Dinner Menu~priddymomma

Hey guys!  It’s that time again.  This week, I’m sharing what my family has on the dinner menu. 

We have recently decided on the paleo diet (read:  we eat like dinosaurs/cavemen).  Paleo cooking avoids gluten, which is awesome for our two kiddos with gluten sensitivities.  It also avoids preservatives, dyes, etc. and concentrates on whole foods, which we wanted to do ourselves.  We’re not religious about it, and I hate anybody that implies I’m not allowed a potato now and again.  (I will offer a disclaimer:  you will never again want something like McDonald’s once you’ve been eating real food.)

Anyway, here is our menu for the week:  (all meals are paired with fruits and vegetables, based on what we have at the time) **sometimes I change days around.  As I’m typing this (Tuesday), we just finished eating Thursday’s dinner idea.

Friday-Grilled Cheese

            We do the grocery shopping on Fridays.  By the time we’ve done that, we aren’t in the mood to do elaborate cooking, dinner is already behind schedule, and we’re in a hurry to get the kids to bed.  GF bread for the kids, potato bread for us, sharp cheddar cheese all around.  We often throw something like tomatoes, onions, or pickles on the sandwiches.  If you’ve never had a grilled cheese with pickle slices, you are missing out!

Saturday-Quesadillas

            We had our annual backyard campout this weekend.  We decided quesadillas would make a great food for the campout…or for inside if we got rained out.  GF flour tortillas for the kids with corn tortillas for us.  Cheerio Champ just had cheese on his, but Princess Cheerio had black beans, cheese, and avocado.  Hubby and I also enjoyed green onion, salsa, beans, avocado, and cheese on ours.  Campfire quesadillas are awesome.

Sunday-Taco Salad

            As I mentioned above, we had our backyard campout.  We planned to have Walking Tacos for dinner, but we ended up packing up the camp due to thunderstorm threats.  Inside, we made up taco salads.  Frito chips, ground beef with seasonings, lettuce, mozzarella cheese, tomato, salsa, avocado, black beans, onions (green and white onions), hot sauce (for those interested), lime wedges (for drizzling), and GF ranch dressing (mostly for me).

Monday-Lemon Dill Salmon

            Spray a piece of foil with olive oil cooking spray, lay down a piece of salmon fillet (I buy frozen and thaw either in the microwave or in the refrigerator), put down a few pinches of dill (fresh or dry), add salt and pepper to taste, and a couple of lemon slices.  Fold up into a packet, and place the packet on the grill or bake in the oven at 350°F for 15-20 minutes.  Open carefully, as steam will cause a burn if not handled properly.  I got this recipe from “Eat Like A Dinosaur.” 

Tuesday-Greek Turkey Burgers

            This is sort of a pain to make, but we keep making it because it is delicious.  You take one pound of ground turkey, one cup of shredded zucchini, one small diced onion, ½ cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley, 2 large eggs, and one Tablespoon of olive oil and mix them all together in a big bowl.  Add 1 Tablespoon dried oregano, 1 Tablespoon Spice Hunter Greek Seasoning, 1 teaspoon black pepper, and ½ teaspoon sea salt and mix well.  You’ll want to use your hands.  If you have long nails (like me), you can use disposable gloves.  Here’s where it gets interesting:  you now form the mixture into six patties.  Now, traditional patties would have something gluten-esque to hold them together.  Here, the eggs and zucchini are meant to do that for you.  The trouble is, until they begin to cook, they are fairly useless.  Don’t expect to be able to move your patties with relative ease.  Also, I recommend making 7 patties.  It just jives better.  Heat some olive oil in a large skillet (about two Tablespoons) over medium heat, cook patties for 4-6 minutes on each side, until golden brown around the edges, and then drain on a plate lined with paper towels.  Devour.  I’ve subbed out the parsley for basil and cilantro, and they are still really tasty.  Feel free to experiment, but I don’t suggest using dried for it.  I think you would be disappointed. 

 

Greek Turkey Burgers recipe came from this book.

Wednesday-Beef Roast with Chimichurri Sauce

            I got this recipe from Rebecca on mynaturalfamily.com.  It’s a crockpot recipe.  Actually, it’s two recipes.  First, you cook your roast.  Then you need to make up the chimichurri sauce.  Pick a pork or beef roast.  I suggest a 3-4 pound roast for the standard crockpot.  I also don’t care much for pork roasts, so we usually use a beef roast.  Rebecca suggests cooking the roast for 24 hours or so.  Unless your roast is frozen, I don’t really think that is necessary.  I put it in for 8 hours or so on low.  I suggest using nonstick spray on the crockpot.  Next, add your roast and sprinkle with salt.  Close the lid, turn it on low, cook for approximately 8 hours.  Easy!  The sauce is meant as a topping.  Take an herb (basil, parsley, etc.) and measure out a cup.  Mix thoroughly in a blender with 3 cloves fresh peeled garlic, ½ cup olive oil, 2 Tablespoons lemon juice (or just happily squeeze fresh lemon slices into it to taste), 1 tsp salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, and ½ tsp The Zip.  I don’t use The Zip, but you certainly can.  I had to look it up to even know what it was.  It’s composed of things like cumin, cayenne, etc.  I just add those Mexican types of spices until I’m happy with the results.  Then you just drizzle it on your roast.  You can also use it to top any other type of meat or eggs or whatever.

Thursday-Waffles, Eggs, and Sausage

            Breakfast for dinner!  The kids loved this meal before we went paleo, so we still have it occasionally.  GF waffle mix is fairly easy to find, and the meal is always a hit (and usually quick to make and eat!).

Thanks for reading!  Bon Appétit :)