Week of Silence - Week of Joy

You haven't heard from me in over a week.  Well there is a really good reason for that.  Last Sunday evening, July 31st, I went to bed close to 11:30pm, and just as I was drifting off about midnight, I felt a large gush of water, which didn't take me long to realize that my water had broken.

We were off to the hospital about 1am.  I labored on my own for several hours without significant progress.  They decided to start pitocin.  I continued to labor without an epidural until about 2pm at which case I was still only 3cm dilated, but the contractions were getting really rough.  I opted for an epidural.  About 4 o'clock, the doctors came in to let me know that Nathan's heart rate kept dropping after each contraction.  They took me off the pitocin and see if I continued on my own.  I didn't continue to progress on my own, and since Nathan's heart rate stabilized, they re-started me on pitocin for awhile longer.  Nathan's heart rate continued to drop after each contraction, so after talking to my doctor, they decided to do a C-section.  Nathan was born at 5:57 pm.

He weighed 8# 2.5oz and was 21 1/4 inches long.  He's a BIG kid!!  I was in the hospital until Friday morning.  I had some blood pressure issues from Wednesday through early Friday which appear to have rectified themselves.

Nathan and I are very gratefully at home with the rest of the family who are very excited over his arrival.  These next few weeks are definitely going to be a transition for us as I learn how to care for a newbie while taking care of the rest of my family, but I have every confidence in the Lord that He will lead and provide for sleep and strength for the task to which He has called us.

Non-GMO Experiment - Ongoing

This week's been very busy, but I'm still here.  I've still been cooking and baking up a storm.  I'm up to 11 dinners in the freezer and 12 breakfasts.  I'm getting ready to make granola this afternoon and maybe some home made granola bars as well.

So how have we done this week with cutting out our GMO's?  I've continued to make almost everything from scratch, so overall we're doing well.  We did run out of defrosted home made ketchup, so I did have to pull a bottle from the storage room which has beet sugar in it, meaning, it's probably got GMO's in it.

I also cooked up two whole chickens this week for their meat.  More than likely these have been feed GMO feed corn.  I have to admit, getting meat that is non-GMO is going to be a very difficult proposition for me right now as Steve is no longer preaching out in Bowling Green, so our income has gone down by almost 1/3rd.

Cutting out most GMO's will take some more time, but not much more money as I make most things from scratch, but dealing with our meat issues will definitely be more difficult.  Any suggestions out there to make this more economical, please let me know!

Menu Plan Monday - "Wondering if I'll be here" Version

As I'm sure most, if not all, of you know that I'm pregnant and ready to deliver any moment.  As of today, I'm 37 weeks pregnant.   While I'm not as ready as I probably could be, I am comfortable enough in what I've accomplished to this point that if I were to go into labor at any time, I wouldn't be disappointed.

That being said, these plans are for if I don't go into labor any time during the week.

Monday 
      Breakfast -  Oatmeal
      Lunch - Left Over Chicken Noodle Soup
      Dinner - Meatloaf (doubled) , Cheesy au Gratin Potatoes, sliced fresh peaches


Tuesday
      Breakfast - pumpkin muffins and yogurt
      Lunch - Baked Potatoes w/ Cheese
      Dinner - Home made pizza

Wednesday 
      Breakfast - Pancake, Sausage Muffins
      Lunch - Quesadillas
      Dinner - Sloppy Joes (tripled - two frozen), salad, watermelon

Thursday 
      Breakfast - Granola
      Lunch - Cheese, crackers, fresh fruit
      Dinner - Chicken Tacos

Friday 
      Breakfast - Banana Oat Breakfast Cookies
      Lunch - Lunch @ Kleins
      Dinner - Ham & Pineapple, biscuits, Rice Pilaf from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook p. 87

Saturday 
      Breakfast - Breakfast Casserole, French Toast Casserole
      Dinner - Hot Dogs (kids), Cube Steak, potatoes, mushrooms (Parent's in-home Date night)

Sunday 
      Breakfast - Left Overs
      Lunch - Chili
      Dinner - Left Overs

July's Financial Update

Last month, when I had finished my post, we were hoping to pay off our lien on our house at the beginning of July.  Amazingly, by the providence of God, we were able to pay off the last portion of the lien on our house!  This is a wonderful blessing! 

We are now only one major bill (besides our house) away from being debt free! We owe about about $5,100 on a school loan from Steve's seminary.  While we were hoping to have this paid off by the end of the year, Steve is going to be going from two jobs down to one.  We're not yet quite sure when the transition will take place, but he believes that it'll be before years end.  This will put a significant damper on how much we can pay off on our bills.

