Meal Plans Week of 12-16-12

Good morning.  One more week to get things done before Christmas.  How are you doing?  I finished my shopping yesterday and got my cards mailed.  I'm glad to check those off my list.  Now it's on to baking goodies and wrapping presents.  All the final details.

Last week was a bit rough since Abram did not sleep well at all.  Poor kid is teething so badly.  It's rare that he doesn't have a finger or a toy in his mouth trying to get some comfort.  Abram not sleeping = Mommy not sleeping :P  Not good for any of us.  Thankfully last night was a good night.  I feel much more rested this morning.  Aside from the sleep issues we had some rough days with Rebecca as well.  It even showed up in her behavior at school...first time the teacher has had to talk to me.  But on a positive note I am learning a few things that have a big impact on her behavior.  So hopefully making some simple changes will help.  She also had her first session with the speech therapist.  I'm so excited to see the impact of this treatment.  I think Rebecca is too.

This week is shaping up to be quite busy.  In addition to our usual activities we have a few very anticipated doctor visits.  I'll finally be seeing a new doctor to hopefully help me get more insight on what's going on in my body.  And Rebecca is meeting with another specialist.  Then we will hopefully have a better plan of action for her/see if we get any kind of diagnosis.  We are also meeting with the speech therapist again tomorrow.  This week we have our last day of Kindermusik.  It'll be nice to have a little break.  When we start up later in January both kids will be in it!  I hope Abram likes it as much as his sister.  This week we have co-op pick up and Justin has worship team.  Friday is also Rebecca's Christmas party.  I'll be going to that while Justin is home with Abram...on vacation :)  Friday we have MomBreak as well.  And we need to get to the grocery store.  Our fridge is bare!  I hope the kids can keep up with this crazy week.

Inbetween all of our running around I have a lot to get done at home.  I've been working diligently on my sewing project.  I'm ALMOST done.  I will finish it this week :)  I need to make cookies for Rebecca's Christmas party.  Our freezer stock of baked goods is getting low.  So I might work on some breakfast baked goods.  I need to get going on some of our Christmas baking (more flavored oreos, maybe peppermint stick ice cream).  And Rebecca wants to make homemade candy bars and kit-kat bars.  We'll see if we have time for it.  I need to make yogurt and kefir.  And I'd like to make a new loaf of yeast free bread for myself.

The end of last week was a bit rough for me.  The lack of sleep definitely made a difference.  But I also had a big response to something I ate.  I think it was fennel...but I'm not totally sure.  It came the day after I ate 9 different veggies in one day :P  Smart move.  It could also have been from mushrooms.  Those are two things I rarely eat/were out of the ordinary.  I do know that since then my usual symptoms have come on strong.  The cystic acne/oily dull skin, eye pain, a whole host of things that I now know aren't just random annoyances.  They all come on together as a response in my body to something I ate and/or did.  So that kicked off some bad inflammation and pain.  The next day I tried a few nuts.  Poor timing.  Then I ate a fair amount of olives, cheese and yeast yesterday which bothered me as well.  So it was a combination of poor sleep, an inflammatory response to something I ate, too much yeast and not rotating foods much (I think I've eaten avocado every day for 5 or 6 days now).  Now I have to wait it out again to return to "normal."  I was also not rotating food as well.  I was getting variety...but I was getting a lot of the same variety each day.  So one day I would eat 9 veggies...then I had to repeat many of the same ones the next day and the next.  Eating a large variety of veggies each day is healthy, but maybe I should stick to only a few so I can rotate them more easily.  Especially when it's grocery week and we don't have many left.

I've been reading Eat For Heat.  So much great information.  And it's helping me learn better what works for me and how I should eat throughout the day.  I need to start my day with plenty of food, including lots of salt and saturated fat.  I also need to have enough carbohydrates and not drink too much.  Later in the day I can eat lighter and have a little more fluid.  And not eat a huge amount before bed.  This will keep me warm and keep my metabolism running well.  A good breakfast for me is vegetables sauteed in lots of butter with sea salt and some yeast free bread with butter and salt.  Then for dinner I can ease up on the fat and salt and eat something like salad or raw veggies.

One key thing that Matt Stone says in his book is that to eat for heat you need the four S's: salt, sugar, starch and saturated fat.  And you need it at the right time of day for you.  For some this is early in the day (like me).  For some it's later in the evening.

I struggled a bit with meal planning this week.  I have yet to fill in a couple spots.  And we aren't sure yet what our plans for Saturday are, so that is still TBD.  I'll hopefully fill in the rest soon.  I am hoping to get a little extra broth in my diet this week.  And I'll have to fill in my vegetables each day.  I'll have more options after I get to the store.  What are you eating this week?  Any good new recipes you've tried lately?  Do you need a big breakfast to keep you going all day or do you prefer to start your day off light?
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S (sewing, church, make yeast free bread, make chocolates, make caramels, prep smoothies, soak beans, soak flour)
  B - french toast casserole, cheesy scrambled eggs (J), squash, broth, butter, peas, avocado, egg yolk, vanilla wafer (M)
  L - tomato noodle soup, grilled cheese (J), broth with butter, salt, peas,squash, breans, vanilla wafer (M)
  D - leftover pizza, crispy fennel (J), broth w/ butter, salt, peas, zucchini, yeast free bread w/ butter (M)

M (cook beans, bake scones, sewing, SP, PS, Dr. A.)
  B - smoothie, soaked date scones (J), sauteed brussels sprouts, soaked date scone (M)
  L - pizza, soup (J), brussels sprouts, pinto beans, olives, soaked date scone (M)
  D - pesto rice and beans, peas, peaches, garlic toast

T (make yogurt, skim cream, KM)
  B - yogurt, granola, fruit (J), broth w/ pesto rice, peas, beans (M)
  L - at work (J), broth w/ pesto rice, peas, brussels sprouts, beans (M)
  D - baked white fish w/ tartar sauce, broccoli, french fries

W (prep dinner, make hot fudge, Meijer, PS, make ice cream, co-op, WT, make cookie dough, sewing)
  B - smoothie, date scones (J), raw brussels sprouts w/ pesto, date scone w/ butter (M)
  L - pesto rice and beans (J), yogurt w/ cereal, sugar snap peas(M)
  D - (separate) - hamburger corn bake, carrots, applesauce (J), cucumber, avocado, pinto beans, raisins w/ honey mustard (w/ extra egg yolk) (M)

Th (bake cookies, roast beets, chop veggies, Dr. M., make chocolate covered pretzels, make frosting, sewing)
  B - waffle, banana (J), sugar snap peas, avocado, bread w/ butter (M)
  L - hot dog, carrots, tator tots (J), vegetables cooked in broth, egg yolk (M)
  D - leftover casserole, beans, fruit (J), broth w/ pesto rice, veggies and egg yolk (M)

F (chop fruits and veggies, freeze butter, MB, PS/party)
  B - waffle (J), sugar snap peas, pineapple, bread w/ butter (M)
  L - hot dogs or leftovers (J), sautted beets, beet greens, broccoli, avocado w/ egg yolk and cheese (M)
  D - cinnamon cranberry rice, fried eggs (just yolk for me), toast, roasted cauliflower, fruit

S (clean, bake bread, family gathring)
  B - banana bread, fruit (J), sugar snap peas, cucumber, bread w/ butter (M)
  L - hot dogs (J), sauteed veggies w/ egg yolk (M)
  D - w/ family