My Own Sneaky "Chef" {& our weekly menu}

So I'm having {what I think is} an unusual problem: My 2-year-old is sneaking food. I used to keep my apples, bananas, et cetera on the counter. He started pulling up a chair to get some. So I moved my produce to the cabinet above the sink. He started climbing up on top of the counter to access them. Then he graduated from fresh fruit to raisins, and, when available, Hubby's chocolate-covered raisins. This weekend I caught him sneaking some chocolate chips from the top shelf in my refrigerator! I have to say, though, I was surprised by his choice this morning: coconut oil and blueberry jam (made without refined sugar, of course). This kid cracks me up. And exasperates me. To no end. But I had to reward his efforts this morning--with a small spoonful of coconut oil. At least he chose something healthy today!

We had a fairly relaxed weekend. And we were a bit flexible with our food choices. Yesterday was the baby shower for my cousin's sweet baby, and I gave the kids a little freedom. Extended family gatherings are definitely the hardest place to eat primally. They did have a veggie tray, which hubby visited frequently. I indulged in my favorite Chiniese chicken salad (from a kit purchased at Costco), and a little cake. I allowed the kids some chocolate cake (sugar overload!), but was {thankfully} able to keep them from the jelly beans. We enjoyed the time with family, and I didn't see negative side effects in the kids apart from their sugar-highs right before bed.

Once again, we had one meal pushed into the next week. I'll be making my meatloaf tonight, and will post the recipe this week. (I'm still looking for a good pork sausage recipe--any suggestions??) I also was unable to make my flank steak recipe last week, as my butcher was out of that cut. I ended up with a few NY strip steaks instead, and made this recipe from Alton Brown. It was quite tasty, and even my steak-averse hubby enjoyed it. Yesterday I made this recipe from Nom Nom Paleo for roast chicken and gravy in the crockpot (minus the tomato paste--I was out). Delicious! I was actually planning on making the chicken tonight, but it fit our schedule better for yesterday. I'm going to use the carcass to make my first batch of bone broth this afternoon. I'm excited to get on with that aspect of the gut-healing process, but I'm a little anxious about it at the same time.

Other items on our menu this week include:

• Carnitas
• Roasted Stuffed Poblanos (based on this recipe, but with the leftovers from our carnitas)
• something with the leftover chicken from yesterday :-)
• Flank Steak from last week
• Curried Chicken (again--I'm craving curry lately!)

I'm also going to make these fudgsicles for the kids. What do you have planned for the week??

Today I'm linking to Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com!

The Circle of Life {& our weekly menu}

Sis with the first Flopsy

I'm a day behind posting my weekly meal plan. Part of this is due to the unfortunate fact that we lost my favorite bunny last week. We know she did not escape, so we are pretty sure she became someone's dinner. The 3 remaining rabbits seemed quite terrified by the event they surely witnessed. None of them wanted to leave the hutch the next day, and 4 days later, Mopsy, the sister of the bunny who was snatched, still hesitates to come out, preferring to remain in the safety of their hutch.

Hubby and I are becoming quite attached to our animals; I think we were almost as devastated as Sissy was. Still, it became another opportunity to teach our kids about the circle of life. And an opportunity to improve our rabbit hutch.



Over the weekend, we turned this:




into this:


















We also added two new {replacement} bunnies to the mix.

Munchkin

Flopsy II

We framed out our chicken coop, and hope to have the exterior finished in the next day or so. I ordered our chicks on Saturday, and they should {hopefully} arrive next week. 

We gardened, finally roasted the turkey from my freezer, hit up Market on the Move for more piggie food, and wrapped our pine tree in burlap to deter the goats from eating the bark. Overall we enjoyed our long, productive weekend. Unfortunately, my house is suffering a bit from my ourdoor productivity, but I suppose that's par for the course. 

