Rough day calls for an easy dinner

Today has been rough. Loads of fatigue. I basically only peeled myself off the couch to make sure my kid was fed. On days like today, if it ain’t easy, it ain’t happenin’. But with the right things in the fridge, throwing something kid friendly and healthy together is simple and easy.

Grassfed, uncured hot dogs, pickles (the only ones I can find that don’t have yellow #5 added 🙄) wrapped in Applegate Black Forest ham. Microwaved broccoli. Baby spinach sautéed in pork lard. Cinnamon carrots cooked in Kerrygold butter. And, of course, avocado.

Perfect alternative to sugar loaded ketchup.

Not your usual hotdog. Applegate is a great, easily accessible brand that I trust for convenience foods like lunch meat and uncured bacon.

This is so sad, but this is literally the ONLY brand of pickles I’ve been able to find at the grocery store that doesn’t contain yellow #5. And they’re literally the exact same color as regular pickles. So silly. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Wednesday

Woke up feeling alright despite not sleeping well. Lesions were marginally worse than the previous day, but no big deal. Had granola with pears and almond milk for breakfast, then dragged baby girl out to the farmer’s market with the promise of popcorn (the kettle corn vendors give out little sample cups- she loves them!)

We got there a little late, and everything was sort of picked over. Still found some great produce, but had to stop at the grocery store for some things on the way home.

Here’s the combined bounty from both trips. Grocery store stuff on the left, farmers market stuff on the right. Check out those carrots!

I was exhausted when we got home. This is the first time in a while that I’ve felt that bone-deep fatigue. Easy lunch of stuffed grape leaves.

And a ginormous juice.

That’s a half gallon jar. I drank 6 cups of this stuff throughout the afternoon.

And ate some easy, microwaveable comfort food.

Made a new dinner for the family by mixing up leftovers: steak, rice, black bean purée- all sautéed with coconut oil and salsa verde, then topped with chopped spinach, tomatoes, and peppers.

But I was so full on juice (and really wasn’t feeling well) I couldn’t eat. I was still feeling very tired and had a headache brewing. Took an Epsom salt bath with essential oils. The pain wasn’t completely gone, but I was very relaxed and fell asleep quickly.

Tuesday

Had a little bit of a lesion outbreak that I started noticing late in the day yesterday. Two on my lip, two inside my cheeks, one on my tongue… all minor, but irritating, and seemed to be ready to grow into a major problem. I started using the dexamethasone mouthwash more regularly (I’ve been avoiding it, not wanting to disable my immune system even more than the prednisone is already, given the respiratory bug that’s been plaguing our house). But they (the lesions) seem to have calmed down today. I was a little nervous, but I think they’re going to head out before they become an issue. Whew!

Breakfast was homemade granola (from the Immune System Recovery Plan) with apples and almond milk.

Dug some stuff out of the fridge to juice with lunch.

And had the juice with leftover rosemary potatoes and a jarred, organic white cabbage and baby beet salad.

My daughter’s favorite treat when we go shopping at the health food store. She loves her some seaweed snacks. But she let me eat a few.

And MY favorite treat when we go to the health food store: kombucha.

Snacked on these and some trail mix during nap time.

And juiced this stuff. That’s a lot of ginger. Very spicy. But I want to fire up my gut and get to the next level of health before I go in to see the integrative doc at the end of this month and discuss tapering off prednisone. I’ve got to be strong and ready.

Dinner was a microwaved burrito. I topped it with fermented carrots and cauliflower. That sounds weird, but it was actually really good. So far, fermented veggies seem to work well with any savory dish that could use a little extra salty flavor. And they improve digestion of whatever you’re eating.

Thursday

Breakfast was 2 slices of homemade farmhouse seed bread with coconut spread. Tried to take a photo, but phone was acting up.

Spent the day out running errands. Came home to this quick lunch of grape leaves and kombucha.

Snacked on trail mix and diluted cherry juice throughout the day.

Dinner was a can of tuna (not Albacore- because that’s higher in mercury) mixed with raw sauerkraut. This was really good. I’ll be including fermented veggies in my tuna salad from now on. No need for mayo.

