It’s our final week before school and schedules begin. I’m hoping it will be somewhat relaxing.

We’ve got church. Justin and Rebecca are going to a baseball game. I need to go to Harvest Health and the farmer’s market. I’m hoping we can go to the park and maybe finally stop by my grandma’s house. We have Rebecca’s school open house and a psychologist appointment. Rebecca and I are also getting our before school hair cuts.

Tooth #4 is out!

One big thing going on this week is that we are having our house painted. We are also getting a bunch of chickens on Friday, so I’ll have to refresh my memory on how to cut up a chicken.

It’s getting to crunch time for food preservation. This is the time of year when you have so many things to do at once. I’ve started on corn, but I’d like to do a little more. Our tomatoes are getting ripe…which means time for canning spaghetti sauce!! Free stone peaches are available, so I want to can those soon. And we still have beans to freeze. Maybe I can get caught up on those today while Justin and Rebecca are at the game and Abram is napping.

Aside from the preservation I need to do some breakfast food baking. And I’d like to make a peach cobbler or crisp if I have time. Plus some kind of gluten free baked good for myself to be sure I have snacks on hand.

There is not a whole lot to say about myself. I’m still taking each day one step at a time. I’m doing my best to eat well and sleep enough. I took a nap every day last week. And I continued to push my OCD. I slept another 10 minutes later yesterday. And I’ve been dropping some of my compulsions during the day. Some days I have a lot of energy. Others I feel like I could sleep the entire day. Some days I feel ok physically. Some days my whole body hurts from the swelling. Some days I’m so hungry I feel like I could empty the cupboards. And some days I have no appetite at all. I’m doing my best to listen to my body and give it what it asks for. Despite the hard days I feel like I’m making good progress and am healing. I’ve been able to eat small amounts of some of my sensitive foods without any noticeable reactions.

I look forward to the day I can do a big update when I have experienced a lot of healing. In the mean time I really hope I have the focus and energy to get some recipes posted this week!!

I went with another simple menu this week. Hopefully I can keep up with the food preservation. What’s going on in your kitchen this week? Eet smakelijk!!

***MENU***

S (prep smoothies, church, baseball game, freeze beans)
  B – leftover eggs, toast, fruit salad (J), yogurt, fruit, zucchini muffin (M), granola /w milk, fruit (R/A)
  L – baseball game (J/R), misc. (M/A)
  D – grilled pork burgers, grilled zucchini, fruit

M (bake breakfast item, HH)
  B – smoothies, baked good
  D – tacos, peas, fruit

T (FM, park)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – pan seared salmon, baked potatoes, broccoli w/ cheese

W (soak beans, visit grandma?, open house, WT)
  B – smoothies, baked good
  D – (early) – cp ribs, cheesy mashed potatoes, beans

Th (boil eggs, cook beans, prep sauce, soak flour, Dr. M.)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast
  D – zucchini enchiladas (modified to make them healthier and so I can eat them), fruit

F (bake gf baked good, chickens)
  B – granola w/ milk, fruit
  D – soaked gf pancakes w/ sliced peaches and whipped cream, squash or peas

S (hair cut, cut up chicken)
  B – pancakes
  D – homemade gf pizza, beans

August really needs to slow down! I’m not quite ready for school and activities to start. Only 2 more weeks!!

I haven’t been quite as busy in the kitchen lately…which is why I didn’t post all last week. I just wasn’t up for it. We had busy days, and my body is so worn out during this healing process. I’m not sure what this week will bring since we will be plenty busy again. My plan is to do enough to keep a few snacks on hand, but not stress myself. And when school starts I can do my baking when Rebecca is at school and Abram is napping.

This week we have church, grocery shopping, a doctor’s appointment for me to finally get my thyroid results, farmer’s market, dance/gymnastics camp, milk pick up, a meeting at church about food/snacks, an outing with other couples from our church (big thanks to my parents for coming to take care of the kids!) and some friends from church visiting (they used to live in our house).

