End of Month Recap - August 2010

The end of another month.  In some ways it has flown by.  In other ways this has been one of the longest months ever.  Overeall this has been a crazy summer for us.  In some ways I'm sad it's almost over.  In some ways it could not get here fast enough...namely Sept. 2 :P  We did manage to do a lot of fun stuff, though.  And despite some limitations I got quite a bit done in the kitchen.  Here's how I did on goals.

FOOD

Fertility
1. Eat plenty of full fat dairy - back to eating yogurt/kefir almost daily, lots of smoothies.
2. Eat plenty of animal products/fats - check.
3. Eat more seafood - currently trying to eat seafood about twice a week.  Sometimes more if there are leftovers.
4. Cod liver oil - I ordered the good, fermented CLO that is combined with butter oil for better absorption. I started with 1 pill/day.  Now I take 2.  Sooo much easier to take in pill form.  And I like knowing it's such good quality.
5. Eat more veggies, less fruit - Pretty good with this most of the time.  But with so much great fruit in season it's tough not to eat too much of it :)  I usually put a good serving into my smoothies.  Lately (I've been eating veggies for breakfast every day at least to start my day off on the right track.
6. Eat plenty of lentils, nuts and beans - check.  I made a new batch of crispy almonds and peanuts and homemade almond butter and peanut butter.  And crispy pumpkin seeds.  And grain free granola w/ a mix of nuts.
7. Use unrefined sea salt each day - check.
8. Eat bone broth - check.
9. Naturally Knocked Up eCourse - So much great info.

Gut
1. Continue taking a probiotic - check.
2. Eat cultured dairy daily (i.e. yogurt, kefir) - back to eating yogurt and kefir regularly.
3. Eat fermented foods and drinks daily - check.
4. Reduce sugar as much as possible (sugar feeds bad bacteria) - Sadly my usual sugar cravings did return once I recovered from OHSS and was back on hormones.  But I'm still doing pretty well keeping my sugar intake low.  Definitely no processed sugar...only natural sweeteners in small quantities.
5. Don't overdo on grains - I have been really working on this.  I hardly eat any grains most days.  I replace most of my grains with veggies.  I think it really helps my gut.  And it could help with fertility too.
6. Nothing refined, no chemicals, preservatives, nothing synthetic, etc. - check.
7. Eat bone broth - check.

Misc.

1. No microwave - check.  I don't think I used it once.  It always amazes me how quickly habits can be broken/new methods adopted if you just give it a try.  And now that it's the norm it doesn't have to be in my list of goals anymore :)  Maybe someday I can just get rid of my microwave.  It's kind of in the way I think.  It's a big one.
2. Limit oven use. Which means lots of salads, sandwiches, grilling and crockpot - check.
3. Cast iron skillet - sadly did not get around to this.  Maybe next month :P
4. Food preservation - 2 batches of salsa, 2 batch of spaghetti sauce, frozen corn (5 gallons), beans (10 gallons) and zucchini (1 gallon), 2 quarts sauerkraut, 1 pt. ketchup
5. Pickling Lime - no time for this.
6. Long term goals - My long term goals still remain: stop using miralax, overcome OCD, have a successful IVF cycle/pregnancy. Hopefully I'll be able to cross of the 3rd one soon.  And maybe even the other two.  We'll see.
7. Continue all of the healthy food prep and shopping - sprouting grains, sprouting beans, sourdough, fermenting, cultured dairy, bone broth, seafood, liver, homemade food, co-op, farmer's market - check.
8. I don't have a specific food goal this month. But I do want to continue to eat in season. So in August we'll be eating lots of beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers and peaches. A few things I would like to try making/have on our menu are:

*corn pesto - made it...so good!
*crackers (keep experimenting to make the "perfect" crackers so I don't have to buy crackers anymore) - tried whole wheat crackers.  I really like them.  Still not a winner for Justin.  I'll have to keep trying.  I also made my wheat thin recipe w/o the sugar.  They turned out pretty well.  But I'm still looking for a better recipe.  Maybe I'll have to create my own.
*new sourdough recipes - I think the only "new" thing I made was sourdough granola muffins.  But I did use my sourdough plenty.  I have a batch of bread rising right now.  I would like to try sourdough chocolate cake soon.
*chips - I made zucchini chips and sweet potato chips in the dehydrator.  Both good.  The sp chips hold their crispness much better.  I would still like to try frying some chips...maybe if I get some palm shortening or something.
*popcorn - made quite a few batches of popcorn and a couple batches of caramel corn.  YUM!
*breakfast foods - I made more breakfast cookies and a couple kinds of muffins.
*new tortillas - didn't get around to this.
*ranch dressing - this was good.
*sauerkraut - made 1 batch with puple cabbage.  Yum!

COST REDUCTION
No changes here.

1. Continue recording spending and sales - check.
2. Food budget - $150/week - I've actually been under budget.
3. Continue to plan meals based on sales/what we have on hand and on what's in season and doesn't need to be cooked in the oven - check.
4. Continue to make as much food as possible from scratch - check.  Here's what was happening in the kitchen this month:

zucchini chips
sweet potato chips
blueberry pie
ranch dressing
thousand island dressing
sd banana blueberry muffins
ww yogurt blueberry muffins
zucchini brownies
caramel corn
crispy almonds, peanuts, pumpkin seeds
peanut butter
almond butter
grain free granola
sd granola muffins
mud balls
bacon bowls
corn pesto
salsa
spaghetti sauce
sprouted wheat flour
whey/cream cheese
sauerkraut
fermented ketchup
raisins
crackers
chicken stock
chewy granola bars
sd bread
5. 2nd hand shopping - I went to one consignment sale and got some fall clothes and a few toys for Rebecca.
6. Simplify - continue to minimize where possible - check.

MISC.

We've been trying to squeeze in a lot of fun stuff with Rebecca this month while we could.  We went to WI for a week.  We went to the park, the library, the beach and the zoo.  We've also been spending lots of time in the pool the last few days.  We've got some fun plans coming up too (more on that tomorrow).

We did get Rebecca some new blocks.  We've all been enjoying building huge castles and houses.  At a 2nd hand sale I got her a new little people house.  It's not huge (not like a doll house), but bigger than the one she had.  She loves it.  We also got some games, books and clothes at the sale.  I got her some Barbies and clothes as well...but she doesn't know that.  They are saved for special presents as rewards during potty training.

Potty training is coming along.  We've even had some totally dry days and have tried underwear a few times.  But we still have a ways to go.  Rebecca is starting to get better about telling us when she has to go.  All in good time :)
Overall a very full and exciting month.  We are full of hope and very anxious to see what's in store for us in September :)  Check back tomorrow for my "sort of" September goals :)