Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest! Happy Palm Sunday 🙂  And a special morning for me…Abram is still sleeping!

This week is spring break for most schools. So there isn’t much going on. It doesn’t mean much for us since we don’t have kids in school. But it does mean that we don’t have Kindermusik or MOPS. So we have absolutely nothing going on! Well, never nothing. But basically nothing. Today is church. Thursday evening we are going out for dinner for Justin’s birthday. Friday Justin has off of work for Good Friday. That’s pretty much it. I am going to use this week to make progress on Abram’s sleep training. Since we’ll be home every morning we can have a normal nap every day in his crib and have him put himself to sleep. He’s done it 3 days in a row now with less than 10 minutes of crying. And he’s sleeping a lot better at night. Hopefully a week of being home and taking normal naps will really help. We might try to have a park playdate this week. And I might try to visit my grandparents. That’s about it for us. That’s fine with me since last week was pretty busy with milk, Kindermusik, Meijer a park playdate, shopping and lunch with my SIL and nephew and birthday shopping.

Last week I made cookie dough ice cream, yogurt (2 batches), oatmeal muffins, pesto, sour cream, soaked granola (an experimental oat-free version made with wheat and buckwheat…turned out well), kefir, soaked bread, soaked buns and soaked pretzels.

This week I have a pretty long list of things I’d like to make. I’m out of soaked cereal and graham crackers, so I want to make more of both of those. I want to make more sour cream and ice cream (not sure yet what flavor to try this week). Justin often asks about tapioca pudding, but I’ve never made it (and don’t know if I like it or not). So I bought some tapioca pearls recently and want to try making it. I will also be making a cherry pie for Justin’s birthday treat. Rebecca wants to make and decorate Easter cookies (sugar cookies). I also need to make a new batch of mayo and possibly breakfast cookies. Justin would like some cookies to bring to work for his birthday. And I might bring my grandparents a meal/dessert. I could also start my sourdough, but that might wait a week or two yet. If that doesn’t keep me busy enough I can work on my sewing projects. I also would like to do more Easter projects with Rebecca (we did some coloring and made a bunny mask already).

For meals I will be doing some recipe experimenting for my next GRNL post. Rebecca picked out fennel at the store last week, so I still have to figure out how I want to use that. It’s a new veggie for us.

I guess Abram didn’t quite make it long enough for me to finish my post 😛  But I’ll take 6:45 over 3 am any day!

Not much to report on myself. Up and down, up and down. Still trying to figure things out. Some days I feel like I’m making good progress. Some days I feel like I’m back at square one. I’m trying to leave out oats again. And I know that I can’t eat nuts right now (hopefully at some point I can add them back). I’m enjoying lots of ice cream for breakfast 🙂

Here’s what’s on the menu.
———————
S (cook beans, prep lunch, chop veggies, make croutons, church, grind flour, prep smoothies)
  B – french toast
  L – cp rice and beans, applesauce / leftover pea soup
  D – leftover pizza burgers, mozz. sticks, corn / salad w/ mozz sticks, croutons, avocado and cucumber

M (roast beets, soak flour for graham crackers, bake peach bread, bake bars)
  B – smoothies, soaked date scones
  D – grilled “cheese”, roasted brussels sprouts, peaches

T (skim cream, make sour cream, prep dinners, make graham crackers, visit grandparents)
  B – smoothies, peach bread
  D – cp chicken breasts, potatoes, carrots and onions, roasted beet salad

W (make pudding, make ice cream)
  B – toast w/ pb, banana yogurt
  D – recipe experiment, coconut flour bread, pears, pudding

Th (out to eat/Justin’s birthday, make pie)
  B – yogurt, granola, mixed fruit
  D – out to eat – Ucello’s

F (clean, make/decorate cookies)
  B – TBD
  D – frittata, roasted brussels sprouts, recipe experiment

S (pack)
  B – leftover frittata
  D – tuna or crab cakes, roasted fennel

A sleepy good morning to everyone. Our little non-sleeper…is sleeping even less. I didn’t think it was possible. But it seems that waking up at 2am…and not really going back to sleep is just fine with Abram. We’re kind of struggling trying to figure this out. We try orajel, Tylenol, tummy drops, diet changes, rocking, nursing, diaper change, letting him cry…nothing works. He just won’t sleep. Justin and I are getting pretty tired. I wish Abram would too 😛  Maybe it’s because of a growth spurt? He is really taking off with walking. I don’t know. I just hope it’s done soon whatever it is.

Anyway, last week was a fun one. We didn’t have much going on in terms of errands, etc. But we stayed busy with fun activities. We made our first trip to Cone World. Rebecca and I enjoyed the ice cream, but we could have done without her flip backwards over the bench on to the concrete…on her head :\  We were supposed to have a park playdate one day, but it got cancelled. So we went to the playground at the elementary school instead. We also went to the zoo. And we went to another second hand sale. Yesterday we all walked to the local bike shop and got new helmets for Rebecca and Abram. It’ll be fun to try putting them both in the bike trailer soon 🙂

The kitchen wasn’t quite as busy as some weeks. I made yogurt, sour cream, caesar dressing, croutons, pizza crust, bread and buns. Yesterday Rebecca and I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies. It’s been a while since we’ve baked any goodies. So that was a nice treat for her. I also finally finished one of Abram’s bibs.

This week will be a bit busier. Today is church. Monday is milk pick up. Tuesday is Kindermusik. Wednesday is Meijer and possibly another playdate (try last week’s park date again if the weather is nice). We might try to meet other friends at the park another day. Friday my SIL and nephew are coming to town. We’ll all go shopping at Hop Scotch, then out to lunch. And possibly go to the zoo for a bit in the afternoon, depending on the weather. Saturday we are having an energy audit done on the house.

I would like to do some baking this week. My freezer supply is getting pretty low. I want to make some type of breakfast baked good(s). I’m thinking muffins at least. I also want to make a new batch of soaked cereal, sour cream, yogurt and pesto. I want to make a batch of ice cream. I froze some of our cookie dough yesterday so I can make homemade cookie dough ice cream 🙂  That will probably keep me plenty busy.

