Weekly Menu Plan April 28 - May 4, 2024

 

Hi there!  It's almost May, and those April showers sure did bring out those May flowers!  My lilacs are blooming, I have a horse chestnut tree that has beautiful white cone-shaped flowers on it, tulips are up, and magnolias have bloomed.  So beautiful!  I sat outside on my porch swing yesterday, and actually got a little sunburn!  My bluebirds are hatching their eggs, I think, as mama just sticks her head out of the birdhouse now and then.  Papa is busy bringing takeout for her.  

I hope you're enjoying beautiful weather where you live, because I'm sure enjoying it here.

I have another busy week of tennis ahead.  Three matches three days in a row, then more practices.  I don't know how these kids do it!  The two college girls are finished for the summer, and the youngest one has 4 more weeks and she'll be on summer break.  We are all planning some vacation time together, but most of the youngest one's summer is tennis and marching band.  The oldest girls work all summer, so everyone keeps very busy, including me!

Last week's hit and misses:

I was lukewarm on the chicken pizza crust.  To be fair, I think I overbaked it.  It wasn't bad, it wasn't good.  It was just okay.  I might try it again with a few tweaks.  My husband didn't know it was a chicken crust, he thought it was just regular crust.  It doesn't taste chicken-y.  It was great, though, if you're looking for a low carb pizza crust.  It definitely works, I just didn't think it was great.

My winner of the week was the Chopped Salad with Pasta.  I used gluten free elbow mac and tuna.  It was so good!  The dressing was just yummy!  I didn't want to use hot sauce, like the recipe called for, because I enjoy having a stomach lining.  So, I squirted in some gluten free Japanese Barbecue Sauce I got at Jungle Jim's.  If you haven't been to Jungle Jim's grocery store, you are missing out on the ultimate shopping experience.  We usually go there once or twice a year, because it's in Ohio.  And it takes the entire day to get through the store.  But SO WORTH IT!  It is huge!  They have a really good gluten free section, and they have EVERYTHING you could ever want and more.  Check it out online if you haven't been there.  But in person is the way to shop there, you can't believe how much they carry!  If you can't find it there, you can't find it anywhere.  Anyway, the salad was SUPER DELICIOUS and I will make it again soon.

Here is this week's menu plan.  Links and notes are below.  If the recipe is not written for gluten free, I just sub gluten free items for the regular.

Sunday:

Gluten Free Carrot Cake

Monday:

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

Tuesday:

Gluten Free Pancakes

Portillos Chopped Salad

Gluten Free Apple Crisp

Wednesday:

Gluten Free Carrot Cake Muffins

Gluten Free Chicken Fajitas

Thursday:

Gluten Free French Toast

Buffalo Chicken Pasta Salad (use gluten free pasta)

Friday:

Italian Sausage and Peppers

Gluten Free Oreo Cheesecake

Saturday:

Baked Western Omelet

And that's it for the coming week!  Have a beautiful week, and enjoy some good meals with your friends and family!  See you next week!

Weekly Menu Plan 4-21 to 4-27, 2024

 

How are you all doing this week?  I hope you had a great week last week, I know I am looking forward to the coming week!

The trees are all leafed out here, even though we had a touch of cold this weekend.  Nothing too severe, but I am ready for those 60's and 70's again.  Tennis is going great, so far my granddaughter is undefeated this season.  We still have many matches to go yet, so we'll see how the season plays out.  Regardless, I am so proud of her!  

As the weather warms up, I'm beginning to work more salads into our meal plan.  I can make them early in the day, which I like, and it's not so heavy at dinner time.  I've just had such a taste for salads lately!  I decided every other day is the goal for salads, although right now I think I could eat one for dinner every day.  

I'm also trying a gluten free pizza out this week that has a pizza crust made with canned chicken.  I know it sounds strange, but I keep reading all these rave reviews about them online.  Extra protein, no gluten, so what's not to love?  I'll see how that goes this week - I am looking forward to trying it!

I also have several easy desserts this week, and I'm trying to go a bit lighter there as well.  I like a little treat at the end of the day, but I'm fine with something light and not too heavy.  I keep several cartons of dairy free ice cream in my fridge, because I mostly go dairy free these days.  I do use lactose pills when I eat cheese, like on pizza, and they seem to work pretty well for me.  But if I make a dessert that has too much dairy in it, I'll just have a small dish of dairy free ice cream.  Breyers makes a wonderful gluten free dairy free Oatmilk ice cream that I love.  Vanilla and chocolate chip mint are both gluten and dairy free.  And yummy!

Here's my plan for the week.  Links and notes are below:

Monday:

Banana Baked Oatmeal

Taco Salad For A Large Crowd

Gluten Free Cornbread

Gluten Free Lemon Meringue Pie

Wednesday:

Devilled Egg Chef Salad

Thursday:

Yogurt Parfaits

Gluten Free Banana Bread

Sheet Pan Nachos

Easy Pineapple Dessert

Friday:

Chopped Salad With Pasta

Gluten Free Brownies

Saturday:

Gluten Free Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Gluten Free Pizza with Chicken Crust

And now off to another busy week!  I hope you all have a wonderful week, and many happy meals with family and friends!  Take care and see you next week!

