The Weekly Menu Nov. 13, 2017

by Deana Larkin Evans · November 12, 2017

Weekly Menu Time Again!

Hello friends. Well this week is going to be nice and quiet. The calm before Thanksgiving and celebrating my husband’s birthday. I’m getting excited about pulling out all the Christmas decor and getting festive, too.

But man does time seem to be flying by. It’s been almost two years since we adopted Lizzy dog. Seven years since going gluten free. Over three years of publishing weekly menus and ever-changing recipes on this blog.

I really do enjoy it though. I feel like it is a mini-accomplishment to put together these game plans for the week. And to do my best not to save money and not let food go to waste.

Changing Your Diet Takes Baby Steps

With all my weird health issues, it has honestly been life-changing cleaning up my diet. If you are thinking about it, start small with one thing and build from there.

Like I said, I’ve been gluten-free for seven years and I’ve learned so much about food choices along the way. It may seem overwhelming at first, but it gets easier. And it is always changing.

I’ve had a couple of friends recently ask about going gluten-free because of digestion issues. You could start with the Whole30 diet, but if that feels overwhelming start with one thing and then build on that.

That is how we have been able to maintain this type of strict diet for so long without feeling deprived or anxious or even sad. After going gluten-free, I took out dairy. Then started looking at more specific things that bothered me like yeast and xanthan gum.

Because I believe that glyphosate and pesticides, are messing with our gut microbiome – my main goal has evolved to avoid foods that were sprayed with Round-Up. Like soy, corn, wheat, canola, sugar beets and potatoes. Now oats, too.

So we make sure that those foods are organic or non-GMO. We switched from gluten-free soy sauce to coconut aminos. And most of our vegetables are organic. Especially, the vegetables on the EWG dirty dozen list.

And we choose grass-fed, humanely raised meats and eggs. Avoiding antibiotic treated products or animals.

Finding our local Co-op that carries all the non-GMO, organic, gluten free, dairy free, food was the best! It doesn’t break the bank and they carry so many local brands, fair trade products, and pay employees well. It has been three years since we signed up as members at Wheatsville. 🙂 Central Market is another great place to find great products, too.