Chocolate Sourdough Cake

I've mentioned before that I'm taking the GNOWFGLINS Sourdough E-Course, but I haven't posted anything yet that I've made as a result of the e-course. I made this chocolate sourdough cake before we left for vacation. The recipes for the e-course that week included this chocolate cake and also a spice cake. I'm planning to make the spice cake very soon and I think this will be my go-to chocolate cake recipe from now on. This is SO good! Its so moist and flavorful and just delicious! I ended up making the cream/yogurt cheese frosting rather than the chocolate coconut cream frosting because I was having trouble finding coconut butter. I'll have to order some and try it again with the chocolate frosting. But it was very tasty with the cream/yogurt cheese frosting!

Meal plans and the week ahead

We had an amazing vacation last week in Colorado. We were sad for it to end, but in many ways it's good to be home. I was anxious to get back into the kitchen. Yesterday morning, I signed our contract to purchase two cow shares at a farm near us (about 20 minutes away) and picked up 2 gallons of raw milk for the week. I got right to work on some of it, making some raw milk yogurt. I realize I still haven't posted the method that I use now for yogurt, so hopefully it'll show up this week on the blog. I also picked up our CSA order yesterday morning and got right to work freezing 4 pounds of broccoli and canning more chopped tomatoes. As well as de-cobbing 3 dozen ears of corn, blanching, and freezing. I think I may do one more batch of corn this week and I think I'll call it good for the year. I also dehydrated some lemon basil from the CSA and harvested a ton of basil from our garden to make and freeze pesto yesterday, as well.

Today we'll be heading out to the farmers' market. Monday I may go biking with my friend. Tuesday I have a hair appointment in the evening. Wednesday I will be in Detroit for meetings all day and I believe Kevin is going mountain biking that night. Thursday I will be in Windsor for meetings all day. Friday is my flex day and will now be my milk day... when I make my weekly trip out to the farm to pick up our milk. It's convenient to pick up the milk and our CSA since they are on the way from one another. So that's what I'll be doing on Friday. Saturday we will go biking together as a family and will probably be putting in a few new windows in the basement.

As for extras this week... I'm looking to accomplish a lot! Here's my list...
- I'm planning to put up some vanilla rum plums and maybe some peaches in brandy today for this week's Preserving the Summer's Bounty challenge. I am having so much fun trying out the traditional preservation techniques!
- I'm also going to make some more lacto-fermented roasted tomato salsa. I think I will do a half-gallon jar full this time and call it good.
- I may try out another lacto-fermented salsa recipe later in the week with some tomatoes from our garden, but we'll see how many I end up getting this week.
- I ordered some sweet banana peppers from the CSA this week, so I'm planning to make some lacto-fermented banana peppers, as well.
- I ordered some more cabbage from the CSA, so I'll either make up more sauerkraut or maybe I'll try cortido or kim chi this time.
- I'll be making some chicken stock/bone broth.
- I'll be blanching and freezing more broccoli that I ordered from the CSA... and possibly some more corn.
- I'll be drying some more tomatoes so that I can make another few pints of dried tomatoes in oil.
- I may try making some sourdough tortillas and/or sourdough hamburger buns... this is last on my priority list, though...
- I'll be getting both my water and dairy kefir going again.
- And lastly, I'll be picking up a SCOBY at the farm on Friday, so I'll be starting up a batch of kombucha! I'm so excited for that! I bought a half-gallon of it from the farm when I went yesterday and it is soooo good!

Sunday ~ farmers' market
(make vanilla rum plums and peaches in brandy; make LF roasted tomato salsa; make dairy and water kefir; feed sourdough starter)
B: sourdough pancakes
L: bibb lettuce salads with leftover grilled steak; hard-boiled egg; cucumbers; summer squash; carrots
D: TBD... possibly going over to in-laws' house

Monday ~ biking?
B: scrambled eggs with gouda
D: taco rice (from freezer); steamed veggies; applesauce

Tuesday ~ hair appointment
(make dairy and water kefir)
B: muffins from freezer; fresh fruit
D: crockpot rotisserie chicken; bibb lettuce salads with raw veggies (cucumber, carrot, corn, beans); applesauce

Wednesday ~ Detroit for work; Kevin's bike night?
(make chicken stock/bone broth)
B: apples with almond butter
D: crockpot quinoa and chicken

