Weekly Menu

I am typing this is total silence. All I hear is the tap, tap, tap of my fingers hitting the keyboard and the wind whipping the trees around in my backyard. My daughter is at her teacher's house. Ms. E offered to keep her overnight and I jumped at the opportunity! It has been a much needed break for both of us. She gets to play with her teacher's 4 year old niece and I get to do my own thing.

And what was my own thing you ask? I had a date last night (details to come) and I relaxed in my pjs all day today, just blogging and chatting on the phone. So nice and so needed!!! But to not make the time off a total waste, I am going to head to grocery store to pick up some items and do some cleaning.

So on to the menu plan. Well, this past week was worse than the one before that and I have the headaches and joint pain and exhaustion to prove it. It started with Valentine's Day with all the chocolate and cupcakes and it didn't stop. And I feel terrible!!

So, here we go again. Trying this week to eat better and take better care of us this week. I am not going to buy any grains this time when I go to the store, except maybe some sourdough bread which I hear is good for you. No steel cut oats for breakfast this week. No rice cakes for her sandwiches. I really want to get us to eating meals that don't include grains as much as possible. Instead I am going to buy meat and fish and lots of fruits and veggies and try to prepare everything from scratch. I may prepare one or two healthy desserts but nothing processed, no sugar, no hydrogenated oils and no white flours.

This week we will be eating:

The Ethiopian food my student's mom made
Chicken Marbella and spinach
Pan-fried fish and cauliflower mashed potatoes
Sausages and braised kale (I just made that up as I typed..need to find recipe)
leftovers

Stats will remain blank for one more week. I haven't worked out, taken one single vitamin and I ate junk. I can't bear to look at the scale. But I will announce everything again next week!!

Chicken Marbella Recipe

* 2 chickens, 2 1/2 lbs each, quartered

* 1/2 head of garlic, peeled and finely puréed

* 2 Tbsp dried oregano

* Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

* 1/4 cup red wine vinegar

* 1/4 cup olive oil

* 1/2 cup pitted prunes

* 1/4 cup pitted Spanish green olives

* 1/4 cup capers with a bit of juice

* 3 bay leaves

* 1/2 cup brown sugar

* 1/2 cup white wine

* 2 Tbsp fresh Italian parsley or cilantro, finely chopped

1 In a large bowl combine garlic, oregano, salt and pepper to taste, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers with caper juice, and bay leaves. Add the chicken pieces and coat completely with the marinade. Cover and let marinate, refrigerated, several hours or overnight.

2 Preheat oven to 350°F.

3 Arrange chicken in a single layer in one or two large, shallow baking pans and spoon marinade over it evenly. Sprinkle chicken pieces with brown sugar and pour white wine around them.

4 Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour, basting frequently with the pan juices. Chicken is done when thigh pieces, pricked with a fork at their thickest point, yield clear yellow juice (not pink).

5 With a slotted spoon, transfer chicken, prunes, olives, and capers to a serving platter. Add some of the pan juices and sprinkle generously with parsley or cilantro. Serve remaining juice in a gravy boat.

Serves 5.

***I don't have any prunes so I am going to substitute dates and instead of brown sugar I will use Sucanat.

And I might make this yummy dessert!

COCONUT BARK ALMOND JOY

•6 Tablespoons coconut oil, organic, virgin, expeller-pressed

•1 teaspoon vanilla extract

•1 1/2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

•1/2 teaspoon stevia –OR– 1 Tablespoon pure maple syrup

•2 Tablespoons unsweetened shredded or chopped coconut

•1/4 cup ounces almonds, raw, chopped

Measure the coconut oil (solid) and melt.

Whisk in vanilla, cocoa and sweetener until COMPLETELY dissolved.

Whisk in remaining ingredients until completely dissolved.

Pour mixture evenly into an 8x8 pan lined with parchment paper

Place pan in freezer and let sit 10 minutes

It will harden quickly and you simply snap off the desired amount to eat. Keep cold.

Have a great week of healthy eating!!