Dear Dairy

This week has been a challenge. I cheated way more in a few days than I have in two months total. It started on Friday with a delicious lunch at my favorite restaurant, Pickles Cafe. It's located inside my client Plumtickled's building, and if I'm out that way, I always plan to meet someone for lunch, or just get it to go.

A panini with three cheeses, basil and tomato was perfect as usual. The tomato basil soup, a greek salad, and the mandatory chocolate peanut butter pie all satisfied. I didn't feel too bad, knowing it was all lovingly made from scratch, but it didn't stop there.

Friday night I met a friend for coffee, and had a huge Extreme Toffee Coffee Frappe from my other client, The Espresso Gallery. And of course I had to have a white chocolate macadamia scone. A nice cap to the evening.

Onto saturday, where I did fairly well until evening, when my husband and I celebrated our 11th year anniversary at the movies (The Dark Knight was freaking awesome!!) with just a tiny bit of popcorn, and then dinner at our favorite sushi restaurant. I skipped my usual shrimp tempura and settled for california roll and hawaii roll. Neither were calorie free of course, and both had something in them that wasn't candida friendly. But, it was a celebration.

Then, on Sunday, I had to make Jacob's cake. Lots of frosting to be tested, and then of course I had to eat the final product. One piece of the white cake and one piece of the chocolate mousse cake. OH, and some ice cream.

Then, this all culminated with my pie eating marathon last night. Surprisingly, I've only gained a pound or two, but my cravings were a bit stronger yesterday. Luckily I have no other celebrations coming up, so I should be able to get back on track.

The sacrifices we must make for our loved ones....

Dear Dairy

For the first time in my life I went on vacation....and lost weight.

I have lost a total of 12 pounds so far, and felt awesome while on vacation. I brought lots of food to tide me over, and I exercised at least once, but mostly twice, a day.

Since my husband is now seeing my dedication to this way of eating, he asked me a question that I found easier to answer than it should have been.

He knows the struggle I've gone through to get in control of my eating. He's seen me start diet after diet, only to fail miserably. He's seen me jonesing for anything sugar filled, or deep fried to a point that he was scared for his life.

So, after going for a long bike ride, and following it up with some push ups and leg exercises, he asked me "What would you tell someone who didn't think they could do what you're doing?" My very immediate thought was "Do the part you love the most, first."

If you like exercising, start there. Don't start by trying to run a marathon. Walk the neighborhood, or play tennis. Go to the mall and power walk. Sweat to the oldies, or do Yoga...just move.

If you like reading, start with researching. The more you know about your body and food, the better chance you have of succeeding.

If you like food, or cooking, start there. That's where I started. I absolutely love to cook, and fortunately for me, I love most foods, so trying out new recipes was easiest for me. Once I had a few recipes under my belt that tasted great and were candida diet friendly, I had an arsenal to battle my addictions with. Instead of missing cookies, I ate cranberry macadamia cookies made with ghee and brown rice flour. Instead of missing pizza, I made my own with millet flax crust, rice cheese and a good sauce.

Once the eating started to show results, I began to have more energy, which resulted in my just walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes. Now, I'm up to 40 minutes on the treadmill, with lots of running spurts. I even bike for 30 minutes now, and on a good day I get to do both.

I will next add weight lifting in, and start toning and fine tuning.

There are lots of ways to get motivated to try a new diet or way of eating, but only you know what makes you tick. Don't follow a book or a fad diet, just read, get to know your body, and start somewhere. Starting is winning.

Dear Dairy

I have no idea how long I've been doing this. Do you? I think it's been a month or so.

I can successfully report that I have been doing very well on the candida diet this time. And, I am nearly 100% sure that I am on this way of eating for life. I have found so many great recipes and fun foods that I don't even miss the other stuff.

My weight loss has been fairly steady, especially since I added exercise in on a regular basis. I've lost about ten pounds and am feeling much healthier and more energetic.

Cheat days don't come as often as they use to, and I have found candida safe foods to replace some of the things I craved anyway. A nice millet and flax pizza crust with organic spaghetti sauce and ground turkey, with rice cheese is surprising delicious...to the point that my husband has even said it's the best pizza he's had. I'm not sure if he was serious, or just making sure I don't throw tomatoes at him, but either way...I'll take it.

