Category: Low Carb

Blog, cancer, health, Healthy Living, Low Carb, Lunch, Main Dish, Real Food, Whole 30

The Magic Pill is Real Food – So you’ve decided to be healthy. Now what?

So much information, so little time. We all want to be healthier, but with so many experts telling you what you should be eating or what supplements you should be taking it can be confusing. I say strip it down to the basics. Just eat real food.

What is real food as I define it? Sustainably raised meat, poultry & eggs, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts & seeds. What isn’t it? Processed food like bread, pasta, cereal, or pretty much anything with a label. Most of what’s in the grocery store actually. Typical SAD (Standard American Diet) food. Does it mean you can never have a treat again? No. Once you make improvements in your health, you can have occasional splurges. For me personally, my digestive health and overall wellbeing improved so much typical SAD food isn’t even tempting. I’ve become a much better cook and I’ve learned to genuinely enjoy whole food based treats.

I’m not a nutritionist and have no medical credentials, so what I offer here is not in any way medical or nutritional advice. I think of myself as a whole food facilitator. When you have decided to make improvements in your diet, it is hard work. Most of us are so entrenched in our food preparation and eating habits we don’t even know where to start. I’ve been down the path and regained my health. I no longer rely on allergy medicine, heart burn medication, Nsaids or acetaminophen to feel operational. My migraine frequency continues to diminish.  So I want to help you if you want to try it out! If you are ready…dive in.

STEP 1: Clean the crap out of your kitchen. Box up unopened SAD food and take it to the food bank. If it is opened, throw it out. This includes cereal, bread, crackers, chips, anything with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, vegetable oils-canola, soy, safflower, corn, etc. JUST GET RID OF IT! This is not negotiable. If it is in your house, you will eat it. Set yourself up for success.

STEP 2: Meal plan. This includes making shopping lists and cooking several meals for the week. Plan on at least five hours to get yourself set up for the week. The upside is you’ll have free time during the week because you’ll have planned so well. No need to spend a bunch of money on cookbooks to start off, there are plenty of free resources to get you started.  Here are some great links for recipes and information on real food eating:

http://www.thepaleomom.com/    http://everydaypaleo.com/    http://theclothesmakethegirl.com/                                                   http://nomnompaleo.com/recipeindex

STEP 3: Sleep. At least 8-9 hours a night. This is not negotiable. Get a sleep mask and earplugs if it helps.

STEP 4: Get more sunshine & increase your activity. Find a walking/workout buddy. If that isn’t an option, use a website like http://www.meetup.com to find other people in your area that have the same health and fitness goals. Make plans, not excuses.

That’s all I have for now.  Hope it helps! If you have questions or need tips or encouragement, e-mail me at: haclife@outlook.com

Healthy Living, Low Carb, Paleo, Primal, Real Food, Whole 30

When a Whole 30 Isn’t Enough

Starting your journey to health with a Whole 30  is a brilliant idea. The information and community support is tremendous. You will feel better and understand the power of eating REAL food. What I’ve learned though is sometimes it isn’t enough. What? Giving up all the food that makes you joyful isn’t enough? That’s crazy talk! Well, it is my truth. Would I go back to eating processed food and too much sugar? No way.

My “only” lingering health issue after several years of real food eating is migraines. I have abnormal ones. They come on first with a visual aura and last 2-4 hours. Occasionally I will go months without one. Sometimes I get a couple a month. If I had to guess, I’d say they have something to do with my hormones as I’ve addressed diet & lifestyle. However I haven’t had to take antibiotics for five years and I cannot remember the last time I was really sick. Oh wait I do remember; it was when the hospital made me get a flu shot before I could see my new granddaughter four years ago. I felt crappy for a few days, but was not bed ridden.

My point of writing this is to say even though your health might not be perfect after you clean up your diet, it will be improved in noticeable ways. The bottom line is you can’t take a pill or supplement and keep making poor food choices if you want to improve your health, lose weight or feel better long term. For improvement in your health to need to heal your gut. And for healing to occur in your gut, you have to eat real food, have good sleep and stress relief hygiene (yoga, meditation), and move. Walk outdoors and lift heavy things and surround yourself with good people. You have to do this for a long time before you “cheat.” Maybe a year, maybe two, maybe three. I was forty when I found out I was gluten and dairy intolerant and had what I now know was the beginnings of autoimmune issues. Real food, real activity, real sleep is a lifestyle, not a diet. You are kidding yourself if you think one Whole 30 is going to fix you forever. It is a stepping stone to get you on track for having a better quality of life. You have damaged your gut over a lot of years and you need to honor yourself enough to give it time to heal. Use the wealth of free information on sites like www.Robbwolf.com , www.thepaleomom.com, www.marksdailyapple.com, www.everydaypaleo.com, and www.radicatamedicine.com to get started. Check out the books links in my resource section for help too. You don’t have to pay for meal plans or shopping lists, because people who live this way (like me) want to help you. Recruit family and friends to do it with you and have planning dates and batch cooking parties. It is work, but it is beyond worth it. If you put in the work, down the road you can have some of the celebratory treats on special occasions, but you might not want them.

