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Meal Plans Week of 11-10-13

Veggie Tales Live

Good morning. This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it!

Time for another busy week where my goals are to catch up and rest as much as I can. Somehow that seems to always be my life. Lately the rest is first priority. Although it’s tough on nights like last night where my son didn’t fall asleep until after 10! Crazy kid. And I think I just heard him now…at 6:30 am! Not good.

This week I have my usual two chiro visits. We have milk pick up. I have a MomBreak meeting. My daughter has a doctor appointment. And my husband has an orchestra concert. We are going to try to make it to that…should be interesting since it’s at nap time. And if you’ve seen my son recently when he is low on sleep, it’s not a pretty sight.

I managed to go through more of our apples last week. But there are more to go. I want to do at least one more round of applesauce. And I’d like to make dried apples and apple crisp. I still need to make a batch of cheese crackers. I want to make some safe crackers for my son. I’d also like to make a batch of granola, muffins and cook some dried beans for easy lunch components.

I am also hoping to make some vegetable purees this week. It is becoming so tough to get my son to eat any vegetables. About the only ones he’ll eat are the ones he reacts to. So it’s time to start hiding purees in our food. I don’t really like to do that. I like kids to eat their vegetables and taste them. But for now this is what I have to do to get him to eat some good stuff. I already made gluten free, rice free, dairy free chocolate cupcakes yesterday that are filled with squash. He loves them. And I added chicken broth and squash to our taco meat last night. He cleaned his plate.

In addition to food stuff, I want to get going on Christmas planning this week. It’s time to plan gifts and get started on our Christmas cards. I’m really going to try this year to be on top of things so I’m not doing all of the shopping last minute.

And of course I need to sleep whenever I can too. My goal is to be in bed on time every night. And push myself to sleep in a little more. Then I won’t need a nap and can hopefully get a lot done during the day/during nap time.

Lots of coloring and reading over the weekend.

I really hope to get some posts up as well this week. I have several that I’m working on. I just need time to finish them. And I’m hoping in the near future to focus a little more on my blog. I am no longer a part of Village Green Network. So I can now make changes.

On to the menu. I think I came up with meals that most of us can eat most nights. It’s the best I can do. I might start meal planning for every two weeks or maybe even a month at a time. Maybe I’ll try that next week. But I’ll still do my weekly posts. Enjoy your week. Eet smakelijk!

****MENU****

S (church, prep smoothies, make/can applesauce, soak quinoa)
  B – apple cinnamon yogurt, banana bread
  L – cp chicken and veggies
  D – (separate) – crustless cheese quiche, banana bread, beans, applesauce

M (chiro, make dried apples, make gf apple crisp, roast beets)
  B – smoothie, banana bread
  D – chicken and broccoli stir fry over quinoa

T (make yogurt, AKM, chop veggies, RKM, CCS practice)
  B – banana nut yogurt, lemon poppyseed muffins
  D – packed dinner for Justin, misc. for the rest

W (soak beans, milk, chiro, boil egg)
  B – smoothie, banana bread
  D – hamburgers, fries, roasted cauliflower

Th (cook beans, Dr. M, prep dinner, dance)
  B – quiche, muffins
  D (early/separate) – cp chili, garlic bread

F (MB, make chocolate sauce, make sour cream)
  B – granola w/ milk, banana
  D – gluten free corn dogs, broccoli, applesauce

S (soccer, CCS concert)
  B – corn cakes w/ syrup, fruit
  D – prep ahead – TBD

Soaked Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

Soaked Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

Looking for a delicious way to use up extra zucchini or to simply add veggies to your kids’ diet? This soaked gluten-free zucchini bread is easy to make and will quickly become a family favorite.Soaked Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

No matter what time of year I love zucchini. It can be added to just about anything!

One of our favorite ways to eat zucchini is in bread. It adds moisture to baked goods without adding an odd flavor.

Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

This is my soaked and gluten-free version of zucchini bread. You still get the sweet, cinnamon zucchini bread flavor. But it’s much easier on your tummy.

You can read more on why it’s important to soak grains HERE.

Soaked Gluten-Free Zucchini BreadHow to Use Up Extra Zucchini

When zucchini is in season, we get quite an abundance from our garden. If you participate in a CSA you likely get a lot too!