Last week's menu didn't quite turn out as planned. Hubby took us out for Valentine's Day, and my turkey was still frozen (I had to turn down our garage fridge, as it wasn't thawing!), so I improvised a bit. As a result, this week's menu has several items from last week. For Monday's dinner I heated up some of our leftover turkey for the kids, diced some for my salad, and used some in Hubby's quesadilla. On our menu for the rest of the week:

• Buffalo turkey salad/wraps using this recipe, but with my leftover turkey
• Turkey burritos (again, leftovers from Sunday)
• Flank steak (subbing out the brown sugar)
• Salmon patties
• Meatloaf (hopefully posting on this)
• Turkey shepherd's pie

What's on your menu for the week??

Today I'm linking to Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com and Menu Monday!

Making Progress and Probiotics

I have been noticing several changes in Sissy lately. I think some of her white spots are starting to repigment, though that can be difficult to judge. More notably, though, are her food preferences. My daughter, who has been averse to most veggies (and some fruit), now enjoys eating carrots, mixed greens, tomatoes, squash, and watermelon! She also has decided that she no longer enjoys drinking grape juice, because it is "too sweet." I see this as HUGE progress. In addition to an increased intake of veggies, Sis has been taking fermented cod liver oil and probiotics. I've know how beneficial probiotics can be for awhile now, and have discovered that they are very important when it comes to gut-healing. I ordered Sis a powerful probiotic capsule (more on that later), but I've also been researching kefir (pronounced kuh-feer).

Kefir is a made from "grains"--actually a colony of good bacteria and yeasts, fermented for probiotic goodness. It also contains many vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. {Check out the list of bacterias and yeasts typically found in kefir!} Milk kefir tastes similar to sour milk or a tart plain yogurt, but water kefir has a sweet taste. In fact, water kefir can be used to make lemonade (just add lemon juice!) or even a "soda" replacement. Since I knew it would be difficult to convince my family to drink sour milk (unlike my piggies!), I opted for the water kefir. 

Dissolving the sugar

Water kefir is made by combining the "grains" (not actual grains) with sugar water, and letting it ferment for a day or two. It's really easy and quite foolproof. I ordered my water kefir grains from Cultures for Health (the most reputable source I found for cultured/fermented starters), and received them in a few days. Once they arrived, I realized I didn't have any sugar in the house to feed my kefir grains. So after my next shopping trip, I rehydrated my grains. (Grains are shipped dehydrated, and it takes a few days to get them ready to use.) Once my grains were ready, I dissolved some sugar (half a cup if you're going to make 2 quarts) in hot water, stirring with a wooden spoon (you want to avoid stainless steel with the kefir). 

Filling with Berkey water

After the sugar was dissolved, I added more water, leaving and inch or two of headspace. It is important to avoid tap water when making water kefir, as it often contains chlorine . Well or spring water is preferred, due to the high mineral content. We purchased a Berkey water filter last year (LOVE IT!), so I used my Berkey water. Berkey filters do not remove the good minerals, unlike conventional water filters. When I ordered my kefir grains, I actually purchased the starter kit, which includes a small strainer and trace mineral drops. Even though my water probably has enough good minerals in it, I add a few drops of the trace minerals in ensure we're reaping the benefits to the fullest. 

Straining the grains

Once the water is at room temperature (mine was already), you can add your grains. Simply strain the grains out of your previous batch (which is ready to drink!), and add them to your new jar. Top with a cloth or coffee filter, secure with a rubber band (or in my case a canning band), and let it hang out on the counter for awhile. The kefir takes 24-48 hours to ferment; the longer it sits, the more sugar is consumed by the yeast. At first I was using a quart jar, but I have since purchased half-gallon jars so I can let it sit for two days, but still have some everyday (4 of us are sharing this). 

Adding grains to the sugar water

I am not seeing much carbonation at this point, but apparently it can take a couple of weeks for the grains to "wake up" and start producing reliably. I am going to try using rapadura, sucanat, or turbinado sugar, as their molasses content produces more carbonation. Once my grains are working at their peak (in a month or two), they should start to multiply, and I can get a couple batches going at once (or share with a friend!).

