Menu Plan Monday

After lingering suspicions over the last few months that I may be - at least at some level - insulin resistant, I have now been sugar-free and grain-free for over a week. Though I had a couple of tough days of withdrawal initially, by last Sunday 06/20 I woke up "over the hump" and now feel my energy levels higher and much more stabilized. Obviously, this translates to a bit of extra cooking, but I don't really mind, especially now that I have dishwashable cookware at my disposal!

Fortunately for me, there's already a wealth of heavily-cited information, recipes, and community over at Mark's Daily Apple* (among other long-followed blogs like Simply Sugar and Gluten Free) as I kick off the new way of eating with me (not my appetite) in the driver's seat.

I feel blessed that my husband and oldest daughter are happily along for the ride, so long as it tastes good! (And they will still dine on breakfast cereal, and the odd frozen lasagna or pizza, for sure.) Of course, because I'm nursing, and because my girls are still growing, we have a few carbier veggies and fruits - pineapple, papaya, sweet potatoes, plantains, bananas, mangos (but no corn or regular white potatoes) - thrown in.

I'm loving the sugar-free fruit-based custards as a way to get in a good balance of natural carbs, protein, and fat for a satiating, ready-to-eat-straight-from-the-fridge breakfast. They're kind of like natural Whips!, for those who have had the Yoplait treat, and take me less than 10 minutes to throw in the oven the night before.

Monday:
Breakfast: Chocolate raspberry custard, eggs, milk
Lunch: Salads topped with seasoned ground turkey (yes, still a lot of this to use up!), tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, etc.
Dinner: Baked chicken, garlic-ginger green beans, sweet potatoes
*Making a big fruit salad this night to propel us through the week!

Tuesday:
Breakfast: Rhubarb-cherry custard, eggs, milk (the rhubarb was free from my sister-in-law, and the cherries are super-cheap at Giant this week)
Lunch: Broiled fish, fruit salad, spinach salad with toasted pecans
Dinner: Stir-fry beef and brocolli, fruit salad

Wednesday:
Breakfast: Fruit salad, almonds, milk
Lunch: Roasted eggplant, summer squash, tomatoes, and scallops with a creamy tomato sauce
Dinner: Crockpot London broil, salads topped with veggies

Thursday:
Breakfast: Fruit smoothies made with leftover fruit salad and coconut milk
Lunch: Cabbage-and-kale salad with sesame vinaigrette and shredded leftover London broil
Dinner: Grilled skewered chicken breast (my daughter calls them "chicken wands"), grilled pineapple, salads

Friday:
Breakfast: Chocolate-banana custard topped with (unsweetened) coconut and toasted walnuts, milk
Lunch: Curried egg salad, served in cabbage leaves
Dinner: BLT salads, plantain fries

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*Note that my own belief is that - however we as humans came about - God created everything and everyone, but likely did not create humans to subsist on a diet centering around - as mine did for a while - white pasta, white flour, white rice, sugar, candy, heavily processed foods, etc. - all of which Adam and Eve managed without ;-p