a little inspiration

This week I've added gluten back in.  No wheat, just other sources of gluten.  Because barley is a little harder to have in the house and not share with Emerson I chose to get a loaf of rye bread to experiment with.  This was the first time in two months I could eat a sandwich.  I'm not even going to explain how big that is for me.  My favorite things to eat have always been sandwiches.  I even had to get used to the idea that John does not consider a sandwich dinner except occasionally. What??? Took me years to figure that out. This last few days have been a real pleasure.  So far, no side effects.  Now I have to wait four more days without it and make sure.  But next week is wheat.  I'm interested to see how that goes.  Corn is definitely out for me.  I'm so glad I'm doing this, no matter how hard it has been.  I had suspected corn a little but never eggs at all.  And for months I've been avoiding gluten and ...

Last week I re-introduced eggs.  At first I thought things were going well but as the week went on I noticed that I didn't feel very well.  I'm a little surprised by that and plan to try them again at the end of adding in all the other things.  Adding them on vacation was probably not ideal.  The reaction was strong enough to keep me off them for the time being at least.  I am glad I went back to the doctor and it came up! Our trip was wonderful though, enough beach time for everyone without getting sunburnt and even some down time for the grownups due to the hotel's camp program.  I'll never stay at another hotel for more than one night with out this feature again.  Talk about brilliant.  The cousins got to play and the parents and grandparents kicked our feet up for a few minutes without worry.  Ahhh.  It wasn't so hard to eat now that dairy has a green light.  I did have a protein smoothie at least once each day (but I have...

I'm trying out reintroducing dairy this week.  So far, wonderful.  Oh cheese, I love you.  I'll let you know if I still feel the same at the end of the week. xxo

Already it has been over a week since I started this elimination diet . I have felt well over all and not starving too much.  Although I haven't figured out easy things to take along yet (but really, what is simpler than grabbing a couple carrots?  It just seems so boring...) My mind, however, seems to be clearer, lighter.  I've been on cleanse type diets for this long before and had the feeling of lightness in the body but never so much clearness in my thoughts.  I'm eager to see what foods are responsible for the brain fog.  For years I've been blaming it on the children.  I almost feel like I should write an apology!  It's been amazing to see the brightness of the sky, the sparkle of the water this week.  Like I am coming up for air after too long under water.  I've been able to complete work and think through things with out getting bogged down, you see how much I've been writing! I miss tomatoes the most right now.  It mus...

It is funny to be doing a minimalistic diet in conjunction with a clear out of excess physical stuff in my home.  It has got me doing a whole lot of thinking, of seeing the cross pieces of my life as it currently is.  Looking at the change while it is happening in a very intentional and cathartic way. Yesterday I thought I was doing very well with the diet, I even attended my first food oriented outing in the morning with great success.  I attended a brunch where people have a very clean, holistic style of eating and living and so I wasn't too terribly tempted.  However, I could only eat from three dishes there and by the end I was hungry. When we got home I made kale chips and consumed them all (okay, I shared a few with everyone else, E in particular.)  John made grilled cheese for himself and Emerson and that was fine until I was sitting across from them and had a little cartoon like daydream of myself ferociously attacking them and eating their sand...

Good morning!  How are you all?  Is anyone still here?  The last couple months have been busy and then this last one has just slammed us all with many new things.  There are several that I'd like to share with you and then I am hoping to share the journey too.  At the same time, since it is not all about me, I need to maintain some boundaries (which I quite admit I am not great at.)  I hope you'll find the journey interesting and you'll share it with other friends who might be going through something similar.  I'd love to start an actual dialogue here instead of just hearing my own voice, so if you have a comment or idea or story to share, please do. The first big change is my diet.  You know I am trained as a Health Coach and many of you know that before my son was born I struggled with Ulcerative Colitis.  Pregnancy and nursing somehow delivered the perfect cocktail of hormones to stop the disease in its tracks but in the last few mon...

