More travel escapades...good friends, good food.

I've been pretty vocal about how much my life has improved since adopting a Paleolithic lifestyle.  My overall health is probably better now than it has been most of my adult life.  You can go back and read some of my personal health struggles in previous blog posts.  I truly never imagined that I could live a life free of chronic pain and fatigue. My friends and family are happy for me too.  They are also seeing changes in my children, which means whatever I'm doing is working, so keep doing it!!

I truly don't understand how friends or family members could not support something that so positively effects someone.  But I read about it all the time, "I can't go to my in-laws because everything they eat is junk, and loaded with grains."  "I can't go to the company picnic because no one understands how I eat and they think I'm a freak."  Really??  Why can't people be more supportive??  I'm not saying everyone should move mountains for one persons lifestyle, but no one should be labeled a freak. And would we say that about someone who was anaphylactic to say, peanuts?  I guess my point is, support for positive changes in someone's life should be supported and encouraged, rather than belittled and berated.

I'm super-duper thankful to my friends and family who have supported the changes in my life.  I knew it would be hard to travel, eat away from home, have meals prepared by others and be semi-reliant on whatever food was available.  I talked with our gracious hosts and my mother before our travels and discussed how we eat now, and hoped this could be somewhat accommodated, but we would eat whatever they felt comfortable serving us. I was assured by both parties that it would be no problem.  Of course you don't always know what to expect.

I should have known that the people who love me and love my kids would make sure that our needs were met abundantly!!!

Sharon, our wonderful hostess, made sure that we had eggs, bacon, sausage, and fruit for every breakfast.  My kids, who are no strangers to helping me prepare food, jumped right in and helped her everyday with breakfast and meal prep.  It is overwhelming to go from cooking for two people, to cooking for 8, but Sharon flew through it with ease!!  The other meals we ate with them were deliciously "paleo" as well!!  Ribs and chicken on the grill.  Veggies.  Fruits.  And even a batch of my chunky monkey muffins!!!  Yum!!

Since we were in KC for James' graduation, we had two events surrounding food for the weekend.  One was James' open house, the other a large family meal with our extended family.  Mom provided veggie trays, fruit trays, pickle trays and deli sandwich trays, along with the usual party fare of cake and ice cream.  I was able to remove rolls from sandwiches and eat to my heart's content from the various trays.  For our large meal, she had more trays as well as a large ham, salad and green beans.  I do believe there was another non-paleo dish and rolls.  And of course cake and ice cream.  Another meal success!!

There was never a question if I, or my children, would be hungry, or have reactions to a bunch of grain laden food.  My kids did overdo their 20% of cake and ice cream....but they are kids.  I enjoyed a small piece of cake, no icing and no ice cream.  I still live life.  I still enjoy celebrations.  I take my 80/20 very seriously. I eat about 98% most of the time, so I allow myself to splurge every once in awhile.  And this was the time to do it!!

I will say that all my meals stayed on track over the course of those four days.  I did have some alcohol over the weekend, and gas station coffee twice.  When we got back home, we also went out for pizza and I ate regular pizza with my family.  I'm glad to say that with the amount of healing my body (gut) has done over the past three months, I did not have any adverse reactions. I did gain 2 lbs, but that was gone again within a few days of being home.  This truly says a lot about my health and where I'm at compared to a few short months ago!  I don't intend on having splurges very often, as my goal is to maintain this good health, but it is refreshing to know that they 80/20 rule can apply to me.

Thank you again to our wonderful hosts, The Wilson's, and my mom and John, for all their efforts in feeding our family healthy delicious foods over those four days!!!

Mother's Day 2014

Today we spent the day with my sister, Carol, and her family.  My dear sister is one of the people who hounded me about changing my diet.  Our genes lend us to more autoimmune issues than either of us care to admit.  We both have Raynaud's, we both suffer from migraines, we both have seen specialists for other autoimmune issues.  She has been a big supporter of me converting my whole family to a paleo diet.

It was so nice to be able to plan our whole meal today with no worries.  We had a wide variety of food, and not one child complained!!  We did laugh later that there was no fruit!  How did we miss fruit?!?!  Oh well, it didn't matter, we ate well for sure!!  I even ate avocado!!  

Today's menu included BBQ chicken on the grill, with my homemade paleo friendly BBQ sauce; jicama potato salad with bacon; creamy cucumbers; carrots with dressing and sesame seeds; roasted butternut squash; deviled eggs; and a mixed lettuce salad with all the trimmings.  Oh and I brought leftover chunky monkey muffins, which everyone always loves.  Maybe that was our fruit!

Christian helped make the deviled eggs.  He is not adept at peeling them yet, but he'll get there!

Creamy Cucumbers

2 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced

1 small onion, thinly sliced

2/3 cup fresh parsley leaves (I used dried because that's what I had)

In another bowl, mix: 

1/4 cup mayo (there are many paleo mayo recipes out there but this is my 20% as I tolerate it and I failed horribly at making my own.)

1 clove of garlic, minced

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Toss over cucumbers, salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe adapted from the book Well Fed.

Jicama Potato Salad

This takes prep.  24 hours of prep.  But it's not hard.  You need two medium jicama, about the size of your two fists.  Diced into 1" cubes.  You can peel it if you want but I don't.  Place cubes into a crock pot and cover with water 2" over the top of the jicama.  Add 1 tsp salt.  Cook on high 12-24 hours.

Drain and pat dry.  These can be kept in the refrigerator until ready to use.

In a bowl, mix together:

4 strips of bacon, 1/4" pcs fried (you can use leftover bacon from breakfast like I did, or cut up the bacon into pieces and quick pan fry it.)

4 hard boiled eggs, diced

1 stalk of celery, diced

1/2 medium red or yellow onion, diced

1 TBS dried chives (I used fresh)

3/4 tsp. dried mustard

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Add the jicama and mix well.

Add 3/4 cup mayo (see above for my mayo disclaimer)

Chill for about 20-30 minutes.

This recipe was also found in Well Fed.

