received a call asking if I could fill in to teach a gluten free class.  “Great!  I would love to.  When?”  Tuesday night.  Yikes!  After a bit of kid schedule rearranging (thanks to everyone who helped with that), I put together and prepped for a class in 24 hours.  Woo!  I think it went pretty well for such short notice, and I had a lot of fun.  Plus, I made gluten and dairy free brownie ice “cream” sandwiches and they make everything better.  It was a really great experience and I am hoping to work with them again.  Thanks for the opportunity, Eastside Co-op!  (It’s our local co-op.  Check them out!)

Featherstone Fruits and Vegetables

Eastside Food Co-op is where we will be picking up our CSA box from Featherstone Farm.  I am really excited about out boxes of veggie goodness that will be coming to us soon.  This past weekend was the Greenhouse Open House and Field Day at the farm.  We drove down to check it out.  We had perfect weather for the drive down.  The area the farm is in is just beautiful.

I got to meet Peggy Hanson, the writer for cookoutofthebox.blogspot.com.  She is the farm’s resident cooking expert who shares cooking ideas for the contents of each week’s CSA box.  So far, her posts on winter salads, cabbage rolls (with extra veggies and quinoa in the filling), and the end of winter borscht have caught my eye.  I am looking forward to the future seasonal posts on the CSA shares.

Crops my kids can’t wait for:

I have major greenhouse envy…

We can’t wait to go back to the farm for the Strawberry Social in June!

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I am late, but still linking up to Laura’s Menu Plan Monday, even though it is Wednesday.  I am such a rebel!

The Gluten Free Menu Swap is hosted this week by Heather of Celiac Family.  She picked Picnic Foods for this week’s theme.  I am hoping for some great ideas from everyone.  During the school year I usually try to pack dinner for our Tuesday evening piano lesson nights.  In the summer soccer games, play time at the park, zoo trips, a beach day and concerts/plays in the park all call for portable foods.  Any excuse to eat outside is a good excuse!

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If you would like to host a week of the swap, contact Cheryl at Gluten Free Goodness.  She would love to hear from you!

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Portable food we like (if anything looks like you would like a recipe posted on it soon, let me know.  I can get it posted after next week’s business.):

Humus and Quinoa Tabouli

Double A Quinoa Salad (it has apples and almonds in it)

Pizza Scones

Stomboli (stuffed with anything, really)

Calzones using our pizza crust filled with anything (my kids love hand pies)

PB & J bars

Cucumber cups or smaller hollowed out tomatoes stuffed with humus, or egg, chicken, ham or salmon salad/sandwich spread.

Nori rolls or sushi wraps

Pickles in a blanket (Spread a slice of gluten free deli ham or smoked turkey with coconut cream “cheese” – either plain cream “cheese” or mixed with fresh herbs or finely chopped and drained veggies.  You can lay a few spinach leaves or fresh basil leaves on the “cheese”.  Lay a pickle wedge on one end of the cold cut and roll up.  Secure roll with toothpicks and slice into 1 to 1 1/2 inch bites.)

A variety of slaws as they travel better than salad greens (Asian napa slaw, apple/bok choy/carrot slaw, sesame slaw, to name a few)

Bean and summer veggie salad

spring rolls

coconut chicken strips

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On to this week’s menu!

Monday:  prep for class/track practice/middle school symphony orchestra concert

Sweet & Sour Chicken and Veggie Skillet Dinner with salad

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Tuesday: 1 grade bird banding field trip/mommy volunteer in school library/tack practice/piano lessons/soccer practice/finish prep-teach gluten free class

Beef and veggie stir fry, rice, salad

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Wednesday: track meet/little girl dance class/end of year drama club meeting for my big girl

Gluten free fettuccine with homemade roasted garlic tomato sauce (precooked grassfed beef from my freezer, thinly sliced spinach and chopped broccoli will be added to the sauce) and a salad

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Thursday: Daisy Girl Scout meeting

Gluten Free French bread, marinated grilled chicken and roasted veggie sandwiches, spinach salad with homemade poppyseed dressing

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Friday: Boy Scout Star Camp

still in the planning stages…