Quickly borrowing John’s laptop to post up the Menu Planning Calendar (which seems the best way to do things atm, bearing in mind I’m mostly using my Kindle to work off).
I appear to be getting a little more organised, although there are still a few more entries needed towards the end of the week 🙂 Below is the plan so far (clicking on the entries will bring up more details where I’ve entered them).
Usually gluten-free here, but have been asked to eat gluten whilst an endoscopy and biopsy.
I’m borrowing John’s laptop to do a few updates, but I’m behind with planning as I’ve been getting used to the tablet and trying to work out a way to do menu-planning on there (whilst my laptop isn’t working).
In addition, I saw a gastroenterologist on Monday (as I was referred back due to my very low B12 and folate levels) and have been referred for an endoscopy (and biopsy). For this to give a more true picture of what’s going on inside, I’ve been asked to eat gluten for the next 4-6 weeks (whilst I’m waiting for the appointment to come through). So temporarily gluten is back on the menu (as I will likely cut it out again once the endoscopy is done because I know it causes me discomfort).
So a couple of changes on the planning front and the solution I’ve come up with is to use Google Calender, for the time-being and, as such, I’ve made it a ‘public’ calendar and linked to it below. Sometimes I may elaborate more or link to a recipe online within the entry (if you click on it it should bring up further details):
Breakfast: Almond & Honey Kefir Cheesecake leftover from Sunday dinner dessert
Lunch: Scrambled Egg & Mushroom
Dinner: Roast Chicken; Bean Salad; Green Salad
Breakfast: Bacon & Egg Scramble with Garlic Mushrooms
Lunch: Mixed Lamb & Veg Soup
Dinner: Cottage Pie & Veg
Dessert: Banana ‘Icecream’
Breakfast: Plum Clafoutis
Lunch: Courgette, Pea & Mint Soup with Parmesan
Dinner: Beetroot Burgers; Green Salad; Roast Swede
Breakfast: Boiled Egg & Avocado
Lunch: Celeriac & Apple Soup
Dinner: Spiced Cauliflower with Chickpeas & Pinenuts; Halloumi Salad
Breakfast: Coconut Pancakes
Lunch: Veggie Stir-fry (with almonds)
Dinner: Middle Eastern Style Lamb & Lentils; Spring Greens; Rice
Breakfast: Banana Pancakes
Lunch: Carrot & Coriander Soup
Dinner: Veggie Chilli with Roast Butternut Squash
Breakfast: Butternut Squash Pancakes with Baked Beans
Lunch: Mushroom Burgers with Green Salad
Dinner: Coconut Chicken; Carrots & Coriander; Quinoa
I’m considering making the lovely chocolate torte that one of my friends made for when I visited her (vegan, grain and dairy-free – although I’d likely swap the maple syrup for honey, which would move it away from being vegan) which tasted absolutely amazing, but it is rather rich and possibly more a ‘special occasion’ dessert. I’m looking for something a little more ‘every day’ (like the banana ice cream, something that I will be trying for the first time as I have a bag full of over-ripe bananas to use!)
What are your menu plans for the week?
A week ago I posted up a menu plan for last week. I’ve included it below with the changes that happened over the week.
Breakfast: Butternut squash pancakes with baked beans
Lunch: Various leftovers
Dinner: Beefburgers, garlic mushrooms, salad and potato salad
Breakfast: Stewed plum & kefir
Lunch: Courgette, pea and parmesan soup
Dinner: Pot roast chicken; purple sprouting broccoli; roast swede
So the first two days went fine.
Breakfast: Avocado with Potato & Bacon Fritters Banana Pancakes as Nin and Ted requested it and Erk was staying with friends (he doesn’t like banana, one of the very few things he doesn’t like)
Lunch: Lettuce Soup We ate late and nobody wanted anything at lunch
Dinner: Chickpea, spinach and mushroom curry with carrots & coriander and spiced rice
Breakfast: Apple or pear clafoutis
Lunch: Leftover chicken and coconut soup Lettuce Soup (as it was what was going to be made for lunch the day before
Dinner: Meatloaf (using mince and leftover home-made pate from the freezer), salad and roasted swede Lamb stew quite a bit of lamb came of the bone (from a lamb Sunday dinner) which I used to make some stew, so it made sense to make a stew.
Breakfast: Banana pancakes Breakfast Scramble (leftover mash from the stew with some streaky bacon and mushrooms all scrambled about in a pan with some eggs)
Lunch: Butternut Squash soup (from the freezer) Omelette
Dinner: Asian-style Chicken Salad
Breakfast: Spiced mince sausage and garlic mushrooms Banana Pancakes (again, Erk @ friends)
Lunch: Root Veg soup (from the freezer) Nin, Ted and Erk were out.
Dinner: Beetroot curry Beefburgers, garlic mushrooms, salad and potato wedges Yes! Twice in a week because everyone really wanted them!
Breakfast: Butternut squash pancakes with baked beans Mushroom Frittata because someone forgot to put beans on to soak and only realised on Saturday evening when it was rather too late!
Lunch: Celeriac and Apple Soup Ate a late breakfast so skipped lunch
Dinner: Pot-roast beef; honey & thyme carrots; roasted swede & celeriac; peas.
If you have any questions about how anything was made, do ask 🙂
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.
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…