My personal notes on this...I used 5 strips of bacon and next time, I will use more.  I also like mustard, so I may increase the dried mustard a bit.  But everything blended really well together and was yum!  Jicama does not taste "exactly" like potatoes, but it is a great substitute.  If you find that you do well with white potatoes, use them!  I do eat them on occasion, but I prefer to save those for a rare treat.  This I could make once a week all summer!

Kitchen Organization...Cleaning House, Literall

Over the past 7 weeks I have slowly reorganized my kitchen.  I did this in small segments, one area at a time.  It would be much too overwhelming to try to do this all at once.

1. I have a fairly large kitchen.
2. I have a lot of "stuff".
3. I am an organizational freak.
4. I needed to plan each area.

I will say, this is still an on-going process.  As I do more whole food cooking and find what works and what doesn't my kitchen will evolve more.

One of the first areas I tackled was my "baking area".  I knew I needed to be able to have my new found "flours" easily accessible.  I have a pantry cabinet next to my stove/cooking area.  This has housed many a cake and brownie mix, oodles of boxes of cereal and loads of microwave popcorn.  Today, it looks much different.  

The top shelf contains staple baking items and chocolate.  

The 2nd shelf now is loaded with a variety of "flours" and "starches".  Each container is labeled with what's inside.  I don't want to ever grab an incorrect flour.  Two reasons:  We have tree nut allergies.  Non-Grain flours are all used very differently.  Since this picture was taken, I've added two more containers.

The 3rd shelf, at the point the top picture was taken, had sauces that I still have on hand, microwave popcorn (yes it's peaking back there), my small jar of coconut oil, maple syrup, etc.  This shelf now has been cleaned up a bit.  

The 4th shelf still contains baking mix and a 2 month old open box of Total.  Mike won't let me throw it out. I think some pure refined sugar pancake syrup might be there too.  But right smack dab in the front now is this beauty:

I have a bit of tweaking to do, but overall this is working well.  

The spice/baking cabinet received the next overhaul.  This was an enlightening experience.  Do you KNOW how old your spices are????  I threw a lot of stuff away that day.  At least one garbage bag full.  That says a lot when you are talking about spice jars.

I moved all my old traditional baking supplies to the top shelf, behind everything else.  These may still be used from time to time...Christmas baking.  Maybe.  The middle shelf has become an overflow of sorts.  Extra spices that I've purchased because I use them a lot, vanilla and other extracts, sea salt/pepper.  The bottom shelf contains the spices we use regularly.  This too has grown a bit since this picture was taken.  I've added some balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar and local raw honey!

The "lunch" cabinet has been showcased here already.  But I thought I'd talk about it again.  This area didn't change much overall.  I have kept all our 31 lunch bags on that shelf since my kids went to school 3 years ago.  I bought two sets of the red Rubbermaid sets back then too, and they are still going strong.  I did add a few more with the twist-tops recently.  (Red distinguished them from the blue ones I used for leftovers, stored elsewhere in the kitchen.)  The "snack box" on the top shelf holds all their fruit leather, raisins, etc.  

The cabinet adjacent to the lunch cabinet used to be the "go-to" snack cabinet.  I guess it still is.  Instead of chips, cookies, and crackers, now you will find a wide variety of nuts, seeds and dried fruit.

Lock 'n Locks are stored here for easy packing up of fruits and veggies.  

Inflammation...You may just explode!!

When we talk about inflammation, most people think about acute inflammation.  You sprain your ankle and it swells.  Or you have an infected nail bed and it's swollen and full of pus.  In reference to eating paleolithic foods, we are not referencing acute inflammation.  Acute inflammation is typically a positive stimulus.  Your body is trying to heal itself.  We are talking about chronic inflammation.  Chronic, as in on-going.  Your body is no longer trying to heal itself, but rather trying to destroy itself.

Inflammation in general terms is part of the complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli, such as pathogens, damaged cells, or irritants.  When the irritant is YOU then it becomes a problem.  Many conditions and diseases are a direct result of inflammation in various cells in your body.  Whereas acute inflammation is caused by things like infection or injury or an allergic reaction, chronic inflammation is often caused by what we put INTO our bodies, purposefully, like FOOD.

When we ingest certain foods, they react to cells in our body in different ways.  There are inflammatory foods and anti-inflammatory foods.  Grains, legumes, dairy, foods in the nightshade group and even some nuts & seeds are inflammatory.  I'm not a scientist, nor will I try to re-iterate what others have already said so much better than I.  I will point you in some good direction to read more about the inflammatory process of these foods if you want the real "why's" behind it.  Below is a chart that briefly explains chronic inflammation, the cells it effects, and the outcomes.

Chronic Inflammation:

• Causative agent:  Persistent acute inflammation due to non-degradable pathogens, viral infection, persistent foreign bodies, or autoimmune reactions
• Major cells involved:  Mononuclear cells (monocytes, macrophages, lymphocytes, plasma cells), fibroblasts
• Primary mediators:  IFN-γ and other cytokines, growth factors, reactive oxygen species, hydrolytic enzymes
• Onset:  Delayed
• Duration:  Up to many months, or years
• Outcomes Resolution:  Tissue destruction, fibrosis, necrosis

Inflammation is an underlying cause in many conditions and diseases.  All 140 known autoimmune diseases have inflammation as part of their conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, infertility, multiple sclerosis, lupus, narcolepsy, schizophrenia, depression, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, hypothyroidism, IBS, Chron's disease, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, etc.  The list goes on.  It is also a known antagonist in cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, migraine headaches, acne and cancer.  

If all of these conditions and diseases (and a host of others) are directly linked to inflammation, it would behoove those of us with any one (or multiples) of them to reduce chronic inflammation as much as we can.  Thankfully, science has shown us that we can!  By removing grains and legumes and dairy from our diet, we can effectively decrease symptoms and possibly even reverse disease!!

