Ok, friends. What you see below is my meal plan for the entire month of January. It won't take you long to figure out there's a whole lot of repetition (like eating goulash 7 times this month... yikes!). I knew the only way I'd stick with this crazy goal of not eating out one time was to make easy, familiar meals with ingredients I could easily obtain and could be used for multiple recipes. It's definitely more of a "winter" meal plan, and will change quite a bit as other foods come into season and the weather warms up. So far, we're 20 days into January and have eaten in for every meal. I've tried to add links wherever possible so that you can find the recipes I used (or at least similar ones). I hope this inspires you!

January 1
Lunch: Tuscan white bean soup + salad (save leftover soup in freezer)
Dinner: Goulash + salad + homemade applesauce

January 2
Lunch: Leftover goulash + salad
Dinner: Roast chicken with carrots & onions, brown rice (+ make homemade chicken broth with leftover chicken & bones)

January 3
Lunch: Sweet potato chili (from freezer)
Dinner: Lemon chicken stew* (using homemade chicken broth) + salad

* Substitute brown rice for the orzo to make it gluten free

January 4
Lunch: Leftover lemon chicken stew
Dinner: Cabernet pot roast in crock pot*, roasted potatoes, green beans

* I buy the Cabernet pot roast from Trader Joe's, sear in olive oil on both sides, then cook in crock pot on high (with a cup of water) for 4 to 5 hours. Comes out tender and flavorful every time.

January 5
Lunch: Roast tacos* + homemade guacamole
Dinner: Pepperoni/mushroom pizza (using this gluten free pizza crust mix ) + salad
* After we're done with the pot roast from the night before, I add some Mexican seasonings (cumin, oregano, garlic, cayenne) and let it marinate overnight. Then I heat the roast, put it in warm corn tortillas, and add guacamole, cheese, salsa, and cilantro.

January 6
Lunch: Leftover pizza + salad
Dinner: Lentil tacos* + fruit smoothies (frozen berries, frozen mango, orange juice, and kale, blended)
* The lentil tacos I make consist of a corn tortilla slathered with jalapeño hummus + warmed lentils + cheese + cilantro + avocado. They're a staple, especially when Shawn is out of town or working late and I'm just making an easy meal for myself.

January 7
Lunch: Tuscan white bean soup (from freezer)
Dinner: Sweet potato chili (from freezer) + salad

January 8
Lunch: Lentil tacos
Dinner: Goulash + salad + homemade applesauce

January 9 
Lunch: Leftover goulash + salad
Dinner: Roast chicken with carrots & onions + quinoa (+ make homemade chicken broth with leftover chicken & bones)

January 10
Lunch: Chicken pasta with sautéed onions, sundried tomatoes, broccoli, white wine, & parmesan
Dinner: Lemon chicken stew + salad (using leftover broth)

January 11
Lunch: Leftover lemon chicken stew + salad
Dinner: Cabernet pot roast in crock pot, roasted potatoes, sautéed asparagus

January 12
Lunch: Roast tacos with homemade guacamole
Dinner: Tomato soup (I don't add the heavy cream) with homemade croutons + salad

January 13
Lunch: Chicken noodle soup with gluten free noodles, using homemade broth (add leftovers to freezer)
Dinner: Pepperoni/mushroom pizza + salad

January 14
Lunch: Leftover pizza + salad
Dinner: Baked chicken strips, quinoa, green beans

January 15
Lunch: Lentil tacos
Dinner: Black eyed pea + collard green soup + salad

January 16
Lunch: Leftover soup + salad
Dinner: Chicken pasta with onions, sundried tomatoes, broccoli, white wine, & parmesan

January 17
Lunch: Leftover chicken pasta
Dinner: Roasted salmon, quinoa, green beans

January 18
Lunch: Lentil tacos
Dinner: Cabernet pot roast, roasted potatoes, green beans, salad

January 19
Lunch: Roast tacos + guacamole
Dinner: Goulash + salad

January 20
Lunch: Leftover goulash + salad
Dinner: Tuscan white bean soup

January 21
Lunch: Leftover Tuscan white bean soup
Dinner: Sweet potato chili (from freezer)

January 22
Lunch: Lentil tacos
Dinner: Lemon chicken stew

January 23
Lunch: Leftover lemon chicken stew + salad
Dinner: Roasted salmon, asparagus, brown rice

