Spiced Banana "Ice Cream"

Things have gone pretty well this week (except for a mishap with non-pastured bacon).  But, by Saturday night I was pretty ready for a treat.  I was really tempted to break out the AIP-friendly coconut, but knew my gut wouldn't be happy tomorrow morning (it doesn't know that coconut is supposed to be ok for me).  So I added tigernut and waterchestnut flours to my Amazon bag to be purchased tbd and decided to try banana ice cream.  I started simple:

2 bananas
1 tsp cinnamon

When blended it tasted delicious.  I wanted to be a little more adventurous and, since I probably wouldn't have time for treats for awhile, I tried the following:

3 Bananas (brown)
1 T Cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 tsp orange infused raw honey

1. Blend ingredients until smooth (unless you like banana chunks in your ice cream!).
2. Place in ice cream maker for 10 minutes.

***This is REALLY spiced.***

I had some techinical issues with the ice cream maker because the batch wasn't big enough to freeze well and it was really thick.  So, I added the juice from half an orange and tried again.  But, some of the "ice cream" had already frozen to the bottom and sides and prevented the interior arm from moving freely.  So, until I can find a version that isn't so thick I will just stick it right in the freezer after blending.  A machine-worthy version will have to be my next test.

Happy (almost) Sunday!

D-day

Today is day one of my official AIP journey. Over the last couple months I listened to my body and eliminated foods I struggled with. My problem foods I discovered that are allowed on AIP included coconut and a couple later stage foods like dried fruit (😞 dates) and tapioca flour. So, I've given up the baking for now, but keep hope alive. It won't be forever. 

So, the plan is to live the next twenty one days on strict AIP (and mostly low FODMAP) and then listen to what my body needs. I hope it will be ready for me to reintroduce some foods, but I'll just have to wait and see. I was telling my nutritionist last night that I can feel my body reacting to just the idea of certain foods which has been a great guide and the impetus for this push. And I know most (probably all) of my binge eating is stress-related. So I am also working on de-stressing my life and teaching myself to react well to stressful situations. In the past I did not struggle with stress the way I do now, but I think I used up my quota of even keeled me during my son's hospital stays and weaning from his feeding tube. It was the winter we got him off the tube that my body first turned on me. After stressful situations (like getting the whining children out the door to James's school) I am just exhausted which is a key indicator of adrenal fatigue so, that's still there. So...here goes!

So what did I eat for breakfast today?

How does that look?  😄 It tasted fantastic and I was proud of the amount of veggies, fat, and salt I was able to get into it. The base is stripped pumpkin (stringy, although ours didn't look as much like spaghetti this time, more like rice) that I tossed with boiled kale, grilled broccoli, and pork fat. This was a "leftover" breakfast so the veggies were previously cooked and really easy to throw together and pair with our simple sausage. I love playing around with these stir-fry-type dishes. 

When my husband bakes the pumpkin last night I jumped at the chance to purée it. I'm sad that I can't enjoy all the yummy pumpkin baked goods this fall, but I whipped up a pumpkin dessert last night that was mighty tasty. I don't have a picture but here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Custard

1 cup baked pumpkin

2 tsp grade b maple syrup

1/4 each salt, cinnamon, and vanilla 

1. Place baked pumpkin in food processor and process until well-pureed. 

2. Add the rest of the ingredients and process for another couple minutes to get a more fluffy consistency.

3. Enjoy!

We split this into two small servings so there wasn't sugar-overload. Next time I'll try adding some gelatin and will let you know how it goes. 

Kale Soup and AIP "Fig Newtons"

I am struggling here with the morning routine.  As much as I like James's school, it is really stressful to get everyone dressed, fed, and ready to go to get him to school on time.  Each time I try to break our morning record of three hours to get out the door I fail.  The main problem is the length of breakfast.  Since James only eats purees I have to blend his food and spoon feed him which takes awhile.  I've tried to eat before the kids get up or after they eat so that I can have the time to sit quietly and digest well, but that takes A LONG TIME!!!  I was telling my husband that life would be so much easier if I didn't need to eat breakfast.  I think we'll start making big batches of the plantain pancakes so there is something to grab if I am running late.

In the past I've done well with making big batches of soup that are easy to reheat and quick to consume.    So, I finally kicked myself in the butt and made a batch of my favorite: butternut squash and kale soup. I avoided making this because I love frying butternut squash with my breakfast and didn't want to use up all my squash.  But it is such a nice, easy soup and gives me lots of kale to eat.  I don't eat a lot of greens because I don't really like them cooked and I don't eat them raw (at least not right now).  But, I really like the kale in this soup.  So, here's what you do:

1/2 butternut squash 

5 small stalks kale

4 cups chicken broth or stock

1 tsp salt

Onion (optional)

 2 cloves garlic (optional)

Coconut oil (optional)
Ground or pulled meat (optional) - I like chicken

1. If FODMAPs are not an issue, chop and brown cloves garlic in pot with coconut oil.  Add onion and continue to brown.

2. Add broth to pot, heat on low.

3. Cut butternut squash into small pieces (I use about 1/4 inch) and add to pot, bringing to a boil.

4. Rip pieces of kale off the stalk and add to boiling stock.

5. Cook until squash and kale are tender to your liking (about 10 minutes).

6. Add tsp salt.

7. Serve and enjoy!

Remember those baked goods I whipped up Sunday?  Here is the first (and most successful) of the recipes, my AIP "Fig Newtons"!  These got my husband's overwhelming approval and are super easy to make.  AND they don't have any added sugar!

