Weekly Menu Plan #29 ~ Simple Nourishment

This lil' blog has been quiet these days, I know.  Between sheering and docking, planting and jamming, wrapping up a school year and planning for the next, and the children growing like weeds well-watered plants, there is so much to share.  Life seems to be zooming by, and that's just it.  To miss a pensive question from my ten-year-old, a grand plan to make it rich from our eight-year-old, a story our six-year-old thought up, a hilarious phrasing of words from our four-year-old, or an endearing gaze from this little 12-week-old of mine... to miss any of this would destroy me.  So lots of things are on pause right now before this little season of life slips from my grasp.  I do, however, still need to nourish our bodies and I use these weekly menu plans, so I remain faithful to posting them.  Who knows?  Another post or two might slip in this week, but no promises.  I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep.

Monday:

To do: soak porridge

Breakfast:  Fresh Berries, Cottage Cheese, Scrambled Eggs

Lunch:  Salad

Snack:  Apricot Creme Smoothies

Dinner:  Chipotle-Style Food Bar

Tuesday:

To do: soak sourdough flatbread, that short ribs for Thursday's dinner

Breakfast:  Porridge & Eggs

Lunch:  Salad

Snack:  Fried Mush & Peach Slices

Dinner:  Summer Veggie Skillet Pizza

Wednesday:

To do: make sourdough flatbread

Breakfast:  Coconut Flour Crepes with Raw Whipped Cream & Fresh Fruit

Lunch:  Hummus Flowers 

Snack:  Raw Blueberry Bliss Smoothies

Dinner:  Flatbread Pesto Sandwiches & Summer Squash Gratin

Thursday: the last day of school!

To do: thaw beef stock & shanks for Saturday's dinner

Breakfast:  Strawberry Cacao Smoothies, Scrambled Eggs

Lunch:  Nibble Trays

Snack:  Nut Butter & Honey Popcorn

Dinner:  Short Ribs in Tomato Sauce (using fresh tomatoes, omitting the noodles), Steamed Green Beans, & Perfect Potato Wedges

Friday:

Breakfast:  Raw Summer Berry Tart

Lunch:  Salad

Snack:  Peaches & Cream Smoothies (recipe coming soon)

Dinner:  Slow Cooker Honey Mustard Chicken & Braised Chard

Saturday:

Breakfast:  GF Zucchini & Chocolate Chip Muffins

Lunch:  Quesorritos & Fruit Slices

Snack:  Avocado & Raw Cheese Slices

Dinner:  Braised Beef Shanks (a GF version) & Raw Apricot Cobbler

Sunday:

To do: Menu Plan

Breakfast: GAPS Chocolate Beet Muffins

Lunch:  Leftovers

Dinner:  Leftovers 

(Sunday is my day off)

I'm sharing this at Monday Mania, Real Food Wednesday, Pennywise Platter.

Weekly Menu Plan #28 & Renaming Raw Dishes

As the temperature rises, our kitchen becomes cooler since we prepare more raw dishes and less hot ones.  The one thing I have against raw food is the names.  Pictured above is a raw "spaghetti" we ate last week.  It was delicious, but I made the mistake of calling it "raw spaghetti" to my family.  They in turn expected a warm, noodley dish with melting Parmesan on top instead of the cold zucchini "noodles" swimming in puréed fresh tomato sauce.  There probably would have been more chance of it being eaten without protest if I had called it Saucy Grates or something like that.  So when I made the raw strawberry shortcake, I just called it strawberry crumble and everyone ate it up.  Just keep it in mind to rename raw dishes if you plant to serve it to your family is all I'm sayin'.