Hanging out

Now, I know kefir is technically not paleo, or even primal, but most of the sugar used to make the kefir is consumed by the yeast, so the amount actually being ingested in negligible. Water kefir can actually be made using coconut water (with no added sugar), and I want to try that eventually. Still, that costs money beyond the initial investment, so I'll probably just use my Berkey water most of the time. For now, we are enjoying our "special lemonade" and the benefits it is providing. 

Have you tried milk or water kefir before?? Would you ever consider making your own? 

Disclaimer: I was not paid for this review, or even given a free sample to try. However, if you choose to purchase kefir grains or a starter culture using any of my links, I will receive a small commission. 

Searching for Sour Milk (and our weekly menu)

We had a pretty productive weekend despite the chilly weather. We framed out half of the chicken coop, finished the rabbit hutch and their play area (don't they look happy?), and I hung a tire swing (that I scored for free at Discount Tire!). We are also excited to see some of our seeds sprouting already.

Last weekend we moved the pigs' shed out to the pasture so they have more grass to eat, and (bonus!) we don't have to deal with their excrement anymore. Everyone seems to be loving this arrangement. There's been a bit of drama with the goats head-butting the pigs, but it's mostly because Zoey (our youngest doe, at 5 months old) wants to play with them. Maybelline is growing fast, however, and soon she will be able to give Zoey a run for her money. We're confident she can stick up for herself.

One very productive aspect of our weekend was hitting up Market on the Move. Have you heard of MOM? It's a non-profit that salvages produce that has expired or is about to expire. For a $10 donation you walk away with about 60 pounds of produce! The best produce goes first (obviously), and since we didn't get in (there was a long line!) until about an hour after it started, there wasn't much we were interested in eating. Fortunately, our goal wasn't to feed our family--it was to feed our pigs. We came home with 2 1/2 boxes of squash, tomatoes, and a few bell peppers. Hubby and I cut them and stuffed them into 6 gallon zip baggies, 2 plastic containers (about 18"x12"x6" each), and still had about a gallon leftover that we fed the pigs over the weekend. We are weaning them off the pellets, supplementing with dairy (homemade yogurt, some milk past its "best by" date, and cottage cheese that my kids leftover), and letting them graze and root in the pasture. We believe this will save us a great deal of money, as well as resulting in healthier, tastier pork. We're hoping to find a good local source of dairy, no longer intended for human consumption.

I found that with all the work we've been doing outside, I have had a hard time fitting in meal prep. This resulted in two quick take-out (though Paleo, except Hubby's) meals, and I want to try to cut that down a bit. I planned our meals for the next week with the intent on cutting down some of that prep time. On the menu this week:

• fish tacos (I'll make similar to this recipe, adding diced jalapenos, but prepping the fish in this fashion--not "breaded")
• Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps, though I'll probably eat mine as a salad, topping with blue cheese crumbles
• turkey (didn't get to this last week; my turkey is taking forever to thaw in my garage fridge!)
• turkey burritos (I'll probably have a burrito bowl/salad, though Hubby will eat his with tortillas. He'll probably have tortillas with his fish tacos, too--gotta have some give and take, right??)
• shrimp scampi (and salmon for the Hubby who isn't a huge shrimp fan)
• Buffalo Chicken Wings
• salmon patties
• roast chicken 

I've been using my {small-ish} crockpot to make yogurt several times a week for the piggies, and this has caused me to switch up my menu a bit, since it wasn't available when I'd intended to use it. I think I'll be investing in a larger crockpot this week, big enough to accommodate a whole chicken. Planning to hit up Goodwill or Savers to see if they have any for cheap. I plan to start making yogurt for the kids and I soon, so it will be good to have two on hand. 

I'm seeing some improvement in Sissy, which I'll share later this week. For now, do you have any recommendations for my dairy quest? 

Today I'm linking to Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com and Menu Monday!

Playing with our new toys...