Healthy Living, Low Carb, Main Dish, Paleo, pizza, Primal, Real Food

Zucchini Pizza

Azucchini

What to do with all those zucchini? That is the question. Every. Single. Summer. I always promise myself to plant only one, singular, solitary zucchini plant. Somehow I now have three. Plus one ‘summer squash’ plant, which let’s be honest, is really just a yellow zucchini. So long story short, I have at least 10 lbs of zucchini/summer squash and for some reason I have a hard time tossing it. This is where my 15 (or more) paleo cookbooks come in handy and I began scouring them for ideas. Zucchini Pizza was the best. I of course modified it to what I had in my kitchen and what I felt like putting in it. Yes, I’m going to post an annoying list of ingredients that I used, otherwise known as a recipe, and you will have to use your own expertise, tastes and culinary skills to mold it into your own. They turned out delicious and I highly recommend them as a way to use up the endless supply of zucchini you undoubtedly have growing in abundance in your garden.

Zucchini Pizza

* 2 Medium (9 inches or so) Zucchini

Cut in half long wise and cut out seedy section

* 1 lb Italian pork sausage

* 10 pieces salami

*10 pieces pepperoni –

Cook the pork until done, chop the salami and pepperoni and stir in with pork sausage

*add one small can sliced, black olives to meat mixture

Pizza sauce– buy premade OR…

* 1 cup of diced onion in olive oil until translucent (5-7 min)

Saute for 5-6 minutes

*Add garlic to taste and chopped parsley (about 1/3 cup)  and cook a couple of minutes more

*Add a can of tomato sauce and diced tomatoes  14 oz size

*Small can tomato paste (or drain the diced tomatoes and skip the paste)

*Tsp or so each of basil, oregano  and pinches of rosemary & thyme

*1/2 cup red wine

Cook, gently bubbling, for about 30 minutes

Mix the meat mixture with some of the sauce (you will have some sauce left over, freeze it for later) and spoon into the zucchini. I topped mine with fake cheddar cheese (Daiya brand) and my husbands with a bit of Parmesan. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes until it all looks bubbly and the zucchini is soft.

Feel free to wing it on the sauce if you have a family recipe or want to use a jar of spaghetti sauce. Recipes are not fixed and the more you experiment, the better you’ll get. Be free and joyful in your cooking 🙂

Enjoy!

p.s. Tomorrow I’m making zucchini muffins or bread. I’ll post that too.

Healthy Living, Low Carb, Lunch

Inspiration from popular_paleo on Instagram

broccoli

My daughter-in-law recently turned me on to popular_paleo on Instagram and today she posted about her leftover rotisserie chicken that she mixed in with her Brussel sprouts. I thought, “Hey! I have some broccoli salad and leftover chicken breast!” So I made a delicious, quick meal out of both after mixing them together with a half of diced avocado. It took me about dos minutos to mix together and was yummy.  What is my point? Find people on social media to get inspiration when you need it and share what you make as well. This real food journey we are on is revolutionary! People are out there that don’t know how to survive without processed food and have no clue that whole wheat sandwiches with low-fat, vegetable oil mayo is not good for them.  Be a real food messenger and promoter.

Low Carb, Salad, Side Dish

No-Tato Potato Salad

Potato salad is a favorite of mine. Especially my potato salad. However through my real food discovery process, which involved a six month Nightshade elimination protocol, I no longer eat white potatoes on a regular basis. Yesterday I had a breakthrough in the kitchen with an acceptable substitute for my old favorite potato salad. Using turnips. Yes, turnips. And the good news is they will impact your blood sugar way less than potatoes as they are much lower in carbohydrates. I pay close attention to the amount of carbs I eat as I’ve discovered I feel and function best when I keep my daily carbohydrate in take between 50-75 grams a day. Here is a link to read up on Nightshades: http://www.thepaleomom.com/2013/08/what-are-nightshades.html

Feel free to add and modify the recipe to your own taste preferences. For example use celery for more crunch or Dijon mustard in the dressing.