We actually keep up with eating most of it fresh. But I do try to preserve some. I like to grate it and freeze it in two-cup portions so that I can make gluten-free zucchini bread any time of year!

Some of our other favorite ways to use zucchini include:

How to Eat Zucchini Bread

In my opinion, zucchini bread is best enjoyed fresh out of the oven, topped with lots of real butter.

Sometimes for variety I add chopped walnuts, raisins, cranberries, or chocolate chips. My kids love all of these variations.

Easy-Prep Zucchini Bread

One of the best things about soaking your grains is that you can do most of the prep work ahead of time. I prefer to do it the night before. Then in the morning you can have fresh zucchini bread in the oven in minutes!

By the time everyone is showered and dressed there is warm zucchini bread for breakfast. Pair it with eggs or bacon for a well-balanced, real food diet.

Do you like zucchini bread? What else do you make with zucchini?
Soaked Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread: A kid-friendly tummy-friendly treat #realfood #feedingkids #zucchini

Soaked Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread

makes one 9″ loaf

1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1 tsp. psyllium husk powder
1/3 cup butter or coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup soaking liquid (yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, sour milk or warm water + 1 Tbsp. lemon juice or vinegar)

2 eggs, separated
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar (optional – it helps the egg whites get stiff)
1/2 cup honey
1 cup grated zucchini
1 tsp. organic vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

chopped nuts, chocolate chips, dried fruit (optional)

Directions:

  1. Mix the flours, fat, psyllium husk, and soaking liquid. Remove any lumps. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 7-24 hours.
  2. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9″ pan.
  3. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
  4. Add the remaining ingredients (except nuts/chips/fruit) to the soaked flour. Mix (with hand mixer, stand mixer or food processor) until well combined and lumps are removed (about 2 minutes). Fold in egg whites. Stir in nuts/chips/fruit.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake 55-60 minutes, until golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Meal Plans Week of 11-3-13

Good morning! Did you remember to give yourself an extra hour to sleep? I’ve never been a fan of the time change…especially after having kids. But with lack of sleep the past week and a half from sick kids up in the night I appreciated a little extra rest. I’m just not sure my kids are going to go along with the sleep an extra hour idea. I just hope everyone is back to full health soon.

This will be another fairly normal week. I have to go to the chiropractor, grocery shopping and to a MomBreak steering team meeting. We are also taking the kids to see Veggie Tales Live. I’m not sure if I should be excited or scared 😛

I still have a lot to do in the kitchen. My apples once again had to take a back seat with most of the family being sick. I didn’t have much energy, and my legs were really swollen and painful. So I couldn’t stand for a long time working on apples. And my son was hardly napping and up a lot in the night. So I’m really hoping I can go a bit apple crazy this week and get a good stock of applesauce in the pantry. And make more dried apples. Other than that I will probably be making another batch of yogurt. That may become a weekly thing now that we have extra milk. I also still have to make a batch of cheese crackers. I might experiment to see if I can make a version that is dairy free!

The cutest doctor and Mickey Mouse around.

My other assignment this week is my writing. I was pretty productive last week getting blog posts up. I have another writing assignment due this week that I haven’t started. I need to get on that asap!

I’m excited that I’m finally figuring out my root issue that I think is what started all of my health problems – low estrogen. It’s not that common. Most women have the opposite problem. And when you don’t ever hear or read about it, it is not the first thing you think of when looking for answers for your health. But I finally figured it out. And it makes my entire life make sense. Now that I’ve got that figured out I need to understand how to remedy it. And that could be tougher than finding the problem. But I’m working on it. One potential positive thing that could come from this is being able to add some foods back to my diet that I thought I was sensitive to. I have some experimenting to do now…which could be unpleasant at first. But it could be just what I need. I’ll give an update some time when I know the results of my experiment.

On to the menu. It is getting harder and harder each week to come up with meals the whole family can (and will) eat and that fit into our schedule. I think I managed for another week. How about you? What’s on your menu? Eet smakelijk!

