2009 – Page 8 – a hippie with a minivan

Meal Plan for the week…

This week’s meal plan includes one of the Turkeys that I bought last week and will be made into three of the weeks meals, so with a few staples that needed to be bought (coffee, 10 kilo bag of flour, a few pounds of butter that were on special etc) I was still able to keep the total lower than usual at about 110$.

So here is what we are eating this week..

Sushi/Cheese Fondue (Simon is not a big Sushi fan so he has the latter and the boys have both)
Turkey supper (Turkey, crispy potatoes and gravy)
Samosas
Turkey Club sandwiches with homemade Ciabatta bread
Turkey and Dumpling Soup
Felafel on homemade Pitas

I see that I need to add a few more recipes here to share.. So I will make sure to take pics and share, especially the Ciabatta bread that take sandwiches to the next level, and the turkey dumpling soup that is one of the boys’ favourites. Making the Samosas will be a first time for me so I will share depending on the results, but I am pretty confident that they will be good…

Pregnancy Tea…

This is the third pregnancy that I have made sure to drink Red Raspberry Leaf tea through out the pregnancy…

I have been learning more about herbs (still need to get my hand on a good book though… any suggestions welcome!) and this time I have made a point of adding more herbs to my tea to add more nutrients and vitamins and of course the other useful effects that herbs can bring.

My home mixed Pregnancy Tea is made primarily of 3 herbs (though I will soon be adding a fourth as soon as I get to the store).

Red Raspberry Leaf: One of the main reasons of taking RRL in pregnancy is that it strengthens the uterine muscles making labour more efficient. RRL is high in Calcium and Magnesium which helps relieve cramps and is also high in Iron, making it great for energy and anaemia. It also helps settle an upset stomach. Taken after birth, it helps with bleeding, helps the Uterus regain tone and increases milk supply.

Nettles: Nettle is an amazing herb. It is rich in Iron, Calcium and Folic Acid which is very important in pregnancy. It strengthens the Kidneys which reduces fluid retention, and also supports the vascular system which helps prevent varicose veins and hemorrhoids. Taken after birth it can help with hemorrhaging and bleeding and also helps increase the milk supply.

Oatstraw: Oatstraw is another herb that is high in Calcium and Magnesium. It is also high in Vit. A, B, C and E. Oatstraw is known to help alleviate pain and has a calming effect on the nervous system which helps with anxiety and depression and also helps for a more restful sleep. It is also an herb that helps the immune system.

The next herb that I will be getting is Dandelion root.

Dandelion root is a great diuretic, helping to clean and strengthen the liver, kidney and gallbladder (though I no longer have the latter). It also replaces the potassium loss in frequent urination.

I put the same amount of each of the herbs in a Jar to make a large batch of loose tea that I can just take a bit of each day without any fuss. I boil my water, place 2 heaping tsp of the tea in a 1L Mason Jar and fill the jar nearly to the brim with the hot water…

I give it a quick stir (mostly because I love to see it swirl)

And then let it cool down… as I prefer to drink this tea warm or even cold… if I am wanting to drink it hot I add a tsp of my favourite “chunky fruit tea” to add a bit of sweetness to the flavour…and now that I am in the third trimester, I make sure to drink at least 3 cups of it every day…

I couldn’t find my tea sieve the other day (I have since cleaned out my tea shelf and found it) but I had an idea and used my Sprout Jar top for the tea. It works perfectly, cleans easily and I definitely will keep on using it… though I do only use it after letting the tea steep and cool down…

**The general rule for RRL in Pregnancy is 1 cup in the first trimester, 2 cups in the second and 3 in the third. So if you make this, make sure that in the first six months you make the adjustment or made it separate from the rest of the herbs.

Of course this tea is not only good in pregnancy but is also great at any time, especially for women and their monthly cycles.

little update…

Both my grandma and Nala came out of surgery well…

My grandma’s surgery went very well, but it took a bit longer than thought for her to wake up. She was transferred to the ICU after a few hours and will be getting a room either today or tomorrow. My uncle was able to see her yesterday and though she wasn’t talking much, she was all there and just need to recuperate and recover now… He’ll go see her again this morning so later on I will have more news.