I shared before what changing my everyday diet has done for me.  In the past few months I have seen joint pain and inflammation significantly decrease.  I have gone from chronic daily headaches and frequent migraines to only one or two headaches during that time.  I have seen gut healing from IBS symptoms.  My overall health is significantly better!  I chose to bring my family along for this ride because I know that many of the diseases/conditions also have a genetic component.  I see similar issues in my children already.  I cannot change their genes, but I can help them make better food choices now which will hopefully go with them throughout life.  Do they eat perfectly paleo?  No.  I don't expect them to.  But the meals I control will move them in the right direction.  As they get older they can own this for themselves as they learn how eating the wrong foods affects them physically.

Once again here are some places to read more about reversing disease via a paleo diet:

www.robbwolf.com

www.thepaleodiet.com

www.thepaleomom.com

I have books by these three scientists/authors and I haven't regretted one dime that I have spent in bettering my knowledge and my health.  :)

Pancakes...Round 3! We have a winner!!!!

In my attempt to make sure the kids have some "comfort foods" in their lives, I have tried three versions of Paleo pancakes.  Let's face it, grains are what makes pancakes, pancakes!!  It is very hard to match that consistency, crispy outside, fluffy inside, golden yumminess.  I knew I wasn't going to match Aunt Jemima in any way, but I tried.

The first one I tried, I found the recipe in a Paleo cookbook I have.  I don't remember which one because nobody like them, so I didn't mark it a "keeper".  They were a banana base, really thin and runny.  Wouldn't flip well and nobody like them.  Oh I said that, well it's worth saying again, nobody liked them.

The next one I tried was the recipe on www.thepaleomom.com.  Hers have a plantain base which I thought would make a stiff pancake, easier to flip, not so banana-y, etc.  I thought they were ok, the kids hated them.  This loathing of the pancake was actually a turnaround in many of our food conversion issues.  It created a major fight with one of the kids, which meant a lot of words being flung around.  Never a good thing, except when one child, who desperately needed this diet change comes to you and says, "Thank you mom, I really appreciate all you are doing for us and ME.  I'm sorry I don't say it enough.  I'm happy for the change, I feel better."  And the offending child, also coming back with a new heart and willingness to "try harder". THANK YOU LORD!!

So today were were going to celebrate Koltin's birthday over breakfast.  I said I would make pancakes.  Everyone kind of groaned.  These have not been super successful and I was altering the recipe itself so anything could happen.  I kept it in the back of my mind that if everything was a flop, I'd just take them to IHOP and regret it later.

The recipe came from Against All Grain.  I used the nut-free version with sunflower flour.  This did take a bit longer because I had to MAKE the sunflower flour!!  Thankfully, Justin has been eager to help in the kitchen during recent weeks.  After I ground the sunflower seeds in the food processor, he stood with the flour sifter and made sure we had a fine flour, adding the larger pieces back into the food processor as needed.  He also sliced up the bananas and helped me add them to the pancakes, along with the chocolate chips.  I made some modifications to her recipe, I did add a teaspoon more of honey, per the nut-free directions.  I also added a few drops of lemon juice to counteract the chemical reaction between the sunflower seeds and baking soda.  We did have a few green spots in the pancakes but not many, so this must have worked!

Bacon came out of the oven and I started dishing up pancakes...

I had to quickly mix up a 2nd batch because Ethan and Dawson ate FOUR a piece!!!!  Everyone loved them!!  Except Matthew.  Matthew has decided that all pancakes are gross except Aunt Jemima, so he took one, ate one small bite, dug the bananas out and ate them and said they were gross.  *insert eye roll here*  The child HAS no idea what he missed out on!!

You don't need syrup, but I did add a bit of pure maple syrup to mine.

The bananas definitely add that magic touch.  I would slice them thinner next time.  Several mentioned they'd like to try them with blueberries, so we may try that.  When I do, I will increase the honey by another teaspoonful.

Thanks to my friend Kirstin, who introduced this recipe to me!  We have a winner!!!!!

Lunches...and the meltdown that ensued.

Names have been changed to protect the guilty.
Who am I kidding??  I'm not changing any names!!

Ethan quickly asked, "What can I take in my lunch that fits our new way of eating?"  (Yea!!!  Go me!!!)
Matthew immediately followed because he always wants Mom's approval, "Can I take something different too?"  (Oh yeah, I love raising followers.)
Christian stomped around the kitchen, slammed cabinet doors.  Huffed and puffed as he paced around the house.  Went to his room.  Went to the bathroom.  Came back.  Said, "I'm not doing this."  (Uh huh, like that flies around here...EVER.)
Justin cried.  Justin always cries.  He's my major meltdown kid.  I expected this.  (It had already happened in the cereal aisle at the grocery store.)

I tried to make the crossover as painless as possible.  I told them they could continue eating whatever we had until it was gone.  When it was gone, it was gone.  (There is still a few pudding cups left and it's been weeks!!!)  We were down to the last loaf of bread.  (Shhhh...there's another one in the freezer, I just never bothered to get it out.)  The rice krispie treats were gone.  The fruit snacks were gone.  What on earth was Justin going to put his newly found peanut butter on???

Ok guys.  Chill out.  This is simple.  And I'm going to show you how we pack lunches around here now.  :)

Today I went to the grocery store.  I typically have a day or two off during the week each week depending on my schedule, so this is when I shop and prep.  It takes a few hours, but so worth it to avoid meltdowns during the week.  If you work M-F and only have Saturday and Sunday off, I don't recommend going to the grocery store then.  Find an early morning (the place is empty!) or late evening to shop.  Then prep at another time.  If you can shop early Friday morning and prep Saturday morning that would be great!  Much of what I need to buy on these sorts of trips doesn't "need" refrigeration, so if I didn't have it, I'd be ok.  Fruits, veggies, and my few boxed goods.

*gasp*

Did she just say "boxed goods"????

I have sacrificed in certain areas of processed foods for the sake of my sanity.  I work full time.  We are a busy family of many.  I'm not going to make all this stuff from scratch.  Just ain't happening.  Now when Michael wins the lottery and I no longer have to work, then I still won't.  I make the kids a few treats, muffins, cookies, etc.  That's enough.

Here is how I started:

This stayed on the fridge for awhile until they got the hang of packing their own lunch.  