A new favorite meal I've been eating is a spinach millet and flax lavash wrap with my mayo, fresh local tomato, avocado and lettuce, with a generous dash of freshly grated sea salt. That's better than a BLT if you ask me. And very filling considering how light it is.

I made a chai tea from scratch too, using hemp seed milk and stevia as sweetener, and it is better than what you can get at a coffee shop. Blend it with ice, and it makes the perfect summer beverage.

If anyone wants any info or additional recipes, I love answering questions, or motivating...good luck and happy eating!

Gluten Free Girl

I've been reading a book called "Gluten Free Girl" by Shauna James Ahern, and it is like food porn. I am not joking.

If you like food as much as I do, then reading this book is highly recommended. Even if you aren't trying to go gluten free...and maybe especially if you're not trying to be gluten free. She goes into such wonderful descriptions of everything from her surroundings to the food to the people she's enjoying it with, that you actually feel like you're with her.

At one point I was dipping my toes in a lake in Seattle and peach juice was dripping from my chin. It's all I could do not to run right out and get me a bag of peaches...but I knew for certain, that they would not taste like the one she was eating. Hers came straight from a local tree in the peak of season. Mine would have been straight from some storage bin that traveled long distances to get here. Ahhh...glad that I have my imagination.

Her descriptions of vegetables and the recipes that she created out of her sheer need for something good that didn't contain gluten, sounded slightly strange, but even more compelling.

The first two I wanted to try were Shaved Fennel with Lemon Juice, and a Cauilflower dish containing some very interesting seasonings. I bought the fennel and the cauliflower, but decided on the cauliflower dish for last night's fish meal.

At first this sounded very exotic with huge potential for failure, and even more potential to taste bad, but what the heck, I'm a bit crazy.

If you enjoy rich, tasty food without all the fat and calories, then please, please try this despite your initial reaction. You will amaze yourself...and quite possibly your family too.

Photo from Gluten Free Girl Blog

Roasted Cauliflower with Smoked Paprika and Cocoa Powder

2 T Kosher salt

juice of 1 lemon

1 head cauliflower

3 T high quality olive oil

1/2 white or yellow onion, thinly sliced

4 t. smoked paprika (do NOT use regular paprika...trust me on this. All stores carry the smoked version, and it has a smell similar to barbecue chips, delish!)

1 t. unsweetened cocoa powder

1 t. sea salt

1 t. cracked black pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Blanching the cauliflower. Bring a pot of 2 quarts of water plus the kosher salt and the juice of half the lemon to boil. Cut the florets off the stalk of the cauliflower. Put the cauliflower in the boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. Drain and pour the cauliflower into a bowl full of ice water. Let it rest there for 3 minutes or until it is chilled. Remove the cauliflower and pat dry.

Cooking the cauliflower. Bring a skillet to heat on high, then add the olive oil. When the oil runs easily around the pan, add the thinly sliced onion. Cook and stir until translucent and soft, 2 - 3 minutes. Add the smoked paprika. Add the cauliflower to this mixture and coat them well. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower is coated and the fragrance of the paprika is strong. Remove the skillet from the heat.

Roasting the cauliflower. Add the cocoa powder to the cauliflower. Add the salt and pepper. Toss the cauliflower to coat. Transfer this mixture to a roasting pan. Put in the oven and cook the cauliflower for 5 minutes. Drizzle the remaining lemon juice over the cooked cauliflower.

Feeds 4 Enjoy!

Note: Chocolate and Chili are traditional Mole flavors, similar to mexican hot chocolate which contains chocolate and cinnamon.

I heart Quinoa.

I purchased a cookbook the other day, called Gluten Free, Sugar Free cooking. I rented it from the library first, and made a few dishes to make sure I liked it before buying it.

Two of the first recipes I made involved Quinoa (pronounced KEEN-WA), which is a type of grain (actually it's a seed, but that discussion is for a different kind of blog.) It is a gluten free grain, and I was anxious to try something new, in addition to the organic basmati brown rice, millet and teff I've been eating.