1/3 cup figs (about 5 figs), cut off stem if you like

1/3 cup green apple, chopped in small squares (about 1/2 apple)

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 coconut wraps

Coconut oil

1. Cook apples in teaspoon of coconut oil until apples are soft.

2. Place figs and apples in food processor and process until they form a sticky puree.

3. Cut coconut wraps into 4 squares.

4. Once puree is ready, place small amount of fig mixture in center of each coconut wrap square and fold into a diamond shape.  Use a small amount of fix mixture to "glue" the folds together.

5. Place on oiled cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees for 10 minutes.

6. Let cool to retain shape of coconut wrap.

7. Enjoy!!!

I hope these will lead to easier meal times!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Check out more real food recipes at Kelly the Kitchen Kop's Real Food Wednesdays!

Best Breakfast (for dinner) EVER! Bacon-Wrapped Dates and Green Plantain Pancakes

I really wanted a good brunch yesterday but, since I knew I had baking plans for later in the day, I didn't want to make something with coconut.  I can only handle so much coconut and my body gets really unhappy when I over eat.  So, we did something simple: yummy sausage, baked (delicious) sweet potatoes, and cauliflower.  Really good, but not quite the indulgent breakfast I wanted.  I wanted something truly worthy of maple syrup.  Tonight my husband and I were both pretty pooped and couldn't bring ourselves to make dinner.  So, we waited until 6:30 and went to the store to grab plantains, dates, grade b maple syrup, and uncured bacon.  We came home, got the kids to bed, and had a feast!

After my baking shenanegans yesterday I was more than happy to just follow a recipe (I hope to have my recipes ready for you soon!).  We made bacon-wapped dates (based on this recipe, but we just pitted the dates, wrapped in bacon and baked as recommended) and plantain pancakes.  They were beyond phenomenal.  Seriously, just try it.

Mouthwatering, huh? I went back for seconds and thirds on the pancakes. Luckily, the bacon-wrapped dates are more of a delicacy which meant I only needed a few to be satisfied. Now I can look forward to eating them as a grab and go snack. I hope the leftover pancakes will fall in that category, too.

What To Do With Ground Beef Pt. 2 (AIP, Paleo, Gluten-free, Dairy-free)

We buy a lot of meat in our house and it is always a challenge keeping the cost at a reasonable price. We like to get as much meat as possible from our farmer, but we do buy a substantial portion of meat from the store. We are lucky enough to live two miles from Wegmans where they have a pretty descent organic section. Their ground beef is organic and grass-fed and only costs about $16 for three pounds. That's probably the best you are going to find for beef of that quality. So we buy a lot of it. When I was just avoiding grains it was really easy to grill up some patties, throw on the typical burger toppings and wrap it in lettuce for easy eating. Now that I can't have burger toppings or raw vegetables I I have to be more creative about my ground beef dishes.  My first success was my leek burgers. Recently, I've been craving citrus which has led to kitchen experimentation (stay tuned for my orange muffin recipe). My creativity brought me to a new staple: citrus "noodles" with ground beef and broccoli.

What I like most about this recipe is that it is so easy to throw together. I also love that it is yummy, satisfies my craving for noodles with textured foods, and is super filling. We like to cook veggies and meats in bulk to use throughout the week. So, the ingredients I used are almost all pre-cooked:

1. Pumpkin: cut in half, place open side down on oiled cookie sheet. Cook at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes (for a small pumpkin) or until fork can easily go through skin into flesh. Use for purée or "spaghetti". To get noodle texture, scrape flesh with fork around the diameter of the pumpkin. 

2. Ground beef: make into patties or cook as is. We rarely add spice or zest, other than salt, because it is easy to add later and doesn't limit what we can do with the flavor. 

3. Broccoli: my new favorite is Wegmans' pre-cut bags of fresh organic broccoli. Just open and throw in the pan to sauté or in a pot of water to boil. Super easy I don't even need to cook in bulk.

I throw all these ingredients in a pan with coconut oil to reheat and toss zest of half a lime (or other citrus, I really liked orange, too) on top. Once warm, transfer to plate or bowl and add salt and citrus juice to taste (I used 1/3 of a lime). Yum!  If you aren't worried about FODMAPs this would be delicious with onions and garlic. You can also use a spaghetti squash instead of pumpkin but cook for at least 40 minutes. Strip flesh the same way you would the pumpkin except this squash should be stripped from top to bottom. 

Here's the recipe:

1 pumpkin

1 pound ground beef

1 head broccoli or 1 bag broccoli florets

1 citrus fruit

Coconut oil

1. Cut pumpkin in half, place open side down on oiled cookie sheet. Cook at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes (for a small pumpkin) or until fork can easily go through skin into flesh.

2. Sautee ground beef in pan until cooked.

3. When pumpkin is done, scrape "noodles" by running a fork along the diameter of the pumpkin flesh so it comes out in long strips.

