Christ is Risen! The Lord is Risen Indeed!! Happy Easter everyone!

gluten free sugar cone with homemade mint chip ice cream – pure joy 🙂

Finally a not quite so busy week. It’s spring break, so we get a break from our usual activities and will be doing some family stuff. Probably the children’s museum and the zoo. Hopefully the weather is ok. The last few days have finally felt like spring, and we’ve been enjoying lots of time outside. Hopefully that continues.

Last week I was very busy in the kitchen. So I’ll take a few days of break this week. Maybe later in the week I’ll start some gluten free bread experimenting. And I need to work on cake and pizza dough. I still haven’t decided if we’ll do all gluten free for Rebecca’s birthday party or not. But if we do I want to be able to make it half way taste good 😛

Rebecca had a UTI last week, so she had to take antibiotics. I’m trying to give her lots of healing, nourishing, easy on the gut foods now.

This week is also Justin’s birthday. He requested a chocolate coffee cake. I’ll have to modify it a bit to make it healthier. Maybe I’ll even try making it gluten free 🙂

My other to-do is finalize some birthday party plans. I have a general idea about most of it. But it’s time to talk details.

On the health front it’s been another rough week. I think there was some die off again since I started new probiotics. But on top of that is a big inflammatory reaction to something. I have this periodically. I’ll be doing well, my weight is steady, my skin is clear and then all of sudden it’s like a puff up like a balloon. And it’s hard to figure out what causes it. Is it from pure stress (we have been busy, and I have been stressed about some things)? Is it lack of sleep (which is the same as stress to the body, and I didn’t get quite as much sleep last week with all of my early mornings of baking)? Is it diet related (I haven’t been 100% strict about rotating every component of my diet…I do well with proteins, grains and veggies, but not so much with fats and sweeteners. And I hope I haven’t developed a new food sensitivity that I’m not aware of)? It’s hard to say. All I know is it’s back to bloated/puffy/fluid retention/weight gain (it’s not “real” weight…just fluid and inflammation…and it feels awful…I put on about 3 lbs. in one week), digestive problems, bad acne/painful cysts, red eyes, bad headaches, pain in my legs from swelling, moody. It’s like all of my insides are inflamed and swollen from head to toe…and I can feel it and it shows on the outside (strechy pants, anyone? :P).

This is when I’m not quite sure what to do. Do I need to adjust my diet? Do I need to sleep more? Do I need to take a step back from all the stuff I’m doing? YES ;P

I’ve been trying to get a little extra sleep the past couple days. I’ve also been doing some detox baths and foot soaks to get some junk out and absorb more magnesium. Unfortunately it takes quite a while for things to calm down. I need to be more strict with my rotational eating. And I need lots of healthy fat, soft vegetables and healing foods like broth and gelatin. Hopefully a week without our usual to-do list will help too. I want to get my body back to calm…and figure out how to keep it that way! After listening to Matt Stone’s talk last week I was reminded of just how important sleep can be. He suggests 10 hours a night when healing. He obviously doesn’t have little kids to take care of 😛  But I’ll work on it. I’d be happy to just get 8.

I really enjoyed listening to some presentations from the Healthy Life Summit last week. There will be a replay of the top five presentations tomorrow. And there are still a few more days to get the discounted price for the whole summit. Only $79 (60% off).

On to the menu. Trying to keep it simple so we can just relax this week.
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S (church) D2
  B – granola w/ milk, berry yogurt (Justin), beets, snap peas, white rice scone (Mary), yogurt w/ blueberries (R/A)
  L – egg salad sandwich, hot dog, broccoli, chips w/ salsa, snap peas
  D – ham and cheese (plain and sandwich), yogurt, broccoli, beans, chips, fruit, snap peas

M (children’s museum) D3
  B – yogurt, muffins, orange (Justin), pumpkin salmon cake, pumpkin (Mary), yogurt, gf bar (R/A)
  L – chicken cheese sandwich, chips, peaches, beans (family); goat milk yogurt w/ blueberries, amaranth bar (Mary)
  D – TBD

T (zoo) D4
  B – yogurt, granola bar, strawberries (family); coconut flour squash scone, squash (Mary)
  L –  crackers w/ turkey and cheese, beans, popcorn, applesauce (family); cucumbers, tuna sour cream salad (Mary)
  D – TBD

W (make kefir) D1
  B – yogurt, muffins, banana (Justin), garbanzo flour scone, broccoli, cauliflower (Mary), yogurt, gf bar, banana (R/A)
  L – pb/honey sandwich, olives, popcorn, applesauce (family); snap peas, chicken (Mary)
  D – scrambled eggs, toast, sauteed veggies

Th (make gf bread, Dr. M., Dr. S., make ice cream, bake cake, strain kefir, make smoothies) D2
  B – scrambled eggs, muffins, fruit (Justin), salad, scone (Mary), scone, fruit (R/A)
  L – grilled cheese, fresh pea soup
  D – baked pork chops, seasoned rice, beans

F (bake cake, library, Justin’s birthday) D3
  B – smoothie, granola bar (Justin), gm yogurt w/ fruit, amaranth bar (Mary), smoothie (R/A)
  L – chicken and cheese paninis, broccoli (R/A), pumpkin soup, amaranth bar (Mary)
  D – gf salmon cakes, corn, homemade french fries