The blog has been quiet this week, as it's been a little crazy around here. On Saturday Hubby and I splurged for a miter saw and a skill saw. The bunnies desperately needed a new home, so weattempted to build one. I scoured the internets for plans, but didn't really find any that fit what we had in mind. In the end we built something similar to this, though about double the size. We're also in the process of incorporating a fenced area, inspired by this picture from Pinterest (follow me!). The ramp is not finished (or attached to the hutch), and we still need to build the fence. Hubby has to level the ground out a bit first, but that should be done in the next few days. The bunnies are already enjoying their new home, and I am excited to give them a little more freedom.

This week we also purchased lumber to build our chicken coop (can't wait!!). Hopefully we'll get to work on that this weekend. Local folks, do you have any connections/recommendations for {cheap} tin roofing material? Hubby struck out looking for some at Home Depot.

We've also been working on our garden this week. No pics yet, but I am so excited to see how it fares this year. We haven't had much luck in the past, but we're confident this year, in this house, will be different! (Hubby blogged a bit about our gardening endeavors last month.)

I've been playing with some recipes this week. I tweaked my old meatloaf recipe, and we really enjoyed it this time. I am working on a new sausage recipe, as well as homemade lara bars, and a grain-free banana bread recipe, all of which I will share once they are perfected.

The in-laws moved into their own apartment this week, so we've been in a bit of transition. They still have a few closets worth of stuff here, and I'll be reorganizing our stuff over the next week or two. Yesterday, though, the kids and I enjoyed a slow day, spending a good portion of the day outside, enjoying the beautiful spring weather we've been having. I even used our new tools to build the kids a swing to hang from our Chinese Elm! (Though I discovered I need to work on my knot-tying skills.)

We're having a fun week--what have you been up to??

Weekly Menu - {Primal} Freezer Shopping

As I've blogged our weekly meal plans over the past month, I've noticed that we are typically replacing one of the scheduled meals to eat out. Usually it's Chipotle, and I'll make something easy (typically omelettes) for the kids. This past week was no different, though I did finally make a meal that I've been putting off--Crockpot Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps. I didn't end up making the blue cheese dressing, as Hubby requested topping his with cheddar. I also used *gasp* tortillas. I figured I needed to throw Hubby a bone here, so my mother-in-law picked up a package of our favorite Tortilla Land tortillas. (I ate one & didn't feel any repercussions.) I also used thighs in place of the breast, as I've discovered that I don't typically enjoy crockpot chicken breasts (maybe because I over-cook them?). I've decided to make these again this week, only I'll eat it as a salad, and I'm going to make a version of this dressing.

I've also found that I need to get a little more creative with breakfasts. The kids and Hubby are getting a little tired of omelettes and scrambled eggs. (I usually top my eggs with the previous night's veggie leftovers, and I'm still enjoying them thoroughly. See my open omelette topped with cheddar, carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower? YUM!) I'm trying to limit the pseudo-grains (cashew waffles, coconut flour, etc.), so I need to find some new options. Since my kids are still opposed to veggies for breakfast, I'll have to get a little creative. I think we'll try this French Toast Breakfast Scramble and some Two-Ingredient Pancakes. This breakfast porridge sounds yummy, and I'm going to try it with butternut squash. I'll also be making some more egg muffins with some sugar-free bacon I scored at Sprouts on Friday.

I'm trying to use what we have in the house this week, so we'll be having:

• Turkey (been in my freezer since Christmas)
• Pork Chops
• Turkey Shepherd's Pie (using more of that turkey!)
• Meatloaf (I'm going to modify my old recipe, adding the bacon like Hubby requested. I'll post my recipe later this week.)
• Slow-Cooker Coconut Ginger Chicken and Veggies (I'm repeating this from a few weeks ago)

I'm going to try shopping at Trader Joe's this week. We used to shop there weekly before we were married, but since moving back (and eating healthier) I haven't scoped them out yet. Do you frequent Trader Joe's? Any favorite items I should check out?? What's on your menu for the week?

Today I'm linking to Menu Plan Monday at OrgJunkie.com and Menu Monday!