I am quite excited to be hosting the Gluten Free Menu Swap this week. The theme this week is coconut, so join in with your favorite coconut love!
We do like our coconut around here. We use it as a replacement for heavy cream (think whipped topping for pie, and in ice “cream”), coconut yogurt, and coconut “cream cheese“. I have even made dairy free cream cheese cake pops from the coconut cream cheese. I also like to use the coconut water for making coconut water kefir, and as a natural sports drink. I use the oil for cooking when I am doing high temperature cooking and as a shortening replacement (replace shortening with 1/3rd to 1/4th less coconut oil than the amount of shortening called for in the recipe). All in all coconut is one amazing food that can be used for sweet and savory dishes, lends a creaminess to the dairy free recipes, a great source of MCFAs, and is very tasty to boot!
If you would like to host a week of the Gluten Free Menu Swap, drop Cheryl a line. She would love to hear from you!
For more menu inspirations, visit Laura for Menu Plan Monday.
Monday: Boy Scouts/Girl Scout Leader meeting
Ham and Sweet Potato Casserole, salad
Tuesday: mommy volunteer in school library/Piano lessons
Slow Cooker Bean Soup (with the ham bone from Easter), blender corn bread, salad
Wednesday: My youngest girl’s birthday!!/little girl dance lessons/youth group/youth group parents meeting
Birthday girl choice (she hasn’t picked yet, but I am sure hot dogs, strawberries, and French fries with be on the menu).
Thursday: After school newspaper club/Caddy Girl Scout meeting
The Girl Scouts are making a dinner for their badge tonight, so hubby, son and little daughter are having sandwiches and salad night.
Friday: half-day of school for the kiddos
Baked Teriyaki Chicken, quinoa, salad
Saturday: Big girl dance lessons/Girl Scout Program Aide Training
Sunday: Big girl and mommy teach Sunday school
What is on everyone else’s plate this week:
First up is Wendy from Celiacs in the House. It’s Spring Break around their house this week. The GF egg rolls look amazing, as do the enchiladsa with green sauce, pizza night and grilled chicken. Sounds like great Spring Break food to me! Let us know how the GF wraps taste and work out, Wendy, please, pretty please??
Cheryl at Gluten Free Goodness loves to use young coconut for it’s water and the soft inner “meat” she blends into coconut milk. She is making a Chai breakfast cake to celebrate the theme (swoon!) which I hope she posts the recipe for (hint, hint). She has a tasty menu planned which includes, Quinoa Italians, Beef Curry (with coconut and cauliflower), Nightshade stew and Orange halibut.
Scrumptious at In My Box, has a great gluten free and vegan menu this week, including breakfast ideas (I have to try the Quinoa Breakfast Brownies!). She also has a recipe for a version of the Magical Loaf Studio recipe (you have to try the studio, I have never had a bad version from it. Super easy and yummy.) from the Vegan Lunch Box. Also on the menu this week are California Minestrone, Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie, Fennel and Kale Pasta and lots of yummy veggie sides (and lots of recipe links, too!). Her coconut is showing up in Coconut-Orange Macaroons and her Green Smoothie.
Heather at Celiac Family is not a big fan of shredded coconut, but is using coconut milk as a dairy replacement more often. She has used coconut milk in Chicken Tikka Masala and Chocolate Creme Brulee (both sound AMAZING to me! She has recipe links for those recipes on her post, too). On her menu is pupusas (I want to make those soon), salmon with balsamic glaze, and garlic shrimp pasta. Heather will be hosting the Gluten Free Menu Swap next week with the theme ingredient of eggs, so be sure to join in on the fun!
Thanks to everyone who joined in the swap. You guys are an inspiration!
Angela's Kitchen 
Hi Angela,
If it works, I’ll post, I promise. I missed your coconut pops, I will have to look into those! and the slow cooker soup sounds lovely.
Angela
I just did the slow cooker bean soup with the last of the Christmas ham a few weeks ago. One of our favorites and so cheap and easy. I will post about the wraps as soon as they are delivered and taste tested. I’m excited to try them. They’ve had some great reviews on other gf blogs. Have a great week.
Wendy
Hi Angela, thanks for hosting this week, and with such a great theme! I’ve been meaning to use more coconut oil to cook with (my boyfriend makes amazing popcorn cooked in coconut oil) and I’m dying to try out the vegan whipped cream I’ve been seeing everywhere that’s made from coconut cream. This week I actually do have a bit of coconut in my meal plan, which made me happy since I am often out of step with the weekly theme.
Sounds like you have a great menu planned this week! Here’s mine: http://inmybox.wordpress.com/2010/04/04/in-which-breakfast-is-tackled-by-a-vegan-gluten-free-menu-plan/
Angela,
Thanks for the great breakfast ideas you gave me in the comments on my blog! It sounds like you are my kind of cook & eater. Kim chee for breakfast? Sign me up! The nut-loaf patties sound brilliant as well. What a great, filling, tasty breakfast treat!
(Oh, and my name isn’t Wendy – not sure where that came from! Just plain ol’ Scrumptious. Thanks!)
Yikes, sorry about the name mixup! I was emailing a Wendy earlier and must have got my brian all turned around! Got it fixed now. Thanks for letting me know! Glad the ideas work for you. Yeah, kim chi is great on just about everything – mmmm mmm.
Pingback: In which breakfast is tackled by a Vegan, Gluten-free Menu Plan « In My Box
Your menu looks terrific!
Pingback: Menu Plan Apr. 5
Sorry I’m late to the party. Here’s my menu this week: http://celiacfamily.com/menu-plan-apr-5/
Your ham and sweet potato casserole sounds good to me, as does everything else. Can’t wait to try that recipe for coconut cream cheese cake pops. They look delicious!
Hey, I am new to all of these menu hosting things, but as i look at your list, is it just to give us titles of recipes and we look them up on the internet, or are there actual recipes we can get from following these posts? Thanks for all of your help and encouragement! 🙂
Hi, Amanda! I usually try to put a link on the recipe if I have the recipe on my blog or have found it elsewhere (though sometimes I don’t manage to due to lack of time). If it’s not linked, the name of the recipe is just what I call it in my head, or the cookbook I may use (I usually try to add the cookbook I want to use, however). I use menu planning to put together my shopping list for the week, and to remind me if I need to do prep the night before (do I need to thaw something for the next day?), or that morning (if using a crockpot, for example). Often times, I use my list here on the blog to remind myself what I have planned for a certain day. 🙂 It really helps me out to not have to worry about “what’s for dinner”. Because my menu is already planned and the ingredients are here, I can just put dinner together on busy weeknights pretty painlessly.
There are a lot of menu planners that have a LOT of links on their plans. Check out some of the menus for the Gluten Free Menu Swappers and Organized Junkie (Menu Plan Monday) for tons of inspiration. Even with out recipe links, the menu plans of others really help inspire me with some new ideas, or remind me of an old favorite we may not have had in a while.
If there is a particular recipe you are looking for, let me know and I will be happy to post it.
Thanks for your menu, it looks terrific