Since I haven’t been juicing, I drank a few shots of frozen wheatgrass and about 12 oz of green drink mix (lots of spiruluna, barley grass, mushrooms, probiotics, etc).

I’ve got to get to the store or farmer’s market soon for juicing produce. Maybe tomorrow…

I don’t want to jinx it, but I have been feeling really, really good the last couple of days. I still have a couple of healing lesions, but the thrush has receded, my energy levels are up, and I feel a deeper sense of wellness than I have in a long time. Hoping this is a response to the elimination diet and will continue.

Tuesday

Leftover egg-free whole grain waffles for breakfast. With avocado, pear, and kiwi sprinkled with lime juice and hemp seeds.

Had a moment today between breakfast and lunch when I felt like my blood sugar suddenly plummeted and I got weak, shaky, and sweaty, and felt an urgent need to eat something. This used to happen to me all the time when I would wait too long to eat or tried to survive on caffeine and sugar (the career-focused years). But it’s been a while since I felt this way. I guess I may have waited to long to eat lunch, but I figured it was worth noting. Breakfast was really nutritious, so should have been very sustaining and kept my blood sugar on an even keel.

Anyway, GF burrito for lunch. It’s also soy, egg, dairy, and corn free. So it fits with my new super-restrictive elimination diet.

Lentil soup for dinner. Absolutely delicious. Used vegan bouillon cubes and umeboshi paste for saltiness, and added sage and rosemary from the garden. Plus the usual carrots, garlic, and onions.

And a quick gluten free dinner roll using a gf ap flour mix. I subbed in egg replacer. Definitely edible, but not super delicious.

Attempting fermented carrots and cauliflower today. Will check back in a week and see how they’re doing.

And a carbonated drink I had today. Not 100% sure how healthy it is. The ingredients seem good, aside from the vague “natural flavors” which could be anything.

Wednesday

Woke up slightly congested today. Thinking it might have been the yogurt yesterday. Dairy really seems to mess with my sinuses. Used the neti pot to get cleared up.

Quick breakfast of leftover quinoa muffins and earth balance spread with orange spice tea before heading to the dentist. I have really good teeth, but cleanings can be uncomfortable since the hygienist has to dodge lesions all over the place. I have at least 5 right now, but they’re all small, with only one seeming to have potential of becoming a problem.

For lunch, I broiled tomato slices with uncured salami and put them on a bed of spring greens and fennel fronds, and topped them with chives and dill from the garden. I can never keep dill alive for long. Only had it for a few days and it’s already looking sad. Anyway, I topped the salad with a homemade vinaigrette: oj, champagne vinegar, olive oil, and dijon mustard.

I think this is my new favorite smoothie. Neapolitan. Strawberries, my sexy chocolate mix (cacao, carob, maca), vanilla extract, and almond milk. Enjoyed this outside while baby girl played in the yard and we both dodged bugs constantly. Almost lost my smoothie several times due to involuntary swipes.

Also, snacked on cinnamon date and Brazil nut smush. I could have rolled it into balls or pressed it into bars, but we just ate it out of the food processor with a spoon.

It’s not green, but I’m pretty sure it’s alkalizing. And it was delicious. Beet greens, celery, apples, cucumber, and parsley.

Dinner was leftover gf vegan mac n cheese and this microwave meal from the freezer. They used white rice instead of brown, and there were maybe 2 teensy broccoli florets in there. But it had good flavor.

Did the P90X Shoulders and Arms, and Ab Ripper workout today. I didn’t push myself too hard and used light (5 lb) weights. I’ve cycled through this program several times over the last few years, so playing my own music (thanks, Pandora) to work out to was a nice change and helped to keep me motivated through the whole thing.

Going to try to get to bed early tonight. And planning on doing some yoga tomorrow.

Sunday

Simple breakfast before church.

Lunch was gf toast with olive oil and healing ginger miso soup.

Juiced this stuff.

Frozen microwave meal for dinner.

Dressed it up (and boosted nutrition) with a diced avocado, culantro, and lime juice.

I’m kind of addicted to coconut water. Nothing makes me feel so hydrated. It’s like my cells just soak it up.

Going to try fermenting and preserving my own veggies pretty soon. In the meantime, I need to get accustomed to using naturally fermented veggies (like this kimchi, which I ate straight by itself). Been on the look out for raw sauerkraut, but haven’t been able to find any.

