A week on a shoestring.

This week we are on a shoestring budget, and here is what I have planned:

Breakfasts will be mostly eggs or sausages, served with homemade applesauce or fresh fruit, and some OJ
Lunches will be mostly leftovers from the previous evening's dinner, or perhaps a tossed together soup.

Dinners this week:

Sriracha Tacos! Putting this over tortilla chips (not paleo) and keeping the dressing (SO not paleo).
Crockpot Beef Roast (not using the soup mix- adding this instead)
Spicy Paleo Drumsticks 
Sriracha Chicken with celery and blue cheese
Chicken Taco Soup

Dinner Time!

Honey Garlic Sriracha Wings and Buffalo-Style Celery Sticks
Curry Meatballs with cauliflower rice
Paleo Pumpkin Chili
Pizza Bites!
Buffalo Chicken Salad and GF Mac and Cheese for the kids

First week of August!

I am going to post the recipes for the week, but not offer what days we are going to be enjoying them- this will offer a bit more freedom I think...

• No Chopping Dinner (I haven't tried this before, but it doesn't look like something that can be messed up, so we are giving it a go. I have to admit- I LOVE one dish meals, and ones that don't require chopping or extra dishes? Bring it ON!)
• Orange chicken and cauliflower rice
• Beyond easy pulled pork wraps w mango salsa
• Bacon and Eggs to go (for Kurt, who sometimes has to rush off to work in the morning and tends to skip breakfast on those days!)

Gluten-Free Cinnamon Rolls (NOT paleo they are gluten and dairy free)

I have not yet found a good paleo cinnamon roll recipe (perhaps I should work on this!), and sometimes... well, sometimes I think life just calls for cinnamon rolls. So, we settle for gluten-free. These are excellent, and a few weeks before we had our new baby my husband and I whipped up a giant batch and froze them- what a great way for a new mom to wake up after a long night with baby- cinnamon rolls! The original recipe is here, but we altered it to fit our family's needs. These, as originally written, make something like SEVEN pans of cinnamon rolls (I think we ended up with 8... one is missing above because it was in the oven!)! EXCELLENT ideas for Christmas gifts for the neighbors, Visiting Teachers, Home Teachers, or new mommies (I would make these with regular flour if I was doing them for other people- I bet they are fabulous with gluten! MMM!!! Alas, we don't have that option, but these are WONDERFUL gluten free too!!!).

These can be baked, cooled and made later, or frozen. I love the versatility! (A word of warning- these do not rise the same when made with gluten-free bread- but they taste amazing anyway, so do not let their lack of bulk fool you if you are making them gluten-free!)

This makes a large batch for a family... or two... but that all depends on how many people are in your family! (This makes ~2 pans of cinnamon rolls. I have been mixing them like this and freezing one of the halves for later.) This takes around 2 1/2-3 hours.

Ingredients:

1 cup coconut milk
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup of sugar (I haven't yet tried using Agave or Maple Syrup instead... but perhaps I should try!)
2 packets of active dry yeast
1 tsp Xanathan gum
2 cups Gluten-Free all-purpose flour (I like King Arthur brand the best)
1/4 cup Gluten-Free all-purpose flour (set aside from the other)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
Slightly less than 1 tsp salt

Extra gluten-free flour for rolling the dough
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup sugar
Cinnamon (I have no idea how much I use- I just sprinkle it on fairly heavily)

1/4th bag of powdered sugar
1/2 tsp maple flavoring
1/8 cup of coconut milk
1 Tbsp coconut oil

Directions:

Take the coconut milk, oil, and sugar (the first 3 ingredints on the list above) and heat until nearly boiling. Turn off the heat and leave the mixture out to cool for about 45 minutes. When the mixture is warm (but not hot!) add 2 packets of active dry yeast, and allow it to sit for a minute.
Add 1 tsp Xanathan Gum to 2 cups of gluten-free all-purpose flour.
Add the flour mixture to the warm yeasty mixture and stir to combine.
Cover and let the dough rest and rise for an hour.
Add the 1/4 cup of GF all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. You can keep this in the fridge to roll later, or you can roll now (I roll now).