4. Melt T+ of coconut oil in a large pan.  Add broccoli and sautee (or, alternately, you can boil the broccoli).  

5. Zest 1/2 of a citrus fruit (I used lime).

6. Add the pumpkin and zest to the pan with the sauteed broccoli, then add ground beef.  Combine, reheating if necessary.

7. Place in bowl or on plate, juice 1/3 of a small citrus fruit over the dish.

8. Enjoy!

What do you think? Do you have a favorite AIP-friendly ground beef recipe?

This recipe was posted at "Real Food Wednesdays."  Check it out for other great ideas. 

"Latte"

I spent some time yesterday with a wonderful group of women who also strive to live a healthy lifestyle.  It was much needed because I've been struggling with the limitations of my diet.  It is really encouraging to be with people who are so supportive and understanding and so fun to try all the scrumptious goodies people bring to share!  I made a mashed sweet potato dish that I need to tweak a little more before posting - coming soon!

I think this is turning into "squash" week.  One of my favorite treats yesterday was a totally coffee, milk-free latte.  It was a brilliant idea: apple cider, pumpkin puree, and coconut milk.  Super yummy!  They were served in adorable espresso cups and made me feel like a super-normal coffee drinker!  :D  Sometimes I think the presentation is just as important as the way something tastes.  It really "enhances" an enjoyable food experience.  I made my own variation this morning with what I had on hand:

1/3 cup apple cider
1/3 cup butternut squash puree
1/3 cup leftover coconut "milk" (mostly water)
cinnamon to taste

I heated all three on the stove at a low temperature until well combined, poured into a mud, and sprinkled the top with cinnamon.  This made enough to almost fill a regular-size mug.  Next time I'll use an espresso cup to limit my fructose consumption.  I should just need a little bit to make me happy in the morning!

The latte yesterday with pumpkin puree and true coconut milk was much better.  Hopefully I'll be able to make a "real" one soon!

I Refuse to Give Up Brunch

I am completely used to not eating typical breakfast foods.  It has been a year and a half since I've had a typical American breakfast.  No grains (pastries, muffins, miss those pancakes!), no eggs (bummer, so good for you!), no coffee (I love it, it doesn't love me), no yogurt (although I'd do raw yogurt for a snack).  My typical breakfast is meat and veggies.  I try to be creative with what I have, but it can get a little old until I come up with something new (like this amazing stuffing!  pork, lots of veggies, fat, perfect!).  My husband and I have always loved breakfast, especially Sunday breakfast.  The day after our wedding we had a blast cooking pancakes in our apartment.  They were fabulous and had a couple incarnations over the years as our health journey transpired.  They started as the perfect IHOP-worthy white flour pancakes, then became whole wheat as we figured out how to work with whole wheat flour, and eventually became garbanzo flour pancakes.  Now that I can't have garbanzo beans we've had to give them up (they were the perfect grab-and-go snack), but we are NOT going to give up our Sunday brunch.  When Mark is home on Sundays we love going to early Mass and coming back to a fun family brunch.  Lately I've struggled with what to do for brunch.  Being together as a family is the most important part, but having some treat to look forward to is a big part of the excitement.  We've tried a few things.  Plantain pancakes were pretty good, coconut flour pancakes were better, but I am trying to limit the amount of coconut I eat due to the high FODMAP level.  I get really exciting when I can add more vegetables into my meals so here is what we tried today:

Acorn Squash with Coconut Cream

1 Acorn Squash
1 Can Coconut Milk
1 T Maple Syrup (I used Grade A, but prefer Grade B)
Cinnamon
Salt
Coconut Oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cut acorn squash in half, de-seed, and lay each side open side down on glass baking dish pre-coated generously with coconut oil.

3. Place in oven to cook for 40 minutes.

4. Open can of coconut milk, scrape cream off top (most sites say to make sure the can has been refrigerated over night, but in my experience the cream and water are almost always separated from the get-go.  Mine actually mixed together when I stuck it in the fridge) leaving the coconut water in the can.  A little water in your cream or a little cream left in your water isn't a big deal.  Place in mixer with maple syrup and beat on high until whipped.  Refrigerate.

This is what our coconut cream looked like when done with whipping.

5. Once the acorn squash has cooked for 40 minutes, heat oven to low broil and flip squash so the open side is up.  Check squash after 5 minutes, rotate if necessary.

This is what our squash looked like right out of the oven with a dollop of coconut oil.

6. Pull squash out of oven, place a large spoonful of coconut oil in each opening.  With a fork, poke holes in squash to let the coconut oil drain down into the flesh.

7. Let squash cool to desired temperature and sprinkle with cinnamon and salt to taste.

8. If desired, put a dollop of whipped coconut cream in center of each squash.  If the squash is still hot the coconut cream will melt (which does taste yummy) so, if you would like it to stay more "whipped" let the squash cook to room temperature.

9. Cherish!!!

We thoroughly enjoyed these.  We tried them with and without the coconut cream and both ways were delicious.  They were also super filling; we were SO STUFFED just halfway through the squash.  I made another squash recipe today that I need to tweak.  Maybe I'll have to make "Squash Sunday" a thing!  What is your favorite squash recipe?