Dessert was super delicious. Chia pudding and grapes. Great combo.

Feeling better today than yesterday. Got a great night’s sleep and felt recharged early in the day. Got to go to church and actually pay attention to the sermon (since I didn’t have to wrangle a 2 year old). Great service with prayer for healing. Energy started waning in the afternoon and I was pretty exhausted by early evening. But then had kind of a hard time falling asleep. I need to take steps to get to bed earlier each night, so that I’m consistently asleep by 10 or 11 pm. And I am not exercising enough. Got winded while going for a short walk with my in laws. Granted, I was carrying a 32 pound toddler, but still. I was walking! It just reminded me that my body is still quite weak and I need to step it up if I can.

Saturday

Woke up with a headache this morning. Thinking it’s partially due to dehydration and partially due to blood sugar imbalance because of my sweet, high carb dinner last night. I drank lots of water and had this for breakfast (brown rice with sautéed beet greens and an organic egg)… and the headache immediately started to improve. I rubbed some essential oils (clove, lavender, chamomile) around my shoulders and neck, an inhaled them from my hands for a bit. The headache was gone in a couple of hours. Yay for avoiding Advil!

Carrot/ginger/orange juice. Great immune booster with all the vitamin A from the carrots and vitamin C from the orange juice. And the ginger revs up your digestive system. I’m building up my tolerance to the flavor and heat of ginger in my juices, and am using more and more every day. It has so many medicinal properties. I ended up drinking more than 48 ounces of this juice throughout the day, this was just my first glass.

Lots of snacking going on today. Gluten free toast with natural peanut butter, cinnamon, and xylitol.

Hummus and gf crackers.

Sweet treat: banana chips. (These do have some added sugar. I don’t know WHY they do that. I’m sure they’d be sweet enough on their own.)

Mouth is feeling irritated, so I’m reverting to comfort food. Good thing my new comfort food is super healthy. Mashed roasted cauliflower with garlic and onions. It doesn’t look too pretty, but it’s soooo good. This would make a good dip, too. But I just ate it straight, like mashed potatoes.

Blackberries.

Really dragging and feeling tired tonight. The in-laws took baby girl for the night, and I didn’t even realize the extent of my exhaustion until she was gone. Needing something nourishing and healing. Enter my new favorite cookbook, Nourishing Meals. I made some adjustments. Used nori seaweed. Omitted the carrots (since I’ve already consumed so much carrot juice today). Omitted the chili flakes (since I’m a wuss when it comes to spicy heat). Replaced the cabbage, onions, and cilantro with chunks from my frozen nutritional boost greens (kale, celery, and parsley) leftover from juicing. And I added a container of cubed tofu. Since miso soup at restaurants always have tofu cubes and I figured I could use some protein.

The actual recipe.

My version. Very hearty.

Monday

Ugh. I’m on a little bit of a roller coaster with this flare. Not too bad today, but definitely not feeling great. Had gf toast with butter before my doc appointment this morning. And a cup of green tea. Still dragging and not really thinking clearly. It’s hard to be patient with baby girl on day like this, but thankfully, she’s feeling mellow and giving me a break. Great behavior at the doctor’s office. And everyone loved her, as usual.

Came home and had this soup. And two eggs.

Not feeling good this afternoon, and it was either give up and stay on the couch all afternoon, or take a pain pill. I went with the pain pill. And within half an hour, I was fine. Finally got some stuff done around here.

And made this super delicious nori wrap. Used my new spiralizer for the first time on a jicama. Threw in some baked tofu, sesame oil, and dillweed. Soooo surprisingly good. I ate this one, wanted more, made another one, and scarfed that one down, too. The seaweed is not easy to eat with my tongue the way it is right now. And the initial bites were rough because of my lip. So you know it was good if I was motivated to push through and make the effort anyway. The jicama was raw and crisp, the tofu was peppery and creamy, the sesame and dill gave it great flavor. It felt clean and alkalizing. Just what I needed.

And a green juice to balance out my pH for the day, and maybe help my liver process that pain pill. It’s cucumber, celery, yellow bell pepper, kale, and lemon.