S (make gf pizza dough, make scones) D4
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit (Justin), coconut flour scone, squash (Mary), yogurt (R/A)
  L – homemade pizza (family), sour cream w/ raisins, cucumber (Mary)
  D – grilled steak, baked potato, peas

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D1: chicken, dry beans, garbanzo flour, lentils; broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower

D2: white fish, pork; white rice, teff; green bean, lettuce, peas, beets; pear, cranberry; coconut milk

D3: turkey, salmon; amaranth, tapioca; asparagus, pumpkin; coconut water, goat’s milk yogurt, blueberry, raspberry

D4: tuna, beef, cream, sour cream; coconut flour; cucumber, squash, zucchini; grapes; raw milk

It is officially spring! And outside it looks like the middle of winter 😛  At least we’ve had a little bit of sun and much of the snow has melted. But it doesn’t look like we’re headed for a big warm up any time soon.

Last was a busy week in the kitchen. I did a lot of gluten free experimenting. I have 5 or 6 recipes that I’m working on, including nutter butters, vanilla wafers, sugar cookies and vanilla creme cookies. I will post them when I have them just the way I want them. So this week I’ll keep working on them. I already make a 2nd batch of crackers this morning. We’ll see what Rebecca thinks this time 🙂

Last week was a completely gluten free week for Rebecca. I didn’t expect some profound effect in one week. But I do think we had more good times than usual. So I’m going to stick with it this week again and see how it goes.

Thankfully this week isn’t quite as busy as some in terms of running here and there. Aside from the usual activities Rebecca and I have dentist appointments. I will likely try to make a trip to the health food store too.

I’ve been doing a little better. It was nice to have a somewhat normal week last week and to let my body relax a bit. That being said I’m still working on getting back to my norm. A week of major stress and some poor food choices (avocado, a few peanuts and a few bites of oats) led to a return of pain and digestive difficulties. So this week I’m starting out with a lot of soft and pureed foods.

I also finally took my first detox bath yesterday. It felt a little weird…kind of tingly. But relaxing. I’m  hoping to do it at least a couple more times this week and try to get some of the junk out of my body.

I want to do more baking this week. On my list is nutter butters, crackers, amaranth tapioca bars, rice scones, cheese crackers and yogurt. I haven’t been able to make yogurt for a while because we just don’t have enough milk. So I bought some extra milk yesterday. It’ll be nice to have healthier and much cheaper yogurt in the house again. Some real food is quite expensive. But if you want to save money making your own yogurt is a HUGE money saver. I bought a gallon of good milk for $4.09. I can make 4 quarts of yogurt from that. At the store 1 quart of decent yogurt is anywhere from $4 – $6. Homemade is about $1 per quart.

I better wrap this up. I’m having a hard time focusing because I’m already listening to the Healthy Life Summit 🙂  You can still sign up for FREE and start listening now.

Here’s the menu for the week. Enjoy your Palm Sunday 🙂
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S (make yogurt, prep lunch, make gf crackers, church,  make cheese crackers, make amaranth bars, make smoothies, make caramel corn) D3
  B – toast w/ pb, fruit (Justin), goat milk yogurt w/ gf graham crackers, pea soup (Mary), gf granola bar (Rebecca)
  L – cp turkey meatballs, mashed potatoes, broccoli
  D – crackers w/ cheese, egg salad, caramel corn, apples w/ caramel, leftover veggies; pea soup (Mary)

M (make nutter butters, SP, PS, make muesli) D4
  B – smoothie, breakfast cookie (Justin), ice cream, squash (Mary), smoothie (Rebecca)
  L – squash, cheese, squash scone
  D – hot taco rice, peas

T (skim cream, make sc, bake muffins, prep breakfast, KM, dentist) D1
  B – yogurt, muesli (Justin), broccoli/cauliflower puree, muffin (Mary), gf muffin (Rebecca)
  L – broccoli, cauliflower, chicken
  D – (prep ahead) – egg cups, broccoli, gf muffins 

W (make rice scones, make pretzels, Meijer, PS, Justin out to eat) D2
  B – smoothie, TBD (Justin), rice scone, snap peas (Mary), yogurt (Rebecca)
  L – salad with peas,beets, cranberries, pork
  D – (Justin out to eat) – baked white fish, seasoned rice, peas

Th (make hot fudge, make granola, boil eggs, HH) D3
  B – HB egg, toast (Justin), amaranth bar, zucchini (Mary), egg yolk, gf muffin (Rebecca)
  L – pumpkin with broth and turkey, gm yogurt w/ amaranth bar (Mary), turkey veg soup, gf grilled cheese (Rebecca)
  D – baked salmon, cheesy rice, beans

F (soak flour for scones, make yogurt, chop veggies, clean) D4
  B – yogurt, banana bread (Justin), raw sc w/ coconut flour scone, squash (Mary), yogurt (Rebecca)
  L – squash, tuna
  D – ham, cheesy potatoes, broccoli

S (make garbanzo flour carob scones, bake muffins or bread?, milk pick up) D1
  B – tbd (Justin), GB flour scones, veg puree (Mary, Rebecca)
  L – tbd
  D – hot dogs, fries, peas

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D1: chicken, dry beans, garbanzo flour, lentils; broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower

D2: white fish, pork; white rice, teff; green bean, lettuce, peas, beets; pear, cranberry; coconut milk

D3: turkey, salmon; amaranth, tapioca; asparagus, pumpkin; coconut water, goat’s milk yogurt, blueberry, raspberry

D4: tuna, beef, cream, sour cream; coconut flour; cucumber, squash, zucchini; grapes; raw milk

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! There, my celebration is over ;P  That’s about the extent of SPD celebrating we do here. Although it is a good reminder get some greens in your diet today.