Sprinkle gluten-free flour and roll dough in the form of a rough (long) rectangle.
Pour 1/4 cup coconut oil over the dough.
Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over the oily dough.
Sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon on top of the sugary oily dough.
Roll the dough toward yourself in a neat line (pictures on the site are excellent for this step!)
Pinch the ends.

Grease the bottom of your pan or tin and cut the rolls 1" thick, placing them inside the greased tin. Let the rolls rise for 30-45 minutes, and then bake at 400 degrees for 15-18 minutes. (This makes 2 pans of rolls! I bake one pan, and then toss the others on a greased disposable pan and put them in the freezer after they rise for an hour.)


While those are baking, make your icing:
Mix 1/4th bag of powdered sugar with maple flavoring and coconut milk and coconut oil. Drizzle half over the warm rolls that just came out of the oven (this makes enough for 2 pans of rolls), and freeze the other half with your other rolls!

Ginger Pork Meatballs and spicy noodles

The original recipe, which I have modified, is here.

These were awesome! I was a huge fan of the noodles, Kurt was a huge fan of the meatballs- put them together and they were a match made in heaven! The kids ate it, and even little Fina adored her dinner! What more can a parent ask for?!

These took about 30 minutes from prep to plate- gotta love that!

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

• 2 Tbsp gluten free soy sauce (again, I will eventually get done with this bottle and switch to coconut aminos!)
• 1 tsp *toasted* sesame oil
• 2 tsp fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
• 1 bunch of green onions, minced
• 1 lb ground pork

For the noodles:

• 2 packages of Miracle Noodles (I used the Angel Hair kind- and they were very similar to rice noodles in their taste and texture!)
• 2 Tbsp tahini
• 1 Tbsp gluten free soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil (I did not use the toasted kind again, I wanted a more subtle flavor)
• 1 tsp Sriracha (I added more to my own noddles on my plate- but I like extra kick!)
• 1 tsp grated ginger

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425 and line a roasting pan with parchment paper.

Mix all of the ingredients for meatballs, and roll into 1" ball form.

Place on the parchment lined pan, and bake until cooked (~20 minutes).

While meatballs are baking, cook Miracle Noodles according to package directions (drain, rinse, boil 2 mins, dry) and toss with the rest of the noodle ingredients. (The longest part of this step was the boiling water, so we waited to do this until the meatballs were almost finished.)

If *I* had my way, I would have added more Sriracha to the noodles and I would have tossed some in with the meatballs too- but right now I am addicted to Sriracha... so, I may be biased. My husband adored this as-is, and the kids ate it the way it was made here. It was totally delicious!!! (I just added more Sriracha to my own serving, tableside)

Boneless Buffalo Wings

These were awesome and came about by accident.

I had bought an extra package of some Just Bare chicken (it is the closest thing to free range organic that this part of Iowa has to offer, and I am happy to support it over Tyson any day- one step closer to more healthy and humane treatment!) and had no plans for dinner. I am usually such a good menu planner!!! Well, I googled a few of the ingredients I had on hand, and decided to try a "hot wings" recipe (only needed to modify it a bit). The result was great! 

Here is my boneless version:

• 1 1/2 lbs boneless chicken, cut into chunks. 
• 1/2 cup Sriacha sauce (USE LESS if you do not want your "wings" spicy!) (Side note: Iowa stores keep this sauce in the Mexican food isle.... no idea why... but if you cannot find this sauce in the oriental foods, look there...although, if I had known this sauce was this amazing, I would have bought it online a LONG time ago!!! This will now forever grace my shelves!)
• 1/4 cup gluten free soy sauce (I will be switching to coconut aminos when we finish this last bottle)
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 2 tsp freshly grated ginger
• Celery, cut into sticks whatever length you like (our family used two stalks of celery hearts- it helped balance the heat of the "wings!")

Set celery aside.
Set oven to 375 degrees.

Put chicken and all other ingredients (except the celery, because you put it aside...) in a large bowl or freezer bag, and mix to coat and combine.
Marinate the chicken for at least one hour in the fridge.