My neverending updates – I finally got Diet Recovery and 180Degree Digestion. Tons of great info. But still plenty of stuff to figure out. I can’t say I had a great week for sure. I think that it is largely due to lack of sleep and stress. With Abram up so early I have lost almost all free time/relax time. And that is something I desparately need. So I’m struggling. Abram has figured out how to open the office door, so it’s hard to even keep him contained in the room with me now. And while we are in here he gets into EVERYTHING. I am trying to do my best to keep eating and keep pushing forward. But it’s tough. On a positive note, my weight has stayed the same for 2 weeks straight now. Maybe things are stabilizing a bit. Now I just have to figure out how to get my digestion back on track. I’m sure I’m still working on adjusting to no miralax. That takes a long time. And I know I don’t make the best food choices every day. I’m trying. I’m also really trying to give it all to God and not worry. He is in control, so there is no need for worry. Worry really accomplishes nothing. So what’s the point, right? Too bad my brain doesn’t understand that 😛

I better get on with the menu before Abram breaks something. Here are the plans for now.
——————-
S (church, nursery, grind flour, soak flour, class)
  B – soaked donut, apple cinnamon yogurt
  L – bbq ribs, baked potato, broccoli
  D – leftover bacon egg casserole, veggies, fruit

M (make yogurt, bake oatmeal muffins, milk, prep smoothies, make pesto)
  B – muffins, mixed fruit
  D – leftover brats, chips, peas, pears

T (skim cream, make sour cream, KM, make ice cream)
  B – oatmeal muffins, smoothie
  D – ham, roasted squash, beans

W (soak flour, prep dinner, Meijer, park/playdate, soak flour for granola and muffins)
  B – smoothie, breakfast cookies
  D – split pea soup w/ ham, ww rolls

Th (make bread/buns, make yogurt, make kefir, make soaked granola )
  B – hard boiled egg, toast
  D – sloppy lentils on soaked buns, beans sausage pancake muffins, roasted veggies, fruit

F (HS/lunch/zoo)
  B – yogurt, fruit, granola
  D – stuffed french toast, grilled ham and cheese, broccoli, peaches

S (clean, energy audit, compost?)
  B – leftover pancake and sausage muffins
  D – pizza burgers, salad

Looks like I’ve got my 5:30 am breakfast buddy today :\  We’re all healthy again…now on to another round of major teething. We’re also experiencing some crazy “winter” weather here…sunny and 80’s! We’ve been spending lots of time outside lately. I think everyone is a little out of sorts with the abrupt change in weather. Last week was pretty busy. We did end up with one morning at home (Friday) since MOPS was cancelled for fog/school delays. We did make it to a second hand sale and got some summer clothes for the kids. Abram only had 1 pair of shorts! We weren’t quite ready for this weather 😛  Rebecca had her last swimming lesson yesterday. It will be nice to have our Saturday mornings back for a few weeks…until soccer starts in April 🙂

My kitchen experiments last week included another batch of blue moon ice cream, soaked graham crackers, soaked bread, pesto, lots of crispy nuts, yogurt, hot fudge, kefir and bread pudding. Rebecca (Cinderella) enjoyed helping with the bread pudding 🙂

This week should be pretty laid back. Perfect for a week of warm weather! Hopefully we can spend lots of time outside. Today is church. Monday I have a nursery cmt meeting. Tuesday is Kindermusik. Wednesday is co-op pick up. That’s it! I’m hoping we can set up a playdate (or 2) and maybe go to the zoo one day.

I’m almost done with one of Abram’s bibs. I just need a free 10 minutes 😛  Then I’ll work on a few more. Although sometimes I wonder why I’m making them…he rips them off immediately 😛  In the kitchen I’d like to make yogurt, more soaked bread (I go through about a loaf a week myself…I eat it with almost every meal :), possibly another batch of ice cream, salad dressing and pizza crust. I also need to start planning birthday treats and cakes since we’ll be celebrating 3 more birthdays in the next couple months. All four of us have our birthdays within a 2 month span 🙂  Rebecca’s current request for a birthday cake is a Lego Friends cake (the new “girl” Legos).

Not many updates on me. The last few days have been pretty good. I’ve been really careful about what I eat/sticking to what I know works. It really makes a difference. I’ve been miralax free for a week now! It feels so good to be done with that. I learned another important lesson last week…don’t use cornstarch. I made vanilla pudding for my birthday treat…and used cornstarch. Right after saying I can’t eat corn because of it’s starch. Hello!! Lesson learned. Too bad I didn’t get to enjoy much of my birthday treat. Oh well. I don’t buy/eat much packaged food but I’ll for sure have to read labels more carefully now. I’m guessing cornstarch is in a lot of foods. Maybe that’s been one of the sneaky culprits causing me problems over the years. I’m sticking with arrowroot and flour for thickeners for now. See how that goes.

One final note…Abram decided that at 10 months he now wants a paci 😛  I think it’s mostly because he’s teething. We’ll see if he keeps it up or not. In the mean time he sure looks cute 🙂

Better get on with the menu before we have total meltdown here.
———————————
S (prep lunch, church, class)
  B – leftover eggs, bread pudding, pineapple
  L – roasted chicken, potatoes, maroon carrots, onions, squash
  D – (early/light/easy clean up) – leftover cauliflower au gratin, bread

M (make dressing, make croutons, nursery cmt, soak flour)
  B – yogurt, granola, pineapple, kiwi
  D – (early) –  chicken and bacon caesar salad, fruit

T (skim cream, make sour cream, soak flour, KM, Cone World)
  B – granola bars, star fruit, yogurt
  D – homemade chicken bacon pesto pizza w/ soaked crust

W (bake bread and buns, co-op, playground prep smoothies)
  B – bagel w/ pb
  D – sweet and sour meatballs, baked potato wedges, beans, sloppy joes on soaked buns, squash, peaches

