5 Tips, 70 Meals, 10 Weeks, 1 Year of Meal Plans

by Jenny Irvine // May 16, 2014 // 1 Comment

Menu Planning, Food, allergies, gluten-free, No gluten, Healthy Living

Mealplanning is one of those things where there is no right or wrong way – as long as you have a system that works for you. There are those who plan daily, weekly and monthly—and then there are those like myself that prefer to do it twice a year and never think about it again. Don’t get me wrong I love to cook and create in the kitchen but in this age of Pinterest and millions of cookbook publishers, all that information just makes my brain hurt.

5 Steps to Meal Planning Twice a Year
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Keep it simple – we tend to make everything these days too complicated, from the plethora of after school activities we have our kids in – to the fancy Pinterest like meals we try to mirror. I recently heard someone say (and if I could remember who…I’d give them credit); “Things were simpler back in the day – we knew who the “Joneses” were but it wasn’t thrown in our face 24/7″. We have all become the “Joneses” in a sense – we share what we eat, what we wear, where we have gone or where we are going. We are a share it all society. Well, I’m here to tell you – be you, be awesome – and the kitchen is one of those places it doesn’t need to be complicated, so don’t make it be. Keep it simple and ignore the noise that circles around you.

Color Matters – did you know that you are more likely to eat less of something if the contrast between your food and the plate it is served on is greater. For example; you will eat less pasta with red sauce if it is served on a white plate than if it were served on a red plate. Serve your food on a white plate and make it look like a rainbow. Your brain and waistline will thank you.

Choose a variety of foods – for a well-balanced diet. Not all foods are equally nutritious – ask yourself how many humans have interfered with the processing of “____” food before you are eating it? If it is heavily processed you should move on. There is a time and place for unhealthy foods in moderation (birthdays, holidays and special occasions) and there will always be exceptions to every rule, but overall your basic meal plan should contain mostly label free foods.

Lists just make sense to me – I am a list maker at heart and seriously make lists for everything. You will notice in the meal plan below there is no fancy calendar with foods all filled in – there is a reason for that – it doesn’t work for me and I venture to say it doesn’t work for you either. We all have busy lives and printing someone else’s food calendar just doesn’t even make sense to me. That fancy meal they have chosen to eat on Wednesday which very well might be my busiest day of the week simply will not work. I needed a different system and this is what I came up with….

Plan it once and repeat – there are 365 days in the year, right? This my friends, is the way that meal planning makes the most sense to me. Plan 300 days’ worth of meals leaving 65* “floater” days so to speak for left over days, birthdays, holidays and eating out (don’t feel overwhelmed – trust me!) divide 300 by 4 (see your number is getting smaller–you are now looking at 75 Spring/Summer meals and 75 Fall/Winter meals). Since 75 does not go into 7 days a week equally, I personally like to do a 70 Day/10 week plan. You will now proceed to “plan” 70 days’ worth of meals (or 10 Weeks) Or just let me do it for you... (*so yes, you now have 85 “floater” days but between vacations, holidays, birthdays, family gatherings, and special circumstances a majority of your meals will still be accounted for-that really only leaves approximately 1 meal a week unaccounted for)

Here is a free Spring/Summer 14 day meal plan to get you started–still hungry for more?

Let’s take the guess work out of “what are we eating” and put the entire meal planning menu system to work for you. (Coming Soon) You can use my prepared 10 weeks of meal plans and simply fill in your own week at a glance sheet, make allergy adjustments to fit your families’ needs, and fill in the grocery shopping list with the items your missing in the pantry. There is no more staring at grocery isles wasting time, no more pre-scheduled calendars that need to be completely altered, the entire meal planning system is based on you and your families’ specific, unique life situation.

Then… Sign up for our email list for more meal plans, recipes, tips, and tricks

Breakfast; Week 1

· Muffins and smoothie

· Yogurt and mixed fruit

· Pancakes

· French Toast

· Oatmeal

· Scrambles Eggs and Toast

· Waffles with Mixed Berry Sauce

Lunch; Week 1

· Chicken nuggets, fruit and nuts

· PB, honey, and banana sandwiches, apple and pretzels

· Chicken salad, crackers and melon

· Salmon salad on a cucumber, apples or pear sauce and popcorn

· Guacamole, carrots, cucumbers, mixed fruit and a muffin

· Egg salad, sweet potato chips and veggies

· Taco lettuce roll-ups, mango salsa and corn chips

Dinner; Week 1

· Crockpot chicken, veggie and salad

· Grilled Salmon, broccoli salad, sweet potatoes

· Turkeyor Beef Tacos, rice and beans

· Grilled pork tenderloin, zucchini, yellow, cherry tomato kabobs, quinoa

· Stuffed zucchini pizzas, mixed green salad

· Chicken/beef kabobs (peppers, tomato, zucchini/yellow squash), served over rice