Turnip Salad

2 cups cubed (1/2” cubes) turnips, sautéed and browned until they start to get soft, but not mushy

2 TBLS coconut oil

½ cup chopped carrots

¾ cup chopped dill pickles

1 cup chopped white onions

4 extra-large eggs, hard boiled, peeled and chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

Dressing

½ cup mayo (see previous post for homemade mayo instructions)

2 tsp garlic juice (I buy the jar of minced organic garlic and drain the juice from that)

2 tsp minced garlic

1 TBLS lemon juice

1 TBLS apple cider vinegar

2 tsp prepared yellow mustard

1 tsp salt

  • Chop the turnips and cook in a pan over medium heat with the coconut oil. Boil the eggs.
  • While the turnips and eggs are cooking, chop the other salad ingredients and place in a bowl.
  • Mix the dressing ingredients in a separate container and set aside.
  • After the eggs have cooled peel & chop them and put in the bowl with carrots, pickles & onions. Cool the turnips a bit and add them in with the other veggies.
  • Mix the dressing in with the salad ingredients and chill at least an hour before serving.
Low Carb, Main Dish, Seafood

Paleo Crab Cakes With Garlic Aioli

Seafood is something that I’ve been trying to incorporate into our diet on a more regular basis. It’s a great source of protein, omega 3’s and a variety of minerals. However my disgust of shrimp, prawns and most fish make it a bit of a challenge. Two of my favorites are crab and salmon and I always try to eat wild caught. Fortunately the price of crab has been almost affordable and is my go to lazy meal choice. I had a package in the freezer and decided to try my hand at crab cakes. I looked through a few recipes, made adjustments and cooked up the following. It was very tasty.

Crab Cakes with Garlic Aioli

Crab Cakes

1 lb crab meat

3 green onions chopped

1/3 cup chopped onion

2 tsp prepared mustard

2 tsp garlic granules

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup almond meal

1 large egg

1/3 cup homemade mayo (see previous post on my blog)

  1. Whisk the egg in a bowl and add all the ingredients except crab and almond meal. Mix until blended and then blend in crab and almond meal. You can add more or less almond meal so you have crab patties that will hold their shape when you fry them up.
  2. Form 6-8 patties and fry them in bacon, ghee or your fat of choice for 5 minutes on each side.

Garlic Aioli

½ cup homemade mayo (see previous post on my blog)

1 tsp garlic granules

1-2 tsp minced garlic

1-2 tsp garlic juice

2 TBLS lemon juice

Salt and Pepper to taste

I like to buy the organic, chopped garlic in a jar and drain the juice out of that.

Feel free to adjust the amount of garlic to your own preference. I like garlic.

  1. Mix the above ingredients until well mixed.

After frying the crab cakes and plating them, put 1 to 2 TBLS of the garlic aioli on top. Enjoy! 🙂

Blog, Healthy Living, Low Carb

Carbohydrate Reality Check

Carb_Curve_x

Chart credit:   http://www.marksdailyapple.com/how-to-succeed-with-the-primal-blueprint/#fitness

All the way back in 2008 I found out I was gluten and casein (dairy) intolerant and eliminated both from my diet completely for 3 months and after that about 95% of the time. I dropped one size immediately and had no migraines for seven months. After reading Robb Wolf’s The Paleo Solution in 2010 I went full on paleo and dropped a couple more pounds, was exercising regularly, but couldn’t seem to get rid of my muffin top. Then I saw the chart above, incorporated the information and over three months I lost another two full pant sizes. It completely got me off of “counting calories” and rid of the idea that you can out exercise bad food choices. I was eating great tasting, nutritious, filling food and improving my body composition. What a concept. I also haven’t had to take antibiotics since I made this change. Glean what you want from that. Sugar/bad carbs? No bueno.

Over the past few years I’ve read extensively about diet and exercise and know for me the 80/20 rule is true. Eighty percent of your health, weight and body composition is your diet. You need to quit thinking you can eat whatever you want and then go exercise it off. You are either feeding & healing your body or damaging it. If you are fat, diabetic, suffering from arthritis or generally sickly you need to give your body real food. You can’t medicate away bad food choices. You need to heal your gut and regain control over your health.

