Menu Plan Monday- Week of March 22, 2010

Well, I'm officially coming out of recovery... After being admitted to the hospital two weeks ago, I finally feel like I am myself again. For those of you who didn't know, I had Shingles, and then I gave myself Viral Meningitis...yup, you give it to yourself from stress and having Chicken Pox as a child...go figure.

I took a break from all blogging, and am now seriously evaluating any and all activities I do besides taking care of my family.

That being said, I am no longer stressing about having a meal plan every week...although, it does help me with the flow and organization of things, I am no longer "requiring" my brain to accomplish it.

For a while now, I have been experiencing what I call "Adrenal Insanity." If one of my children falls( more like trips over shoe), my adrenaline starts rushing through my body. If I am trying to take a nap, and briefly fall asleep, my adrenaline wakes me up and starts to flow like crazy through my body. If I am in the passenger seat with my husband while he is driving, the adrenaline is flowing from the moment we leave the driveway until our destination (although, this may actually be a true need for adrenaline:) . So what does this mean? I am seriously stressed...to the max!

Before I got sick, we had many obligations at church, many groups we were a part of, stresses with finances, not to mention two children 3 and under. I am coming to realize that my body is wired very differently from my husbands. I react...he does not.

I am going to be making many changes with the groups I am involved in, after all, a good leader is excellent at delegating, right?

Ok, now that you are caught up with my life, and I was given the chance to vent for a little while, here is my menu plan for the week...

Breakfasts: Hot Quinoa Breakfast Cereal, Eggs and Toast, Pancakes

Lunches: Leftovers, Chicken Salad Sandwiches,

Snacks: Veggies and Smoothies

Dinners:

Monday: Happy Birthday April!!! Dinner will not be made by me :) Gotta love other people's birthdays!

Tuesday: Beef Stew- Leftover from the freezer

Wednesday: Sweet and Sour Chicken, Broccoli and Rice

Thursday: Chicken Fajita's served with Sauteed Red Peppers and Onions from Produce Share

Friday: Black Bean Veggie Burgers with Salad and Baked Potatoes

Saturday: French Leek and Ham Shepherd's Pie

Sunday: Toscana Soup except I will be using Chard instead of Kale

Thanks!





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Menu Plan Monday- Week of March 1, 2010

Well, this is only 4 days late...I haven't done that in a while!
Our lives have been completely crazy lately.
We were ALL sick at the same time....
yes ALL puking with the stomach virus...
it was like there was no one around to help us...
we were all just fending for ourselves.

Then the girls got colds and I got a sinus infection....

now, I have Shingles, yes Shingles...

its something that usually affects 60+ year olds, and I have it!!!
Amazing.
The meds prescibed to me cost $500 so I am doing a regiment of natural herbs and salves to try to heal internally.

I am going to do a post and let you know how healing Shingles naturally works! It only cost me about $100 for all of the supplements and herbs I bought, a lot less than $500.

All that being said, it is obvious to me that we are run down as a family, and me especially. In my last menu plan, I talked about the movie Food, Inc and the Book Real Food....

I have never been more inspired to continue
on in my journey to better equip my family through nutrition.

I recently found an organic farm Co-op that has everything I am looking for...
Organic Chickens
Grass Fed Beef
Stocks
Raw Milk
Raw Cheeses
Kefir
and many many other wonderful things!!

The farm is Miller's Organic Farm,
and visiting their site will give you an idea of the next level
I am looking for with my family.
I am not sure, but perhaps I could find enough people
and we could do a co-op right here in Palm Beach! Any takers?

Ok, here is the menu plan for this week:

Breakfasts: Hot Quinoa Breakfast Cereal, Eggs and Toast, Pancakes

Lunches: Leftovers, Chicken Salad Sandwiches,

Snacks: Smoothies w/ Kefir and Berries, and Playgroup Granola Bars

Dinners:

Monday: Chicken Pot Pie

Tuesday: Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce and Garlic Bread

Wednesday: Leftover Chicken Pot Pie and Spaghetti- Still not back to making a meal every night yet!

Thursday: Shepherd's Pie- I use my own recipe, but this one is pretty good too! Uses Carrots and Celery from Produce Share

Friday: Chicken Fajita's served with Sauteed Red Peppers and Onions from Produce Share

Saturday: Slow Cooker Beef Stew- Uses Carrots, Potatoes and Celery from Produce share. I will also have broccoli on the side.

Sunday: Easy Garlic Broiled Chicken with Carrot Rice and Chunky Jerusalem Artichoke Potato Mash


Thanks!

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Menu Plan Monday- Week of February 22, 2010

If I wasn't inspired to buy grass fed beef from a local farm before seeing Food, Inc., I certainly am now.