I would like to make another batch of zucchini muffins this week (watch for the recipe!), gf graham crackers, and some safe snacks for myself. I also need to make a dish to pass for our outing. And some kind of dessert for our guests on Saturday. I’m starting to freeze corn (did about a dozen ears last week). Soon I need to can peaches and spaghetti sauce (we’re just starting to get tomatoes from our garden).

Meal planning was tough this week since I need a prep ahead meal almost every day. I think I came up with something acceptable for most days. The hard part is that Abram won’t eat things like casseroles and soups where the food is mixed together. I hope I can figure out how to feed him  healthy foods along side the other stuff we’re having.

I definitely think I’m making progress on healing. But that doesn’t mean I feel good 😛  I’m in the middle of the really hard part. And I never do anything simply. I go for it all…trying to heal from disordered eating, obsessive compulsive disorder and a miscarriage all at once. May as well. It’s a painful process with fluid retention/swelling, weight gain, aching joints and muscles, headaches, acne, hair falling out, digestive upset. It’s very tough mentally as well. But I’m trying to keep my focus on how good I’ll feel when this is all over and keep pushing myself to eat well and take care of my body.

Friday night I managed to get almost 9 hours of sleep and push myself a little more on sleeping in. At the beginning of the year I was getting up at 4 am ever day. Yesterday I slept until 6:30. That’s a big step for me. OCD is a nasty thing, but I’m trying hard to overcome it. And that extra rest was great for my body. It meant that I felt rotten on Saturday since the rest spurred on more healing. But that’s a good thing.

I hope at some point I can do an update post with good news about healing and being past this phase. For now this is where I’m at. It could be another month or two before my body starts to balance out again. I’m trusting that God will guide me through it and that He has great plans for me.

I hope you have a healthy and happy week. Eet Smakelijk!

***MENU***

S (prep lunch, church, prep smoothies, make gf graham crackers, prep scones)
  B – oatmeal w/ peach topping
  L – cp round steak, baked sweet potatoes, beans
  D – scrambled eggs, bacon, roasted veggies, fruit, toast

M (bake scones, Meijer, Dr. A., soak flour)
  B – smoothie, scones
  D – (prep ahead) – cp honey mustard chicken and rice

T (FM, prep dinner, bake muffins, D/G, soak flour)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – (prep ahead) – pea soup, chocolate zucchini muffins

W (make gf bars, milk)
  B – smoothie, scones
  D – pan seared salmon, baked potatoes, broccoli w/ cheese sauce bacon, toast, broccoli

Th (church mtg, D/G)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast yogurt, scone
  D – (prep ahead) – cp stuffed peppers and zucchini, fruit cp tator tot casserole, applesauce

F (clean, make fruit salad, tweeners)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – at event, bring fruit salad / meal for parents and kids…salad, bread, cheese, grapes, peas, pb honey sandwiches

S (sleep, bake treats, friends)
  B – TBD
  D – grill TBD

Mid August already?? I can’t believe school starts in just a few weeks. I love the lazy days of summer. But I also think the whole family could use a little more routine. But until then we’re trying to have some fun.

Last week was very busy. I had to scrap quite a few baking projects. But it was also a good week. I’ll explain more below.

This week will be busy as well. We have church today. Tomorrow we are going to Michigan’s Adventure! We try to go every summer. Rebecca is very excited. Hopefully Abram will want to ride something…he’s not really a big fan of swings, rides, etc.

This week Rebecca still has her dance/gymnastics class. We have to go to the farmer’s market. We have to stop by a local dance studio to sign Rebecca up for fall classes. Rebecca has a speech therapy appointment. I have a MomBreak retreat one evening. And we’re going to a family fun event at my husband’s work.

I have a list about a mile long of things I need to do in the kitchen. But not much time. So we’ll see what I get to. Some potentials are gf graham crackers, pesto, gf butter crackers, gf “oreos”, an appetizer for my retreat (no idea what that will be yet), granola and toothpaste. I have a ton of zucchini to deal with. So I’m hoping to freeze some of it, use some in a casserole and make muffins. I also have to make kefir and smoothies.

