Meal Plans Week of 4-10-11

April seems to be flying by.  Although last week was a bit long with Justin gone all week and Rebecca and I not seeing anyone (I think we were both quite grumpy by Thursday afternoon :P).  We are both very thankful to have him home!!  We did get quite a bit done at least.  And we got to celebrate Justin's birthday on Friday.  Plus take our first trip to the park yesterday since it was so nice out.  This week will be crazy getting back into the swing of things with our usual activities plus prepping for/having a birthday/graduation party on Saturday.

So, last week's big accomplishment...the basement bathroom.  All of the hired work is done!!!  So happy about that.  The shower is tiled, and Justin put the sealant on yesterday.  We now have a ceiling, new trim and a door on the storage area.  It looks like a brand new room.  I have a shower curtain on order that should be here this week.  We still have to paint the trim and door and hang a towel rod, but that's not urgent.  We are just so glad to have the major work done and have a fully functional 3rd bathroom :)  We'll see what our guests think on Saturday :P  We also got more baby prep done.  The pack 'n play is set up in our room.  I've started packing my hosptial bag (mostly just need to add toiletries).  I cleaned all of the baby toys and got our new bouncy seat set up.  I have started working on all of the food prep for while I'm gone.  By the end of the week it should be about done.  I've also started working on grandparent instructions, etc.  And I got some stuff printed about vaccine schedules so I can talk to the ped about it next week.  I also bought my moby wrap...now I just have to figure out how to use it :)  Rebecca is doing well in her big girl bed.  Hopefully we're getting into a good routine finally.  The last 2 nights she has not gotten out of bed once.  I think I'm finally done with all card/gift shopping through June (I had totally forgotten about Mother's Day before :P).  In the kitchen I was very busy too.  I made sourdough english muffins, navy bean hummus, froze pea soup, made whole wheat noodles, butterscotch bars, crispy macadamia nuts, coffee cake, gf peanut butter bread, sloppy joe meat (for the party), peanut butter fudge, maple pecan scones (for the party), froze a batch of gf fish sticks, made gf apple raisin bars, gf granola (updated my recipe to include a GAPS-legal and unbaked version), butterscotch pudding, trifles, gf breakfast bars, pumpkin pancakes (soaked them this time...worked well), fermented punch and froze a batch of goulash.

This week the focus will shift a bit from baby prep to party prep.  In addition to a busy week (with Justin gone 3 nights in a row :(.  Today is church.  Monday is Harvest Health, gymnastics and Justin has council.  Tuesday is Meijer, and Justin has class.  Wednesday will be an exciting day.  Kindermusik in the morning.  Then my 36 week OB appt. in the afternoon.  We'll all be going to see the ultrasound!  We are very anxious to get another peek at this little one.  Justin has church stuff in the evening.  Thursday we are going to celebrate Rebecca's birthday as a family.  It's a few days early, but it's the only day we have time over the next week.  Friday is MOPS.  And Saturday is the 3rd birthday/graduation party for Rebecca and Justin plus overnight guests.  Part of me thinks I'm crazy for even attempting this.  But we're gonna go for it :P

So, with the party on Saturday I have a lot to get done during the week.  One big thing is the cake.  I'm hoping to start the decorations today.  I want to get those done early so that the final decorating at the end of the week will go pretty quickly.  I had intended to make homemade frosting, but I just don't have the time or energy.  At least everything else is homemade :)  I'm making a mini princess wedding cake.  I hope it turns out.  The rest of the food prep for the party will be last minute stuff on Friday and Saturday.  In addition to the food we have to clean the house (including getting the basement ready for overnight guests) and get all of the decorations ready (hoping Rebecca can help with that).  I would like to finish packing my hospital bag (hey, you never know what the doctor will say on Wed. :P) and get the infant car seat installed in the van.  Other kitchen work - I will be freezing chili and corn muffins (already made both this morning), making hummus, candied nuts, a big batch of beef broth, gf muffins, beef veggie soup (for freezer) and tomato soup (for freezer).  If time allows I might experiment with making almond flour.  Up to this point I've been buying it.  It is expensive.  But my main concern is that it's not soaked.  And I know that makes it harder on my tummy.  If I don't get to it this week I'll try next week.  I'd like to try making other types of nut flours as well with my crispy nuts.  After all of my work last week I'm down to my last litlte bit of milk and last 2 eggs.  I'm doing my best to ration things until we get restocked tomorrow :)

In terms of health - last week I ate really well...maybe too well.  I had chicken broth 4 days in a row.  I had quite a bit of coconut oil (more than usual).  No grains.  Less sugar.  And I tried my first new probiotic.  Welll...that led to some pretty nasty die off (full spectrum of unpleasant symptoms, including severe nausea, headaches and major tummy upset).  I'm finally getting past the worst of it.  And this is what I was hoping to avoid in the first place because I don't want to impact the baby in any way.  I'm learning that my body has so many years of damage that even small changes have a big  impact on me (at least I know the changes are working).  So I now know I have to keep things at a steady state for now.  I'm basically doing full GAPS with a few excpetions here and there.  The current plan (at least until the baby is born) is no grains, not too much sugar (try to stick to only natural sugar from fruit and honey), continue with my regular probiotic (introduce the new one slowly in a few months), continue to eat dairy (mostly kefir, yogurt and hard cheese), go slow with coconut oil, not go overboard with nuts and raw veggies, continue w/ bone broth regularly.

Hopefully I can keep up with everything as late pregnancy fatigue gets worse and my ankle/leg swelling gets worse.  I'm doing my best to make time every day to put my feet up.  Well, on with another week.  Here's what's on the menu.
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S (prep chili, make corn muffins, cook beans, boil eggs, church, freeze chili and corn muffins, cake deco, make candied nuts, make hummus)
  B - yogurt/kefir, gf granola, buttered beans (me), yogurt, granola, pineapple (Justin)
  L - cp chili, corn muffins
  D - candied crispy nuts, carrot french fries w/ fermented ketchup, egg salad (sandwich for Justin, w/ avocado for me)

M (make beef broth, cake deco, HH, G, put away laundry, council, soak nuts)
  B - fried eggs, toast, avocado
  D - almond crusted tilapia, beans, squash

T (freeze beef broth, make coconut muffins, Meijer, class, freeze soup, dry nuts)
  B - coconut muffins, pineapple, squash
  D - beef veggie soup

W (prep dinner, chop veggies, KM, Dr. E. - u/s!, freeze soup, WT/audit)
  B - beef soup (me), banana bread (from freezer), pineapple (Justin)
  D - (prep ahead, early dinner) - crockpot tomato soup, grilled cheese

Th (crumb coat and fondant cake, make kefir, chop veggies, celebrate Rebecca's birthday, party deco, clean)
  B - (just me) - beef soup, cheddar cheese
  D - spaghetti, peas, garlic toast

F (clean, cake deco, MOPS, make veggie dip, thaw buns, meat, fruit, scones, house deco, prep basement)
  B - scrambled eggs, toast, veggies
  D - sausage links, broccoli, banana bread

S (make fruit salad, chop veggies, slice cheese, cake deco, house deco, Party/guests)
  B - sausage links, banana bread, veggies
  D - sloppy joes, fruit salad, crackers w/ cheese, veggies w/ dip, roasted veggies, maple pecan scones w/ jam, cake, ice cream, candy