30th Birthday cake  (not for me :P…I’m not that young)

I made it. I really did. Last week was seven degrees of crazy. But I made it. I can’t say my body is too happy about it. Ok, not happy in the least bit. By yesterday afternoon as I was attempting to bake another batch of cupcakes (I had lots of frosting to use up) between getting home from the conference and trying to get things ready before the baby-sitter got here so we could go out, my hands were literally shaking because my body had been under so much stress. I had to pause for a moment, have a little snack and just breathe. But I made it. I got the cake/cupcakes done (I hope the people that ordered them enjoyed them! :). I managed all of the running around. I had a wonderful time with my SIL and my mom at an Among Friends conference (if you have the opportunity to go I HIGHLY recommend it…I’ll be doing a post on it soon). And I got to spend time out with my husband and other couples just having fun.

This week is hopefully back to a bit of normalcy. And hopefully allowing my body to relax  So far I don’t think it realizes it can 😛  Rebecca and I are getting hair cuts tomorrow. Hmmm…what to do with my hair? We might go out for dinner afterwards since we didn’t get to go out or really do much to celebrate my birthday last week (no time for celebrating last week :P). We have Rebecca’s parent teacher conferences. We’re excited to hear how she’s doing. She already passed her kindergarten assessment last week with flying colors. And she got a great progress report. Later this week I will be meeting with some people from church to try to help improve the childrens’ snack situation…make things healthier and more allergy friendly. I also have to get my thyroid levels checked this week. I’ve been on my new medication for about 6 weeks now. So I’m anxious to hear how things are going.

Birthday presents and hugs

Last week I did not have time to do any extra baking for myself. I just barely scraped by with the small stock I had in the freezer of safe foods. But now I’m totally out. So it’s back to baking for me. I already made a batch of coconut flour scones this morning. I have a long list of baking projects that I want to try. I know I won’t get to all of them this week. But I’m excited to get started. Maybe God gives me new dietary restrictions periodically so I don’t get bored with/run out of baking projects 🙂

Rebecca is finally over the virus she had. It wasn’t fun to deal with. But in a way I’m thankful. It kind of cleared things up for me a bit. I won’t go into details but I think Rebecca is in need of some gut healing like I am. So I am going to try a gluten free week for her. I’m not going to tell her about it. Just do it with foods she enjoys that are naturally gf. Just to see if there is even a small change. I will also be starting her on probiotics and trying to give her more broth. I have to be diligent about her vitamins and cod liver oil as well.

My own health could use some serious improvement as well. I’m not sure if it’s still die off or just the anxiety and stress from last week, but things have been BAD. I’m trying to be patient with my body. But it’s hard. I had been doing so well for a while (up and down days but overall well)…then bam! Day after day of major struggles. I’m hoping a relaxing day today with no major stresses coming up this week will help. And getting back on track with eating. Not that I ate poorly last week. I just made bad choices here and there because I was stressed and away from home sometimes.

In all the chaos of last week and then being gone/without being able to get on the computer I didn’t have much time for meal planning. So I still have some gaps to fill in as the week goes on. I’m trying to plan a little better for meals for Rebecca so I can make this gf week go smoothly.

Some breakfast options for Rebecca are: yogurt, smoothie/shake, eggs, nuts, fruit, veggies, broth gluten/coconut free baked goods
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S (prep lunch, make scones, church (am/pm)) D4
  B – banana bread, fruit (Justin), coconut flour squash scone, squash (Mary), yogurt (Rebecca)
  L – cp hobo dinners (w/ beef, potatoes, carrots, leeks and broccoli)
  D – (separate) – cucumber w/ sc dip, squash scone (Mary), scrambled eggs, toast, sauteed cabbage, milkshake (Justin), turkey broth, hb egg yolk, avocado, sour cream, sauteed cabbage, strawberry milkshake (Rebecca)

M (roast beets, prep breakfast, soak nuts, chop veggies, milk, ps, hair cut, make kefir) D1
  B – banana bread, hb egg, orange slices (Justin) sauteed broccoli/cauliflower/lentils (Mary), probiotic milkshake, rice pudding (Rebecca)
  L – sauteed brussels sprouts, lentils (Mary), chicken, veggie and rice soup (Rebecca)
  D – baked chicken and potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts and cauliflower

T (dry nuts, skim cream, prep breakfast, gf baking, soak flour for scones, KM, make ice cream, strain kefir, make smoothies) D2
  B – yogurt, soaked apple bar (Justin), teff and coconut milk porridge, snap peas (Mary), yogurt (Rebecca)
  L – salad w/ peas, beets, cranberries, cheese (Mary), crispy nuts, veggies, dried fruit, rice (Rebecca)
  D – baked white fish w/ tartar sauce, roasted potatoes, peas

