Mooooommmmm…come on….not the broccoli slaw!!!!

This is the phrase I hear from my son, Jon, yesterday morning after packing his lunch for school. Every morning he comes down from showering, asks me to make him breakfast and what I packed him for lunch. Usually it is the same type of thing….sandwich on GF bread, chips, applesauce, yogurt, drink, dessert (if I have made treats lately). Well yesterday I gave him the rest of the broccoli slaw that we had with dinner the other night. He really liked it and even mentioned how much the dressing tasted like his favorite dressing that I buy for him from a local restaurant. What he didn’t mention that he was only going to like this dish at home, not at school. Apparently now in addition to his gluten-free food restrictions there are also “coolness factor” restrictions. I guess it is bad enough that he has to bring his lunch to school when 97% of the kids buy, but then to show up with broccoli slaw, well, that is just SO UN-COOL! Now, when I pack his lunch in the AM, I normally aim for nutritionally balanced, not “coolness factor” balanced. This is where I have been getting it wrong. He tried to throw the slaw back into the fridge; I put it back in his lunch box. The container came home empty…anyone want to place bets on whether or not he actually ate it? My guess would be that once it showed up in plain view in his lunch box, he might as well have eaten it. Throwing it out at that point would have only served one purpose, to make me mad (and if I don’t know, how can I be mad?). Going hungry, or partially hungry is probably an option a 12-year old boy would choose over eating the broccoli slaw. So I brought this up to Aaron, who looked at me like I had 2 heads when I told him that I packed the broccoli slaw for Jon, and he couldn’t believe that I would pack it for him for school. He went on to say that I was calling attention to his already “different” needs, saying that it is bad enough he has to pack every day to eat safely, but then I had to throw in the good ole broccoli slaw on top of it. Okay, maybe the broccoli slaw was taking it a little too far. Who can blame a Mom for wanting to make sure her kids eat healthy? Apparently we will be sticking to applesauce or grapes for lunch and extra fruits & veggies at home for snacks and meals to make up for what he is missing at lunch. I do pack Lara Bars (they count as a fruit!), but he doesn’t always have room for one after his sandwich and other stuff. I make sure he has one every day in case he gets hungry, if he eats it, I replace it, if not it just stays in the lunchbox.

So, tomorrow, do I pack the roasted brussel sprouts or spinach salad for Jon for lunch? LOL! Just kidding.

Menu Plan ~ August 31, 2008 ~ September 6, 2008

This past week we were pretty good and only abandoned my menu plan and went out to eat 1 night and that was last night for sushi. YUM!! It was a great dinner. We went to Molly Woo’s again. The food took forever to come out, so the manager came over with a couple of bowls of soup, one wonton, one miso something or other. I thanked him and let him know that while I appreciated the token of appreciation for our patience, we could not eat the soup because we had to eat gluten-free. He said “Oh, you have Celiac, okay.” First, I was shocked that he put 2 & 2 together; I had just said “gluten-free” and he said “Celiac”. Then he offered to buy us dessert on the house. Again, I said I didn’t think there was anything we could have. He suggested the lemon sorbet, I suggested that they could buy me a glass of Pinot Noir and call it even. 😉 It was a nice dinner.

So this week’s menu. Nothing too complicated this week. I have a busy week watching kids (2 others, age 13 months and 17 months, in addition to my own). I am starting to pull out some of my fall cooking recipes & dinner plans now that we are going into September. Time to start making pumpkin bread, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie….can you tell I love pumpkin??? The baking extravaganza will begin over the next few weeks. I will make sure to share recipes. On to the menu for this week:

Sunday ~ Homemade pizza (see below for recipe/method I use) and broccoli slaw (see recipe below). Take home Cold Stone quarts (Peanut Butter Perfection and Shock-A-Cone (not GF)).

Monday ~ Breakfast for dinner ~ omelets & scrambled eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, toast (Pamela’s bread) & fresh fruit

Tuesday ~ Chicken Tenders (from last week that got bumped), sweet potato fries and steamed broccoli

Wednesday ~ Cheeseburger In Paradise after ice skating lessons.

Thursday ~ Marinated Spicy Pork Chops (recipe & pics to follow later in the week), steamed brown rice and green beans.

Friday ~ Crockpot Pot Roast with potatoes & carrots (a fall favorite).

Saturday ~ Burgers on the grill topped with cheese on lettuce buns, baked potatoes & salad.

Here is what I do for my pizza. I follow the recipe on the side of Pamela’s Wheat Free Bread Mix for the pizza crust. I add in basil & oregano to the dough. I dust the pans with cornmeal. After the dough rises for an hour, I brush with EVOO and bake for 10 minutes. Then I top with Prego 3 Cheese Marinara Sauce, mozzerella, Hormel Turkey Pepperoni. I topped mine with some veggies too…tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms. Sometimes I will add zucchini or peppers too. I then baked for another 15-20 minutes. YUM!!! The kids raved about it!! Here are some pics:

Before of the pepperoni & veggie:

Before of the cheese:

After of the pepperoni & veggie:

After of the cheese:

Here is my plate, with the broccoli slaw (recipe to follow):

Broccoli Slaw

1 Bag of Broccoli Slaw (found in produce section)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I use Helman’s Canola, it is half the fat & calories of normal mayo)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 TBSP white vinegar

Mix all ingedients together and then chill for an hour or so before serving. The kids loved this!! I expected them to complain and reject it immediately, but they didn’t. Must have been the sugar in the dressing!

Just wanted to throw in a “Thank you” to Cheryl at GF Goodness for hosting this week’s menu swap. Lots of great ideas using peppers this week! The cashew cake looks especially yummy!