Gluten-Free Weekly Menu Plan, Week 8

Hello, friends.  Between two of our kin getting sick, our oldest at summer camp, and then the Fourth of July festivities, there wasn't much to speak of in terms of a weekly menu the last two weeks.   I combined our two week's eats into one weekly menu.  Also, I must clarify the use of an oven on Tuesday after boldly stating I veer away from baking in the summertime.  We had a freak cold day and the oven and I enjoyed it quite a bit.  Now you know.

Monday:

To do: Soak buckwheat groats

Breakfast:  Carrot juice & Raw, Good Morning Muesli (pictured above)

Snack: Raw blueberry milk kefir smoothies

Lunch: Nut Butter & Berry Wraps

Snack: Kefir Smoothie Pops

Dinner: Turkey Pesto Pasta & Garden Salad

Tuesday:

To do: Dehydrate buckwheat groats, thaw chicken stock for Thursday's dinner, & make pesto

Breakfast: Ginger zinger juice & eggs with cheese

Snack: Raw strawberry banana milk kefir smoothies

Lunch: Quesorritos

Snack: Cantaloupe slices

Dinner: Carrot soup & Grain-Free Maple Pecan Cupcakes

Wednesday:

To do: Soak porridge & sourdough english muffins, make raw cookies

Breakfast: Avocado slices & Eggs

Snack: Raw Mixed berry milk kefir smoothies

Lunch: Nut Butter & Honey Popcorn, carrot & cheese slices

Snack: Watermelon slices

Dinner: Salmon patties (use almond meal instead of breadcrumbs) over garden salad & homemade raw ice cream

Thursday:

To do: Make sourdough English muffins & soak rice & peanuts

Breakfast: Porridge & eggs

Snack: Raw Veggie milk kefir smoothies

Lunch: Sourdough English muffin sandwiches

Snack: Fried Mush & blueberries

Dinner: Gazpacho & potato wedges

Friday:

To do: Make peanut butter, soak sourdough pancakes

Breakfast: Sourdough English muffins & eggs

Snack: Raw berry milk kefir smoothies

Lunch: Hummus & veggie slices with cheese

Snack: Kefir Smoothie Pops

Dinner: Crock Spaghetti Rice (recipe coming soon) & raw blueberry pie

Saturday:

To do: Soak skillet biscuits (recipe coming soon)

Breakfast: Pancake Bar

Snack: milk kefir smoothies

Lunch: Leftovers from the night before

Snack: Honeydew slices

Dinner: Slow Cooker Steak & Bean Burritos (recipe coming soon)

Sunday:

To do: Menu plan

Breakfast: Skillet Biscuits (recipe coming soon)

Snack: Raw Nut Butter Cacao Cookies

Lunch: Leftovers

Snack: dates

Sinner: Leftovers

(Sunday is my day off)

Have a lovely week!

I'm sharing this at Menu Plan Monday.

Tooth

This morning, I heard the familiar shuffle/stumbling sounds announcing our five-and-a-half-year-old had emerged from her night's slumber.  I expected the usual, "I'm so hungry, what's for breakfast?" but instead, her mess of wavy curls framed a very concerned expression.

Mommy, my teeth are very soft.  Softer than last night.  I better brush them really good this morning.

I finished flipping a pancake.

Ooh, Mommy, they're really soft!

Wait a second.

Maybe you have a loose tooth.  Let me check.

I was expecting one to slightly give when I wiggled it, but it was barely hanging on.

Oh!  You have a very loose tooth!

A relieved, elated expression spread across her face.

A loose tooth?!  That's why it's been so hard to eat!  I can't wait for my tooth to hatch!

She proclaimed that today was the best day of her life because her tooth was loose.  Needless to say, it came out!  Er, hatched?  Snap went the camera, then she declared she would save if forever and decided to be the first person in the world to color her tooth as a craft.  First, she colored it blue.  Then, she decided to try a different color, but she came out of the bathroom and explained that as she was scrubbing the baby tooth, it slipped out of her hands and tumbled down the drain.  Thankfully, we found peace knowing there was a picture taken of the lost tooth before it's fateful accident.

This child.  I'll never get over her notions. Soft teeth.  Hatching teeth. Coloring teeth.  There's no one in the world like her, I tell you.  She is pure delight.  There's just no knowing what she will say, do, or perceive from one day to the next.  Every day is an adventure.

I'm sharing this at Gratituesday.

Dairy Goats

There's a question that's been churning in my brain for years now.  It's very serious.  A lot of careful thought and consideration is needed.  Actually, it's a pair of questions: DO I or don't I want to commit to dairy animals?  If I do, should we get goats or a cow?  I have decided answer to the first question is yes. (Yes, even though I'm pregnant.  Perhaps I want lactating buddies or something.  Nevermind.)  This next month will help us decide the answer to the latter.  We are goat-sitting for our good friends for a little over a month altogether.  We have in our care two of the cutest little oberhaslis you ever did see.  They are the sweetest things.  Almost like dogs.   These two does are quite affectionate and they love to be around people.  After my brother-in-law milked the first (and hardest) one, today, I milked my very first goat.  See?

The does were super docile and just chomped up their feed while being milked. (By the way, I had to stop myself from saying "nursed" instead of "milked" several times.  Uh...)  Guess how much milk we got from just one of the two milkings today?  This much!

Which translates to this much!

This was only the first day with dairy goats, mind you, but here are some observations made thus far:

• Listen.  I hate the flavor of store-bought goat's milk.  Barf.  But this milk tastes nothing like it.  No goaty aftertaste at all.  Even my very reluctant husband tried some and said, "Why do we not have goats?  This is amazing."  Whoa.
• Goat milk doesn't cause mucus production, so my kids could still enjoy raw milk from grass-fed animals even if they're stuffy.
• Goats are much smaller than cows and (I'd imagine) not as intimidating to milk.
• The fat molecules in goat's milk are so small, it doesn't separate from the milk and rise to the top, which also means no cream can be yielded. Which also means no butter.  Yikes!  Butter!
• Fabulously amazing soap can be made with goat milk, something I plan trying out sometime within the month.  Yippee!
• Goats are lower maintenance than cows.

There are a lot of pluses when it comes to goats.  But the thing is, I love butter.  And buttermilk.  And ice cream.  And cheese.  To have a dairy animal that can't produce cream for butter et cetera is almost too hard to consider.  We'll see what happens this month.  Maybe things will change.  I would so incredibly love to hear from those of you who have raised both dairy cows and goats and what your take is on it all.  Help a sister out, will you?

Time for bed.  Milking comes early, and I can't lie.  Writing that makes this sissy rancher just a little bit giddy.

I'm sharing this at Simple Lives Thursday, Barn Hop, & Farm Girl Friday.