Our Menu for the Week & Reintroducing Beans

Hello!  How's your week kicking off?  I started mine with a bit of a belly ache.  When I saw Dave's mom's appetizer at the family dinner last night, I had every intention of completely avoiding it.  She brought a salsa dish that was primarily black beans and corn with some tomatoes, avocado, cilantro, and lime juice.  I hadn't tried any of it when Dave's mom excitingly told me that she thought I would like this dish since it had avocados in it and it was pretty healthy!  At this point, I felt obligated to try it and it was pretty tasty.  I should have stopped there, but everyone kept raving about how good it was and I had to agree.  Throughout the night I definitely tried some other non compliant things, but I knew none of them were at fault when I started to have some serious flatulence upon leaving the party. Beans beans, they're good for your heart, the more you eat, the more you... feel like you need to use the bathroom but just can't.  Needless to say, between this and the chili incident, I will not be including beans in my diet.

Food stuff with my mother-in-law is awkward.  I thought she had the gist of what we eat and don't eat, but I guess we've never discussed legumes.  Do I have food allergies?  No.  Am I going to get sick if I eat pasta/bread/beans/etc?  Do stomach pains count...?  Do I offend my mother-in-law when she makes a dish specifically thinking I will like it?  I'd love to just sit down with her and come clean, but for some reason I always just feel like I'm being ridiculous.  To a woman who shows her love in the kitchen, am I just being a snobby health freak?  Mehhhhhhh.

Between eating out a few times this weekend and the bean situation, it's definitely time to get back on track and do some meal planning!  So what's on the menu this week?  Tonight I made Sweet Potato Waffle Breakfast BLT With Garlic Basil Aioli.  It was slightly labor intensive but it was oh so worth it!  The waffles were great and it was fun to finally use our waffle maker.  I may never make Paleo pancakes in a pan ever again, this was so much easier.

Here's what's coming up later this week:

• Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
• Mediterranean Style Cauliflower Rice 
• Caramelized Italian Pork Chops with Sweet Onion Jam
• Bacon Avocado Cups with a Balsamic Glaze

Dave and I think going out on Valentine's Day is overrated, so our tradition is to stay home and enjoy some homemade chicken parm.  It's my favorite food and I won't be doing anything to try and make it Paleo.  I will be making my own sauce (minus the sugar, plus some fresh tomatoes) and serving it with a big veggie lasagne (hold the noodles but don't forget the cheese).  I'm even thinking of making some treats for Vday and these two recipes caught my eye: Paleo Double Chocolate Cupcakes and Paleo Cookie Dough.

And let's end with some mug shots.

Would you tell your family if you didn't want to eat something they made for you?  What do you think I should do?