I found a great group of bloggers who all post their menu for the week. Since I am trying to be better about not only menu planning but actually cooking what I planned for the week, for that matter cooking at all during the week, I thought I would give it a try. So every Monday I am going to be posting our menu for the week.
So welcome to my world of learning to cook Casein and Soy free. If you didn’t already know both the kids are Casein and Soy intolerant. Which has posed quite a dilemma for me with dinner. I found that when I meal plan and stick to it the task is not quite so overwhelming.
This week we are having,
Day 1: BLT, Curly Fries, Apple Slices
BLT’s
1 package bacon
Lettuce leaves, torn
2 Tomatoes, sliced
8 Hamburger Buns (or 16 slices of toast)
Cook the bacon slices according to package directions. Assemble the other ingredients. Make the sandwiches yourself, or serve ingredients separately so that everyone cam make their own sandwich.
(Serves 4-6 )
Curly Fries
4 Medium Potatoes
1/8 cup canola oil
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp. onion salt
Peel, core, and slice the potatoes to make long spirals. (Slice the cores and use them too.) Place the potatoes in a large shallow baking pan. Combine the oil, garlic powder and onion salt and drizzle over the potatoes. Then bake at 400 for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
(serves 4 )
Apple Slices
3 or 4 apples, washed, cored, and sliced.
Serve sliced apples on a plate so that everyone can help themselves.
Hamburger Buns
1-cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
¾ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. canola oil
About 2 ½ cups flour
Pour the warm water into a warmed mixing bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the water, and then sprinkle the sugar and salt over the yeast. Let set a minute or two to proof the yeast. Add the oil, and stir in as much of the flour as you easily can, about 2 cups. Work in enough of the rest of the flour to give you dough that is easy to handle, turn it out onto a floured counter top and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Round the dough up into a ball, cover it with the upturned mixing bowl, and let set in a warm place to rise until double in bulk, about 45 minutes. Divide the dough into 8 equal parts and form each part into a ball. Set the balls of dough slightly apart on a greased baking sheet and let rise until doubled in bulk, again about 45 minutes. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes, until done.
(Makes 8 Hamburger Buns)
Day 2: Sliced Ham, Sweet Potatoes, Corn
Sliced Ham
One precooked ham, 3 lbs.
1 tsp. dry mustard
1/3 cup brown sugar
½ tsp. ground cloves
½ cup coke
Combine the dry mustard, brown sugar, and ground cloves in a small bowl. Add 1 Tbsp. of the coke to moisten the dry ingredients. Rub the entire Ham with the mixture, then place the ham in a crock pot, and add the rest of the coke. Cover and cook on low for 6-10 hours, or on high for 2-3 hours .Slice before serving.
(Serves 10 )
cube any leftover ham and freeze in zippered bags, 1 cup cubed ham per bag, for future recipes.
Sweet Potatoes
3 yams, peeled and cubed
2 Tbsp. margarine
2 Tbsp. orange juice
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
½ cup marshmallows
Bake yams in a covered 2-quart casserole dish at 350 for 45 minutes. Drain off about ½ of the cooking liquids, then add remaining ingredients, layering the marshmallows on top. Bake an additional 10 minutes at 350
(Serves 6 )
Corn
1 10 oz. bag frozen corn or 4-5 ears fresh corn
Steam frozen corn in a stove top steamer for approximately 10 minutes.
Boil Fresh corn for approximately 10 minutes.
Day 3: Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, Chips
Hot Ham and Cheese Sandwiches
1 lb. deli ham, sliced thin
4-8 slices cheddar cheese
4 hamburger buns
Layer each sandwich with several slices of deli ham and one or two slices of cheese. Arrange the four sandwiches on a plate, and cover with a kitchen towel, and microwave on high for about 90 Seconds, or until heated through.
(Serves 4 )
Chips
1 bag favorite chips
Open bag and pour into a serving bowl. Place on table for everyone to help themselves.
Hamburger Buns
1-cup warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. sugar
¾ tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. canola oil
About 2 ½ cups flour
Pour the warm water into a warmed mixing bowl, sprinkle the yeast over the water, and then sprinkle the sugar and salt over the yeast. Let set a minute or two to proof the yeast. Add the oil, and stir in as much of the flour as you easily can, about 2 cups. Work in enough of the rest of the flour to give you dough that is easy to handle, turn it out onto a floured countertop and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Round the dough up into a ball, cover it with the upturned mixing bowl, and let set in a warm place to rise until double in bulk, about 45 minutes. Divide the dough into 8 equal parts and form each part into a ball. Set the balls of dough slightly apart on a greased baking sheet and let rise until doubled in bulk, again about 45 minutes. Bake in a preheated 350-degree oven for about 20 minutes, until done.
(Makes 8 Hamburger Buns)
Day 4: Grilled Pork Tenderloin, Long Grain and Wild Rice, Grilled Veggies
Grilled Pork Tenderloin
1 Tbsp. Kosher salt
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. ground black pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 Tbsp. olive oil
combine all ingredients and rub on the surface of the tenderloin about 30 minutes before grilling.
Grill the tenderloin for approximately 10 to 15 minutes per side, then broil for another 5 to 10 minutes per side (until the internal temperature reaches 160) Slice crosswise to serve
(Serves 8 )
Long Grain and Wild Rice
Cook according to package directions
Grilled Veggies
1 Pepper
3 Carrots, peeled
1 yellow squash
8 Cherry tomatoes
1 – 2 cups mushrooms
1 bunch green onions
2 garlic cloves
2-3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 tsp. seasoned salt
Wash and cut all the vegetables into bite-sized pieces. In a mixing bowl, stir them
together with olive oil, kosher salt and seasoned salt. Wrap the vegetables up in an aluminum flil pouch, with tow ice cubes, then fold to seal the pouch. Set the pouch on the grill along side the meat; cooking times will depend on the grill heat, so check every so often, until the vegetables are crisp-tender. These can also be cooked in the oven (375 for about 40 minutes) or stir-fried in a skillet
(Serves 6 )
Day 5: Chili, Cornbread
Chili
1 lb. ground beef, browned and drained
1 can red kidney beans
1 can tomato sauce
1 10 oz. bag frozen corn
Combine all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low for 6 – 8 hours.
Cornbread
Cook according to package directions
I plan for 5 days rather than for a specific day. That way I can mix and match days if I need to. For the most part I start with day one on Sunday and go in order, but not always. If I forget to take some meat out of the freezer I may push that day back by one and pick another day. This is what seems to work the best for us. We usually have dinner out one night a week. Most days it is Friday, but not always. Last week we went out on Tuesday because of a Fundraiser at Chick-Fil-A. Saturdays we almost always have leftovers or Jason and I order something in after the kids have gone to bed and have a semi date night. That leaves five nights that I need to have something planned.
Enjoy
Heather
I am back. I took the last two weeks off from Menu planning due to the holidays. We were out so much and had so many leftovers that I didn’t really need to plan too much. I was a little worried about how the kids would do, since we ate away from home so much, but for the most part they did great. We had a few days were I wished we had been more strict about their diet. Overall though they did great. We did discover however that red dye really affects Alex’s behavior, so no more Hi-C or red candy for him.