This week my kiddos only have school for three days. Honestly, I wish they were home those days because I like to do extra things with my kids to prepare for Christmas. But, as I have to wait, I am going to finish wrapping my gifts for the family and bake a couple more treats.
The one cookie I will be making no matter what else gets baked is Russian Tea Cakes. Do you call them Russian Tea Cakes, Mexican Wedding Cakes or Snowball Cookies? Whatever you call them, they are my favorite cookie for the platter!
Speaking of favorites, Heather of Celiac Family is the host for the Gluten Free Menu Swap this week. The theme she has chosen is Holiday Favorites. What are your family’s favorite recipes for the holidays? You’ll see below that Christmas Eve is when my family celebrates Christmas. My mom’s family is Swedish, so we always have to have lingonberries, gluten free lefse, potato pudding, rice pudding, and my grandma’s Swedish Rye Bread (now altered to be gluten free).
Menu Plan Monday
Usually we are covered in snow by now. I live in Minnesota and not having a white Christmas is pretty unusual. However, there is not a lick of snow right now, making it a bit hard to get into the holiday spirit.
I do think baking gingerbread this week helped. Nothing like gingerbread cake to get the house smelling like the holidays! I am so excited to start Winter Break and have the kids home. I can’t wait to bake up some yummy things with them! This week is full of easy meals leading up to our big family Christmas Eve dinner.
I picked some of my kiddos’ favorite meals to celebrate them having a bit of time off. I hope you all have a merry holiday!
Monday –
- Lunch – Pizza Muffins, melon, broccoli
- Dinner – Chicken with Cauliflower & Apples and salad
Tuesday –
- Lunch – Gluten Free bagel sandwiches (sun butter and thinly sliced apples), clementines and spinach salad
- Dinner – Fish Tacos and Red Cabbage Slaw
Wednesday –
- Lunch – Gluten Free Chicken Sandwich (using this bread), apples, and cauliflower
- Dinner – Pumpkin and Pork Chili, salad and pumpkin corn bread
Thursday – No school
- Lunch – Pumpkin Waffles and fruit
- Dinner – Slow Cooker Black Bean Salsa Chicken, tortilla chips and salad
Friday – No school
- Lunch – Omelets, salad, fruit
- Dinner – Christmas Pizza (gluten free pizza crust topped with spinach, roasted red pepper, and black olives and shaped like a Christmas tree, star and a candy cane – we have a lot of pizza to make!) and a salad.
Saturday, Christmas Eve –
- Lunch – Tasty nibbles as we wait for the BIG meal!
- Dinner – Our family’s traditional Christmas Eve dinner: Roast (this year we are having a crown roast that my dad brought home), Potato Pudding, Rice Pudding (I do mine with Chai-style spices and a mix of almond and coconut milk), Gluten Free Lefse, Gluten Free Swedish Rye Bread, Cranberry Salad, Lingonberries, Green Beans (dressed up with fennel, orange and toasted almonds) and a big salad (to help counteract the Swedish carb-fest). We have dairy free eggnog or sparkling juice and cookies for dessert while we open presents to each other.
Sunday, Christmas Day –
- Brunch – Overnight French Toast Bake with a Praline Topping, Homemade Turkey Sausage, clementines, leftover lingonberries and cranberry salad
- Dinner – Leftovers
For more great Menu Plan Monday menu planning ideas visit orgjunkie.com!