Protein could be leftover chicken breast, burger, pork chop, chicken leg, etc.  Protein could be a lunch meat wrap.  I started buying Boar's Head meats and cheeses.  Basically they take a piece of leaf lettuce, a slice or two of meat, a slice of cheese (or a cheese stick) and wrap it up.  Done.  

Next, pack a veggie.  That could be baby carrots, celery, cucumbers, leftovers, etc.  My kids are really, really picky.  When I mentioned they could take broccoli or cauliflower, you'd have thought I said take "liver" to school!!  We'll keep working on that!!

All this is cut and ready to go!

Next, pick a fruit.  We are big fruit eaters so this isn't too much of a problem.  Unless you're Christian.  And then food that isn't out of a package is a HUGE problem.  I also will cut up kiwi, package up grapes, or whatever else we have on hand.

Pick a snack.  This is where my processed foods come into play.  Fruit leather (no sugar, no HFCS), raisins, natural applesauce, Lara bars, etc.  The "snack box" has evolved a bit.

Much of this is at their fingertips:

Lunch bags go on the bottom shelf.  Containers on the 2nd shelf.  If they want to pack something warm, they have thermals too.  Top shelf is snacks.  Notice I make those HIGH up there.  The last item they pack can be a 2nd fruit, veggie or snack.  

It's been a few weeks now, and the meltdowns have stopped, for the most part.  Lunch packing is going smoother and I don't have to stand over them as much. I still do periodic checks of lunch bags.  That's a must.  When I walk into school unexpectedly and find my kid has 6 packs of fruit snacks for "lunch"....yeah...I do random lunch bag checks.

Many Mouths...No Fillers

The first meal I converted everyone to Paleo was dinner.  This may seem daunting when you have many mouths to feed.  It can even be more daunting when you are not using grains or legumes as fillers.  A lot of large families depend on bread, rice, pasta, or beans as cheap extras to keep the budget down and tummies full.  Unfortunatly, those are all big, fat "no's" around here.  But I do have a simple cure for this problem...PROTIEN.

Yes, protein.  Protein at every meal.  Protein is more satiating than our carb-y, starch-y friends.  Your kids will be fuller, longer and require less to fill them up.  When dinner time comes around you will feed them protein and veggies.  They will be full and satisfied.

Here are some mealtime protein ideas that feed a crowd:

Roast, beef or pork
Chicken Legs
Chicken Thighs
Burgers, beef or turkey
Turkey Breast

We also do a lot of chicken breast, but I'm trying to move away from that for various reasons.

Today was one of those crazy, busy days.  We have extra kids and lots of mouths, and I have to work until 5:00.  What's a busy, working mom of many to do??  Utilize that crock pot of course!  This morning I cut up two onions into fourths, threw them in the crock pot with a pork loin, salt, pepper and water.  Set on low and leave!  The kids were instructed to scrub up potatoes when they got home and put them in the oven.  They were also to pick out a veggie and a frozen fruit.  I will often pull out some frozen fruit if I think we may need it.  If we don't use it (ha ha!) we will take it in lunches the next day.

When I got home, the pork loin was done.  The potatoes were done.  The green beans were cooking and the fruit was defrosting on the counter.  One happy mama, many happy mouths!!

Just an FYI, my kids still eat white potatoes.  I don't typically, but I forgot to remind them to make sweet potatoes for Mike and I.  Not the end of the world, but as you can see, I only ate half.  I still LOVE white potatoes!  I eat them when I'm out, but I just don't eat them at home anymore.  I'm not a huge fan of sweet potatoes either, but I've found a great middle ground.  Now you'll all have to wait and see what that is.  ;)

Aside from frozen fruit, there is always mixed lettuce salad available. I buy tons of this and keep it available.  I take a salad in my lunch for work everyday and have one nearly every night with dinner.  It is another acceptable filler.  If a child complains they are "still hungry" then they are encouraged to eat a salad.  A few of my kids will eat a salad every single night.  BTW, the pork loin was AMAZING!!!  

Mushroom Sliders and Jicama Fries

The general consensus is:

Mushroom Sliders are THE BOMB!!!

Jicama Fries, not so much.  Ethan liked them, but everyone else either ate them out of politeness (Mike) or threw them away.   I want to learn more about cooking Jicama because #1, it's cheap.  #2, they have the potential to taste like potatoes.  #3, it's cheap.  I will say it is very good raw!  Similar to a pear, but more potato-y.  I've seen it in lots of places made into slaw, topped on other foods (tacos?), as a "chip" to scoop dip, etc.  Raw, I get.  Cooked...not so much.  I did read recently that you have to cook it for like 12 hours in the crock pot, then it will be like potatoes.  I'm going to research that some more and do another test run.  

Cutting up the Jicama.

All cut up like "french fries".

Tossed in olive oil, sea salt, pepper and garlic powder.

I baked them at 400° for about 20-25 minutes, but they were still crunchy.

Now, those Mushroom Sliders....

Here is Mike being my "Super Guy" and mixing the meat for me.  

Mushroom Sliders

1-2 lbs of ground meat (I've used beef before, but tonight we had turkey and they were yumm-o!)

1 egg

1 cup chopped mushrooms (I use my Ninja.)

½ onion, diced (again I use my Ninja)

Sea Salt, Pepper and Garlic Salt

**I had some extra bacon from breakfast this morning, so I threw 3 pieces of bacon in the Ninja and added that to the meat mixture too.**

Mix altogether and form small patties.

Grill until cooked through.  I have also cooked these with the broiler of my oven.

If you want you can use lettuce leaf as a "bun" you may.  The original recipe used Portobella mushrooms cut in half as the "bun".  We have ate them like this, but only when it was just a few of us.  Those are pricey!  Lettuce is a much more economical option!!  The kids didn't care, some used lettuce, some just picked it up with their fingers!  

Mustard = YES

Ketchup = NO

Did you say "Leaky Gut"? Ewwwww....

