Week 1 lunches

My baby still doesn't have a regular nap schedule and I don't like spending his entire nap cooking, so I double my dinners so I can have something quick and easy to reheat for lunch. I also like to keep the following lunches in mind:

chicken or salmon salad sandwiches

turkey lettuce wraps

Trader Joe's brand of canned salmon is BPA free. Since I can't have eggs, I use smashed avocado as the dressing for canned meat. 

Week 1 Dinner Meal Plan

Day 1: California Citrus Salad with meat (I'm using leftover rotisserie chicken)
Day 2: Butternut Squash Soup, ham, and roasted artichokes

Day 3: Garlic Chicken with pesto zoodles (add tomatoes if not AIP)
Day 4: Tilapia with capers, roasted Brussels sprouts, baked sweet potato

Day 5: Turkey Burgers, lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, and mashed parsnips

Day 6: Salmon with Broccoli & Carrots (steak and potatoes for the hubby)

Day 7: Leftovers

Brown Sugar Dijon Glaze

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons coconut oil

2 Tablespoons Dijon mustard 

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

1 cup brown sugar

Directions:

Bake pre-cooked ham at 325F for 15 minutes per pound of ham (ham should be 140 in the center). 

Combine ingredients in saucepan and heat on medium heat until it starts to simmer. Pour over ham and serve. 

Yield: enough to cover 8-10 lbs of ham. 

Toffee Butter Crunch

I made this with unsalted butter and it was definitely missing something. Also, make sure you store it in an airtight container or your chocolate will end up looking like this. 

Ingredients:

1 cup salted butter

1 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons water

1 Tablespoon light corn syrup

3/4 cup semisweet or milk chocolate chips

1/2 finely chopped pecans or toasted almonds (optional)

Directions:

Line a 9x13 pan with foil and set aside. Butter sides of a heavy 2 quart saucepan. In pan melt 1 cup butter over low heat. Stir in sugar, water, and corn syrup. Cook over medium-high heat to boiling stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to dissolve sugar. This should take about 4 minutes. Avoid splashing sides of pan with mixture. Clip candy thermometer to side of pan. 

Cook over medium heat stirring frequently until thermometer reaches 290 F - soft crack stage. Watch thermometer very closely once it it reaches 280. 

Remove pan from heat. Remove thermometer. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Let stand for 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with chocolate pieces. Let stand 1 to 2 minutes until chocolate looks softer. Spread softened chocolate across toffee mixture. Sprinkle with nuts and press nuts lightly into chocolate. Chill until firm. Break into pieces and store tightly covered. 

Yield: 1.5 lbs

Jessica's Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

3 1/2 cups flour
3 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup oil
4 eggs
2 cups pumpkin

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Sift dry ingredients in bowl. Make well in center. Add oil, eggs, & pumpkin. Beat well. Pour in well greased bread pans. Bake 50-60 min for standard loaf pans or 45 minutes for small pans.

Zucchini Herb Casserole

Ingredients:

2 cup cooked brown rice (i cook mine with chicken broth for additional flavor)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 pound zucchini, cubed

1 cup sliced green onions

3 clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons sea salt

2 teaspoons italian seasoning

1 teaspoon paprika

3 large roma tomatoes, chopped tomatoes

1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese,

divided (optional)

Directions:

Heat the oil in a skillet/wok over medium heat, and cook the zucchini, green onions, and garlic 5 minutes, or until tender. Season with salt, Italian seasoning, and paprika. Mix in the cooked rice, tomatoes, and 1 cup cheese. Continue to cook and stir until heated through. 

I found this recipe on Allrecipes and followed the comments section recommendations by made a few tweaks so it would be faster to make. I served it with Costco Rotisserie chicken. Instead of making a casserole, I just served it right out of the pan. Also, I didn't have time to make rice, so I used 1 bag of Trader Joe's frozen brown rice and added 2 Trader Joe's liquid chicken bullion packets directly to the wok.

Gluten-Free Chicken Roll-ups

This is an adaptation from a recipe I loved before going gluten-free.

Filling Ingredients: 


2 cups cubed chicken (boiled)
1 8 oz package light cream cheese
1 stalk celery (finely chopped)
1 tsp poultry seasoning


Crescent Rolls Ingredients (I doubled the recipe): 


1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese, do not use low-fat
2 cups all-purpose gluten-free flour
2 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon gluten free baking powder
4 teaspoons sugar


Bread-crumb topping: 

1/4 cup butter, melted
1 cup gluten-free Italian bread crumbs



Directions:

• Use an electric mixer or blender to mix together the butter and cottage or ricotta cheese. Mix well. Add the dry ingredients and mix until a dough ball forms. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and chill for two to three hours.
• In medium bowl, mix together chicken, cream cheese, celery, and poultry seasoning until well combined.
• Preheat oven to 350°F. Sprinkle GF all-purpose or rice flour onto your work surface and roll half the dough into a 14 inch circle. You may find it easier to roll the dough between two layers of good quality baking paper or cling wrap. Cut the dough into 8 triangles.
• Divide filling into 16 servings. Place one serving of chicken at the widest part of the triangle and roll each triangle from the wide end to the tip. Roll crescent in butter and then Italian bread crumbs. Repeat for 2nd batch of dough. 
• Place the rolled crescents on a baking sheet and bake for approximately 20 minutes, until golden.