Why My Stomach and My Shins Love Apple Cider Vinegar

And that was my reasoning today.  But it wasn't because I couldn't get enough to eat, just because I couldn't get enough to control my stress.  I've never had a problem with stress until I had to become an adult.  :D  From middle school through pre-pregnancy marriage I could handle anything thrown my way.  I felt like super woman, getting 4 hours of sleep on school nights because I was too focused to stop working.  If I got 4 hours of sleep now I would't be able to stand!

The week has been a little more overwhelming than most.  Or maybe everything was pent up for so long I reached my capacity to handle it.  After a sanity/family-time hiatus from school, James went back this week.  I know it is important for him and good to get back on a routine, but it take 3 hours to get everyone ready and out the door every morning (or 2.5 if the only things I do for myself are shower and eat breakfast). The little one is teething which makes for some very unpleasant sleeping and difficult feeding sessions.  I have got to find an amber necklace for her soon, her bracelet just isn't doing enough.  I have to find another way to handle my stress besides eating.  Honestly, I think that is the hardest part of maintaining the AIP protocol, not having the insane "give me everything in the grocery store to shove in my face NOW" look that the brunette in the picture has.  I did a lot of brainstorming for comfort food that won't tip the scales and turn my intestines into a broken garbage disposal so I hope to have some new recipes coming your way (or maybe more importantly, my way) soon!

I've been thinking about apple cider vinegar a lot lately.  Probably because I've had several conversations about it this week.  That is bound to happen when I throw back a shot of liquid that looks like apple juice, but makes me shudder right before each meal.  I've used ACV off and on for a year and a half now.  Right now I am back "on".  I have problems with low levels of stomach acid which means my food doesn't digest well enough to be absorbed and used by my body.  This is especially true with protein.  We realized something was wrong when I noticed bruises all over my legs and couldn't remember a cause for them.  These weren't the normal mommy bruises, the "I smashed my leg putting my kid in the car seat" bruises.  When I brought it up with my nutritionist she understood the problem and said that I should start using the ACV undiluted (I usually diluted it in water) to give my body the extra kick it needed.  There is a noticeable difference in my energy and resilience now that my body has  this simple digestive aid.  I hope I won't have to add another digestive aid on top of the ACV; we'll see how it goes.

So, what does ACV do for you?  As I've found, taken right before meals, it enhances the acidity of the stomach to aid in the digestion of food.  It also helps ease heartburn which is usually caused by a lack (NOT an overabundance) of digestive enzymes in the stomach.  Most physicians (even Web MD and Dr Oz :D) recognize multiple other benefits of ACV even if they emphasize these benefits are unproven.  This website has a good list of 12 benefits of ingesting ACV.  My favorite effect of ACV is the warming sensation I get in my stomach.  When I eat a diet full of protein, vegetables, and fats I often don't feel "full" the same way I did on my starch-heavy diet, but while on a starch-heavy diet I feel full, but not nutritionally satisfied (my body craves the nutrients it misses).  The ACV counteracts this frustrating effect so my stomach doesn't feel empty even after a full meal.  My shins are happy, too, now that my body can handle and use the protein I digest and my legs aren't covered in black spots.  Well, I still have the mommy bruises.  :D

If you are looking for good-quality ACV, check out Bragg's brand (I've only found the bulk size pictured above once at Wegmans.  It was amazing.).  You can find it in most stores now.       Any other ACV lovers out there?

Hamburgers with Sage Leeks (Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Allergy-free, Paleo, AIP-friendly)

The kids got up on the early side this morning.  Sometimes James wakes up crying unexplainably.  I think he gets overtired when lots of fun things are going on and just looses it, even after a good night of sleep.  He's had a lot going on the past week with family in town and I think he is almost recovered from no naps and late nights.  He was more than happy to miss naps and stay up late to hang out with his awesome grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  

On early mornings like this it is really nice to have pre-made breakfast in the fridge.  Usually, breakfast consists of our homemade pork sausage that we make twice a week and whatever veggies sound good at 7AM.  This morning, luckily, I had some turkey soup (celery, carrots, turnips, turkey, rosemary, broth, yum!)  and a sweet potato leftover, but, my go-to leftovers have become my hamburgers with sage leeks.  I LOVE a good hamburger, but, since I can't eat anything that goes on burgers (tomatoes are a nightshade, onions are high FODMAP, cheese aggravates my digestive inflammation, I'm not eating raw food so no lettuce, and definitely no bun!  yeah, I'm a mess.) our relationship hasn't been the best as of late.  I tried just mixing the patties with my cauliflower, broccoli, carrot mix, but it just isn't appetizing.  My favorite pre-FODMAP-issues soup was onion-leek.  Since cutting onions out of my diet I just didn't know what to do with the long, leafy leeks.  I had to do something before they went bad (although, they take awhile to go bad)!  I threw them in a pan, added a couple things, layered them over my burger, and ta-da!  My new favorite recipe!  I made a large batch so I had plenty for future burgers.  If you plan to re-heat these on the stove I would recommend watching your initial cook time so they won't have to fry when they are cooked a second time.  Here is the recipe!  I'm not good at specific measurements, I always eye everything.  When I make these again I'll try to update with actual measurements.

