Last few days of August. Seems crazy. At least I can say we made the most of this month, including our last vacation. Today we’re heading home from a trip to WI to visit my in-laws. Then it’s time to get back to normal routines.

Last week wasn’t quite as productive as I would have liked since we were packing, traveling, etc. But I still managed to grind flour, make mayo, french dressing, butterscotch bars, peach bread and froze almost 3 dozen ears of corn and some beans. I also made a big batch of chicken stock using chicken feet. They look pretty gross, but they sure make good stock!

This week may get a little crazy since summer produce is in full swing and I couldn’t do much with it last week. So I’m not planning on going many places this week. But I have a lot to get done. Today is church and head home. Monday is Meijer. Tuesday is farmer’s market and we have a roofer coming. The only other set plan for this week is going to Michigan’s Adventure on Saturday with my brother, SIL and nephew. I might have to make a trip to Harvest Health for milk. We’ll see.

On to the food. I think we are going to be bombarded with tomatoes when we get home. So this week it’s time to start canning! I’m hoping to do salsa with the fresh tomatoes. I’ll hold off until next week or the week after to do spaghetti sauce since I can freeze tomatoes to use for that and do it when I have time. I also want to can peaches this week. I haven’t decided how many to do yet. I would like to do more freezing as well – corn and beans for sure. Possibly zucchini and peppers. If time allows I might do some baking. But we’ll see. Preservation is the priority this week.

Still plugging along with diet/GAPS, trying to figure things out (some updates coming in my end of month recap later this week). I can’t say that traveling has helped 😛  In typical fashion I feel like I lost 5 lbs. while traveling. I just don’t feel that great and don’t eat nearly as much as usual. My wedding ring is starting to slip off my finger again. I haven’t had that in quite a while. Overall my OCD has been under control on this trip, but my tummy hasn’t been that great…which I fully expected with long days of travel, time change, compromise foods, kids up early, different routines, etc. I’m looking forward to getting home, knowing that our summer travel is over and fall routines are starting. Routine = relax for me 🙂

**Update now that we’re home. I lost about 3 lbs. in 3 days 🙁  And after yesterday’s boat ride puke fest I don’t think we’ll be running errands today. Just taking it easy, unpacking and doing laundry. And I was reminded again why I love cloth diapers. We had to use a few disposables since we don’t have enough cloth for 3 days…new white shirt instantly covered in poop 🙁

So, here’s our week and what we’re eating.
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S (church, travel)
  B – pureed veggie soup w/ pesto and avocado (me), coffee cake, eggs (Justin)
  L – grilled chicken, veggies
  D – sandwiches, chips, fruit veggies, smoothies (picnic on the way home)

M (prep smoothies, laundry, Meijer, make kefir, make bread pudding…take it easy/recover from our trip)
  B – sd english muffin, fruit (Justin), salad w/ avocado and crispy nuts and egg yolk/olive oil dressing (me)
  D – egg and ham muffins, zucchini cakes, apple raisin bread pudding

T (prep soup, freeze beans, FM, roofer, cut up watermelon, roast beets, chop veggies for salsa, fold laundry, strain kefir)
  B – egg muffin, zucchini cake, olives (me), bread pudding, grapes (Justin)
  D – split pea soup in cp w/ ham, gluten free bread w/ jam

W (make/can salsa, chop veggies, make fruit salad, HH, prep smoothies, can peaches)
  B – pea soup (me), peach, yogurt, granola parfait (Justin)
  D – sloppy joes (using ground beef w/ heart), corn, beans, fruit salad

Th (can peaches,  make mayo, make pesto, bake peach coffee cake, put away laundry)
  B – smoothie, sd strawberry rhubarb muffins (Justin), pea soup (me)
  D – honey glazed pork chops, baked potato, broccoli (Justin), raw zucchini salmon boat (me)

F (clean, make hot fudge, make almond butter)
  B – pea soup (me), peach coffee cake (Justin)
  D – zucchini avocado shrimp salad, corn, watermelon

S (prep dinner, prep lunch, freeze beans, freeze squash, laundry, MI Adv., shopping, co-op order)
  B – zucchini avocado shrimp salad (me), peach coffee cake (Justin)
  L – picnic at MA
  D – (prep ahead) – sirloin steak, beans, zucchini and carrots in cp