Quinoa is as high in protein as dairy (almost 11 grams per cup), and is high in calcium, iron, B vitamins, zinc and potassium. It cooks quite a lot like rice, by boiling in water, or my preferred method, a veggie or chicken broth. It's apparently very versatile as you can see by the following recipes I tried.

The first recipe, Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa


We had already eaten most of our meal when I decided to take a picture of these, so the remaining dish looks a bit mangled. These are red bell peppers with a quinoa, ground chicken and pine nut "stuffing". Very easy to make, and so delicious. I wish I grew peppers in my own yard, so that I could make this more often without the expense or pesticide worry.

The second recipe, Black Bean and Quinoa Salad


This salad had a bit of a mexican feel, due to the added cumin and cilantro. But I think you could leave those out and add basil, or other seasonings to change it up. We served it with some ground chicken burgers that I added some cumin, garlic, red onion and cilantro to as well. Topped off with a big slice of avocado, and some homemade garlic pepper mayo, this was a nice dish for a hot night.

These little grains are interesting in that they start out as tiny little balls, but as they cook, the outer ring breaks away a bit, and leaves this cute little pearl looking grain. The center is translucent and soft, while the tiny rim is a bit crunchy and white.

If you're interested in the recipes, please email me or post a comment and I'll send them to you. Quinoa is a fun and wholesome grain to enliven any summer dish...and hey, you can even impress your friends and family by being able to pronounce it!

Cooking class $40, High Quality chocolate and vanilla $40, Free gas...priceless!

So, I had my Williams Sonoma class the other night, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I ate every morsel of food placed in front of me, as a sign of respect (yeah that's it!) and didn't bat an eyelash.

Knowing full well that at least half of what I was eating was a big Candida no-no, I ate it anyway.

Like a magic trick that only Criss Angel could perform, my abdomen bloated to at least 3 times its normal size within minutes of leaving class. And hand to God, that bloating did not end until about 3 a.m. Wednesday morning.

It was painful and frustrating and I still don't know what caused it. Was it the white flour in the mini buns, or the vanilla cake that was served as an afterthought? Was it the flour tortillas or maybe the pound of cheese on the portobello mushroom? There could also have been a preservative in the "natural" liquid smoke that was in several of the items. Maybe it was the Golden Skirt Margarita and ginger ale drink they served, non alcoholic of course.

All I know is I greatly appreciate that experience and am documenting every detail. I know that if I can find the foods that trigger these occurrences, I am that much closer to gaining the health that I deserve.

Of course that won't stop me from eating every morsel at the next cooking class...it's about Provence, are you kidding me! I'd endure 5 days of pain for that. But only for Provence...not for, say, Luxembourg. I'm not that crazy.

Delayed

I had hoped to have the new web design up, but that is not the case. We ended up going to the lake this weekend for a few hours, and I'm afraid the site design was re-prioritized.

I am very close, and will soon post just the front page for you to see. I'm happy with it for the most part, but my skills are limited and so until I can have it done professionally, with flash and java and all the bells and whistles, I'll probably wish it looked better, but it will do for now.

On the fun side of things, however, I attended my first ever cooking class at Williams Sonoma, and let me tell you. It was fun. We observed a chef make 4 different meals, all of which were very tasty.

They started with a chicken kabob that was rubbed in a curry-ish style seasoning with turmeric, cinnamon, cumin etc, and served with veggies. Next was an Italian burger with a great pesto and onions. The pesto was unique in that it also had cashews in addition to the more traditional pine nuts. Very tasty, and served mini style on tiny buns. Thirdly, and my very favorite was a shrimp taco with lime slaw. Good lord where do I start? The slaw was the best, and very fresh and zingy. But what made the whole thing was the way the chef did the taco shells. He very simply and lightly deep fried flour tortillas and placed them over a rolling pin until they set up and created the shell. The difference between these and the more typical corn tortillas was brilliant. The flour tortillas were much lighter and had a nice crisp without breaking into shreds on your plate. I can't wait to try these myself. I will definitely post the full recipe then.