We also need to replace Steve's car and save for a small (and short) vacation of sorts in October.  We have decided to replace Steve's car before getting out of debt only because our gas expenditures have gone up exponentially since not having Steve's car in working condition.

Also, financially related, but a side note - if you would pray for a satisfactory redress of our foundation issues dealing with Engineering Evaluations.  When they came out the last time, they said that our foundation problems have been around for a long time.  If they do not issue a retraction on their opinion, the insurance will not fix our foundation.   In which case, our house is worth virtually nothing and there's no use of getting it fixed as its condition is continuing to degenerate since the tornado.

So to recap.  We are down from about $37,000 of debt (plus our house) down to $5,100 (plus our house).  In August, I would like to be able to set aside $1000 toward a new-used car.  We'll still have money to go, but at least this will give us a foundation upon which to continue to build.

Tuesday's Recipe - Non-GMO Baking Powder

Some of you may not be aware that most baking powders contain GMO's.  In my search to get rid of as many GMO's as possible, I began looking around for an alternative to regular Baking Powder.  I found it here.

It's so simple. 

- 1/4 C Baking Soda (I used Whole Foods 365 brand)
- 1/2 C cream of tartar (I get this at the Amish Bulk Foods store for about $2.50 for 1/2 pound!)
- 1/4 C arrow root

I've used this in several recipes so far, and they've all turned out great!

Menu Plan Monday - Getting ready for Baby Edition

This week, my menu is focusing on meals which can be doubled or tripled in hopes of filling my freezer with meals for Nathan's anticipated arrival in 2-3 weeks.  I also plan on doing my standard baking day on Tuesday to continue to fill my freezer with necessary items.

Monday
Breakfast -Homemade Granola - We're going to be taking my oldest son to the doctor as what started as allergies has morphed into something in his lungs.  We need something quick for breakfast and lunch as we don't when they'll be able to fit us in.
Lunch - Home made Yogurt, Fruit plate (Instructions for home made yogurt coming later this week)
Dinner - Spaghetti (with home made sauce), home made garlic cheese bread

Tuesday
Breakfast - Whole Wheat Waffles (Quadrupled for freezer meal)
Lunch - Quesadillas (home made tortillas), fruit
Dinner - Home made pizzas

Wednesday
Breakfast - Pastured eggs and toast from home made bread
Lunch - Baked Potato Bar
Dinner - Mexicale Pie- Doubled or tripled for freezer

Thursday
Breakfast - Scones (doubled for freezer)
Lunch - Macaroni and Cheese
Dinner - Hamburgers (tripled - two batches frozen for hamburgers or salisbury steak)

Friday
Breakfast - Cereal
Lunch - Lunch at Bible Study
Dinner - Chicken Pot Pie - Tripled and frozen

Saturday
Breakfast - Eggs w/ sausage, cinnamon rolls, fruit salad
Dinner - Date Night at home for Steve & I (steak, sauteed mushrooms, potatoes), Leftovers for children

Sunday
Breakfast - Left Over Cinnamon Rolls
Lunch - Italian Chicken
Dinner - Left Overs

Maybe not very glamorous, but very practical and doable as long as nothing unexpected comes about.

Non-GMO Experiment Week 5

Well, even the best laid plans have hiccups in them from time to time.  This week, while I have done better with staying away from GMO's (on the whole), I tried a new 'healthy food' called Kombucha.  It's a fermented drink that's supposed to have health benefits of four different types of good bacteria.  The bottle says to only consume one serving to see how you handle it (and it says nothing about not drinking if you are pregnant).  I only consumed one serving.  I am apparently not handling it well. 

To put it discretely, lets just say that it's messing with one bodily function in particular which isn't handling whatever was in it very well.  It's been two days since I've had that one serving (1/3 of a bottle), so I'm waiting to see if my symptom subsides or if I'll have to resort to something in the hopes of making it subside.  I don't think it would bother me too much except that I'm pregnant, and all pregnant mommas worry.  Nathan, however, seems to be doing just fine.  His heartbeat was fine at the doctor's office yesterday, and he's moving around like usual.

Wednesday's Trip to Whole Foods

I mentioned recently how I've been reading Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon, so when I went to Whole Foods this week, kefir, yogurt, and apple cider vinegar were all on my list to buy.  Why?  I'm getting ready to learn how to soak my grains so as to break down the phytic acid in the grains.  This acid will bind with calcium, magnesium and zinc in the digestion process to keep your body from absorbing these important minerals which can eventually lead to bone loss.  This discovery was a big one for me as I've recently found out that one of my relatives is suffering from bone density loss.