January 24
Lunch: Chicken noodle soup (from freezer) + salad
Dinner: Apple cinnamon pancakes + omelettes

January 25
Lunch: Lentil tacos
Dinner: Black eyed pea + collard green soup + salad

January 26
Lunch: Leftover soup + salad
Dinner: Chicken pasta

January 27
Lunch: Leftover chicken pasta
Dinner: Tomato soup + homemade croutons + salad

January 28
Lunch: Chicken noodle soup from freezer
Dinner:  Pepperoni/mushroom pizza + salad

January 29
Lunch: Leftover pizza + salad
Dinner: Tuscan white bean soup

January 30
Lunch: Leftover Tuscan white bean soup
Dinner: Roast chicken, carrots, onions, potatoes

January 31
Lunch: Lentil tacos
Dinner: Goulash + salad

A couple more things...
For breakfasts...
Shawn makes and eats the same breakfast every day: 3 eggs, over easy; two pieces of gluten free cinnamon raisin toast; a smoothie (frozen mango, frozen berries, kale or spinach, and orange juice); and tea or coffee. Liam and I split 3 scrambled eggs, frozen gluten free waffles/pancakes (or sometimes oatmeal for me), juice, and hot tea.

For snacks around the house... 
We eat a whole lot of fresh fruit (bananas, clementines, apples, strawberries, grapes), some dried fruit (dried mango and cherries), a few chips to go along with meals, and I drink a lot of tea (green, black, white, and herbal).

For Liam... 
He's at the age - 14 months - where he's able to eat what we eat, for the most part. I don't buy or make special baby food as I want him to become accustomed to eating with us at the table and learning to try new things. He definitely has opinions about what he likes and doesn't like, but he's a fantastic eater so far.

PS - I promised a Sponsor Giveaway post today, but am needing to postpone that until next Monday, the 27th. Check back then for a sweet giveaway!

January's goal: Eating at home.

This morning's smoothie (before it was blended): frozen mango, frozen berries, kale, orange juice, and almond milk.

For the month of January, I'm working toward a monumental goal (for me, at least):
I will not be eating out for the entire month.

When Shawn and I talked about it, I realized I don't think I've done that for 10 years. Maybe even longer. Before having Liam, Shawn and I would eat out at least 5 times a week, sometimes more. Maybe that sounds extreme, but when it's become a habit, it doesn't feel that way at all. It only feels convenient and, sometimes, like the only option.

This month, though, we've been trimming taking a hacksaw to our budget and trying to recover from the last few fiscal months which involved moving to a new state, buying a house, and making it through Christmas. So the decision is a combination of the desire to save money and the fact that a 14-month-old boy sitting quietly in a restaurant just isn't a reality anyway.

Here's what I've learned so far...
1. Cooking isn't quite as bad as I'd made it out to be. Spending hours in the kitchen isn't my first choice, and that's what seems to be required when you never eat out. Because a gluten free diet requires making more things from scratch, I do have to spend quite a bit of time in the kitchen every day. However, I've learned to love eating leftovers, which has also helped us make huge strides in our money saving efforts. I love that I can "cook once, eat twice," which is what I've been trying to do for nearly every meal. Lunches are the times we eat leftovers, and it saves a lot of money and a lot of time.

2. You do save so much money. I never thought it would be in the hundreds of dollars that we'd save by not eating out - even at places like Chipotle which aren't high end restaurants. We've budgeted down to the penny using Mint.com and it is incredible how much we're saving by having a plan and sticking to it.

3. Planning ahead is integral to success. I've begun making our meal plan an entire month in advance (including grocery lists for each week). I spend one afternoon a month with a cute wall calendar I bought from Target, some favorite cookbooks, and a cup of tea, and I plan. And plan and plan. I write down a meal idea for every lunch and dinner for the entire month, with preplanned events in mind. For example, if I know Shawn has rehearsal at church every Wednesday night, I'll make sure to make a crock pot meal or a soup that can stay hot so we can eat at different times. And whatever I plan to make for dinner, I plan to use the leftovers for the lunch the next day.

Even more than the relief it brings to our budget, this type of planning brings relief to my mind. I know that I don't have to think about what I'm making because it's already planned out for me and I already have the ingredients. Hallelujah! I don't know how I lived without this plan in place.