On to the good stuff. I think I’m finally (FINALLY!!) making some true progress on healing. I still have a lot of swelling/puffiness that I hope will gradually start to go down now (it would be nice if my wedding ring wasn’t so tight! :P). My acne is horrible. I know my body is trying to get a lot of junk out. But I’m thankful to at least be at this point. To help with the process I’m going to (again finally!) do a liver cleanse this week. I’ll probably start that on Tuesday.

I got my blood work results last week. And for once it was some good news!! No autoimmune issues. I’m gradually learning that my body is quite healthy and capable of full healing. I don’t have any major underlying diseases or conditions. I just need to give my body proper rest, nutrition and exercise. I need to find a good balance of everything and let go of my stress/worries/anxiety. And I’m already working on ways to make this happen.

One more good thing last week…my husband and I finally got to celebrate our 10th anniversary with a rare night out. We went to an awesome restaurant (I’ll post a little review and pics soon) and to the movies. It was nice to have a chance to sit together and talk through some of the stuff going on in our lives. We discussed some more steps towards healing both for myself and for our whole family. I’ll be doing some research on water filters and chiropractors now 🙂

And worth a mention is that Rebecca lost her 3rd tooth. The process was quite difficult since it really spiked her anxiety. But we are so glad it finally came out. She has three more that are loose. We’ll see how long those take to come out.

On to the menu. Nothing fancy this week. And a few uncertain meals since I’m not quite sure when we’ll be home from some events. I’ll fill it in as the week goes on. Enjoy your week. Eet smakelijk!

***MENU***

S (freeze zucchini, prep lunch, church, prep smoothies, soak flour)
  B – pancakes, fruit salad, bacon
  L – cp chicken meatballs, mashed potatoes, gravy, peas
  D – BLTs, beans, peaches w/ yogurt

M (make zucchini muffins, MA)
  B – smoothie, zucchini muffins
  L – picnic – balogna (locally made) sandwiches, yogurt, fruit, olives, carrot sticks, chips, lemonade
  D – ? eggs?

T (make chocolate cookies, make granola, FM, dance sign up, prep dinner, D/G)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – (prep ahead) – cp 7 layer dinner

W (make pesto, freeze corn, make hot fudge make oreos, SP)
  B – smoothie, granola bar
  D – zucchini pesto casserole, corn on the cob, fruit salad

Th (make crackers, boil eggs, make brownies, prep dinner, D/G, MB)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast
  D – (prep ahead) – cp beef vegetable soup, crackers w/ cheese

F (make toothpaste, work party)
  B – toast w/ almond butter, fruit
  D – at party – bring supplemental food

S (sleep, make “oreos”)
  B – oatmeal w/ fruit
  D – grill TBD

August is in full swing. And this week will feel more like our fall routine than summer. It was nice to have some down time last week (especially since both kids had colds). And the kids had fun just being silly. But it’s time to get going now.

I have an appointment with my psychologist. Definitely NEED that 😛  Rebecca has Spanish camp every morning this week. She also has gymnastics/dance camp a couple afternoons. We have our usual trip to the farmer’s market and a trip to the grocery store. And Justin and I FINALLY get to go on a date and celebrate our 10th anniversary. We have no idea what we’re doing yet, but at least we were able to find a baby-sitter. If time allows I need to stop over to see my grandparents. I might also finally do my blood work for hormones and thyroid.

I think I have about 50 things I want to do in the kitchen this week. It seems that all of our homemade gluten free snacks have been used up at the same time. The fresh produce keeps coming as well. I have another (yes another…we ate the last one in 2 days :P) blueberry pie in the oven right now. And we picked about 11 lbs. of blueberries yesterday that I have to deal with. I’d like to make ice cream, gluten free graham crackers, gluten free crackers/wheat thins, pesto (we’ve got lots of basil to use), zucchini bread, mayo, muesli and some gluten free bars for myself. I might be freezing beans, peppers and zucchini as well. Maybe the golden grahams and goldfish will have to wait until next week.

I think I’m FINALLY starting to recover physically. Now I need my body to get back in balance. I still have a lot of aches and pains and odd things going on as hormones fluctuate and my body heals. I might do a liver cleanse this week (was going to do it last week, but my body wasn’t ready) after my blood work.