I’ve been taking strong, expensive probiotics every night before bed. The bottle says you can take up to 9 capsules per day, but suggests dividing them up and taking with meals. My doctor said that’s ridiculous because you don’t want the bacteria to be digested. If you eat it with food, your digestive juices are flowing and less of the bacteria will make it to the small intestine, which is where you want them to go and colonize. Taking them at night, just before bed, and at least 2 hours after dinner, gives them the optimal chance of getting where they need to go alive and ready to colonize. You also don’t want to take them at the same time as an antibiotic or antifungal medication, or those will just kill them off. Since I can’t take pills without food, I’ve started breaking open the capsules into water and drinking them. I’m up to 7 capsules at this point. Those little buggers better be colonizing.

Wednesday

Breakfast was kashi indigo morning cereal and kefir. Sorry no pic.

Lunch was brown rice pasta with olive oil, sun dried tomatoes and basil from the garden.

Greens for the day: kale, celery, pepper, cucumber, and lemon.

Dinner was microwaved shepherd’s pie.

And warmed roasted beet salad with walnuts and goat cheese. Having some issues with my mouth (2 sizable lesions) so I ended up throwing away most of the walnuts. Just hurt too much to chew them.

But I ingested lots of walnuts today because I made raw “cookies” with cashews, almonds, walnuts, dates, coconut oil, and sea salt- all blended up in the food processor and formed into balls.

Tuesday

Scrambled eggs with olive oil, garlic, spinach, turkey (Applegate Farms brand), tomatoes, and daiya cheese. Cuties and grapes. And chamomile tea.

Making the filling for my cheesecakes (made and froze the crust the other day). This stuff is soooo delicious. I ate too much and got slightly nauseas. It has a lot of agave in it, so I think my blood sugar shot up more than it has in a long time. I’ve been kinda cranky and craving sugar all day, hence the dessert-making. But I overdid the sampling. At least it’s healthier than real cheesecake. This is soaked almonds, agave, lemon juice, zest, vanilla, and a pinch of Himalayan sea salt. So good.

Microwave meal for lunch.

Daily alkalizing greens… kale, parsley, celery, green pepper, cucumbers, and lemons.

Leftover roasted cauliflower with pesto for dinner, along with some light research from my doc.

Was in a much better mood after getting my greens in for the day. I need to remember to try to drink them in the morning so I can reap the benefits all day. Also had a big mug of peppermint tea from the garden.

And a glass of kefir to take my nightly probiotics. I started the antibiotic (doxycycline) yesterday, to treat the Lyme infection, so I’ve got to keep up efforts to maintain intestinal flora balance.

Saturday

GF cinnamon raisin toast with organic butter, grapes, and chamomile tea.

Well, this isn’t a devotional, but I’m categorizing it as such because this song has given me so much encouragement in the past, particularly in the past four months. So I just thought I’d share.

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=WFY2Hdh7cvA&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DWFY2Hdh7cvA

Lunch was refried beans on a corn tortilla with tomatoes, avocado, and culantro. Apparently, cilantro has chelating properties (helps rid your body of toxic heavy metals) so I’m wondering if culantro does the same thing. They taste so similar.

Red beet elixir. So sweet and yummy.

I’m going to attempt raw cheesecake in the near future. These are my crusts. Brazil nuts, medjool dates, coconut oil, pie spices, pinch of salt. All blended up in the food processor and pressed into these mini springform pans. I’m pretty sure this would be indistinguishable from your typical graham cracker crust. It’s even better because it won’t get soggy when you add moist ingredients.

And the alkalizing green juice of the day. Gotta have at least one!

Snacks…

And dinner.

Wednesday

Breakfast of champions…

Also finished off my Mom’s healthy oatmeal cookies on the way to a play date at the zoo this morning. Had mac & cheese, and roasted beets with orange vinaigrette for lunch. Plus another 16 oz of green juice.

Not feeling great this afternoon. Very tired. Lesions are becoming more of a problem. 3 small ones up front and a larger one in the back on the underside of my tongue. The bigger one is actually less painful because of its location. They are slightly affecting my speech at this point, but are not affecting my ability or desire to eat. Today was the last day I was supposed to take the anti fungal that has been controlling the thrush that tends to take over my mouth without it. We’ll see what happens with that over the next few days. If it comes back with a vengeance, I might have to start researching candida cleanse diets.

