It’s almost March! Which means spring is right around the corner…at least I hope it is 😛  I never actually expect nicer weather until April here in Michigan. But I can hope. We got another round of snow on Friday. It didn’t last, but it’s a good reminder that winter isn’t over yet. Hopefully we don’t have to worry about any blizzards this week.

Last week we kept pretty busy. Some of the highlights of the week were a good 9m check up for Abram, our Mommy/daughter date to the children’s museum (Rebecca had so much fun!) and a 2nd M/D date as we had an impromptu trip to the mall yesterday. Justin insisted that I go shopping and actually spend my gift cards that I’ve had for months and buy some new clothes 😛  So I did. I’m excited to have a few new things to wear. And some jeans that fit!!

I stayed busy in the kitchen too. I made soaked chocolate chip cookies, two loaves of soaked whole wheat bread, homemade soaked ravioli, soaked quinoa, yogurt, mayo, chocolate mint ice cream (Rebecca came up with the flavor), cream cheese, pesto, waffles and soaked biscuits. I also finally started a little bit of sewing. I got a few cloth wipes done. Not much, but at least it’s a start. It’s been almost a year since I’ve touched my sewing machine. So it was good to at least sit down and figure out how it works again 🙂

This week is a busy one. Today is church. Monday is milk pick up. Tuesday is Kindermusik and voting. And we might stop by a friend’s house to drop off a baby gift. Justin also has orchestra rehearsal. Wednesday is Meijer. Friday is MOPS, and Justin has an orchestra concert. Saturday is swimming, and we might meet my family for some type of kid’s activity (museum) and to go out for dinner to celebrate my mom’s birthday (it was last week).

Unfortunately the first few days of this week will have to be free of much baking…I’m out of flour!! I have no boughten flour. And I have about a half cup of wheat berries left. So until I go to the store (mid week) I can’t really bake. I will be getting a new load of wheat berries soon. Until then I’ll have to buy flour. So that dictated my early week meals a bit. I would like to make a batch of granola this week (that doesn’t require flour, so no big deal). And possibly a new batch of soaked granola. I’ve been eating that stuff all the time 🙂  It’s a great snack. I want to try a soaked cold cereal this week (didn’t get to it last week). I would also like to make a new batch of ice cream and yogurt.

On to my never ending updates 😛  Each week I seem to find new info and see different things going on with my body. Last week I was reminded that I need to be careful about consuming too many nuts, especially peanut butter. Since I ate a lot of toast for breakfast I tended to eat a lot of peanut butter and almond butter. When I do that for a few days it causes inflammation (probably due to high omega-6) and messes up my digestion. I also ate a bit too much raw food. Certain things are still tough for me to digest. And I end up in pain. I’m finding I need to eat plenty of carbs with moderate protein and fat. And I can tell when I don’t eat enough. It’s important to not be underfed. Limiting food can lead to bad moods, anxiety, poor digestion, weight gain (yes, gain!), all kinds of stuff. I’m trying to eat a little more in the mornings and less in the evenings. Kind of the opposite of how most people eat. And the total opposite of how I used to eat (a few years ago) when I would eat practically a half gallon of ice cream right before bed 😛  But it’s good to fuel your body well in the morning and lighten up by the end of the day so your body isn’t trying to digest a lot of stuff all night. No wonder I used to wake up with a stomach ache. That being said, I’ve been starting my day the last few days with a big dish of…ice cream! Yes, ice cream for breakfast. Homemade ice cream of course. It is actually very healthy and possibly a super food (check out Sarah’s post on it…real ice cream is the closest food we have to breastmilk :). Plus it helps boost metabolism. Which I’m finding is what we should be striving for. Boosting metabolism is what keeps our body temps up (I’m the ice queen…I really need to work on this) and keeps our system working well (digestion, endocrine, everything). So I’m trying ice cream for breakfast for a few days to see how it goes. I need to make a new batch, so I may have to substitute sour cream/yogurt with some add ins for a few days. I still think it’s very important to avoid refined carbohydrates (white flour, white sugar). And I need to make a point of getting variety in my diet. I know I’m still far from where I want to be, but I can tell something is happening lately. I think my hormones are changing – hopefully for the good. As I no longer underfeed myself, add back plenty of good quality carbs and try to listen to my body I notice changes. I think it is helping with my adrenals (I definitely have more energy now than I did for a while). My acne has had a small flair. I think that is my body adjusting. And I have periods of being quite warm and quite cold during the day. This is related to body temp and blood sugar. Again, my body is adjusting and trying to figure things out/trying to get back on track. I continue to look more into 180 Degree Health and the RRARF (Rehabilitative Rest and Refeeding) program (I’m kind of half doing it now…but definitely not fully at this point. I did finally read through the free e-book.). If anyone is still wondering what to get me for my birthday (hint, hint 😉 I’d LOVE a copy of Matt Stone’s new book Diet Recovery. His 180 Degree Digestion book would be great too. I’m starting with looking into RRARF. After that I may look into his information on RBTI. That stuff is fascinating. You mean I could actually not have to pee constantly by eating the right way? And it would improve my hormones, my body temps, everything? That would be the answer that I’ve been looking for since I was about 4 years old and my anxiety started due to what I thought was my abnormally overactive bladder…that I’ve lived with my whole life. Anyway, I have a lot to learn yet. But I can tell my body is changing for sure. I seem to be out of the bad mood, low energy, underweight slump I was in a few months ago. Praise the Lord!

That got a little longer than I had intended. Here’s what’s on the menu this week. No idea if we’ll do any letter related food stuff since we have the letter X. What do you do with X??
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S (prep lunch, church)
  B – waffles, fruit
  L – cp pork steak, potatoes, carrots and onions (Justin), salad w/ pork (me)
  D – leftover cheeseburger cups, corn, salad, apple slices

M (milk)
  B – soaked donuts, smoothies
  D – tacos w/ guacamole, salsa, cheddar cheese, raw sour cream, lettuce, soaked ww tortillas (from freezer)

T (skim cream, make yogurt, make granola, prep dinner, KM, vote, CCS, soak grains)
  B – packed breakfast for Justin – granola bar, apple
  D – cp pea soup w/ ham, bread or crackers w/ cheese

W (Meijer, make ice cream, make soaked granola, prep smoothies)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – cheeseburgers, chips, beans

Th (soak grains)
  B – breakfast cake, smoothies
  D – pepper steak, mashed potatoes, corn (Justin), leftover pea soup (me)

F (clean, make cereal, MOPS, concert)
  B – cold soaked cereal w/ milk
  D – croque-madame, roasted squash

S (swimming, I5, out for dinner in Lansing)
  B – TBD, smoothies
  D – out to eat – Cheddar’s