W (make scones, make gf crackers, make gf bread, bloodwork, HF?, make muesli, PTC, co-op, WT) D3
  B – smoothie, breakfast cookie (Justin), salmon pumpkin amaranth scone, pumpkin (Mary), gf toast w/ pb (Rebecca)
  L – goat milk yogurt w/ raspberries (Mary), broth w/ veggies, gf crackers w/ cheese (Rebecca)
  D – (prep ahead/separate) – salmon salad sandwiches, broccoli, chips (family); salmon pumpkin amaranth scone (Mary)

Th (soak flour, make gf ic cones, roast squash, church mtg) D4
  B – yogurt, muesli, fruit (Justin), squash, ic cone (Mary), ice cream in a cone (Rebecca)
  L – tuna sour cream salad on cucumber (Mary), tuna salad, veggies, gf crackers or gf bread or rice (Rebecca)
  D – cheeseburgers on gf buns, french fries, squash

F (gf baking, make garbanzo pancakes, children’s museum?, BS) D1
  B – smoothie, TBD (Justin), pancake, broccoli (Mary), yogurt, pancake (Rebecca)
  L – (Mary), gf crackers w/ cheese, veggies (Rebecca)
  D – baked chicken breasts, roasted cauliflower and brussels sprouts, seasoned rice

S (gf baking, pork sale?, swimming) D2
  B – (Justin), rice/teff bar, snap peas (Mary), rice/teff bar (Rebecca)
  L –
  D – pork w/ dried fruit over rice, beans

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D1: chicken, dry beans, garbanzo flour, lentils; broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower

D2: white fish, pork; white rice, teff; green bean, lettuce, peas, beets; pear, cranberry; coconut milk

D3: turkey, salmon; amaranth, tapioca; asparagus, pumpkin; coconut water, goat’s milk yogurt, blueberry, raspberry

D4: tuna, beef, cream, sour cream; coconut flour; cucumber, squash, zucchini; grapes; raw milk

On your mark. Get set. Go!  That is how I’m approaching this week. So much crammed into a few days. But I’m doing my best to stay organized, prep ahead and not get overwhelmed.

Aside from our usual activities this week we have Kindergarten assessment, a psychology appointment (Justin and I will be going while the kids have a playdate), MomBreak, an overnight women’s conference (for me :), and a game night with our small group from church. There is a Mom’s Night Out on Tuesday, but I don’t think I’ll be able to make it.

An early birthday present from my in-laws 🙂

In addition to the events I have a birthday cake and 4 dozen cupcakes to make/decorate for Friday. I have to make a couple breakfast items for our MB meeting on Friday. I have to prepare all of the food in advance for the weekend (for myself when I travel and for the family when I’m gone) and make some ice cream toppings for our game night.

Now add to that a time change (less sleep = not good for me :P) and major tummy/health problems right now. And a potentially sick kid (Rebecca is having on and off fevers for some reason…still trying to figure out if it is from her molars or something else). I know I will do it. I know God will give me the strength I need. But right now it seems daunting.

Today’s breakfast – soaked garbanzo flour pancakes

I did at least give myself a head start. I already baked all of the cake and made the frosting. And I have banana bread in the oven right now for MomBreak. I’ll have a more detailed schedule for this week to make sure I don’t forget anything.

My health…definitely could be better. I have avoided fermented foods for a while now. I know they are so healthy. But I always seem to feel awful when I consume them. But I want to heal my gut. So I thought I’d give it a try again. I made some fermented punch last week and drank a little each day. It’s a very mild ferment. It’s mostly water, lemon juice and sugar. But it seems it was still enough to cause a problem. I had a few great days (as usual when you add good bacteria to your system)…and then things got bad very quickly. The problem? Die off 🙁  I haven’t had it in a while. But I know it well. And it is not pleasant. The fermented food kills some of the bad bacteria. And then it has to get out of your body. But that is NOT easy…at least not for me. It just sits in my gut like glue.

I’m trying to just keep going, keep eating, keep moving…but it’s hard. My body knows it needs to get rid of toxins. But it doesn’t quite know how. So I get headaches, acne over my whole body, constipation, mood swings, all sorts of unpleasant things. As the bad stuff sits there it’s like poison in my body. So my focus right now is to “detox” and get the bad stuff out. Then I can get back on track with my usual eating and healing process. I’ll probably eat a little lighter than usual and drink a little more fluid than usual while trying to flush things out. I don’t like to do that since I’m trying to really nourish my body and heal. But I have to get past this roadblock first. Because right now all I can think about is how badly my stomach hurts.

The one remaining question from all of this is do I just keep adding the ferments and get through the die off  as a way to adjust or do I have histamine intolerance and I should continue to avoid them? I’m not sure.

With that I’ll get on with the menu. I have a couple little things to fill in as the week goes on. But here’s a start. And my extra schedule to make sure I don’t forget anything this week.

Our little friend still visits daily. The kids have named him/her Tico. He stares at us through the window.

