Meal Plans Week of 7-22-12

Another week of summer has flown by.  Last week was quite busy.  I did lots of produce preservation (blueberries, zucchini, beans, corn and blueberry topping) and baking/cooking (zucchini bread, sd muffins, yogurt, kefir, ice cream, roasted beets and pesto).  Plus I used any extra time I had (and even stayed up a little late sometimes) to finally finish Rebecca's dress!  I'm glad I got all that done...but now I'm worn out!

I think I'm going to take it a little easier this week.  I'll still have to keep up with produce, but I'm not going to do a bunch of extra stuff.  And I'm definitely taking a little break from sewing.  I do have more projects coming...but maybe in a few weeks.  We are going to take it easy and have fun this week.

I do have a couple of baking projects I want to do with Rebecca.  But I think I'll hold off for a week or two on those as well.

I'm not really sure what to say about myself...last week was pretty rough.  And I really don't know why.  I'm sure stress and lack of sleep contributed.  But I know it was more than that.  I do think I overdid a bit with grains (wheat and rice).  I can handle a little bit each day, but I had quite a bit some days (why do I bake such good stuff? :P).  I've also had a mild cold all week.  Mostly just a sore throat.  It's what Abram had the week before.  I'm also finding that sadly I can't handle blueberries as well as I had thought.  But they are in season and so good!  I've been eating a lot.  They are my absolute favorite fruit, always have been.  But...they have seeds.  Yes, blueberries have teeny tiny seeds...and they bother my intestines...that's how sensitive things are right now.  I was actually in pain again part of the week.  And the inflammation was pretty bad.  I even had some weight gain again from how bad it got...my weight has finally been stable for a few months until last week.  It's beyond frustrating!  I LOVE fresh, raw foods...but I can't eat ANY right now.  I basically have to live on mush at the moment.  And it's tough.  I love crunchy food.

I've been digging more and more into the world of minerals and micronutrients.  I've been reading more and more about potassium and magnesium and how much they impact each other.  I know that I am deficient in both.  And without one I can't increase the other.  If magnesium is low I won't be able to get my potassium up no matter how much I eat.  And the impact on my body from being low in both (and probably much more) is really taking its toll.  So I did some research about what foods contain high amounts of magnesium...no surprise I can't eat any of them!  That is a big problem.

Here is what I think is happening.  I can't eat the food that contains the vitamins and minerals I need because my gut is too damaged to digest them.  Without the minerals I can't heal my gut/my body/my mind.  So I'm left with no way out.  I need healing, but can't eat what I need to heal.  So now what?  I need supplements temporarily to get my body back on track and to be able to get my nutrients from food again and properly digest it.  I just need to figure out the right supplements and how much.  I can't do that on my own just guessing.

I did not call my doctor last week...this time on purpose.  I have decided I want to see a naturopath to help in this process.  I have gotten some recommendations from friends and will soon be calling to set up an appointment.  Hopefully they will run some tests and help me figure out how to get my body back in balance.  And hopefully this will really help my body function better and get me off of this path of cutting out more and more foods and feeling worse and always guessing.  I'm not happy with how my body is functioning and how my health seems to keep declining.  I'm hoping that this is the right path to get things back on track.  I need a little "help" from supplements to bring back the balance my body needs.  Real, nourishing foods are great.  But if you have so much damage that you can't utilize them they do no good.

I did also make an appt. with my psychologist.  I have not seen her in over a year.  But I'm struggling lately with dealing with my own health problems and the daily struggles with Rebecca's behavior.  I need strategies on how I can handle both things better.  That will be next week.

So on to the menu.  Nothing fancy this week.  Simple, summer meals.
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S (boil eggs, church, prep smoothies)
  B - pancake and sausage muffins, fruit
  L - egg salad sandwiches, peas, chips
  D - pb and honey sandwiches, sauteed zucchini, blueberry milkshakes

M (freeze beans, freeze zucchini, dance)
  B - smoothie, blueberry muffins
  D - salmon cakes, peas, buttered noodles

T (skim cream, make sc, fm)
  B - yogurt, granola bar, fruit
  D - RR - chicken and rice lasagna (with rice, chicken, cheese and avocado)

W ()
  B - smoothie, strawberry bars
  D - spaghetti

Th ()
  B - yogurt, zucchini bread
  D - beer battered fish, corn on the cob, sweet potato fries

F ()
  B - yogurt, granola bar, fruit
  D - fried egg, toast, cheesecake cups, fresh fruit

S (clean)
  B - zucchini bread, fruit
  D - grill brats, roasted red potatoes, peas