End of Month Recap - June 2010

Wow, June sure flew by!  I'm both sad and happy about that.  But now it's time to move on to July...more to come on that tomorrow.  June was a pretty crazy month in terms of food/personal goals.  I did a pretty big overhaul on eating and lifestyle.  It was definitely a challenge, but a worthwhile one with rewards :)  So I'll get started on the rundown of how I did this month.

Cost Savings

1. Continue recording spending and sales - this is part of my regular weekly routine now.  I love seeing how I'm spending money...and seeing that it's only going towards worthwhile things :)

2. Food budget - stick with $100/week.  In May I was averaging about $100/week for food.  And I had planned to stick to that.  But I didn't factor in the summer produce/preservation time.  I ended up spending more than $100/week on food.  But that's ok.  Right now I'm stocking up on good food that will last the rest of the year.  Hopefully at the end of the year I can average everything and see what I spent per week for the year.  For now I'm happy to spend a little extra money on weekly visits to the farmer's market :)  In the end it will save us money, and we'll be getting much better food.

3. Continue to calculate homemade costs.  No time for this in June.  But I do want to do it at some point.  Maybe after I'm done making major diet changes and things are more "normal."

4. Continue to plan meals based on sales/what we have on hand/2 class nights a week.  This went well.  About the only thing I was buying full price for meals was some fresh produce.  I'm ok with that.  And it was a challenge to work around 2 class nights a week. But we made it.  And Justin's class is over now! :)

5. Continue to make as much food as possible from scratch.  Here's the rundown of June's kitchen experiments.

dairy kefir
sourdough english muffins
kishk
carob chips
raspberry sauce
bulgur flour
chicken broth
beef broth
crispy cashews
crispy almonds
cashew butter
almond butter
strawberry topping
granola
strawberry ice cream
frozen cherries, strawberries and grapes
dried cherries, strawberries, apples, honeydew, pineapple and raisins
strawberry fruit roll-ups
cherry crisp
strawberry shortcake
strawberry banana sourdough muffins
strawberry banand and strawberry rhubarb bread
mayo
beef jerky
strawberry rhubarb crunch
fermented black bean paste and pinto bean paste
black bean brownies
sprouted vanilla wafers
sprouted whole wheat bread
sprouted apple cinnamin bagels
sourdough pancakes
fermented punch

6. 2nd hand shopping - when the need arises.  No need this month.  And as a side note.  I checked to see how much I have spent on clothes for myself so far this year...less than $30!  And most/if not all of that was socks/underwear.  Not bad.

7. Voogt beef - receive order and deliver to family.  Done and done :)  Exciting to have a freezer stocked with good beef again.

8. Simplify - I continue to minimize my use of  boughten cleaning products and health and beauty products.  I have pretty much stopped using hand sanitizer unless we really need to clean up and we're nowhere near a bathroom.  I am really enjoying the simplifying process.

Food

Gut Health
1. Continue taking a probiotic.  Still doing well with this.  But still on the lookout for a better quality probiotic I think.  I just wish they weren't so expensive!  I hope at some point not to need one at all...when my gut is a lot healthier and I get everything I need from my food.  But for now I need some help.

2. Eat more cultured dairy (i.e. yogurt, kefir).  This has been going well.  I'm finally getting the hang of kefir making.  And I have actually started eating just kefir some days...not mixing it with yogurt.  I wasn't sure I could do that.  I do need to add a little flavoring (too sour for me to eat totally plain), but it's still better than only doing a half serving of kefir and half of yogurt.  And most days I eat at least 2 servings.

3. Eat fermented foods and drinks daily.  This has also been going well.  I eat fermented bean paste almost every day.  Whenever we have a meal that is served with ketchup that is another fermented food.  And I drink some fermented punch every day.

4. Reduce sugar as much as possible (sugar feeds bad bacteria) - This is going well for the most part.  I have definitely cut back from what I used to eat.  But it's tough while I'm taking hormones.  They take over :P  But I still try my best.  And my latest strategy is to eat some protein when I crave sugar...since it's likely that's what I really need.  Having lots of crispy nuts, nut butters and beef jerky on hand help with that...quick, easy, protein-filled snacks.

5. Don't overdo on grains - what I do eat must be whole grain that is soaked, sprouted or sourdough -  Going strong with the soaked/sprouted/sourdough grains.  And not overdoing on them.  I think this really helps my gut.

6. Nothing refined, no chemicals, preservatives, nothing synthetic, etc. - only real food - I've stuck to this for the most part.  There are things here and there that I know aren't 100% good/real.  But nobody can be perfect.  And I figure as long as I'm eating well most of the time my body can handle a tiny bit of bad stuff once in a while.  As long as I'm not taxing my system with junk all the time (like I used to) it can still continue the healing process even with a little junk once in a great while.  It is rare, but it does sneak in sometimes.

7. Eat bone broth - I made both chicken broth and beef broth this month.  And have been eating them fairly regularly.  Not always every day.  But quite often.  And I have a nice stock in the freezer too.

The results...a definite improvement in my gut health.  I still have a long way to go, but at least I know I'm getting there and am confident that I'm finally on the right track.