Sunday – set out kids’ clothes for the week, pack for weekend, bake for MB
Monday – cake decoration
Tuesday – cake decoration
Wednesday – prep food for F/S, make caramel
Thursday – fill/frost cake, pack
Friday – cake deco/pick up
Saturday – caramel/nuts…bake something extra to bring for myself (there will be an ice cream sundae bar)?
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S (prep lunch, bake banana bread, make pancakes, church, bake, prep smoothies) D1
  B – banana bread, orange (Justin), soaked garbanzo flour pancake w/ syrup, sauteed broccoli and brussels sprouts (Mary)
  L – cp chicken, broccoli and cauliflower, rice
  D – sauteed lentils, cauliflower and brussels sprouts (Mary), egg muffins, toast, fruit or leftover meatballs and noodles (Justin)

M (cake decoration, ped SP, PS) D2 (sick kid)
  B – smoothie, banana bread (Justin), coconut milk rice, snap peas (Mary) 
  L – coconut milk ice cream, snap peas
  D – macaroni and cheese, beans, peaches (family), snap pea, beet, bean, cranberry salad (Mary)

T (cake decoration, pack/pick out clothes KM, MNO?) D3 (sick kid)
  B – yogurt, breakfast cookies (Justin), amaranth tapioca bar, pumpkin (Mary)
  L – goat milk yogurt w/ blueberries
  D – baked salmon, sauteed zucchini, baked potato

W (prep dinner, Meijer, PS, WT, make caramel, thaw cake, soften frosting) D4
  B – smoothie. breakfast cookies (Justin), coconut flour scone, squash (Mary)
  L – sour cream w/ raisins, tuna
  D – Italian pasta bake, corn, garlic toast (family), tuna squash cake w/ cucumber (Mary)

Th (fill/crumb coat/frost cake, prep dinner, KA, Dr. M./playdate, prep food for my trip, pack) (Happy Birthday to Me 🙂 D1
  B – yogurt (Justin), sauteed cauliflower (Mary)
  L –
  D – (prep ahead) – cp pea soup, TBD bread

F (cake deco, MB, PS, cake pick up, AFC) D2
  B – hard boiled egg, toast, fruit (Justin), coconut milk teff porridge, snap peas (Mary)
  L – snap peas, beets, cheese
  D – (Mary out to eat – sushi) – leftover Italian pasta bake, broccoli, garlic toast

S (AFC, swimming, GN) D3
  B – yogurt w/ blueberries, granola bar (Justin), yogurt w/ blueberries (kids), goat milk yogurt, soaked gf grahams, blueberries (Mary – at hotel)
  L – leftover mac ‘n’ cheese (Justin), pb/j or mac ‘n’ cheese, olives (kids), pumpkin w/ salmon (Mary – on the road)
  D – (early/easy clean up) – TBD from freezer (family), pumpkin, zucchini, turkey or salmon (Mary)

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D1: chicken, dry beans, lentils; broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower

D2: white fish, pork; white rice, teff; green bean, lettuce, peas, beets; pear, cranberry; coconut milk

D3: turkey, salmon; amaranth, tapioca; asparagus, pumpkin; coconut water, goat’s milk yogurt, blueberry, raspberry

D4: tuna, beef, cream, sour cream; coconut flour; cucumber, squash, zucchini; grapes;  raw milk

Good morning, all. It’s the last week of February. I’m hoping with the onset of March comes the onset of spring. We’re all pretty sick of the never ending snow. I think 40 degrees would feel like a heat wave 🙂

This week will be fairly normal. Justin and Rebecca get two Daddy daughter dates this week. They are going to a hockey game this afternoon (it would be fun for all of us to go…but Abram and sitting for 3 hours don’t go together) and a Daddy & Me night at her school on Wednesday. I might go to our rescheduled (for the 3rd time!…thanks MI weather;) West MI Bloggers meet up tomorrow.

I didn’t do a whole lot extra in the kitchen last week. But I did do some more gluten free baking and made a few batches of broth. I’m enjoying my new baking experiments.

Rebecca won this castle last week!

Last week was quite stressful. And it really took a toll on my body. It made me realize just how important it is for me to get enough rest. Even if my diet doesn’t change, if my stress goes up I feel rotten – my metabolism and adrenals crash. I had about four days in a row of feeling ice cold, having low body temps and really messed up digestion. My temps went from almost 98 back to 95s. Thankfully after a couple days of extra sleep and rest I have brought things back my norm at least. I still have a ways to go for full healing, but thankfully I can recover fairly quickly from a crash.

To that end I’m trying to push myself a bit to sleep more and exercise less. Yesterday and today I set my alarm an hour later and skipped my morning exercise. It’s a start. I’m learning the difference between my food sensitivity reactions and adrenal fatigue symptoms. That will help me know what to adjust when I’m not doing well.

I also tried to get in plenty of broth daily last week. I think it may have been too much extra liquid. I think that just contributed to the metabolism shut down. So I’ll cut back a bit on my quantities.

I’m still experimenting with new grains. And I’m not sure I’m handling the garbanzo flour well. It seems like whenever I eat it I get a lot of pain. So maybe I’ll skip it one D1 this week and then try again on the next D1. And see what happens.

Our future math whiz working on his calculator

I have a few baking projects I might try tackle this week. But I also don’t want to wear myself out again. So we’ll just see how the week goes/how I’m feeling. I might try to make pretzels and graham crackers with gluten free flours. I also would still like to make a batch of golden grahams (didn’t get to it last week). I made one version of gluten free granola bars yesterday (recipe to come). I might make another version today.

One of my stressors right now is keeping up with all of the writing I want to do. Abram’s been an early riser for the last couple weeks. So computer time is limited. I’m prioritizing my assignments. Hopefully that will help me stay on track with what really needs to get done and what can wait. And then I have better direction. But hopefully I will have time to get a good start on my Real Food and Health articles this week.

