Menu planning has returned! I am breathing a sigh of relief- clearly waiting until everyone is hungry and grumpy at 5 to think about dinner is a bad plan for me. So I have cleaned out the fridge, done an inventory of the pantry, planned a menu, and made my list for the grocery store. I am organized, aka sane, for the week ahead. It is not too June Cleaver to do any of these things I swear…. Anyone who has met me knows I could never be accused of this! haha
In blog buddy news, Carrie sent me an email interview about “my gluten free style,” so look for the interview at Ginger Lemon Girl later this week.
And the ingredient of the week is parsnips!
PARSNIPS
Family: Parsnips belong to the umbelliferae family whose other members include carrots, parsley, celery, and fennel.
Selection: Choose parsnips the way you choose carrots. Parsnips should be firm. Select small, med., or large parsnips, but avoid overly large parsnips as they may have a woody core.
Storage: Store parsnips in the refrigerator in a perforated plastic bag. They will keep for approximately three weeks.
Preparation: You can eat parsnips raw, boiled, sauteed, or roasted.
Nutrition: Parsnips are low in calories and contain no saturated fat or cholesterol. Parsnips are an excellent source of fiber, folic acid, calcium, and potassium. Parsnips contain lesser amounts of vitamins B1, B2, B3, vitamin C, iron, and zinc.
Recipes:
Elise’s Pureed Roasted Parsnips Recipe
By the Bay’s Confetti Latkes: Carrots and Parsnips
Veggie Venture’s Parsnip Fries
FYI, Bon Appetit has a few parsnip recipes in their Feb. 2008 issue. I am going to try and adapt one this week for my family- we will see how well it is received!
OUR GLUTEN FREE MENUS
Book of Yum’s Gluten Free Menu- she is making a rutabaga gratin this week. Now that is something I haven’t tried! I bet it will be delicious.
Gluten Free Cooking School’s Menu- Mary Frances is going to try her hand at Braised Carrots and Parsnips. I wonder what her little one will think of parsnips!
One Beggar’s Bread- Check out her recipe for Lentil Soup with Sausage. I have bookmarked this soup recipe to try out for Jude.
Esther over at the Lilac Kitchen- she is preparing a curried carrot and parsnip soup this week. Parsnips are a favorite at her house!
Carrie at Ginger Lemon Girl’s Menu- Her sugar-free menu looks tasty for her on-going Sugar free January challenge. I admire her discipline!
Sara at Gluten Free Dance- she joins us for the first time! Her parmesan fish with spinach and rice sounds delicious to me.
Katie at Gluten Free Katie- she also joins us for the first time! She is going to P.F. Changs this week. They have a gluten-free menu. Sorry I missed you the first round!
The Gluti Girls’ Menu- She has included a great looking fish recipe!
My Gluten Free Menu:
Monday: Salmon and Spinach with roasted parsnips
Tuesday: Chicken Wild Rice Soup and Salad
Wednesday: Shrimp, Spinach, and Feta Casserole
Thursday: Pot Roast with Horseradish Mashed Potatoes
Friday: Almond Crusted Chicken with Coconut Rice and a Frozen Veggie
My Monday Mommy Brag:
Posted on January 7th, 2008 by Natalie
Filed under: Gluten Free, Celiac, Menu Plan
Happy Monday! I’ll get back into menu-planning next week but I thought I’d drop in to say Hi. And to let you know that this month’s Food and Wine Magazine had a good looking recipe for roasted parsnips with ginger. I’ll give it a try and let you know how it turns out. My husband loves parsnips, so when ever I cook a roast, I toss some in with the carrots and potatoes.
Karen
TOTALLY cool new layout Nat!!! I LOVE the header!! WAY cool!! I’m jealous!!! Look fabulous as always! I love the blue background!! (Now I can switch my background color to a light green! I’m a little tired of orangey-yellow! haha!!
I’ll send my menu to you soon!
Hey! You remodeled. The site looks great. We’re actually working on remodeling Book of Yum, too - so stay posted.
Now why did I think the ingredient was Turnip and not parsnip? Hrmph. lol. Oh well, I fixed my post.
