Feeling a little more normal

 I am feeling a bit more normal with my routine.  I don't feel as overwhelmed.  I realize now, it is because Nathan is on board.   We just bought a 5 gallon bucket of honey.  We are going to drink more broth, too.  At this point, Nathan has lost 20 lbs.  The kids, except Analise a few pounds.  I lost 5.  Unfortunately, I am the one who can't.  So I am going to make an appt.  with a nutritionist at the YMCA.  Nathan is so happy.  The kids and Nathan are getting over a cold.  Thankfully, I never got it.  I have not been sick for 2 months!  A miracle really:)

Finally, our school room

 on the right workout room and left craft area

messy basement

 science journal

 Bjorn watches Zeb

 Zeb's pin head on his body

 Hannelora so happy to do math

snack:  yogurt and granola

 Lunch:  Asian chicken salad

 Last night's meal:  butternut squash/onions/green chilies

 steamed carrots/broccoli/cauliflower

 cheesy chicken bundles

Important:  Cozi's new lizard frog

We got  a free frog.  I think Fred died because he was too cold. The guy at the pet store didn't tell us we needed a heat lamp.  So now we have a thermometer and heater. 

Valentine's Day, Fairwell to Fredrick the Frog and more cooking

I sure wish our valentines looked so cheery.  I was too lazy to make Bjorn's bed (he wet the bed) so I let him sleep in his brother's bed the night before.  One of my biggest mistakes.  I went to go check on them before I went to bed (10 p.m.), they were still awake.  Everyone was grouchy!  Quite a few melt downs between the kids.  Bjorn lost it at karate.  He kept crying and crying and crying.  It was so much fun... 

Before we left the house for free day at the art museum, we  received flowers from natey-cakes.  We were so surprised by flowers.  2 times in a week!  I was flabbergasted!

Daddy got the kids roses too.  Well, sort of...  We got 4 single roses. Nathan bought the girls roses and not the boys.  They accidentally gave us an extra one.  So I gave one to Sebastian and pulled pink flower for Bjorn.

 My flowers

Our chocolate hearts made with unsweetened bakers chocolate and a little honey.

Friday nights meal and a movie:  The amazing Spider-man and ham and broccoli puff bake

 Fair well Frederick- He passed away on Feb. 15, 2013

 Cozi dug a hole...

 and buried him.   Her last words to her beloved frog, "Bye frog."

I made ketchup

 fermented pickles...   The kids will eat these without going into freak out fests.

They taste a lot like dill pickles.

 Berry yogurt pops. 

 soaking pecans before drying them:  this makes them easier to digest

 granola

 dried almonds

A lot going on...

Oh boy, I can't seem to find time to blog.  I do have a positive change.  I am not sure when this happened, but our taste buds are tasting food as if for the first time again.  We all know carrots are sweet, but seriously, they are deliciously sweet.  I taste sweet in celery, Adam's peanut butter and so many other things.  God is amazing how he flavored His food.  What a blessing.  I was thinking about what I was going to blog and I thought, my moods seem to be so much better.  Then....  bammmm!  The next day, the kids were whining and fighting and I lost it.  Now that I think back, this is normal.  We can't always be soaring on cloud nine, right? I do believe my moods and the level of stress are going down.  YEA!

GAPS homemade pizza.  Look how huge the pepperoni's are!

 I created coconut pancakes minus the honey for the crust.

 Pork/ sauted red onions, peppers and brussel sprouts/rice/ guacamole

SOOOO good, Nathan asked what was with the avacados, well, he loved them!

Nathan's sorry for being so difficult.

Cobb salad for lunch

 ham, egg, avacado, onion and cheese

 a winner!

My favorite winter squash bars (pumpkin) 

Ups and Downs

I have had my ups and downs this week.  I think most of the time I am fighting against myself about GAPS more than anyone.  I think one of the main reasons is I restricted food from myself for so long, I made amends with it and now I don't want to restrict food again.  I want to enjoy it.  I don't want to ostracize my family from others either.  Heaven forbid, I had my grandma's funeral last Friday and I didn't go to the lunch.  I could have brought my own food, but with six of us, that involves so much to be prepared for.   I don't want to be legalistic about everything.  I mean GAPS can't be an all or nothing right?  If so, I have failed.  So somehow, I have to find the middle ground for our family.  I am still searching...  

Anyway, here are some more meals that turned out really good!

Tortilla-less Chicken Soup

 Black Hills Golden Egg Bake.  Oh so yummy!  We ate this for dinner, but it would be perfect for breakfast.  No leftovers...

Asian Chicken Spring Rolls

 Zeb and Bjorn helping

 Yummy!

 Hot and Sour Soup- of course the kids picked out the mushrooms, more for me!

 Peanut Butter Bites- the kids loved this...  All it is 1 1/2 cups peanut butter, 1 cup coconut oil and 1/4 c. honey.  Freeze until solid and cut.  Keep in freezer.

I did make winter squash bars for breakfast, but I forgot to take a picture.  They are one of my favorites for sure.  They tasted like the pumpkin pie without the crust.  I will post the picture when I  make them again, which will be very soon.  The ingredients were: pumpkin/eggs/vanilla/cinn./little bit of honey/salt.  Sooooo good! 

Not a fan of Super Bowl, but I am of brussel sprouts!

Oh my!  I have always hated brussel sprouts.  As a young girl I would pout and plug my nose.  I would sit at the table forever, refusing to eat them.  Unfortunately, my mom won.  I even tried them about 6 months ago roasted with olive oil and garlic at my mom's house.  Nope.  I really think my taste buds have changed.  In fact, Hannelora and I were talking today how we actually like squash.  It is a miracle.  I sure do miss the other food, but at least we are trying foods we would never try before and actually love.  Maybe I will try lima beans next.  I doubt it, that bean is definitely not worth trying!

Thurs. night:  Pork and Brussel Sprout Stir-fry:  I did add rice noodles

Friday night:  hamburgers/cheese/ mushrooms and onions

hamburgers and cheese for the kids

 and of course we can't forget the salad

 Today I needed to cook as much as I could for the following few weeks so here it is.  I am not trying to say I am some Suzy home maker- I am trying to show how much work is involved.

Before church this morning:  I made GAPS granola

  favorite protein bars

 After church and lunch:  I baked these two beautiful chickens.  The kids took the meat off the bones for me.  Bjorn and Analise love the skin, so we saved it for them as a snack.  I later put the bones in a crockpot to make Chicken broth.

A beautiful day, Nathan is teaching them to use their bows they received for Christmas.  

6 servings of chili, I made 3 meals out of it.

 Sausage Lentil Soup- 2 meals

 another favorite- banana bread

 doubled the recipe, this will be gone in 4 days.  We used 12 eggs for this.

Hannelora scoops out the spaghetti squash

 for spaghetti- we are going to eat this for lunches

 

Super bowl dinner-  Italian broccoli bake

Pretty tasty, just a little watery.   I stayed home to finish up my cooking.  Hannelora and the boys stayed home with me.  Nathan is at his parents watching the game.  Now I am going to relax and watch a BBC movie on Netflix.  So far my favorite movie from them is Downton Abbey.  I want to get the other episodes.