We have decided to do a 5th birthday party for Rebecca. So I need to start planning for that. Rebecca and I decided on a theme. Now we need to work on invites, decorations, games and menus. And the cake of course 🙂  I also want to make some new behavior charts for her – more permanent ones. So I have to get some craft supplies. Finally my own birthday is coming up soon. I’m trying to think of a dessert experiment I could do for myself…something I can actually eat 🙂

Anyway, I better wrap this up. Maybe I’ll have time to do some more writing before the rest of the family is up and needs my attention. Here are most of the meal plans. I will fill in some details as the week goes on.
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S (prep breakfast and lunch, church, hockey game, prep smoothies, bake w/ Abram) D3
  B – zucchini bread, strawberry yogurt (Justin), goat’s milk yogurt w/ blueberries and soaked amaranth/tapioca crumble, pumpkin w/ butter (Mary)
  L – cp turkey meatloaf, beans, rice
  D – at the hockey game (Justin/Rebecca), salmon pumpkin pot pie w/ soaked amaranth/tapioca crust
  snack: amaranth granola bars
 
M (SP, PS, WMB) D4
  B – banana bread, sausage, smoothie (Justin), squash w/ coconut oil, raw vanilla ice cream (Mary)
  L – sour cream w/ frozen grapes and soaked grahams, cucumber
  D – leftover spaghetti, garlic bread, corn (family), coconut flour squash cakes (Mary)
  snack: sour cream, soaked grahams
 
T (KM, CCS) D1
  B – hard boiled egg, bagel w/ cream cheese (Justin), raw blueberry cheesecake, broccoli (Mary)
  L – chocolate bars, broccoli
  D – sweet and sour chicken and broccoli over rice
  snack: dinner leftovers

W (soak flour, make pretzels, Meijer, PS, pediatrician, Daddy and me night) D2
  B – banana bread, smoothie (Justin), teff and rice granola bar, peas (Mary)
  L – snap peas, gf pretzels
  D – breaded white fish, beans, baked potatoes grilled cheese, peas, chips, applesauce (family), leftovers (Mary) (sick kid)
  snack:

Th (make graham crackers, make charts, chop produce) D3
  B – hard boiled egg, bagel w/ cream cheese (Justin), amaranth tapioca granola bars, pumpkin (Mary)
  L – goat milk yogurt w/ gf graham crackers, snap peas
  D – pan seared salmon, pumpkin (Mary), broccoli, biscuits w/ jam baked potatoes w/ sour cream
  snack: gf graham crackers

F (make ice cream, make scones, make hot fudge, soak flour, MB, PS) D4
  B – yogurt, banana (Justin), ice cream, squash (Mary)
  L – avocado and snap peas in garlic sour cream, scone
  D – egg and cheese quiche, beans, banana bread french toast, applesauce (family), tuna, squash, avocado, scone (Mary)
  snack:

S (chop produce, make pancakes, swimming) D1
  B – garbanzo flour pancakes/english muffins w/ jam, broccoli
  L – quiche (family). TBD (Mary)
  D – chicken and cheese sandwiches or paninis, roasted cauliflower and brussels sprouts, custard w/ strawberries or tapioca pudding
  snack:
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D1: chicken, dry beans (pinto, navy, white, fava, mung), lentils; quinoa; broccoli, kale, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, cauliflower; blueberry, raspberry, date; coconut oil, carob, cane sugar, mint tea

D2: white fish, pork; white rice, teff; green bean, lettuce, peas, beets; pear, cranberry; lard, cinnamon, maple syrup, coconut milk

D3: turkey, salmon; amaranth, tapioca; asparagus, pumpkin; palm shortening, coconut water, goat’s milk yogurt

D4: tuna, beef, raw cream, sour cream; wheat, coconut flour; cucumber, squash, zucchini; coconut, avocado, grapes; EVOO, butter, ghee, tallow; cocoa, raw milk, green tea, honey

snacks: D1blueberry, raspberry, date; D2 crumble; D3 TBD w/ palm shortening, tapioca flour or amaranth and pumpkin ; D4 ice cream, soaked graham crackers, raisins, frozen grapes

It’s another coooold Michigan morning. I’m very ready for spring! But it doesn’t look like it’ll be here any time soon. Single digits this morning. Brrr.

This will be a fairly normal week. On Thursday we have a Kindergarten information meeting. I can’t believe we’re already thinking about that for my little girl! We also have Bible study on Friday…as long as we can find a baby-sitter.

Sleeping Beauty Ballet Grandma, Mommy, Daughter date

I’m hoping to get caught up on some writing this week. Last week Abram was up early every day because of a stuffy nose and cough. And he took short naps. I hope he starts sleeping better again so I can get things done. Although so far it’s not sounding promising.

This week I’ll be doing more experimenting with alternative grains (now that I finally made it to the health food store!). My plan is to try new grains and to soak them. I’m hoping the soaking will help my body digest them more easily. I learned last week that quinoa does not work for me. I’ll have to try it again sometime soaked, but not for a little bit.

All set for “cool”

I’ve been doing more research as always. And I re-read some information on the GAPS site. I thought this was interesting:

“Food “allergies” or intolerances are the result of “leaky gut” when the gut lining is damaged by abnormal micro flora. Foods do not get the chance to be digested properly before they get absorbed through this damaged wall and cause the immune system to react to them. Unless the reaction is very severe, it should be ignored. Just concentrate on healing the gut lining with the Introduction Diet. Once the gut wall is healed, the foods will be digested properly before being absorbed, which will remove most food intolerances and allergies.”

