Nesting?

Maybe its nesting, or just thinking about adding a fifth child to the mix, but I feel the need to organize every square inch of this house. I have really been feeling overwhelming with all the laundry piles, and refrigerators that you can't even see what you have or are out of. I always feel like I am picking up toys, and children shoes.
Homeschool books, and workbooks and crayons and markers and glue and scissors all seem to be breeding and multiplying. I dread going into our closets and laundry room. So I have decided to make a few changes. First to our daily schedule and routine. I am tweaking and rearranging a daily and weekly schedule. Now this is really big for me, because my personalty is more fly by the seat of my pants type, and I don't like things to be rigid. I go with the flow most of the time. except that flow seems to be leading me to more and more chaos.
You might not have expected me to admit to any of this, and the people who are not in my everyday life may think that I have it all together. The wonderful thing about blogging ( other then getting to express my opinions and creative juices, and share with you all the fun I am having ) is that you only see what I want you to see! That is the truth with all bloggers. While some may indeed have it all together, most probably have that hidden closet that they would never post a picture of on their blog. Lets face it, I have four kids and one on the way. I am a busy person, and have a bit of a procrastination problem, although I like to just say I am poor at time management. Anyway, big plans are underway to get my act together before baby number five comes along.
I wanted to do this post because, I know that I need some level of accountability. I don't expect emails like, hey did you get all your laundry done yet? But, just knowing that you are going to expect a follow up, with some pictures will help me to stay on top of things.  So there it is the ugly truth, I am not perfect! Those who know me best will be laughing their butts off, because they already knew that, and somehow manage to love me anyway. Who knows maybe this will motivate some of you to reorganize a section of your life.  Well here is a good place to start if you need some additional motivation. This blog had me drooling over the possibilities. I can't believe that I am actually excited about doing laundry. http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/
Here is what I am planning.
Clean out the closets is first on my list, simultaneously I am doing all the laundry. ( this is a big deal, I can't remember ever having all my laundry caught up)   I took some before pictures of our closets, and I am working up the nerve to post them. I think it will be easier when I have some nice pretty after pictures to go along with them. So stay tuned!
Then after all the laundry is caught up, I have plans to spruce up that area. We can't afford a total makeover in any room, but I do plan on doing a bit of touching up! It will be fun!
After that I plan on doing the kids rooms and toy closet. Then I have plans to move into the kitchen and revamp cabinets and pantry!
I am working on a chore system for the kids, as well as a workbox system to help them with schoolwork.
I will keep you posted!

Fresh Juice

I don't like to give my kids pop, that is a given, although they get maybe a glass or two a year at a family get together or birthday party. In our house the drink choices are filtered water ( which I plan to talk about in another post ) raw milk, tea, yogurt of kefir smoothies, and juice. I don't buy juice from the grocery store because most of them are as bad for you as pop. I know that sounds like a stretch but if you don't believe me look into it for yourself. Here are a few places to get you started.
truth about store bought orange juice
arsenic in apple juice?
Secret ingredient in your orange juice
None of these articles even address high fructose corn syrup in juice, which can be another problem.
Instead of buying juice from the store for my kids, I really like to make fresh juice for them.  This does require some hardware and software. The hardware would be a juicer. There are a lot of them on the market. They range from $30 to $500. Let me tell you I don't think you really need to spend a fortune. My first Juicer was a cheep $30 juicer and it did the job. I have a Jack La Lane juicer now, and its nice and not to pricey at just around $100.

  Now for the software. I like to use a variety of fruits and veggies in our juice.  Here is what we had this morning.

Carrots, apples, cucumber, pineapple & grapes

I like to have mostly carrot in our juice, its a good base, and its really good for your gut. It also helps to rid your body of toxins.
Here is what our finished juice looked like today. It could be very different depending on the combo of ingredients I use. Like spinach no matter how little I use, turns the whole glass bright green.

All that fruit and veg, made just that amount of juice. Its enough for all of us to have just one glass. 

Here is what we are left with after all the juice is gone.

I know it seems like a waste, but sometimes I take the pulp and make muffins with it. I don't view it as a waste because I know that my family just received a powerhouse of nutrients that they would never get by just eating an apple and a few carrot sticks as a snack. Now don't get me wrong, I love it when they snack on healthy stuff too, but this is much more concentrated. 

Juicing is especially good for people who are on the gaps diet. Here is what Natasha Campbell McBride has to say about it in her book Gut and Psychology Syndrome.

So what do we do about all these heavy metals and toxins lurking in our patients bodies? We can't just forget about them. Well there is a time proven way of detoxifying, taking out of the body not just the heavy metals but a lot of other poisons as well without any side effects or harmful complications. And a very tasty way too. Children in particular love it. This way is JUICING. Thousands of people all over the world freed themselves from the most deadly diseases with juicing. 