-Sea
Karen-
I have heard from several people that roasting parsnips is the way to go. Looking forward to seeing your menu next week.
Carrie-
Gee thanks! Oh, and Green is so hot right now. I am loving that color.
Sea-
For some reason, I didn’t even pick up on that. lol I don’t make either very much, so maybe that’s why! I can’t wait to see your remodel. I love your existing template- the posts are very easy to read.
I love your new blog design and the great new photo of you.
I would totally participate this week in the menu exchange, except I’m going on vacation Wed. morning!
Just joined the gluten free blogging world and had been referring to your site several times over the holidays for recipes. Just wanted to comment and tell you that I love the new look of the page! Very nice! Happy gluten free blogging in this New Year!
Just noticed this gluten free menu swap…would love to do one for the week! How exactly does this work?
Wow, I love the new look!
[…] of New Year’s oganizational resolutions, to participate in Gluten Free Mommy’s GF Menu Swap each Monday. Now, my menus are never going to be as fancy as hers so hopefully she’ll have […]
Wow, I was just here this morning and how things have changed.
After reading this for a few weeks I’ve decided to finally participate. Here’s my link: http://glutenfreedance.wordpress.com/2008/01/08/menu-monday/
Sorry it’s late.
Sally- Gee thanks! Have fun on vacation!
Katie- We would love to have you participate. The menu swap is a way for us to stay organized and gluten free! We share how we are eating Mon-Fri. whether it be at home or in a restaurant. And It is as simple as emailing your post link to the host of the week. I will post the host later in the week with the ingredient of the week on the swap page. Generally, we try and cook with the ingredient of the week, but it is not required. It is just added in for fun.
Melanie- Thanks!
Sara- There is no such thing as late! Glad to have you!
WOW. Gorgeous YOU, Gorgeous Babe and FABULOUS layout/colors =)
I really like it.
=)
I’m glad to be back to menu planning too, I’m the most disorganised person there is but it really helps.
Love the new look especially the photo, it’s a wonderful one.
Kate- I knew I liked you..haha… I needed a new pic up there. Thanks for the encouragement. I am so glad you like it!!
Esther- Thanks! I am not very organized either, which is one reason why I blog! One day, maybe, out of necessity (too many children) I will get really organized.
Too many children? I guess I don’t follow you on this one. They are right, you do look pretty hot. Should’ve used the other pic though.
I keep meaning to tell you what happened to me at Christmas. You know I told you just how well your green bean casserole recipe went at Thanksgiving. I had Christmas also this year. I was really kind of cute because my sister in law had been in my house for just a little bit when I noticed her lurking around the kitchen as if she was looking for something when she told me she was hoping I had made some of that green bean casserole again! She was really disappointed when I had not. She too thought it tasted better than the oringal gluten filled recipe. So I guess I better have it ready for each holiday now. Thanks!
Good luck with the parsnips Natalie- i think I may have to pass this week :). I love how you summarize the other menus as well. On my site I have started monthly give aways to kick off the product theme for each month. if you have a product you love to bake with, I would love to hear about it,! ( especially since one of my resolutions is to experiment more with GF cooking).
Hubs- I really should leave your comments to be moderated, shouldn’t I?
Melanie- That’s wonderful! You made my day!
Karen- Hmmmm…. I am pretty minimalist when it comes to buying commercial gluten-free products, but I do have my favorites. I buy a lot of flours, occasionally I will buy pamelas, brown rice tortillas, and sometimes I buy WF Bakehouse bread for crumbs…. I used to buy frozen gf waffles but my sis got me a waffle maker for Christmas. But that is why I love your site. I just don’t buy that many gf products and I don’t want to be disappointed when I do!!
Beautiful site!!! I LOVE it. I just jumped on to make your fudge, everyone loved it at Christmas and I am throwing a sizable party on Friday (that’s why I have not been blogging, husband’s work party), and I just had to comment on how fab this looks!
Slacker Mom- Thanks! I am happy you had a good holiday. So glad everyone liked the fudge. I make it all the time- it is a great thing to add without a lot of extra fuss!