This is a whole birthday week for me. We went on a picnic to the park on my actual birthday. However, it got to 97, so the children spent most of the time on the blanket under the trees with us instead of playing. Since the children couldn't eat the cake, I didn't make cake this year. We had blueberry shakes made with vanilla ice cream and yogurt and a dish of ice cream on the side. My birthday week began with the return of dairy. Hallelujah! We've never been so excited to have yogurt and cheese and ice cream before. So far, I see no bad responses to it, but we'll see what today brings.

There is a Havana Nights/Cubano cocktail, dinner and dance that Rich is taking me to for my birthday later this week. We haven't gone dancing in a while, so there will be some dance practice at our house in the evenings.

This week will see the return of dairy, strawberries, citrus and gluten. Some of these will be eaten at lunch time, so the menus may not reflect as much of them as you'd think. I'm still praying that this is simply a deficiency in B-12 and DHA. In other news, we have harvested about a third of our garlic. We're so thrilled!

• Sunday
  Breakfast: Baked Sweet Potatoes with Butter (Yaaay!!!), Blueberries
  Linner: Snack Tray of Ham, Cheese, Pickles, Celery, Carrots and Salsa Corn Chips, Blueberry Smoothies, Vanilla Ice Cream


• Monday
  Breakfast: Yogurt, Honey and Blueberries, Milk & Coffee
  Dinner: Slow Baked Turkey and Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Steam Sauteed Carrots, Salad


• Tuesday
  Breakfast: Slow Cooker Rice Pudding, Strawberry Smoothies
  Dinner: King Ranch Turkey, Quick and Dirty Mexican Rice


• Wednesday
  Breakfast: Chilaquiles, Strawberries, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Falafel (no lemon), Cucumber, Onion and Kalamata Olive Salad, Yogurt with Aleppo Pepper, Peppers


• Thursday
  Breakfast: Tunisian Shakshouka (using sweet potatoes), Sliced Peaches, Mint Tea
  Dinner: Lamb with Okra, Tomatoes and Onions, Brown Rice, Lemonade


• Friday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Brown Sugar and Raisins mixed up the days on our challenge foods Slow Cooker Rice Pudding , Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: Polenta with Eggplant and Tomato Sauce*, Marinated Veggies


• Saturday
  Breakfast: Oatmeal with Brown Sugar and Raisins, Fried Eggs, Bacon, Milk and Coffee
  Dinner: French Onion Soup, Fruit Plate The godparents are bringing pizza for the children.

What is on your menu this week? If you want a recipe, ask and I will provide it as soon as I can. If there are any starred recipes, I will follow up separately with a weekly recipe round up on Saturday.

Bought:
Blueberries
Peaches
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Cabbage
Parsley
Cilantro


From the Garden:
Garlic
Scallions
Chives
Dill
Thyme
Parsley
Garlic Scapes
Various Greens

Labels: Birthday, Family, Homemaking, Menu Plans, Tales from the Kitchen