Update on My Mom

I mentioned a few weeks ago that my Mom has been experiencing memory issues that have slowly become noticeable over the last year or so. Her doctor is still trying to determine the cause of the memory issues, but we learned last week that she had a stroke a year or two ago and never realized it. The Doc called it a Mini-Stroke and said that it could be the root of her memory loss issues, but we won't know for sure for another month or so (if the meds help, then we will know that it was stroke related). They are also trying to determine the cause of the stroke and in the mean time, she is taking meds to reduce her risk of another stroke.

I appreciate the prayers you all have been offering. We will continue to pray that she gets better and I will update as we get more information.

Bento Lunch 11-10-09

It has been a while since I posted one of my hubby's lunches so here is a pic of today's lunch in his Laptop Lunches lunch box system.

Clockwise from bottom left: Honey Mustard Chicken (from freezer), asparagus blend veggies with balsamic vinagrette, mixed nuts and a satsuma orange.

Menu Plan Monday 11-9-09

I'm back from my spontaneous blogging break with this week's menu. During my break, I started something new for our family by making a monthly, rotating menu. For the most part, my family likes to have the same things for dinner, so I created a monthly menu that will repeat each month for 3 months. At that time, I plan to change it up some, based on my family's preferences at that time. The menu is flexible, allowing for me to include local seasonal fruit and veggies and also allowing for trying some new recipes. So far, dinner is all that I've planned out on a monthly basis. I'm hoping to add breakfast, lunch and snacks to the regular menu plan soon. All local items are bold.

There are some things that are on the menu every week as regular items. Those include 2 roasted chickens (we eat some of it for one meal, use some in soup, use some in salads and use some for chicken salad sandwiches for lunch and for hubby to take to work - we also make soup stock from the bones of the chickens), homemade yogurt, homemade focaccia bread (we use it for sandwiches - yummy!!), and broccoli cheese soup (my oldest loves this soup - its the only one he'll eat).

This week, we are also having:

With the roasted chicken we're having purple hull peas (from Dad's garden) and steamed broccoli

Chicken enchiladas with a green salad and steamed Cauliflower

Meatloaf (turkey and lamb mix) with caramelized onions, baked butternut squash and spinach salad

Pan Fried Tilapia, black beans and brown rice, green salad

Chicken Noodle Soup (with lots of local, seasonal veggies)


This week, breakfasts will include:

Whole Wheat Pancakes with pecans and satsumas (we LOVE satsumas and my Uncle grew these!!)
Eggs and Ham with grapefruit
Pear Sauce Muffins with yogurt
Yogurt with fresh fruit
Fruit Smoothies (including local blueberries we froze during the summer and lemon juice from our lemon tree)

This week, lunches include:

Chicken salad sandwiches (with spinach from the farmer's market)
Greek Feta Salad (will include some lettuce and cherry tomatoes from my garden)
Leftovers from dinner
Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

This week, snacks include:

Banana Nut Bread
Satsumas
Apples
Fig Pinwheel Cookies (with pecans)
Yogurt
Raw Milk Cheddar Cheese
Pumpkin Bread
Chips and salsa (we are almost out of our homemade salsa)
Smoothies

This post is my entry at Menu Plan Monday.

Menu Plan Monday 10-19-09

We had such a great weekend. Some friends from out of town visited and we enjoyed their company and the sun was out so we enjoyed the outdoors for the first time in weeks!

Here is our menu for this week. The items in bold are from a local source, either our garden or a local farmer.

Breakfast with repeats (we usually have a fruit or veggie with breakfast)

Baked Oatmeal (I made some yesterday while our guests were here and we have lots left over - used local pecans)
Eggs and ham
Cheese and spinach omelet
Homemade Greek Style Yogurt with maple syrup

Lunch (with a fruit or veggie)

Grilled Cheese sandwiches
Chicken Noodle Soup
Broccoli Cheese Soup
Cheese Enchiladas
Leftovers

Snacks:

Berry Smoothies (this past week, I added some lemon juice from our lemon tree to the smoothies and it added such a nice brightness to it. I'm going to try to find a local source of lemons for using when our tree runs out of lemons.)