Remove chicken and place on parchment paper, covering a roasting pan. Spread chicken around evenly.
Bake for 20 minutes, then turn pieces over.

Bake 10-20 minutes longer. 

Serve with sliced celery, and enjoy!

(If you aren't paleo, I would totally recommend serving them with these babies! Kurt has requested we do this for the next Superbowl!)

Mid July Cooking Fun

Kurt has been out of town for the last few days, and will be out of town for more. Trying to motivate myself to cook for the kids can be difficult, because my little munchkins are happy with just about anything!

I am super proud of myself because we have not eaten out since Kurt left- which is a HUGE milestone for me. So often, when my days are full, it is just easier to go pick something up rather than make a healthy meal for my family. But- I have done it! GO ME! (To add, I have worked out EVERY day too! I did P90X the first day, and Insanity every other day!)

So, here is the menu for the rest of the week:

Wednesday:
-Ham and Eggs with sliced fruit for breakfast
-Roasted chicken with fresh veggies for lunch
-Homemade Chicken soup for dinner (using the rest of the chicken from lunch)

Thursday:
-Ham and Eggs with sliced fruit for breakfast (the kids all seem to agree this is the best breakfast ever, so I am rolling with it!)
-Sandwiches with gluten free bread. Meat with cheese for me, and the kids will have almond butter and jam. Not paleo, but that's okay, it is an easy lunch! Fresh fruit and sliced veggies too.
-Crock Pot Pulled Pork with cabbage slaw

Friday:
-Pancakes or Ham and Eggs- we will see...
-Leftovers or sandwiches
-Sausage and Kale Saute

Saturday:
-Eggs and ham for breakfast? Not sure...
-Leftovers or sandwiches for lunch? Not sure...
-No idea on dinner- we have company coming, so I am not sure of what to do here!

Sunday:
-No idea- have to talk to our guests =)
-Crock pot chicken curry lunch
-GF Pizza for dinner (because I will need a break!)

Monday:
-Eggs and ham for breakfast, maybe?
-Sandwiches or leftovers
-Ginger Scallion Pork Meatballs and noodles

June Flowers

Day 1:

• Breakfast: Eggs and fresh fruit
• Sausage and kale saute 
• Crock pot chicken curry

Day 2:

• King Arthur Pancakes from mix (they are Fina's favorite thing... so we will humor her) with blueberries or pure maple syrup, served with sausage.
• Avocado wrapped ham slices, deviled eggs, served with carrots and celery, and fresh fruit
• Samosas! 

Day 3:

• Eggs and fresh fruit
• Jalapeno patties and fresh green beans 
• Orange Chicken and cauliflower rice

"Easter" Menu

Vacation was awesome. AWESOME! But now we are back. I missed Easter, in the sense of all of our beautiful family traditions. So, we are going to do our own Easter this week. Why? Because there is something to be said about long conversations about Jesus while we get our hands messy with Resurrection Rolls.

So...

Day 1: 

We are busy today. Doctor appointment, groceries, let's be honest here... we are going to eat out.

Day 2: 

• Breakfast: Eggs and cut fruit, add avocado slices. Fina gets avocado slices and fruit.
• Lunch: Bagged salad and dressing, tossed with some bacon, and topped with avocado. Fina gets avocado. 
• Snack: Popcorn and summer sausage
• Dinner: Orange Chicken with cauliflower rice. Fina gets the rice.

Day 3:

• Breakfast: Sausage and Kale Saute. Fina gets a banana.
• Lunch: Pumpkin Soup and leftover orange chicken or breakfast saute. Fina gets pumpkin puree.
• Snack: Hard boiled eggs with veggie slices (slice of meat for those who hate eggs)
• Dinner: Crock Pot Chicken Curry and leftover cauliflower rice. Fina gets rice and sliced meat.

Day 4:

• Breakfast: Bacon and Eggs, served with cut fruit. Fina gets fruit.
• Lunch: Avocado-wrapped lunch meat served with carrots and celery. Fina gets everything.
• Snack: Summer sausage and popcorn
• Dinner: Sirloin Dijon (Kindle recipe- Everyday Paleo - red shirt). Fina gets fruit or veggies.