Here we are at Sunday again. My life has changed drastically in the last week. A week ago I was hoping my life would be a lot different. But some very difficult personal stuff happened that I hope to be able to share someday. But for now I’ll just leave it at that. I’m doing my best to keep going. And really working on my goal this year of acceptance. My kids both came down with strep throat last week too. So they are in the process of recovering. I hope our 4th of July week is much happier next year.

I was thankful for a quiet week last week. And it was so nice to have Justin home for four days in a row to help out at home. Tomorrow it will be back to reality for me. We have a pretty busy week. I hope my body is able to keep up.

Today is church. I’m not quite ready to be out and about and social yet. So the kids and I are staying home. Monday is grocery shopping. Tuesday is farmer’s market and speech therapist. Wednesday is milk pick up. Thursday Rebecca has a psychologist appointment. And there is a chance I could meet up with my SIL and nephew and niece on Friday. But it’ll just depend how I’m feeling…if I’m too worn out physically and emotionally yet.

We got a lot of strawberries frozen last week. We now have 5 gallons in the freezer. I also made strawberry fruit leather, 3 pints of strawberry topping, strawberry gummies and strawberry shortcake. We went cherry picking yesterday, so I’m in the process of preserving those. So far I’ve frozen about 5 lbs. and have a batch in the dehydrator right now. I also caught up on a few baking projects last week.

We are starting to get zucchini and beans from our garden. So those will be showing up on our menu more often. And I’ll be preserving them as well.

This week I’ll mostly be dealing with produce. I have to freeze more cherries, make cherry fruit leather and hopefully some kind of cherry dessert. If the farmer’s market has blueberries I’ll be freezing some of those and making gf blueberry pie. I need to make a new batch of squash scones and maybe some ice cream. I’ll also do at least one gf baked good.

I also have to do some serious writing this week. I’ve had so much other stuff on my mind the last month I haven’t been able to focus at all. But I have a lot of stuff due next week. You may have noticed there haven’t been many blog posts either. Hopefully I’ll soon return to my usual kitchen experimenting self and have some new recipes.

I also need to start working on some blog updates. Hopefully they will make the blog look a little cleaner and easier to read.

In terms of my health I’ve kind of switched to recovery mode for now. I’m trying to nourish my body, get rest and heal. In a few weeks hopefully I can lay out a better plan as to how to continue on my healing journey. For now my plan is just take it easy and enjoy time with my husband and kids.

On to the menu for the week. Today’s lunch is a casserole that my grandma brought us yesterday. She’s so thoughtful. And it’s nice for me to get another little break. Some of our meals are repeats from last week since we had to change plans when the kids were sick and weren’t eating much. I hope this week things are looking up.
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S (dry cherries, church, make cherry cobbler, freeze cherries, make cherry fruit leather, prep smoothies) D4
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit (J/A), toast w/ pb (R), yogurt w/ soaked grahams, cherries (M)
  L – tator tot casserole (brought by my grandma), applesauce
  D – gf corndogs, chips w/ dip, broccoli, cherry limeaid

M (make gf graham crackers, Meijer) D1
  B – smoothie, banana muffin (J/A), yogurt (R), duck egg, TBD (M)
  D – sweet and sour chicken stir fry over rice (Justin worked late, just the kids and me)

T (writing, FM, SP) D2
  B – corn cakes w/ syrup, cherries (J), cherries, cheese, rice bar (M), yogurt (R/A)
  D – BLTs, homemade sweet potato chips, peas (Justin worked late, just the kids and me)

W (writing, milk) D3
  B – smoothie, TBD (J/A), gm yogurt, amaranth bar (M), gummies, fruit (R)
  D – pan seared salmon, zucchini cakes, corn (Justin worked late, just the kids and me)

Th (skim cream, boil eggs, make squash scones, Dr. M., make ice cream) D4
  B – hard boiled egg, toast (J), squash scone, yogurt (M), golden grahams w/ milk (R/A)
  D – spaghetti, corn, garlic toast

F (make ice cream, freeze beans, freeze cherries, soak flour) D1
  B – hard boiled egg, toast (J), TBD (M/R/A)
  D – waffles, bacon, roasted veggies, fruit

S (bake TBD) D2
  B – waffles (J/R/A), fruit, cheese, rice bar (M)
  D – salad bar (toppings: avocado, cheese, bacon, cranberries, nuts, misc. veggies, homemade croutons), TBD baked good – scones, muffins, etc.

The last day of June. This morning’s post will be a quick one. Yesterday was kind of stressful with travel, and I have a semi migraine this morning. So I’m just doing the minimum. Not sure I’ll be making it to church today. But at least we had fun celebrating my niece’s 1st birthday.