Juices provide all the goodness from these fruit and vegetables in a concentrated form and in large amounts.  For example to make a glass of carrot juice you a pound of carrots. Nobody can eat a pound of carrots at once, but you can get all that nutrition from them by drinking the juice. 

For people who have a compromised digestive system the fiber in fruits and veggies can irritate the gut lining, by juicing the fiber is taken out, making it easier to absorb all the nutrients. 

Fiber in fruits and veggies is a good thing for those who can handle it! 

Well I hope I have inspired you to look into juicing, or to dust off the juicer you have had sitting in the basement.  I think it will pay off big for your health.  Right now I try to juice twice a week. That is enough for us to see some of the benefits!  Happy Juicing!

Honey Buttered Nuts

I just needed something sweet tonight. Something fast with little mixing and baking. Ella was right there with me and helped me sweeten up some crispy nuts that we had in the pantry! They hit the spot!

Here is the recipe and some photos.

That's Ella scraping honey into the pot

Four cups of mixed crispy nuts

after pouring the honey butter on

after baking 

Recipe

Oh how wonderful...

Just when things on this diet really get hard, I find some hope in the form of an almond flour crepe! Think of the possibilities, I could use then to make lunch meat roll ups, fill them with taco fillings, chicken salad, sweet fillings too, like fruit and sweetened cream cheese, one lady on youtube used them as lasagna noodles. ( which I will so be trying ) I am really excited! Which most likely makes me sound like a nut case! So be it!
I made my first ever batch of crepes today, and they were really very good! Like good enough to make even if I was not on this diet!  Stand alone good! We ate them with out any filling at all! Here is the recipe, just in case you want to try it out for yourself! I would say go for it even if you are eating grain!  I did not take any pictures of the process because it would have been hard to take pictures while making crepes, but here are some pictures of the finished crepes. I really need a camera man!

You will find the recipe here.

Menu plan for the week ( a little late)

I have not been doing menu planning much anymore because, well, it just seems overwhelming while being on this diet. Trying to combine meals in a way that we can all eat the same meal, but that it serves my dietary needs and my husband is still happy with the food, has been a challenge. I noticed that when I fail to plan a menu, I end up in worse shape, and we scrounge for dinner most nights. So I am jumping back on the menu planning band wagon.  Here is the line up for the rest of this week.

Today
Breakfast  Soaked oatmeal for the family ( eggs for me )
Lunch  : Quesadillas w/ cut veggies ( mine are going to be made with almond flour crepes )
Dinner : Roast Chicken w/ steamed veggies

Wednesday
Breakfast : Sausage, eggs, & fruit
Lunch : Chicken salad wraps on almond flour crepes
Dinner : Burgers

Thursday
Breakfast : Coconut flour pancakes and sausage
Lunch : Deviled eggs, cut veggies and dip, and lacto fermented pickles
Dinner : Pot roast with veggies

Friday
Breakfast : Smoothies and almond flour muffins
Lunch : Quesadillas
Dinner : Chicken Teriyaki stir fry with home made teriyaki sauce

Saturday
Breakfast : Butternut squash baked custard cups
Lunch : Taco soup
Dinner : BLT ( almond flour bread )

Sunday
Breakfast : We eat with our church family  ( I will be bringing mini egg quiches, gaps diet friendly )
Lunch : Sandwiches ( almond flour bread )
Dinner : Chicken enchiladas ( almond flour crepes for the tortillas )

Extra snacks this week, Homemade yogurt, baked apples, homemade crackers, crispy nuts, grass feed raw cheese, fruit, and any other snack my pregnant belly must have!

* From this point on, unless otherwise noted, you can assume that any grain needed for a meal will be replaced by an almond flour or coconut flour equal, or just veggies. You can assume that any condiment or sauce I use will be homemade to the gaps diet standard. ( like my mayo for the chicken salad or the teriyaki sauce. )  That way, when I include,  chicken enchilada's in my menu I don't have to point out that almond flour crepes are subbing for the tortillas or that the sauce is homemade.

Name Change

I have changed the name of my blog. Risky move, but here are my reasons. My new name will reflect my existing web address. www.katiehomekeeper.blogspot.com and secondly there is another blog that I recently started following with the title Keeper of the Home.  Although I love the name, I would rather avoid confusion.
Katie home Keeper is short and cute, and works for me! In the bible, God changed Abram's name to Abraham, and Sari to Sara, and it brought them more grace in their lives. Just a thought! Hope you like the new name!

Gladrags giveaway!

Gladrags is giving away gift cards of $100, $50, $25 on their website, enter to win!
http://blog.gladrags.com/2012/01/05/spread-the-word-win-100-worth-of-gladrags/