Menu Planning: Week of May 10th

I gave myself a needed respite from menu planning during the weeks of realtor chaos and showing my house at a moment’s notice. Last week I had a delightful moment of a realtor swinging by with ten minutes’ warning.

“Sure, but you’ll need to take my coconuts out of the oven when the timer goes off.”

Coconuts in the oven? Is that a euphemism for being pregnant with twins? Not in this case. I made this gluten-free, sugar-free coconut birthday cake, inspired by the gorgeous coconut cake in last month’s Cooking Light issue. I then consulted Epicurious and Dashing Dish to make it gluten-free. Mine only made two layers instead of three and it broke like a teen shoplifter under police questioning. But, it fit the bill of feeding a crowd including a diabetic, a dieter and a gluten-intolerant guy – as well as several ravenous children who declared it yummy.

 

Now the house is sold and it’s time to make dinner again.

Meatless Monday: Attempt at tofu chickpea gnocchi. First attempt at chickpea gnocchi was utter failure. Hoping the gluten-free gods will smile upon me and my humble kitchen.

Dessert: None. Recovering from the Cooks’ Illustrated Best Recipe Cheesecake I ate on Mother’s Day, plus the gluten-free (sugar-full) fruit tart with pecan crust.

Tuesday:  Almond flour “matzoh” ball soup with shirataki noodles (matzo from the Almond Flour Cookbook by Elana Amsterdam). Side dishes? Who knows.

Wednesday:  Burrito Omelets from Julia Child. No really, it sounds like a tex-mex recipe from some  midwestern church flyer, but it’s really in her book.

Thursday: Parenting Class Night.

Friday: Squid with red wine sauce and broiled tomatoes with blue cheese.

Saturday:  Burgers in lettuce wraps with chickpea/peanut flour fries.

Desserts to try this week: chocolate panini with La Tortilla Factory low carb wraps and Flour-free Fudgy Black Soybean Brownies.