· Spaghetti with meat balls (tomatoless sauce optional), mixed green salad

Snacks; Week 1

· Popcorn

· Apples and sunbutter/almond butter

· Baby carrots and dip

· Peanut butter brownie puppy chow

· Strawberry/mangosmoothie

· Mixed nuts and fruit

· Granola and (milk or Greek yogurt)

Breakfast; Week 2

· Eggs muffins and sausage

· Granola/cereal (with milk or Greek yogurt), and mixed fruit

· Mixed berry crepes and powder sugar

· French toast sticks and bacon

· Blueberrywhite chocolate chip muffins

· Overnight oatmeal

· Breakfast burrito and an apple

Lunch; Week 2

· Hummus, veggie sticks (peppers, carrots, celery, and radishes),melon and muffin

· Cucumber/tomato kabobs, apple or pear w/sun-butter dip, mixed nuts and craisins

· Hard-boiled egg, tomato/olive kabob, nut-thins and orange

· Almonds/Cashews, blueberries/strawberries, oven roasted turkey on a cucumber “bun”

· PBJ rice cakes, banana, carrot/celery sticks

· Chickpea lettuce roll up, grapes and pretzels (if you have never tried a gluten-free prezel you don’t know what your missing-they are awesome!)

· Zucchini bread, oven chicken and mixed berries

Dinner; Week 2

· Turkeymeatloaf, sweet potato casserole and oven baked broccoli

· Grilled chicken tender salad w/orange poppy seed dressing (kids; chicken, cut veggies and dressing for “dip”

· Beef fajitas, rice and beans (use the grain free tortillas or we love these too)

· Quinoa stuffed peppers

· Rosemary/lemon oven baked shrimp, summer squash fries, rice, and mixed green salad

· Pesto chicken pasta salad, cherry tomatoes, and lemon/garlic asparagus

Snacks; Week 2

· Grape kabobs and raw cheddar slice

· applesauceand granola (try the homestead applesauce in one of these fun reusable pouches-your kids will love it)

· Ice cube snack buffet (carrots, strawberry, raisins, blueberries, almonds, and sunflower seeds)

· Frozen yogurt squeezes

· No bake energy snack balls

· Hard boiled egg and kale chips

· Banana, marshmallows, and chocolate chips (great on the grill)

Gluten-Free; Fruit, Nut, Berry, Chocolate Chip Muffins

by Jenny Irvine // May 15, 2014 // No Comments

I literally call these my clean out the pantry muffins-they are so simple to make and pretty much impossible to mess up. A basic muffin recipe with a cup of your favorite “add-ins” you really can’t go wrong. These little muffins are great for a quick breakfast on the go or as a side to a fruit/veggie platter at lunch. Make. Freeze. Eat.

Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Allergies, Food, Recipe

Gluten Free Fruit, Nut, Berry, Chip Muffins

Yields: 12 muffins

Ingredients –

1 1/2 C Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend * (recipe below)
1/8 tsp. Xanthum Gum
½ tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Baking Powder
½ tsp. Cinnamon
1/8 tsp. Ground Nutmeg
2 Eggs
3 T Honey
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
¼ C oil (I use coconut or grape-seed oil)
¾ C Juice (I have used everything from coconut water to lemon juice-be creative)
Approximately 1 C total filling/add-ins (berries, fruits, nuts, chocolate chips, etc…)**
Muffin / Cupcake Liners

Instructions –

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl with a fork or whisk, mix together the GF Flour Blend, Xanthum Gum, Salt, Baking Powder, Cinnamon and Nutmeg until well incorporated.

3. Make a well (hole) in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the eggs, honey, vanilla, oil and juice. Mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients together –mix just until blended. Add filling ingredients/add-ins

4. Line a muffin pan with liners (I spray my muffin liners to prevent sticking) ¾ of the way full with batter.

5. Slide tray of muffins into preheated oven and bake 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature- (I usually freeze mine for later use).

*Gluten Free All Purpose Flour Blend – Equal parts brown rice flour, sorghum flour and tapioca starch mixed until well blended. I mix a batch of this GF All Purpose flour and keep it stored in a sealed plastic container in my freezer.

