Menu Swap - August 3

I know that I'm really early with this, but I figured I had better post while I had some time. Tomorrow will be spent in dog obedience (which is doing wonders for my circus), baking up a storm, & packing. I am heading out for a week of camping down on the Oregon Coast this Sunday and really excited too as I haven't gone camping in many years. I have no idea where I'm going exactly as one of my girlfriend's planned it. I'm only responsible for food, or my food at least. The bonus is that everyone is pretty understanding about my "dietary restrictions" so there shouldn't be too many problems, and if so I'll just bribe them with fresh homemade GF chocolate chip cookies - who can resist that?!

As I sit here typing this out, my brain keeps throwing out reminders of things that I have yet to do - such as pick up sleeping bag from the dry cleaners (oops, I kept forgetting to take it in and now I can't seem to remember to pick it up). I have to say, I always thought that I was a fairly organized person (really I was organized in my head, but I was racing around at the last minute) where as now, I have no choice but to be organized. One plus about having to be prepared for meal times is that seems to be crossing over into some other aspects of my life. I'm impressed that I had my bag packed last weekend (only because it has been cold and rainy all week, so I had no use for my shorts and tanks) and I think I finally have a functional plan for meals so that I won't starve, but knowing me I'll have planned all this food only to eat barely any of it! A little side note: while I was stocking up on GF munchies the other day, I was told that they were going to be expanding the GF line up this weekend - I was so excited, but it was lost on the manager, oh well.

But back to the Menu Swap. This week is being hosted by Natalie over at Gluten Free Mommy and mint is the ingredient of the week, but aside from my peppermint tea, I have nothing with mint in it...oh wait, I still have some peppermint extract, so I can make mint chocolate chip cookies. I love the smell of mint and mint ice cream! I'm sorry to say that I don't have any interesting info on mint, and I know that if I go exploring info on it now I'll never get to bed, a place that has been calling me since dinner time (that's what I get for only 4 hours sleep last night). But I can say that it is perfect for upset tummies and headaches. In fact, mint has been my saviour on many occasions, thus our secret love affair and all the different types of mint in the garden - chocolate mint, peppermint, and spearmint are my faves!!!

For this week I hope you'll forgive me as I haven't actually planned a daily menu. I simply planned what meals I would make sure I was stocked up for, so that's what I'm going to share with you.

GF Menu Swap - August 3 - 8
BREAKFAST

• fruit


• muffin (Shelley Case's Mighty Tasty Muffin)


• pancakes


• "toast"


• Gorilla Munch & Mesa Sunrise cereal


• Bob's Red Mill GF Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal

LUNCH

• sandwich


• quinoa-bean burger (original recipe black bean burgers, but I can't have oats, so I made some quinoa and substituted it) on an english muffin


• salad


• italian pasta salad (found in Carol Fenster's Wheat and Gluten Free Menu Planning)


• quinoa & black bean salad

DINNER

• quinoa-bean burger


• spaghetti


• salad


• parmesan risotto


• restaurant


• chicken

SNACKS

• Glutino ritz style crackers


• chips


• muffins


• cut veggies


• cookies


• cereal


• Envirokidz crispy rice bars


• lara bars


• fruit

Well, that's the plan for this week. There are about 5x more carbohydrate meals than I usually go for, but I'll be doing alot of running/hiking, swimming, surfing (possibly). I've also made a list of the dishes that I'll need for myself, just in case (I am not taking any chances) and I've packed my GF dictionary and waiting for my palm pilot to charge so that I have references while grocery shopping.

I hope that everyone has a FAN-TABULOUS week with some beautiful weather, and don't forget to head over to Gluten Free Mommy for some more great menus ideas.