$35 to $60 Menus

It’s my third week of not eating sugar, coffee, or gluten and I’m really excited and surprised at how easy it’s becoming to eat this way — even when traveling for a few days like I did last week. And yes, I still feel great.

I’m headed to Nashville to speak at the Teach Them Diligently conference later this week, (will you be there? If so, I’d love to meet you!) so I’m keeping our menu pretty simple.

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

{I’ll be eating a salad with chicken/tuna, etc. on it every day}

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Healthier Dark Chocolate Muffins
Boiled eggs
Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Waffles

Freezer Cooking {I’ll share how this goes later this week!}

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins
Healthier Dark Chocolate Muffins
Taco Meat

Dinners

Steak on the grill, veggies, fruit
Chili Tortilla Egg Bake (using gluten-free tortillas that I got marked down to $0.99!), fruit
Oven-Baked Tacos, fruit, tossed Salad
Build-Your Own Haystacks, fruit
Dinner out
Dinner with extended family x 2

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

I’ve survived a week without gluten and two full weeks without coffee or sugar! Surprisingly, I actually didn’t miss it all as much as I thought I would. And I’m sleeping better than I have in months — maybe years?

I’m honestly having fun finding new recipes that are gluten-free and sweetened with honey… and I’m also loving the incentive to eat lots of fresh fruits and veggies and lean protein.

I don’t know what I’m going to do longterm, but I’m really happy with the results I’ve seen from this short stint of diet changes.

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

{I’ll be eating a salad with chicken/tuna, etc. on it every day}

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
Boiled eggs
Banana Peanut Butter Pancakes

Freezer Cooking {I’ll share how this goes later this week!}

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
Grain-Free Muffins

Dinners

Steak on the grill, veggies, fruit
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole, Fruit, Tossed Salad, Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins
Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Waffles, scrambled eggs, fruit
Simple Beef & Veggie Casserole, fruit
Dinner out
Dinner with extended family x 2

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie

For a long list of reasons, I temporarily gave up coffee and sugar a week ago. Yes {gasp!} can you believe it?!

It’s been eight days, and now that the massive headache is gone, I am feeling so, so good (and sleeping better than I have in years). I’m happy and all, but on the other hand, I was sort of secretly hoping I wouldn’t notice such a marked difference.

Because of this success, I’m now getting brave and giving up gluten, too, as a 30-Day experiment. It’s amazing how health issues will motivate you to do things you used to think were pretty crazy!

So if you notice a bit outside the norm recipes on my menu, you’ll know why. And if you have any amazing gluten-free, sugar-free (I am eating some honey, but no other forms of sweetener outside of fruit) recipes you think I’d love, please do shoot them my way.

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

{I’ll be eating a salad with chicken/tuna, etc. on it every day}

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie
Boiled eggs

Freezer Cooking {I’ll share how this goes later this week!}

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins
Easy Energy Bars (I’m going to sub raisins for the chocolate chips.)
Marinated Chicken

Dinners

Steak on the grill, corn on the cob, veggies
Supreme Egg Loaf, Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Waffles, fruit
Cheesy Hashbrown Casserole with ham, veggies
Simple Beef & Veggie Casserole, fruit
Dinner with friends
Dinner with extended family x 2

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

I think I’m on a chocolate baking kick this week (what’s new?!) Can’t wait to get to baking — and eating.

Here’s our plan for this week:

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 3

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Whole Food No Bake Cookies

Pinterest Experiment {I’ll share how this goes later this week!}

The Easiest Loaf of Bread You’ll Ever Bake

Freezer Cooking {I’ll share how this goes later this week!}

Whole Food No Bake Cookies
Chocolate Peanut Butter Energy Bars
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Quick Bread
Freezer-Friendly Pizza Dough

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Mexican Chicken Lime Soup, fruit, tossed salad
Bean & Cheese Burritos, fruit, veggies
Build Your Own Haystacks, fruit, rice
Black Bean & Corn-Topped Potatoes,
Homemade Pizza, fruit, veggies
Dinner out

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

Pull Apart Oat Rolls

I’m keeping things simple food-wise here this week in order to streamline and focus on editing.

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Pancakes, eggs, fruit
Leftovers x 2

Making Slow Cooker Lentil & Black Bean Soup

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Quinoa Cookies

Freezer Cooking in an Hour (stay tuned on Thursday when I’ll share a play-by-play on how this goes!)

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes
Crusty Baguettes
Quinoa Cookies

Freezer-Friendly Bean & Cheese Burritos

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Slow Cooker Lentil & Black Bean Soup, Pull Apart Oat Rolls, fruit
Black Bean & Corn-Topped Potatoes, fruit, tossed salad
Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes, scrambled eggs, fruit
Bean & Cheese Burritos, fruit, veggies
Dinner with extended family
Dinner out

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

Pull Apart Rolls

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Pancakes, eggs, fruit
Leftovers x 2

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn

Freezer Cooking in an Hour (stay tuned on Thursday when I’ll share a play-by-play on how this goes!)

Pull Apart Oat Rolls
Banana Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes
IHOP-Knock-Off Pancakes

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Crockpot Fried Rice, fruit
Bean & Cheese Burritos (recipe coming later this week), fruit, veggies
Steak, Baked Oven Fries, The Frugal Girl’s French Bread, fruit, veggies
IHOP-Knock-Off Pancakes, fruit, scrambled eggs
Slow Cooker Lentil & Black Bean Soup, Pull Apart Oat Rolls, fruit
Dinner out

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

Homemade Freezer Biscuits

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Lunch out at Applebee’s (We had a gift card.)
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Leftovers x 2

Chocolate Cranberry Energy Bites

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Chocolate Cranberry Energy Bites

Freezer Cooking in an Hour (stay tuned on Thursday when I’ll share a play-by-play on how this goes!)

Homemade Freezer Biscuits
Amish Cinnamon Bread
Bean & Cheese Burritos

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Cheesy Enchilada Casserole, tossed salad, fruit
Twice Baked Potato Soup, carrot stocks, Peanut Butter Chocolate Oat Muffins
Slow Cooker Lentil & Black Bean Soup, Homemade Freezer Biscuits, Fruit
Bean & Cheese Burritos
Dinner with extended family
Dinner out

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

Spaghizza

Well, I didn’t get all of the freezer cooking done last week because I was in the middle of finishing up my manuscript. I just had to hunker down and get the edits done. I did — and it feels so good to have it turned into my publisher!

And now I can get back to more normal life again.

Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Mac & cheese, fruit
Snack-y lunch
PB&J, carrot sticks, apples
Cheese quesadillas, carrot sticks
Lunch out with friends
Leftovers x 2

Snacks

Fruit/veggies
Popcorn
Chocolate Cranberry Energy Bites

Freezer Cooking in an Hour (stay tuned on Thursday when I’ll share a play-by-play on how this goes!)

Crockpot Refried Beans
Chocolate Cranberry Energy Bites
Vegan Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

Homemade Freezer Biscuits

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Spaghizza, Homemade French Bread, steamed veggies, fruit
Vegetable Beef Stew in the Crockpot, Homemade Freezer Biscuits, Fruit
Haystack
Breakfast for Dinner: Vegan Banana Oatmeal Pancakes, Eggs, Fruit
Stirfry over rice
Dinner out

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.