I’m so excited to be able to exercise a bit more again. It’s nothing major since I’m pretty out of shape now. 10 years ago I could run 5 miles no problem. Right now it’s a hard workout if I make it one mile at a fairly slow pace 😛  But that’s ok. It feels good just to be using my muscles again. I’m taking the slow and steady approach to fitness and health now. I don’t need to go from nothing to running a marathon over night. I’m trying to do some stretching/yoga and some weights. Keep things balanced. And make sure I’m eating enough to compensate.

I’m also starting a little exposure therapy for my OCD. I HATE it. But I know it’s what I need to keep healing mentally…and it will also impact my physical health. So yesterday I slept in an extra  hour. My goal is to sleep a little later each Saturday and work my way out of my comfort zone. For the last couple years I got up at 4 am every day. For the last 6 months I’ve changed that to 5 am. Yesterday I pushed it to 6 am. It was nice to get a full 8 hours of sleep. Although it was actually tough to sleep until 6 since my body is not used to it. We’ll see how far I go this Saturday. I’ll probably start with just 10 or 15 minute increments.

So, that’s where I’m at. Slow and steady wins the race, right? I’m trying not to be too impatient. I just want to feel “normal” again. But I know I can’t go to extremes anymore. So I’m trying to be gracious with myself and accept where I’m at each day and love myself. I’m taking little steps each day that will hopefully bring long term success and healing.

On to the menu. We need a lot of prep ahead meals this week with our busy schedule. I hope it’s a fun week. Eet smakelijk!

***MENU***

S (prep lunch, bake pie, church, prep smoothies, make mayo, make gummies, soak flour)
  B – peach yogurt, granola
  L – cp salsa chicken, rice
  D – fried eggs, toast w/ jam, peas, fresh fruit

M (make zucchini bread, prep casserole, SC, BW?, Dr. V, soak flour)
  B – smoothie, zucchini bread
  D – (prep ahead) – TBD casserole

T (prep breakfast, make graham crackers, SC, FM, prep dinner, D/G)
  B – baked apples, yogurt, nuts
  D – (prep ahead) – cp meatloaf, baked potatoes, carrots

W (make gf crackers, SC, Meijer, freeze blueberries)
  B – smoothie, zucchini bread
  D – salmon cakes, buttered gf noodles, squash

Th (skim cream, freeze beans, make ice cream, SC, prep dinner, D/G, make muesli, soak flour)
  B – zucchini bread, peach, almonds
  D – (prep ahead) – cp roasted chicken legs, rice, broccoli

F (make bars, SC, DN)
  B – muesli w/ milk
  D – out to eat / TBD simple foods for kids

S (sleep)
  B – TBD
  D – pancakes, bacon, peas, fruit

I totally dropped the ball on meal plans this week. I was so preoccupied with preserving and packing and parties…I completely forgot to plan any meals until right now. So we’ll see what I can quickly come up with on this chilly July morning in Wisconsin. I guess it’s a good thing I ended up getting up earlier than usual.

We did have a lovely weekend visiting my in-law’s. It’s always relaxing to spend time on the farm, be outside, see the animals, play in the hay, etc. Hopefully our drive home today will go smoothly.

Last week was busy and stressful. Packing is definitely not my favorite thing to do. And impending travel makes me anxious too. Once we’re on the road I do ok. But leading up to it is not good. So I was pretty stressed last week. Hopefully this week will be a little more normal.

We do have a lot to do this week. I would like to go blueberry picking since we couldn’t go last week. I also need to do some bloodwork for hormones and thyroid. I might visit my grandparents. We also have our usual trip to the library and farmer’s market (they are at the same place). This is also my week for milk pick up. We’ll see if we have time for some fun outings like the park or the zoo.

I hope to be busy in the kitchen with blueberries. Lots of freezing. Maybe blueberry topping. DEFINITELY a pie! Maybe blueberry buckle. Maybe a blueberry cake. I’ll be making another batch of ice cream this week. We’re out of plain vanilla, so I’ll probably do that. Nothing fancy. I’m still preserving beans and zucchini. I would also like to assess my pantry and make sure I’m ready to start canning. Peaches will be ready before I know it. And I want to can a bunch again this year. If time allows I need to rearrange my freezer. I just keep jamming things in. I’m running out of room, and I have a bunch of stuff in there that needs to be tossed or used up. After our trip I’m almost totally out of safe snacks for myself. So at some point I need to restock those as well.