Finally, we had a baby stuffed portobello mushroom with egg plant, sun dried tomatoes, black olives and smoked mozzarella/sharp provolone on top. These were tasty, except for the liquid smoke that I don't really care for. I prefer my smoke taste to come in smoke form, not so much the liquid variety. But, if that's your thing, you would love these.

Oddly enough, I ended up walking out with ingredients that had nothing to do with what was made. I purchased some Scharffen Berger cocoa for some ridiculous cupcakes I'm going to make someday for my cheat day, and a set of 3 different kinds of vanilla from Nielsen-Massey. A Mexican, a Madagascar Bourbon and a Tahitian. I have no idea what I'll do with those, but I can't wait to find out.

I am looking forward to my next class where we focus on foods from Provence, the first place on my list to visit someday when I'm rich and don't have tiny kids that scream and don't take baths. :)

But for now, I am still doing well on my candida food plan, feeling stronger each day, so stay tuned for more recipes and tips on that.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have the new site up for feedback...I want your feedback. Please?

Breathing treatments and Brownies

I have been very faithful to the candida diet so far this time around (except that one slip up with the cookie), but on Wednesday night my son had a bout of breathing difficulties that brought back all the stress and reasons for my weight gain. He was in the hospital twice back in the fall of 07, and I promptly stress ate myself to an all new high for me.

So, when my husband called me at work to tell me Joshua was having some problems again, right after the unthinkable fear of losing him to some strange freak disease got out of my head, my thoughts immediately went towards what to cram into my face to soak up all this pain.

I thought about stopping by taco bell, or Starbucks, but ultimately headed straight for home, my priorities are in tact! I was so busy with taking care of him that I never thought of food again, until morning. it was a rough night, but we got through it, and as soon as morning came and I assessed the situation, I felt the stress coming back. His fever wasn't budging, and his heart was racing. He rambled on and on about strange things, and I was really getting scared.

I was pretty sure going to the hospital wasn't going to be fun this time (not that the last two were a barrel of laughs). He knew what to expect, and no video games or nice, free blankets or wagon rides were going to make up for the sharp sting of the needles he got last time. He still cries when he sees me get my blood drawn. He thinks it hurts the same way the very long and painful shot he got did.

After a few more breathing treatments, and a quick call to any friend with kids, and then the doctor's office, I started giving him Tylenol, which immediately brought down his fever, which then brought down his heart rate. Motrin wasn't doing a thing, so this was a relief.

Once this immediate threat of a hospital stay seemed over, I did what any sensible mother would do, and began baking my freaking heart out. He put together puzzles and talked to me about Mario while I whipped up some magical brownies that were sure to save the world.

I knew not to eat any, but seriously, who was I kidding. I intentionally got the cocoa and sugar and eggs and butter...I knew what I was doing, and I was happy about it.

Once the brownies cooled and the frosting set, my youngest son and I dug in. After all of that, I didn't even give any to Joshua for fear of the sweets upsetting his stomach. He didn't want any anyway, so it worked out just fine.

After about 3 bites my stomach was saying, "No more, woman! Can't you control yourself even for a few days?!" I cleaned the dishes, and wondered aloud if this made me feel any better. And you know what? It did.

The mixing and the blending and the cracking of eggs, honestly made my mind stop wandering and creating worst case scenarios. I cried enough that day, and the few minutes of fixing these brownies halted all those worries. The taste of the brownies was so sweet to my newly cleansed self, but were just what I needed.

I packed the rest away, and immediately drank 4 more glasses of water and exercised my heart out. I think I'll be okay, and actually feel stronger than I have in the past when I've cheated. It helps that things seem to be looking up for Joshua. But, this time I want to gain strength by being healthy so I can be around for them when they need me the most.

This needy thing...it goes both ways.

Dear Dairy

It's becoming more and more apparent to me that I need to address issues far bigger than just dairy. I had eliminated dairy, wheat, sugar and caffeine (and soy of course) with absolutely no increase in energy, and very slight weight loss. At first, with the withdrawal symptoms, I thought it was the dairy, but now it seems dairy is only part of the equation.

The energy increase I have seen lately is due to my finally taking some iron and multivitamins to address my pretty bad case of anemia.

