Happy February 1st everyone! How was your week? I’m scrambling to finish up my post for the 28 Day Organizing Challenge that starts tomorrow so I’ll try and keep this short and sweet.
Some of you have noticed that I learned how to make the comments threaded in Wordpress without having to add a plugin. Threaded comments means that I (or anyone) can reply to an individual comment in the comments section so that it then appears right following the comment you are replying to instead of at the end of the comments. Gosh did that make any sense at all? I’m loving this feature and am definitely using it more so that if someone asks a question now everyone who is interested will see my response. Hope that helps!
Oh and I received an email earlier this week that I thought I’d answer for everyone here just in case there are others that are wondering the same thing. My son has food allergies (his story here) and is allergic to dairy, gluten, eggs, fish and nuts and a reader was wondering how I tweak my meals to accommodate him especially considering that many of my meals include cheese.
For instance last week three of the meals I made were not safe for him…the homemade Mac and Cheese, the Cheese-Stuffed Meatloaf and the Bacon Mushroom Chicken. All of these contained dairy and of course the macaroni has gluten in in. On the mac and cheese day I simply made my son is own rice pasta separately and he could eat the same sausages that I served alongside it. With the meatloaf I cooked my son some plain meat patties (I just bake them in the oven) to eat instead which I always have on hand in the freezer. Then with the chicken dish, I baked my son his own piece of chicken in the oven separately (with a little oil and spices) and for a side we had baked potatoes which he can have. Other meals require simple substitutions like with the beef stew we are having this week. This recipe calls for a 1/4 cup of flour and I’ll just use rice flour instead. Other times, the meals require no substitutions like the Simply Delicious Italian Beef recipe I made last week. I try and keep his meal as similar to ours as I can even if it isn’t the same. If there is an interest I certainly don’t mind sharing each week how I adjust each meal to make it safe for my son. Let me know!
On our menu this week:
Monday: Spaghetti with Zesty Bolognese
Tuesday: Baked Teriyaki Chicken (I could seriously eat this every single day…soooo good!)
Wednesday: Slow Cooker Beef Stew (family favorite)
Thursday: Leftover Buffet (or as my youngest calls it “picking night”)
Friday: Homemade Pizza
Saturday: Best Canadian Buttermilk Pancakes
Simple Supper Sunday: Church potluck ~ Salmon Appetizers
WHAT’S ON YOUR MENU THIS WEEK?
Menu Plan Monday guidelines and banner selections are here.
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{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }
Loving the new look and the move to WP! It’s the best!!!
Thanks Erin! I’ve actually been using Wordpress since 2007, this was just a site redesign for me.
Great menu for the week, love the threaded comments. I totally get it. Do you guys incorporate any meals that your son can eat as well as your whole family so you don’t have to cook 2 separate meals? Or is that too limiting?
Many times I do try to make the same meal for all of us but because he prefers his food plain (he has food aversions due to his allergies) it’s just easier to do the two separate meals. Plus I just really like my cheese :)
Wow, it is really hard dealing with food allergies. We had a family for dinner the other night and the mom has celiac disease. I cleaned my kitchen like crazy so she wouldn’t get sick. It sounds like you are doing a great job making safe meals.
Toni
Thanks Toni! It’s second nature to us now but in the beginning it was especially taxing that is for sure.
If it’s not too much trouble to share your substitutions, I’m sure lots of moms would love to see it and benefit from it. I have a few friends myself who are in the same situation (having one family member w. allergies). Thanks for all that you do.
And though I am afraid, I do look forward to the 28 day challenge!
Don’t be afraid, think of how great you’ll feel at the end!
While I don’t often have to cook for someone with allergies, I often straddle the line between adult tastes and kid tastes. I work hard to not have to cook two meals, but like you I substitute at times so everyone is a little happier. I’d love to know more about your substitutions if nothing else to get more ideas for how to accommodate different tastes and needs. As always, thank you so much for organizing this for all of us.
Great job handing life’s extra duties with grace and patience. I have it so easy compared to the moms who are dealing with allergies everyday.
While I don’t have food allergies, I am very picky so I often cook myself something different than what my husband and Mom are eating. Being an adult and doing this for myself, I now really appreciate that my parents were so accomodating to my pickiness when they didn’t have to be. I’m also interested in knowing what you substitute and what meals you fix for your son :).
Have a great week!
Haha, I said last week that when I plan on using new recipes I don’t use them. But this week I need to make real tasty new things, I’m just on that kick. Let’s hope for the best!
I’m with you on that baked teriyaki chicken recipe. We LOVE it. Toss in some zuchinni, and make some rice and we’re good to go! We have it at least once a month. And we’d make it more often if I didn’t like trying new recipes all the time.
I love Teriyaki anything!!
Me too!!
Hi. I am new to linking to your site but have been “stalking” your blog for a couple of months and totally love it. Thank you for all you do. I did make a mistake and put my “link” on the organizing post first, sorry.
No problem Amy, I deleted it for you :)
i have recently had my eyes opened to food allergies and intolerances. my 8 year old son has recently been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, and we are currently following a very strict elimination diet to work out exactly what food intolerances he does have. it has made menu planning challenging, but we are also trying new foods and new recipes. we are also using our imagination a lot more when cooking.
Great looking blog-do!!
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Wow lots of allergies to contend with in your home. We have a son with peanut allergy and have managed to navigate pretty well but it took getting used to. We’re staying away from tree nuts for now too so I’m always looking for nut substitutes for recipes. I miss that crunch!