Th (Zoo)
  B – smoothie, cream cheese pastry
  D – sloppy cornbread, salmon melts, maroon carrots, squash, peaches

F (clean)
  B – smoothie, blueberry muffins
  D – bacon egg bowls, beans, fruit, toast

S ()
  B – leftover egg bowls
  D – grill? – brats

Good (early) morning. Never a fun morning when you lose an hour. And it seems that Abram only listens to the clock…it says 6, he’s up. Poor boy has had a rough week. He has been sick all week with a viral throat infection. He had a constant fever for 3 days, a sore throat and an upset tummy. He’s finally starting to perk up. But now he’s having tummy issues and had a pretty rough night. Needless to say it’s been a long week for Mommy and Daddy as well. I “slept” on the floor next to the bouncy seat two nights in a row. Top it off with yet another power outage. So last week wasn’t quite as productive as planned, and I had to adjust our schedule and meals each day. By some miracle I still managed to make soaked scones, soaked pie crust, yogurt, mayo, soaked bread, soaked soft pretzels, ice cream, soaked pancakes and 2 pairs of baby legs. I also did a lot of cleaning in the kitchen. Rebecca and I got our hair cut. We met some friends at the library to chat and play for a bit on Wednesday. I had to postpone my Harvest Health trip all week. Rebecca and I went yesterday afternoon while Justin and Abram stayed home. It was a special trip for Rebecca because we stopped at Target first so she could pick out a Lego. She went 30 days without sucking her thumb! She was very excited.

This week will be fairly busy. Today is church (Abram and I will be staying home so he can fully recover and get the rest he needs). Monday is milk pick up. Tuesday is Kindermusik. Wednesday is Meijer. We will also be doing something for my birthday, but I haven’t figured out what yet 😛  Either go out for dinner or get take out probably. It’s supposed to be quite warm this week so hopefully we can spend some time outside. Maybe we’ll do a picnic 🙂  Thursday Justin will be going out for dinner with work. Friday is MOPS. Saturday is swimming. This weekend is also a big 2nd hand sale, so I might go to that Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

No huge plans in the kitchen this week aside from our regular meals. I’ll make the usual batch of yogurt. And maybe more ice cream. I’m also trying to think of some kind birthday treat…that is healthy and “safe” for me. Maybe ice cream. Maybe a pie w/ soaked crust. Not sure. And I got a bunch of nuts yesterday, so I have to soak and dry those. I also finally got some rye flour. But I think I’ll hold off on starting a sourdough this week. I want to have plenty of time to go outside and enjoy the warm weather 🙂

I think we are going to redo the letter Y this week. Since Abram was sick last week our day revolved around him. He mostly wanted to be held.

I’m do so-so right now. Last week I started getting back on track. But then I made some bad choices. I learned for sure (for the millionth time!) that my body CAN NOT HANDLE CORN OR BANANAS. Not even a little bit. Even one tiny bit of banana completely shuts down my digestive system. I think it has something to do with the starch content. Bananas, potatoes, corn, rice. They just don’t work for me. I guess I have to stick with wheat 🙂  I’m on the anti-gluten free diet 😛  Seems strange. But it works for my body. I’m also learning that I do a lot better when I eat really salty food and avoid sweets. If I eat a really salty breakfast I’m warm all morning. If I eat something sweet (so much for my ice cream for breakfast 🙁 then I’m freezing cold by mid morning. I’ve been eating some salty veggies and soaked toast w/ butter and salt the last few days. That seems to work well. I’m also trying to figure out the proper fluid intake for my body. I think I’ve actually been drinking too much water for years. I think I was overtaxing my kidneys and my liver. So I’ve been trying to cut back a bit and keep my electrolytes in balance. And try to eat salty foods when I drink. I have made a few homemade “gatorade” type drinks (combo of juice, water and salt). But I’m just not a fan of them. I’ve never liked sports drinks. Any hint of salt makes my stomach churn. So I try to eat a little bite of some really salty food with a drink instead.

Unfortunately it seems that Abram may be sensitive to bananas as well. While he was sick he had pretty loose bowels. So I made him a banana smoothie to see if it would help slow things down a little. He ate quite a bit of  it yesterday. And has had a tummy ache ever since 🙁  I feel awful seeing him suffer through so much gas pain. I know how painful it can be. It was a rough night, and he’s still working through it this morning. I guess I’ll be tossing the rest of that smoothie 😛

That’s enough updating for now. I’m trying to deal with this grumpy little guy, and Rebecca has to get up soon to go to church early with Justin. Here’s what’s on the menu for now. We’ll see what this week brings.
——————
S (prep dinner, church, prep smoothies, grind flour, soak nuts)
  B – leftover quiche, toast
  L – goulash, garlic toast, brussels sprouts (Justin), leftover sausage, beans, soaked bread (me)
  D – salmon salad sandwiches, peas, fruit

M (boil eggs, dry nuts, milk)
  B – smoothies, breakfast cookies
  D – pork chops w/ dried fruit over rice, roasted squash, sauteed kale

T (skim cream, KM)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast, fruit
  D – pumpkin pasta, roasted brussels sprouts, liverwurst

W (soak flour, make pudding, Meijer, birthday, park, take out)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – take out – The Green Well

Th (make bread, make yogurt, soak flour, make hot fudge, JBF, make ice cream?)
  B – cold cereal w/ milk
  D – Justin out to eat; liverwurst/eggs/misc. (me)

F (make kefir, clean, MOPS, make graham crackers)
  B – smoothie, TBD
  D – eggs (scrambled or fried), bread pudding, squash

S (make pesto, swimming)
  B – TBD
  D – cauliflower bake, beans

The start of a new week. I’m praying it ends better than it’s starting.