(If anyone's interested in seeing our entire month plan for January, let me know... I may do a separate post about it.)

4. Thinking of what I'm gaining instead of what I'm losing in this process is helpful. Instead of reminiscing about all those Chipotle burrito bowls I could be devouring (my weakness!), I think about what I've made this month already that has been so nourishing and delicious. Roasted chicken, delicious homemade soups, warm chocolate chip cookies. We can spend more on groceries - including treats that we wouldn't normally buy - because we're saving so much by not eating out. We also tend to have people over for dinner at least once or twice a week, so I don't feel so strapped in preparing for them. This month has not looked like deprivation, but has felt lavish and tasted delicious.

In the kitchen again.

My sous chef, sorting strawberries.

Just after we got married in December 2008, Shawn and I moved into a corner apartment on W. Elm Street in downtown Chicago. Being in such a central location, there were two grocery stores within a block of us. As I walked home from work each day, I'd stop at one of them and think, "What should we eat tonight?" and pick something up. Our dinners were usually simple - lots of pasta with veggies and chicken - but they felt lavish. We felt the warmth of newlywed bliss and our cozy apartment as the snow fell outside. Elm Street remains our favorite spot we've ever lived. We ate salmon once or twice a week, I baked muffins or breads almost every day, and we soaked it up. Our budget could hardly handle it, but it was all we knew. Eating well, often, together. Every restaurant you could imagine was just outside our door, but it usually felt better to stay out of the cold and cook.

Within a few months, though, my gluten allergy reared its ugly head. We spent months not knowing why my health was declining, and finally got an answer 8 months and countless doctors' visits after my initial symptoms. With my diagnosis - Celiac disease - came a mix of relief and anxiety. We were grateful to know how I could get better. But what was I supposed to cook without half the ingredients I knew and loved?

I picked up a gluten free baking mix at Whole Foods and made my first scone. What came out of the oven tasted dense and sprouty, and I cried. It wasn't the taste that brought the tears. I was convinced I'd never eat a baked good that tasted good for the rest of my life. I grieved the loss of my favorite ingredients and the comfort they brought. I had just gotten the hang of cooking for my new husband, and now, I had to start all over. I had to relearn how to cook.

Then came our move to Nashville which commenced an intensely busy season. We lived a 20 minute drive from our favorite grocery store, which meant I really had to plan or we'd end up eating out. I was juggling a part-time job teaching painting classes, then working from home on Brighter Day, and going to nursing school. Planning, prepping, cooking, cleaning - it all felt like such a burden. I didn't want to spend hours in the kitchen cooking because I felt like whatever I made usually didn't taste good anyway.

So when Shawn would ask about dinner, I would get defensive, as if he was insinuating it was my wifely duty to take care of all the cooking on top of everything else I was juggling. (A man's gotta eat, though, right?) We ended up at Chipotle more times than I can count. We would eat there 3 to 4 times a week for months. Seriously. I blamed it on busyness, which was partly true. But mostly I was just so frustrated by my limitations.

That catches us up to today: here in Raleigh in our first home with our first child. With one of us in full-time ministry and one working from home, we have a budget that demands we eat in more than we eat out. We also have a one year old who does not behave kindly in restaurants.

And finally, five years after my gluten allergy diagnosis, I'm beginning to feel really comfortable in the kitchen again. These days, I actually want to be there. I've begun to plan meals out two weeks in advance, which takes less than an hour and spares me so much time agonizing when meal time rolls around. It's a different season for us. Less fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants in many ways. But I'm learning to love it.

Whereas cooking just last year felt like such a chore, today it's feeling much more like a privilege. Just this weekend, we had blackened chicken tacos for lunch, rosemary tomato soup with homemade parmesan croutons and a salad with lemon vinaigrette for dinner, and apple crisp for dessert. I make most of Liam's baby food and I love seeing if he'll enjoy what I've steamed and mashed and created for him. And today when I cook, it's rare that I think, "Is this gluten-free?" It's become so natural to cook gluten-free that it's not an issue anymore. Instead, I chop onions and glide across the hardwood floor and stir soup and feed little bits to the tiny boy hanging onto my leg. And at mealtime, I watch as my boys' bodies are filled and nourished, and their souls can breathe. It's something no restaurant - however delicious - can do for my family. And in that way, it feels like such a gift.

