Suburban Granola » weekly menu plan

Week of Jan. 11 Vegan Menu

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:15:43 +0000

Our menus will be changing a little over the next few weeks. There are couple of reasons as to why, the first as a New Years resolution we decided to try harder to move from our “somewhat vegan” status to a “very vegan status. We have all been suffering from low energy, stomach issues and some eczema problems and it seems when we are not so lazy about sticking to our vegan diet we all feel better. The other reason is that we have just found that our oldest daughter has some food allergies we were previously unaware of. She has been suffering from chronic urticaria since she was 5 years old and recently she was getting hives every day. Which meant she had to take benedryl every day and you can imagine how hard it is to function on that medication. We finally got her back in to the allergist and had her allergy tested (for the second time) and she is now allergic to corn, peanuts, fish, dairy, mold, weeds, grass, and…cockroaches *shudder… She loves peanuts so initially I thought this would be the hardest one for her. But this is not so. Did you have any idea that corn is in almost every processed food you eat? Heck, high fructose corn syrup is just about in every main stream packaged food out there. I found this list of corn derived ingredients. Pretty much any obscure ingredient on the label turns out to be some kind of corn based substance. Scary.

Acetic acid
Alcohol
Alpha tocopherol
Artificial flavorings
Artificial sweeteners
Ascorbates
Ascorbic acid
Astaxanthin
Baking powder
Barley malt* (generally OK, but can be contaminated)
Bleached flour*
Blended sugar (sugaridextrose)
Brown sugar* (generally OK if no caramel color)
Calcium citrate
Calcium fumarate
Calcium gluconate
Calcium lactate
Calcium magnesium acetate (CMA)
Calcium stearate
Calcium stearoyl lactylate
Caramel and caramel color
Carbonmethylcellulose sodium
Cellulose microcrystalline
Cellulose, methyl
Cellulose, powdered
Cetearyl glucoside
Choline chloride
Citric acid*
Citrus cloud emulsion (CCS)
Coco glycerides (cocoglycerides)
Confectioners sugar
Corn alcohol, corn gluten
Corn extract
Corn flour
Corn oil, corn oil margarine
Corn starch
Corn sweetener, corn sugar
Corn syrup, corn syrup solids
Corn, popcorn, cornmeal
Cornstarch, cornflour
Crosscarmellose sodium
Crystalline dextrose
Crystalline fructose
Cyclodextrin
DATUM (a dough conditioner)
Decyl glucoside
Decyl polyglucose
Dextrin
Dextrose (also found in IV solutions)
Dextrose anything (such as monohydrate or anhydrous)
d-Gluconic acid
Distilled white vinegar
Drying agent
Erythorbic acid
Erythritol
Ethanol
Ethocel 20
Ethylcellulose
Ethylene
Ethyl acetate
Ethyl alcohol
Ethyl lactate
Ethyl maltol
Fibersol-2
Flavorings*
Food starch
Fructose*
Fruit juice concentrate*
Fumaric acid
Germ/germ meal
Gluconate
Gluconic acid
Glucono delta-lactone
Gluconolactone
Glucosamine
Glucose*
Glucose syrup* (also found in IV solutions)
Glutamate
Gluten
Gluten feed/meal
Glycerides
Glycerin*
Glycerol
Golden syrup
Grits
High fructose corn syrup
Hominy
Honey*
Hydrolyzed corn
Hydrolyzed corn protein
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose
Hydroxypropyl methylcellulose pthalate (HPMCP)
Inositol
Invert syrup or sugar
Iodized salt
Lactate
Lactic acid*
Lauryl glucoside
Lecithin
Linoleic acid
Lysine
Magnesium fumarate
Maize
Malic acid
Malonic acid
Malt syrup from corn
Malt, malt extract
Maltitol
Maltodextrin
Maltol
Maltose
Mannitol
Methyl gluceth
Methyl glucose
Methyl glucoside
Methylcellulose
Microcrystaline cellulose
Modified cellulose gum
Modified corn starch
Modified food starch
Molasses* (corn syrup may be present; know your product)
Mono and di glycerides
Monosodium glutamate
MSG
Natural flavorings*
Olestra/Olean
Polenta
Polydextrose
Polylactic acid (PLA)
Polysorbates* (e.g. Polysorbate 80)
Polyvinyl acetate
Potassium citrate
Potassium fumarate
Potassium gluconate
Powdered sugar
Pregelatinized starch
Propionic acid
Propylene glycol*
Propylene glycol monostearate*
Saccharin
Salt (iodized salt)
Semolina (unless from wheat)
Simethicone
Sodium carboxymethylcellulose
Sodium citrate
Sodium erythorbate
Sodium fumarate
Sodium lactate
Sodium starch glycolate
Sodium stearoyl fumarate
Sorbate
Sorbic acid
Sorbitan
Sorbitan monooleate
Sorbitan tri-oleate
Sorbitol
Sorghum* (not all is bad; the syrup and/or grain CAN be mixed with corn)
Starch (any kind that’s not specified)
Stearic acid
Stearoyls
Sucrose
Sugar* (not identified as cane or beet)
Threonine
Tocopherol (vitamin E)
Treacle (aka golden syrup)
Triethyl citrate
Unmodified starch
Vanilla, natural flavoring
Vanilla, pure or extract
Vanillin
Vegetable anything that’s not specific*
Vinegar, distilled white
Vinyl acetate
Vitamin C* and Vitamin E*
Vitamins*
Xanthan gum
Xylitol
Yeast*
Zea mays
Zein

Corn is even used in the washing process of pre-washed, bagged salads. Our salad isn’t even safe! While reading about corn allergy, I ran across this article that even suggests that excess corn consumption could cause hormone disruption. We already know that the pesticides used in corn are major hormone disruptors.