We don’t have any major plans this week. We’ll be doing the usual 4th of July stuff – parade and craft fair.

We did manage to do some strawberry picking last week, so I have to deal with those. And I have some potential baking projects – golden grahams, goldfish, amaranth bars, rice bars and squash scones. We’ll see how the week goes.

On to the menu. What’s cooking in your kitchen this week?
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S (prep lunch, church, prep smoothies, make ic treats) D1
  B – yogurt, granola, strawberries (J/A), duck egg, TBD (M), toast w/ pb (R)
  L – cp honey mustard chicken over rice, carrots
  D – grilled chicken and cheese sandwiches, broccoli, fruit

M (freeze strawberries, soak flour, make strawberry topping) D2
  B – smoothie, donut (J/A), cheese, rice bar (M), granola w/ milk (R)
  D – cp pork chops, baked potatoes w/ sour cream and cheese, peas

T (make amaranth bars, make gummies, FM) D3
  B – oatmeal (J), gm yogurt, amaranth bar (M), gummies, fruit (R/A)
  D – spaghetti takeout – sick kids

W (make golden grahams make muffins, freeze strawberries, bake shortcake) D4
  B – smoothie, banana muffins (J/A), TBD golden grahams (M/R)
  D – tomato soup, grilled cheese spaghetti, corn tacos – sick kids

Th (make goldfish, make golden grahams, soak flour, parade, craft fair) D1
  B – egg puff, toast (J), duck egg, TBD (M), golden grahams (R/A)
  D – grilled burgers or brats, homemade potato chips, broccoli

F (make rice bars) D2
  B – TBD (J), cheese, rice bar (M), gummies, toast (R/A)
  D – scrambled eggs, bacon, toast or scones, peas, fruit

S () D3
  B – TBD
  D – tomato soup, grilled cheese

Kind of a slow start to our morning today. The last 2 days have been busy with seeing both sides of the family and going to my brother-in-law’s wedding. Late bed times, lots of excitement, cake decorating, the works. It was so great to get to see so much family, especially relatives we haven’t seen in years. But it was also tiring. We’ll see how long the kids sleep in today 😛

 Now that the wedding is over we can relax a bit. We’ll be busy this week, but nothing out of the ordinary. We need to restock our fridge and cupboards. We should make trips to Heffron Farms, Harvest Health, Meijer and the farmer’s market. And possibly strawberry picking. But that’s a lot of errands in one week. So we’ll see. I’d also like to make a stop at the library to stock up on books again. And possibly go to the zoo or children’s museum. We will also see more family when we celebrate my niece’s first birthday on Saturday!

My potential kitchen tasks for the week are granola bars, squash scones, rice scones and ice cream treats or rainbow ice cream. If we go strawberry picking I need to freeze a bunch and hopefully make jam. I would also like to try making gluten free bread again.

A short one this week. My brain is a bit tired 😛  Here’s what’s on our menu. What’s cooking in your kitchen?

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Happy Father’s Day!!! I’m so grateful for my father, my father-in-law, my grandfathers and of course my amazing husband!

Happy Father’s Day!!

This will kind of be a week of celebration for us. We are celebrating Father’s Day today as a family. And over the weekend we get to see almost all of our family for my brother-in-law’s wedding. Rebecca gets to be a flower girl for the first time. She is so excited. We’ll also celebrate Father’s Day with both dads and my niece’s 2nd birthday while we’re there.

Last week we had fun with cheerleading camp, time at the library, playing outside and homemade ice cream treats. This week I have an appointment with my psychologist. We’ll make our weekly trip to the farmer’s market. We’re starting to see strawberries. Soon we’ll stock up (maybe go picking?) so we can get a bunch in the freezer. We have milk pick up and co-op pick up. And we’ll be getting ready for wedding stuff.

Mommy-daughter date – painting our toe nails for the first time.

I need to make more bars for myself, scones for a new breakfast item, maybe more gummies for the kids (if our order of gelatin arrives) and food for the weekend. Our festivities won’t have much gluten free food, so I’ll have to be sure I’ve got easy stuff for Rebecca and me to eat/to bring along.

I’m still plugging along with my healing. I’m trying to take naps most days and get to bed on time. I’m not worrying too much about food, just eating what sounds good and what I know my body tolerates well. I have been learning just how much anxiety impacts my adrenal function. I can tell when I have a cortisol spike. It gives me a burst of energy and it takes over what my body is really feeling. Any pain or upset stomach goes away as the adrenaline kicks in. I want to go, go, go because I’ve got energy. Even though that’s not what I need. The feelings are a short term thing. Then I come crashing down and have to work harder to recover. So I’m working on keeping anxiety to a minimum.

