Menu Plan Monday!

Hi Friends! I am anxiously awaiting my mom's arrival :) She should be here in a few hours. I love when she comes to visit! We have lots of fun Christmas-y things planned this week and I can't wait. Here is my menu plan for the week. Once again, let me praise my Google Calendar and ListPlanIt.com for making menu planning so wonderfully easy! Here is what we are eating this week...

Monday: Roast Chicken (in Crock Pot), Salad, Garlic Bread, and some friends coming for dinner are bringing a lasagna too...YUM.

Tuesday: BBQ Ribs (in Crock-Pot), cornbread muffins, broccoli slaw

Wednesday: Pecan Crusted Salmon, green beans, garlic bread

Thursday: Green Chili Soup (in the Crock Pot), leftover cornbread muffins

Friday: Disneyland! We'll be bringing Subway to avoid buying food there.

Saturday: Southwest Turkey Mac

Sunday: Leftover Buffet

The questions no one can answer...

So tonight my precious 4 yr old little guy said too me "How about McDonald's Monny?" (no that's not a typo, he calls me Monny). To which I had to reply, "Sorry Bud, you can't have that." I've posted before about Carter's "crazy" as we call it. He is a "late talker" which has come with a slew of other delays. He is making great progress in school especially since we started his Gluten Free/Casein Free diet in October. Since he can't have wheat or dairy, artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives, we have to pay very close attention to labels. I have been very pleasantly surprised at how many food choices are available...if you are willing to pay for them. Almost everything has a GFCF substitute...except Mac & Cheese. We will be trying out a recipe later in the week, but I am not holding my breath. Our doctor says to keep him on the diet for at least 9 months to see the full benefits of the removal of the gluten. The experts say it takes 8 months for all the gluten to be gone. The leaps and bounds we have seen in his development thus far have been from the removal of the dairy. He is so much less crazy now and much more "normal". He had a HUGE language burst after the removal of dairy as well. I think dairy is the main culprit for him, but I want to wait out the removal of gluten to be sure. Anyhow, the question no one can answer for me is...what do we do when the 9 months is up? Can he start eating "normally" again? Will his gut have healed itself? Will he always be on a modified version of this? How do I modify it? Will he ever be able to eat Chuck E. Cheese pizza, Kraft Mac & Cheese, PinkBerry, or a Happy Meal again? What kind of magical childhood is that??? All of this to say, I will continue to seek the Lord for wisdom and guidance and pray there is a Mommy & Carter PinkBerry date in our very near future.

Menu Plan Monday

Hey everyone! I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Ours was delicious :) We decorated the house this weekend, inside and out. All I have left is my dining room and I am hoping to get to that today. Anyhow, here is my menu for the week. I hope it inspires you to get in your kitchen (even if it's tiny like mine) and make something yummy! Head over to orgjunkie.com for more menu ideas. Have a blessed day!

Monday: Mexican Pot Roast served with tortillas, rice, beans, and taco fixings...I;m feeding a crowd for football!
Tuesday: Chinese Lemon Chicken served with Brown rice and Broccoli
Wednesday: Greek Spaghetti served with Garlic Bread and Salad
Thursday: Oven "Fried" Chicken served with Orzo Salad
Friday: Homemade Pizzas...Pesto Veggie and Caramelized Onion with Gorgonzola
Saturday: I need to make an appetizer or dessert for a holiday potluck...any ideas?
Sunday: Soup Sunday! I am thinking chili sounds good this week.

Menu Plan Monday

Remember how I told you all I was planning to nail down our top 21 favorite meals and plug them into my Google Calendar and hope to never plan another weeknight meal again??? Well...I did it and I am really excited about it. You just save them to repeat once a month on that day then on Meal Plan Monday, you just print your calendar out that already has all your meals for the week! One thing that I really like about this method is that I can still move the meals around to make sure what we have on the menu will suit what we are doing that week. For example, we host Monday Night Football at our house and something like chili dogs is a dinner that I would do on Monday but if Greek Spaghetti pops up, I can just switch them out. Easy Peesy. Give it a shot. You will thank me :) Here is my Menu for this week. Hopefully it inspires you to get in your kitchen and cook up something yummy! Head over to Orgjunkie.com for more menu planning ideas!

Monday: Chili Dogs served with coleslaw and potato chips...football food!

Tuesday: Anniversary Dinner...we are going out for Sushi!

Wednesday: Pumpkin Ravioli served with green salad and Garlic Bread

Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving! We are Brining/smoking a 14.5 lb turkey and I am making pecan bacon dressing, creamed corn, and pecan pie bars. We are taking everything over to my husband's grandparents house.

Friday: It's a friend's birthday and we are going out!

Saturday: Soup of some sort...we are decorating for Christmas!

Sunday: Potluck dinner at church. I am bringing potato salad and cupcakes.