{this is an old picture that captures how I feel at the end of each day so perfectly...} I made cookies this weekend.  We never do this.  Sugar isn't our friend in this household.  But Papa needed to get out of the house by himself and so I bribed the boy into staying home with me by saying we'd make cookies.  I found a flourless peanut butter cookie recipe but it had way to much sugar.  Otherwise it was perfect, easy, fast, simple.  Yes.  So, I adjusted it a little and it came out great.  We also added two chocolate chips on each one.  You know, we are living large! There are no pictures of the cookies- not because they are all gone, but because I don't generally take pictures of food. :)   Ingredients 1 cup natural peanut butter 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 large egg, lightly beaten Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place the racks in the upper and lowe...

Someone went exploring today.  Before this she had just been pulling all the things out.  I didn't realize she was moving it all so so she'd have room to get in. ;)

Raw cranberry relish over cake donuts.  Call it a craving if you want, it is sooooo good. 1 bag fresh cranberries 1 (large) clementine 1 gala apple 1 tbsp of honey granules A little about how good cranberries are for you.

Happy Valentine's Day.  I always like a holiday dedicated to eating chocolates and telling people how much you love them!  This morning I was nudged awake at 6am sharp so that I could hear a singing card.  The Bug had gotten it in the mail yesterday from his Nana and Pappy and Aunt Carolyn (they have a little tradition with the singing cards.  Remember this ?)  It is obvious that he had slept with the card and had been waiting all night to share it with me (I didn't come home for dinner last night, I was at meditation until after he was in bed.)  It was the sweetest way to wake up way too early I've ever experienced.  He said, "You want to hear it again, Mama?" Of course, darling, of course!   After that I sent him down to find Papa so I could pull myself out of bed and head downstairs to make breakfast.  You heard me. I. Made. Breakfast.  Crazy talk!! In all fairness, I cheated.  I made a Dutch baby,  from this recipe ...

(Two today because I missed yesterday completely.)  I love Saturdays better than any other day.  First e helped Papa making waffles in the big kitchen, then Papa helped e make rubber duck soup in the little kitchen.

Here is a recipe I made up last week  and we have been enjoying.  It is perfect for rainy days and the dark fall evenings.  Enjoy! 2 smallish butternut squash, peeled and cubed 2 cans coconut milk 1 container of extra firm tofu, cubed 1/2 cup water 1/2 inch ginger, chopped  2 tablespoons coconut oil (or sesame oil) 3 cloves garlic, chopped 1 teaspoon curry powder* salt and pepper to taste Add oil to large cooking pot.  Turn heat to medium.  Toss in garlic and ginger and heat till fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add curry and stir for 30 seconds.  Add squash, coconut milk and water.  Cover and turn heat up to medium high for 15 minutes. Uncover and turn heat down to simmer.  Add tofu.  Simmer until squash is tender (about 15 more minutes.) Add salt and pepper and serve like a stew or over your favorite whole grain.  This makes enough for two people to eat a few times and freeze a little too.  That way you cook...

Yellow roma tomatoes, sigh. Juicy produce is the epitome of summer. In this lazy season, we can find ourselves attending endless pool parties and barbeques serving the masses with macaroni, potato salad, pizza, hot dogs. Perhaps nothing so wrong with that, but I find these especially hot past few weeks make heavy, steaming foods unappealing. So I start going nuts---I mean, finding fruits and veggies to enjoy with this crunchy protein, clarifies the vegetarian. Perhaps it’s my adoration for pistachio gelato that has me drooling over this nut in warmer weather. If you haven’t already tried this easy-peasy pistachio-poppy seed fruit salad , start there. Then delight with me in the intriguing notion of pistachio pesto for an inventive summer pasta to accompany my favorite summer salad. Though divided into simple steps, this is a quick, hearty and healthy meal! To make this entire meal in about thirty minutes, make the best use of your time: 1.      ...