Thursday ~ Windsor for work
(make dairy and water kefir)
B: kefir fruit smoothies
D: crockpot white bean and ham soup (with ham from the freezer)

Friday ~ flex day! milk and CSA pickup
(make LF banana peppers; make kombucha; make sauerkraut/cortido/kim chi; blanch and freeze broccoli; blanch and freeze corn?; feed starter)
B: mini frittatas
D: kraut bierock (from freezer); steamed veggies; fresh fruit

Saturday ~ biking; windows
(clean; make LF salsa?; make dairy and water kefir; make sourdough tortillas and/or hamburger buns?)
B: scrambled eggs with veggies
L: picnic while biking... cashew avocado chicken salad sandwiches; dehydrated veggie crisps; fresh fruit
D: TBD... hamburgers if I make buns or tacos if I make tortillas... if I don't make either, then we'll have meatloaf... also zucchini fries and steamed veggies

Meal plans and the week ahead

We've got a really busy week this week. But its going to be fantastic!! Lots of fun things, plus we leave for Colorado at the end of the week! Woohoo!! :) So I won't be posting a weekly post next week... my next one will be on the 29th after we're back.

We're headed out to breakfast and the farmers' market with my parents this morning. Then, this afternoon we'll be heading out to Dairy Delight farm in Cohoctah Township. We'll check out the farm and then I think we'll be signing a cow share agreement for raw milk! Yeah!! I'm very excited! :) Tuesday is the last ski show of the season, so we're going to go check it out again. Wednesday is the annual Back to the Bricks car cruise (well, the entire week is Back to the Bricks, but we're just going on Wednesday). So, we'll probably head out to Grand Blanc for the evening. Thursday will be dedicated to packing and cleaning. We'll be doing some packing and cleaning throughout the week, but Thursday will be our night to wrap everything up. And we're leaving Friday mid-morning for the airport! We're so looking forward to vacation!

Last week I froze another 10 pounds of blueberries (the Jerseys are in and they're my favorite!) and used another 5 pounds for fresh eating and baking projects. I froze more beans, corn, and zucchini, too. I also dehydrated some tomatoes as part of my post tomorrow for Preserving the Summer's Bounty. And I canned some pasta sauce on Friday night. I also went to my first meeting of the local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation. It was really cool. The speaker this month focused on heart health. I learned so much and can't wait for upcoming meetings and events!

So anyway, here's the plan... not many extras this week! I'm just trying to use up most of the perishables in the fridge this week.

Sunday ~ breakfast; farmers' market; Dairy Delight farm
(make and can last batch of pasta sauce; clean; start piles for packing)
B: out
L: pesto nicoise salads; fresh fruit
D: grilled chicken kebabs with zucchini, cherry tomatoes, onions, red bell peppers

Monday ~
(clean)
B: kefir smoothies with fruit
D: grilled salmon kebabs with zucchini, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms; applesauce

Tuesday ~ SLSC Ski Show
B: yogurt/kefir with granola and fruit
D: picnic lunch at the show... raw milk cheese; sourdough crackers; hard-boiled eggs; veggie chips; raw veggies; fresh fruit


Wednesday ~ Back to the Bricks
B: scrambled eggs with yogurt cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and avocado
D: TBD... I think we'll probably eat out at the Hot Dog Stand or something in downtown GB, but maybe not

Thursday ~
(pack!)
B: kefir smoothies with fruit
D: misc. clean out the fridge

Friday ~ leave for Colorado!
B: kefir smoothies with fruit

Lacto-Fermented Roasted Tomato Salsa

I've been wanting to try out a lacto-fermented salsa recipe for awhile now. With the first week of the Preserving Summer's Bounty Challenge focused on fermentation and last week's tomato festival at the farmers' market ($10 for a half-bushel of Roma tomatoes!), I figured this was the perfect time to try it out. I had come across a recipe for a roasted tomato lacto-fermented salsa on Cooking God's Way awhile back, so I dug it out and gave it a go on Friday. This takes some time to roast the veggies and let them cool, but then it comes together pretty quickly. It tastes amazing, too! We tried it last night. I think I'll be making at least a few more quarts of this after I get some more roma tomatoes this week. This first quart certainly isn't going to last long!

