This Week's Menu - Quickly using up Fresh Veggies

It's kind of funny how this week worked out! We have lots of fresh produce, but a SUPER busy week & upcoming weekend... so it's gonna be kind of a crazy week to try and use up all the produce that could spoil before we leave! Our meal proteins this week are ground beef & ground chicken... both from a local farm! I'll be using them basically for one-pot-meals.. that hopefully I can throw together in about 20 minutes when I get home from the gym!

Also my prep work is going to be split up this week because I didn't have enough time to get everything done on Sunday. Last week was a rough week for my meal plan. We didn't follow it well and accordingly the week  was harried and rather stressful! I'm determined not to let that happen again this week!

What are you having this week?

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Breakfasts: Eco-Planet Hot Cereal + 1 oz. almonds, berry hemp shakes, greek yogurt + 1/4 c. Udi's Original Granola

Snacks: Babybell cheese and/or cheese sticks + fruit (this week strawberries & bananas), 1/4 c. Udi's Granola with almond milk, 1 oz. almonds + fruit, Mary's Sticks & Twigs + 2 tbsp. hummus

Lunches: Leftovers -or- Gluten Freeda Burritos + romaine salad

Dinners: 

• Monday: Baked sweet potatoes, black-eyed peas, fresh romaine salad
• Tuesday: Fresh green beans cooked with red potatoes, served with sauteed ground chicken & spinach
• Wednesday: One Pot Meal made using ground beef/ fresh zucchini/ sweet onion/ grape tomatoes
• Thursday: My favorite tuna melts + fresh fruit
• Friday: TRAVELING: so I'm going to make sandwiches to take with us since it will be a late trip along with cheese sticks/ packages of raw almonds/ fresh strawberries/ apple slices
• Saturday: Going to the Charlotte Gluten Free/ Allergen Free Expo!! SO Excited!

Meal Prep Work This Week:

• Sunday: Wash sweet potatoes & place them on foil lined baking sheet, so that hubs can just stick them in the oven when he gets home. Pull out ground chicken & ground beef to defrost in fridge. 
• Monday: Make One Pot Meal for Tuesday - Tuesday we'll be running errands & have a gf support group meeting! 
• Wednesday: Ask hubs to make double batch of tuna salad for tuna melts on Thursday & sandwiches for our trip on Friday. 
• Thursday: Prep all snacks/foods to take on trip Friday evening. 

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For more gluten free weekly menus, please visit Cheryl Harris at Gluten Free Goodness, this week's theme is "Borrowing Inspiration." 

And as always, for literally HUNDREDS of meal plans of ALL sorts, please visit "I'm an Organizing Junkie." 

This Week's Menu with A Pantry Casserole Recipe Template

A few reasons I previously "stopped" posting our gluten free menus: 1) they can be boring & repetitive... do you really want to know how often we eat tuna salad? and 2) I often forgot to plan...

I've realized in the past few weeks that even though our menu can be a bit boring, and even if I don't follow it completely... it's SO much easier to eat healthily when I take a few hours to plan out our meals. 

After my weekly coaching session with Cheryl of Harris Whole Health today, I'm going to focus more this week on eating less refined/baked carbs and being more mindful of eating healthy complex carbohydrates at meals. I think the hardest part of letting go of more baked goods is simply that I love to bake. It's an outlet for me, and even though I may only do it once or twice a week at the most it's a stress reliever that's important to me. And while I'm not completely restricted from eating gluten free baked goods... I know it's tempting when they are around the house, even if they are in the freezer. So if I'm able to bake this week, I may attempt something with almond flour, so it would be much lower on the glycemic index.

Breakfasts This Week:

• Boiled Eggs, Amy Green's 7 Grain Breakfast Cereal, Chocolate Hemp Shakes, Berry Hemp Shakes, Eco-Planet gluten free instant hot cereal

Lunch This Week: 

• Most days: planned leftovers from dinner and/or cucumber tomato salad . If dinner leftovers don't work out: peanut butter & jelly sandwich on Udi's bread with a sliced apple and carrot sticks. Make sure not to eat gluten free baked goods on days that you have a sandwich for lunch!