However, I knew I had to still do something with my food to make me feel better, so I got out my handy dandy binder full of Candida information to see what the heck I did back then that made such a huge difference.

The first glaring thing I noticed was the AVOID list which included Dates, Cashews and Pistachios...uh....no wonder I like those Lara bars so much!

I knew to avoid fruit, but ate that anyway, telling myself that since God created fruit, how could it be so bad, but ultimately, the fruit sugars are just too much if you're struggling with candida.

I also realized that I hadn't been drinking near enough water, and had totally eliminated the fresh squeezed lemon from any water that I was drinking. Upon researching pH balancing, I learned that fresh lemon in water really does a lot for balancing your body's pH and restoring it to a more desirable alkaline state. Lemons are also a diuretic, which helps release a lot of water I've been retaining.

So, on Monday I began (AGAIN!) this candida thing. I had to go all out, no more "kind of" and just really do this the right way. I drank at least 8 glasses of water, each with fresh lemon. It's actually very refreshing, especially on these tropically humid days we're experiencing in the Midwest.

At the end of day 1, I had such a massive headache that I went to bed at 8:30, and didn't wake up until almost 8 a.m. My body was getting rid of some massive stuff apparently, and needed the extra sleep for the challenge.

Day 2 hit a bit of a tiny snag, but one that counts nonetheless. I caved in and ate a cookie around noon time (my will power is astonishing), and then promptly read some message board posts on the candida site I frequent, only to find a wonderful post from a girl who said "After being on this candida diet for 5 months, I will never eat sugar again, thanks to how great I feel." I immediately starting crying and self loathing for being so stupid.

When I followed the candida diet back in September, I truly did feel better than I ever have, so I know exactly what she is saying. Ironic how your mind tricks you into craving foods you shouldn't have instead of reminding you of what living feels like.

Sugar is an evil thing, and something that I may not ever overcome, but I will die trying.

Dear Dairy

I haven't posted a Dear Dairy in awhile. Mostly because I fell off the wagon. Hard core.


Not only did I fall off the wagon, I rolled down the hill and landed in taco town where I bathed in a tub of sour cream and cheddar cheese. I stayed there a good 72 hours before I came to and moved on over to chocolateville, and commenced to dip my feet and soak my soul for the rest of the week.


Ahh cravings...they are a bitch.


But, here I am, like a warrior in a battle to the death. Ready to conquer my health issues once and for all.


With much research on adrenals, hashimotos, hypoglycemia and candida under my belt, I have a much clearer view of what is going on. I've met a few new friends along the way thanks to blogs, and people who read mine. This internet thing has potential.


I have gone completely dairy, wheat, sugar and caffeine free since Monday and am doing great. I have decided to forego the cheat days until I've been doing this for a month or more. I'm just not strong enough after 6 days to indulge in sweets or cheesy gooey stuff, so better to just not even tempt myself.


I have however found some great recipes and new products that are, quite literally, saving my life.


A few I've really loved lately, besides those tasty tortillas I mentioned, are Earth Balance buttery spread. Thank you Jesus for creating people who could then create this product. It is better than butter, and costs the same. It can be used in any recipe as a substitute for butter. Amen.


Coconut Milk is great for things like mashed potatoes believe it or not, or tea, smoothies, that kind of thing. Kind of a calorie killer though, so don't over do it if you're trying to lose weight.


Nuts. Nuts are little miracles in my opinion. They come in such a great variety and are full of protein for a quick snack on the go. I recently found some at the health food shoppe that have 100% pure maple syrup on them. These are obviously not as healthy, and are higher in calories, but these will totally work as my new "cheat day" in which I eat things that are dairy/wheat/sugar free, but that are higher in calorie, or may be pushing it a bit on the sugar free end of things.

Avocado oil is my very favorite oil of all. It's a little pricey. I get it for about $9 for a little bottle, but you don't use a lot. I sprinkle it on my veggies for a buttery taste.


Herbs like basil, cilantro and dill are a must in my kitchen. I use dried a lot, but nothing beats fresh herbs to liven up any dish.