****MENU****

S (prep lunch, church, make/can applesauce, roast beets, roast/freeze squash)
  B – chicken sausage, corn muffins w/ syrup
  L – cp pork roast, rice, beans
  D – grilled cheese, egg salad or pb/j, broccoli, fruit salad, chips w/ salsa

M (make/can applesauce, chiro)
  B – yogurt, muffins
  D – pork, pea and mashed potato casserole (Rebecca’s recipe), applesauce

T (prep dinner, make yogurt, make bread pudding, vote, AKM, make coconut milk ice cream, RKM)
  B – corn muffin bread pudding, grapes
  D – (quick prep) – cp chicken and quinoa

W (chop veggies and potatoes, chiro, Meijer)
  B – yogurt, granola bar
  D – chicken nuggets, roasted brussels sprouts, homemade french fries

Th (make/can applesauce, dance)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast
  D – (early/eat separate) – cp meatballs, potatoes, carrots

F (make dried apples, MBST, VT)
  B – yogurt, 
  D – (early/quick/easy clean up) – hobo dinners OR sandwiches, chips, fruit, veg

S (soccer)
  B – TBD
  D – tacos

Monthly Goals – November 2013

November…time for the holiday madness to begin. I’m hoping to stay on top of things this month. But also keep my focus on being thankful and letting God be in control. All thanks go to Him. Here is what I have planned for the month.

1. Health and Healing

*Make sleep a priority. I need to work on getting 8 hours of sleep a night or from a combination of night time and nap. My body really needs this to keep healing.

*Chiropractic care. I will be visiting the chiropractor two times a week for the next 11 weeks. I am so excited to see the end results and see if it has any impact on my overall health. I’ve lived my whole life leaning to the left. I’m not sure how it will feel to not do that anymore. I will also be doing more therapeutic massages.

*Exercise. I will continue to try different forms and durations of exercise to see what works best for my body. I’m hoping over time I will be able to increase the intensity a little bit to get back in shape. But my health/the healing process comes first.

*Balance hormones. My main health focus right now is balancing my hormones. I have already seen huge improvements over the last few months. Honestly I am quite amazed. But there is still more to be done. I think I might actually have a problem with low estrogen production. So I’m looking into ways to help that. If I can get my hormones properly balanced I think a lot of my other issues will resolve easily. I am learning that my anxiety, my OCD, my acne, my swelling…a host of issues…are due to hormonal imbalance. Who knows…maybe by the end of the year I’ll have good posture, clear skin and be rid of anxiety and OCD. That would be amazing!


*Healing for my son. Now that my son has been diagnosed with some food allergies I want to keep his health a priority. I am not going to put him on a diet like GAPS. But I will try to incorporate as many healing and nourishing foods in his diet as I can – broth, gelatin, etc.

2. Writing

I have to write my Jan./Feb. article for Real Food and Health magazine. I hope to keep up with plenty of blog posts as well. I know that I post mostly recipes on my blog. That’s my thing. But I would like to branch into other topics as well. Since I’m learning so much about hormones and the female reproductive system maybe I’ll start sharing some of that information as well.

3. Food

*I need to really get busy processing apples – applesauce, dried apples, baked goods.

*I need to keep stocking our cupboards with homemade snacks. I also need to make sure I have plenty of food my son can eat.

4. Mommy Daughter Date

I think our M/D date this month might turn into a whole family outing. We are considering seeing Veggie Tales Live. I think both kids would really enjoy it.

5. Crafts

*I’ve been saying this since January. But I really do want to work on some homemade Christmas gifts. At least some things with the kids. So I’ll be scanning Pinterest for some cute ideas and hopefully get started.

*I will continue to do our weekly homeschool crafts.

6. Acceptance

This month I am going to focus on accepting my body the way it is/being patient with the healing process. And I’m going to focus on the members of my family. I want to focus each day on the things I love about them and try to be positive and encouraging.

End of Month Recap and Links – October 2013


Happy Halloween! Another month is coming to an end. Overall October was a good month. I made a lot of progress on my healing. I’m still learning new things every day. And putting all the puzzle pieces together one step at a time. Although the waiting is hard, God is doing great things. I think I did pretty well on my goals this month. I probably could have used a little more rest…but that’s life. Here’s how it went.

