We made it through our first week of fall chaos. I think we all survived. Although Rebecca was so worn out by the end of the week. Friday she went to her room for a little quiet time before dinner. I called her at dinner time…and got no answer. She was out cold 😛  This is my girl that NEVER naps. Poor thing. We’re still adjusting to the school routine, but Rebecca loves going. That makes it easier on everyone.

I had another good appointment with my psychologist. We have some new things to try with Rebecca now.

I also had some fun in the kitchen. And I have quite a few recipe posts to catch up on.

From here on out we’ll be very busy I think. Justin is getting more involved with music at church, and he’ll be starting orchestra rehearsal soon too. I’ve also got some extra events coming up.

Today is church. Monday is preschool. Tuesday is farmer’s market and Kindermusik. And possibly more nutritional testing. Plus I’m finally going to a West MI Bloggers meeting! I can only stay for the first hour, but I’m looking forward to it. Wednesday is preschool, co-op pick up and Justin’s first worship team rehearsal. Friday is our first day of Mom Break (formerly MOPS). I’m not sure how that will go since Abram still does not really handle nurseries well. We’ll see. We also have preschool.

I have a lot I would like to do in the kitchen this week. Plus on top of all the stuff I had planned we went to the orchard yesterday and stocked up on apples and some squash. So now I have to work on canning and freezing that. Here is my list of things I’d like to make. I’m sure I won’t get to all of them, but I’ll give it a try: yogurt, fermented punch, smoothies, kefir, sour cream, homemade noodles, broth, sd english muffins, bagels, cookies, cream cheese and graham crackers. Plus make and can applesauce and bake and freeze squash. I didn’t get as much sewing done last week as I had hoped. And from the looks of it I won’t have much time for it this week. I really would like to keep working on it (I’m finally at the fun part…the actual sewing!) but it’s not a priority.

Not too much to report on myself. I tried a new supplement…and stopped it. It didn’t seem to be helping. I’m taking note of some more acute sensitivities. I’m realizing just how sensitive I am to nuts…even a small amount…even pureed (a little almond butter sandwich last week was not the best choice :\ ). Boy was I in pain the next day. So it must be the composition of the nut and not the texture. For me nuts = severe inflammation of my entire body. I’m also noticing that I can’t have anything with soy lecithin. I know I react strongly to soy. I don’t make anything with soy, and we don’t eat much packaged food. Just little things here and there. I guess even that little amount once in a while is tough for me. The only two things this really makes me sad about are chocolate chips and ice cream cones. I really need to find a good source for quality cocoa and chocolate chips that don’t have soy. And I need to keep working on perfecting homemade ice cream cones 🙂  New project…

I’m also becoming more and more suspicious of egg whites. Which is so sad. I LOVE eggs. But I’m wondering if I have a hard time with the whites the same way I do with muscle meats. It’s a tough protein to break down. Thankfully I think I still do well with egg yolks (especially raw)…which is the best part. But we eat egg dishes all the time. And I don’t want one more thing I “can’t” eat. But every time I make quiche or egg casseroles I have a hard time. And was always confused since eggs were on my good list. There wasn’t anything I could think of really that would cause problems except maybe the milk. Then we had poached eggs on Friday…and Saturday morning already I was not doing well. And there are no extra ingredients in those…just eggs. I can add 3 or 4 yolks to something I’m eating and do just fine. But if I have something with the whole egg it doesn’t go so well.

I’ve also been thinking back and trying to remember if there was ever a time that my digestive system functioned well. The only time I can think of is high school (I say “well” in relative terms). The major dietary difference I had back then was that I ate extremely low fat. I don’t consider a low fat diet to be a good one. But knowing that I likely have gallbladder problems I struggle with digesting fat. So I’m going to try to tone down on it a bit. I want to clarify that I’m not planning to eat low fat. I just need to cut back since my diet in general is very high in fat. See if that helps at all. I may also try switching to refined coconut oil instead of unrefined. I think that maybe be bothering me too.