Lara bars, which I review later this week, are tasty little fruit and nut bars that a friend of mine introduced me to. She said they had pistachios and dates in them. And then I preceded to ask if there was soy, and she again said pistachios and dates. I said, what about dairy, because i can't have dairy. "Christy. There are two ingredients. Pistachios. Dates." Then I passed out and hit my head on the phone. But seriously, these bars come in a gazillion flavors, all with only 4 or 5 ingredients max. Very great for keeping hunger at bay when you're on the road.


Hazelnut rice milk. This is good plain, or added to my herbal tea. My kids are not so thrilled with it yet, but I'm working on it.

Rice dream ice cream, chocolate marble fudge to be exact. I don't know how they do it, and I don't want to know, but sweet bejeesus this stuff is awesome. I have to fight my kids for it, it's that good. Only in emergencies do I indulge in this, but just a spoon full does the trick.

English Toffee Stevia extract. This is delish in my tea with hazelnut rice milk. An all natural sweetener with no calories. Takes a little getting used to, but really helps when you desire something a little sweeter.

The weird thing about this particular time of eliminating the dairy and wheat is that I didn't have the withdrawals. I had a headache the first day, but that's it. Those bumps on my forehead that went away almost immediately before, that came back again as quickly once I added crap back into my diet, have not gone away this time. And this time I'm even giving up sugar and caffeine, which in their own right should have caused some kind of grief. (it should be noted that I also don't do soy because of my thyroid condition)


I also didn't have the energy surge that occurred on day three last time. But, instead, I've had a steady increase in energy and mood. I feel strong enough to get through this weekend. We're even going to a movie Saturday at a place known for it's crazy gourmet popcorn, and I plan to come prepared with my nuts and lara bar.


What are your favorite dairy/wheat/sugar alternatives? Let us know!

Meal of the week: Chicken salad in Brown Rice Tortilla

Since beginning my dairy free/wheat free eating, I have experimented a lot with new things.

One of my very favorite finds are these Brown Rice Tortilla's made by Food for Life. They contain Brown rice flour, filtered water, tapioca flour, safflower oil, rice bran, vegetable gum and sea salt.

The best way to eat them though, in my opinion, is to use it as a wrap and toast it under the broiler. Flip it over so both sides get nice and crispy. Toasting it creates a nice crunchy texture that I love.

In this particular wrap I used homemade chicken salad. I made the mayo recipe and blended in fresh basil, pine nuts and cracked pepper. Then, I mixed in organic cooked chicken, celery, red onion, celery seed, celery salt and garlic powder. Before sealing the wrap I place a few sprigs of fresh basil and some slices of avocado.

Yumm-ola.

The salad is basically a quickly thrown together way of getting my veggies. Organic romaine, carrots, celery and red onion with a sprinkling of my Annie's lemon and chive dressing, some flax seed oil, kelp flakes for my thyroid and some cracked pepper. It was very light and fresh. I ate it first to fill me up, so I ended up only eating half of the wrap to save for my snack in a few hours.

Food can be fun, and is very forgiving. Just start mixing things together and see what happens.

Healthy eating!

Type A=Adrenal Fatigue

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. I am surprised at how much time and energy it takes to prep a house for sale, in combination with all the other work involved in securing a loan for the next house to buy.

Since I am a type A, I have taken it upon myself to do pretty much everything. I have made a ton of phone calls and gathered documents for the correct people, and then made follow up phone calls.

We have painted and scraped and sanded and dusted and moved furniture and cleaned every surface possible. If selling/buying a house were my only duties, this would be a piece of cake. But, of course I have the two kids to take care of, as well as DipSticks, and the typical daily activities like cleaning, cooking, spending time with the hubby, etc.

On top of this, I have been dealing with the health issues that I have mostly been noting in my Dear Dairy posts. However, a friend going through similar issues made me aware of a condition called Adrenal Fatigue. I've been reading about it this weekend, and it sounds right up my symptom alley. A type A like me, especially one who deals with many stressors in a row, such as deaths, hospital visits, sick children, etc, can practically guarantee getting this condition.

Basically the body acts like it's under attack all the time, stressing out the adrenal glands, and causing your body to sort of break down and react in ways that can be confusing to both patient and doctor.

