Hey, Mikey! He likes it!

I've been working really hard to transition my family into this new whole foods lifestyle.  I started eating different in August 2011, but was the only one.  It was hard to make their meal, and then make a different meal for myself afterwards.  My kids constantly expressed their condolences to me, for having to suffer through the way I was eating.  I tried to explain to them that I didn't feel deprived (for the most part), but they couldn't fathom that.

Then in about November, a miracle:  Jimmy (my husband) decided that he needed to make a change, and wanted to start eating the way that I was.  I have to admit that even though that made me so happy, it made me nervous about how we could afford to have our biggest eater eating all of the healthy things I was (At that point I was freaking out about how much our food budget had increased).

Then over time, I decided that I simply didn't have the time to make two meals, and decided that our kids would have to eat what we were (at least 85% of the time anyway).  They've resisted some, but the last few weeks have been very rewarding...  I'm finding recipes they LOVE that are super healthy.  Wa-hoo!

Last night we had Quick & Easy Gluten-free Mac and Cheese, and EVERYONE wanted seconds.  The sauce has raw milk, steamed cauliflower, nutritional yeast, raw cashews, lemon juice, minced garlic, and other seasonings, blended into a smooth sauce in my Vitamix blender.  I served the sauce over brown rice noodles:  Delicious!

Here's a list of some of our favorite recipes from the last few months.  (Recipes can be found by clicking the links).

1.  Crispy Almonds, Pecans, Walnuts, etc.   
2.  Chicken "zoodle" Soup
3.  Overnight Oats
4.  Quick Easy Gluten-Free Mac and Cheese
5.  Moist and Cakey Almond Flour Pancakes

Perpetual Chicken Broth

I keep thinking about doing more with nourishing bone broths again.  They sound really good to me, all the time. On the other hand, I have those feelings of being overwhelmed and put it off because it's a lot of work to make broths all the time.

I just read a post on www.nourishedkitchen.com about "Perpetual Chicken Broth" where she has chicken broth simmering in the crock pot the non-stop.  She uses one chicken a week, and continually refills the pot with water as she uses up the broth.  She's feeding fewer people, so I'm not sure if I'd be able to follow the same process serving 7.  I'm going to give it a try, though.  I just happened to start my big crock pot with some chicken broth yesterday.  We had chicken for Sunday dinner, and then I used the carcass for the broth.

They estimate the cost of the electricity for using the crockpot about $1.68 - $5.04 a week, which is a great deal when you consider how much broth you would get from this system.  She estimates that they would each get a quart of broth a day.

UPDATE:  So I did the perpetual chicken broth, but by the end of 5 days it was getting brown, like it was burnt.  I think that I didn't use enough of the broth each day to prevent that from happening.  If I do it again, I'll make sure to remove at least 2-3 quarts of broth every day to see if that doesn't happen.  Everything I made with the broth was amazing, though.  It was a good food week at our house.

Why My Family Drinks Raw Milk

Wow- It's hard to believe that it's been nearly six months since I made all these dietary changes!  I need to give it a name.  How about "The Change" ?  So, six months since The Change.   People like to talk to me about the changes I've made (well, sometimes.  As long as they're the ones bringing it up :)  But anyway, I love to talk about it. Sometimes I find that I remember what I should be doing, but I forget WHY and can't explain it.

One of the latest questions I faltered on was "Why do you drink raw milk?  What's so great about it?"  I told the story of how when I was weaning my youngest, I had switched her to regular whole, pasteurized milk from the grocery store.  She immediately started having a bad reaction, and a terrible diaper rash, like her skin was burned.  I had heard that raw milk was gentler, and bought some for her.  The rash immediately went away!  I also toyed with the idea of going to raw milk when I thought my oldest daughter might have a milk allergy.  But as for other health properties?  I decided to brush up on my raw milk info & explain why we drink raw milk.

I found an interesting article on rockrivertimes.com that gets into the debate between raw & pasteurized milk.  It mentions some of the main benefits of drinking raw milk:

Studies at the Price Foundation show humans grow bigger and more dense bones when consuming raw milk. They say there is more efficient use and better absorption of vitamins and minerals, that children on raw milk don’t get anemic and that there is an improvement in children’s behavior. They also claim there is better overall growth and fewer cases of tuberculosis.

Price research showed raw milk is designed to create an immune system that uses beneficial bacteria in our intestines and that those beneficial bacteria are killed during pasteurization. Other benefits cited by raw milk users include protection against allergies, ear infections and skin rashes, and the prevention or elimination of asthma.

Fewer and fewer people can consume milk each year because of the increase of those who are lactose intolerant. Raw milk proponents say 82 percent of those who are lactose intolerant can drink raw milk.

I have to admit I do still get a little nervous that I might get some illness from raw milk.  But I feel the health benefits are worth the risk.  And I feel that my milk sources are dependable and follow proper raw milk safety practices.

So there you go.  

Chiptole Super Bowl Commercial

Did you watch the Super Bowl a few weeks ago?  We didn't.  We got rid of satellite TV a few months ago, and we have old TV's that need a converter box to get TV signal for local channels.  Instead we watch things online, on Netflix, or go without.  And in this case, we went without.  We didn't go to any Superbowl parties or anything, since we don't get into watching sports on TV anyway.

