First things first – go to this post to read the review of Clutter-Free Christianity. Leave a comment and you will automatically be entered in the drawing for a free book to be held on Thursday, April 9. So, go check it out!!
Menu planning is going to be a little interesting for the next few weeks. I’m doing a two month gluten-free diet to try to help my migraines (but my blood test for celiac disease was negative). So, I am going to be planning dinner menus that are gluten-free, which means no wheat, barley, rye, or a myriad of other ingredients often found in processed foods. Most of our starches now will be potatoes, rice, and corn. It will be an interesting few months.
1. Chicken Kiev (with gluten-free bread-crumb coating), asparagus
2.Tacos with corn tortillas (or flour tortillas for the rest of the family) with salad.
3. Tilapia, rice, salad
4. Ham, tortillas, broccoli
5. Ham, arepas (Venezuelan corn bread) broccoli
6. Pasta with parmesan and garlic, ham, tortillas, asparagus
7. Easter lunch – Either a fancy lunch with duck of some kind (if I’m feeling ambitious) or (more likely) scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, tortillas, fruit, milk.
It’s not very exciting, but it meets the gluten-free requirement. I welcome any and all gluten-free recommendations (although I’m such a picky eater that who knows how many I’ll actually use!!).
Check out what others are doing this week at Menu Plan Monday.
2 comments:
I was just wondering why you think there is a connection between migrains and gluten. I'm just wondering for myself.
Sorry I didn't get to say Hi to you at the meeting. Wow, two months in a row. :)
Donna
www.homeschoolblogger.com/alwayslearning
Catherine,
I've been trying a gluten-free experiment for the last couple of months also and I've noticed fewer stomach problems, more clarity in my brain, and I have fewer PMS problems. I've found that I eat more fruits and vegetables as a result and that's always a really good thing! I made an initial investment to try some of the gluten-free products and here are some of my favorites/suggestions, for what they're worth (you may have different tastes):
Bob's Red Mill - I really like most of their products but in particular their pancake mix and all purpose flour. The flour is made from bean flours so I'm hoping it has healthy soluble fiber. You need to also add xanthum gum to recipes but I can use it as a substitute in most of my favorite recipes. Their Wonderful White Bread is also the best I've tasted. Most of the rice flour breads you buy already made taste like styrofoam.
Read labels and watch for hidden gluten. Walmart is really good about listing wheat on any of their labels. Kraft is good too. A friend recently told me that items containing malt or maltodextrin contain barley, as do items with carmel coloring (not 100% sure on that but I would watch colas).
Substitute vegetables for usual wheat products if possible - Instead of bread I have made a wrap using romaine lettuce to hold a sandwich together. It's really good once you get past the bread craving. I also had a lasagna a couple of months ago replacing the noodles with zucchini sliced the long way. Rather moist but also good.
Treats - My favorite treat is Mi-Del pecan or arrowroot cookies. A friend likes the ginger cookies but they were too spicy for me. The Nutrition Center has had them on sale but you can find the Mi-Del gluten-free cookies at chain stores (Walmart, Woodman's, Festival Foods). I try to make a bag last a long time but it I love eating them as a dessert with a cup of coffee and before I know it my bag is empty.:( It's my downfall right now. The Nutrition Center has also been running a sale on Blue Diamond rice/almond crackers that are AWESOME for times when I'm really wanting bread. They were 2/$4.00 so I stocked up on them.
Websites - These are three sites I liked. There are A TON more out there! http://www.glutenfreemom.com/index.html
http://glutenfreemommy.com/
http://glutenfreefoodreviews.com/
Anyway, that's probably more info than you wanted but...there you go.
I hope it helps your headaches. It's not as hard as I thought it would be to go gluten-free. However, I'm not as vigilent as someone with celiacs would be. The hardest part for me is not spending too much money on gluten-free products and finding inexpensive alternatives.
Hope to talk to you later,
Tina from Homeschoolers for Christ
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