Nala’s surgery went perfectly and we picked her up after our Chiro appointment last night, and she was completely awake and happy to see us… though she was walking a bit funny for the first few minutes home she was herself and was starving even though they had given her a small meal there… we fed her and she ate a day’s worth of food without hesitation… She isn’t complaining at all but is very cuddly and is giving all of us tons of cuddles and kisses… we just have to bring her back in two weeks to get the stitches removed.

Thinking happy thoughts…

My grandmother is an amazing woman. She is 86 and full of life. She goes out with friends, still works occasionally, loves to gamble and gets her hair and nails done every week (she hasn’t washed her own hair since she was in her teens.. lol) If you want to call her and get her at home, your best bet is to call after midnight… she goes to sleep around 3am every night after completing her crossword puzzle in bed… but don’t call her before 10am!

I don’t get to see her as often as I would like since she and my uncle both smoke in their home, and with my allergies and asthma I can’t visit her. But I do try to talk to her on the phone often and stop by her house when I am in the area even if it just to stay outside for a few minutes… I also love having her here at my home.

Here are some pics that I took last week when she and my mom came over…

(striking a pose and showing off her low cut jeans)

(With my mom and Khéna)

Last month, my Grandmother found out that she had stomach cancer. It is large and aggressive and the diagnosis could have gone either way. She went in for a scan 3 weeks ago and was told that they would call her within 2-3 weeks with either an appointment with the specialist (which would mean that it was too advanced/ had spread / was not operable… or with an appointment for a few more tests at the hospital which would mean prep for surgery. I was a nerve wracking week but she finally got the call to go to the hospital for tests and Surgery was scheduled for today. If she hadn’t been called for surgery she was told that she would have had only another 6 months… I can’t imagine her going so soon…

I’ll find out in a few hours how it went…

Another family member is also in Surgery today… we brought Nala to the vet this morning to be spayed… the boys were sad to find out that she was going to be having surgery and that they would be cutting her skin, Xavier was in tears, scared that she won’t come back… I think it helped that they brought her with me this morning and that we will all be picking her up after the Chiro appointment tonight…

So, today we are thinking happy thought that everything will go well for both of our loved ones…

Weekly specials…

Sometimes, the weekly specials at the grocery store just work for you…

I make my weekly menu according to the specials from the grocery stores in my area and I am also trying to stay within budget. I was not being careful for a while and the amount we were spending on groceries was going up a bit more than I would have hoped… So I have been being careful of using what we have in the freezer and pantry and stocking up on things that are on special…

Now that I also have Nala to feed I am really keeping my eye out on cheaper cuts of meat…

I felt I hit the Jackpot this week… Turkey was .99 a pound and so were chickens at another store. I bought two turkeys, one that has been put away in the fridge to defrost for the weekend (which will make a great turkey meal, pot pie, stock and soup along with leftovers) and one for freezer for a later date. I also bought 4 chickens and a 4 bone in chicken breasts. Along with other food to complete the menu plan, including 8lbs of apples and a box of clementines, I managed to keep the cost at about 100$ which I find to be quite remarkable…

The 4 chickens were not the nicest looking or the best quality but Nala won’t mind… I took the time yesterday morning to cut them up and separate them into baggies for about 3-4 weeks worth of Nala’s meals… I am hoping to do the same whenever I see that special so that we have a good stock of food for her in the freezer at all times.

(Ready for the Freezer)

At the same time I was cutting up the whole chickens and was in the groove, I also cut up the chicken breasts that I used in last nights supper which was Fried chicken Sandwiches (recipe to come)…

The bones of course did not go to waste and got thrown into a pot with a few onions, carrots and celery stalks and will become the broth for tonight’s soup and there should be broth left over to freeze for other meals…

(Chicken stock before and after about 20 hours of simmering)