Lacto-fermented Roasted-Tomato Salsa

2 pounds Roma tomatoes (about 8 to 10), sliced in half length-wise
4 large cloves garlic (do not peel)
1 medium onion (yellow or red), sliced into thick rings but not separated
2 jalapeno peppers, left whole (I just used 1)
1 small bunch cilantro, or to taste
2 Tablespoons lemon or lime juice
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon mexican oregano
pinch ground cayenne pepper, or more to taste
1 Tablespoon unrefined sea salt
4 Tablespoons whey

Preheat broiler to 500F. Have ready a large heavy-duty baking sheet. Gently smash cloves of garlic with the back of a spoon or drinking glass, leave skins on. Place tomato halves on baking sheet (cut side up), along with the sliced onion, garlic cloves, and jalapeno peppers. Place baking sheet in oven, directly under broiler, checking on them every 5 minutes. Turn as needed, when tops are browned and/or bubbly. Brown both sides, removing any pieces as necessary when they are finished.


Place broiled peppers into a plastic zip-top bag and seal. Allow to steam for 5 minutes. When done steaming; peel off the skin and remove stem, seeds, and membrane. Meanwhile mince all the vegetables (be sure to peel garlic first) to desired size

NOTE: If you have a food processor, mincing the vegetables is very easy and quick to do. Just pulse all ingredients, individually in the food processor. It is important NOT to mince them all at once, or you will end up with half the ingredients turned into a puree before the other half gets to the size you want.

As you mince each ingredient (tomatoes, garlic, onion, peppers, cilantro) add it to a medium mixing bowl. When everything is minced and added to the bowl, add the lemon (or lime) juice, cumin, and oregano; stir gently to combine. Stir in the whey and sea salt. Taste and add ground cayenne pepper as desired.

Pour salsa mixture into a quart-sized mason jar, screw-on lid with metal band. OR Use a quart-sized Fermented Vegetable Master, they work wonders and really make all your fermented veggies taste better. (Always remember to leave 1-inch of space from the top of the jar to allow for expansion.)

Leave at room-temperature for 2 days before transferring to cold storage.

Makes 1-quart.

Meal plans and the week ahead

We're looking forward to more fun things this week. This morning, we'll be going to church for my cousin Megan's daughter's baptism. Marty, Megan, and Haleigh live in Virginia now, but they wanted to do Haleigh's baptism here in the church they've gone to for a long time with their friends and family. This will be our first time meeting Haleigh, so we're very excited to be a part of such a special day! After church, we'll be going over to Marty's dad's house for a lunch celebration. Monday night, we'll be going out to my Aunt Jeri's to get together with just our family to spend some more time with Marty, Megan, and Haleigh. Tuesday I'm going to Zumba. Wednesday is Kevin's mountain bike night. Thursday, my cousin Jessica will be stopping over so I can show her where everything is and the routine with the animals since she'll be staying with Jet and Denver for a few days while we're in Colorado. We don't have any plans on Friday, other than picking up our CSA order. Saturday we'll be heading over to Forrester, a little town on Lake Huron in the Thumb for the re-marriage of my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Jim.

As for extras this week, I'll continue to preserve as much as I can. Last week, I froze beans, zucchini, carrots, celery, onions, and bell peppers; lacto-fermented salsa, sweet pickles, and more beans; canned tomatoes, salsa, and cream of celery soup; and dried lots of herbs - purple basil, green basil, rosemary, celery leaves, german thyme, sage, oregano, tarragon, and parlsey. I need to freeze more corn this week - both on and off the cob. I'm planning to make one of the sourdough cakes that are coming up in this week's Sourdough E-Course. And I'll be canning some more cream of celery soup and trying out a new pasta sauce recipe to can using the celery and tomatoes I'll be picking up with our CSA on Friday. I'd like to do another few quarts of the lacto-fermented salsa, too. And I might attempt creamed corn at some point, as well.

