It's Been Awhile!

Wow I haven't blogged in awhile! I felt the need in my life for a bit of a computer/looking into other people's lives break. I was also able to spend a week in New Mexico visiting family, so I am freshly back from that. I am still playing catch up, as it is difficult to come back to a house with no food and a husband going into final reviews week! I'll try to get things back in order around here, and hopefully post some of what's going on in my kitchen.

What I Really Ate This Week

I figured it was time to post something that shows what I actually eat all week, even with a menu plan and the best of intentions. So here it is..... small text are things I didn't do, blue is the changes.

Monday

B: overnight oatmeal (here) [this was super yummy!] and raw milk

L: leftover pasta and salad and homemade sourdough bread

D: sole with sorrel sauce (NT p. 276) (sorrel from the garden that Teal grew last summer) brown rice, and sautéed asparagus Nope! We had miso soup with homemade spring rolls and salad (local!) and sourdough bread (friends came over :)
To Do: cook rice, make chicken stock, feed sourdough mother

Tuesday

B: fried eggs over sauteed potatoes with mushrooms, onions, and garlic and bacon and toast, raw milk

L: leftover salmon and rice Hmmm don't even remember. Oh well. Something leftover, I'm sure.

D: Will is making stir-fry Miso soup, I believe :D Will rocked the white miso soup with fresh shittake mushrooms, bell peppers, carrots, etc. It was lovely.

To Do: make bread, make croutons (NT p. 520), soak black beans

Wednesday

B: yogurt and granola and grapefruit Will had cheerios :( We drank coffee and I drank raw milk. I woke up to a warming fridge, so I didn't have much time to eat.

L: leftover stir fry miso soup and sourdough bread for Will and random pasta with sauce I found defrosting fridge :D

D: large yummy salad (chicken from stock, chickpeas, croutons, etc) and bread Miso soup and salad for Will (he is at school all day Wed) and I made the Indian Cornish Hens early (fridge thing again....) with some leftover rice

To Do: feed sourdough mother

Thursday

B: baked oats and yogurt (this recipe from The Nourished Kitchen)

L: leftover salad leftover cornish hens

D: black bean soup (NT p. 223) made soup but ate pecan-encrusted sole with sorrel (fabulous!!) and rice, salad

To Do: feed sourdough mother, start cooking black beans in am, soak white beans, soak oats ?for what? who knows,

Friday

B: baked oats leftovers Will slept in and I wasn't hungry, so nothing.

L: leftover soup baked oats leftovers, sent fish with Will

D: Breakfast Club with friends Meeting cancelled, so we had leftover rice, cornish hens, and fish

To Do: feed sourdough mother, soak rice

Saturday

B: frittata and toast, raw milk and cheerios :(

L: any misc. leftovers

D: Indian cornish game hens (NT p. 292) and salad and rice Already made and ate hens, and we were out on a bike ride, so we stopped at a little Mexican trailer food place, and got a burrito and torta, but it turned out to be similar to a big mac, just Mexican style :( We felt pretty gross afterwards. Oh well.

To Do: feed sourdough mother, get milk from farm, plant veggies!!! (side note) ps planting was so fun!

Sunday

B: english muffin attempt! woot. to be made into bacon and egg sandwich Nope, didn't happen. We've had some rough nights with Bebe lately, so mornings haven't been so hot for me.

L: something... hehe

D: Sauerkraut & Bean soup (NT p. 210 with homemade sauerkraut) and bread We had leftover black bean soup and bread.

To Do: 8 am start white beans, feed sourdough mother

We are also daily drinking home-brewed kombucha and water kefir.

Menu Plan Monday (on Monday!!)

Here the link to all Menu Plan Mondays if you're interested.

Yes! I made this this weekend and it is up and running on Monday. Success! :) (and I actually went shopping Sunday to be all prepared). Excellent.

Monday

B: overnight oatmeal (here) and raw milk

L: leftover pasta and salad and homemade sourdough bread

D: sole with sorrel sauce (NT p. 276) (sorrel from the garden that Teal grew last summer) brown rice, and sautéed asparagus
To Do: cook rice, make chicken stock, feed sourdough mother

Tuesday

B: eggs and bacon and toast, raw milk

L: leftover salmon and rice

D: Will is making stir-fry, I believe :D

To Do: make bread, make croutons (NT p. 520), soak black beans

Wednesday

B: yogurt and granola and grapefruit

L: leftover stir fry

D: large yummy salad (chicken from stock, chickpeas, croutons, etc) and bread

To Do: feed sourdough mother

Thursday

B: baked oats and yogurt (this recipe from The Nourished Kitchen)

L: leftover salad

D: black bean soup (NT p. 223), salad

To Do: feed sourdough mother, start cooking black beans in am, soak white beans, soak oats,

Friday

B: baked oats leftovers

L: leftover soup

D: Breakfast Club with friends

To Do: feed sourdough mother, soak rice

Saturday

B: frittata and toast, raw milk

L: any misc. leftovers

D: Indian cornish game hens (NT p. 292) and salad and rice

To Do: feed sourdough mother, get milk from farm, plant veggies!!! (side note)

Sunday

B: english muffin attempt! woot. to be made into bacon and egg sandwich

L: something... hehe

D: Sauerkraut & Bean soup (NT p. 210 with homemade sauerkraut) and bread

To Do: 8 am start white beans, feed sourdough mother

We are also daily drinking home-brewed kombucha and water kefir.

