Real Food Challenge

Well, my idea of not telling my family about the challenge was blown out of the water on Day 1!! Our first challenge was to clean every processed food item out of our house. That did not go over well! We came to a compromise - I will not throw any food away but I will not buy any processed food for the duration of the Challenge. I am planning on donating at church this Sunday for the Super Bowl of Caring food drive.
I was ready to throw in the towel on Day 1. Throw out everything processed with no alternatives given!! We made it through Day 1 without eating any processed foods - and we ate well.
Day 2: Buy some of the whole foods necessary - I didn't do this either because I was heading to town on Thursday.
The rest of this week is a blur. I cheated Tuesday by making spaghetti - it was whole wheat and everything else was homemeade, so not so bad, right?
Last night we had cream of broccoli soup in homemeade bread bowls and hard boiled eggs.
Tonight we ate salmon (caught by a friend who doesn't eat it!) and roasted root vegetables. Yummy!!
Breakfasts and lunches aren't so bad. We are eating homemade yogurt, 7 grain hot cereal (think oatmeal), eggs, milk, homemade bread,etc..
Tomorrow or early next week I plan to try my hand at homemade mozarella cheese! My sister-in-law Julie has a recipe that I would like to try.
I have yet to start a sourdough, but that was also on the challenge this week.
This challenge is, well, challenging! I am learning to think ahead a little more and we are trying some new things. I have never eaten parsnips before! Tonight, we ate parsnips and carrots julienned with maple syrup. I thought it was awesome. Unfortunately, I did hear some gagging at the table. The boys were not overly impressed with it.
Suprisingly, I have 6 main dishes planned out for this week and I bought all of my groceries and then some without going over my grocery budget!!

FOOD CHALLENGE

I have decided to take my family on  a  28 day food challenge. I haven't told them yet!! This household of boys doesn't really like to have their food messed with! We eat fairly healthy, but there is always room for improvement in my opinion. If we are required to buy strange things that are expensive, then we won't do it. However, since this is a real food challenge I think we will be okay with the meat we raise and the food we have canned and frozen from the garden.
If you would like to join us, the challenge is on nourishedkitchen.com

New Driver

Logan has had his license for about 10 days now! Wednesday night on the way home from church he totalled his truck!! Logan is okay, thank God! The truck however is not. He is back to riding the bus or hitching rides from me. I would post pictures, but Logan doesn't want me to. It is quite a sight and maybe someday Logan will let me post a photo so you can see how fortunate he was.

Breagan's house

Breagan

Breagan closed on his house last week. Yep!! He is a homeowner. His house is on Sunnymede; half-way between Bethel and work. It's a perfect location. It's also walking distance to Wall St., do next time you come home you'll have to walk down and see him.

Change in Seasons

Football is over! At least for our boys it's over for the year. Aaron finished the season without being scored on all of Jr High. These boys have a new school record!!
Isaac's team finished 3rd in the Cub Bowl.
Both boys are sad that football season is over. I might be a little sad too, I really do like football.
Benjamin is signed up for basketball to begin next month. Logan has already begun basketball practice. They don't officially say who makes the team until sometime in November.
Caleb is already unofficially practicing wrestling. Aaron and Isaac are waiting until the Jr High can start wrestling practice.
So, there isn't really a down time in this household, just different sporting equipment lining the hallway.
I am finally getting around to closing the pool!! We haven't been swimming, but I have kept the pump running because I haven't had time to close it properly. I also have lots of garden produce to get out of the garden. We have had 2 good frosts so things aren't reallly growing, but I can still use a lot of what is still out there.

Fall

Where did summer go? In my mind it should still be August. I really don't like being so busy that whole seasons get by me!
Football is in full swing, obviously. Maybe that should have been my clue that summer was coming to a close. Anyway, Aaron is playing on Leo's 8th grade team. This team is awesome! They haven't been scored on since they have become a team!! Last year no points were scored on them and so far this year, with 3 games to go, they haven't been scored on either. If they can last this season they will have a school record.
Isaac made a touchdown this season! He was thrilled, of course it was the one game that I didn't have the camera with me. So, now he has to do it again and I have to have the camera at the ready everytime he touches the ball.
I might be safer on the football field than in my own kitchen!! Last week, while canning grape juice, I had a quart jar almost full of boiling grape juice explode on my leg!! I have a nice sized 3rd degree burn on my thigh! As Ben would say, "a 3 degree burn." This week, I sliced my finger and it didn't want to stop bleeding. I actually had to wear a bandaid for a couple of days!! Both accidents were my fault and a result of doing stupid, careless things. Today, I will be canning salsa. I'm almost afraid to get started. I'm thinking I should get Allan's safety goggles and gloves out of the shed before I start! The goal today is to use up most of my remaining tomatoes in the garden so I don't have to think about them anymore.
Benjamin lost 2 teeth this week!! The tooth fairy forgot to come both times! He comes down and reminds me that I forgot and I let him get some money out of the change basket. I guess we are developing a realist! A little reality is probably good for him because he still plays in his imaginary world quite a bit and he gets upset when we interrupt that "world".
Caitlin is enjoying her time in the Dominican, she loves her host family and is even enjoying her schoolwork. She posts fairly regularly on her blog so you can get the details and see the photos there.
Breagan is looking at houses to buy. We expect him to have one in the near future. Our little guy is all grown up!!