Sunday - Haleigh's baptism
(feed sourdough starter; make water kefir and dairy kefir; make crispy walnuts in dehydrator with soaked walnuts)
B: omelets with yogurt cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and avocado
L: Haleigh's baptism after-party
D: grilled salmon; raw corn and avocado salad; grilled zucchini; honey rock melon

Monday - family get-together to see Megan, Marty, and Haleigh
(feed sourdough starter; make dairy kefir)
B: hard-boiled eggs; cheese slices
D: at my Aunt Jeri's

Tuesday - WAPF meeting; Zumba
(soak flour for sourdough cake; make water kefir and dairy kefir)
B: kefir fruit smoothies
D: crockpot split pea soup; zucchini yeast rolls from freezer

Wednesday - Allen St. Market; Kevin's mountain biking night
(make sourdough cake; make dairy kefir)
B: rhubarb banana rosemary muffins from freezer
D: leftovers or salads

Thursday - Jessica coming over
(make lacto-fermented salsa; make water kefir and dairy kefir)
B: scrambled eggs with veggies
D: quiche with ham, spinach, and whatever veggies I have on hand

Friday - pick up CSA order
(make and can pasta sauce; make dairy kefir)
B: kefir fruit smoothies
D: pork souvlaki; corn ceviche; roasted cauliflower and cabbage; applesauce

Saturday - wedding in Forrester
(make and can creamed corn?; make water kefir and dairy kefir)
B: scrambled eggs with pesto
L: stuffed peppers; fresh fruit
D: wedding reception

Cream of Celery Soup

Local celery has been in season for the last couple of weeks, so I've been stocking up as much as I can. I've frozen quite a bit for use in soups and stews, but I also wanted to can some cream of celery soup. Cream of celery is my favorite cream soup. By making it myself, I know exactly what is in it and can use all local, high-quality, sustainably-grown ingredients. I also avoid the preservatives, MSG, GMOs, BPA, pesticides, etc. that you ingest when you buy the commercial branded cream soups. I got this recipe from a Yahoo! canning group that I belong to. This is a really easy soup to make. It only took about 20-30 minutes to prep the ingredients, make the soup, fill the jars, and get them in the canner. I'm planning to get more celery from my CSA next week so I can do up another batch since I wasn't thinking and only ordered enough celery for one batch this week.

Cream of Celery Soup

1/3 cup butter
3 cups celery, 1/4" dice
1/2 cup sweet onion, 1/4" dice
1/3 cup finely diced celery leaves (set aside)
1 quart vegetable broth
1 quart chicken broth
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. ground white pepper
1/4 tsp. ground celery seed
1 tsp. lemon juice
3/4 cup Clearjel

Melt butter. Add celery and onion and sauté until crisp tender. Add broth, saving 1 cup to mix with the Clearjel. Add the seasonings, lemon juice, and the reserved celery leaves. Mix the Clearjel with the reserved broth. Mix all ingredients and heat until it boils, stirring often.

Put in jars and process in pressure canner for 45 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure.

Makes 5 pints

Fresh Vegetable Salsa

I've made a few different types of salsa over the last couple of years... zesty salsa, zucchini salsa, and pineapple-peach salsa. All three have been pretty good, but I'm still looking for an even better recipe that we just love. So I figured I'd try a new one this time. I found one in my Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. It tasted really good as I was filling the jars and its nice and thick... just how we love it! We'll see how it is after processing in a few weeks. I made this very mild because I've been having problems with spicy foods and my gall bladder. I made 3 pints and 5 half-pints from this recipe. The book says you should get 8 half-pints or 5 pints from this.

Fresh Vegetable Salsa

7 cups chopped, cored, peeled tomatoes
2 cups coarsely chopped onion
1 cup coarsely chopped bell pepper
8 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped (I left these out and just added some more bell pepper)
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 can tomato paste
3/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup loosely packed, finely chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

In a large stainless steel saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly.

Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 30 minutes.

Ladle hot salsa into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Wipe rims, put lids and screw bands on jars, and place in canner filled with water. Make sure jars are completely covered by water. Bring to a boil and process half-pints and pints for 20 minutes. Then remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, and remove jars to cool for 24 hours.

Zucchini Brownies

I tried out the recipe for zucchini brownies from Heavenly Homemakers the other morning, as well. I made a couple changes... substituted carob powder for the cocoa and added some chocolate chips that I needed to use up in my pantry. These were so easy to throw together, they literally took less than 15 minutes... from the start of getting all the ingredients out, shredding the zucchini, stirring up the brownies, and getting them in the oven. I love quick recipes like this! They also taste really good! We all really liked them a lot. My mother-in-law also got to taste them when I sent one with Carson for a snack and she thought they were awesome (and has asked for the recipe). Definitely a hit! I have the same thoughts I had when making the bread... wishing I had a grain mill so I could use sprouted flour, or wondering if I could modify this to be soaked in the future. Maybe I'll have to do some experimenting.