On to the menu for this week. I’m sure some things will change as I figure out what I do and don’t have time for. And I might try to swap in a Rebecca recipe.
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S (make yogurt, prep lunch, church, make ice cream, prep smoothies, make kefir)
  B – cinnamon rolls
  L – cp bbq chicken and sweet potato corn medley
  D – leftover cream cakes, leftover pea soup, veggies, fruit

M (soak beans, bake/freeze squash, prep dinner, PS, make applesauce)
  B – smoothie, granola bar
  D – cp roast chicken, rice, roasted brussels sprouts and cauliflower

T (skim cream, make sc, strain/freeze broth, prep dinner, can applesauce, FM, KM, NT?, WMB, soak flour)
  B – yogurt, fruit, granola
  D – (separate) – cp chili, crackers w/ cheese

W (make sd muffins, make noodles, PS, co-op, WT, make cream cheese)
  B – smoothie, tbd
  D – (eat whenever) – chicken noodle soup, sd muffins

Th (make bagels?, make cookies?, make applesauce)
  B – sd english muffin
  D – taco cheesecake

F (can applesauce, MB, PS)
  B – bagels
  D – yogurt, pancake sausage muffins, fresh fruit, peas

S (make graham crackers, make cheese ball, clean)
  B – pancake muffins
  D – chocolate chip cheese ball w/ graham crackers, sausage, fresh fruit, beans

Last week was kind of slow and long. We were home all day the last couple of days. And now that Abram has decided he only wants to climb on things and has mastered climbing pretty much every piece of furniture in about 3 seconds I can’t leave his side. If you step out of his line of vision he thinks he’s cleared for making trouble. So it’s been a bit draining. Plus the usual stuff with Rebecca. And Justin had to work late a couple nights and go in to work Saturday morning. So no breaks. At least I did manage to get a lot of organizing and cleaning done yesterday. And I got my articles for Real Food and Health sent off. So I can get back to playing catch up on my blog. Now I’m trying to enjoy my few moments of peace and quiet. I know it won’t last long.

One big thing did happen last week – we had Rebecca’s preschool open house. It went well. And we are very excited to start…tomorrow! But it also made me nervous. I’m not sure I’m ready to let my little girl go 😛  I have so many things that I’m anxious about/curious to see how they will go. Things that probably most parents don’t really have to think about. Oddly enough the least of my concerns is her academics. I hope she enjoys learning Spanish and picks it up quickly. Knowing her she’ll have it down in about a week 😛

We also saw family for the holiday. We had a great time with everyone!

So this week will not be boring for sure. Today is church and a fall kick off potluck. Monday is milk pick up and the first day of preschool! I hope we can get our schedule/nap time, etc. worked out ok to get Rebecca dropped off and picked up on time. Tuesday is farmer’s market and the first day of Kindermusik! Wednesday is groceries and preschool. Thursday I have a psychologist appointment. Friday is preschool. Saturday Rebecca and I are going to an American Girl tea party at a local church for our mommy/daughter date. I hope Abram does ok with all of the coming and going and fitting into Rebecca’s schedule.

I did get started on a sewing project last week. I still need to finish cutting out the fabric. After that I think it will come together pretty quickly. Hopefully I’ll have time this week.

I’m not planning to do too much in the kitchen this week. I want there to be as little mess and stress as possible for our first week of school. If I’m trying to do a million things it will make us all stressed…not what we want. I would like to make a new batch of soaked graham crackers and pesto. Maybe some more sour cream. I did not get around to making cinnamon rolls last week since I had to bake for the potluck. So maybe this week.

I hear my peace and quiet quickly coming to an end 🙁

I’m doing ok. My friend and I are going to start experimenting with supplements since the nutritional testing isn’t proving to be too effective. I do think it pinpointed some areas of concern. But it’s not showing which supplements will work best for me. There are a few reasons for that. Anyway, I’m hoping to start some new supplements soon when I can get together with my friend.

I did figure out that I am very sensitive to anything fermented. I’ve always had a strong reaction to alcohol. One small sip and my whole body tenses up. I realize now that my body does the same thing with anything fermented – fermented punch, vinegar, etc. It even does it if I use much vanilla in something! I don’t know yet what it means, but I’m researching. I’m curious if it’s related to my ability to absorb things.

I’m also looking more into gallbladder stuff. The nutritional testing showed that as an area of concern…and it’s not something I’ve ever really looked into. But I really think I need to. I know I have troubles digesting fat (even though I know it is so healthy!) and I’ve had some sharp pains in my right side lately. I want to get this figured out soon if there really is a problem.