1. Healing

  *Continue to push my OCD – sleep in more, eliminate compulsions, give up control. I will also be using my afternoon free time to do my baking and experimenting. It will be a good distraction for me. – I continue to push myself. I am happy with the progress I’ve made.

  *Start seeing a chiropractor to help with healing and overall body function and to address my scoliosis. I hope to also do some massage therapy. – I have had a few chiro appointments now. I am working on fixing my scoliosis and getting some curve back in my neck. The massage is amazing too!


  *Exercise regularly – walking, jogging, biking, yoga, kettlebells, hooping, jumping (whatever I feel like each day)  – I have learned that my body is not quite ready for a lot of cardio. I try to do some weights/kettlebells, yoga, stretching, jumping and hooping most days. Once in a while I bike or walk. I hope I can gradually increase as my body heals.


  *I hope my swelling/fluid retention starts to go down at some point this month. I’m wondering if it could partly be due to estrogen dominance. I will be doing more research on that. – Unfortunately I still have swelling. I think it is hormone-related. And I think (HOPE!) it will gradually subside as my hormones continue to balance.


  *Hopefully purchase a Berkey water filter to remove fluoride (and other heavy metals) from our water. – We decided not to do this right now.

2. Writing

I think I might be ready to give a health update soon. I don’t know how long it will take or how tough it will be, but I want to tell a little more of my story. So be on the lookout. Hopefully I’ll do it this month. – I wrote about how I really spent my summer. It was hard to write, but also very freeing.

3. Food

  *Can applesauce – I just started.

  *Gluten free baking experiments – always 🙂


4. Mommy-Daughter Date

Rebecca and I are going to the ballet to see The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe with my mother-in-law. – We had so much fun at the ballet!

5. Crafts

It’s October now. I suppose I should start thinking about Christmas. Maybe I’ll actually make a few things this year. I will also keep doing weekly crafts with the kids for our toddler homeschool. – I did not start any big crafts. I have kept up with weekly crafts for the kids, though. We are up to letter H this week.

6. Acceptance

 I still have to work on this every day. Accepting myself, accepting my circumstances and accepting others. I will address this more in my health update as well. – This is still tough.  But I try to do it daily.

And now for some interesting reads from fellow bloggers and a recap of my own posts from the month.

****OCTOBER LINKS****

A recipe for coconut milk yogurt! I may have to try this for my son.

A fun post on what to give the real foodie in your life…it’s not what you expect…but it is appreciated!

Want to stay healthy? Try honey and cinnamon for colds and flu.

Gutsy gives an in-depth review of h. pylori – what it is and how best to treat it.

Carageenan is in so many products…even the “healthy” organic ones. Girl Meets Nourishment explains exactly what it is.

Oh Lardy gives some great reasons for avoiding low fat dairy.

Gluten Free Graham Crackers (rice free, dairy free, egg free, corn free, nut free)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…I love graham crackers!  They have been my go-to snack for many, many years. It’s very rare that we don’t have any in the house.

Last week we ran out of graham crackers. And it was perfect timing. I usually use butter to make graham crackers. And it wouldn’t have been much fun telling my son he couldn’t have them.

So I made a new batch that is gluten free, dairy free and rice free! I was quite surprised that I couldn’t really tell a difference using all coconut oil instead of butter.

The kids still love them, and I do too! Graham crackers are a perfect mildly sweet treat for the whole family. Even if you have allergies.


One batch makes about 50 crackers, so they last quite a while. I fill a 1/2 gallon mason jar with crackers. And we’ve got a grab and go snack ready when we need it.

Gluten Free Graham Crackers

1 cup amaranth flour*
1/2 cup tapioca flour*
1/4 cup sorghum flour (can be replaced with amaranth)
1/4 cup teff flour* (can be replaced with sorghum or amaranth)
1/2 cup organic cane sugar or coconut sugar* (can reduce to 1/4 cup)
1/2 tsp. sea salt*
1/2 tsp. vanilla
6 Tbsp. liquid sweetener (honey, molasses and/or maple syrup…I like to use at least 2 Tbsp. of molasses to really get a graham flavor)
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted (this can be replaced with butter if you tolerate dairy)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut 3 pieces of parchment paper the size of a baking sheet.