I’m not going back to GAPS. But I do want to continue to include some of it’s healing principles into my diet. So I’m going to try to add broth to my diet daily…but rotate it 🙂  I’ll be making beef broth and chicken broth this week. That will give me three broths to rotate (I also have turkey). Hopefully at some point I can make fish broth as well. Theoretically if you really include a lot of broth you should experience healing of a leaky gut fairly quickly…and get rid of intolerances. So I’ll keep rotating, eliminate my problem foods and add in broth daily. We’ll see what that does.

I’m finding that a rotational diet really makes it easier to figure out what does and doesn’t work. Last week I learned that quinoa is out (for now). I also tried sweet potatoes again…big no. I usually react to a food about 24 hours after I eat it. I had sweet potato soup on Thursday. Friday evening I looked in the mirror…eyes were back to red/bloodshot and painful…and they still are. There were plenty of other symptoms too. I just couldn’t believe how quickly my eyes returned to red. Really my whole appearance changed…worse acne, red eyes, dry skin and my hair gets kind of frizzy. Who knew that my bad hair days were actually caused by a leaky gut and food sensitivities? 😛

Pear Cranberry Rice Pudding

I’m still figuring out what does and doesn’t work. It seems that a lot of the foods I ate while on GAPS are the ones I can’t eat now because I ate them over and over and over (that’s what tends to happen when you have a very restricted diet). So I’m still not sure about avocado and dates.

I’m trying to get my body back in balance now and stop the inflammatory response. I’ve got my meals fairly well planned out. I’ll be adding in breakfast and maybe lunch items as the week goes on…just to help me stay on track and plan ahead for soaking grains.

I’m happy to say I’ve been Miralax free for over 2 weeks now!!! I’m so proud and so happy. As long as I eat the way I should my digestion is doing pretty well. I don’t intend to ever take it again. And I praise God for giving me the strength to take this step. It will be so helpful for my overall healing and allowing my body to absorb the nutrients it desperately needs.

I have a little boy up now…and I smell something…so I better get this posted. Maybe I’ll get to write more tomorrow…
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S (prep lunch, make beef broth, church, prep smoothies, make kefir, soak garbanzo flour) D4
  B – applesauce bread, banana (Justin), sour cream w/ grapes, squash w/ butter (Mary)
  L – beef in gravy over noodles and squash, corn
  D – waffles w/ fruit topping and nuts, clementines, milkshake (family), tuna sour cream avocado salad on cucumber (Mary)
snack: soaked grahams, frozen grapes; beef broth

M (strain/freeze broth, prep dinner/make chicken broth, make scones, milk, strain kefir, soak beans) D1
  B – leftover waffles w/ blueberry topping (Justin), scone, sauteed broccoli (Mary)
  L –  crispy chickpeas and broccoli, scone
  D – cp chicken, rice, roasted brussels sprouts and cauliflower
snack: carob garbanzo flour scones, blueberries; chicken broth

T (strain/freeze broth, make 2nd batch of broth, soak amaranth flour, cook beans, make white rice scones, KM, CCS) D2
  B – smoothie, cinnamon raisin toast w/ pb (Justin), scone, snap peas (Mary)
  L – rice, peas and beets cooked in broth and coconut milk
  D – chili w/ cornbread (family), salad w/ bacon, beets, pears and cranberries w/ creamy coconut milk dressing (Mary)
snack: scones, honey coconut milk; turkey broth

W (PS, co-op, WT) D3
  B – cinnamon raisin toast w/ pb, smoothie (Justin), pumpkin salmon pot pie w/ soaked amaranth crust (Mary)
  L – goat’s mlk yogurt, pumpkin and asparagus cooked in broth
  D – leftover chili and cornbread (family), salmon cakes, roasted asparagus (Mary)
snack: yogurt; beef broth

Th (bake/freeze squash, freeze butter, Dr. M., KG mtg) D4
  B – waffle yogurt (Justin), broth, squash, ice cream (Mary)
  L – broth, squash, ice cream cone
  D – hot dogs, tator tots, squash (family), tuna, squash, avocado (Mary)
snack: soaked grahams; chicken broth

F (clean, chop veggies, PS, BS, soak teff) D1
  B – cornbread w/ syrup, banana (Justin), garbanzo carob scone, broccoli cooked in broth and coconut oil (Mary)
  L – blueberry pie w/ date and garbanzo flour crust, broccoli
  D – pancakes (garbanzo flour pancakes for Mary) w/ blueberry topping, sausage, roasted brussels sprouts
snack: scones, blueberries; turkey broth

S (make TBD w/ teff, swimming) D2
  B – 
  L –  
  D – spaghetti, garlic toast, peas (family), leftover sausage, peas (Mary)
snack: scones; beef broth
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D1: chicken, dry beans (pinto, navy, white, fava, mung), lentils; quinoa; broccoli, kale, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, cauliflower; blueberry, raspberry, date; coconut oil, carob, cane sugar, mint tea

D2: white fish, pork; white rice, teff; green bean, lettuce, peas, beets; pear, cranberry; lard, cinnamon, maple syrup, coconut milk

D3: turkey, salmon; amaranth, tapioca; asparagus, pumpkin; palm shortening, coconut water, goat’s milk yogurt