** Some “fillings/add-ins” to consider (use 1 cup of any combination of the following) – Blueberries; mashed bananas & chopped walnuts; diced strawberries; peeled & diced pears; raisins & chopped pecans; grated carrots, zucchini & raisins; pecans & peanut butter chip; Craisins & chocolate chips or blueberry & white chocolate chips.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Gluten-Free; 10 Ways to Prevent Cross Contamination

by Jenny Irvine // May 14, 2014 // No Comments

Photo Credit; Stockvault

Probably one of the hardest things about maintaining a gluten-free lifestyle isn’t eating the “different” foods per-say- it is actually keeping a cross-contamination friendly atmosphere. This is especially important for those with Celiac Disease since the tiniest crumb can lay someone flat on their back for days. However, it is important to note this isn’t necessarily the case for all gluten sensitive individuals but, regardless I feel it is still important non-the less to know just how to eliminate these potential risk factors for their consumption safety.

Gluten-Free; 10 Ways to Prevent Cross Contamination

Label everything the black sharpie marker is your friend.
Freeze Gluten-Free flours in sealed bags/containers. It is important to make sure that these bags and containers seal tightly to eliminate any glutinous flour dust or potential food crumbs that may be lingering in the fridge or freezer. We store all of our gluten free flours in the freezer to help maintain their freshness.
Store gluten-free items on the top shelf of the fridge, freezer, and pantry to best eliminate the potential waterfall of crumbs that so often likes to trickle down to the bottom shelves. We have designated gluten free shelves and cupboards in our home especially since our GF consumers are only 5, 3, and 1 – I need them to “know” where their safe food is and how to find it if mom is not around.
Buy a new toaster or at a minimum use a different assigned gluten-free slot if cross contamination issues are not as severe. The two left slots of our toaster are designated “gluten-free“. Only gluten-free items get toasted in there and we frequently clean the entire toaster of remaining left over crumbs.
Never use a pan, skillet, or grill that has been used to prepare non gluten free meals. All pots, pans, grills, and utensils must be washed thoroughly before cooking gluten-free meals. One of the easiest ways to identify GF cooking utensils, flour sifters, and cutting boards is to have an entirely new set in a different color- or, at a minimum label the handles to eliminate any potential confusion. Gluten is tricky and those tiny food particles can hide in the most unlikely of places.
NO double dipping- ever. This includes butter, peanut butter, jams, jellies, dips, mayonnaise, and other condiments. The knife, spoon, or any other utensil used to spread, dollop, or sample should never meet the jar or container twice. This is a huge potential cross-contamination mishap.
There is no such thing as safely removing croutons from a salad, bun from a burger, or cracker crumbs that once had a place on the plate. The residual crumbs can still cause big problems. The only thing that is safe is for the two to never meet.
Hand washing and changing gloves are a must when handling gluten-free food. Restaurants, school cafeterias, camps, and family gatherings often have non gluten free food near by as a necessary precaution before handling the gluten-free food good hygiene should always be practiced.
Aluminum foil and disposable serving items – I just love the stuff. Ok, so cooking on aluminum is not my “ideal” or preferred way of cooking but it is a sure fire way to keep my kids safe and make for an easy clean up. Yes, I could go buy new cookie sheets, muffin tins, and the like but for now the disposable lining products have been a life saver. Of course makes sure the tray has been thoroughly cleaned prior to use but then proceed to line it with foil to help further protect against any remaining sticky gluten particles. Paper plates although not the most Eco-friendly certainly can help eliminate the risks of lingering crumbs.
Cook and serve your gluten-free guests first. My daughter (Crafty-bee) absolutely loves this – she thinks it is great that she always gets served before anyone else- it doesn’t matter whether it is a birthday, family gathering, or just everyday meals. The best and seriously the easiest way to prevent gluten cross-contamination issues is make the gluten-free meal and then get rid of it as soon as possible. The shorter the food remains on the counter the less likely other non-safe lingering gluten crumbs have to contaminate the dish.

How do you keep your gluten-free kitchen safe? I love hearing from you and read every comment. Your words encourage me as I hope mine do the same for you. Some of these tips may seem like a no brainer- while, others might seem almost impossible to wrap your head around. Once you get in a routine, label everything, and have your food storage under control rest assured your cooking, baking, and entertaining life will be as easy as it once was- like anything new there is simply a learning curve.