My Afflation

I am officially tired of winter. More than that, my SAD is kicking in hard , despite 8-12,000 IU of Vitamin D nightly. I started writing this post on Sunday, had the draft, found the links to the pretty recipes (need to remember to do that again for next week), and here it is Wednesday, and I am dragging ass. You can check out my Fitbit stats if you don't believe me. via GIPHY

I have a feeling I have used that title before ... but hey, it's a different year. And now we are going Whole 30 this week because I need it. Sunday : Lemon Pepper Chicken with Zoodles. Seriously, now that my local grocery store carries zoodles I buy 2-4 packages a week. It saves me so much time ! Monday : Stuffed Peppers Stuffed peppers Tuesday : Paleo-Keto Taco  (Salad) with lettuce wraps instead of blue corn tortilla shells. But this was one of the better pictures I have. Taco night Wednesday :  Grilled Steak & Avocado with Garlic-Shallot puree  (pg 216) and  mandarin strawberry salad Thursday: Spinach Fritatta Spinach and Mushroom Frittata Friday : Lamb Kabobs

Feeling slightly unprepared Monday : Spicy Lime Beef Salad Tuesday : Second viewing of The Force Awakens at Alamo Draft House!!!!! No cooking for me. Wednesda y: Salmon and Spud Salad Thursday : Curried Cauliflower Soup  Friday (Christmas) : Crown Roast of Lamb (or maybe Mereneese , I have't decided yet or maybe I'll do a Mereneese Crown) Maple buttered roasted carrots Mashed butternut squash Rolls Steamed veggies Lemon pound cake (family recipe) for dessert. Saturday : Leftovers

This week I just asked what everyone wanted to eat. I'm still not sure I remember everything correctly, but two different kinds of curry were asked for. That works for me. Curry is easily and naturally Whole30 (especially now that I have switched to using coconut cream), and free of everything Joy can't eat without massive modification. Actually, everything she asked for this week I can cook without modification. Monday : Curried Turkey Cutlets with Dried Apricots Curried Turkey Cutlets with Dried Apricots Tuesday : Lemon Garlic Chicken Quinoa Pasta Primavera Pasta Primavera Wednesday: Curried Chicken - Indian Style Chicken Curry Thursday: Beef Broccoli   - I really need to pick up some coconut aminos, but the last few times I have made it with just the spices and seasoning have gone over fairly well. Beef Broccoli Friday : Chili Verde Chili Verde Saturday : Strawberry Avocado Chicken Salad Strawberry Chicken Avocado Salad Menu Pla...

My daughter is a picky eater. In the last three months she has developed intolerances to wheat, dairy, and soy. Just need nuts and seafood to be complete (knock on wood). Creating menus each week just got more interesting . Luckily, she can eat just about anything from El Pollo Loco, but we have both gotten tired of that in the last month. Cooking from scratch in 30 minutes or less (most nights)... Monday: Beef and Broccoli - minus the soy sauce and water, so I guess it was more of a stir fry, but she had multiple servings. Tuesday:  Avocado Strawberry Spinach Salad with Poppyseed Dressing Wednesday:  Beef & Bean Chile Verde  - I make mine with Fresh and Easy Salsa Verde Thursday:  Chicken Avocado Salad Wraps Friday:  Primal Jambalaya  - minus the cauliflower rice Saturday:  Paleo Avocado Turkey Burgers  - reminds me of the burgers at the District Pub (also much cheaper to make at home). Menu Plan Monday hosted by:

Why can I never stick to the recipe? Doesn't matter, this came out amazingly well. In the last few years I have become the queen of 30-minute or less meals (from scratch! unless it's a slow-cooker meal) because I just don't have the time in our busy schedules to do more. But, when someone bats his ridiculously long eyelashes at me coupled with puppy dog eyes and tells me how good my cooking is ... well, I decided to put in some effort on a new recipe. Using a pre-made crust saved me about an hour of time though. Caveat, the original recipe called for 2 tablespoons tomato paste, but I read it wrong (I mean, who uses such a tiny amount, right???!) Beef Short Rib Pot Pie Recipe by Annette Holland Adapted from Epicurious: Short Rib Pot Pie 5 stars Prep time: 3.5 hours Cook time: 1 hour Total time: 4.5 hours Yield: 4 servings Ingredients 2 pre-made gluten-free pie crusts or butter puff pastry shells 1.5 lbs beef short ribs (on th...

At some point in the near future I will remember to hit publish before Friday since I menu plan and grocery shop on Sunday .... This week I realized that in trying to use up all of the meat in the freezer and keep my grocery bill as low as possible (between checks and all that), everything I planned was hearty one-skillet meals. WIN! Less clean up. Also, the grocery bill was $84. It hasn't been that low in months ! It's also the week that my daughter returns to school and I try to get on an earlier schedule for work. So having an easy menu makes for more time for ... homework. Monday : Beef and Bean Chili Verde - super easy because I simply use Fresh & Easy green salsa. It's much spicier than their salsa verde. Bonus, there's enough left overs for both me and Joy to have hot lunches. Tuesday : Blackened (Cajun) Chicken (tenders) over zoodles (with sauteed zucchini) and avocado (sauce). The recipe is here . I improvise for time and kept it in one skil...

Summer isn't over! What do you mean school is starting tomorrow?!?! That's me crying, not my daughter. I actually miss the days when school started the Monday after Labor Day. That makes sense . My daughter is mostly excited that school is starting even though in the last three weeks there was a major SNAFU and I had to pull a miracle out of my ass (with help from the The Teen (who is now the the College Student, stop growing already!) and her dad. But she's enrolled, excited, school clothes and supplies for the first day obtained and I was good and planned the menu yesterday morning so the Teen/College Student could go grocery shopping for me today (Thank goodness for Fresh and Easy Coupons !) because I spent yesterday re-arranging furniture, buying new seat cushions for the dining table and getting a migraine. Then starting 5 loads of laundry. No, I am no insane. Just been busy. And so .... here's dinner. Breakfast will consist of either cold cereal or eggs a...

This was Sunday dinner. Again, it passed the taste-test of my picky, semi-vegetarian niece. Ingredients: 1 lb beef, cubed 16 oz pkg frozen broccoli cutlets 1 red bell pepper, diced optional – mushrooms 2 teaspoons oil Sauce : 1/3 cup water 1/3 cup brown sugar 1/3 cup soy sauce 1 teaspoon crushed garlic 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ginger Directions: Mix all sauce ingredients together, set aside. Heat oil in a frying pan or wok, add beef. Cook until browned Add bell pepper, broccoli and sauce Turn heat to low and cook for 20 minutes Serve with rice. Serves 6 If you prefer a thicker sauce, you can thicken it with flour or cornstarch in the last few minutes.