There are so many great websites and books for you to use for resources. Here are a few:

Digestive Health With REAL Food by Aglaée Jacob is an awesome, easy to read book about digestion, food and health. She also offers a food challenge and support and will answer questions through a private FB page during the challenge. Invaluable resource! http://radicatamedicine.com/

Have you heard of It Starts With Food? Here is the website http://whole9life.com/

Robb Wolf author of The Paleo Solution has so much great info and tons of podcasts on his site: http://robbwolf.com/

Want encouragement? Have questions? Leave me a comment 🙂

Low Carb, Side Dish

Kale Salad

Happy Monday! I saw this Chris Kresser post on Facebook and it ties into my last post so I wanted to share for those who would like more in depth reading on why to choose a real food life.

http://chriskresser.com/9-steps-to-perfect-health-1-dont-eat-toxins

And I want to share my new favorite salad that is super easy to make and lasts for days in the fridge, kale salad. This is a picture of what I had for breakfast (bacon, duck egg fried in ghee, and 2 day old kale salad-don’t those apples still look fresh?)

kale salad

First, I have a confession. I planted way too much kale (three varieties) in my garden this year. For some reason I always plant too much of something and end up feeling guilty when it goes to waste. I simply cannot eat as much kale as I’m growing. And why does it cost so much at the store? It grows easily and abundantly even when I ignore it. Bottom line is that I currently have an endless supply of kale, so I thought I’d try out some new recipes. Usually I cook it in my leftover bacon grease for breakfast, toss it in soup or meatloaf,  but I wanted to use it fresh so I looked up a salad recipe. I didn’t have three of the ingredients in the recipe, so I improvised and it turned out great.

KALE SALAD

1 bunch kale, stems removed & chopped into bite sized pieces

1 decent sized apple chopped into bite sized pieces (or other fruit-the recipe I looked at used mango)

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds (I bought raw and roasted in cast iron on the stove, then salted)( I also used sunflower seeds when I had no pumpkin)

1 lemon or lime (the amount you use will depend on how tart you like it)

¼ olive oil

½ tsp salt (more if you like)

Sprinkle of pepper

Put the kale into a bowl. Squeeze half a lemon or lime, drizzle half the olive oil and sprinkle the salt on the kale. Now massage that kale for a couple minutes until the liquids & salt are well worked into and onto all the kale. Add the apple and seeds & stir. Taste it. Is it tart enough? Oily enough? Salty enough? Add more lemon, olive oil and salt to your taste. Sprinkle on the pepper. This is better made ahead, as the kale softens a bit and the flavors blend more.

What new salad have you tried recently?

Blog, cancer, health, Healthy Living, Low Carb, Lunch, Main Dish, Real Food, Whole 30

The Magic Pill is Real Food – So you’ve decided to be healthy. Now what?

So much information, so little time. We all want to be healthier, but with so many experts telling you what you should be eating or what supplements you should be taking it can be confusing. I say strip it down to the basics. Just eat real food.

What is real food as I define it? Sustainably raised meat, poultry & eggs, fish, dairy, vegetables, fruits, nuts & seeds. What isn’t it? Processed food like bread, pasta, cereal, or pretty much anything with a label. Most of what’s in the grocery store actually. Typical SAD (Standard American Diet) food. Does it mean you can never have a treat again? No. Once you make improvements in your health, you can have occasional splurges. For me personally, my digestive health and overall wellbeing improved so much typical SAD food isn’t even tempting. I’ve become a much better cook and I’ve learned to genuinely enjoy whole food based treats.

I’m not a nutritionist and have no medical credentials, so what I offer here is not in any way medical or nutritional advice. I think of myself as a whole food facilitator. When you have decided to make improvements in your diet, it is hard work. Most of us are so entrenched in our food preparation and eating habits we don’t even know where to start. I’ve been down the path and regained my health. I no longer rely on allergy medicine, heart burn medication, Nsaids or acetaminophen to feel operational. My migraine frequency continues to diminish.  So I want to help you if you want to try it out! If you are ready…dive in.

STEP 1: Clean the crap out of your kitchen. Box up unopened SAD food and take it to the food bank. If it is opened, throw it out. This includes cereal, bread, crackers, chips, anything with sugar, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, vegetable oils-canola, soy, safflower, corn, etc. JUST GET RID OF IT! This is not negotiable. If it is in your house, you will eat it. Set yourself up for success.

STEP 2: Meal plan. This includes making shopping lists and cooking several meals for the week. Plan on at least five hours to get yourself set up for the week. The upside is you’ll have free time during the week because you’ll have planned so well. No need to spend a bunch of money on cookbooks to start off, there are plenty of free resources to get you started.  Here are some great links for recipes and information on real food eating:

http://www.thepaleomom.com/    http://everydaypaleo.com/    http://theclothesmakethegirl.com/                                                   http://nomnompaleo.com/recipeindex

STEP 3: Sleep. At least 8-9 hours a night. This is not negotiable. Get a sleep mask and earplugs if it helps.

STEP 4: Get more sunshine & increase your activity. Find a walking/workout buddy. If that isn’t an option, use a website like http://www.meetup.com to find other people in your area that have the same health and fitness goals. Make plans, not excuses.

That’s all I have for now.  Hope it helps! If you have questions or need tips or encouragement, e-mail me at: haclife@outlook.com