Pumpkin Bread
Banana Nut Bread (local pecans)
Carrots and cucumbers with cheese spread
Hummus and Pita
Apple Sauce
Chips and salsa (we are down to only 3 jars of the salsa we made this summer)

Dinner:

Chicken Noodle Soup, Green Salad (we are starting to use some of our salad greens from our garden, though we still don't have a lot, so it is a supplement to what we buy at the grocery store) with feta and kalamata olives (my current salad addiction).

Mexican Lassagna (recipe from 30 Day Gourmet website for members only, otherwise I'd post a link), sauteed squash, cut up fruit

Roasted Chicken, Smothered Cabbage, carrots

Meatloaf (combination of ground turkey and ground lamb), green salad, purple hull peas (from my Dad's garden).

We've also got some leftovers in the freezer that we need to use up (lassagna and chicken quesadilla filling), so we will have those on the remaining days of this week with an added veggie or two.

Go to Organizing Junkie for Menu Plan Monday and see hundreds of menu plans.

Hobby Farms Email Newsletter

I started getting Hobby Farms email newsletter a while back and enjoy it very much (even though I don't yet have a hobby farm, lol). There are articles about farming stuff (like raising chickens) but it also contains great recipes and even decorating ideas. Here is a link to the most recent newsletter which contains a sign-up link if you enjoy the newsletter as well.

Menu Plan Monday 10-12-09

Pecans are falling off the trees now and my parents have a tree in their back yard, so we have been the recipients of many many pecans. We are shelling them as we need them and using them in lots of yummy things. We are also getting some cold, very humid weather (which seems even colder than it actually is) which is making us want soup even more than usual. Here is this week's menu. All locally grown food is in bold.

Breakfast with repeats (we usually have at least one fruit with breakfast):

Eggs and caramelized onions
Soaked oatmeal (with honey, pecans, pastured butter, cream and coconut oil)
Blueberry Smoothie (with homemade yogurt and local blueberries (in our freezer) and lemon juice from our lemon tree)
Pumpkin pancakes

Lunch (with one fruit and one veggie):

Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Green Salad (lettuce and spinach from our garden) with kalamata olives, feta cheese, and walnuts
Leftovers from supper

Snacks:

Pickles
Chips and Salsa (we made the salsa during the summer from farmer's market produce)
Snickerdoodle Blondies (first time trying them - they look yummy!!)
Soaked Whole Wheat Bread with pastured butter and honey (I cut the recipe into fourths since this is our first try with soaked bread. If we like it, I'll make the regular recipe and freeze the extra - I soaked it yesterday and over night and plan to bake it this morning)
Carrots and cucumbers dipped in herb cheese dip (I am using homemade Greek style yogurt in place of the cream cheese in this recipe)
Apples
Cashew butter on graham crackers
Hummus and pita
Homemade yogurt with maple syrup or honey
Blueberry Smoothies

Supper

French Onion Soup (homemade stock made with locally raised grass feed beef bones) with a green salad

Gyros with tabouli (using homegrown parsley) and hummus

Pan Fried Tilapia, caramelized onions and mixed veggies, sauteed sweet potatoes

Cream of Butternut Squash Soup, soaked bread with honey butter, gingered carrots (from Nourishing Traditions cookbook)

Pizza and green salad (not sure what kind of pizza yet - we are having guests so we will make what they like)

Grass-fed Beef Burgers, broccoli, and if our potatoes from the garden are big enough, we will have new potatoes - if not, probably fries made with store-bought potatoes.

Check out Organizing Junkie for more menu plans.

Yummy Homemade Lemonade from our Homegrown Lemons!

This is all that is left of our first pitcher of homemade lemonade made with our homegrown lemons. It was so yummy! Here's how we made it:

Lemonade

1 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (it took 4 lemons)
1/2 cup sugar (most recipes call for more, but we like ours sour)
3 cups water

Add all ingredients to a pitcher and stir until dissolved. Enjoy :o)

Are you enjoying anything from your garden this week?