Melt the oil. Set aside.

Mix the flours, sugar and salt. Add the vanilla, sweetener and the oil and mix until well combined (I do this with a spoon). The dough should hold together when squeezed. If it is crumbly add more honey.

Split the dough into 2 equal parts. Lay one piece of parchment paper on a table. Put 1/2 of the dough on the paper. Lay a 2nd piece of parchment on top of the dough. Squish the dough down a little with your hand. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough between the parchment paper. Roll the dough until your desired cracker thickness (1/4 – 1/8th” or so). Remove the top piece of parchment paper.

 Cut into squares (with pizza cutter). Place on a baking sheet (on the parchment paper…just move the whole thing onto the baking sheet). Repeat for the other half of the dough.

Bake for 11-12 minutes**. Turn the oven off, but leave the crackers in to get crisp. Remove after 10 min. You can run the pizza cutter over the cut lines again to help separate the squares before the dough completely cools. Let cool completely. Store in airtight container or in the freezer.

**The crackers should be baked on the top oven rack. It works best to do one pan at a time to avoid burning.

*These are affiliate links. It will not change the cost for you if you buy through the link, but I will get a small commission. It helps me earn a small amount to keep putting in the time and effort to do what I do 🙂

Gluten Free Apple Pie Breakfast Cake (rice free, dairy free, nut free, corn free)

Now that my son is dairy, wheat and rice free I have to be a bit more creative with my cooking and baking. A couple days after his allergy test I made this breakfast cake as a treat for him.

It’s really simple to make. And the whole family enjoyed it.

The apples are lightly sweetened and resemble an apple pie filling. The cake has a hint of spice from the cinnamon. It’s a thin layer, so it’s not too heavy for an early meal. The combination makes a delicious breakfast.

Nothing says fall in Michigan like apples. Why not start your day with them? How do you like to incorporate apples into your breakfast?

Gluten Free Apple Pie Breakfast Cake

1 cup gluten free flour (any one or combination of amaranth, teff, sorghum, tapioca, millet, oat, quinoa – I used amaranth, teff and tapioca)
3 Tbsp. coconut oil*, melted
3 Tbsp. coconut milk*
1 egg
1/2 cup organic cane sugar or coconut sugar*
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt*
1/4 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

5 medium apples, peeled, cored and chopped
1/4 tsp. cinnamon (or to taste)
2 Tbsp. organic cane sugar or coconut sugar

Heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 7×11 baking pan with coconut oil.

Place the apples, cinnamon and sugar in the prepared pan. Gently mix. Place in the oven to bake for 5-10 minutes while you mix the cake batter.

Combine the flour, sugar, soda, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add the oil, milk and egg. Beat until well combined. The batter will be thick. Dollop onto the slightly baked apples.

Return the cake to the oven. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes, until the apples are tender and the cake is baked through and golden. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

*These are affiliate links. It will not change the cost for you if you buy through the link, but I will get a small commission. It helps me earn a small amount to keep putting in the time and effort to do what I do 🙂

Meal Plans Week of 10-27-13

It’s the last week of October already! How did that happen? I guess I’ve been too busy to notice. Last week was crazy busy. And to top it off the kids were sick. But we managed. And thankfully this week isn’t so busy.

I do have two chiropractor visits this week (and will for quite a few weeks to come). Rebecca has a field trip for school. And we aren’t sure yet what we’re doing on Halloween. It depends on what time Rebecca has dance that day. We also have a MomBreak meeting this week. I’m pretty sure the kids and I will be staying home from church today.

I have a list a mile long of things I need to catch up on in the kitchen. Last week my cupboards were bare. And to top it off we had Abram tested for allergies. So what was left he couldn’t even eat. I managed to make graham crackers, granola, a few batches of gummies, two batches of ice cream (one dairy free), roast beets, roast and freeze squash, make yogurt and make an apple breakfast cake (recipe coming soon). But I still have a long list. And on the top is making and canning applesauce. So that will be my focus first. After that I can get back to restocking the fridge and cupboards with healthy, homemade food for the kids, like muffins, granola bars, cheese crackers and some gluten free bars for myself.

My husband’s new toy and Abram’s new obsession.

