"Winter Blues?"

Do you have "Winter Blues?" We all have a winter season that will have our own story to go with it. What is that for you? Let's make the best out of each day God gives and find the little blessings that he puts there for us.

 We do not have the winter blues here yet but then again we were away where it was so warm for a few weeks and I think this really helps to break up the winter and the blues that might come with it...

This morning I sit here with my "Tea" (yes my coffee fast is going fine) I want to record some of the past days for the record so here goes... My note in devotions today... Prayer is not preparation for the work, it is the work. I like yesterdays to... Referred to Matthew 6:25.... I don't worry o'er the future, For I know what Jesus said, And today I'll walk beside him, For he knows what is ahead.

I could pray and pray for my future days in my kitchen and cooking for Jordan (and I do) but this tells me that the "prayer is actually the work" Once I've prayed and done that work of prayer then I need to trust that God will help me.

Yesterday was an almost all day kitchen day. I sat and looked through cookbooks and made note of the pages numbers with recipes that I can make that will be okay for Jordan. I had about six or eight pages out of a two hundred page cookbook! I find this book will be great after Jordan's cleanse maybe or perfect for just Gluten and dairy intolerant folks but many recipes call for things Jordan cannot have so I will most likely wait awhile to use it to much.

We saw Doctor Steve last evening again! We all needed an adjustment after a month and the traveling and all had our spines out of line.

We went over Jordan test results again, I got a few questions answered. The reason that so many foods like fruit and agave and a few other things that I thought would be great if Jordan could have but cannot was because the yeast test got done separately, because he has a bad yeast in his body "leaky gut" that yeast test came back very positive, therefore cutting out all types of sugars including fruit and even carrots, all fermented foods like yeast had to be cut out to because of this!

We also were told that because of the levels on his test where the numbers were for potato (so close to the sweet potato numbers) and beings potatoes turn to sugar during digestion they have to be cut out to!

 Also corn is a huge grain and needs to go also!!

Okay back to square one we go...
After sitting yesterday and figuring out what we can make out of this, I found many things I thought we could work with, like taco shells for filling with breakfast, corn chips with dip, corn tortillas to wrap up things (I even made homemade ones yesterday!) corn bread and more! I was disappointed that we had to cut out the corn but we will find alternatives if we seek for them, Jordan is only really let down if I appear so, so I will make the best of this for his sake! 

Cutting out GF foods only looks like a breeze to me now,  I hope one day we will be able to do just that but for now we have many other things we need to watch out for on top of gluten!

Last evening after the chiropractor everybody was wanting some supper. (even though I delivered them all a huge lunch!) Mashed potatoes, venison, peas and corn, homemade (still warm) bread for everybody but Jordan and homemade (still warm) tortillas for him. I had hoped they were fed for the day with knowing we were to be out at the chiropractor but not the case, so everybody heated up leftovers and Jordan was asking me "What can I have?"

He helped me a bit in the kitchen and we grilled up a few salted pork chops with tomatoes, onions and fresh thyme leaves, I arranged a bed of fresh greens in a bowl and we cut the one pork chop into pieces and put it on top of the greens, then drizzled with olive oil. He walked away and said "that was the best pork chop salad I ever had!" I was thinking "that was the only pork chop salad you EVER had!!

I find the verse in the Bible Matthew 6:25 comforting when it says "worry not what you shall eat", Does God not care foe the birds? Even so will he care for us.

It seems when looking ahead I can quickly get overwhelmed yet when I do one minute at a time, one meal at a time, something has always come up so far. I don't know how we will replace the corn yet? This morning I made rice, broccoli and tofu to go with the other pork chop from last evening. I put a dollop of re fried beans on the top, it looked great actually! He was there as I was assembling his dish and he says "more broccoli" please. I'm so thankful that he liked healthy food before this all started or this would be a much bigger challenge!

I have a chicken (with coconut oil, lemon and fresh thyme) in the oven today and I plan to make a chicken pot pie soup type thing. I got this out of my new cookbook but I still need to cut out things and when it comes down to it I wonder if it will even turn out anything like the picture in the book!? I do enjoy the cookbooks though, at least I can get an idea behind it.

We have Christmas with Dave's family tomorrow evening. I want to create something special for Jordan to because he will not be eating food off of the Christmas table spread.

Are the days gone when I can just go out the door to parties without cooking up a dish for Jordan first??

 Every hot lunch school day will require a dish for him?? I used to love these days and took them as a HUGE treat and blessing to not have to pack the lunches that day! Gone are the days when I would randomly drop the kids a "McDonald's cookie Mcflurry" when I was driving by.?? Or grabbing that last minute pizza for supper knowing it was a favorite in our home!?? Do I still bring cookie mcflurries to Justin and Jenika for a treat sometimes?? I really do get sad at times to think he can never share the donuts and birthday treats that come to school, yet if it brings him health it will be so worth it for him!! And the sacrifice will look small.

I want to help Jordan heal through food, it's the only way I know how so I take it as a challenge to walk through and not a road block. We will strive to make and create "good food" that he can enjoy. I try to keep the desserts for the other kids out of his sight. (He truly is amazing so far!!) We have yet to find anything other then veggies (plain) that he can snack on. All the GF snacks have yeast, sugar or honey in them. I cannot use my yummy balsamic oils that we were enjoying because they are a type of vinegar. We will find other things instead...:)

Headaches have come up the past few evenings. To the point of a few tears. This is to be expected when the body goes through something like this. He is able to sleep them off and we are thankful that his days go well and he feels fine at school.

Today is cleaning day so I must move off... I have my Rachel Ann back next week but this week I'm at it alone yet so I might get started here soon and be at it until Saturday sometime!!...:} I will be happy when you come back Rachel Ann!! It feels dirty since it's been a month now! The carpets look great though after the good shampooing they got when we were away. (This shampooing carpets thing is done for Jordan's sake)

The sun is shining a bit and even though the air has turned colder I'll take colder with sun over warmer with rain any day...:) I'm still hearing about all that freezing cold we missed! It must have been really bad! I hope that kind of cold does not come back again this winter!

I also heard about the headlines in the paper saying "Winter Blues" earlier this week,  at the school PTF this week they were telling us the list of things to do to beat them. I have not found time for "Winter Blues" yet, even though I love summer the best it does seem like winter is moving along at a speedy pace! Our family is staying healthy to which is a BLESSING, I know colds and flu type stuff can sure make the winter drag on and on!! Many people are sick right now and we are pumping the vitamins and praying we will be able to fight the germ bugs all winter!...

Here is the GF cookbook I can tell we will love yet!! (Erma here you go...:)) It has pictures that go with each recipe and they seriously look amazing!!

Have a BLESSED Thursday...