Today I got back from my trip to Nashville for Blissdom. I’m going to do a recap post later…I’m just exhausted. Here are my packed lunches from this week…. notice sandwiches!?!
My husband unearthed the bread machine a few weeks ago and I used it with a mix that was gf, but had dairy in it and I got sick… BUT I found Bob’s Red Mill’s bread machine mix and was inspired again. I tried it on the “rapid white” setting. Later I peeked in while it was baking in the machine and thought…oh, no….it’s so small…but by the time it was done, it was perfect (next time I’ll take a picture).
Sandwiches for lunch! Yes! Last weekend we talked about favorite lunches and I mentioned loving bologna sandwiches with lettuce and a little mayo. I recreated it below with organic bologna, spinach, and regular Hellman’s. Such comfort food!
Monday
sandwich, coconut milk yogurt, mandarin orange, KIND bar
(I use “mandarin orange” interchangeably with “clementine” — is that wrong? Educate me)
And my after school snack — stove-popped popcorn in walnut oil (ran out of avocado oil)
Tuesday
Repeat sandwich, broccoli, blueberries
I used easylunchboxes.com here — I’m going to do a review of their product in the next couple of weeks. I really like it with sandwiches!
Wednesday
Repeat sandwich, broccoli & sweet potatoes, the last of the blueberries, and my crappy soup
I made a soup using the Imagine brand broccoli soup (comes in a carton) as a base, added corn pasta and chicken broth. It looks terrible in the picture, but it was good. Nice and hot for a cold day. I wouldn’t serve it to guests, but I enjoyed it a lot!
Lunch on Thursday and Friday were at Blissdom. I requested the gluten free option. I forgot to take a picture of Thursday’s lunch of chicken, rice, and broccoli. It was tasty. Here’s Friday’s gluten free lunch:
Friday
halved potatoes, chicken covered with Hunt’s canned tomatoes (ConAgra sponsored lunch)
The other folks had pasta instead of potatoes. Two of them commented that mine looked better than theirs. I enjoyed it quite a bit.
Tomorrow night — my son’s lunches…
PS. My husband has lost six pounds over the past two months by eliminating gluten and dairy at dinner. He is also teaching himself how to cook and that is a fabulous thing to watch.
PPS My dad has lost 20 pounds in two months by stopping eating bread and margarine (he’s not gluten free or even wheat free, just temporarily bread free). He used to eat half a loaf in a sitting (I mentioned that in my binging post).
Pssssst: This is huge
All of those lunches looked scrummy.
We have a bread machine, but we haven't used it for a while, as it was never quite the same after falling off the counter, mid mix! However, DW got a Kitchen Aid mixer for her birthday a couple of years ago, which included an dough hook. we just need to get back into homemade bread making.
As for clementine or mandarin orange, I sometimes use tangerine or satsuma, even when the produce is clearly labelled as clementines. No idea on the differences!
Really? I don't know if I can get rid of carbs…but yes, have been using that bread machine more! I believe a clementine is a type of mandarin – seedless….
ConAgra???? Seriously?? I am curious: were conference attendees asked to post that or is it just something you wanted to mention?
I was not asked to post a pic. I just am in a habit! 🙂
One of those lunch boxes looks like just what I need. I usually try to fit way too many tupperware containers into my lunch bag, until it's hard to zip up.
Will you be giving us a full post with all your Blissdom updates?
Way hay.
Well done for them!
Here's a great site to tell you differences between mandarin and clementines! I just call them mini oranges 😀
My bad, Mrs. Q. I'd never looked it up. A clementine is technically a mandarin orange, or at least from the mandarin family, depending on which source you look at. I love them, and my 5YO loves them. Easy to peel, seedless and yummy. What more could a mommy want?
Isn't it amazing how much things can change with just some tweaking of your diet? I remember when I started losing weight and was learning how to read labels accurately and what things I needed to watch for as far as other nutrients. My husband, who is the better cook, started looking at what he was eating and decided to make some changes. He dropped 20 lbs easily just by changing what he was eating for breakfast! I'm so happy that what you have learned is effecting the health of those around you. You are truly an inspiration to them.
As for the orange – I've seen them labeled several different ways: satsuma, mandarin orange, mandarin satsuma. Clementines have a thinner, tighter skin and are harder to peel nicely. Mandarins have a looser skin and are easier to peel.
the mandarine orange is one variety of the orange family, and the clementine is a variety of the mandarin orange. other varieties include satsuma, tangor and tangerine.
your bread looks really delicious. and now i want a bologna sandwich… yum.
Congratulations!
My husband and I have had similar results and he has a number of patients who are ecstatic that something as simple as elimination of starches can have such dramatic results. I'm down over 25lb in a half year, to a weight I haven't been at in over 20 years.
I've been blogging about it at http://www.grainride.blogspot.com, because I believe the conventional wisdom and the professional nutritionists are shortchanging the public with the advice of daily numerous grain portions.
We recently bought Bob's Red Mill Scottish Oatmeal and Muesli and LOVE them. And they are a steal on Amazon's Subscribe and Save!!
Clementines and Mandarins are different fruits. They both taste very good though!!! 🙂
ZipLoc makes those EXACT containers. You can pick them up in 2 packs for around $3 at pretty much any WalMart or Supermaket. $13 plus shipping for 4 seems a pretty lame way to wrench $$ from hard working people. . . .
The specification of Hunt's tomatoes confused me. Was it listed that way on the menu?
My husband was born in South Africa and refers to any kind of small orange citrus fruit as "naartjies" (pronounced "narchies"). It's caught on in our household as a convenient term that eliminates confusion over "satsuma", "clementine" etc.
I highly recommend popping your popcorn with coconut oil. It's the BEST tasting popcorn I've ever had.
I'm actually pretty excited to see your family is gluten free and having such improvements from it. My family is gluten free (have been for years) and it's not as hard as a lot of people think it would be, especially after you get used to it.
I have a couple food blogs with gluten free fare, including bento lunches. It's at http://bemybento.blogspot.com. Perhaps it will help with some ideas (I sometimes use the laptop lunch boxes too. 🙂