Hamburgers w/ sage leeks and apple-orange sauerkraut.

Sage Leeks

Ingredients:

Leeks, chopped in 1/2 inch strips (I usually use two packs from Wegmans.  Each pack contains three small or two large leeks.)

Coconut oil (I use about 1T to initially coat pan and add more as needed.)

Juice of one lemon

Sage (spice)

Salt (I use Real Salt)

Tumeric (spice) - optional

Directions:

1. Melt coconut oil in large pan.

2. Add leeks.

3. Pour lemon juice over leeks.

4. Sprinkle top of leeks with sage until covered in a light layer. 

5. Cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are soft and slightly transparent.

6. Sprinkle small amount of tumeric (no more than half the amount of sage) and salt on top of leeks, stir to combine.

These can be poured liberally over a hamburger patty or two.  I also add fermented ginger carrots as a condiment over my hamburger-leek mixture and it is delicious!

To see more of Real Food Wednesdays, check out Kelly the Kitchen Kop!

Our "Vintage" Children

We had a couple new experiences this weekend:

1. We bought grass-fed gelatin.
2. We had an early Thanksgiving with a yummy, local, free-range turkey (and I cooked it!).

Gelatin is one of the many things I've wanted to add into our diets but couldn't justify the cost.  We do, of course, have gelatinous bone broth, but I like my broth a little less jelly-ish.  Now that I went AIP, the egg substitute in the few baked recipes I can eat is gelatin, which gave me a good excuse to buy it!  I do admit, however, that it won't be used on a regular basis.  I am determined to contain my baking desires.  There is still plenty of sugar and FODMAP foods in the baked goods so I am plan to limit baking to a Sunday activity and pawn all the leftovers off on my husband (who doesn't seem to mind).  The banana bread Mark made for me with the gelatin was absolutely delicious!  You can find the recipe here (but no chocolate for me, it makes me sick!).  James was my grocery helper and carried the gelatin for me.  He wasn't about to let it go.  He even went to bed snuggling it that night.

We've never cooked a Thanksgiving turkey.  One year we hosted a couple people in our tiny house, but our oven wasn't big enough for a turkey so we cooked two chickens.  My husband's family is here visiting from California so we planned an early family Thanksgiving.  We picked our huge turkey up from the farm on Saturday and popped it in the oven late Sunday morning with an rosemary-orange glaze, laying on a bed of butternut squash and oranges (we didn't have a roasting pan so the bed of squash and orange was a great substitute).  It was pretty delicious.  Our daughter enjoyed a piece as well.

We are hoping for Thanksgiving day we'll have a little more time to brine the turkey.  Hopefully we'll get a good picture, too!

Thanksgiving Sauerkraut

My son and I have very different opinions about shopping.  I enjoy Home Goods and clothing stores, he HATES them.  He begins screaming as soon as we walk in the door.  He certainly knows where he is as soon as he sees good old HG.  I, on the other hand, hate grocery shopping.  Probably not as much as he hates Home goods, but there are times I just feel like screaming.  Give me a relaxing farmers market over a supermarket filled with shopping carts, oblivious people, and no sense of "lanes" (it is just like driving, I don't know why it is so hard!).  :D  Today was the big one.  Thanksgiving shopping at Costco.  Can you hear my internal screams?  I enjoy Costco, as long as I am the ONLY ONE in the store!  Every time I venture back to that haven of chaos I realize why I don't enjoy being there.  It isn't the photo center (I LOVE that), the clothing section (try walking through there and NOT wanting every child's outfit), or the vegetable refrigerator (that's pretty descent).  It is the fact that, as soon as you walk through the door, people have their minds stolen by discount Pyrex, brownie bites, and bulk toilet paper.  I am not totally impervious to Costco's charms, it is an incredible store.  But, since I don't like grocery shopping, I like to get in and get out as fast as possible.  At Costco that IS NOT POSSIBLE.  Oversized carts, food trolleys, and enough people to fill the state of Rhode Island block every possible turn.  That, in and of itself, isn't the worst thing in the world (although, it is a bummer when I can't enjoy any of the samples, that is what makes Costco great, right?).  It is the fact that people pretend they are oblivious.  I find it hard to believe that 95% of people have no idea what they are coming in for and have to study each and every product for five minutes until I can finally get them to move their cart out of the middle of the aisle, especially when they don't say a simple "sorry" when they do move their metal tank full of food.  But, maybe 95% of people have never been to Costco before?  The people who say "excuse me" when trying to squeeze past in an aisle that fits one and a half of the elephant-size carts make me believe there is still hope.  They are what get me through the continent of Antarctica that we call Costco.

Costco trips do yield great rewards.  Once I get in line for the cash register I find most people are really nice.  Maybe they are the 5%, but I don't believe that's true.  It is nice to remember that they aren't targeting me specifically when they can't see my presence.  They are just as overwhelmed as everyone else (except for the people stampeding the samples).  I had a nice conversation with a woman about the benefits of cranberries after she saw my two big packs of cranberries on the conveyor belt.  She said she just learned about the health benefits and the large amount of Vitamin C in the little red morsels (anyone else think they kind of look like M&Ms?) and asked how I cooked them.  We usually boil ours for cranberry sauce, which I explained.  She said she planned to use them in smoothies which sounds amazing.  So, I came home, got the kids down for naps (after James' second bath for explosive peeing) and started on my plans for those cranberries.

