Smith Family Menu ~ Week of December 30 - January 6 (Gluten free recipes)

I am excited to try the Crock-Pot recipe below because my mom bought me a new crockpot for Christmas!  My old one was good, but it only had timers for 4 hours on high, 6 hours on high, 8 hours on low, or 10 hours on low.  Great for the weekends when I can control the time easier, but not as easy to use during a weekday since many foods were getting overcooked.  I'm hoping chicken teriyaki comes out good, I found it on Facebook while traveling home.

Dinners:

• Spaghetti w/Meat Sauce (using gluten free pasta)
• Crock-Pot Chicken Teriyaki w/Rice and Green Beans
  
• Broiled Garlic-Rosemary Flank Steak (Paleo) w/Baked Potatoes & Black-Eyed Peas
• Honey-Soy Pork Chops w/Corn & Carrots

When planning our weekly dinners, I try to use things we have at home along with planning meats based on advertised sales to help us save money.  Jeff and I continue to have most dinners based on the plate method.  Eating more non-starchy vegetables, less foods with high carbohydrates, and increased exercise has really helped our weight loss.

Need other ideas, check out my previous menu plans.  Want more ideas, see a bunch more menu plans where I linked up at Org Junkie!

Sweet & Savory Sweet Potatoes (Paleo, Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

I cooked these sweet potatoes a few weeks ago after receiving the book, Practical Paleo.  They were quick and easy to prepare and the kids loved them too!  I cooked them on my Pampered Chef Large Bar Pan to cook them at an even temperature and to help them brown quicker.

Sweet & Savory Sweet Potatoes 

Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes 
1 tsp bacon fat or coconut oil (melted) 
1/4 tsp onion powder 
1/4 tsp garlic powder 
1/2 tsp cinnamon sea salt and pepper to taste 

Instructions:
Oven at 375. (I did 425). Chop potatoes into small bite size pieces and coat with oil. Combine seasoning and evenly coat potatoes. Bake for approximately 30 minutes.

Still practicing in the kitchen with gluten free

After this past Thanksgiving, I had a severe reaction to a milk allergy.  Through talking with my mom, she had mentioned she had stopped eating bread products within the past month because she realized it was causing her vision to be fuzzy.  So I started reading about gluten and read how many of the symptoms I had over Thanksgiving.  Plus I read a small section relating gluten and Chrohn's disease which a few family members have too.  I have done okay cutting most dairy and most gluten products.  I have noticed I feel so much better when I do not have those products.  I have not officially been tested for the gluten intolerance, but I probably will after the new year due to insurance to allow all the claims to all be on one year.

After reading through the Facebook status updates, I thought it would be fun to bake a cake to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  I knew Jakob would like it and it would help Ashlyn understand what Christmas is really about for later years.  

I went searching online for a gluten free cake recipe from scratch based on what I had in stock.  I found one and read the comments that mentioned you could substitute the almond flour for an equal amount do the gluten free flour.  I had almonds that I could have made almond flour, but did not want to get my Vitamix dirty.  The recipe went well until the end!  The beater whipped the eggs and the melted chocolate and butter went well without burning it!  However, after mixing the flour mixture with the liquid ingredients it turned almost into a dough.  The instructions said to fold the mixture together and I figured just to use my mixer.  I'm not sure if that messed it up, but the taste of the batter was eh. 

I am planning to try again and know it can only get better.  After it all messed up, I asked Jakob if it would be okay to make a belated birthday cake and he said okay! :)