Leaky gut, yes it is as gross as it sounds.  Leaky gut, also know as "increased intestinal permeability", is exactly what it sounds like.  Something is permeating your intestinal walls and leaking into places it shouldn't be.  That includes undigested foods, bacteria, bile and waste.  All autoimmune diseases have leaky gut associated with them.  Many other health conditions and diseases are linked back to leaky gut and gut dysbiosis.  So if you knew that eliminating one food group would alleviate the key factor in these diseases wouldn't you do it?  If the FDA knew that this one food group was unhealthy and harmful for every human on the planet, wouldn't you think they'd tell everyone?  Be prepared, a rant is coming...

Scientifically speaking, if I told you that apples cannot be processed by the human digestive tract.  No matter what you do to it: cook it, peel it, bleach it, process it 150 different ways; in the end the final proteins cannot be broke down by your digestive system.  In the end, there will remain undigested parts and those will permeate your gut lining in one of two ways and leak into your body, also allowing other bacteria and waste to leak into your body.  Would you WANT to know this information?  Would you EXPECT science to make you aware of this FACT?  Would you STOP eating apples even if they were your FAVORITE?

The answer is YES!!  Who would knowingly do that to their body????

Guess what?  Science KNOWS that grains cannot be completely digested by our bodies.  They never have been.  You can boil it, bake it, bleach it, grind it, whatever you want, it still isn't going to be digested by your body.  The last parts of the protein cannot be broken down by our body into the amino acids our body needs.  The last parts then are able to permeate the gut lining in two ways, depending on your genetic make-up, and leak out.  This also then opens up the gut for other things to leak out as well.  They know this, yet we are encouraged to not only eat grains, but to consume 12 servings a day of grains.  12 servings a day!!  While foregoing other fiber and nutrient rich foods like fruits and vegetables.  12 servings a day while giving up healthy animal fats which are necessary to cell function in our body.  12 servings a day that permeate our gut, make us sick and no one can understand WHY we are sick, yet we keep eating our grains.

I'm thankful for the agricultural revolution.  Truly I am. If it weren't for the agricultural revolution, I wouldn't have learned this information from other sources.  If it weren't for the agricultural revolution I wouldn't be able to send this message to you across cyber space from the comfort of my home.  But along the way, when these things came to light, it sure would have been nice if someone bothered to SHARE this information with the masses. I'm even more thankful for the agricultural revolution that THANKFULLY through hundreds of people, paleo gurus and those of us just learning, the information IS getting to the masses!!!

In order to begin healing your gut and reversing disease you must eliminate the following:
ALL Grains including:

• corn
• barley
• fonio
• kamut
• oats
• rice
• rye
• sorghum
• spelt
• teff triticale
• wheat (including durum and semolina)
• wild rice
• millet

ALL Psuedo-Grains including:

• amaranth
• buckwheat
• chia
• quinoa

Each and every one of these will affect gut health, in every single person.  Now the extent that you feel the effects is determined by other things in your life.  Genetics, stress, lifestyle, environment, infections.  But this is the KEY area.  If you could improve your health, the health of your family, your children, your grandchildren, wouldn't you do it?  You might say, "But I'm not seeing any affects from this, why should I eliminate grains?"  Are you really not seeing any affects?  Do you take prescription drugs for any health issues?  Do you take antacids for heartburn, reflux, etc?  Do you experience bowel issues regularly?  Do you have a genetic predisposition for cardiovascular disease or autoimmune disease?  You can change your health dramatically in this one area!

Aside from the battle in the gut from grains, they aren't even "healthy" for you in general terms.  Grains have no more fiber in them than fruits and vegetables, yet they are higher in starches and sugar than fruits!  That all translates to sugar in your body, which translates to being overweight, fluctuating blood sugars, mood issues, headaches, and disease.  Let's face it, grains gotta go!!!

Baking Day ... How I prevent REVOLT!!

One of the ways I keep my "boys" happy is to make paleolithic baked goods.  I really file this in the realm of "cheat".  You can package it differently, but overall health and well-being is not going to come from baked goods.  Bummer.  I know.  That first picture down there...yeah, I could eat the whole pan.

We are talking about a "lifestyle" here.  What is going to keep you going for the long term?  Will you be more apt to stay on track if you have some of those "favorites" every once in awhile?  Nobody wants to live life without chocolate chip cookies!!!  I make special treats for us at least once a week.  I don't always eat them, but the kids and Mike do.  Their favorite is Chunky Monkey Muffins, but I didn't make those today.  ;)

Today I made Blueberry Scones and Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Christian and Justin cannot eat the scones.  They are made from cashew meal.  Justin is known anaphylactic to cashews, it's a definite NO for him.  Christian has other tree nuts that he reacts to, cashews hasn't been tested, but he avoids all tree nuts. I try to make something they can eat when I make something out of almond or cashew.

Baking paleo is very different than traditional baking!  It's definitely a learning curve, and I'm still learning!!  The kids are gracious and give me lots of affirmation.  Actually, no, they are very vocal about how horrible something tastes.  I still haven't told them that the brownies they had a few weeks ago had spinach in them. I may try those again sometime.  I loved the look on their faces when they ate them.  ;)

I have had several successes with my new way of baking, and this is two of them.  The Blueberry Scone recipe is from Fed & Fit.  I haven't explored their site beyond this recipe that I was linked to from someone else.

The Chocolate Chip Cookies is adapted from the cookbook Primal Cravings.  They are not 100% Paleo, they do contain butter and baking powder.  If you absolutely cannot have dairy, you can sub the butter for palm shortening.  Baking powder can be subbed as follows:  

1 tsp baking powder=1/4 tsp baking soda + ½ tsp cream of tartar

Chocolate Chip Cookies

½ c. butter, softened

¾ c. coconut sugar

1 egg

¼ tsp. salt

1 c. tapioca flour

¼ c. coconut flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup Enjoy Life chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375°

Whisk together salt, tapioca flour, coconut flour and baking powder.  **Note: always run coconut flour through a sifter.  I put all these ingredients into the sifter and sift them together.

Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer for approx. two minutes, until fluffy.  Make sure you do this!  Add the egg and beat until combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

Turn your mixer on low and slowly add the dry ingredients.  Once mixed, fold in your chocolate chips.  I use Enjoy Life brand.  You could sub another type of chip or chunks or whatever.