My first goal was to make a thanksgiving cranberry sauerkraut.  My last batch of sauerkraut had cabbage, green apples, and oranges and it was delicious, thanks to my wonderful nutritionist.  We are having an early Thanksgiving dinner with my husband's family while they are in town and I wanted a topping for our turkey.  I didn't feel like researching AIP gravies, but I knew sauerkraut wouldn't be hard since I was already familiar with the process.  So, I looked up a couple ideas and came up with the following recipe:

1/2 cabbage (I usually take off the top two leaves, especially if not organic)

1/2 purple beet

1 red apple, peeled and cored

Cranberries - enough to have two layers on the bottom of a 2 quart pot (next time I'll figure out how large a volume that is)

1 tsp salt (I use Real Salt)

3/8 tsp Caldwell ferment starter (culture)

1. Core cabbage and slice into strips of desired width or use food processor (I enjoy mine on the smaller side).

2. Pound cabbage or massage with hands to release the cabbage juice.  Sprinkle a small amount of salt over the top of the cabbage, let sit, and finish pounding or massaging.  The salt helps draw the water out of the cabbage and makes your job easier.  This step is very important because your sauerkraut has to be below the water line in order to ferment properly.

3. Put cranberries and dash of water into pot.  Boil for two minutes.  Don't let them go mushy or pop all the way out of their casing.

4. Slice apple and beet into thin strips using a food processor.

5. Mix all ingredients and add salt.  I like a lot of salt, you can start by adding 1/2 tsp, taste test, and then decide if you want any more.

6. Stuff the suaerkraut into mason jar.  And I mean STUFF!  The sauerkraut should really be packed in to make best use of the water.

7. Add the culture, stir well, and stuff again.  If you have a problem with the water level you can take a leftover cabbage leaf, fold it, and stuff it on top to push the sauerkraut below the water line.

I tasted a sample and it was really good.  I'll let you know if it turns out otherwise. 

My second goal was the aforementioned cranberry sauce.  Cranberry sauce is really easy.  Add the amount of cranberries you want to a pot with enough water to cover the bottom.  Boil for 5-10 minutes, until the cranberries have "popped" and are mushy.  Then, stir in sweetener of choice.  Cranberries are TART so you will probably need more than you think.  I used 1/2 cup for about 2 cups worth of cranberries.  Orange juice can soften the taste a bit if you are allowed that splurge.  :D  If you want a smooth cranberry sauce, stick it in the blender for about 30 seconds.  Then, chill and serve!

Since ours ended up with more sugar than I hoped I am going to use it as a garnish on the salmon in our oven.  The salmon is currently cooking in coconut oil with salt and cinnamon.  I can't wait to eat!

Thank you, Costco.  My afternoon was mind-boggling, but tonight is pretty good!

The Teal Pumpkin Project

I hope to have my next full post up by tomorrow so, stay tuned!

I found this a day after Halloween and am excited about it for next year.  It is called The Teal Pumpkin Project and it is a movement of families that hope to provide "trick-or-treating" for children with food allergies.  The idea is to provide small toys instead of candy, things like glow sticks and bubbles.  I've had this dilemma for the past couple years.  It is hard to justify buying $40 worth of candy to pass out when 1. I know the ingredients are BAD (I know these are treats, but the ingredients lists are yuk!) and 2. No one in our family will eat the candy.  I guess it boils down to, if I wouldn't eat it myself why am I giving it to children?  I was reaffirmed in this idea when James had digestive distress the day after Halloween.  We let him have a Hershey bar while picking apples and he actually ate it (which, if you know my son, is a BIG deal).

The next day he woke up screaming from his nap and screamed for the entire evening.  It looked like his stomach was hurting him and that Hershey bar is the likely culprit.  I went against my better judgement thinking it would be a nice treat and he wouldn't ingest much of it.  From now on I'll have to get him better quality treats.  And maybe next year we'll give out glow bracelets.

We did dress the kids up at the eleventh hour and went trick-or-treating with my younger siblings and cousin.

 James wasn't collecting candy, but we thought he would enjoy going to the houses and saying "hi".  I think the houses were a little too scary for him because he told us "no".  He did like walking with everyone, it turned out to be a pretty nice night.  I will admit that I was SO tempted to chow down on a Reese's cup when we went to my parents for trick-or-treating.  I am glad that I mentioned it to Mark because he convinced me that was a bad idea.  I really needed that support and I am glad I didn't eat it, I'm sure I would have regretted it.

Now that I am AIP I am not eating peanut butter or any nut butter for that matter.  But, it is super easy to make nut butter cups.  For the filling you mix nut butter with a little sweetener (I recommend grade B maple syrup), roll them into balls and stick them in the freezer.  While those chill, heat coconut oil, chocolate powder and sweetener (honey or maple syrup) on the stove.  The frozen nut butter balls can then be dipped in the chocolate sauce which should "freeze" around the nut butter like a magic shell thanks to the coconut oil.  Then you can chill again before eating.  Be sure to keep in the fridge!  I think this is on the menu for next Halloween when, hopefully, I will be done with AIP!