I mentioned my son’s allergies. We found out that his main allergy is to dairy. But the list also includes eggs, wheat, rice, almonds, grapes, pears, bananas, peas and beans. So we are in the process of making this adjustment. It definitely makes meal planning harder! It’s quite difficult to come up with meals the whole family can eat. I’m not even sure what vegetable to cook anymore. I guess I’ll be making more meals that have individual components so everyone can pick and choose what they like/what they can have.

I’m trying to focus on keeping Abram nourished and doing what I can to help his body heal quickly. I hope some day he can add most if not all of these foods back into his diet.

My health seems to continue to improve. I recently had my hormone levels checked…and they are perfectly normal!!! That is truly amazing. God is good. My body temperature has been great too. 98’s and even 99’s! I learned that I do have PCOS, but not the typical form. Mine is simply from undereating/overexercising/stress. And now that I’m taking care of myself it’s reversing quickly. My thyroid problems are the same. I’m in the 10% that simply have hypothyroid due to stress, etc. instead of an autoimmune disease. So that is reverseable as well. I’m on my way to good health again. I still need to work on getting more sleep and reducing stress and making sure I’m eating plenty of nutrient dense foods that I tolerate. But I am truly amazed at how much progress I’ve made in just a few months. God has done great things. And I’m excited to experience more healing.

I also got to see the details of my scoliosis/spine issues last week. As I’ve known since I was 16 my spine curves to the left. And now it also curves back to the right at the top (must be from compensation over the years). I also have hardly any curve in my neck…the beginning stages of a hunch back that runs in my family. Thankfully the chiropractor said he could fix both! So I will be going for adjustments and traction two times a week for a while. I also had my first therapeutic massage. Wow, was that great! I’ll be doing that again for sure.

On to the menu. Like I mentioned, meal planning is becoming more and more difficult. But I think I came up with an ok menu for the week. What’s on your menu? Eet smakelijk!

****MENU****

S (prep lunch, church, make/can applesauce, prep smoothies, make kettle corn)
  B – pancakes, banana
  L – meatloaf, baked potatoes, carrots
  D – (snack foods) – popcorn, pecans, crackers w/ cheese, peas

M (chop veggies, cut butter, organize kithcen, chiro, health food store)
  B – smoothie, TBD from freezer
  D – baked pork chops, broccoli, rice

T (make/can applesauce, AKM, RKM, soak flour)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – (quick prep) – pan seared salmon, hashbrowns, beans

W (make gf cheese crackers, chiro, make gf bars)
  B – smoothie, granola bar
  D – spaghetti, broccoli, garlic toast

Th (make dried apples, make egg puff, make yogurt, cut up butter, field trip, dance, work party?, Halloween)
  B – egg puff, toast smoothie, gf zucchini bread
  D – (prep ahead/eat whenever) – cp roast chicken and veggies

F (make egg puffs, chop veggies, make df granola bars, MB, bake muffins)
  B – granola bars, yogurt, fruit egg puff, toast
  D – sausage, gf muffins, roasted veggies, fruit

S ()
  B – leftovers
  D – chicken noodle soup, gf muffins

Meal Plans Week of 10-20-13

Rebecca eating plain butter.

Cold and rain, cold and rain…that’s pretty much the weather here this week. I guess it was bound to really feel like fall at some point. Maybe that means it’s time for lots of soup. And since I’m sitting down this morning with not a single meal planned yet I might just do that…a week of soup.

We had a pretty busy week last week. And this week will be even busier. Tomorrow is my son’s allergy test. I hope he does ok with it, and I hope there aren’t any severe reactions. I also have a psychologist appointment. We have milk pick up. I have a dentist appointment. I have a chiropractor appointment and a massage. I had x-rays taken last week, so I’m anxious to see how bad my spine is and get a plan of action. I think I’m going to live at doctors offices this week. I should make a trip to the local health food store, but I’m not sure I have time. And it’s our grocery week. I have no idea when that will happen either.

Yesterday we had a fun time celebrating my parents’ 40th wedding anniversary. My family hasn’t all been together in a while, so it was nice to see everyone.