Monday:

To do: soak porrige, thaw chicken stock for Wednesday night

Breakfast: Fresh berries, cottage cheese, scrambled eggs

Lunch: Quesorritos

Snack:  Apricot Creme Smoothies

Dinner:  Taco Salad

Tuesday:

To do: soak sourdough English muffins

Breakfast:  Porridge & Eggs

Lunch:  Fresh Pea Soup

Snack:  Fried Mush & Fresh Fruit

Dinner:  Chicken Enchilada Salad

Wednesday:

To do: make sourdough English muffins & pesto, thaw ground beef & beef stock for Fri. night

Breakfast:  Raw Strawberry Shortcake (using real whipped cream & not making multiple layers to save time)

Lunch:  English Muffin Sandwiches with Pesto, Raw Cheese, Avocado, & Tomatoes

Snack:  Raw Blueberry Bliss Smoothies

Dinner:  Nourishing Potato Cheddar Soup & Leftover Salad

Thursday:

To do: soak porridge

Breakfast:  Raw Muesli

Lunch:  Nibble Trays

Snack:  Raw Strawberry Cacao Smoothies

Dinner:  BBQ Chicken Salad (recipe coming soon) with Probiotic Ranch Dressing

Friday:

To do:

Breakfast:  Porridge with Fresh Fruit, Eggs

Lunch:  Mostly Raw Wraps

Snack:  Cherry Vanilla Smoothies (recipe coming soon)

Dinner:  Salisbury Steak (modified into a gluten-free version) & Mashed Potatoes, Dairy-Free Chocolate Ice Cream

Saturday:

Breakfast:  Sourdough Lemon Blueberry Pancakes (recipe coming soon)

Lunch:  Organic, Grass-Fed Hot Dog Dippers (bunless hot dogs used to dip into favorite condiments)

Snack:  Peaches & Cream Smoothy (recipe coming soon)

Dinner:  Spaghetti with Artichoke Hearts & Tomatoes (using rice noodles & fresh tomatoes), Raw Apricot Cobbler

Sunday:

To do: menu plan

Breakfast:  Paleo Breakfast Burrito

Lunch:  Leftovers

Dinner:  Leftovers

(Sunday is my day off)

I"m sharing this at Monday Mania,  Pennywise Platter, Simple Lives Thursday.

Gluten-Free, Grain-Free Apricot Crumble Pie ~ A Recipe

Here is our final recipe for Apricot Week.  I think.  We'll see.
Besides jams and jellies, pies are a happy way to preserve summer fruit when we need a warm-weather treat during the cold days to come.  Use up your very ripe apricots with this recipe if you're done making jam.  This is a pie that the Paleo, GAPS, gluten-free, and any ol' lover of food can gather 'round the table and enjoy.  Fancy a crisp instead?  Simple omit the crust, follow the filling & crumble recipe, and bake it in a 8x8 pan.  Lidded pans come in extra handy if you plan to freeze it.  My mixer was able to make two pies at a time.  If you want to make a potluck-sized crisp, double the recipe and bake in a 9x13 inch pan.

Grain-Free Apricot Crumble Pie


For the crust:

• 1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
• 1/4 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup expeller-pressed coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

For the Filling:

• 4 cups apricots, pitted and quartered
• 1 cup coconut, date, or whole cane sugar (whole cane isn't GAPS or Paleo-legal, just FYI)
• 1/3 cup blanched almond flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

For the crumb topping:

• 1 cup blanched almond flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
• 1 cup pecan pieces
• 1/2 cup expeller-pressed coconut oil
• 1/2 cup coconut, date, or whole cane sugar

1. Beat all crust ingredients in a mixer and press crust into pie pan.  You can either bake the crust in a pre-heated 350º oven for 15 minutes or dehydrate it at the highest temperature it will go for 45 minutes.  Let the crust cool while you prepare the filling.
2. To make filling, mix all ingredients in a mixer for about 10 seconds or until everything is mixed and the apricots have been mashed but not puréed.  Pour filling into crust.
3. To make crumble, combine all ingredients in mixer and.  Mix until the crumbs are of the consistency you desire and sprinkle on top of pie.
4. Now you may either cover pie and freeze for later or bake in a 375º oven for 45-55 minutes .  If you are ready to bake a frozen pie, first place pie in oven, then turn it to 375º and bake for 60-75 minutes, or until pie is slightly browned and bubbly. 

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