Week Of Meals - 5

Pardon my Mess...Construction in Progress

It has been awhile since I've blogged...

I am building my home right now.  We are 17 days away from closing.  It has been a whirlwind of emotions and physical strength.  We sold our home of 9 years this summer.  We thought we'd be there forever, but we also thought we'd only have 2 kids!  When we outgrew the house and couldn't find anything large enough to buy....we built!  

BUT! No matter the stress and family chaos...people gotta eat.  Am I right? 

Here is my week of meals #5.  It's not a full, per say, menu...just some ideas to keep you going.  Some just straight out of the thm book that we all forget, some from amazing bloggers and some just from my simple head! I do hope they inspire you to find your inner chef and create something beautiful and AH-mazing!

(starting from the top left and working your way right)

Tabbouleh {E} - Ingredients: 1 cup quiona, rinsed, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 lemon juice, 1 TB MCT oil, 1 large cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, orange pepper and 2/3 cup flat leaf parsley chopped. Bring quiona, salt and 1 1/4 cups of water to boil and then simmer for 10 minutes. Let stand 5 min then fluff with a fork. Add your veggies, lemon juice and oil. Olive oil if you don't have MTC. (I added some cooked, chopped chicken to this for a full meal)

Wonder Wrap {S, E, FP}, page 274 [with tuna, swiss and spinach] and Cottage Berry Whip {S, E, FP}, page 379.  You must try the Wonder wrap.  In my almost 2 years of THM life, I never tried it!  Intimidated maybe.  Making crepes were never my strong suit and I associated this with them.  They are, in fact, much easier to make! 

Broccoli and Cheese Soup with Chicken Tenders {S}.  Don't let the roux intimidate you.  If you were part of my Enchilada soup discovery, you can easily make a roux with butter or oil and glucci.  But, for this soup, I simply just put half the soup in the blender with 1/2 teaspoon of xanthan gum.  I gave it a whiz then pour it back in the pot.  I still had some broccoli texture and also the thickness of soup.  My chicken tenders are force to reckoned with!  They are so dang good.  Preheat oven to 475.  (that's not a typo)  Dip chicken tenders in an egg bath and then roll them in almond flour + plus my blackened seasoning and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Eat with a THM honey mustard.

Blackened Seasoning (great on chicken, fish, steaks, soups, eggs, veggies, basically everything)
2 tablespoons ground paprika
1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Deep {S} pancakes  This is the Cake in a mug on page 379, subbing the cocoa powder for protein powder.  Fry them in butter.  When I did my first fuel cycle, this was my Deep S breakfast.  They tasted very naughty.  Just like a fried fritter!

Spinach Chips  In my opinion, these aren't as good as kale chips.  But-some have kale issues.  This is a different change of pace.  Use a slip mat or parchment paper cause they *stick*!  If you get the big tubs of spinach, like at Sams, the leaves are nice and large.  Baby spinach just won't do.  Lightly spray your layer of spinach leaves with coconut oil.  Shake the spices you desire.  I did a batch of nutritional yeast and salt.  Yes- those thin leaves got crunchy at 325 for 8-10 minutes.  I find recipes like this fun.  It's just the salt and crunch factor I need to get past a chip craving! 

Bread in a Mug {S} page page 265 {grilled cheese}, with Just Like Campbell's Tomato Soup {S}  page 292 and a salad.  Cool day--warm lunch!  Need I say more?! 

Miracle Noodle Mac 'n Cheese - This lady is so fun to watch!  She makes macaroni and cheese with the Miracle (shirataki) noodles.  I added more cheese than she did (cause I'm cool like that) and I baked mine in the oven.  I'm from the south and baked macaroni and cheese just...is...what you do! 

Frozen Yogurt "Drops" page 377.  I say drops instead of pops, just they are just little drops.  They remind me of the little drops of colored candy I ate as a kid.  I would peel them off the sheet of paper.  They tasted horrible, but just kept eating them, lol!  My drops are just yogurt, protein (not in original recipe) and sweetener.
Vanilla: add vanilla extract
Strawberry: add frozen, then thawed strawberries (they don't have height like the vanilla ones, so more like a disc.
Peanut Butter:  add peanut butter for {S} and peanut flour for {E or FP}.
Chocolate: add cocoa powder and chocolate extract

***Really, the flavor pallet is endless!  These are great to have in the freezer.  I love just pulling a few off and letting them melt in my mouth.  You can have a whole bunch at one time.  They melt quickly.  My 2 year old LOVES them.  To store, I just cut the parchment paper I squeezed them on to sheets that stack and fit in a gallon ziplock bag.  

LAST BUT NOT LEAST....

Cheese Cake Chocolate Chip Cookies Temple of Adventure deserves an award, a grammy, a cash prize.... These cookies are Da-Bomb!!!  So much so, that I have deleted every other Chocolate Chip Cookie from my data base.  I don't even want to try them.  THESE are my favorite.  Thank you for creating this and letting me spread the news far and wide.  I have been on THM for 19 months and cookies are were a struggle.  Couple things about these cookies you need to know:
 (1) The batter is addicting and you'll be tempted to just eat it alone!
(2) These cookies are marvelous hot, fresh out of the oven.  If you have to make the whole batch, always nuke before eating.  I just keep the batter in my frig and just bake what I want after dinner!
(3) Mine are made with the trivet skinny chocolate chips.  I was amazed to find that the skinny chocolate chips didn't run everywhere.  They held their shape.  I think because of their size.  I have plans to make a batch of these and keep them in my freezer for various things (yogurt, pancakes, muffin in a mug...)