Cindy is one of my favorite people.  Full of passion and energy, she can be a force to reckon with.  Today she shares two amazing ideas for treats that will leave you satisfied and feeling good about yourself!    What could be a more perfect summer treat than a frozen goodie? But let's skip the sugar-and-fat laden dairy-based products in favor of creative treats that taste great and give us a healthy dose of things that are good for us. Homemade popsicles are the standard, sure, but I love something I can spoon out of a bowl, or drizzle with honey and nuts. Top with berries and mint. Or enjoy on its own for what it is. The following recipes are simple and quick, and involve basic, natural ingredients and a food processor. Banana Splitsville I learned this one from a mom with a lactose intolerant child. Her kids love it so much, they don't even beg for ice cream out on the road because it's "not as good as mom's." Three cheers for that, right...

I know you've heard all the buzz about antioxidants in the last several years, but do you know what an antioxidant is?  It is a substance that helps protect and repair natural oxidation (caused by free radicals) of your bodies cells.  This can happen through exposure to things like cigarette smoke or sunlight but also is part of the processes of the body (like inflammation and metabolism.)   So basically, there is no way to avoid the bombardment of free radicals we all face each day.  Enter the anti oxidants. There are plenty of medical studies out there that say that people who eat antioxidant rich foods live longer and have less incident of illness (like cancer, Parkinson's, heart disease, Alzheimer's and more.)  Less conclusive are studies that use supplements as the source for the antioxidants.  I tend to believe, as I think Micheal Pollan once said, that there is more magic in the carrot than just the beta-carotene.  Taking just one pie...

One of the biggest struggles for me as I changed over from almost never cooking to being expected to cook all the time was figuring out how to organize.  I knew how to cook, I wasn't afraid to experiment but I was spending too much time figuring out what I was going to make and when.  And when I finally figured out what I wanted I didn't have the ingredients.  Pair this frustration with a very strong dislike of being stuck in the kitchen for any amount of time and no wonder I hated cooking!  It was a tortuous adjustment with many bumps along the road.  We are still working it out a little but I can tell you three things that really helped: 1. A good, seasonally arranged cookbook.  A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen: Easy Seasonal Dishes for Family and Friends was it for me.  This was the first cookbook that I had ever seen that I wanted to make more than three recipes out of.  Having the dishes organized by season made sure I wasn't searching for...

Weirdly, at the end of this weekend I felt as if I hadn't gotten anything done.  This must mean I am insane cause looky here: I made three blocks for this month.  I couldn't help it.  I didn't like how the first one was going and then once I decided to go with a more traditional log cabin style I knew I would need one for myself too.  Because I am very selfish about log cabin blocks.  Especially pretty, contrasty ones.  This was the first try.  I wanted to do the log cabin once I had found the fabric and came across this wonky style.  It turned out too wonky for me to like enough to send it away.  And it will NOT lay flat.  But it is interesting.   The second try I went ahead and made two of them because making two is as easy as making one if you know where you are going with it.  I ran out of strips and so only one of them is 10" and the other one then stays here with me.  I LOVE how they turned out. For Barbara: ...

I made this bread.  I put yeast and flour and salt together with water and this is the finished product.  And though I started at 8am and finished at 2am I only did about twenty minutes worth of work.  It is airy and holey and scrumptious. Can you hear my jaw hitting the floor?  I am so excited.  Maybe I should back up though.  I have tried to make bread more than a dozen times in my adult life and every time was an abysmal failure.  Unless you like rock solid cement made from bread flour.  Even in the bread machine.  Ask Senor, he has watched pretty much all of the attempts and has even been kind enough to try to eat some of them.  Also you should know- I love bread.  Like when I first heard about the Atkins diet I said, "No one would try that, how could you live without bread??!"  The idea of low carb just doesn't make sense to me. For a while we had a friend in the neighborhood who baked amazing bread and we bought so...