I’ve been giving the subject of food a lot of thought in recently. Once again I’ve had blood tests that show that I’m VitB12 and folate deficient – this isn’t the first time, indeed it’s been a bit of theme with me and I need to have regular injections (well, once I’ve changed my GP to the local surgery as I have to go every other day and the 40 minute bus-ride to my current GP doesn’t appeal!) I haven’t been vegan for about 9 years and eat quite a bit of meat, so it is rather a mystery to me as to why I am B12 deficient (and, for the record, I eat a lot of leafy green vegetables, amongst other folate-rich foods) so what is going on?
I’ve been referred back to gastroenterology and this time I want to go back fore-armed with some questions to ask. For quite some time (well, years, to be honest) I have been looking into the possibility that perhaps something I’m eating is affecting my ability to absorb these vitamins and then not doing anything about it (for various reasons, not least because it looks bloody hard work!)
I have been gluten and dairy free in the past and definitely felt better, but struggled with lack of support in the home and the cooking of multiple meals (and having to prepare my own food separately) was hard and then with various stresses, things slipped (especially whilst I was working outside of the home – the rather manic shifts I worked weren’t conducive to home-cooking!) A combination of this and the various many stresses that have happened over the past few years all added up and I’ve had all sorts of health issues, including being diagnosed with IBS.

During the past couple of years (after being diagnosed with IBS and, of course, Joint Hypermobility Syndrome,) I’ve steadily clawed back cooking properly and have been doing so for a while, but still have some difficulties and things just ‘aren’t quite right’ – add to this the recent blood tests and deficiencies and I’ve been having another serious look at what I eat, which, whilst certainly not the typical so-called SAD “Standard American Diet) diet, is clearly not entirely right for me. As a result I’ve recently cut out gluten again and am in the process of cutting out all grains and looking towards GAPS or SCD.
I’ve been menu planning again since Anna was born (save for a couple of months in the autumn – that served to remind me how useful menu planning is) and as I transition what we eat here, I think it will become a more valuable tool.
Adrie’s recent Get Real – Making Dinner post (and those of the other ladies involved) and a recent discussion on one of the groups I’m a member of on Facebook, were timely for me and set me thinking about how so many people are interested in menu planning and how discussion, support and ‘just seeing what other people are doing’ can be so helpful! Well, to me anyway…
So I’ve been wondering whether a link-up might be a good idea and thought I’d do my own Menu Plan Monday (linky at the bottom of the post).
To kick-off, here is this week’s menu-plan here (which is based around a weekly veg box from
Riverford Organics):
Monday
Breakfast: Butternut squash pancakes with baked beans
Lunch: Various leftovers
Dinner: Beefburgers, garlic mushrooms, salad and potato salad
Tuesday
Breakfast: Stewed plum & kefir
Lunch: Courgette, pea and parmesan soup
Dinner: Pot roast chicken; purple sprouting broccoli; roast swede
Wednesday
Breakfast: Avocado with Potato & Bacon Fritters
Lunch: Lettuce Soup
Dinner: Chickpea, spinach and mushroom curry with carrots & coriander
Thursday
Breakfast: Apple or pear clafoutis
Lunch: Leftover chicken and coconut soup
Dinner: Meatloaf (using mince and leftover home-made pate from the freezer), salad and roasted swede
Friday
Breakfast: Banana pancakes
Lunch: Butternut Squash soup (from the freezer)
Dinner: Asian-style Chicken Salad
Saturday
Breakfast: Spiced mince sausage and garlic mushrooms
Lunch: Root Veg soup (from the freezer)
Dinner: Beetroot curry
Sunday
Breakfast: Butternut squash pancakes with baked beans
Lunch: Celeriac and Apple Soup
Dinner: Pot-roast beef; various veg and roasted swede
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So, that’s the plan for here, for the week. What’s yours? Either link up using the widget below or leave a comment (or both!)