Anyway, the hubs and I had date night tonight. He took me to a raw foods cafe nearby. I was in heaven! It’s not close enough (or cheap enough) to eat there regularly, but I got some good ideas to try to recreate at home.

Appetizer was a macadamia nut hummus with sundried tomato crackers made in a dehydrator.

Main course was pad thai, made with spiralized zucchini and carrots with a nutty sauce. This is a pic of the last bite. I keep forgetting to take photos BEFORE I eat. It was YUM! My husband liked it, too, so I know it was good.

And dessert was cheesecake. Not quite sure how they did it, but it was the most delicious thing I’ve tasted in a long, long time. Almost tasted like they’d used buttermilk somehow. But it was completely raw and vegan.

Such a perfect date night. And, though I wasn’t feeling my best, I’m grateful that I was feeling well enough to truly enjoy myself and my husband. So much fun. And he really liked all the food. So there IS hope for incorporating more raw foods into our diets, I just need to learn how to prepare them better.

Tuesday

Had an apple pie larabar and 8 oz of ginger lemon aid to take meds before heading to a “juice morning” meet-up with my moms club. 8:00 am is kind of early for us, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to hang with other health-minded moms, and to get some yummy “mean green” juice… that I didn’t have to prepare! The hostesses also served oatmeal cookies that I’m pretty sure are from the exact same recipe my mom used yesterday. I got lots of good info on local co-ops and gardening ideas.

Came home and had this for lunch.

And this. I love using real fruit instead of jelly in a pb&j. It tastes just as good and is so much better for you. This is smuckers natural peanut butter and grapes on gf bread.

And 32 ounces of more green juice! (And there’s no fruit in there to sweeten it up- that’s hardcore greens!) Ahhhh- this stuff is my life force right now. Love, love, love it!

Later in the afternoon, I drank about 20 oz of red beet elixir, 8 oz ginger lemon aid, and 20 oz more greens. I’ve been a little worried because I’ve had 3 small, but painful (just because of where they are) lesions along the edge of my tongue. And my energy level was lower yesterday than it has been. Tonight, though, I’m feeling really good. The lesions are still there, and they’re uncomfortable, but I don’t feel like they’re getting worse. So this was, perhaps, just a tiny wave, and its already receding. Maybe the juices are helping with that.

Dinner was organic steak fajitas with my homemade salsa verde and beans seasoned with vegan bouillon and homemade taco seasoning. Plus I threw a couple of handfuls of this into the beans.

It’s what leftover after juicing, and while its great for my compost, I hate to throw out good, nutritious greens. So I decided to freeze a package of flavoring mix/nutritional boost with kale, parsley, and celery. I also started a package of frozen kale by itself to use in smoothies. And I always keep a package of frozen juiced carrots to add in to ground meat and marinara sauces.

Anyway, here’s dinner. That’s daiyan cheese on top.

And more juicing for tomorrow. Here’s what went into the greens.

I made a few jars of carrot/pineapple/ginger juice that I’ll be sipping on tomorrow, along with a bit of ginger lemon aid still leftover from yesterday.

Saturday

Still planning to drink all the usual juices today, but I’m going to eat normally as well. Decided to continue as before for now- including grains (except wheat) but moderating them a bit, and minimizing animal products, with the focus being on finding pastured, grass fed, organic products.

Breakfast was 16oz signature greens, gf toast with coconut spread, and fruit.

Lunch was 12oz ginger lemon aid, 12oz red beet elixir, and Kashi cereal with kefir.

My daughter’s art activity while I was juicing- she painted with leftover juice foam. This stuff is versatile! Nourishes our bodies and our creativity!

Got a massage today (thanks, Mom!) So I’m drinking LOTS of water to flush out any additional toxins that stirred up along with the detox. I feel great. One tiny lesion coming up as the last one fades away. I could totally go the rest of my life with one lesion at a time. Though it lets me know I’m not quite in balance yet.

Had 2 Larabars as a snack while health food shopping with my mom. Coconut cream pie and peanut butter chocolate.

