What's Been Hiding in My Closet {and our weekly meal plan}

Half of my KCC stash for tomorrow's sale

I have been busy, busy, busy the past few days preparing for the Kid's Closet Connection consignment sale. I have been saving the kid's out-grown clothes, toys, and baby gear for the last year in preparation for this sale. This is my third time participating (our move prevented me from getting in on their last fall sale), and I love it more every time! Each Spring and Fall, Kid's Closet Connection holds several sales around my metropolitan area. Moms from all over price and tag their gently used kids' items, and drop them off at their local sale. KCC takes care of the rest, advertising (often on the news, etc.), and manning the sales. Consignors can even volunteer to help out in exchange for a KCC gift certificate. At the end of the sale you have the option to pick up any unsold items, or KCC will donate the leftovers to a charity of their choice. In addition to the obvious benefit of de-cluttered closets, consignors can earn a nice return on their time & item investmen--a whopping 70% of their sales, minus a small ($12.50) advertising fee.

I LOVE these sales because I make money, but they're also great for saving money. With over 200 families participating in each sale, there are SO MANY great deals to be found, whether you are just starting your family, searching for maternity clothes and baby gear, or are outfitting your middle-or high-schooler. First-time, foster, and military moms, as well as volunteers are allowed to shop the night before. And if you like their Facebook page, you can get an early-shopping pass and enter to win a $100 gift certificate! {Click here to find a sale in your area!}

Unfortunately, I have really procrastinated this time (which I swore I wouldn't do!), and I have about 200 items to prep and drop off tomorrow afternoon--my local sale starts Wednesday. As a result, I have slacked a bit with my dinner planning for this week. My parents watched our kiddos on Saturday so we could go out on our anniversary date, so I didn't get to the Mongolian beef last week. We'll be having that tonight. Also on our table this week will be:

• Spaghetti squash with some Aidell's sausage I scored at Costco last week
• fish tacos
• ground {grass-fed} beef tacos (I'll have these & the fish on top of a salad. Kids will have them deconstructed, and Hubby will eat them with tortillas.)
• Orange Chicken (I'll sub coconut aminos for the soy sauce)
• Blackened Skirt Steak BLT Salad

{I am in no way profiting from this post--unless you attend the sale & buy some of my stuff this week!--and KCC has no idea I was planning to write this post. Just wanted to pass on some great deals!} Have you ever participated in a consignment sale? What's on your table this week?

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

8 years with the love of my life {and our food for the week}

8 years ago, I married my best friend. We have survived deployments, major medical issues, several cross-country moves, unemployment, and philosophical differences. We have given birth to three {beautiful} children, and parented 12 children we did not conceive. Like any marriage, we have had our ups and downs, but I can't imagine life without him. I've written before about why I love my amazing husband, but today in honor of our anniversary, I'm going to give you the top 8 reasons I love being married to him.

1. He loves me--even when I act unlovable, and despite my shortcomings, hormones, aging body and physical afflictions.
2. He is a great father.
3. He is faithful.
4. He works hard to provide for us.
5. He loves our animals.
6. He humors me, especially when it comes to different food experiences. 
7. He respects our differences, and works to find compromise.
8. We have fun together.

I love being married to him, and I can't wait to see what the next 8 years have in store! We'll be having a flexible meal tonight (trying out a new Chiniese restaurant!) to celebrate our anniversary, but we'll be eating primally for the remainder of the week. On the menu:

• Chicken Souvlaki
• more Roast Chicken with Gravy
• Paleo Mongolian Beef, possibly with this fried rice
• Kalua Pig
• carnitas (with the left over kalua pig!)

I also have a lot in store for the blog this week, including a Sissy update, my long-awaited (and I think perfected) meatloaf recipe and a large, spur-of-the-moment purchase we made this past weekend. I'm also working on a review and giveaway. We have a busy and exciting week ahead. What do you have going on??

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!

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!