PS - I just went looking for our old apartment on Craigslist... sure enough, this post came up and the first four pictures are pictures of our apartment when we first moved in! Gotta love our blow up mattress, Shawn's guitar case, and the cross wall in the living room. Makes me nostalgic. (And whew... prices have gone way up!)

This week's meals.

Sweet potato burgers via lunchboxbunch.com

Monday: Slow cooker vegetarian chili with sweet potatoes + spinach salad
Tuesday: Southwestern quesadillas (I'll add some chicken, too) + smoothies
Wednesday: Sweet potato veggie burgers
Thursday: We won't be eating at home, but if we were, these Chipotle chicken lettuce wraps look great
Friday: Maple mustard salmon + White House salad

Next week's meal plan

Source

First, a dose of reality: when I make these lists, I'm lucky if I'm able to make 3 or 4 of the recipes that week. Eventually, I usually try all of them... but life gets in the way (lots of orders to sew, a fussy baby, Shawn home late from work, etc.) and they don't always get done in the same week. We end up eating eggs, green smoothies or frozen pizzas (for Shawn) and Amy's organic frozen meals (for me) fairly often.

But here's to hoping that these week's recipes work out - because they look so yummy!

Sunday: Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Black Bean Chili

Monday: Roasted salmon with spicy cauliflower

Tuesday: Slow Cooker Barbacoa tacos

Wednesday: Healthier lasagna (using gluten-free lasagna noodles)

Thursday: Chipotle lime salmon, quinoa, spinach salad

Friday: Mexican chicken & cauliflower rice

5 days at a time.

+

I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by the "whole month" thing right now in the middle of exams, so I'm going five days at at time. Here are the first five:

December 1 - Brown Rice & Lentil Salad and Raw mango-lime pie
December 2 - Salmon panzanella
December 3 - Ginger-lime chicken stir fry
December 4 - Maple dijon crock pot chicken with a spinach salad on the side
December 5 - Tuscan white bean soup

PS - Not all of these are gluten-free, but they will be when they're at my house! Like the salmon panzanella - it calls for a whole wheat baguette, but I'll replace it with a gluten-free hamburger bun that I have on hand.  These recipes are all very easily adaptable to a gluten-free diet.

Meal planning.

Inspired by my dear friend Kirra, I've planned the entire month of October's meals!

When I read that statement, I really can't even believe it myself. (An entire month?!)

But honestly, it really does take the stress off when you know what to buy and what to make each weekday for the next 4 weeks. Just today, I had my grocery list for the entire week in hand at Whole Foods and spend less than $50 on what we needed. When I go to the grocery store without a list... well... I don't just spend $50. I'll leave it at that. :)

So just in case you're interested, I've decided to list it all here. Most of these recipes are tried and true in our house, but some are new. If I found them online, you can click right onto them to find the original recipes. (And if they aren't originally gluten-free and dairy-free, you can bet I've adapted them to be just so.) I hope it inspires those of you on allergy-constricted diets that you can eat good food even without gluten and dairy!

{October 4-8}

Monday - Chicken Bryan, roasted broccoli and carrots, quinoa, and salad

Tuesday - French onion soup and salad with lemon vinaigrette

Wednesday - Quinoa-stuffed acorn squash and homemade applesauce

Thursday - Seared chicken salad with green beans, almonds, and dried cherries

Friday - Mustard cream salmon with broccoli and quinoa

{October 11-15}

Monday - Roasted salmon salad with pumpkin seeds, dried cherries, goat cheese, and avocado

Tuesday - Umbrian lentils with olive oil fried eggs

Wednesday - Tuscan white bean soup

Thursday - Chicken and balsamic peppers

Friday - GF pasta with cider roasted veggies 

{October 18-22}

Monday - Chicken marsala over buckwheat with green beans

Tuesday - GF pancakes, berry topping, scrambled eggs, possibly applesauce

Wednesday - Roasted tomato soup with roasted brussel sprouts and GF bread

Thursday - Chicken enchilada casserole

Friday - Pumpkin tortilla soup with fresh guac and chips

{October 25-29}

Monday - Chicken with parsnip puree, balsamic carrots, and roasted brussel sprouts

Tuesday - Balsamic glazed salmon, millet, and asparagus

Wednesday - Santa Fe chicken chili

Thursday - Ratatouille on broiled polenta with baby greens

Friday - dinner in Chicago :)

Bon appetit!