Week 48 - Dairy Free, No Problem!

PDF Version of Meal Plan

Wow... Week 48 already!!  I've been spending a lot of time lately contemplating where to go with this blog at the end of 52 weeks.  It's had so many personal benefits that I can't see giving it up, yet in it's current format it's a bit too time consuming to keep up while working full time.  I have some ideas that I'll share in a recap post at the end of the year but I'd love to hear any thoughts you might have!  Feel free to either comment or send me a Facebook message if you have ideas or would like to share what you felt worked or didn't work.

Recipe Quick Links

Almond Milk, Oh She Glows
Granola, Civilized Caveman Cooking Creations
Raspberry Chia Jam, Eat Good 4 Life
Avocado Corn Salad, Sobey's Inspired
Whole Wheat Tortillas, 100 Days of Real Food
Maple Soy Salmon, Chatelaine
Vegan Parmesan, Oh She Glows
Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken, Skinny Ms.
Ginger Mushroom & Kale Beef Stir-fry, Gimme Some Oven

Week in Review

The dairy-free trial continues and I didn't find it so hard this week.  Here are the highlights...

Almond Milk - I would drink this over dairy milk anytime and trust me when I tell you, it's really simple to make and far superior to store-bought!

Granola & Raspberry Chia Jam - I made the granola to use up some almond pulp and paired it with So Good Coconut Yogurt and Raspberry Chia Jam.  Awesome replacement for my typical Greek yogurt & berry snack.  This raspberry jam is ridiculously easy to make and really delicious!!  Making homemade granola happens only on rare occasions in this house... this is my latest favorite store-bought variety.

Love Grown Granola

Black Bean & Avocado Salad Wrap - This was basically the Avocado Corn Salad that I've made numerous times, with the addition of black beans to make it more of a meal.  Then I scooped it up with a warmed fresh tortilla.  Mmm, mmmm....

Quinoa & Pomegranate Salad with Arugula - This was a simple recipe.  I mixed quinoa and bulgar, added pomegranate seeds and a mix of peppers and sugar snap peas.  For the dressing I used a pomegranate vinaigrette.  To pack it for lunch I laid arugula in a bowl and topped it with the quinoa and then mixed it up just before eating.  I think the arugula was a key ingredient.  It's a bit strong and peppery so it's a good balance for the sweetness of the pomegranate.  I mention this one because it was quick, easy and made lunch for two days, and also because we were able to reinvent it so it wasn't just a repeat lunch.  The first day it was paired with black beans and the second day with leftover pineapple chicken and worked well with both.

Maple Soy Salmon - It was so good last week we had it again.  This recipe is a winner!

Vegan Parmesan -  Our typical Arugula and Kale salads have Parmesan cheese (I typically use shaved fresh Parm).  This week I substituted with Vegan Parmesan.  I would say it more closely replaces grated Parmesan but I thought it was really good and was able to totally enjoy my favorite salads.

Kale Salad all dressed up with Vegan Parmesan

Slow Cooker Pineapple Chicken - This was one of those "super-easy-do-all-the-prep-the-night-before- leave-it-for-the-day-and-come-home-to-a-fully-cooked-delicious-meal" slow cooker recipes.  And it used just a few basic ingredients.  And it made enough to have leftovers for lunch.  Love!

Slow Cooker Totally Awesome Pineapple Chicken

Ginger Mushroom & Kale Beef Stir-fry - I actually thought this was just ok but Dave totally enjoyed.  I'd say it was his favorite from the week.

So basically I loved everything this week!

Note:  Dave and Marin did not eat dairy free - they had things like milk, yogurt, cottage cheese and cheese.

Happy Weekend!

Sandra

Week 47 - Eating Dairy Free in a Cheese Loving Family

Printable Version of Meal Plan

Sooooo, remember way back in my first post I said....

"this is not a ‘diet’ nor am I a trained dietician! No one in my house has allergies, it’s not gluten-free, dairy free or anything else free – although it is free to follow me!!" 

Well that's mostly still true, but after more than 3 decades of living with Eczema I'm attempting to get to the root cause of my flare-ups.  First test is to eliminate dairy for 3 weeks.  I can't lie... my first reaction was that this was going to be torture.  I mean, no cheese???  For 3 weeks??  But then I thought to myself, "Self... this is only for 3 weeks (for now anyway) and I will see this as a fun challenge".  So instead I'm going to concentrate on all the delicious things I can eat, instead of what I can't.  Isn't that very "glass half full" of me??  I am however secretly hoping this is one test that I'll fail miserably.

I had planned out this week prior to this dairy challenge so I ended up just tweaking the plan for myself only.  The Week in Review includes notes on how I de-dairy'd (yes, I totally made up that term) my planned meals.

Recipe Quick Links

Easy Overnight Oats, Marin Mama Cooks
Ranch Dip, 100 Days of Real Food
Almond Milk, Oh She Glows
Maple Soy Salmon, Chatelaine
7 Vegetable Soup, Oh She Glows
Vegan Caesar Dressing, About.com
Freezer Chocolates, Practical Paleo
Pumpkin Spelt Muffins, 100 Days of Real Food

Week in Review

Breakfasts - We typically do our own thing for breakfast anyway so this wasn't a biggie.  Although I think for me this was the biggest challenge since I didn't have a chance the first few days to research what my options were or even to get to a store to get a milk alternative.  So I stuck mainly to overnight oats, eggs and of course, fruit! Mid-way through the week I made a batch of Almond Milk which helped.