We kept pretty busy last week with milk pick up, Kindermusik, groceries, MOPS and a trip to Lansing to see my family yesterday. Abram is also keeping us busy as he has just started walking! I had to hold off on a few baking projects early in the week since I didn’t have any flour. But now I have flour and 25 lbs. of wheat berries!!! Thanks so much, Sara! In the kitchen I was busy making yogurt, kefir, blueberry ice cream (oh my, this is good!!!), soaked cold cereal, soaked granola and regular granola.

So far this week appears to be a bit more low key. Today is church. Monday I need to make a run to Harvest  Health to stock up on some things. Rebecca and I also have our Mommy/daughter date! We are getting our hair cut and then going out for dinner. Tuesday is Kindermusik. We actually don’t plans the rest of the week aside from swimming on Saturday. I am kind of excited about that 🙂  There is a chance we could have a play date (waiting to hear back from a friend). There is a chance we could go to the library.

Not sure about all of my food adventures this week. First I need to grind flour! 🙂  I would like to make a new batch of soaked bread and also some soaked pretzels. I will need to make a soaked crust for our pot pie. And I might make a new batch of ice cream (maybe strawberry this week). I’ll make the usual yogurt and kefir. I also need to make a new batch of mayo and some salad dressing. If time allows I’d like to do more sewing. I have a decent stock of cloth wipes now. So I can move on to something else.

A new addition to our weekly routine…Justin will be joining me in the basement to exercise some mornings.

My update – not good. I’m not sure exactly what happened last week, but things went downhill…fast. Power outage, anxiety, messed up routines, Abram up early every day, busy week, wrong foods (no, Mary, you can NOT eat regular (unsoaked) granola…you couldn’t before and you still can’t…it’s not worth the pain), lowering miralax. All kinds of stuff. And today I’m back at square one it seems. Very frustrating. I was doing so well with anxiety, mood, digestion, everything for the last month or so. I couldn’t believe how good I felt. And it came crashing down last week. About as bad as it can get for me. I even had a mini anxiety attack yesterday. This morning is still the same. I’m not even sure I’m going to make it to church today. I’m praying for some improvement soon. Right now it’s hard to eat…and I’m guessing I’ll have lost a couple pounds the next time I weigh myself. I’m sure I could say a lot more, but I’ll stop there. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to eat at the moment/what will help me. And I’m still trying to figure out what works best for me in the long run. For now I need to stick to only grains that are properly prepared. I need to avoid sugar. And I need to make sure I’m getting enough protein, fat and veggies in my diet.
On to the menu. Here’s the plan so far. Things could change depending on our activities later in the week.
—————————-
S (church)
  B – oatmeal muffin, lemon yogurt, banana
  L – sausage and veggie soup, crackers w/ cheese
  D – leftover cheeseburgers, fries, milkshake (Justin), misc. (me)

M (soak flour, HH, hair cut, out to eat)
  B – cold cereal with milk, banana
  D – take out (me/Rebecca), restaurant leftovers (Justin)

**sick baby – lots of tweaks in our menus and daily plans

T (make scones, soak crust flour, skim cream, make yogurt, boil eggs, make mayo, KM, prep smoothies)
  B – date scones, fruit
  D – egg salad sandwiches, roasted brussels sprouts broccoli, cauliflower

W (prep crust, soak flour, HH, make ice cream, library/playdate)
  B – smoothies, granola bar
  D – chicken pot pie (w/ soaked crust), sauteed kale chicken and mixed veggie quiche (w/ soaked crust), peas, soaked donut, applesauce

Th (make bread and pretzels, make dressing, make ice cream?, Dr.?, HH?, grind flour, soak flour)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast smoothie, toast w/ pb, banana
  D – chicken caesar salad, soaked soft pretzels, squash and chicken soup

F (clean, HH?, chop veggies Dr.)
  B – smoothie, fresh fruit hard boiled egg, toast, fruit
  D – soaked buckwheat pancakes w/ blueberry topping, homemade sausage, beans

S (laundry, swimming, clean)
  B – pancakes
  D – leftover pot pie, leftover quiche, leftover sausage, roasted brussels sprouts, roasted squash

It’s almost March! Which means spring is right around the corner…at least I hope it is 😛  I never actually expect nicer weather until April here in Michigan. But I can hope. We got another round of snow on Friday. It didn’t last, but it’s a good reminder that winter isn’t over yet. Hopefully we don’t have to worry about any blizzards this week.

Last week we kept pretty busy. Some of the highlights of the week were a good 9m check up for Abram, our Mommy/daughter date to the children’s museum (Rebecca had so much fun!) and a 2nd M/D date as we had an impromptu trip to the mall yesterday. Justin insisted that I go shopping and actually spend my gift cards that I’ve had for months and buy some new clothes 😛  So I did. I’m excited to have a few new things to wear. And some jeans that fit!!

I stayed busy in the kitchen too. I made soaked chocolate chip cookies, two loaves of soaked whole wheat bread, homemade soaked ravioli, soaked quinoa, yogurt, mayo, chocolate mint ice cream (Rebecca came up with the flavor), cream cheese, pesto, waffles and soaked biscuits. I also finally started a little bit of sewing. I got a few cloth wipes done. Not much, but at least it’s a start. It’s been almost a year since I’ve touched my sewing machine. So it was good to at least sit down and figure out how it works again 🙂

This week is a busy one. Today is church. Monday is milk pick up. Tuesday is Kindermusik and voting. And we might stop by a friend’s house to drop off a baby gift. Justin also has orchestra rehearsal. Wednesday is Meijer. Friday is MOPS, and Justin has an orchestra concert. Saturday is swimming, and we might meet my family for some type of kid’s activity (museum) and to go out for dinner to celebrate my mom’s birthday (it was last week).

Unfortunately the first few days of this week will have to be free of much baking…I’m out of flour!! I have no boughten flour. And I have about a half cup of wheat berries left. So until I go to the store (mid week) I can’t really bake. I will be getting a new load of wheat berries soon. Until then I’ll have to buy flour. So that dictated my early week meals a bit. I would like to make a batch of granola this week (that doesn’t require flour, so no big deal). And possibly a new batch of soaked granola. I’ve been eating that stuff all the time 🙂  It’s a great snack. I want to try a soaked cold cereal this week (didn’t get to it last week). I would also like to make a new batch of ice cream and yogurt.

