Happy Easter!! Christ is risen!!

Where do I begin today’s post? Last week we enjoyed a little break from all activities and got to stay home a lot. We did crafts, baking, played outside. It was nice. This week…it’s back to chaos. And I’m just praying my body is up for it.

I kept very busy in the kitchen last week making a meal and goodies for my grandparents (we visited them one afternoon). I also made two batches of bars, tapioca pudding and cherry pie for birthday treats for Justin (some for home, some for work). I did some recipe experimenting for my next GRNL post. I made soaked graham crackers, peach bread, sour cream, ice cream (strawberry, cherry, kiwi), pesto, mayo and we made Easter sugar cookies.

On to this week. Today we are visiting my family. We’ll be going to church and having lunch with them. So that means an early morning for us to get there on time. Hopefully Abram handles the trip ok. Monday is milk pick up and a meeting in the evening. Tuesday is Kindermusik. I also have an appt. with my colon surgeon in the afternoon, and Justin has orchestra rehearsal in the evening. Wednesday is groceries, and Justin has worship team rehearsal. Thursday we get the results from our energy audit (they will come to our house to discuss it). Friday is MOPS. Saturday is the first day of soccer! I don’t like weeks where we  have something going on every day. But that’s the way it goes sometimes. Sadly next week won’t slow down. So I’m trying to prepare for a couple crazy weeks.

I’m not sure I’ll have time for a whole lot in the kitchen this week. Mostly I’ll be focused on our meals. Four out of five weeknights I need some kind of prep ahead meal. Aside from that I’ll deal with our milk and make more sour cream. Possibly more ice cream. I would really like to start my sourdough, but we’ll see if I get around to it. We are low on breakfast items, so I could make cereal or breakfast cookies. I would also like to bake Rebecca’s birthday cake. Her birthday is next week. I want to get the cake done and in the freezer. Then I can focus on decorations.

I don’t have much good to say about my status. I’m feeling a bit lost right now. I’ve had some pretty bad days lately. And my weight keeps going up. I’ve gained almost 10 lbs. in the last 3 months. And I don’t like it! No matter how much or little I eat. No matter how much or little I exercise. It keeps going up. I just feel uncomfortable in my own skin. If I felt great the weight wouldn’t bother me so much. But when I feel heavy, plus my acne is worse, my belly is as bloated as ever and my digestion is bad it’s not a good situation. Sometimes I feel like I can hardly eat. But then I eat junk to relieve stress. I made an appt. with my colon surgeon. I am going for a particular issue. I’m hoping he can help with that (really hoping…I’m sick of being in pain and hardly being able to eat healthy food). But I’m also hoping maybe he can give some overall direction. Every time I seem to figure something out and feel good then a couple weeks later I’m back to where I started. It’s hard to keep up with a house and two very active little ones when you never feel good. I added wheat back into my diet in January. Maybe I’m not handling it as well as I had originally thought (one reason I really want to get my sd started…maybe I’ll handle that better)? I think I’ve been eating quite a bit more sweet stuff lately. I’m thinking I really need to take a break from sugar. I’ve been reading quite a bit about fructose. I’m going to try really limiting my fructose consumption – including honey, fruit, etc. See what that does for me. Maybe I need to go back to full GAPS for a few days or a week and give my gut a rest. I’m not really sure at this point. I’m doing a lot of praying for direction and clarity. I’m trying to trust that God has a plan and a purpose for all of this. I’m trying to not worry because I know God is in control no matter how out of control things feel. I’m trying to take things one day, one step at a time and not let my mind wander into all of the what-ifs down the road. Sometimes you have to hit the bottom to start moving up again. I’m hoping I’m on the way up soon. The weather is getting nicer. I want to be out and about and active with my kids. We’re planning our summer vacation. I want to feel good when we travel and be able to make it enjoyable for everyone. I don’t have time to feel sick. I want to be living life and giving my family my energy and attention instead of giving it all to my body. I’m praying that my appt. on Tuesday will be very helpful and that I can figure out what works for me so I can get on with life.

Anyway, on to the week. I hope I can manage our trip ok today. Trying to keep the anxiety down. No Easter feast for me. Here’s what’s on the menu for now.
—————————-
S (church, family dinner, Easter, prep smoothies)
  B – granola w/ milk, fruit
  L – at my parents’ house
  D – spaghetti / leftover crab cakes

M (make broth, prep dinner,  boil eggs, milk, meeting)
  B – smoothie, muffins
  D – (early/easy clean up) – cp honey mustard chicken breasts and veggies over rice

T (freeze broth, prep dinner, skim cream, make sour cream, KM, Dr. L, CCS, soak flour)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast
  D – (cp/prep ahead) – sausage and veggie soup

W (make breakfast cookies, clean, Meijer, WT)
  B – breakfast cookies, smoothie
  D – (early/easy clean up) – hot dogs, chips, peas

Th (make yogurt, bake cake, pick up Rx)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – (prep ahead) – crockpot sweet and sour chicken meatballs, baked potatoes, beans spaghetti, beans, garlic toast

F (chop fruit, clean, start sd, MOPS, grind flour, soak flour)
  B – smoothie, breakfast cookies
  D – roasted eggs, scones, roasted veggies hot dogs, veggies, fruit

S (feed sd, soccer, bank)
  B – scones, fruit
  D – cheeseburger cups, beans, sweet potato wedges roasted eggs, soaked scones, roasted veggies