I'll update soon with a picture.

Zucchini Brownies

1/2 cup butter, melted
1 1/2 cups sucanat or rapadura (I used sucanat)
1/3 cup cocoa (I used carob)
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 egg
2 cups whole wheat flour
(I also added a few handfuls of chocolate chips... milk chocolate and white chocolate... that I had in my pantry)

Mix butter, sucanat and cocoa. Stir in zucchini and egg. Gradually mix in flour until well combined. Pour batter into a 9×13 inch pan. Bake in a 350° oven for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Honey Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

I'm trying to use up some zucchini, as its at its peak production in the garden right now, so I've been looking for new recipes to try. I've been wanting to try the Heavenly Homemakers recipe for honey whole wheat zucchini bread for awhile. So I gave it a go the other morning. This is very good! I love that it uses all whole wheat flour and honey for sweetener, rather than sugar. I'll definitely make this again. I'm really wishing I had a grain mill right now so that I could sprout some wheat and use sprouted flour to make this bread, or soak it or something. I'm really trying to get more into the traditional methods of preparing things, but I just made this recipe as-is. Its still a much healthier version than my normal zucchini bread, so that's an improvement. You can make this recipe into loaves of bread, or into muffins... I've included both below from the Heavenly Homemakders site.

Whole Wheat and Honey Zucchini Bread

3 cups whole wheat flour
2 t. cinnamon
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. sea salt
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/2 t. baking powder
1 cup honey
2 cups shredded zucchini (I use my food processor to shred zucchini, skin and all)
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs

In a large mixing bowl (I used my stand mixer) combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda, sea salt, nutmeg and baking powder. Stir in honey, zucchini, eggs and melted butter. Mix ingredients until dry ingredients are moistened. Pour into two well buttered loaf pans. Bake at 350° for 45-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Whole Wheat and Honey Zucchini Muffins

Prepare as above, except scoop dough into 24 paper-lined muffin tins. Bake at 400° for 20 minutes.

Meal plans and the week ahead

So I did not have my surgery as planned last week. I was all ready for it and got a call late Wednesday night telling me not to come to the hospital in the morning, that my surgery was canceled. That was frustrating, but on the bright side, I can keep working out and enjoy these next few weeks. Hopefully I'll get a lot done, when I thought I'd be getting very few things accomplished. So it'll all work out, I think.

Last week was a productive week in terms of getting things done that I've wanted to take care of for awhile. I enrolled Carson in the fall semester of Kindermusik, joined my local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation, finally picked up the new-to-us stand-up freezer that we inherited from my grandpa, did a little more planning for our trip to Colorado in a few weeks, ordered some cod liver oil/butter oil capsules, and put in our orders for local, pasture-raised chicken and pork. I'll be working on putting in a turkey order this week. We're getting a half of a hog from Our Farm and Dairy in St. Johns. My friends Niles and Lisa will be getting the other half... and we got our order in just in time because we got their last hog! Its all organic, pasture-raised, and raw milk fed! Its supposed to be the best pork around and being milk-fed is supposedly a delicacy. Milk-fed pork is also discussed as being a delicious delicacy in the book I'm reading, Real Food: What to Eat and Why, by Nina Planck (GREAT book, by the way... I really think everyone should read it!). We'll be able to pick it up in October or November - I can't wait! I also put in an order for 12 whole pastured chickens from a local farm in Fenton. I'm planning to butcher them up myself, making ground chicken with my meat grinder out of 3 or 4 of them and freezing it in 1-pound portions, 4 or 5 of them will be butchered into quarters and pieces and frozen, and 3 of them will be frozen as whole birds. I'll probably put in another order for pickup in October to butcher up some more so that we'll have enough to get us through the year. I've also been doing a lot of research into getting some fresh turkeys in November. I have it narrowed down to a couple of places and just need to make the final decision and order the birds this week. I'm debating between 3 or 4 fresh birds. I'd roast one fresh when we get it, and would butcher up the other fresh birds into a bunch of ground turkey and turkey cutlets to freeze. I'm so excited about all of this good, local, fresh meat that we'll have in our freezer this year!