Mine are designed to be shaped into balls (and I don't have a set recipe), but here is a good recipe for flatter nut butter cups.

Happy treating!

Imagination

So, a recipe for Fight Back Friday didn't happen. The beet greens and cranberry dish I hoped would turn out well and make me like cooked greens did not turn out well. But I guess that's what happens when trying to develop recipes.  I realized yesterday that my mishaps are worth the laugh. It is nice to have something to lift my spirits. Maybe a little honey would make the beet greens and tart cherries good enough to eat. 

As of Sunday I am 100% AIP. I had a rough weekend dealing with my food limitations. I emailed my nutritionist when I started reaching for too many treats.  Besides encouragement she also asked why I was eating the way I was: bordom, loneliness, frustration?  I know I am an emotional eater but I realized that I was eating due to all three that day. I think that is the case most Saturdays since Mark works a long shift and I refuse to run errands when I can do them during the week when the stores aren't packed. So, I went out with my sisters, ate a good dinner, let myself splurge on a glass of wine and gelato and resolved to start on Sunday. 

I'll be honest, day three felt like a real success. Only eighteen more days before I can try adding one food back in. 

I did have success with a veggie recipe yesterday. I had leeks in the fridge that were intended for a leek-onion soup but, since I am avoiding the high FODMAP onions, I needed a new idea. So, I chopped it up and fried it with lemon juice and sage. Oh my goodness,I was not expecting to have a delicious breakfast!  Paired with our homemade sausage and some butternut squash I felt like I had a feast in front of me!  

 One meal down!

A Beautiful Sight

I love opening a fridge stocked with veggies! And kombucha in the lower right corner. Tomorrow is apple picking and meat cooking day!  Hoping to do lots of creative cooking and have a good recipe tomorrow for Fight Back Friday!

Sugar...And Kombucha!

Gosh, some days the sugar cravings are just bad!  Thanks to a Lyme's flare-up I've been pretty out of commission for a week.  Things are looking up thanks to a new vial of awesomeness, but trying to overcome this disease and eat right while trying to be a good mom is a bit daunting.  Remember when I said I overdid it on these coconut chocolate chip cookies?  The baked ones were sent with Mark to work while the rest of the dough went in the freezer.  Problem #1: the dough is still accessible when frozen.  Problem #2: the dough tastes super-awesome when frozen.  Problems #3: I was determined to be a fun mom today.  Solution: carbs - for physical and emotional "stability."

I don't have a good relationship with sugar (think crazy blood sugar highs and lows) and I haven't touched refined sugar in, well, I honestly can't remember the last time I had refined sugar.  Although I do let myself indulge in a store-bought treat once in awhile, most of the treats usually have cane sugar.  My favorite not-quite-as-guilty pleasure is usually one of these amazing cookies, but they definitely aren't AIP - potato starch, white rice flour, etc.  When I bake I always use raw honey or maple syrup (usually grade B not only because I like the taste better, but because it is better for you).  I really do try to avoid desserts and to limit my snacks to veggies w/ lots of good fat or a little fruit w/ lots of good fat (yes, fat with everything!).  Instead of dessert Mark and I have gravitated to cooked apples while we watch Agents of Shield.  :D  But, today I couldn't make it on starchy vegetables and fruit alone.  If I wanted to be a good mom I needed an extra boost.  So, I broke out the frozen cookie dough.  Man, it was good!  It did give me the positivity to handle grumpy babies and crawl around on my hands and knees like a crazy dog (James needs to do as much crawling as possible to strengthen those muscles!).  My goal, however, is not to be dependent on sugar for positivity and happiness.  It is really hard to break the cycle, especially for an emotional eater. I am struggling to find other treats to look forward to in the day.  It just may take awhile to achieve that goal.

Instead of baking I am trying to focus on other "fun" foods.  My new favorites: flavored kombucha and sauerkraut (more on sauerkraut another day).  There are so many flavors of both to try!  Regular kombucha, depending on it's brew time, tastes like tart tea.  I can drink it on its own, but I definitely prefer to second-ferment it with fruit.  Here is my favorite flavor, blueberry-mint.

Second fermenting is really easy to do.  When your kombucha brew is ready you add your fruit of choice to a brewing bottle, enough to fill, at most, about one fifth of the bottle.  If you want to get crazy you can add herbs as well.  Or you can use fruit juice or puree instead of chopped fruit, but I prefer slices of whole fruits.  Depending on how fizzy you want your brew you can leave it for 2+ days.  If I'm not dying for a new batch I try to let it sit as long as possible for optimal taste and fizz, two days will give you a descent flavor but very little fizz.  Flavored kombucha does give me a drink to look forward to other than water or water with apple cider vinegar, my typical meal-time beverage.  It also gives me a nice connection with my wine-maker husband.  :D

Never heard of kombucha or don't know how to brew?  Here's how to get your own scoby for your brew or you are welcome to take one off my hands!  My kombucha scoby is so big at this point that the brew is done within three days and then starts becoming too tart to drink.  That's doable, but a little more maintenance than I would like!  Brewing is super-easy, I use this recipe, but since it is a video how-to I wrote the recipe for you all:

The mantra on my kombucha recipe, too true!