Fertility
1. Eat plenty of full fat dairy - This has not been a problem for me.  I eat yogurt and/or kefir every day, often twice a day.  I eat plenty of cheese.  I have milk sometimes.  Homemade cream cheese.  And of course I have to have ice cream once in a while.  And none of this dairy is remotely low fat :)

2. Eat plenty of animal products/fats - butter, eggs, meat, cheese, organ meats - I have been eating a lot more eggs lately.  I try to make some kind of egg for breakfast a couple times a week.  I add raw eggs to smoothies.  I use raw eggs in homemade mayo and ice cream.  I've eaten egg salad a few times.  I can't believe how quickly we go through eggs now.  I also can't believe how much butter we use!  Especially me.  I slather it on whatever I can now :)  I've found it's sooooo good on anything sourdough.  I don't make many meatless meals these days.  Not that I don't ever or won't do it once in a while in the future.  I'm just trying to make sure I'm getting plenty at this critical time.  So not many meatless meals here at the moment.  And if I do make something meatless it usually involves eggs :)  I also just got my beef liver.  I still have to figure out how to cook it.  Hopefully that will be on the menu in the next few weeks.  I'd also like to try chicken liver.  We'll see if the co-op has any next month.

3. Eat more seafood - Overall I've been doing pretty well with this (considering we pretty much weren't eating any before), even with my limited supply of seafood.  We've been having it at least once a week. Sometimes 2 or 3 times.  I'm happy to say our whole family has really been enjoying it!  Especially Rebecca.  She really loves salmon.  I'm hoping to stock up on more seafood later this week.  And I'm glad we're getting in this habit since it's so healthy.  And so critical for fertility and pregnancy.

4. Eat more veggies, less fruit - I really thought this one would be tough.  I normally eat a lot of fruit.  And I love fruit...who doesn't?  I've been pleasantly surprised by the changes this month.  I now eat veggies with breakfast almost every day.  And I limit my intake of fruit.  I snack on the fresh, in-season stuff we have on hand.  But I don't overdo.  This is a trend that I think will carry on for a lifetime.  More veggies is always a good thing.  And I love that I'm getting so much more variety now, sometimes 8 or 9 different veggies in one day!

5. Eat plenty of lentils, nuts and beans - No problem there.  I love all 3!  I especially eat lots of nuts.  I eat crispy nuts or nut butter pretty much every day.  I stir some nut butter into my kefir/yogurt for extra protein and to add a little extra coconut oil into my diet.

6. Use unrefined sea salt each day - No problem there.  I love salt :)  Plus I use it in all of my cooking and baking.  So this doesn't require any effort.

7. Use natural vitamins - I took a few days off my new vitamins at the beginning of the month to wait until my gut had adjusted to all of the other changes going on.  Then I tried them again...and did just fine.  So I've been free of my synthetic multi-vitamin and folic acid for several weeks :)

8. Eat bone broth - see #7 under gut health.

The results...I'll let you know when I know :P  Hopefully real soon I'll be seeing some good results.  For now I have no idea.  I'm just praying this is all helping.
Kitchen
1. Sprouting grains - includes wheat and other grains - use it in baking when possible - check :)

2. Sprouting beans - check :)

3. Make more sourdough recipes - check :)

4. More fermenting - check :)

5. More cultured dairy - I've gotten into kefir making now.  And I think it's really helping my gut.

6. Make bone broth - check :)

7. Try new seafood recipes - so far I've done simple seafood prep (baking, pan searing, just oil/salt/pepper/garlic mostly).  We all enjoy it, and it's easy.  But I might try some more elaborate recipes soon.

8. Figure out how to prepare liver - still working on this.

9. Make homemade salad dressing - I did this a few times at the beginning fo the  month.  But I haven't done it since then since we haven't been eating salads lately.  My gut can't handle too much raw stuff right now.

10. Make homemade mayo - I made one batch...not good.  Just threw it out yesterday.  The EVOO was way too strong.  I'll try another recipe soon.

11. Find ways to cook without using the oven when it's hot - I've been using my dehydrator for a lot of things.  I make dinner in the oven once in a while, but not often.  I try to do most of my baking early in the morning or later in the evening...when it's cooler and we can open the windows.

12. Food preservation as fresh fruits and veggies are available - I've done a fair amount of drying and freezing so far.

13. Continue with co-op - check :)  Loving it so far.

14. Experiment with new foods for breakfast...that aren't sweet - no major experiments, but I've been adding more eggs to the breakfast menu.  And by eating veggies for breakfast I have cut my sweet foods down a lot.

15. Weekly visits to the farmer's market - check :)

That's pretty much my month in a nutshell.  We didn't end up doing very much with Justin being so busy with class and then Rebecca getting sick.  But that's ok.  I love being home :)  It's my favorite place.  And I generally don't feel like doing too much when my gut is all out of whack and I'm on hormones.  So it didn't bother me.  We are still trying to do a few fun things this week (Michigan's Adventure today!!!) and next week.  Mostly just taking things one day at a time and counting our blessings.  I'm so thankful for how far I've come with healing and changing in just a couple months.  All things are possible with God.  And I know he has so much more in store.  Check back tomorrow for the next installment of this crazy journey :)