On to my never ending updates 😛  Each week I seem to find new info and see different things going on with my body. Last week I was reminded that I need to be careful about consuming too many nuts, especially peanut butter. Since I ate a lot of toast for breakfast I tended to eat a lot of peanut butter and almond butter. When I do that for a few days it causes inflammation (probably due to high omega-6) and messes up my digestion. I also ate a bit too much raw food. Certain things are still tough for me to digest. And I end up in pain. I’m finding I need to eat plenty of carbs with moderate protein and fat. And I can tell when I don’t eat enough. It’s important to not be underfed. Limiting food can lead to bad moods, anxiety, poor digestion, weight gain (yes, gain!), all kinds of stuff. I’m trying to eat a little more in the mornings and less in the evenings. Kind of the opposite of how most people eat. And the total opposite of how I used to eat (a few years ago) when I would eat practically a half gallon of ice cream right before bed 😛  But it’s good to fuel your body well in the morning and lighten up by the end of the day so your body isn’t trying to digest a lot of stuff all night. No wonder I used to wake up with a stomach ache. That being said, I’ve been starting my day the last few days with a big dish of…ice cream! Yes, ice cream for breakfast. Homemade ice cream of course. It is actually very healthy and possibly a super food (check out Sarah’s post on it…real ice cream is the closest food we have to breastmilk :). Plus it helps boost metabolism. Which I’m finding is what we should be striving for. Boosting metabolism is what keeps our body temps up (I’m the ice queen…I really need to work on this) and keeps our system working well (digestion, endocrine, everything). So I’m trying ice cream for breakfast for a few days to see how it goes. I need to make a new batch, so I may have to substitute sour cream/yogurt with some add ins for a few days. I still think it’s very important to avoid refined carbohydrates (white flour, white sugar). And I need to make a point of getting variety in my diet. I know I’m still far from where I want to be, but I can tell something is happening lately. I think my hormones are changing – hopefully for the good. As I no longer underfeed myself, add back plenty of good quality carbs and try to listen to my body I notice changes. I think it is helping with my adrenals (I definitely have more energy now than I did for a while). My acne has had a small flair. I think that is my body adjusting. And I have periods of being quite warm and quite cold during the day. This is related to body temp and blood sugar. Again, my body is adjusting and trying to figure things out/trying to get back on track. I continue to look more into 180 Degree Health and the RRARF (Rehabilitative Rest and Refeeding) program (I’m kind of half doing it now…but definitely not fully at this point. I did finally read through the free e-book.). If anyone is still wondering what to get me for my birthday (hint, hint 😉 I’d LOVE a copy of Matt Stone’s new book Diet Recovery. His 180 Degree Digestion book would be great too. I’m starting with looking into RRARF. After that I may look into his information on RBTI. That stuff is fascinating. You mean I could actually not have to pee constantly by eating the right way? And it would improve my hormones, my body temps, everything? That would be the answer that I’ve been looking for since I was about 4 years old and my anxiety started due to what I thought was my abnormally overactive bladder…that I’ve lived with my whole life. Anyway, I have a lot to learn yet. But I can tell my body is changing for sure. I seem to be out of the bad mood, low energy, underweight slump I was in a few months ago. Praise the Lord!

That got a little longer than I had intended. Here’s what’s on the menu this week. No idea if we’ll do any letter related food stuff since we have the letter X. What do you do with X??
————————-
S (prep lunch, church)
  B – waffles, fruit
  L – cp pork steak, potatoes, carrots and onions (Justin), salad w/ pork (me)
  D – leftover cheeseburger cups, corn, salad, apple slices

M (milk)
  B – soaked donuts, smoothies
  D – tacos w/ guacamole, salsa, cheddar cheese, raw sour cream, lettuce, soaked ww tortillas (from freezer)

T (skim cream, make yogurt, make granola, prep dinner, KM, vote, CCS, soak grains)
  B – packed breakfast for Justin – granola bar, apple
  D – cp pea soup w/ ham, bread or crackers w/ cheese

W (Meijer, make ice cream, make soaked granola, prep smoothies)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – cheeseburgers, chips, beans

Th (soak grains)
  B – breakfast cake, smoothies
  D – pepper steak, mashed potatoes, corn (Justin), leftover pea soup (me)

F (clean, make cereal, MOPS, concert)
  B – cold soaked cereal w/ milk
  D – croque-madame, roasted squash

S (swimming, I5, out for dinner in Lansing)
  B – TBD, smoothies
  D – out to eat – Cheddar’s

Here we are at the last full week in February. Time is just flying by. Last week we kept plenty busy with errands and stuff around the house. I was also busy with cake decorating. And we had a fun trip yesterday to visit my family and celebrate my nephew’s birthday at his Lego party.

There is plenty going on this week as well. Today is church. Monday I have nursery cmt, and we’re getting our van fixed. So it will be gone for a couple days. Tuesday is Kindermusik and Justin possibly has orchestra. Wednesday is Abram’s 9 month check up and co-op pick up. Thursday Rebecca and I are having our Mommy/daughter date. We are going to family time at the Children’s Museum. We’ll pack a picnic dinner and eat there. She is soooo excited to go to the CM and have me all to herself. I have to say I am pretty excited myself 🙂  I don’t normally get to “play” when I take both kids. So this will be fun. Hopefully the boys will manage at home ok 🙂  Saturday is swimming lessons.