On to the menu. We’re running low on meat in the freezer. So it’s getting tougher to plan meals. I need to do some shopping soon to stock up. Maybe next week. What’s on your menu?
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S (bake amaranth bars, FD, church, prep smoothies) D3
  B – yogurt, granola (J), pancakes (A/R), gm yogurt, amaranth bar (M)
  L – beef stroganoff, corn, applesauce
  D – grilled hot dogs, seasoned french fries, peas

M (bake scones, Dr. V.) D4
  B – smoothie, scones (J/A), squash, scone (M), granola w/ milk (R)
  D – (prep ahead) – cp rice and beans w/ cheese, sour cream, avocado

T (FM, soak flour) D1
  B – yogurt, granola, banana (J/R/A), duck egg, TBD (M)
  D – cheesy chicken, broccoli and rice

W (make rice bars, milk, make gummies, co-op, pack) D2
  B – smoothie, scone (J/A), TBD, rice bar (M), granola w/ milk (R)
  D – ham, scalloped potatoes, beans

Th (pack/prep food) D3
  B – pancakes w/ strawberry topping (J), gm yogurt, bar (M), toast w/ ab (R/A)
  D – (Justin out to eat) – Rebecca’s Restaurant – grilled ham and cheese, peas, milkshakes

F (pack/prep food, prep cake stuff, rehearsal) D4
  B – egg puffs, toast, strawberries (J), squash, scone, yogurt (M) TBD (R/A)
  D – rehearsal

S (wedding) D1
  B – (Justin out to eat) – yogurt, bar (M), muffin, raisins (A), strawberries, granola bar (R)
  L – (Justin out to eat) – hot dogs, olives, grapes (R/A), grilled cheese, squash (M)
  D – wedding

Rah, rah, rah…it’s cheerleading week! Rebecca has cheerleading camp all week. I’m excited for her 🙂  This week will be a bit busier than last week. Father’s Day is almost here…ummm…time to shop. We also have our weekly trip to the farmer’s market, a trip to the grocery store, and I have a MomBreak steering team meeting (first one!).

I have quite a few kitchen projects on the agenda this week. I need to use the rhubarb I bought last week. I’m thinking I’ll probably do a crisp with it. I need to make a batch of soaked rice bars and coconut flour scones. I need to make some breakfast baked good. And I need to bake the cake for my BIL’s wedding. I could also try making veggie broth and coconut milk if time allows.

I tried to take it pretty easy last week. I took a nap almost every day. I was in the sun as much as possible. And I went to bed on time every night. My neighbors must think I’m lazy and just lounge in the sun all day 😛  But I really am doing hard work trying to heal my body. And it seems to be helping. My body temp has been in the 98’s all week!!! Yes, my weight is higher than it’s been in about 9 years (excluding pregnancy). But that’s life. I spent lots of time playing and reading with my kids. And we went to a baseball game last night. I’m doing my best to stay focused on what matters and being healthy.

Can’t have baseball without hot dogs…so we brought our own organic grass-fed dogs on gluten free buns…shhh, don’t tell 😉

Here is the weekly menu. I had a hard time coming up with meals this week. I think it’s time to do some browsing and find new recipes to try. I’m getting bored with our usual meals.

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.” Ephesians 3:17 – 18
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S (church, make rhubarb pie or crisp, prep smoothies) D4
  B – yogurt, granola (J/R/A), yogurt, amaranth bar, squash (M)
  L – cp sweet and sour meatballs over rice, beans
  D – grill burgers, chips, broccoli

M (bake muffins, CC, soak flour, FD shopping) D1
  B – smoothie, muffins (J/R/A), fried duck egg over beets (M)
  D – cp roast chicken, potatoes, carrots

T (make rice bars, CC, FM) D2
  B – yogurt, granola (J/R/A), blueberries, cheese, rice bar (M)
  D – cp pork chops, rice, peas

W (CC, Meijer) D3
  B – smoothie, muffins (J/R/A), gm yogurt, amaranth bar, pumpkin (M)
  D – fried perch or baked white fish, chips, broccoli

Th (make scones, CC, ST) D4
  B – egg puff, toast (J), yogurt, squash, scone (M), toast w/ pb (R/A)
  D – (early/easy clean up) – tuna noodle casserole, corn

F (make ice cream treats, CC, clean) D1
  B – granola w/ milk, strawberries (J), fried duck egg, mushrooms (M), gf golden grahams w/ milk (R/A)
  D – gf pancakes, roasted brussels sprouts and cauliflower, applesauce

S (bake cake) D2
  B – pancakes (J/R/A), snap peas, cheese, rice bar (M)
  D – grilled steak, carrots, baked potatoes