Supplies:

Glass bowl, wooden utensil (***Do not use metal utensils, it will damage the potency of the scoby***), large rubber band, cheesecloth or sackcloth

Ingredients:

Kombucha scoby, sugar (I use the organic sugar I get at Costco.  No worries about the sugar "effect", the sugar is food for the scoby and it eaten up in the brewing process), green tea, black tea (the tea should be caffeinated)

Directions:

1. Boil 3 quarts of filtered water
2. Add 1 cup sugar, stir well until dissolved
3. Cover and boil 5 minutes
3. Remove pot from heat
4. Add 2 tea bags each green and black tea
6. Let tea steep 10 minutes
7. Remove tea bags
8. Pour tea water in glass bowl, let cool until "body" temp (be careful not to let it cool past room temp; this step could take a couple hours)
9. Add 2/3 cup kombucha starter (already brewed kombucha), stir
10. Add skoby
11. Put sackcloth over bowl, rubber band
12. Place in low-traffic area (scobies react to stimuli)
13. Brew 7+ days (***This depends on the strength of your culture.  I do not take the new "baby" scoby off the top so my scobies get really thick and brew much faster.)
14. Check kombucha after a week, if baby is 1/8 to 1/4 in thick, the brew is probably done.  However, you can brew it to your taste.  Some people like it to still have a sweet taste while others like the tart flavor.  I tend to err on the side of tart so that there is less residual sugar.

Ok, great, you know how to brew it.  But, why go to all this trouble to drink a funky tea?  I won't go into all the reasons, but you can check out a good summary here.  The reason we drink kombucha is for the probiotic and gut-health benefits.  Our goal is to get to the point where we eat probiotic foods at almost every meal and drink kombucha in between so we don't have to buy probiotic capsules.  And it tastes super-good as the base for a berry smoothie instead of using water!

Soon, you may just need your own kombucha cabinet!

A re-purposed pie cabinet.

Searching for the Joy in Eating

I feel like I've been on a dietary roller coaster for a good year and a half now.  It all started thanks to my wonderful son.  If it weren't for him I'd probably be a digestive mess.  James had a feeding tube for a year and a half of his life and has a history of food sensitivities.  So, when it came time for me to wean him off expressed breast milk, we didn't know where to turn.  We didn't want to switch to formula after bad experiences with multiple kinds including the hypo-allergenic ones.  A good friend helped us start James' blended diet until we found a nutritionist who was willing to help us.  As I spent the time and money to get the best quality foods for James in order to avoid any reactions I began to wonder why we didn't spend the time to take care of ourselves as well.  That was two years ago.

In the past two years we've weaned James off his g-tube and begun making almost everything in our own kitchen.  I've struggled with horribly painful facial blemishes and chronic fatigue, seen a nutritional therapy practitioner, drastically changed my diet, quickly fixed the facial blemishes and fatigue, struggled with maintaining the dietary change, had another child, and struggled with fatigue again.  We recently found out that our entire family has Lyme's disease.  I've felt increasingly worse over the past few months and I've progressively taken more and more foods out of my diet.  I am making my way toward the auto immune paleo diet and my digestive track is thanking me.  But, the joy I used to find in food is gone.

Food has always been my release.  It is that friend I looked forward to seeing throughout the day.  In high school I loved waking up at the crack of dawn and eating my eggo waffle with peanut butter and fake syrup.  And we always had family dessert time at night, I think those are some of my fondest memories with my family.  It was the perfect closure to the day.

I have always been an emotional eater so it is difficult to deal with such a drastic dietary change sans some form of comfort.  I broke down last night and made paleo cookies (they would have been aip if not for the chocolate).  Baking is comforting in itself, but sitting down to enjoy a warm chocolate chip cookie on a Fall evening is just amazing.  I ended up eating a little too much in the baking process and my stomach got pretty mad, keeping me up off and on throughout the night.  I am still learning.  I am learning that food isn't the right release.  I am training my body to not want the foods that will make me sick.  The bakery aisle in the grocery store looks very unappetizing (usually).  My homemade treats, however, are a dangerously different story.  I bake mostly with coconut and tapioca flour, but I need to limit those as well because they are high FODMAP foods which can cause bloating and digestive distress, something I also struggle with.  I have come to realize that I should not eat even AIP-friendly baked goods on a daily basis.  I have to come to terms with the fact that my eating habits will consist almost entirely of whole foods.

As a I deal with these changes I hope that my body will heal to the point that I can transition into traditional eating.  The Weston A. Price Foundation has great information on traditional (what I like to consider "vintage") preparation and cooking.  My sourdough culture is sitting in the closet waiting for me to get healthy enough to start some Einkorn flour sourdough bread.  That is the dream.  But right now I need to focus on a healing diet so that, one day, maybe years from now, hopefully sooner, I can, once again, eat a slice of my homemade bread fresh from the oven.

I've always loved vintage things, I hope I can come to love vintage cooking.