Not a whole lot to say about myself. My recovery process is taking a lot longer than I expected. So I’m still trying to not do too much (if that’s possible). I might do a liver cleanse this week to try to flush out old hormones. I hope by this time next week I’m doing better and can start feeling back to normal. I’m still working on acceptance…of my body the way it is now. I think in the long run I’ll be much healthier. But it’s hard to have a drastic change over night.

On to the menu. I’m going for simple, summer foods. Maybe some grilling to keep me out of the kitchen too much 😛  Sorry about the lack of photos. I’ll come back and add some when we get home.
________________________
S (church, travel)
  B – yogurt, fruit (M/R/A), eggs, coffee cake (J)
  L – in car
  D – take out or something easy at home (depends when we get home)

M (make ice cream, bloodwork, blueberry picking?, prep smoothies, soak flour)
  B – yogurt, fruit, granola (J/R/A), pumpkin, fried duck egg (M)
  D – grilled brats/hot dogs, sweet potato fries, broccoli

T (make soaked gf blueberry buckle, prep dinner, library, FM, bake bread?)
  B – smoothie, blueberry buckle
  D – cp pea soup, soaked bread

W (freeze blueberries, milk, soak flour)
  B – yogurt, toast w/ pb (J/R/A), gm yogurt, fruit, soaked bar (M)
  D – (Justin out to eat?) – grilled cheese, peas, fruit

Th (make blueberry pie)
  B – smoothie, blueberry buckle
  D – honey herb chicken, baked potatoes, beans

F (visit Grandma?)
  B – egg puff, toast (J/R/A), yogurt, TBD (M)
  D – sloppy joes, chips, squash

S (bake cake?)
  B – TBD
  D – grilled pork chops, grilled peaches w/ cream, seasoned rice, peas

Ahhh…60’s. Last week was HOT! Yesterday the heat wave finally subsided. And this morning it is a nice cool 62 degrees outside 🙂

Last week was busy, busy, busy. We had quite a few places to go. Plus I did lots of baking. And I scrubbed the house top to bottom – especially the kitchen. We’ve been dealing with little fruit flies that just won’t go away. So I do a major clean up in the kitchen – in the dishwasher, in the cupboards, walls, doors, floors, etc. Thankfully there are no longer fruit flies everywhere you look 🙂

This week will be a little different for us because Justin is on vacation. The opposite extreme of his 2 weeks of crazy hours. It’ll be strange to see him around so much! He’ll be busy on house projects, but we might make a trip to the beach. And we’ll be visiting his family. I also have to go to the farmer’s market and the grocery store. It’s been over 2 weeks since I went grocery shopping. And we’re running out of some basics.

Unfortunately my body is not recovering as quickly as I had hoped. So I’m heading back to the doctor tomorrow to make sure things are ok.

As usual in the summer I’m not sure what my kitchen projects will be until I know what produce I’ll have. I’ll still be freezing beans (I’ve got about 2 – 3 gallons so far). I need to freeze some of our zucchini and maybe bake and cook with some of it. I’m still waiting on the good blueberries. They might be ready this week or next week. When we get them I’ll freeze a bunch and make some blueberry pie for sure. My favorite!! If I have time I’ll make a new batch of ice cream. And I might have to do some baking to have food for our trip. Plus I have to pack. One of my absolute least favorite things to do.

I finally got a chance yesterday to shop and buy a few things that fit. I’ve gained about 15 lbs. in the last 2 months. Most of it was out of my control. And I don’t know if any of it will naturally come off once my body is fully recovered. But I guess I needed some of it anyway. So I’m just accepting my body the way it is right now and focusing on health. God knew that I couldn’t give up the control on my own. So he took control to get me where I need to be.