Had frozen leftovers for dinner. I intended to eat all 3, sharing them with my daughter, but she didn’t eat much, so we didn’t eat the shrimp dish. Just the stir-fry and broccoli soup. Plus carrot cake juice and almond delight.

Made my first attempt at homemade toothpaste. Baking soda, xylitol, coconut oil, thieves oil, crushed up calcium/magnesium tablets, and a pinch of himilayan sea salt. From what I’ve read, this should do a good job of remineralizing our teeth. The coconut oil, xylitol, and thieves oil all have antifungal, antibacterial, or otherwise anti microbial properties. The baking soda and sea salt will polish, and the calcium/magnesium tablets and sea salt will remineralize. It tastes pretty good. I didn’t follow an exact recipe. I found a bunch of different recipes on Pinterest and kind of made up my own thing based off of those.

If we like this toothpaste and use it long term (never to buy conventional toothpaste again?) I’ll find a better container to keep it in. Possibly something that we can squeeze it out of. In the meantime, an old baby food jar will work.

It’s driving me nuts that I spelled thieves wrong on the label. In an exercise against my perfectionist tendencies, I’m purposefully not correcting it. I mean, who cares, right? We’ll see if I make it through the night without fixing it.

Had 2 squares of 70% chocolate and dried apple rings as a late night snack. I’ve had well over 64 oz of water today and I still feel thirsty. I normally have a hard time making myself drink water, so I’m glad it’s been easy today. Wonder if it has anything to do with the detox process and/or the massage. I hope it’s flushing out toxins! I want that crap outta my body!

Wednesday

Gonna try a new format and see how this works. One main post per day should be more manageable than three. I usually post everything at once anyway.

Breakfast was gf toast, eggs, and avocado. With sexy hot chocolate (with maca powder). 😉

And juiced this stuff. Hello, my beautiful juicer. How I’ve missed you.

Lunch was a microwave meal. We had a busy day. No time to cook.

We had a house full of family at dinner time, and they ordered pizza. I was busy preparing for my juice cleanse for tomorrow, so it didn’t bother me too much that I couldn’t eat what they were eating. Sticking with the Italian theme, I had this instead.

Side note: just realized I gained 3 pounds while I was away the past week. This puts me only 5 pounds from my pre-hospitalization weight, which is good. But I wonder where it came from, and if it really is a good thing. I’m pretty sure I ate more sugar than I normally would have. It was still very limited, but there was sugar in the pancake mix, gf cookies, cereal, and cereal bars. And I think I ate more gf bread than I usually would. I am super excited that I got through the whole trip with nothing more than the usual minor lesions and a little tiredness. I honestly expected a significant flare. I guess I was just trying to prepare myself for the worst so it wouldn’t be so upsetting if it happened. But I am soooo happy it didn’t. And I think that is due in large part to the support I had from my family through the whole trip. My husband, my parents… everyone did what they could to minimize my stress and help me stay on track food-wise. I’m extremely grateful.

Monday’s Dinner

Not much of a dinner, but it was late, and I really wasn’t hungry. Just needed something to help take my meds.

These gf cookies are really good. We tried the peanut butter and ginger snaps. They do have quite a bit of sugar, so definitely not something I even need to be eating right now, and they’re $8 a pop, so I won’t be buying them. But, when I’m healthier, I’ll try mimicking the recipe for a homemade treat. And that’s almond milk with stevia and cinnamon. Perfect for cookie dunking.

Saturday’s Snack

Chips and salsa. And a glass of kefir.

Wednesday’s Dinner

Buffet style family dinner…

And dessert…

The Kashi cereal is really delicious and I feel good about the ingredients. The Glutino cereal bar- not so much. And I’m sure that corn starch and canola oil is GMO. I’ll eat the cereal bars while I’m here, but I wouldn’t buy them at home. The Kashi cereal might become a regular, though. It’s really good.

Monday’s Dinner

My first attempt at GF bread in the bread machine. Used a ton of egg whites. Came out pretty yummy. It’s a mix from Bob’s Red Mill. I guess the next step is to try it with my own mix of flours.

Also ate leftover quinoa pistachio pilaf from the freezer. (Hubs and company ordered pizza.)