I better get on with the menu. I spent all week chipping away at my articles when my kids would allow. So I had to throw together a menu plan yesterday. Here’s where it’s at for now. It could change depending on how our week is going. It does have one Rebecca recipe. We’re still working out the kinks/trying to figure out what she means 😛

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S (prep eggs, church, potluck, prep smoothies)
  B – leftover egg cups
  L – potluck (bringing deviled eggs and brownies)
  D – goulash, corn, garlic toast

M (sewing, milk, ps, soak flour)
  B – smoothie, TBD from freezer
  D – beef stroganoff, beans

T (skim cream, make graham crackers, soak flour, sewing, fm, nutr. testing, KM)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – fried fish, peas, roasted red potatoes

W (make pesto, make graham crackers, meijer, ps)
  B – smoothie, TBD from freezer
  D – zucchini, pepper, chicken stroganoff

Th (prep dinner, make ic?, sewing, Dr. V.)
  B – oatmeal
  D – (prep ahead) – split pea soup, soaked soft pretzels (from freezer)

F (ps, make sweet roll dough)
  B – TBD
  D – poached eggs, toast, roasted vegetables

S (clean, make cinnamon rolls, tea party)
  B – TBD
  D – RR – “noodle cream cakes” – chicken sour cream cake w/ noodles and bread crumbs on top

The start of a new week. And I’m glad. We did have a lot of fun last week (2 trips to the zoo, played at the park, a visit to the library, lots of time outside/playing in the sandbox)…but I also had my share of mishaps. I may or may not have broken my toe on Tuesday (it’s bruised and can’t bend well, but it doesn’t really hurt). I drank some bad coconut water and had some pretty severe stomach aches. I’m still trying to get my tummy back on track now. I smacked my nose into our steel kitchen door (more bruising and bleeding…thankfully it didn’t end up looking too bad). I also dropped a big pack of frozen breakfast cookies on my foot…and have a huge bruise from that. Colds for all of us. Plenty of little daily ups and downs. I’m ready for a fresh start this week.

Today is church. Monday we will be visiting family for the holiday. Tuesday is farmer’s market. Wednesday…it’s finally here…Rebecca’s preschool open house! She and I will be going to her class and meeting the teacher and half of her classmates for an hour. She starts school next week. No other major plans this week. I’m glad we have a little down time before everything starts up next week.

I was crazy lady in the kitchen again last week. I finally started canning, I made a batch of buster bars (updated recipe to come…involved making a batch of chocolate cookies, cream filling, ice cream and fudge sauce) and a REAL cheesecake (updated recipe to come…involved making cream cheese and sour cream). Plus yogurt, kefir, pesto, sd brownies, froze beans, made/froze broth, froze zucchini and made scones.

I think I need to take it easy in the kitchen this week. No more desserts 😛  Hopefully I can spend a little time starting some sewing projects this week. I also really need to organize the kids’ closets and drawers. Hopefully I can get started on that today. I’m not sure what preservation needs to be done this week. Maybe none. Maybe I’ll bake/freeze some more squash. I will likely make more yogurt as well. I’ve been wanting to make cinnamon rolls for a while now. So I might give that a try this weekend. I’ve made them before, but not in a few years at least. We’ll see.

I’m still adjusting to my new supplements and trying to figure out if they are working. I can’t say I’m experiencing any significant improvement at the moment. We’ll see how the week goes.

On to the menu. I haven’t asked Rebecca for much input yet, so one of the meals could change. But she did request waffles, so that is on the menu tonight.
———————-
S (prep lunch, make smoothies, make kefir, church, organize rooms)
  B – banana yogurt, sd blueberry muffins (from freezer)
  L – pork chops w/ dried fruit, rice, squash
  D – waffles, bacon, milkshakes

M (Crossroads)
  B – smoothie, leftover waffles
  L – picnic
  D – grill TBD, fresh beans

T (skim cream, make sc, make yogurt, fm)
  B – oatmeal
  D – zucchini carrot soup, bread (from freezer)

W (sewing, open house)
  B – smoothie, TBD from freezer
  D – hot dog fries, peas, homemade fries

Th (sewing, make ice cream)
  B – sd breakfast cookies, fruit
  D – fried fish, broccoli, baked potato wedges pan seared salmon, rice, peas

F (soak flour, sewing, make mayo, make hot fudge)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit soaked cereal, fruit
  D – soaked egg cups, carrots, fruit TBD eggs, veggies, fruit

S (make cinnamon rolls, clean)
  B – cinnamon rolls
  D – sloppy joe cups or cheeseburger cups, beans, chips, fruit