Use a cookie scoop to drop your cookies onto a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake 12 - 15 minutes, then allow to cool for about 5 minutes and move to a cooling rack.

IF you prefer crispier cookies (I don't) you can omit the egg.  Add the dry ingredients after beating the butter and sugar, then add 3 TBS water.  Then fold in your chips.  I have not made those and it would certainly be personal preference to want a thinner, crispier cookie.  :)

Enjoy!!

Cheating and Reacting

I do believe we have seen our first major reaction post-paleo.

I know my body pretty well and last week when I had some popcorn at the movie theater I had a headache within a few hours.  The next morning, I had lots of intestinal issues.  Now, it could have been the popcorn itself (grain) or the highly processed vegetable oils they cook it in (yuck).  Either way, I reacted.  But that's me...when it comes to my kids, totally a different story.

None of them are 100% paleo.  They have treats and goodies, especially from school parties, etc.  They are pretty good at home, but pretty not-so-good when they are visiting their fathers.  It is unfortunate that there isn't more attention paid to the chronic health conditions of children.  Even after asking to please respect this decision and offer alternatives for the kids so they are not on overload, it is ignored.  Well Justin is our first casualty of that ignorance.  Yesterday he spent most of the afternoon in his bed.  He then moved to the couch to attempt to be a part of the family, and slept.  He had what I would deem a migraine.  His head hurt so bad he could hardly move.  He felt awful, just wanted to sleep.  It was sad to see.  I treated with ibuprofen, hydration and tried to get some healthy food into his system.  He was finally feeling better by bedtime, but what a crappy way to spend your last day of spring break.

I do believe, that for some people, not all, they can handle small amounts of "cheating".   I don't really like the term "cheating" because this is not a fad diet, this is a lifestyle, but like most others in the paleo community, there just isn't another word that fits.  Even the gurus like Dr. Cordain and Robb Wolf put "cheats" into their programs to help people get started.  But ONE meal in a week is totally different that SIX in two days.  I do hope that this ends up being an exception and not the rule.  :(

Why did I do it?

I mentioned before the goals I had for my family.  I had my own personal goals, as well as goals for each of my children. But the biggest reason was our overall health.  The more I read about the Paleolithic foods, the more I knew we had no choice but to change what we were doing.

Primary health conditions that can be reversed or greatly alleviated by removing grains, legumes, dairy, processed foods and sugar from your diet:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Degenerative disease
• Diabetes
• Autoimmune disease (which there are approx. 140 known autoimmune diseases)
• Cholesterol levels
• Acne
• Gastrointestinal diseases
• Vitamin deficiency 
• Insomnia 
• Depression
• ADD/ADHD

You can improve many, if not all, of the following:

• Mood
• Sleep
• Libido
• Energy
• Nutrient absorption
• Weight
• Performance

Mike and I both have cardiovascular disease in our family.  I know for a fact that autoimmune is close to my middle name.  Mike and I both have at least one diagnosed autoimmune disease.  I'm overweight and struggle to lose weight.  I have two children with multiple food allergies.  I have one child with Tourette's, which is autoimmune.  I have one child with sensory issues.  I have two children who are overweight.  I have a child with acne.  I have a child who has chronic gastrointestinal issues, does not digest food properly and suffers from vitamin deficiencies.  Why wouldn't I do it???  Because I like to eat bread??  Well, I've decided I like living more.  My family's health is much more important than bread.  

A year ago, my sister said to me, "If giving up bread/grains made you feel better, wouldn't you do it?"  I think my response was, "Maybe."  I wasn't yet willing to find out.  6 weeks ago, I was, and I'm so much better for it!!

Since removing grains, legumes, sugar and processed foods from my everyday diet I have experienced the beauty of sleep....yes sleep!!  I also have energy!  What's that??  I feel better overall.  That bitchy person I was becoming is now gone.  I get up early every morning!  I can't fall back to sleep even when I think I want to.  My body doesn't ache.  My joints are moving better.  No muscle aches and the chronic dosing of anti-imflamatories is gone.  I have been migraine free!!!  I have been nearly headache free!!!!  THAT is HUGE right there.  And....I've lost 15 lbs!!!  I'm looking forward to seeing how my health continues to improve as I heal my guy and begin to reverse the deterioration of my body.

Where did you start?

"Where did you start?" is a very frequent question.  There are lots of hints, tips and how-to's out there.  Some people say with anything you do, jump in with both feet, rip that band-aid off and go!  Some people say, make small changes over time, you'll stay committed long term if you slowly change.

I did neither. Or both.  Or...well you decide...

You must understand my motto...I've raised 7 of my own children, and added in 3 more...I am not a short order cook.  I refuse to make multiple meals.  You will eat what's served, within reason.  I also have children (and now a grandchild) with multiple food allergies.  No one is ever forced to eat something they are allergic to.  Actually, they aren't even forced to eat foods they hate.  We have a traditional "no thank you" bite that must be taken of any tolerable food, ie: no allergy to said food.  After that, it's up to you.  We always had PBJ or lunch meat sandwiches available, but I wasn't making them.  So until you were old enough to spread your own PB, you ate what mom made, period.  

When we started Advocare, I set forth the rule that everyone would eat the same thing for dinner.  Breakfast was on your own (had been for years), lunch you made yourself for school, but dinner, would remain the family meal and everyone would eat the same.  So that's where we started.  Dinner.

After about a week or so, I had stopped buying cereal and poptarts (staples in our home) so when those ran out, it was time to work on breakfast.  I was now sleeping at night, and getting up early in the morning without feeling like a Mac truck had hit me (another post), so I started making everyone's breakfast and that too was converted to paleolithic. 

It was a couple more weeks, I had quit buying bread, so I had to really work hard to figure out just how "lunch" was going to work.  Our traditional sack lunch for the kids had been a sandwich (lunch meat or PBJ), a bag of chips (I bought the individual bags by the case!), two processed snacks and a juice bag.  Everything they were eating on a daily basis had to go!!  But we did it!!  We are now 100% paleo, most of the time.  