I’m finding that when I stop worrying about my weight and trying to maintain a certain number on the scale (since it’s impossible right now) my worry about food has gone way down. It’s much easier to eat for nutrition and not worry about anything. We went out for dinner last night. Instead of debating over and over about what to get/what really sounds good/what I “should” get I just glanced at the menu. One thing stood out that sounded good and was something I could tolerate. I ordered it. And that was that. I didn’t stuff myself. I just ate what I wanted/to fullness like I do at home. I didn’t eye everyone else’s food thinking it looked so good. I was totally satisfied and didn’t leave feeling sick or stuffed or anxious.

I’ve also noticed that I don’t crave “treats” anymore. Last week I made cherry pie and cherry ice cream. I had a couple pieces of the pie. And since then it hasn’t even tempted me. Not that I don’t like it. But other things sound better. And I’m not trying to sneak bites or craving it. For snack last night I got the pie out to cut a piece for myself. Mostly because I figured I should…it needs to be eaten while it’s fresh and I can eat it. But then I put it back in the fridge. One of my homemade soaked rice bars sounded a lot better. So I just had one of those and some raw milk. No big dessert. Just a little snack before bed. And I haven’t had ice cream in about a week. I just haven’t wanted any. It’s so nice to not be controlled by food and to be able to listen to my body. Eat when I’m hungry. Don’t when I’m not. Choose nourishing foods. Eat a treat once in a while if it sounds good. And just enjoy life. Getting back to balance.

I’m finding that it works pretty well to focus on plenty of carbs/starch in the morning. Then making sure I get enough protein and enough calories with lunch. And eating a little lighter overall and heavy on the veggies in the evening. Now that I think about it this is exactly how I ate in college…when I got back to health without even trying/knowing anything about health. I always ate a huge bowl of cereal for breakfast (not healthy I know, but tons of carb/starch). Then I often ate lots of meat for lunch. And I loved eating salads for dinner. Things get messed up when we overthink things and stop listening to our bodies.

I think my body might not be ready for eggs yet. I’ve been having some of my food intolerance symtpoms flair again. It could partially be hormones. But I think it’s the eggs. So I’m cutting them back out for now. I’m also trying to see if zucchini bothers me. I think I do ok with it if it’s peeled and seeded. All that fiber is too much for my tummy. But I still have to experiment to be sure.

My meal plans aren’t 100% complete because I still have to figure out what we’re bringing on our trip. But I have most of it figured out.

Trust in God and eat the food. Eet Smakelijk!
____________________
S (prep lunch, freeze zucchini, church, prep smoothies, soak flour)
  B – baked oatmeal w/ berries (J), berry yogurt (R/A), cherry pie yogurt, chick peas (M)
  L – cp roast beef w/ potatoes, carrots, zucchini and onions
  D – french toast, fresh fruit, sausage, peas

M (make garbanzo flour scones, make gummies, Dr. Y., HH?, beach?)
  B – smoothie, granola bar (J/A), cheese, snap peas, rice bar (M), granola bar (R)
  D – beach/picnic? or TBD

T (fm)
  B – zucchini bread, fruit
  D – fish sticks, baked sweet potatoes, beans

W (Meijer)
  B – smoothie, muffins (J/A), toast w/ almond butter (R), fried duck egg, toast, fruit (M)
  D – beef and veggie stir fry over rice

Th (skim cream, make ice cream, pack)
  B – egg puff, toast (J), gummies, golden grahams (R/A), gm yogurt, amaranth bar (M)
  D – fried chicken breasts (gf version), peas, french fries

F (travel)
  B – TBD
  D – beef stew, salad

S (travel)
  B – TBD
  D – reception – bbq ribs/chicken, cornbread, potato salad, baked bean

Wow, the middle of July already! I feel like the first half of my summer is kind of a blur and I’m just coming out of the fog. Last week was pretty insane too. Justin worked very late every night. We pretty much didn’t see him. I had to play Mom-Dad. And the kids were hyped up on antibiotics. So I’m worn out. I hope this week is a little better.