If you've been struggling with never ending fatigue, cravings for salty or sweet foods, memory issues, difficulty concentrating, difficulty processing daily activities without feeling overwhelmed, overall lack of hope or increased illness and allergies, then you may want to read up on Adrenal Fatigue. The book I'm reading is simply called "Adrenal Fatigue, the 21st century stress syndrome." I also picked up a book called the Autoimmune Epidemic too, because I have Hashimotos thyroiditis, which is an autoimmune disease, and apparently candida, adrenal fatigue, food allergies (dairy/wheat) and thyroid conditions, specifically autoimmune, are all connected.

I am very excited, and anxious to get to the bottom of all of this. If it sounds like I'm falling apart at the super young age of 36, it's because I think I am. But, the good news is, I am pretty sure it can all be fixed with a simple, but freaking painful, diet plan that will exclude pretty much everything I love. But, hey, if it's food or my life, I think that's a no brainer.

Dairy did it

So, as many of you know, I've been struggling with a candida program/diet for a few months now. I finally talked myself into a very, very modified version of the candida program, just to get myself on something.


I started on Monday and managed just fine with absolutely no wheat or dairy. I ate lots of grapefruit and almonds, and drank tons of water. I ate protein and veggies, and fruit when I felt like it. I probably ate 6 times on Monday, but that's actually a good thing. I had been getting into the ugly habit of not eating until noon, and then not again until dinner time. But somehow filling in the gaps with loads of Easter candy, skittles, cookies, nachos...


Monday went well, except for a nagging headache, and Tuesday started out great too. However, about mid day I noticed I had another headache. Then on Wednesday I had another headache. Hmmm, I think this may have something to do with withdrawal from dairy.


The reason I'm leaning towards dairy more so than wheat is because I have yet to crave a piece of wheat bread, or a cookie. What I've been craving is loaded mashed potatoes with cream cheese, sour cream and/or cheddar cheese. I have been drooling over my stupid cheesecake that's waiting for me in the freezer. So, that makes me think that since I am craving dairy, it must be that which is causing my withdrawal symptoms.

I did a quick google search for dairy withdrawal, and sure enough...people were experiencing the same things that I was. Headaches, moodiness, and other unpleasantness I won't go into here.


On Monday and Tuesday I was very tired and moody, which my husband can attest to as being fairly common around here, but Wednesday I woke up with so much energy that I had the dishes washed, the kids clothed, the wallpaper border in the second bedroom completely removed, the laundry room wall scraped and primed for repair (small rain leak), and the floor vacuumed. I even sat down a few times to play with the play doh with Jacob and the Nintendo ds with Joshua. AND, I ate a nice healthy salad for lunch....all of this before 11!!!


Also, this morning I noticed that the little bumps on my forehead were gone. GONE! I had started noticing them a few weeks ago and no amount of creams or ointments was working. Could this be another benefit of no dairy? This could save me lots of money.

I am onto something big here, I can feel it. But, since I caved in and ate a piece of that $@#! cheesecake yesterday, it will be like starting over, but now I know the common link, and am looking forward to more energy and hopefully more consistently positive moods. yippee! Just say no...to dairy!

(disclaimer: I am in no way saying to boycott the cow industry. please do not sue me, nice farmers.)

Mayonnaise recipe and meal of the day

I just had a great candida safe lunch.

I made homemade Mayonnaise (recipe follows) as well as some sauteed squash, turkey burgers and homemade french fries.

The french fries were just thinly sliced potatoes, tossed in a little bit of avocado oil and seasoned with pepper, paprika and garlic powder. (don't salt them until after they are done baking. Salt tends to bring water out of veggies) I baked them on 425 for about 15 minutes, turning them half way.

I put my own mayo on the burger and used a special candida safe bread made with millet and flax. The boys loved the food too, which is a bonus.

My mayo recipe is as follows:

Put the following 3 items into a blender or food processor:

2 eggs
2 T of freshly squeezed lemon juice (or less depending on your taste buds)
1 t Sea Salt

Blend all this until combined, and slowly pour in 1 cup of a good Safflower Oil (important that it's not any other kind of oil, unless you want to use avocado or walnut, or grape seed, but just not olive oil because of the weird taste, and not canola or vegetable for various other reasons)

Pour this oil in a slow stream through the top of the blender/processor until it's all incorporated.

