It’s Monday, so it’s time to figure out what to cook for the family this week. This week, things are much different for my family from last Monday. On Tuesday of last week, I received a call from our pediatrician. We had been having some serious issues with my son’s stomach. They sent him for tons of blood work. When all was said and done, the results said that he is allergic to soy! I didn’t figure it would be a huge deal until I started reading labels. Soy is in everything from Cheez-its to cereal to cream of mushroom soup to Ritz crackers to well, practically everything. It’s also in almost everything at restaurants as well. We’ve never dealt with a food allergy before so this is very new to us. We’ve seen a complete turnaround in my son though since we took him off everything that even had the smallest trace of soy in it. He no longer has headaches and horrible stomach pains and everything else that he’s been dealing with. Just that one ingredient made the difference. Anyways, we’ve been hitting up Earth Fare and Trader Joe’s looking for some alternatives. Even a bunch of items at those places contain soy! Soy is considered a cheap protein so it’s in tons of things. I already cook a ton from scratch, so I will be doing that even more now. Now that you’ve read this novel, let’s move on to the meal plan!
By the way, if you are dealing with a soy allergy as well, I’d love to know what brands you’ve found to be soy free or any secrets/hints to dealing with an allergy when you are out of the house at a restaurant or a guest at someone else’s house.
Monday: Homemade Chicken Nuggets, mashed taters, and candied carrots. My friend Janet has me hooked on these chicken nuggets. They are so easy to make and are incredible! Just chop your chicken breasts into nugget size pieces. Soak in buttermilk for at least an hour. Dip into plain flour and fry. Lightly salt when they are finished cooking.
Tuesday: Raviolis with homemade tomato sauce. I found soy-free raviolis at Trader Joe’s. It has been really hard to find affordable sauce that doesn’t contain soy, so I decided I’d make my own!
Wednesday: Kids have requested BLTs again. I don’t mind since tomatoes are in season and BLTs are so yummy! Plus I make my own bread so I know it’s soy free!
Thursday: Country Fried Steak, Fried Okra, Black Eyed Peas, and homemade biscuits – hubby’s request 
Friday: Black Bean Quesidillas. After searching high and low (and really low on the shelves!) I finally found a tortilla that was soy free at Trader Joes. I think I’m in love with Trader Joes. Thank you so much for opening a store in Athens!!
Saturday: Bowtie Pasta with Zucchini and Mozzerella
Sunday: Calzones and a romaine salad