 Dinners this Week: 

• Sunday -  Simple Roast Chicken + green beans with almonds + cheddar mashed potatoes
• Monday - Homemade Ground Turkey Tacos served with quick "Spanish" rice + steamed broccoli
• Tuesday - Baked Potatoes topped with homemade ground turkey chili + simple romaine salad
• Wednesday - Chicken Stirfry using a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables served over brown rice
• Thursday - Pantry Chicken Casserole -- see recipe below
• Friday - Pizza Night! Trying a pizza from "Against the Grain"

Sunday Night Pre- Meal Preparations:

• Make homemade ground turkey chili and pre-bake baked potatoes for a quick dinner on Tuesday. 
• Boil eggs & shell them. Make the 7 grain cereal in the rice cooker for the upcoming week. 
• Shred lettuce & dice tomatoes for ground turkey tacos. 
• Make ground turkey taco filling, so it only needs to be reheated on Monday night. 
• Make simple cucumber, tomato, radish & olive salad for last minute lunches and/or to serve with dinners that need an additional quick veggie. 
• Remove chicken from freezer and place in fridge to defrost for Wednesday night's stir fry. 

My canned goods "pantry." We use a lot of canned goods, especially in the fall and winter and on "lean" grocery weeks. Having a well-stocked pantry is essential when you need quick meals. I often use the canned fruit for last minute green smoothies. I use canned vegetables & beans with several meals during the week -- I'd buy more frozen vegetables but we have a tiny freezer! I love having soy free, dolphin safe tuna (most brands have broth made from soy protein) in the pantry for tuna salad and tuna melts. Peanut butter & almond butter for sandwiches and to spread on apple slices, etc... Knowing I have a pantry full of vegetables, beans, fruits, gluten free pasta, and gluten free grains means I can whip together a casserole pretty quickly during the week. I'm not sure I've ever made the same casserole twice though, much to the disappointment of my husband! This is generally how I create weeknight pantry casseroles:

Quick Gluten Free Pantry Casserole Recipe Template

Here's an easy way to construct a pantry casserole or hot pot depending on which region of the country you are from. We make a meal like this at least once a week. Have fun and use what you have on hand. It may not always be the prettiest meal, but it will always be healthy & filling. 

Printer-friendly Recipe

1. 1-2 cups cooked, chopped protein (chicken, beans, ground beef or turkey, tofu, pork, etc..)
2. 1-2 cups cooked starch (gluten free pasta, rice, brown rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, wild rice, millet, quinoa, aramanth, etc..)
3. 3 cups your favorite vegetables, either pre-cooked, frozen, canned (and drained), or raw (chopped into bite size pieces) = (zucchini/yellow squash, mushrooms, green or red peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, green beans, kale, spinach, carrots, garden peas, asparagus, etc...)
4. 2-3 cups liquid (chicken broth, plain tomato sauce, spaghetti sauce, salsa, beef broth, vegetable broth, homemade gluten free "cream soup", etc..)
5. Seasonings & Spices: use what you like with the flavor you like... here's are two great guides for different international flavors:  Cooking Light World Cuisine Spice Guide & Cooking With Us - Cultural Spice Guide
6. Toppings (optional - I usually don't add a topping -- but for company and presentation it's nice!) -- blanched almond flour is awesome and looks & tastes like parmesan cheese when sprinkled evenly over casserole, bread crumbs or crushed corn tortillas, sliced almonds, shredded cheese if you're a dairy person, etc...

Directions:

Super fast casserole: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. To make this uber fast, simply toss all ingredients but the topping in a large bowl and mix together. Pour casserole mixture into a greased 9x13 casserole dish -or- 2 quart baking dish. Sprinkle on toppings if desired. Bake for 30 minutes until casserole is heated through. 