I just watched a cute commercial on Pinterest, and just had to share it.  They said it was played during the Super Bowl.

Very cute!  I did miss being able to watch the commercials during the Super Bowl, but I love that I can watch them later on You Tube!  :)

Have a Great Day!

Keeping My Big Mouth Shut (?)

The last two weeks have been kind of eye opening to me.  I've been happy- like REALLY happy, and it's awesome!  I love it!  Last year at this time I wasn't happy.  For no reason, really.  My life is good, with it's normal ups and downs.  I'm very blessed.  So then looking back to last year, why wasn't I happy?

I'm very confident that my change in mood this year is because of my dietary changes.  I had a follow-up visit with my doctor last Monday and told him how happy I am. He says it is because I am no longer in adrenal fatigue.  Sweet!  I still have ups and downs for sure, but on a whole, I very happy.  Yeah!

Well, what I'm learning is that not everyone is happy for you when you're happy (GASP!).  Maybe it's worse when you share it online to strangers.  Maybe they think you're bragging or something?  I shared my happiness in  an online forum after Valentine's Day, and didn't get a positive reaction like I thought I would.  I just thought they'd be happy for me.

On Saturday I came across a lecture on youtube (HERE) that is AWESOME.  SOOOOOO good!  I LOOOOVED it.  It's by Dr. Robert Lustig, a professor of Pediatric Endocrinology at University of California San Francisco, and he talks about how sugar should be considered a poison, and should be considered addictive like drugs (alcohol, tobacco, etc).  He backs up his info by research, and it is wonderful!  (You need to listen to this if you can make the time.... it's over an hour and a half long!  I just put it on and listened while I did dishes & cleaned the kitchen).

I was so excited about it that I posted the link on facebook.  Later that evening someone wrote a post scolding me for being judgmental, telling me they'll eat their way, and I can eat my way & just leave them alone.  I was so surprised!  (Yes, I did unfriend this person.)  I was so surprised that my sharing the link would be offensive to one (some?).

After thinking through it more, I think I figured it out.  A few days earlier I shared a cartoon I thought was funny- A fat & skinny bird sitting in a parking lot with the McD's arches in the background, and the fat bird is eating a fry.  The skinny one says "You gotta start eating out of a different parking lot" (or something like that). I thought it was funny, because I never eat there anymore.  But in hindsight, I can see how that would bug someone, especially those who eat there (hmmmmm... millions served?).

So I'm a little gun shy of posting on the internet now.  These experiences will help me be a bit more cautious, and yes, hopefully less judgmental.  I'm just so excited about the changes that I've gone through, and my better mood, that I want to shout it out to the world.  I'll just be more careful how I do it now.

Have you ever been misunderstood on the internet?


Have you noticed a mental lift by which foods you eat?


Are there any books/shows/people (etc.) that have influenced your way of eating?

Finally! A YUMMY grain-free pancake!

Up to this point the only grain-free pancake I've been using is a coconut pancake, that is mostly eggs with a little bit of coconut flour mixed in.  They're not really that good.  They're flat, and they taste a bit like sandpaper.  I've tried adding a little milk & some almond flour, but not much improvement.  I've just put up with them, because I've figured they're better than no pancakes.

This morning I decided to try a recipe I found on the plantoeat.com blog:  Moist and Cakey Almond Flour Pancakes.    They based the recipe on one they found on elanaspantry.com:  Pancakes Revisited.  I mostly followed the ingredients on the first recipe, but it is helpful to look at both and see the differences.

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups almond meal
• 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Butter or coconut oil for frying

Directions

1. In medium bowl mix dry ingredients. In a separate, small bowl mix wet ingredients. Pour wet ingredients into dry until just combined. Set batter aside to set up. (*in the elana's pantry recipe they recommend 15-20 minutes!)
2. Meanwhile, heat a skillet over medium-low heat until hot. Once heated up add 2 tablespoons or so of batter to the pan to make each pancake. The pancakes should be no wider than 2 inches or they will not hold together well. The batter is fairly thick so you can spread it out a bit to thin out the pancakes.
3. Cook until bubbles start to form in the pancakes and underside has browned. Flip and repeat. Serve with butter, syrup, jam, or other favorite topping.

The pancakes were AWESOME.  So good!  Definitely a keeper.  Today I made regular wheat/white pancakes for my kids, but I'm excited to try this new recipe on them next week.  I think they'll really like it.

2/20/12 UPDATE:  I made the pancakes today for my kids, and YEA!  They were a hit!  I used coconut oil instead of butter because I was out, and I had a harder time flipping them than I did with the first ones I made.  I had to wait longer for them to cook so they were firm enough to flip, but then by that time they were almost black on the one side.  They still tasted good, but they didn't look so great.

Killer Smoothie!

This morning I made the best smoothie!  The bad part is that I don't use a recipe, and I just throw things in.  I'll try best to estimate amounts.  Here are the ingredients:

frozen bananas (2)
frozen spinach (big fist full)
frozen strawberries (about 4-5)
1/4 cup canned coconut milk (full fat, of course!)
fresh pineapple- about 1-2 cups
2 cups water

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm.  SO good!  Now I'm just freezing to death.  I already get chilled from my 5A.M. run in 20 degree weather, and the cold smoothie does me in!  But it's worth it.