Wheat Free Menu Plan and Goals

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The weather has warmed up and it’s feeling like spring. We’ve been able to spend most evenings outside and let the kids burn off some energy. The landscape isn’t turning green yet (except for the weeds, that is) so it’s still quite ugly outside but hopefully before long we’ll see things turning green.

It’s slightly embarrassing to admit this, but I purchased fish when I went shopping for my first time ever. I’m never been a huge seafood fan and cooking it has always kind-of scared me. The first recipe we tried actually turned out pretty well. Shaun said it was one to make again. I’m looking forward to testing out some other recipes.

The weekend started with a concert and then a fantasy baseball draft (which was at our house) and this week is the last of membership drive for our concert series association and the final concert of the season. I’ll still have work to do as memberships continue trickling in but the big push and long few days will be over.

We are starting on our third week of wheat free. The little guy’s face is looking smoothing and the eczema isn’t raised at all. Occasionally it turns more red but nothing too bad. It’s hard to know if it’s the lack of wheat, heater not being used, him getting older etc. I guess the true test will be seeing what happens when we reintroduce wheat into our diets at Easter. (Or rather my diet seeing that he still doesn’t care about solids and I try to wait until longer to introduce wheat directly to the kids.)

Menu Plan and Goals @ Deanna Micheals - From this Kitchen Table

Suppers:

  • Salmon and Asparagus
  • Fantasy Baseball  Draft at our house – snacks
  • Egg Roll in a Bowl
  • Ladies’ Bible Study – bringing chickpea and corn salad
  • Leftovers

Lunches:

Breakfasts:

Goals:

My goals this week are going to be simple. Only 1 day of the 7 do we not have something extra going on and a couple of the days will be really long ones.

  • Concert Series Headquarters
  • Print ballots prior to the last concert Thursday
  • Make graphics and re-read this week’s posts
  • Continue 28 days of Pilates and 30 day plank challenge (half way there)
  • Keep the house halfway put together and everyone fed. 🙂
  • Reading, jewelry making and anything else is a bonus

What’s on your menu? Any big projects you are tackling this week?

Linking up to Menu Plan Monday

Indian Pea Pilaf (peas pilau)

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Indian Pea Pilaf (peas pilau). My favorite rice side dish. Easy and super tasty.

This is another recipe from my sister. She makes some awesome Indian food. The flavors are subtle but tasty and different. Something different about this recipe is that there is no heat from peppers which makes if perfect for those with sensitive palates.

I made Indian Pea Pilaf or Peas Pilau for my first time a year ago and fell in love. What a simple dish to prepare and it has a unique twist. This is my favorite recipe to use when I want to serve a side dish of rice with any recipe. Last week I make it to go with roasted chicken. My husband is not a fan of peas but this was tasty enough that he said he didn’t mind them.

5.0 from 3 reviews
Print
Indian Pea Pilaf (peas pilau)
Serves: 8-10
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cups basmati rice
  • 2 tablespoons butter or expeller pressed coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 4 cloves
  • 4 green cardamom pods
  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 tablepoon ginger garlic paste (or 1½ teaspoons finely minced ginger an 1/12 teaspoons finely minced garlic)
  • 2 teaspoons salt (may need a little more)
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 3 cups water
Instructions
  1. Melt butter in a skillet. Add cumin seeds, bay leaf, cloves, cardamom pods, and cinnamon stick. Saute until fragrant - around a minute. Watch carefully so the spices don't burn.
  2. Add the onions and saute until tender.
  3. Add the ginger and garlic and sauté another minute.
  4. Stir in peas and salt. Turn off heat.
  5. Place rice, pea mixture, and water into a rice cooker and cook according to cooker instructions.

 

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What is Your Response?

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What is Your Response? One of worship and trust no matter your circumstances or one of "woe is me"?

I’ve been reading the book of Ruth the past several weeks. I’ve read it numerous other times but something different jumped out at me going over the first couple of chapters.

Naomi is annoying. Yes, she suffered greatly with the loss of her husband and sons. She wasn’t near her friends and family. Life didn’t go according to plan. It didn’t make her response any less annoying for me to read. Her attitude turns to one of “woe is me”. She says, “don’t call me Naomi; call me Mara, God dealt bitterly with me. I went away full and came back empty.”

Compare Naomi to another individual in the Bible who also came up against some rotten circumstances: Job. His response to suffering was to tear his robe, shave his head, and fall on the ground and worship. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked shall I return. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Job make the decision to worship God and trust in Him even though his life was turned upside down. Even in the midst of his suffering.

Only when Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem and the Lord blessed Ruth’s gleaning from Boaz’s field did Naomi change her tune. She went from “the Lord has brought calamity upon me” to “His kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead”

How easy it can be for me to get caught up in life and issues and stuff. I worry about health, finances, family, decisions. It’s so easy to act like Naomi, feel sorry for myself and the circumstances and uncertainty that I’m going through.

I became annoyed with Naomi simply reading about her. How much more so do those around me get frustrated with me.  I imagine they are wanting to say “Just stop. Let it go. Remember who God is. Continue to bless Him even when it’s hard. Count on Him to help you.” They see the big picture as I’m caught up in my own little self-focused world. Not only is it annoying it’s also dishonoring to my God.

In Philippians we are told not be anxious about anything. Peter tells us to cast all our anxieties on him. In James it says to count it all joy when we meet trials of various kinds.

It’s not okay to wait until the trials and worries are over and I am looking back that I trust Him. That doesn’t require trust and faith. Instead, in the midst of the battle, in the midst of uncertainty, in the midst of pain, I’m called to trust Him and to let Him carry my burdens however heavy they may be.

What is Your Response? One of worship and trust no matter your circumstances or one of "woe is me"?

When life comes at me, I want my response to be like that of Job’s no matter my worry over medical results, loss, finances, decisions or uncertainty. I want to cast my cares on Him even while I’m waiting for the test results to come. I want my automatic response to be one of praising and blessing God.

It’s not easy. In fact, sometimes I may not even want to but how much better it is when I obey.

What have you found to help your response be one of praise in the midst of the unknown?

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Wheat Free Menu Plan and Goals

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It was a fun week for our family! My sister had her third baby (my first niece) on my mom’s birthday. I can’t wait to get to hold her. She was a tiny thing. Two days later another sister got engaged on my little brother’s thirteenth birthday. Hooray for growing families!

Coming next week I’ll have a series on kitchen tools, appliances, and essentials that I thought my sister might find useful as she and her fiance plan their registries. You might find an idea or two on the list for your own kitchen or to use as gift ideas too.

Menu Plan and Goals @ From this Kitchen Table

She wanted to have a picnic on the living room floor.

We have started our second week of being wheat free. Our little guys face is looking better but I don’t know if it’s from no wheat, the heater not being used as much, or him just getting older. I guess we’ll see if there continues to be improvement and observe what happens when we add wheat back in at the end of the experiment.

Menu Plan and Goals @ From this Kitchen Table

Suppers:

Lunches:

Breakfasts:

Goals:

What goals do you have? Anything tasty on your menu?

Linking up to Menu Plan Monday