Meal Plans Week of 7-3-11

First full week of July.  Holiday weekend.  A big thanks to all those that serve our country.  We are very blessed.

Last week I ended up being quite busy, having errands to run every single day.  I hate weeks like that, but we had to.  Yesterday was catch up on house work day.  I did a lot of cleaning/organizing.  I got things set up to do cloth diapering upstairs.  I moved/organized some of Rebecca's toys.  We brought the baby swing up.  We got a lot done, but there is still a lot to do.  We were able to finalize most of our summer vacation plans.  Glad to have that on the calendar.  I tried some new moby holds so Abram can have more mobility.  I was plenty busy in the kitchen as well.  I got another flat of strawberries at the farmer's market.  I used it to make strawberry fruit leather, strawberry topping and strawberry freezer jam.  We have 1 qt. left for eating fresh (and using in recipes today and tomorrow).  I also made raisins, crispy cashews, spinach parmesan bread, pesto and strawberry, cherry, raspberry crisp.

I tried coconut milk for the first time last week in our smoothies.  I didn't know it would be such a strong flavor!  Rebecca seemed to like it.  Justin and I thought it was ok...maybe an acquired taste.  I might try using it again this week.  But we'll see.  Not sure it set well with my tummy.  Sadly coconut in various forms seems to be tough on me...and Abram.  I was up to 2 doses of digestive enzymes last week. I'll start adding the 3rd today.  I also started taking another dose of CLO.  Still trying to get back on track after my mistake of lowering my miralax dose.  Abram had a couple rough days too.  Right around when I had the coconut milk smoothie.  Not sure if that was the problem or not.

Cloth diapering is now in full swing - all day and night, cloth wipes.  However we are still trying to figure out how to keep Abram dry at night.  That boy can pee :P  Every night he wakes up soaked, multiple times.  Even if it's only been an hour or two since he was last changed/fed.  I'm going to start using the full inserts this week (instead of just the newborn/doublers).  See if that helps.  And maybe I need to adjust the fit as well.  Maybe I don't have them on snugly enough.  Hopefully we can get it figured out.  It's hard to keep up with laundry/having clean jammies, sleep sacks and sheets :P

This won't be a crazy week, but still plenty busy.  Today is church.  Tomorrow is the usual parade and fireworks.  We still haven't decided if we'll keep Rebecca up or not.  I don't mind her staying up a little.  I just don't want her to be scared.  Tuesday is farmer's market and Meijer.  Wednesday I need to go to Heffron Farms to get some stuff for the baptism party.  If the weather is nice I might try to do something fun with the kids on Thursday, like the zoo.  We'll see.  Saturday we have a bridal shower for my cousin's fiance.  I'll be taking Rebecca and Abram with me.  Justin gets some quiet time :)  I need to keep working on cleaning organizing both Rebecca's and Abram's rooms.  And I'd like to get started on Rebecca's reward chart.

Food is mostly keeping up with preserving.  I'm planning to stock up on cherries this week and freezing/drying those.  We are considering going cherry picking, but not sure yet.  We have tons of lettuce from our garden, so I'll probably be eating lots of salads.  I'm going to try to keep up with making/drinking broth.  And if time allows I could try fermenting some veggies (beets?, zucchini?).  I also need to make some food for the shower.  I think I'm going to make mud balls.  Something easy that Rebecca can help with. If time allows I might try making popsicles today too.  Meals - simple and in season.  Breakfast is broth/soup for me every day.  And still working on using up baked goods from the freezer for Justin.

I guess that's all for now.  The kiddie pool is set up, so hopefully we can spend a little time in the water.  And enjoy the summer and the holiday.  Here's what's on the menu.
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S (prep lunch, church, nursery, make broth/soup)
  B - soup (me), sd granola muffins, fruit (Justin)
  L - roasted chicken legs, carrots, zucchini, beans, peas in cp
  D - GF strawberry blueberry (4th of July) pancakes w/ honey, syrup, crispy nuts and fresh strawberries, sausage links, grapes

M (parade, fireworks)
  B - broth, veggies, sausage (me), leftover pancakes, fruit (Justin)
  D - grilled steak, salad, red, white and blue milkshakes (try it with coconut milk and/or kefir for me?)

T (fm, Meijer, Hop Scotch, make kefir, freeze cherries)
  B - broth, eggs, peas (me), sd granola muffins, fruit (Justin)
  D - gf chicken nuggets, zucchini fries, peas

W (boil/peel eggs, Heffron, roast beets, car fixed)
  B - broth, chicken, zucchini (me), cinnamon raisin swirl bread w/ pb, fruit (Justin)
  D - salad (me), enchilada bake (from freezer) (Justin)

Th (prep smoothies, zoo, freeze cherries, put away laundry)
  B - cinnamon raisin bread, smoothie (Justin), broth, egg, veggies (me)
  D - ground beef and veggie soup, salad, bread

F (dry cherries, clean, make mud balls, soak beans, make kefir)
  B - leftover soup (me), yogurt, granola, mixed fruit (Justin)
  D - nut crusted salmon, beans, fries, fruit

S (laundry, cook beans, make sausage, bridal shower, feed sd)
  B - leftover soup (me), hard boiled egg, toast (Justin)
  D - (prep ahead/light) - salad w/ salmon, egg, nuts and veggies (me), sloppy lentils (from freezer) on buns, fries, broccoli (Justin)