I have been forgetting to mention that I'm doing the GNOWFLGINS Sourdough E-Course. Its been going on for a few weeks now. We're in lesson 2 (lesson 1 lasted for 2 weeks) and its been pretty neat so far. I've learned a couple of things and am really looking forward to the next few weeks as things get a little more in depth and we try out some new recipes. I just hope I can eat sourdough bread and other baked goods at some point after my surgery. I know that I'm supposed to avoid whole grains and breads at first, and I'll just have to introduce them slowly to see if my body can handle them post-surgery. I've supposedly got a 60% chance of being able to eat most things I used to eat, so I'm hoping I'm in the majority there and don't have issues. But I figure I have the best chance of being able to handle sourdough, so I'm thinking this is perfect timing for this e-course and to try out some new recipes!

I've also signed up for the Preserving Summer's Bounty Challenge at Nourished Kitchen. It's a five-week challenge that will teach you how to preserve summer's bounty without pulling out the canner. I won't be able to participate every week in August, but I'll do as many as I can. I think it'll be fun! And while I do still plan on doing some canning (specifically cream of celery soup and lots and lots of tomatoes... hopefully next weekend!), I do like the idea of preserving more things traditionally so as to enhance their nutritional aspects. I'm looking forward to hopefully learning some new things, too!

We're planning to go to the farmers' market this morning. Then we'll be heading over to our friends' house for lunch. Tomorrow night, we'll be doing a family 10-mile bike ride. I'll be going to Zumba on Tuesday... and voting for sure! Thursday, I'll be in Detroit for some meetings. Friday is my flex day. I have to pick up our CSA order (lots of herbs to dry again - purple basil, german thyme, rosemary, oregano, flat-leaf parsley, sage; some cabbage to make kim chi; Walla Walla onions to dice and freeze; celery to dice and freeze and to make cream of celery soup) and I'll make a stop at Eichelberg's to get more corn to blanch and freeze. I'd like to do something fun with Carson, too, but I'm not sure what it'll be yet. We'll see what the weather is like, but maybe we can hit the splash pad or beach, or maybe we'll just visit the library for toddler story time. We haven't figured out our plans for Saturday yet. We may just stay home. Or we may go to check out the Sanilac Petroglyphs. Or we may go to visit and take a tour of Our Farm and Dairy... pros and cons to both... Carson really wants to see the petroglyphs (yes, he really does know what they are), but I doubt his interest would really last too long... the farm would probably keep his interest a little longer, but we could go a different week, too... the petroglyphs are only open a few times a year... so we'll see.

I'm going to be using up a lot of zucchini this week. And I'll be working on freezing, dehydrating, and canning this week. I feel like there is so much I want to do and not nearly enough time, but that's pretty typical this time of year. I'm not going to stress myself out about it, though. I'll just do what I can when I can and see what I end up with. :)

Sunday ~ farmers' market; Ben and Kati's
(make dairy kefir; make zucchini bars/cake?; make ice cream)
B: sourdough pancakes stuffed with yogurt cheese and blueberries
L: lunch at Ben and Kati's house... we're having homemade indian food... I'm making Raita and bringing some fruit
D: cheeseburger zucchini boats; applesauce

Monday ~ family bike ride
(freeze zucchini chunks; make water kefir; make dairy kefir)
B: zucchini bread
D: crockpot beef stroganoff (made with yogurt cheese!); sauteed beans, zucchini, and broccoli in butter with garlic; peaches

Tuesday ~ VOTE; Zumba
(order turkeys; make dairy kefir)
B: biscuits from the freezer with local honey and butter
D: leftovers

Wednesday ~ family bike ride
(make water kefir; make dairy kefir)
B: zucchini bread
D: grilled kebabs with salmon, zucchini, mushrooms, carrots; fresh honey rock melon

Thursday ~ Detroit for work; Kevin's mountain bike night
(make dairy kefir)
B: kefir fruit smoothies
D: salads topped with grilled chicken and veggies; fresh melon and blueberries

Friday ~ flex day; Eichelberg's farm stand; splash pad/beach/library?
(blanch and freeze corn; blanch and freeze green beans; make yogurt; make dairy kefir; make water kefir; make and can cream of celery soup)
B: scrambled eggs with veggies and raw cheddar
D: crockpot sausage and veggie medley

Saturday ~ Sanilac Petroglyphs? Our Farm and Dairy tour?
(make dairy kefir; can tomatoes)
B: omelets with yogurt cheese, spinach, artichokes, and tomatoes
L: leftovers
D: tbd... we'll see what our plans end up being...