Weekly Menu Plan 4/14-20, 2024

 

Hello!  Ready for another week of menus?  Sunday got here before I knew it!

We had a VERY rainy week last week, but today, it's sunny and 80 degrees.  I LOVE IT!  I am so ready for warm weather!  The coming week is all 60's and 70's, then it cools to the 50's for the weekend.  I'll take it.  We're halfway through April already, can you believe it?  This year is flying by.

I have a busy week ahead - 3 tennis matches and a tournament next weekend (for my granddaughter).  I'll be at all of them, I can't wait!  The weather should cooperate this week, at least it looks that way for now.

I'm prepping most meals in the morning, if I can, so we can eat early and scoot out of here.  At my age, I'm a slow scooter.  So I need a head start. :)

Here's the menu for this week.  I have several new recipes for me to try this week, so I hope they all turn out!  I love trying out new meals.  Notes and links are below the menu.

Sunday:

Gluten Free French Toast

Fried Apples - I refrigerated leftovers to use on Wednesday's waffles

Gluten Free Chicken Marsala - I tasted it (we haven't eaten yet) and it is very good!  

Monday:

Gluten Free Sausage Gravy - we just eat this over toast

Gluten Free Shrimp Fajita Bowls - this is a new one for me

Gluten Free Strawberry Crumble Bars

Tuesday:

Gluten Free Cinnamon Biscuit Balls

Smoked Sausage and Potato Skillet

Gluten Free Butter Dip Biscuits

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cake

Wednesday:

Gluten Free Waffles - these are really good!  I add an extra tablespoon of sugar.

Gluten Free Country Fried Steak and Gravy

Thursday:

Gluten Free Breakfast Burritos

Potato Salad

Gluten Free Peach and Almond Crisp

Friday:

Ham and Cheese Casserole

Gluten Free Pizza - I'm trying this crust for the first time

Saturday:

Gluten Free Pancakes

Chicken Fried Rice

Gluten Free Kitchen Sink Cookies - new recipe for me, but I've got to try them!

That's what I've got for this week!  I hope you all have a lovely spring week, and I'll be back next week with yet another week of menus!  God bless you all!  Don't be afraid to say hi in the comments, I love to meet you all!

weekly Menu Plan 4-7 to 4-13, 2024

 

I love spring!  I know tomorrow is all about the eclipse, especially here in Indiana, but I'm enjoying the warmer temps.  The past few days were CHILLY, but today I can sit outside on my porch swing without a jacket, and I can listen to the birds chirping and watch my bluebirds building their nest inside the birdhouse.  

I missed a couple weeks posting, I don't know what I do but I always seem busy.  Then, when I look back at the past couple weeks, I can't think of what I was doing that I was so busy!  But at the time it seemed like I was!  My youngest granddaughter was on spring break for 2 weeks, and I'm her source of rides and entertainment while she's off.  So that kept me busy, definitely!  We had a lot of fun, and I'm ready for a good long nap or two.  Hopefully this week I'll find time to do just that!

I baked several kinds of cookies the past two weeks, most of them were yummy.  I'm ready for a break from cookies, though, so this week it's pies and bar cookies.  At least bar cookies don't take so long to bake!  

On this week's menu plan, I forgot to label a couple of them gluten free.  But they're all gluten free, and most everything I make anymore is gluten free.  It's just too hard baking separate meals for my husband, and he's fine with whatever I serve him.  I'm lucky there!

Here is my week's worth of cooking this week.  Links and notes are below:

Sunday:

Gluten Free Blueberry French Toast Casserole

Gluten Free Crockpot Pork Chops

Gluten Free Chocolate Cream Pie

Monday:

Gluten Free Banana Cream Pie

Tuesday:

Beef Vegetable Soup - gluten free

Gluten Free 7-Up Biscuits

Wednesday:

Gluten Free Hash Brown Quiche

Crispy BBQ Chicken - gluten free

Gluten Free Lemon Bars - I actually found a gluten free mix from Krusteaz at my Meijer store.  I bought one and may just use the mix and try it.  It depends how much energy I have on Wednesday!

Thursday:

Gluten Free Blueberry Waffles

Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Rice Skillet - also gluten free

Gluten Free Blueberry Crumble Bars

Friday:

Egg Roll In A Bowl

Saturday:

Gluten Free Peach Cobbler Coffee Cake

Gluten Free Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

That ought to do it for this week!  Tennis season has begun for the youngest granddaughter, and I'm all set to go to as many matches as I can - both in and out of town.  I will try not to miss any, because I love watching these kids play.  It's so much fun as a grandparent to see your grandkids evolve into such wonderful young adults!  And this team has a lot of talent - it amazes me!  I just love it!

Have a wonderful week, enjoy the eclipse if you're in a prime viewing area, and be sure to use those glasses if you're going to watch it.  I'll play it safe and watch it on TV, because honestly it scares me to death to look at it.  I guess the older I get, the more cautious I become!

See you next week with another meal plan!  God bless you all!