Most advocates of the paleolithic lifestyle follow the 80/20 rule.  If you eat true paleo 80% of the time, you will still see 100% of the benefits.  (Unless you're AIP, autoimmune protocol, which is much stricter and a route I may be taking at some point.)  So when I say we are 100% paleo, it means that we eat on average 80% paleo 100% of the time.  

I did this whole transition in less than 4 weeks.  I would not say this was a "rip the band-aid off" type approach, but we certainly didn't take a lot of baby steps and get used to those before we did something else.  My biggest strategy was to just quit buying anything that didn't fit our new life.  In a family this large (6 of us here daily, 8 or more frequently...could be 14 on any given weekend!) we go through food pretty quickly so it disappeared fast.  My oldest son had also recently moved into his own place and I was pretty willing to "share" some of our "extras" with him.  I sent him home with grocery bags of staples, sugar, rice, flour, corn, bread, seasoning packets, canned goods, lentils, etc.  He shares an apartment with another 20 year old, I knew they could take care of it for me easily enough.  If you don't have a starving college student to feed, send extras to a food pantry.  I didn't want food to go bad, I had spent money on it!!  But I also knew that we were not going to eat it.  Once the cereal, bread and poptarts were gone, it was gone.  The things we used for "meals" was no longer needed.  During this time, I was already paleo for breakfast and lunch.  The challenge came about making sure we had enough food and staples for the whole crew to eat this way.  I spent a lot of time on-line, on Pinterest, reading and making lists. 

My suggestion is if you are doing this for yourself, start NOW.  Don't wait.  If you are doing it for your family, give them warning, wait for the meltdowns and then move forward.  From this day forward, don't buy anymore processed junk, no more sugar, no flour, no rice, no corn, no legumes, nothing packed in soy (it's in everything!).  Your next trip to the grocery store should stay to the perimeter of the store:  

• Produce (lots of it)
• Meat (lots of that too)
• Nuts or seeds (minimal)
• Eggs (I buy 6 dozen at a time.)
• Olive oil
• Coconut oil
• Spices (A variety, if you don't have a decent collection start adding to it.  Clean out your spices....HOW old is that tumeric??

When it's not in your home, you don't use it, cook with it, eat it.  This goes for the JUNK as well as the MEAT and VEGGIES!  If it isn't there you won't eat it.  So put the good stuff in the cabinets and leave the junk on the store shelves!

A warning about the grocery store while I'm here:  Don't get sucked into the "organic", "gluten free" and "healthy" labeling!!  Almost always they are marketing ploys!!  Check all ingredient labels of anything you buy that is not right out of the ground or off the tree.  This includes any kind of packaged meat products.  Sausage, bacon, ham, turkey, lunch meat, etc.  Bacon and other meats should be nitrate and nitrite free.  Uncured bacon is more expensive but worth it to not have the fillers (and sugar!) in your body. 

If possible, and your budget allows, look for grass-fed beef, free range chicken (and eggs) and turkey.  We cannot afford to buy those products all the time.  We have a lot of mouths to feed!  But when we can, we do.  I'm still looking for a local grass-fed beef source that I can buy half a cow at a time.  I'd also love a local egg source, but we eat a LOT of eggs (see above) and I'm not sure anyone could keep us in eggs!  But these are plans for the future.  

How Did I Get Here???

I'm not sure how many times in my life I've asked this question? I was a home school mom for nearly 20 years.  I have 7 biological children.  I've owned a business.  I work full time.  As I look back, I probably have asked that questions more times than anybody I know!!

But the question now is, HOW DID I GET HERE??? There are many people who put me in this position.  First off, my very good, long time friend, Anne Peterson.  She said, "YOU MUST BLOG!!!!"  I nearly fainted.  Secondly, the love of my life, Mike Rockert.   He said, "DO IT!!!!"  Thirdly, my sister, Carol Zacharias, and good friend, Kirstin Reeder, who are the real reasons I'm here.  If it wasn't for them I would have just chucked it all out the window and remained sick and unhealthy.  I'm eternally grateful to them for pushing me when I thought it was impossible.

In December 2013, I had knee surgery to repair and replace cartilage in my knee.  They performed what is called a micro-fracture by drilling holes into the tibia and releasing a blood patch.  When that blood patch heals it becomes scar tissue which feigns cartilage.  It will never be the cartilage I was born with, but it put a total knee replacement further into my future.  My other knee will have to be done at some point.  Post surgery I was non-weight-bearing for almost 6 weeks.  This meant a lot of sitting around, being bored out of my mind and EATING.  I ate everything.  Christmas cookies, leftover Halloween candy, chips, popcorn, junk, junk, junk.  And I gained 15 lbs. doing so.  As I was getting ready to go back to work, I realized I was not going to even fit into my work clothes!!  What had I done?!?!

Ok, truth time.  I'd been putting on pounds for over a year.  Eating out way too much.  Eating a lot of late night snacks.  Self-medicating with pop, coffee (sugared and creamed) and chocolate.  It was a really bad cycle.  My family was suffering too.  We spent more time eating out than in, and the house was full of junk.  Some changes needed to be made.  Even before surgery, I had talked to a couple of friends and said, "after the new year, after surgery, we're going to make some changes".

Some goals I had for our family:

• Get out of the drive-thru.
• Get rid of the processed junk.
• Get rid of the sugar.
• Get on a healthier path.
• Lose excess weight.

I met with a friend to talk to her about her program, how she was losing weight and getting healthy.  She introduced me to Advocare.  I asked Mike if he would be willing to do Advocare's 24 Day Challenge with me.  It would get us on track, lose some weight, etc.  He said he was willing to even though it meant some hard choices for him, he'd have to give up pop for 24 days.  No junk food, no drive-thru lunches, etc.  These were mainstays in his life.  But he agreed and we were off and running!

