This Week's Gluten Free Menu

[RissaRoo]

This Week's Gluten Free Menu

Well, this week is a continuation of last week, sadly. In fact, it's a combination of the "lazy" menu and the "payday isn't until next week" menu. However, once again I've got some fun vegetables in the fridge and a freezer full of meat (this time because we had a guy here Saturday pitching an organic meat delivery service...a week's worth of really great free meat just for listening!). Let's get creative with what we have....

Monday: Kids get quick BBQ chicken sandwiches on gluten free buns (cook frozen chicken tenders in a pan, shred them and add Kraft BBQ sauce), the rest of a bag of frozen fries, and some cantaloupe melon. Dad and mom get nachos thrown in the microwave because we're only now eating and it's 9:00!

Tuesday: Baked potato soup. Bake a bunch of potatoes (extra for tomorrow), chop several up into small bite-sized bits. Mash the rest but leave lots of lumps. Throw into a pot with some rice, soy or goat milk (regular if you can). Heat until bubbly, add some gluten free bacon bits (Hormel) and some chopped green onion, salt and black pepper. Add some pressed garlic and let simmer, if it's too thin add a little dehydrated potato flakes to thicken. Stir in about a cup of non-dairy sour cream. Serve with grated cheddar cheese (if you can have it) and chopped green onion on top, a side salad, and some fresh baked bread....Open Original Shared Linkhas the best bread tips I've seen (Sweetfudge mentioned it below!), I used a basic yeast bread recipe I found there and then added some oatmeal. I made it today, but I'll reheat it tomorrow.

Wednesday: Grilled steak, baked potatoes, Kale and yellow cauliflower. I'm excited to try the cauliflower, it's the color of cheddar cheese! The Kale is good chopped into bite sized bits and tossed in a pan with some chicken broth, garlic and sea salt. Cook until tender, wilted and dark green (it takes longer than spinach, but has more 'tooth' when cooked). Yum!

Thursday: Hamburgers, home fries and leftover Kale and Cauliflower.

Friday: Chicken bake. Rub two chicken thighs/legs with salt, pepper, garlic and Cajun seasoning. Place several cups of brown rice in a baking dish, cover with chicken broth (follow the ratio on your rice package), stir in a can of chopped tomatoes and some more Cajun seasoning. Cover and cook until chicken is nearly done (I use the neat meat thermometer my parents got me for Christmas to determine how done it is!). Stir in some frozen peas, okra, garlic, corn etc. and a chopped onion. Cook until chicken is done and the vegetables are cooked. Serve with salad.

Saturday: Grilled chicken, eggplant and zucchini and mashed potato. Marinade: lime juice, garlic and olive oil with salt and pepper, let veggies sit in one bag and chicken in another until it's time to grill. Serve gravy made with chicken broth, salt and garlic. Stir in some corn starch with a little water to form a paste, then mix the paste in the gravy to thicken.

Sunday: White Chicken Lasagna. Make bechamel sauce with 5 tbs. 'butter' (soy, dairy, whatever), 4 tbs. rice flour, 4 cups milk (soy, cow, goat, rice), 2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg. Melt butter, stir in flour until thick. Add milk all at once, cook until thick and bubbly. Add salt and nutmeg. Add some Parmesan cheese if you can, or goat cheese mozzarella or cheddar, or soy cheese. Stir in 1 cup tomato sauce. Cook cubed chicken breasts (2 or so) with some chopped onion. Add crushed garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Layer gluten free lasagna noodles on the bottom of the pan, then add some sauce, a layer of raw spinach, and some cooked chicken. Sprinkle whatever cheese you can have over this, then repeat until you're out of ingredients. Bake until brown an bubbly on top. Serve with salad.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

YUM! That white chicken lasagna looks great. Do you precook the lasagna noodles, or use them right out of the box? (I suppose layering with plain old cooked pasta would work, too, right?)

[jerseyangel]

Ooh! Everything looks so good! I want to try the potato soup

That yellow cauliflower is so good--it's sweeter and much more flavorful than the white--it's all I buy now. I think you'll like it

[RissaRoo]

Yea! Good to hear first hand how that cauliflower is. I can't wait to try it!

The package of noodles I bought (De Boles brand) says they are oven ready and you can just layer and cook. I am happy about that...I hate cooking the noodles first because the gluten-free kind *always* seem to stick together and cause problems. If you wanted, you could use any pasta and layer it...I think I'd cook if first if you used regular noodles though.