April Kitchen Goals (and March's report)

I'm participating again this month in Kelly the Kitchen Kop's Kitchen Goal of the Month, and I have three:

1. Make sourdough bread each Tuesday

2. Make a meal plan every Monday

3. Make a weekly post about Real Food

Whew! We'll see how that goes. Last month went pretty well! I ordered and have been making frequent batches of water kefir, which we've enjoyed. I've played a bit around with adding dried fruit, along with different sweeteners, so I'll post about that later sometime. I didn't make a meal plan each Monday, but I had lots of house guests so what I can say. I hope to this month. And I did make my own flour! I soaked, sprouted, and ground some buckwheat, and then made waffles.

Menu Plan Monday (on Tuesday)

Ok so one of my March goals was to make a menu plan each Monday. Didn't happen. Oh well. Moving on. We have one this week!

I've decided to make 6 dinner concepts, one for each night of the week (minus Friday when we have a get-together with friends and I will be spontaneous!). That way I can know, way ahead of time, approximately what I'll be making. Also, I will be needing to send Will with lunch every weekday, so that means I need consistent leftovers. I feel good about it so far.

Monday

B: soaked oats and yogurt, raw milk

L: leftover pasta

D: rice & refried beans (NT p. 496), asparagus with butter

Tuesday

B: cottage cheese and oranges, toast

L: leftover beans and rice

D: Chicken, Potato and Leek soup (NT p. 228) and bread (rye bread from Portland bakery)

To Do: start sourdough starter, start pizza dough, cut up veggies for omelet and pizza

Wednesday

B: omelet with veggies, toast with butter

L: leftover soup and toast with butter

D: Veggie and Hamburger Yogurt Dough pizza (NT p. 485) with flour that I made. and salad

To Do: Soak flour for pancakes/waffles, feed sourdough mother

Thursday

B: soaked pancakes/waffles and grapefruit

L: leftover pizza and salad

D: pasta with red sauce and salad

To Do: soak oats, feed sourdough mother, make Friday dinner

Friday

B: soaked baked oats (this recipe from The Nourished Kitchen), raw milk

L: leftover pasta

D: Breakfast Club with friends

To Do: feed sourdough mother, soak and cook beans for Sun soup

Saturday

B: eggs and yogurt, raw milk

L: any misc. leftovers

D: (still working on this) some sort of meat with roasted acorn squash

To Do: feed sourdough mother, make Sunday soup, get milk from farm, cut up fruit

Sunday

B: fruit salad, dutch baby pancakes (NT p.479) , raw milk

L: curried tuna salad sandwiches (modified NT p. 414), salad

D: Sauerkraut & Bean soup (NT p. 210 with homemade sauerkraut) and bread

To Do: soak oats, beans, and rice, feed sourdough mother

We are also daily drinking home-brewed kombucha and water kefir (I usually add some lemon juice or vanilla extract to flavor it).

Confessions of a New Parent

Man, being a parent is rough. I think there are about as many philosophies for raising children as there are children. For someone who readily admits their inability to do things unless they do it well, a baby without instructions is not the quickest fit. I was an overachiever before Mabel came along, although I'd made a lot of progress since I moved to Eugene. Some days I feel like I'm regressing toward my pre-Eugene self. There are moments I catch a glimpse of my subconscious and, to my chagrin, I realize that I am expecting my child to fit into my life easily and without much crying. To my credit, she doesn't cry much, so its not as if I'm expecting the impossible. But I caught myself thinking that today, and I felt embarrassed. Embarrassed to admit that I wish a six month old could wear a watch; that I am sometimes caught off guard when she wakes up from a long nap (is that MY baby??); that in so many ways I still expect my life to continue the same as it has always been; embarrassed that sometimes I think she cries intentionally to tick me off. These are, of course, perfectly normal and experienced by thousands of parents, I'm sure. And so I point back to my first confession: I hate to be wrong. I hate not knowing or not being confident about my decisions. Either I do something, or I don't. Vaccines linked to autism? Accumulated sleep deficiency leading to depressed learning ability? 1 out of 3 kids her age to develop diabetes based on food choices? Hormones in meat to lead to early puberty? I feel terribly ill equipped to deal with the responsibility of making these decisions for another human.

I wanted to post about another topic entirely (embracing routine and the mundane), but this is what came out. I guess it was on my heart. Hopefully I'll sleep a little easier tonight.

In any case, waking up to the cutest baby in the world does help.

Fermented Cod Liver Oil

I have a few other posts in the makings (salmon head soup... with photos!), but I wanted to do a quick note on the fermented cod liver oil giveaway that Kelly the Kitchen Kop is doing here. I have just started taking cod liver oil (not the fermented kind), but all the fabulous benefits are here. I don't mind the flavor much, and I usually drink some water after I take it. My housemate plugs her nose when she takes it :D

Also, I ordered some water kefir grains from Cultures for Health. I'm super excited! Water kefir is really good for you. You can make A LOT with minimal effort, and who doesn't love that? Anyhow, I'll keep you updated. Marianne also gave me a kombucha baby, so that will be in the works too!

Menu Plan Monday coming soon.....