It looks like you have a gluten-free person in your household. Have you tried the GF choclolate crisp cereal from Erwhon My kids love it. I have a link to it’s nutirion and descritpion info. in my post today at http://wonderandwill.wordpress.com/2010/02/01/menu-monday-happy-st-brigid-day/ Good luck and God bless!
Yes my son does enjoy that cereal. It’s so nice to have options isn’t it.
Laura
I would also love to hear your substitutions, as my son was diagnosed with Celiac disease just this past fall.
I am just starting to make menus and plan for the week. It makes the evenings so much smoother. I have a better time getting stuff at home done after coming in from work.
mmm…those salmon appetizers sure sound good! :) I just love church potlucks.
My daughter doesn’t have food allergies, she is just extremely picky about food. She doesn’t like rice, doesn’t like a lot of spices, and doesn’t like cheese. This is a problem here, we eat a lot of rice, like spices (not necessarily hot but flavorful), and eat a lot of cheese. I have found it’s easier to fix her a similar supper but make it where it’s acceptable to her than try to accomodate her likes into some of our meals. It sounds a lot like what you do for your son.
I LOVE that Teriyaki chicken, thanks for posting that!!!
hi, i just found your blog and enjoy checking out other ladies blogs that link to the monday menu. i’ve been doing menu planning for just 4 weeks and loving it. seriously, life changing! and it’s just me and the husband. your blog is so great!!!
Totally life changing, I can’t imagine life without menu planning now!!
Thanks for posting such wonderful recipes. Right now I am just in the phase of writing it down so we will not get take out AND getting the kids to stop complaining every time I put something on the table – hence my own homemade MenuPlanMonday button (though I love all yours and will switchback eventually) “Dinner Choices – Take it or Leave It”
So glad I found your site! I have been meal planning for a while, and was glad to find a free resource w/ ideas that I could use for referring friends who weren’t sure where to start.
My 9 year old has food allergies, too (dairy and soy). I would love to know each week how you’ve adjusted his meal, if it’s not too much trouble. We’re new to this, as my daughter was diagnosed in October. Thanks!
lovely menu as usual!! :)
I am breaking out the slow cooker this week too for a Moroccan Vegetable Stew I found on Sunset.com. Looking forward to the hands off experience.
Happy Monday!
Thanks so much for sharing how you make it work with your son’s allergies! I’d love for you to do that every week.
I love hearing about how you deal with your son’s allergies too. I have issues with dairy and wheat, so we often modify standard recipes to use gluten-free pasta or cheese substitutes. We usually just make one thing that everyone can have, although sometimes I will make one cheese and one cheese-free version (like pizza).
i love that you included how you tweak your meals to deal with food allergies. my son has a dairy allergy and i am still nursing him so i have had to eliminate it from my diet as well. so i love hearing about how other families deal with allergies.
i just started trying to menu plan on a more consistent basis, both in order to save money and also to not arrive at 4pm and go, “uh, what’s for dinner??” so today is my first time at MPM and i hope to make it a weekly occurrence. :)
The threaded comments is a great idea! Nice.
I love that you posted how you cook for your son while still cooking for everyone else. You do it in a way that seems easy on you and great for him. I mentioned it on my blog for families that just need to cook for allergies that only affect one person. Thank you so much for sharing it!
If my pizza comes out looking anything like the one in your pic… I’d be in heaven! Thanks for posting the recipe for the dough. :)
we did a last minute plan this morning… hopefully we’ll stick to it better this week then we did last week!
I think it would be really helpful if you included the substitutions/modifications that you make to your recipes. My daughter is allergic to dairy, egg whites and seafood. I’m constantly on the look out for recipes that help me make one meal for everyone, as there are six of us. Thanks for sharing your tips!
I’ll have to share your tips with a friend, she is learning to do a gluten free diet for one in her family. Hoping that will help her a bit!
Thanks so much for sharing how you make mealtime work with food allergies! My son has an egg allergy (previously dairy and sesame too), and it does make things difficult. It was much harder when we were avoiding dairy too. I definitely feel for you!! Dealing with food allergies has been such an eye opening experience for me as a cook and mom!
The teriyaki chicken you mentioned sounds delicious!! I love dishes like that!
I’m in my fourth week of Menu Plan Monday and loving it. Thanks for making my weeks easier, Laura. I love your templates for MPM and grocery shopping lists.
Come visit me at my blog, InsomniMom, for humor, family life, book, movie and product reviews, the occasional whiny complaint and STORIES ABOUT MY DOGS.
I would love to see your adjustments for your son. My 2 year old is gluten and dairy free. Right now I try to tweak our family meals, but he only seems like to eat 3 things and I end up making him a separate meal anyway.
This is my first MPM! I am so excited! I have seen this posted on another website but it didn’t click to me that it was a ‘group’. I will be even more excited being able to answer the question I dread the most “what’s for dinner”. Thank you!
Loved the meal ideas. Thanks from a MPM newbie!
First time Menu Plan Monday participant saying Hi!
I have been away from MPM for a while and now I’m back and doing it again! Feels good to get back into planning each week.
I want that beef stew. Maybe next week.
That teriyaki chicken looks delicious! I am going to have to make that very soon.
Oh, you’re homemade pizza is making my mouth water. (I use your pizza dough recipe you know..) I can’t wait to have a working oven again and be able to actually BAKE something. I just might make pizza first. ;0)