I’m not totally sure what I will be making in the kitchen this week. I want to start a new sourdough soon, but I don’t have the right flour at the moment. I’ll have to wait until I make a trip to the health food store I think. I might make a batch of regular granola now that I have more oats. And I want to try some soaked cold cereal. In general I want to try some new soaked grains for breakfast. I’ll be doing quinoa this week (a recipe I’ve made before). I might try making some soaked bread. And I’ll be doing another batch of soaked biscuits (my third one already!!) for our dinner on Saturday. I will make our usual weekly batch of yogurt and kefir. I’m not sure yet what I’ll do with our cream. We have 3 kinds of homemade ice cream in the freezer right now (totally nutty, chocolate cashew and blueberry cobbler…yum!!!). And I have some sour cream from last week.

Last week Rachael Ray had Waffle Week and showed all kinds of crazy recipes you can make with a waffle maker. So since our letter is W this week I might have Rebecca help me make a few varieties of waffles. Maybe we’ll have waffles for lunches.

I still haven’t made any more progress on my sewing. Maybe this week. We’ll see how Abram sleeps 😛

Abram is really growing leaps and bounds. He now has 5 teeth. He has started clapping and saying “yaaaaay.” He can now say neigh (sounds like an evil laugh), moo (sounds like he’s booing) and quack. And he calls for Rebecca all the time – “Ca!, Ca!” It’s so cute. He looks for her/calls her when he can’t see her. Abram is starting to stand quite well on his own. And he can walk quite well if he’s holding something. I’m thinking any day now he’ll put the two together and we’ll have a walker! I’m anxious to see how big he is at his check up this week. I finally started giving him cod liver oil last week. Even more brain food 🙂  Now if only we could get him to sleep.

I’m still working on figuring out what works for me and finding balance. I seem to do better with higher carb and fat and lower protein (though I do have to be sure I get enough protein to keep serotonin levels up). I can definitely tell if I eat a meal that is heavy on protein…I instantly feel like I have a brick in my gut. I’m trying to aim for about 40/40/20 at most meals. This is just a rough target, though. It’s still tough to get away from the mindset that grains are bad or will make me sick. I think my biggest struggle at the moment is weight. I know I was underweight just a couple months ago. And I know my weight is healthy now and I’m still quite small. But at the same time gaining 6-7 pounds in less than 2 months still doesn’t feel that great. Especially for someone that has struggled with eating disorders for years. I’m trying to eat more and give my body the nourishment it needs and not worry about weight. I know there will be an adjustment period as my body learns how to handle these different foods again and at some point it will settle on a weight and stay there. But when I put on my pants and they feel tight (and they didn’t a month ago) it still doesn’t feel good. It’s a big mental battle. I am really trying to embrace change, though. I’ll be 32 in a few weeks. My body is not the same as it was in my 20s. I’m learning that things are continually changing. And that’s not a bad thing. I just have to learn to embrace the season I’m in. Metabolism changes. Hormones change. Nutrient needs change depending on the season of motherhood I’m in. My size changes. It’s all part of life. And I’m trying to embrace it. I’m not a college student anymore. I’m an almost 32 year old wife and mother of two 🙂

On to the menu. Here’s what’s planned for the week as of right now.
————————–
S (church, soak quinoa, soak flour)
  B – smoothie, grain free breakfast bars, pineapple
  L – chicken noodle soup (w/ soaked noodles), crackers w/ cheese
  D – salmon cakes, roasted cauliflower and brussels sprouts, hashbrowns

M (bake bread, make mayo, soak flour, car repair, nursery cmt)
  B – warm and nutty cinnamon quinoa (w/ butter, coconut oil, yogurt)
  D – pumpkin squash soup, soaked whole wheat bread

T (boil eggs, skim cream, make yogurt, make cheese, make pesto, make noodles, KM)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast, fruit
  D – cheese ravioli w/ creamy pesto and bacon, sauteed mushrooms and sugar snap peas

W (prep breakfast, prep dinner, dinner, Dr. S., co-op, grind flour, soak flour, make granola?)
  B – blueberry yogurt, breakfast cookies
  D – crockpot balsamic chicken and veggies

Th (bake cookies, Mommy/daughter date – GRCM)
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit
  D – picnic dinner (Rebecca/me), chicken noodle soup, crackers w/ cheese (Justin)

F (soak flour, clean, prep smoothies)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast, yogurt
  D – soaked bacon waffles w/ butter and maple syrup, veggies, fruit

S (laundry, swimming)
  B – smoothie, TBD
  D – cheeseburger cups, veggies

Happy Valentine’s Day (on Tuesday:)! We’re really not that big into this holiday. But it’s fun to do some little things with kids. And coincidentally Rebecca’s letter this week is V! So we’ll try to incorporate a few Valentine’s Day activities…amidst a fairly busy week.

Last week was fairly low key, which was good since Abram had a cold. Thankfully he’s on the mend. And he now has both of his top front teeth in. Two steps in the right direction 🙂  No pun intended…but he is on the verge of walking. He can walk while pushing something. He cruises all over. And he’s starting to stand without holding anything. Back to the point, we didn’t do a whole lot last week. But we did make it to the library one day. And yesterday Justin and Rebecca had a daddy/daughter date – they went to a show (A Little Princess), followed by a daddy/daughter tea party. I was pretty busy in the kitchen. I made pesto, 2 batches of yogurt, ice cream (I called this week’s flavor totally nutty – pb ice cream with 4 kinds of nuts), soaked granola, butterscotch pudding, baked oatmeal, breakfast pudding, donuts, biscuits, mayo, and I baked my nephew’s birthday cake. I managed to get a batch of cloth wipes cut out…but that’s all the project work I had time for since Abram was up so much and so early.

This week will be pretty busy. Today is church. Monday is milk pick up. Tuesday is Kindermusik. Wednesday is groceries. There is a MOPS playdate on Friday, but I don’t think I’m going. Saturday we are going to my nephew’s birthday party.

My main food item this week is decorating the birthday cake. I’m making a Lego cake for my nephew. Aside from that I might make a Valentine’s Day dessert with Rebecca. I will be doing more grain soaking/baking. I’ll probably make a new batch of pesto. I’m sure I’ll be making some dairy products. I’m still trying to do my plan ahead/prep ahead breakfasts. So far it’s working well.

