I thought I'd share a couple quick meal ideas from this week. Josh, the kids and I picked a bunch of pears and apples last week. I've been doing a lot with them. I made pear butter - which was one of the most delicious things I've ever made! (Thank you Hayley for the idea/inspiration) I made a ton of applesauce, and I dehydrated a lot of pears. And I've been incorporating the fruit into meals this week where I can.
Monday night we had salads that were so good and so simple. I baked two chicken breast in the oven for 30 min in foil and marinated them first in just white whine, salt and pepper. I sliced the moist chicken and laid it across a large bed of greens. Then topped it with chunks of avocado and pear slices. We made our favorite balsamic vinaigrette (recipe in post below about making your own salad dressing). I served it with sweet potato fries (sliced potatoes, drizzled with olive oil and sea salt, baked at 400 degrees for 20-25 min). Nothing fancy, just simple and full of whole foods.
Last night we tried something new. I think the only pork I've ever purchased is bacon. Anyway, I bought all natural pork chops and baked them in (earth balance) butter, salt and homemade pear butter. Oh my, they were amazing!! I served them with brown rice and steamed vegetables. Josh and I both had left overs for lunch today and commented on how amazing it was again. :)
Tonight I'm making something simple again... hence the story of my gluten-free life since I was never much of a cook before and feel like since going g-free I've really only just started to really learn. :) Anyway, tonight we're having baked potato and bacon soup (since I have left over bacon and a bunch of potatoes still from my last grocery trip). It's overcast and raining, so I thought soup sounded cozy. I'm going to follow this recipe here, and just be sure to use g-free items. Because I will be using rice milk, I will use less of it, and allow it to be a thicker, chunkier soup, since rice milk isn't creamy like whole cow milk. Hoping it will turn out. *
Jude and Selah have dr. appts coming up, so I'll have updates on Jude's growth. He also started up preschool for this year and so far it's been a better experience than last year since he's g-free this year! I'm excited to see how he continues to develop this year! Josh and I have been seeing great growth in him. It's so encouraging to see that all of the effort toward careful diet pays off! So grateful. :)
* Here's how our soup turned out... so yummy!!! (Camera phone photo of it, and a belly shot of me at 24.5 weeks.) :) I modified the recipe to make a smaller batch. I used rice milk and baked red potatoes, and threw the bacon into the soup at the end rather than just using it as a topping. It was great!!
We paired the soup with a simple salad of romaine, chopped cashews, pears and homemade balsamic vinaigrette, and just Udi's bread toasted with earth balance butter, since our bread options are clearly VERY limited. :)
Thanks for posting your last few meals, Bethany! Finn had his appointment today (he's still in the 5th percentile for weight and I had a long talk with the doctor about my gluten-sensitivity and our belief that he's dealing with something similar) and tomorrow marks his first day of being gluten-free! I can't wait for naptime tomorrow when I'll have the time to go through the pantry and toss stuff (Kevin decided that if Finn and I aren't eating gluten, he's fine not having it at home either). I can't wait to hear what happens at Jude's appointment :)
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