I’m not sure what I’m up to in the kitchen this week. I have a ton I could do. But I feel like I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately. So I want to make that a priority. I guess I’ll have to take it one day at a time. These are the potential projects: make and can applesauce, make gf graham crackers, bake/freeze squash, make gf cheese crackers, make gf bars, make ice cream, make bread, make breakfast foods, cook a big batch of beans. I’ll fill in details as the week goes on.

Overall I’m doing well health-wise. I know my metabolism is nourished and healthy (with a morning temperature of 98.73 today something has to be working right!). I do need to work on sleeping a little more. My main issue now is balancing hormones. My thyroid and my reproductive hormones are still not doing what they should be. So I’m doing a lot of research on how to help that. I have noticed that doing just about any aerobic activity makes things worse. So I’m going to do more yoga and strength training. They are supposed to help raise and balance hormone levels. Basically it boils down to eat more, sleep more, lift more. I never realized before just how important weight bearing exercise was. But it can be so helpful for hormone regulation, bone health, preventing osteoporosis…all sorts of things! So I’m going to give it a try. I just need to figure out what to lift. Anybody have a weight bench they want to send my way?? I didn’t know how spoiled I was back in college when I could go to the weight room every day. I didn’t realize how much good stuff I was doing for myself when I did lift weights there.

Now for the menu. Let’s see if I can fill everything in here. It’s a crazy busy week, so I’m thinking lots of crockpot meals. Again, maybe I’ll do a week of soups. What are you eating now that the weather is getting colder (or even if it’s not where you are)? It’s time for fall foods here. Eet smakelijk!

Abram devouring chicken liver pate!

****MENU****

S (church, prep smoothies, soak beans)
  B – toast w/ peanut butter, apple
  L – skillet cheesy beef and noodles, applesauce
  D – leftovers, fried perch, beans

M (cook beans, prep dinner, allergy test, Dr. V.)
  B – smoothie, TBD from freezer
  D – (prep ahead) – cp sausage and bean stew

T (make pesto, AKM, RKM)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – (quick prep) – pesto pasta

W (bake tbd for breakfast, milk, dentist, co-op, out for dinner?)
  B – smoothie, baked good
  D – (prep ahead) – cp beef and veggie soup

Th (grocery shopping, chiro, massage, dance)
  B – baked apples, yogurt
  D – (prep ahead/eat separate) – cp baked potato soup w/ bacon and cheese

F ()
  B – hard boiled egg, toast
  D – pancakes, bacon, peas, fruit

S ()
  B – pancakes
  D – stuffed squash w/ bacon and beans

Gluten Free Pear Muffins (dairy free, nut free)

For a couple weeks my house seemed to be overflowing with pears. I’ve used most of them, but we still have a handful of very ripe pears that need to be used.

Pears are a bit tricky to bake with because they have such a high water content. You’d think they are interchangeable with apples, but they aren’t.

So while brainstorming what to do with my pears I decided to try muffins. I’ve never made any kind of bread or muffin with pears. I was happy with how these turned out.

The muffins are very moist. But also sweet with a mild spice from the nutmeg. If you want the texture to be a bit more uniform and not chunky you can grate the pears instead of dicing them. You could even puree them/use pearsauce instead of fresh pears.

However you make them, these muffins are a perfect fall treat. They even have some vegetables in them!

What is your favorite way to enjoy pears?

Gluten Free Pear Muffins
makes 1 dozen

1 cup white rice flour*
3/4 cup amaranth flour* or sorghum flour
1/2 cup organic cane sugar or coconut sugar*
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt*
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
5 Tbsp. melted coconut oil* or butter
2 Tbsp. honey or molasses
1/2 cup pureed squash
2 large or 3 small ripe pears, peeled and finely diced
organic brown cane sugar, sucanat or coconut sugar for topping (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tin with paper liners.

In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients. Add the vanilla, egg, oil, honey and squash. Mix well (the batter will be thick). Add the pear. Mix until fully combined.

Divide the batter into muffin cups. Sprinkle sugar on top.

Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool.

*These are affiliate links. It will not change the cost for you if you buy through the link, but I will get a small commission. It helps me earn a small amount to keep putting in the time and effort to do what I do 🙂

This post is linked to From The Archives Friday.