At the end of the 24 days we had seen moderate success.  Mike, much more than myself.  Guys lose weight easily.  Let's face it.  They think about losing weight and lose 5 lbs!  Men.  Sheesh.  Neither of us were super happy with our results and we'd expected more.  My biggest complaint:  I felt like CRAP!!!!  I was tired all the time.  I was bitchy and treating my family horribly.  My 15yo said, "Mom, you're crabby...eat something!!!"  I wasn't hungry, I just felt horrible and let it be reflected onto everyone else.  When I notice that I'm being a bitch, I must be really being a bitch!  Typically, I can brush that off as whomever deserved whatever tirade they got, well not this time.  I was bad, and I felt worse.  I thought I was supposed to feel better?  I thought I was supposed to have energy?  I felt like I'd traveled back in time to some of my worst days.  This was NOT what I wanted for me or my family.  I needed to change gears and quickly.  I couldn't live like this.

I immediately started venting to Kirstin.  She said, "Dawn, you are a walking autoimmune disease, you need to eat a Paleo diet, PRONTO".  Ok, maybe not those exact words, but pretty darn close.  Now, you have no idea what those words meant to me.  I was flipping out!!  No bread???  I love bread...give me bread!!  No pasta???  I gotta have my pasta!!!  No corn???  What, are you nuts??  It's the only "vegetable" I eat!! Cereal is a staple in our house. You've fallen right out of your tree, sorry, no can do.

Then I sent my sister a text...You'd have thought I succeeded at finding world peace.  The excitement she had over me even PONDERING the idea of Paleo.  Oh man, HOW DID I GET HERE???

Slow, deep breaths. You need to think.  You need some thinking food.  Yes.  Go get some ice cream and think about this. That is exactly what I did.  I went to Oberweiss and ordered a scoop of chocolate peanut butter ice cream and sat and ate it.  This was my treat for making it 24 days, no drive-thru, no pop, no candy, no junk.  Hmmm....ok now I could think....come on, Dawn, think, you've been eating very differently for the past 24 days.  How many times had I had grains during those 24 days?  Four, maybe 5, meals?  So 24 days, 3 meals a day plus about 2 snacks...that's like 120 "meals".  And only HOW many times did I eat grains??  Oh shoot, I can do this!!  I'm almost there!!  Sold!!!!  I immediately drove to see Mike and tell him we were on a new path.  We were going to begin a Paleolithic Lifestyle.

I'm positive he was clueless as to what that meant.  He was convinced his 24 days was done, he could drink pop and hit McDonald's and all would be well!  Sorry honey...for better or worse, sickness and health...oh wait, we haven't said those words.  Oh well he loves me anyway.  Even though I don't let him eat bread anymore.  

The very next day I began our whole kitchen make-over (which I will describe in more detail later), and our new lifestyle was underway!

Background History: My Personal Struggles

For over 12 years I have struggled to find out what is "wrong" with me.  I've been to many different doctors, had numerous tests done, and explored alternative medicine.  I used the internet to try to educate myself on my symptoms and fought traditional medicine until I was exhausted.  Exhausted.  Yep.  I was exhausted.  All the time.  Fatigue, joint pain, muscle pain, chronic DAILY headaches, frequent migraines, insomnia, IBS with chronic constipation, weight gain, struggling to lose weight, hair loss, splotches on my face, out-of-whack hormones.  I could go on, but I think you get the picture.  It wasn't pretty.

I'm a mom of a lot of kids...I didn't have time for this.  I didn't have time for doctors.  I didn't have time for day long (or night long) tests.  I just wanted answers.  Answers never came.  This is brief run down on tests I've had done in the past 12 years:

MRIs

CT Scans

Lumbar Puncture

Optic Nerve Scan

Ultra Sounds (female organs, as well as thyroid, gall bladder and liver)

Sleep Study

IgE, IgG and full battery of allergy testing

Countless blood work up's including TSH, T4, T3, Vitamin levels, hormones, antibodies, etc.

I'm sure I'm missing something, somewhere.

A couple of times I thought I'd found answers.  During some tests by my immunologist they found I had almost no antibodies.  Was my body producing them?  I was chronically sick, maybe this was why.  Would my body produce them on its own?  I was given a Pneumo-Vax to find out.  They retested 6 weeks later and yes, my body did produce antibodies against those known viruses.  That ruled out several autoimmune diseases.

At another time, they found goiters on my thyroid.  That success was short-lived.  I was treated medicinally for a short while and the MD stopped treatment.  

Another time the neurologist was sure I had psuedo-tumors.  Every test came back normal.

Sleep study, normal, except, "You need more sleep."  Truly.  I could have told them that without a test!

I also found out during an MRI on my shoulder last year that I have arthritis in my shoulder(s).  Add that to the chronic knee problems I've had since youth...MRI on my right knee showed I needed surgery, had no cartilage and degenerative breakdown/arthritis.  The presumption is that both knees have these issues, but you only deal with the most painful and debilitating one at a time.  I had knee surgery in December of 2013, which ended up being much more complicated than they originally thought.  They had to "create" new cartilage for me, I was non-weight-bearing for almost 6 weeks and off work for nearly 12.  

During that time I learned a few things about myself:

My headaches are much less when I'm not working.  (Stress, lights, sleep???)

I don't get sick when I'm not working.  (Chronically exposed to every virus in town!)

I gain weight when I sit around and do nothing but eat because I'm bored for 6 weeks.  (Almost 15 lbs.!!)

I still don't like exercise and it makes me feel like CRAP.  (PT kicked my butt!!!)

I would love to be healthy.  Period.

That leads us into another post.  ;)

I will say I believe I am a walking autoimmune disease.  At this point I don't really care which ones, as I'm sure there are multiple.  I'm positive I have Raynaud's.  I also believe I have adrenal fatigue, if I haven't completely crushed my adrenals altogether!  I know I have Chronic Fatigue/Fibromyalgia symptoms and my doctor refers to it with me, but it's not recorded anywhere.  I have undiagnosed thyroid issues.  I'm sure there are more.  Sarah Ballantyne, PhD. lists 22 chronic symptoms that point to autoimmune issues in her book The Paleo Approach.  Of those 22 symptoms, I have 19 of them.  No question.  NOW what to do about it??