The problem is that grass fed beef is VERY expensive. If I am going to move forward with changing my whole meal plans, budget and purchases, its going to take some work to maintain the frugal budget we are on now. I guess this is part of my frustration, my frustration for all Americans....in order to eat healthy, it costs WAY more than eating unhealthy.

My only hope and prayer is that something will change and there will be more restrictions on the types of food that can even be sold...because it is unhealthy. Not to put a downer on this nice Menu Plan post, but this has been a concern of mine even before I saw the movie. I want to provide the best for my family under the budgetary guidelines that we have set up, but doing so is getting harder and harder the more I equip myself with the knowledge of what really makes a healthy diet....more to come on this topic, for now....the menu plan!

Breakfasts: Hot Quinoa Breakfast Cereal, Eggs and Toast, Pancakes

Lunches: Leftovers, Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Easy Snack Wraps

Snacks: Playgroup Granola Bars, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Yogurt with Maple Syrup and Granola and Fruit, Winter Energy Cookies

Dinners:

Monday- Pizza- The family is sick, and I didn't have the energy to make anything...cheating day!

Tuesday- Hearty Turkey Soup with Parsley Dumplings

Wednesday- Spanikopita - VEGETARIAN (Never made from last week)

Thursday- Shepherd's Pie (Hopefully I'll have grassfed local farmed beef!)

Friday- Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Saturday- Slow Cooker Beef Stew with salad

Sunday- Leftovers

Thanks!

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Menu Plan Monday- Week of February 15, 2010

This week I will be picking up our produce share, and splitting it with my girlfriend until she can get a full share too! Here is what we will be receiving:

Broccoli Crowns
Cauliflower
Carrots
Red Russian Kale
Romaine Lettuce
White Mushrooms
Roma Tomatoes
Cucumbers
Rutabagas
Sunchokes
Red Peppers
Pink Lady Apples
Lemons
Limes
Royal Mandarins
Bananas

Fruit Share: Blueberries, Honey Tangerines and Green Kiwis


I recently checked out the book Real Food, What to Eat and Why...by Nina Planck. It is a really good reminder of the path I have been heading down when it comes to nutrition with my family. Care to join me and read this great book too? I'd love to hear if you've read any other good "Real Food" books as well!

Here's the menu plan for the week:

Breakfasts: Hot Quinoa Breakfast Cereal, Eggs and Toast, Pancakes

Lunches: Leftovers, Chicken Salad Sandwiches, Easy Snack Wraps

Snacks: Playgroup Granola Bars, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Yogurt with Maple Syrup and Granola and Fruit

Dinners:

Monday: Easy Pork Tenderloin, Orange Glazed Carrots, Quinoa- Pilaf

Tuesday: Veggie Pot Pie with Salad - VEGETARIAN

Wednesday: Split Pea Soup- (Never had from last week) with Toast Sticks

Thursday: Carne Asada Tacos

Friday: Baked Teriyaki Chicken w/ Broccoli and Rice

Saturday: Spanikopita - VEGETARIAN

Sunday: Pasties - uses Rutabaga

Thanks!

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Menu Plan Monday- Week of February 8, 2010

Last week was a great cooking week!

I made every meal I had planned, which hardly ever happens!

Yay for menu planning :)

The highlight meal of the week was definitely the Toscana Soup

and the Pollo Fajitas were good too!

We just recently started to split our produce share with our friends, so for a little while, we will be having a little less produce than normal and will

buy whatever organic veggies are on sale.

Here is this weeks menu plan:

Breakfasts- Apple Raisin Muffins, Eggs and Toast, Oatmeal( Slow Cooker)

Lunches- Leftovers, Quesadillas, Tuna Melts

Snacks- Fruits, Veggies, Hummus, Muesli Bars, QuinoaTabbouleh

Dinners-

Monday- Leftover White Chili with Broccoli

Tuesday- Chicken Angelina

Wednesday- Flank Steak with Balsamic BBQ Sauce and Herbed Quinoa

Thursday- Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs with sauteed zucchini

Friday- Teriyaki Pork Tenderloin with Barefoot Carrot Salad

Saturday- Tuna Tetrazzini with Broccoli

Sunday- Split Pea Soup

Thanks!

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Family Time on Valentine's Day...So Sweet

Check out Savvy Moms Save today for ideas on how to spend quality time with your family and let them know you love them....even on Valentine's Day!

I'm having a lot of fun writing for Savvy Moms Save,

and the information on there is great!

Take a peek yourself!

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Happy Ground Hogs Day...

Claire got herself out of bed this morning...
possibly saw her shadow.
She climbed back into bed and
we had another 6 minutes of sleep.

Groundhog's Day Info

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