As always I’m learning new things each week as I experiment and listen to my body. I’m finding that I do ok with wheat (gluten doesn’t seem to be an issue for me so far) and even soaked oats. But I don’t do so well with really high starch foods like corn, potatoes, rice, carrots and bananas (oh, the bananas…they hate me :P). And when you think about it, it kind of makes sense. What is starch? SUGAR! I’m realizing that sugar seems to be my #1 culprit. Even some natural sugars. Considering my genes/family history of hypoglycemia and diabetes this seems logical. So I’m working hard to avoid sugar as much as possible. I’m still eating honey and fruit and occasionally some maple syrup or cane sugar. But even those I try to limit. I feel so much better without them. Adding grains back into my diet has also helped stabilize blood sugar for me. I’ve noticed two major things in the last week. First, my daily (hourly :P) cravings for chocolate and sugar have almost vanished completely! I used to want chocolate all the time. I used to immediately want sugar whenever I was anxious or stressed. If I was a bit frazzled I would reach for a bag of chocolate chips. But not anymore. I was starting to wonder if I would ever be able to curb my cravings. Adding back grains has made a huge difference. I don’t have the big blood sugar and mood swings. Second, some of my obsessive thoughts are vanishing as well! This has been pretty crazy for me to experience. I read about people balancing hormones, minerals, brain chemicals, etc. and just “forgetting” about their obsessions, worries, etc. And I’m like, there’s no way I could forget this stuff. I think about it non stop! But lo and behold I have been “forgetting” some things. I’ll have a long period where I don’t have the thoughts going over and over in my head. Then all of a sudden I realize that I haven’t thought about it for an hour or whatever. And I’m shocked. How did I just forget? Times of the day where I normally obsess/compulse I’ll now have an “I don’t really care” attitude about the compulsions. Not that I don’t think about them at all, but the anxiety is a lot less. And the need to compulse is a lot less. I have a pretty rigid daily schedule. I do the same things at the same times. Every afternoon I drink a big mug of some kind of hot beverage – tea or whatever. Not that that’s a bad thing. I know my body needs lots of water. I always drink something shortly after nap time (3:30ish), when I’m getting Rebecca’s snack, etc. The other day it was about 5:00 and all of a sudden I realized I hadn’t had anything to drink all afternoon! The thought never even crossed my mind. It’s not a major thing…not like that is some big obsession that I have. But that fact the I’m “forgetting” even some of the small stuff is huge for me. And the times when I do have the obsessive thoughts and anxiety goes up…I don’t even think about turning to food/sweets/cravings. I can use other methods (mostly just logical reasoning) to calm myself pretty quickly. I honestly don’t even think about turning to food. Obviously I still have a long way to go, but the improvements I’m seeing already are pretty big to me. I still have to be very conscious of my diet and making sure I’m getting enough carbohydrates (specifically grains). It will take a while to get rid of my mentality that grains are bad (just like it took a long time to get rid of the mentality that low fat is healthy). Bring on the bread. Stay away from the sugar 🙂

Here’s what’s on the menu this week.
——————————
S (church, make kefir, make hot fudge, grind flour, soak grains)
  B – soaked donuts, smoothie (Justin), toast w/ almond butter, apple (me)
  L – ham, roasted potatoes, carrots and onions
  D – leftover biscuits and gravy, veggies, milkshakes

M (bake cookies, milk, soak beans, prep smoothies)
  B – breakfast cookies, smoothies
  D – fish sticks, onion rings, beans

T (soak flour, cook beans, prep dinner, skim cream, make sc, KM, bake, Valentine’s Day)
  B – pink smoothies, gf breakfast bars
  D – beef, veggie and bean chili, heart shaped grilled cheese

W (prep crust, Meijer, WT)
  B – apple w/ almond butter, smoothie
  D – (early) – ham and cheese quiche, roasted veggies, fruit

Th (crumb coat cake, prep smoothies)
  B – english muffin w/ pb, yogurt
  D – hot dogs, chips, beans, fruit (Justin), salad (me)

F (clean, MOPS playdate?, frost and decorate cake, pack)
  B – smoothies, maple pecan scones
  D – leftover quiche

S (laundry, swimming, birthday party)
  B – eggs (leftover quiche or scrambled), toast
  D – at party (tacos)

Good morning…good because Abram is asleep…at the moment…I think. Although I’m not totally sure. I may only have seconds 😛  On to a new week. Not too crazy of a week thankfully.

Last week was quite busy. And such odd weather for winter in Michigan! On Sunday we were playing in the snow. Yesterday we went for a family walk around the neighborhood…I didn’t even have a winter coat on! We had lots of fun activities. In the kitchen I made farmer’s cheese, sour cream, yogurt, (oh, here come the cries 🙁 and ice cream. I also finally had a little time to do some organizing in the living room and clean up in the kitchen.

Hopefully this week will be productive and relaxing. I’m going to try to plan better and do more prep work at once so I have more “free” time. If I have a morning that I don’t have anything pressing that needs to be done (i.e. make breakfast, etc.) then I will use it to sew, clean or sleep a little longer. I’m also planning to do a fair amount of grain soaking and try a couple recipes. I’d like to make granola, pesto, pureed carrots (for Abram), ice cream. Possibly beet kvaas and mayo. And we’ll see if Rebecca and I come up with any baking projects. I might bake my nephew’s birthday cake this week. I’m trying to plan breakfasts again. What you see on the menu is what Justin is eating for breakfast. Some mornings I will have the same thing. Others I won’t. My breakfasts in general will be salads, leftovers, smoothies, toast w/ almond butter fruit and eggs. It just depends what sounds good and how much time I have.

This week isn’t too busy. Although there is a chance to add a couple activities. Today is church. And of course watching the Super Bowl…or I should say Justin and Rebecca watching the SB while Abram and I play and do some food prep for the week. Monday I need to make a trip to Target, and I have a nursery cmt meeting. Tuesday is Kindermusik. Saturday is swimming. We could possibly go to the library again this week. And there is a chance for a playdate.