Easy Overnight Oats

Feta Stuffed Omelettes and Roasted Sweet Potatoes - Totally enjoyed this lunch, the roasted sweet potatoes were an exciting addition to my lunch box! 
Dairy-Free Option: Omit the Feta and don't add milk to the eggs (you can simply omit or add water instead)

Salmon w/ Steamed Vegetables - This was dee-licious!  I've been wanting Salmon for weeks but haven't been able to find it at a decent price.  This week I found trays of salmon pieces (the bits they trim off the "pretty" pieces) for a very reasonable price so I stocked up.  I made Maple Soy Salmon.  Mmmm.... so good!  Actually I think the small pieces worked great for this recipe because it really soaked up the flavor.  Definitely my winner this week... and dairy-free.

Tuna Salad Sandwich on Whole Wheat Kaiser with Veggies & Dip - Tuna Salad was on my mind because a friend mentioned she had made sandwiches with tuna and goat cheese.  I had some goat cheese to use up so I was going to give it a try... but then goat cheese was put on the 'do not eat' list.
Dairy-Free Option:  Use avocado and lime for the Tuna Salad instead of mayo.  Omit the dip.

Lemon Rosemary Chicken Thighs w/ Salad - I didn't follow a recipe for the chicken (I used boneless, skinless thighs).  I really just cooked them in a skillet with lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper and rosemary.  For the salad I used the Organic Supergreen Mix from Costco, a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice, aged white cheddar and apple.
Dairy-Free Option:  Use Nutritional Yeast in place of Parmesan.  I mixed Nutritional Yeast with a small amount of olive oil and used my fingers to blend.  The result was crumbly. 

Turkey "Dinner" - In honour of American Thanksgiving we had a mini version of Turkey Dinner.  This was turkey cutlets served with cranberry sauce, a celery root puree (in place of mashed potatoes) and a mix of roasted vegetables.
Dairy-Free Option: No butter on the veggies.  No milk in the puree.

Salsa Shrimp with Couscous - This was another meal I was totally digging this week and as a bonus it could not have been easier to make.  In fact I'm going to write out the recipe so that I remember to do it again sometime.  And I think I can safely say that this would be even better with some feta crumbled in.

Salsa Shrimp with Couscous

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• Minced garlic (1-2 cloves)
• 1 Cup Salsa
• Juice of 1/2 Lime
• Cooked & Peeled Frozen Shrimp (adjust amount based on servings required.  I used about 2 cups)

Directions

1. Heat the oil over med-high heat in a skillet
2. Add the garlic and sauté for about 1 min
3. Add the salsa & lime juice to the skillet, stir
4. Immediately add the shrimp (frozen or thawed) and cook until heated through
5. Serve over whole wheat couscous.

7 Vegetable Soup with Pumpkin Seeds and Croutons - This is a vegan recipe from Oh She Glows (awesome blog - go check it out!) so no Dairy issues here.  I would say this soup was good and I enjoyed it for lunch but found it lacking on its own for supper.  I skipped the croutons because they weren't dairy free so I think a side of garlic bread would have nicely rounded out this meal for me.

Kale Chicken Caesar Salad  - We don't do this meal often but it's a tasty and quick supper - Cook a couple of chicken breasts and then dice up and toss on top of a Caesar Salad.  I typically make the dressing found on my Salad Dressing Printout.  I highly recommend using Kale instead of the more traditional Romaine for a nice twist.  Tip: Massage the kale with a little olive oil and lemon juice before adding the dressing.  This will help the Kale absorb the dressing better.
Dairy-Free Options:  Use this vegan Caesar salad dressing; Check ingredients on croutons or omit; Replace the parmesan with nutritional yeast or this Vegan Parmesan (which I have not tried but most certainly will be!!)  Note:  I found many recipes for vegan Caesar dressings, I chose this one because it used ingredients I had on hand.

Pumpkin Spelt Muffins - I had to make a batch of dairy-free muffins to get me through the week. I modified this recipe replacing the butter with a 50/50 split of applesauce and coconut oil.  Honestly, couldn't tell the difference.  In fact I often replace butter or oil with applesauce in muffin recipes with only a slight difference in texture.

And I leave you with this.... it might not look like much but I assure you this is what I would call "a darn good snack!".  And it's dairy free!

Freezer Chocolates and Almonds

Happy Weekend!

Sandra

 

Meal Plan for Week 1 is Posted!

Printable Version of Meal Plan with Recipes and Grocery List

The first meal plan has been posted!!!  Are you as excited as I am?!  It took some time to figure out how best to present this information and you may see some changes over the next several weeks.  Please feel free to comment or give suggestions!  For now I’ve created a page called “Meal Plans” and there are four documents posted there under “Week 1” - the Meal Plan in table format, the Recipes (2 pages) and the Grocery List.  This way you can print just the sections that you need.   If you’re using the Grocery List you’ll probably find that many of the items are staples that you already have on hand.  I’ve highlighted in red text the items that are needed for suppers since I assume some people may not be following for breakfast/lunch.  I also decided to NOT include snacks other than fruit and veggies, so make sure to add your favorites to the list.

Week in Review -

This wasn’t really a typical week in my house – first, it’s not very often that we have not one but two parties in one week and both falling on week days.  So that was 2 days I didn’t need suppers.  Also, we only worked the second half of the week and since I didn’t know exactly what we’d be doing on our stay home days my mind set was to have a few simple recipes that could be stretched over a few days.

Sunday – this was a stormy day with hubby in the kitchen cooking his famous spaghetti and meatballs!  Does it get any better than that?