This week should be a little less busy than last week. Rebecca has soccer camp 4 afternoons. We need to make a stop at the library and the farmer’s market. We ordered tart cherries that need to be picked up this week. If Justin is home at normal time on Monday I finally have a chance to get out of the house and speak to other adults 😛  The monthly West Michigan Bloggers meeting is that evening. There is a chance we could meet up with my SIL, nephew and niece for a playdate. And there is a chance Justin and I could go on a date to celebrate our 10th anniversary. But we haven’t planned anything yet.

My kitchen projects will depend on what’s available at the farmer’s market and what we get from our garden. So I’ll fill those in as the week goes on. I started freezing beans from our garden last week. I assume that will continue. Hopefully we can still get an ok amount even though there is a deer that is eating half of our garden. I’ll probably make a cherry pie with the tart cherries and freeze some of them. If there are good blueberries I’ll freeze a bunch of those. And I should make some more of my safe snacks to have on hand. I’m almost out. I made 3 batches of ice cream last week, so I can probably skip that this week. But we’ll see. I’ve been eating a lot of ice cream too 😛

As for my health, things are kind of changing. You’ll notice I don’t have a rotational menu this week. I’ve decided to stop sticking to a strict rotation…well, I haven’t really been sticking to it for a while now. I just couldn’t last month since I could hardly eat anything at all. As my appetite is returning I’m still trying to get variety and not eat the same things day after day. But I’m also just listening to my body.

I seem to be doing ok with small amounts of eggs. Maybe next month I’ll try eating whole eggs once in a while.

In terms of what direction I’m headed my focus right now is to heal my body. I’m trying to fully recover from years of disordered eating. Which means I need to eat…and eat…and eat 😛  No big rules. Just eat. I stumbled upon this awesome website Your Eatopia the other day. And it is just what I needed! I especially like this post about the phases of recovery. Sounds fun, huh? Not. But it needs to happen. I’ve already gained weight. I have a belly/spare tire that doesn’t want to budge. Most of my clothes don’t fit. But…I want to be healthy. So I’m going to do it. Just eat. (I need to learn from my son how to really enjoy food :P)

I know I’ve actually already made a lot of progress over the last year by nourishing my metabolism. My temps are back in the 98s. My skin, hair and nails are great. I sleep a lot more. Lots of little things that are already improved. But I need to keep going. I need to get my whole body in balance. I am not going to obsess over it like usual. So I won’t be giving weekly updates. But I will mention things from time to time if I notice good progress.

I am hoping to soon start some updates to the look of the blog. I got a couple big writing assignments done last week so I can focus a bit more on my blog this week.

So here’s what’s on the menu. Lots of good food. I’m ready to dig in! Eet Smakelijk! (Dutch for enjoy your meal)
_________________________
S (church, prep smoothies)
  B – waffles (J), gm yogurt, soaked grahams, grapes (M), toast w/ pb, gummies (R/A)
  L – spaghetti, corn
  D – hashbrown egg bake w/ bacon, roasted cauliflower, fruit

M (bake gf zucchini bread, soccer, WMB)
  B – smoothie, zucchini bread
  D – out to eat OR mac ‘n’ cheese, beans, fruit leftover egg casserole, peas, zucchini bread

T (make zucchini bread, soak flour, library, FM, pick up cherries, soccer, make amaranth bars)
  B – smoothie zucchini bread (J/A), fried duck egg, zucchini bread, grapes (M), ice cream (R)
  D – chicken nuggets, beans, rice

W (playdate, soccer, freeze cherries)
  B – smoothie, zucchini bread
  D – grilled bbq pork chops, rice, grilled zucchini or zucchini fries baked pork chops, peas, chips w/ salsa

Th (make gf pie crust, freeze beans, roast beets, skim cream, bake cherry pie, make cherry ice cream, make hot fudge, soccer, soak flour)
  B – toast w/ pb, yogurt (J), gm yogurt, fruit (M), toast w/ ab (R/A)
  D – grilled cheeseburgers, grilled zucchini, sweet potato fries

F (freeze zucchini, make gf zucchini bread, soak flour)
  B – toast w/ pb, yogurt, fruit
  D – salmon cakes, zucchini fries, cauliflower, fruit

S (make rice bars)
  B – TBD
  D – out to eat