Layered casserole: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease casserole dish. Add ingredients in layers and sprinkle your seasonings on each layer (layer of protein, layer of starch, layer of vegetables etc). Pour liquid of choice over casserole. Add toppings if desired.  Bake for 30 minutes or until casserole is heated through. 

Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving!

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Other great gluten free menus this week can be found at Celiac Family who is hosting this week's gluten free menu swap! 

An amazing roundup of menus of ALL kinds can be found at OrgJunkie.com

{Gluten Free One Pot Meals} Ground Turkey & Quinoa Skillet Meal Recipe

Okay, I know this isn't the most appetizing meal you've ever seen. And the lighting in my kitchen at 8:30pm in the winter kinda stinks... but the one pot meal? Very good, very quick, and even husband friendly!

I'm starting a new series this week entitled, "Gluten Free One Pot Meals." I think I deserve a sticker for originality.

So the concept isn't anything new. But whether you work full time, commute an hour to work, stay home with your kids, dinner time can often be tough to figure out.

Last summer we addressed this issue with Gluten Free Quick & Easy Meals. A number of wonderful gluten free bloggers helped me out by sharing their favorite quick and easy meals.

This time I'm hoping to post a "One Pot Meal" once a week. I don't plan on having a time frame for this series. One pot, easy meals are needed year round.  "One pot" can meal anything from my dutch oven, to the pizza pan, to the frying pan, to a wok, etc...

This week's one pot meal uses my favorite large skillet. It's a 12" non-stick pan I received when Michael & I got married. It's still one of my favorite pans. These recipes will not be meals that are set in stone. Make them with the ingredients you have on hand. If you don't have any quinoa, or if it scares you, or if you have picky eaters... then use brown rice -or- gf pasta -or- gf bread cubes -or- cooked potatoes. Go crazy and try your own variations!

Ground Turkey, Vegetable & Quinoa Skillet Meal
- a gluten free recipe template by Carrie @ Gingerlemongirl.com -
free of gluten, dairy/casein, soy, and eggs

1 lb. ground turkey (or ground beef, or ground pork, etc...)
1 med. sweet onion, finely chopped 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 cups fresh spinach, roughly chopped
2 cups fresh button mushrooms (or baby bella mushrooms) stems removed, and sliced
3 carrots, sliced thinly diagonally
1 cup uncooked quinoa, that's been rinsed with fresh water (or 3 cups cooked quinoa, rice, diced potatoes, etc...)
Olive oil

Directions: In your skillet add 2 cups water and the dry quinoa. Bring the water to a simmer and cook covered for 10-12 minutes until quinoa is fluffy and very little water remains. (A great tutorial on cooking quinoa). Remove the cooked quinoa from the pan, place in a bowl & set aside. Add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan. Brown ground turkey. Add onions, and cook for 5-10 minutes until the onions are translucent. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add remaining vegetables and cook for about 10 - 15 minutes until they are soft. Stir the cooked quinoa into the mixture. (Alternatively, you could served the cooked vegetables & meat mixture over individual servings of quinoa.) Now, if you're not feeling up to a highly flavored meal you could eat the meal as is. But if you want some flavor variations for your one pot meal, here are some ideas you could use:

For an Asian Inspired Meal: 

• 1-2 tbsp. soy sauce (or soy sauce sub)
• a splash of sesame oil
• a few shakes of roasted sesame seeds
• a splash of rice vinegar
• a splash of fish sauce

For an Italian Inspired Meal:

• Add 1/2 cup of diced tomatoes to the skillet 5 minutes before serving
• 1 teaspoon dried basil (or 3 tablespoons julienned fresh basil)
• 1-2 teaspoons dried oregano
• splash a bit of extra virgin olive oil on each serving, right before eating!

For a Mexican Inspired Meal:

• Add 1/2 cup of your favorite salsa to the skillet 5 minutes before serving
• Add 1/4 cup freshly chopped cilantro
• Serve with diced avocado or avocado slices
• 1-2 tsp. chili powder
• 1-2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. adobo seasoning

What flavorings/seasonings/add in's would you use? 

What types of skillet/one pot meals would you like to see featured?