I gave my big update yesterday. Overall I’m doing pretty well. Especially considering I’m still on antibiotics. I’m feeling a little more like myself these days. And I have more energy. I hope this continues.

Here’s what’s on the menu. Tonight’s menu is a bit scattered. Justin likes lots of munchies for Super Bowl. And he got to pick one junk food request. His choice was frozen pizza. I don’t remember the last time I had a frozen pizza in the house. That’s what he’ll be eating. Rebecca and I will eat the other stuff 🙂

A final note of good news…one of Abram’s teeth finally came through! The one next to it should come any day now. I can’t wait for that. Poor little guy.
———–
S (make pesto, prep breakfast, make yogurt, church, Super Bowl, prep work – smoothies, soak oats, chop veggies, boil/peel eggs, grind flour)
  B – smoothie parfait (me), chewy granola bar, strawberry yogurt (Justin)
  L – leftover lasagna (Justin), salad (me)
  D – pizza, chicken wings and drumsticks, popcorn, refried beans, milkshakes, starfruit, watermelon, coconut

M (bake oatmeal, prep dinner, Target, nursery cmt)
  B – baked oatmeal, smoothie
  D – crockpot corn chowder, crackers w/ cheese

T (skim cream, KM, make ice cream)
  B – hard boiled eggs w/ toast, star fruit
  D – sloppy joes over cornbread, beans

W (soak oats, make granola, library?, make pudding?)
  B – baked oatmeal, smoothie
  D – sweet and sour pork chops, mixed veggies, sweet potato fries

Th (prep breakfast, soak flour, pick up CLO)
  B – banana pudding breakfast
  D – chicken taco potatoes

F (clean, soak flour)
  B – yogurt w/ granola, fruit
  D – avocado cheddar omelet, baked donuts, veggies, fruit

S (swimming, make biscuits)
  B – donuts, yogurt or smoothie
  D – soaked biscuits w/ sausage gravy, roasted veggies, fruit

I really can’t believe January is coming to an end in a few days. This has been such a crazy winter so far that it hardly even feels like January! That’s just fine with me 🙂

Last week was back to busy. We had fun catching up with friends at Kindermusik and a MOPS playdate. We finally made it to the library and stocked up on new books. Lots of reading going on right now 🙂  Rebecca had a blast at swimming lessons. We enjoyed a fun afternoon and evening yesterday with family, celebrating birthdays. And we signed Rebecca up for preschool!! We are all excited for her to start the Spanish immersion program at a local Christian school this fall. I also had to make a quick trip to the doctor on Friday.

The kitchen was busier than I expected. I made mayo, pesto, sour cream, 3 batches of cream cheese, 2 batches of yogurt, breakfast pastries, sd crackers, biscuits, granola bars, cupcakes and ice cream. I experimented with the ice cream, making it from a combo of cream and coconut milk and sweetened it with just honey. I made butter pecan…and it tastes great! I’m happy to have an ice cream I can eat and truly enjoy. Especially after reading this post on Nourished and Nurtured. Ice cream is good for me? Well, bring it on 😛  Lots of grain soaking last week too 🙂  It was nice to enjoy biscuits, pastries, pancakes and a BLT!

Another busy week this week. Today is church. Monday is milk pick up. Tuesday is Kindermusik. Wednesday is groceries. Friday is MOPS. Saturday is swimming, and Justin has an orchestra concert.

There is a lot I’d like to get done this week…but I also don’t want to overdo (for myself or the kids). So we’ll see what happens. For sure I’ll make my usual dairy products. Plus whatever needs to be done for meals. I’m not sure yet about any baking projects with Rebecca. I want to increase our vegetable intake this week. Maybe I’ll let Rebecca pick out some different colored veggies at the store. I might try making beet kvaas. I’d also like to try quinoa this week.

I do need to finish planning my nephew’s birthday cake. I also would like to schedule a hair cut for myself and for Rebecca. And possibly start on some sewing projects.

I have a lot of updates/thoughts on myself. I’ll try to do a separate post soon. I did finally decide last week that beef and I just don’t mix. I have tried and tried and tried. I know it is so healthy. And I love it. But every time I eat it my stomach is in knots the next day. Mostly with roast or steak. Even if I don’t eat a lot. So for now I’m going to have to avoid it most of the time. I think I can still handle some ground beef. With all of the issues I seem to have digesting meat I might start adding in meatless meals once in a while again. They will still have plenty of protein, just not meat. I mentioned that I went to the doctor last week. I have some kind of infection on my c-section scar. So I’m on antibiotics 🙁  That will just add to my gut issues. But I think it’s an indicator of what I’ve been learning over the last couple months of mood changes, diet changes, researching, etc. My body is getting run down. And
something has to change. More to come on that in an update post and my February goals.

So here’s what’s on the menu and the schedule for now. We’ll see what the week brings.
————————-
S (prep smoothies, prep lunch, church, soak quinoa, soak beans, make farmer’s cheese)
  L – beef roast w/ potatoes, carrots and onions (Justin), salad w/ salmon, avocado, cucumber, beets, raw cheese and pesto (me)
  D – misc. leftovers (bacon sandwich – J, cheeseburger – R, pea soup – M), milkshakes

M (prep smoothies, prep dinner, milk)
  D – quinoa salad w/ pinto and navy beans, sugar snap peas and farmer’s cheese, smoothies, pears

T (make kefir, skim cream, make sour cream, KM)
  D – pan seared salmon, sweet potato fries, peas
 W (prep dinner, make yogurt, Meijer)
  D – carrot souffle, broccoli, pears

Th (prep dinner, soak flour, prep smoothies)
  D – zucchini lasagna, cheesy pesto bread

F (cook sausage, chop veggies, clean, MOPS)
  D – pancake and sausage muffins, pears, roasted cauliflower and brussels sprouts

S (laundry, swimming, CCS)
  D – leftover lasagna or leftover pancake muffins