D4: tuna, beef, raw cream, sour cream; wheat, coconut flour; cucumber, squash, zucchini; coconut, avocado, grapes; EVOO, butter, ghee, tallow; cocoa, raw milk, green tea, honey

snacks: D1blueberry, raspberry, date; D2 crumble; D3 TBD w/ palm shortening, tapioca flour or amaranth and pumpkin ; D4 ice cream, soaked graham crackers, raisins, frozen grapes

I’m pausing just for a moment here to gather myself. It’s been quite a whirlwind here lately. Last week I got all of my test results, and I’m still trying to process it all/decide how to proceed. In addition to that the whole family has been sick…and there may be more to come. It started Monday night with Abram puking. I’ve felt somewhat sick pretty much since Tuesday. Thursday Rebecca started puking (non-stop for 12 hours straight). Then I got worse Thursday night (one benefit of my digestive issues is that it takes a LOT for me to puke…so I held it together). And it didn’t help to sleep in the living room floor waking up every 15 minutes with Rebecca. Friday Justin started. Yesterday we thought we were on the mend. Then Rebecca started puking in the night again. When will it stop? I’m still hoping and praying that what we are all recovering from is what Abram had last week and not something he has yet to catch. And hopefully Rebecca is done for real this time.

Just to add to the “fun” I decided that now would be a good time to stop my Miralax cold turkey. What was I thinking? I’m not really sure. But here’s hoping I can manage and my body can figure things out quickly. I have a sick family to care for. So far it has led to lots of extra nausea and pain. But I’m determined to get this garbage out of my body. I’m trying to drink some extra fluids to help the process. I’m not a fan of overhydrating. But I can tell that my body is not absorbing water the same without the miralax. So I need some extra.

Let’s hope this week proves to be a bit more positive. None of us will be going to church today. Another day to rest and recover. It’s fine with me. We got so much snow in the past few days. It’s hard to even get out of the house. We are starting our new milk drive share tomorrow. Hopefully that goes smoothly (and doesn’t take an extra hour on snowy roads). I have an appt. with my psychologist and the kids have a post-ear infection check up. Our bloggers gathering was cancelled last week because of the snow. So we’ll try again this week. Friday is Bible study. But whether or not I go is TBD. It depends how much prep work I have to do for Saturday. We’ll be going to my nephew’s birthday party, and I’m making the cake.

The only extra I have planned so far for this week is the cake. I hardly had time last week to even think about meals, let alone anything extra. We’ll just see how everyone does this week. If time allows I can do some experimenting with allergen friendly recipes.

I will be taking time this week to do lots of research on test results and treatments. For now I’m implementing a rotational diet (as my tummy is able…sometimes the nausea wins over what I think I should eat). I am sticking to totally egg free for a bit. I have about 5 dozen eggs to use up…so I have to come up with some ideas for those (Sara…do you want me to bring you some on Saturday?? :). I am not completely eliminating wheat and dairy yet. But I am cutting back and trying to only eat them in rotation. So you’ll notice in my meal plans that I’m attempting to give myself some guidelines to help keep track of when I eat what. I know I won’t be perfect since I’m just starting and I haven’t had time to prep all of the necessary food or shop for new things. But it’s a start. And I’m trying to plan ahead so I can eat decently at our party on Saturday.

I started my new thyroid medication this morning. I’m hopeful that it will be a big help. But I think it can take a couple weeks to really make a difference.

I think that’s about it for now. My brain is kind of mush after illness, lack of sleep and lots of anxiety (over myself and my kids). Here’s what’s on the menu for now. We’ll see what everyone is actually up for eating. Our Super Bowl menu could turn into chicken noodle soup 😛  Rebecca picked out some new veggies at the store and helped plan some meals this week.
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S (prep dip, make lemon bars, church, Super Bowl, prep smoothies)
  L – leftover hashbrown egg and ham bake, beans, custard w/ granola
  D – 7 layer dip cups, onion rings, lemon bars, bbq hot dog bites, veggies

  Veg: beets, chickpeas, beet greens, beans
  Grain/starch: chick peas
  Fat: butter
  Protein: beans/chick peas

M (bake cake, milk, ps)
  D – “tuna sea salt cakes”, “white kale crunchy salad” / leftover hashbrown bake, toast, broccoli

Veg: kale, avocado
Grain/starch: quinoa
Fat: evoo
Protein: tuna

T (bake cake, KM, Dr. V.)
  D – (prep ahead) – beef and bean nachos, custard w/ granola

Veg: peas, zucchini
Grain/starch: wheat
Fat: cream, butter
Protein: beef

W (bake cake, PS, Dr. S.)
  D – chicken nuggets, roasted brussels sprouts and cauliflower, tator tots

Veg: brussels sprouts, cauliflower
Grain/starch: squash
Fat: coconut oil
Protein: chicken

Th (WM Bloggers)
  D – pork chops and apples over rice, beans, artichoke

Veg: artichoke, green beans, beets
Grain/starch: white rice
Fat: lard
Protein: pork

F (crumb coat/frost cake, MB, PS, BS)
  D – scrambled eggs, toast, corn, custard w/ fruit

Veg: squash, TBD
Grain/starch: tapioca
Fat: palm shortening
Protein: salmon

S (decorate cake, swimming, bday party)
  D – at party

Veg: lettuce, avocado, peas
Grain/starch: TBD/wheat
Fat: TBD
Protein: beef