So what did I buy this week?

- 2 1/3 pounds organic apples @ $1.69/lb. = $4.02

-2 1/6 pounds of organic peaches at $2.49/lb. = $5.43

- 2 bags of "Enjoy Life" mini chocolate chips (for scones) @ $3.99 each These have no soy lecithin or beet sugar in them, making them GMO free. = $7.98

- 2 bottles of Kumbacha @ $2.50 each - This was a new purchase for me.  I've done some reading about Kumbacha.  It's an organic Fermented and slightly fizzy drink.  I'm hoping to learn how to make my own.  One of my addictions is soda, and I want to replace soda with kumbacha. = $5

- 1 1/8 lb. Fresh Ground Peanut Peanut Butter @ $2.99/lb = $3.41

- 2 Organic Whole Milk Kefir @ $2.50 each - I'm going to use this for soaking my grains = $5

- 1 Organic Ketchup - I have a recipe for this, but I haven't gotten around to making it yet. = $2.69

- 1 Organic Mustard = $2.49

- 1 Organic Apple Cider Vinegar - again for soaking grains = $3.39

- 1 Organic Brown Sugar = $3.69

- 3 bags Organic Coconut - for granola @ $2.99 each = $8.97

- 1 carton whole milk organic 365 yogurt = $2.69

Total for the trip = $58.17

So how do I plan on getting this total down?  I plan on tweaking this in a couple of ways. 

**Amazon has the "Enjoy Life" Chocolate Chips.  I'm going to watch them in hopes of them coming on sale for "Subscribe and Save."  When this happens, I'll order them in bulk.  Another option would be to try to make my own chocolate chips.

**I'm also planning on ordering Coconut from Country Life Natural Foods at our next homeschool co-op order. 

**I will also be using the yogurt to make more yogurt in my crockpot.  I'll do a tutorial after I've had a chance to give it whirl myself.

**Here's the recipe for Ketchup which will be MUCH cheaper than me buying it.  I'll make it up in bulk as I have time and then freeze it in 2C quantities.

Another quick note as I close, I do not go to Whole Foods every week.  I go 1-2 times a month.  These ingredients should last me a month, so when you consider this is about 1/4-1/5 of our monthly grocery budget, it isn't all that bad.

Baking Day Results

Tuesday, I worked on getting some things ready for Nathan's arrival.  I got a LOT done, and while I was still standing at the end, I overdid it a bit.  I spent my evening recovering with my feet up.  I am thankful though, that I have a little something in the freezer for when Nathan comes.  It's not much, but it's a start!

Here's what was on the docket and what I actually got done.

- 4 - 8 loaves of bread into the freezer - Eight Loaves DONE

- 2 batches of granola - DONE

- quadruple batch of pancakes (frozen for breakfast consumption while I'm in the hospital) - Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook - I didn't even attempt these today.  I'll try again in the short term.

- double batch of tortillas for quesadillas etc. - Done
- Home made pizza sauce frozen in 2 c servings - Done
- Pepperoni cut up and frozen future consumption either with cheese and crackers or on pizza - I only got what we used today cut up.  I'll get the others cut up here shortly.

- Double batch of pizza dough (half frozen for after Nathan's born) - Done

 
- 2 pizzas baked for today's dinner. - Done

While I still have a LONG way to go to be ready for little guys arrival, at least I made some progress Tuesday!  Is there anything you got done yesterday or do you have any baking plans for today?

Baking Day Plans

Tuesdays are my baking days. While I may have grandiose plans, which I'll enumerate below, I have to admit, my 'achiness and uncomfortable' factor in pregnancy has gone up exponentially in the last two weeks.  I have much I want and need to do in preparation for Nathan's arrival, I do have to admit to myself that I am not superwoman and daily hour long naps are almost a necessity at this point.

That being said, here are my superwoman size plans.

- 4 - 8 loaves of bread into the freezer

- 2 batches of granola

- quadruple batch of pancakes (frozen for breakfast consumption while I'm in the hospital) - Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens cookbook

- double batch of tortillas for quesadillas etc.

- Home made pizza sauce frozen in 2 c servings

- pepperoni cut up and frozen future consumption either with cheese and crackers or on pizza

- double batch of pizza dough (half frozen for after Nathan's born)

- 2 pizzas baked for today's dinner.


That being said, those are my plans.  Do you have a baking/cooking day?  Is there anything special you plan to work on today?