Is it really the end of September and the start of fall? It sure has been a busy month. Although last week I intentionally cut back a bit and didn’t do too much in the kitchen. So glad late summer produce preservation has slowed down. I still have to do applesauce at some point, but I think that’s it. By taking it a bit easier I was able to focus on the kids and Rebecca’s schooling more. And we had a couple fabulous days at home with projects, crafts, good naps, great attitudes, no stress, etc. It was wonderful. It was especially nice to have my happy baby back. I can tell that he does so much better when he gets a good morning nap. On days where we have to run errands, go to KM, etc. he just gets cat naps and is so grumpy. We’ve really been enjoying having our happy, playful boy back. So I want to do my best to make sure he gets his regular naps. Thankfully he was able to get good naps when we went to MOPS and when we visited the farm (as you can see in the picture below…snuggled up in the Moby).

Anyway, we did do a few things around here. Rebecca and I baked cherry chocolate chip cookies for our C baking project. I made sauerkraut, pesto, mayo and broth. And I did my one day intro experiment. We also had our first day of MOPS (so fun!! can’t wait to get to know the ladies at my table better) and visit Grassfields – the farm where we get our beef. It was so nice to see where we get our meat and see how the farm is run. They are such nice people. And the farm is very well run. We got to see all the pigs…one of which we’ll be getting later this year. We saw them making cheese and got to taste a bunch. They even made quiche for us using eggs, milk, pork sausage and cheese right from their farm. Now that we’ve made the drive I see that it’s not quite as far as I had thought. So it is still possible we could get a cow share from them in the future. And I just found out that one of the ladies at my MOPS table gets milk there and would like to share pick up. So we’ll see. At the moment I think we’re still hoping to do Lubbers for the winter (should start soon as long as they have open winter shares again). Then maybe Grassfields in the spring. The other exciting thing here is that Abram rolled over! Justin and I were both sitting there, so we both got to see it. He’s been so close for so long but finally put all the steps together yesterday. Aside from the rolling he is already on the move. When he’s on his tummy he does not stay in one spot. He is creeping around, going in circles. He looks like he’s swimming on the ground. He’ll be mobile before we know it.

My status has been up and down. I started out the week well. But by the end I was not doing so well. Two factors I think. Probably some die off from one day of intro. And too many apples 😛  I have not eaten apples in so long. And I LOVE them. But I know they don’t work well with my tummy. But after trying a couple and doing ok the week before I think I went a bit overboard this week. And am paying for it 🙁  Hoping to get back on track and bump up the chicken broth this week.

So, this week. I’m still not planning any major kitchen work. At some point we need to make a trip to the orchard to stock up on apples for applesauce. But not this week. Justin would like to go apple picking, but we have to find an orchard around us that does it. The one we normally get our apples from does not. I am planning to make chicken broth this week (got a nice little roasting chicken at the farm yesterday…and even saw them butchering fresh chickens!). And some soups with it. I would like to make a new batch of pesto. Rebecca and I will probably do some kind of D baking project. I need to look into making sour cream. It’s the first dairy recommended on GAPS…even during intro. So I’ll have to see if it’s something I can do or not. The intro challenge starts next week, so I need to get things ready! We’ll see if I do another intro day this week or not. I would also like to try liverwurst. I’ve had some (locally made) in the freezer for a long time. But was scared of it after trying liver. But I’m going to be brave this week. I just have to figure out how to eat it.

A couple things for Rebecca this week. Our letter is D, so I’m working on our activities for the week. Not as many ideas as I had for C (post on that to come), but I’m still brainstorming. The other thing is I’m trying to make food she likes this week. It’s no secret that we have eating/chewing battles with her. Sometimes she does fine. Other times it takes her an hour to eat 3 bites and we are constantly reminding her/telling her to chew. I know this can be normal…she’s 3. But it could also be GAPS related. There is a whole chapter about this in the GAPS book. It is very common for GAPS children to have eating/chewing/texture issues. So I want to keep working on giving Rebecca mostly GAPS food, feeding her healthy food that I know she likes, and taking steps towards overcoming her eating issues (there are suggestions in the book). And hopefully we can get past this. I am learning tricks at least. We had scrambled eggs on Friday…which she won’t touch (she gags on them). But I’ve learned that she will eat a thin egg tortilla (same food, just cooked a little differently…flat instead of scrambled). And I’m getting her to try bites of things here and there of food she thinks she doesn’t like. Last night she ate a tiny bite of squash and said she liked it. She would only eat that bite, but it’s still a step in the right direction. So we’ll keep working on it.

Today is church. Monday is Meijer. Tuesday is farmer’s market and Kindermusik. Although I’m not sure if we’ll go to the fm or not…not sure I need anything this week. Nothing really planned the rest of the week. But it’s likely my parents will visit one day (that could change our meal plans depending on whether or not they come for dinner). And we might do something fun…maybe go to the zoo. And we could have a playdate on Wed. Still TBD. We’ll just see how the week goes. Other than that we’ll be focusing on regular routines, relaxing and school work. Here’s what’s on the menu. It’s subject to change depending on my parents’ visit and our leftover situation. I’m only listing dinners this week since breakfast is pretty much the same as last week, and I’ll hopefully be having broth/soup every morning.

This post is linked to Plan It – Don’t Panic at Keeper of the Home.
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S (church, make broth)
  L – roast chicken and veggies in cp
  D – chicken veggie soup

M (make pesto, Meijer)
  Chicken nuggets w/ homemade honey mustard and fermented ketchup, buttercup squash, peas

T (FM, KM)
  Fresh pea soup

W (make mayo, soak lentils, D baking project)
  Salmon cakes, peas

Th (cook lentils, parents?)
  Lentil burgers w/ fermented ketchup, veg

F (clean, feed sd?, library?, parents?)
  Leftovers

S (laundry, D baking project, make sd bread?/coconut flour bread?)
  Split pea soup, pumpkin bread