This mixture will look just like regular store bought mayo, and once it has been in the refrigerator for a few hours will set up just like real mayo too. (keep in mind that this will only last a few weeks in the refrigerator. Make 1/2 of a batch if you don't think you'll use it in that amount of time.)

The best part is that it tastes great and cleans off your plate very easily. If you notice...regular mayo takes a bit of work to get off your plate with just water. Makes you wonder what it's doing to your arteries.

Good luck, and let me know what you think of it!

Cheat Day, defined

Are you trying to lose weight, or to eat a little healthier?


Have you been eating too many delicious DipSticks Gourmet Pretzels? :)


Years ago I attended, and then worked for, a nutritional counseling company called MPS Weight Loss and Wellness. It was a fascinating, new concept of eating whole foods, mostly whole grains, fresh fruit and veggies etc. No preservatives and all that good stuff. It worked big time! I lost lots of weight and kept it off for a long time. I gained a lot back with child number one, but was able to lose it once I started following the basic concepts again, and have maintained a consistent diet of these types of food until recently. (my candida battle doesn't allow many foods that were allowed on the MPS plan)


One term we used that I believe may have been one of the best things to come from that class was the notion of a "cheat day."


All too often we start a diet and end it in a few days or weeks (or in my case, hours) because we can't bare the idea of "never" being able to eat food X again.


So, with the cheat day concept it works like this:
As you crave specific foods, write them down prominently somewhere so that you can see it.


I put it on my refrigerator. I write things like Taco Bell, Lemon Meringue Pie, pizza, whatever I happen to crave at any given moment. Some weeks the list is a mile long, other weeks it's only a few items.


The act of writing this down does two things. It takes the immediate action of wanting (craving) something, and putting a time line on it. It makes you feel good knowing that you will definitely get that food again, just not until Saturday, or whatever day you have determined your cheat day to be. (it really helps to plan the cheat day around a special event like weddings, or holidays too)


And, most importantly, once you actually get to the cheat day, you will find that you only eat one or two things off of that long list. Thus, saving you tons of calories and regret. It works liked magic, and I suggest giving it a try for a few weeks.


You'll be surprised how easily you manage what you thought was too difficult to concur.

A season for change

This warmer weather has me very excited for summer. We are going to rent a lake cottage on Big Long again, and we'll be venturing to Emerald Isle, NC with Mark's family again for our soon to be annual Beach House trip.


So, I need to get my butt in gear. I am huge and tired and SO not bikini ready. I am probably about 45-50 pounds over weight right now and I feel like I'm 60 years old.


I am very tired and feel quite cumbersome. I can't really bend over effortlessly or go upstairs very easily, and with my family history of severe obesity, it's an issue that needs nipped in the bud (butt) now.


This isn't exactly a diet, as much as it is going to have to be a lifestyle. But, I am going to begin a candida diet that I've done in the past with great success.


I've lost weight with other healthy food programs, but have never felt as energetic and healthy (even my skin and hair was glowing!) than when I'm eating the candida way.


Unfortunately, this diet ain't an easy one. Pretty much anything I use to eat is a no no. No white flour or sugar, no sweeteners of any kind actually, including natural sweeteners like honey and agave, and of course artificial sweeteners are off the list. I can have stevia and do use an english toffee version that seems to help in emergencies. I can't have vinegar (which makes ketchup, mayo and mustard out) and no wheat, or other grains for the first 4 weeks and most fruit is limited for a few weeks too (candida feeds on sugar, so all sugars are a risk), also, no alcohol, no dairy, no peanuts, no caffeine, no mushrooms and no smoked meats.


Gone are my cheetos and lemon meringue pies/cheesecakes, and no more taco bell or starbucks for me for awhile. But, if all goes well, I'll be exchanging these fatty foods and my fatty butt for better health and tons more energy to keep up with these active kids and my fast growing business.


I'll try to post menu ideas and recipes as well as my progress as often as I can.


If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comment section, or email me directly!