Eating out will pretty much be out of the question. We eat mostly whole foods anyway but now it looks like some of our favorite snack foods are out. Pirate Booty anyone!? YUM.

I am replacing her beloved peanut butter with a raw homemade almond butter and replacing popcorn (which we also love) with rice cakes. I also started making my raw almond milk again to replace the little dairy we did use. And I am looking for a non-dairy recipe for homemade yogurt.

Here is a peek at my new improved allergy-free, Vegan Menu.

Week of November 7 Menu

admin — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:58:45 +0000

This week I decided I needed to add an event column at the bottom of my menu. That way I know at a glance what we have going on that day. It should help me to remember why I am using the crockpot that day ( super busy day planned) and help remind me to prepare some things for future meals ahead of time. I usually put little notes, like *make bread, to help remind me to do that for an upcoming meal. That way, I don’t start pulling together a sandwich just to realize I have forgotten to make bread! grrr…

Also, I have a confession…we ate out WAY too much this week. I was a little stressed over going to the doctor, and waiting on test results…When I am stressed I tend to really lose focus. Excuses, Excuses.. But those times we ate out added up to close to a months worth of a grocery budget! So this week my goal is to not eat out except for the couple of times that we have planned.

Next week I hope to get in a couple of days of freezer cooking to prepare for the upcoming holidays. Have any of you girls tried cooking one day to freeze meals for an entire month? Well, I won’t exactly be doing that. But I will be getting a few things ready for the holidays. Think along the lines of quick breads, rolls, pie crusts, cranberry sauce.. I plan on making a few meals that will be healthy and quick when I need an easy meal.

Get your vacuum sealers ready ladies!

Week of October 26 Menu Plan

admin — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 19:12:52 +0000

Here is this weeks menu:

Let me know if you would like any of the recipes!

Monday’s Menu Plan for the Week

admin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 09:21:09 +0000

I just finished up our menu plan for the week and I thought I would share it with you. This week looks very different from most. We will have 9 children living with us this week. There are very few vegan meals on the menu this week. I am not sure what the new kids will like to eat. I don’t know if they are picky eaters. I sure hope not! But I decided to make a very typical ( I think) kid friendly menu this week. I make a menu every Sunday night for the upcoming week. I usually check the freezer and pantry to see what I have and start there. Any items that I don’t have to complete the meal are loaded on to my grocery gadget app on my phone. A lot of times I will look through cookbooks and get new meal ideas and I also ask the kids what they would like. Friday is our cooking lesson day so the kids normally pick what they would like to learn to make for that week. I also keep in mind the days that I take classes or the kids have sports, church nights, etc. and plan easier meals or ones that can be cooked and then kept warm in the oven or crock pot on those days. The crock pot is my friend.

I love the weekly menu plan system because I don’t have to think much about what I am going to make. The thinking is just planning it out. When it is time to cook you just check the menu and get to it. I am not a morning person, therefore my brain is not really functioning at its optimum capacity at breakfast time so it tends to be the easiest meal of the day.

A few more reasons I love making a weekly menu:

My kids know what to expect. They don’t ask me a million times a day what they are going to have for breakfast/lunch/or dinner. The big kids will often without being asked jump in and help out with snacks because they know what they can have. Oh, and usually we follow the plan pretty strict except the snacks, I only put that one there to have a running list of what we have that week. The kids can choose any snack they wish on any day. It doesn’t have to be the one written on that day.

I have very little food spoil. Because I base the menu on what we already have I am not throwing away foods that get overlooked. That saves us quite a bit of money especially because we eat mainly organic foods. Once I realized how much money I was saving, it motivated me to be better about throwing over-ripe produce in the freezer (for smoothies) or in the dehydrator instead of letting it go to waste. It makes me feel good to not be wasteful.

I can easily see if we are eating a somewhat balanced diet. Most weeks we eat more vegan meals and I want to make sure the kids are getting all the nutrients they need.

Making a weekly plan for our menu me feel a little more in control. I like being super organized. It makes things go much more smoothly around here. There are so many things I can’t control. You know, the washer breaks down, you have an unexpected trip to the ER, the car gets a flat, the kids get sick… all of that is out of my hands. If I had to try to figure out what we are going to have for dinner an hour before time, after a day of all the other little unexpected bumps, with starving kids whining about starving to death, I think I might just lose it. Planning ahead helps turn that “crunch” time into a relaxed time that you can hang in the kitchen with your kids and enjoy the time with your family.