Getting back on the wagon with chicken soup

Lately, I feel the need to get back on the diet I was on when I lost all that weight.  Because I've been bad.  This summer, I ate all kinds of things and gained 5 pounds.  Not too bad, right?  Well, then some friends of mine came over for a girlie weekend and I ate everything bad for four straight days and gained 8 more pounds.  Seriously!  EIGHT pounds in four days?!?  That's just not right!  It's not like I was stuffing my face either.  I just ate unhealthy things at every meal for four days.  It's crazy how my body puts on weight all at once like that.  On the plus side, my body also loses weight all at once like that too.  I just need to get in the zone.  Since that weekend, I have not gained any more weight, but I have not lost any either. 

Everybody is different, but I cannot lose weight as long as I eat sugar and grains.  Even if I consume very few calories.  (crazy, right?)  It was almost a year ago that I went on a modified Candida Diet and lost 30 pounds.  I ate mostly meat and veggies.  No fruit, vinegar, or sugar, and very limited starches.  (Like 1/2 cup of rice per day at the most.)  This week, I'm getting back with the program.  To kick start it all off, I'm going to eat NO grains at all.  Then, I'll add 1/2 of rice per day next week.  I will post what I eat every day just to prove it can be done.  To add a further challenge, I must avoid nuts because I have discovered that they make my migraines worse.  (There goes my favorite snack food!)

Today being Sunday, I thought I'd make a big pot of chicken soup for lunches this week.  It's a good, filling, yet healthy meal that you can make and freeze in individual tupperwares.  Just as convenient as a processed TV dinner, but way more delicious and healthy!  Here's how I make it:

Chicken Soup

Ingredients:
whatever chicken parts you want   (I use 2 legs and 2 thighs b/c I think it makes a better-tasting soup)
1 or 2 carrots, sliced
1 or 2 celery ribs, sliced
1 onion, chopped
1 bay leaf
thyme to taste
salt to taste
here's the cool part:  You know those veggies that you have in your fridge that are about to go bad?  The ones you bought with every intention of eating them but it just didn't happen?  Chuck 'em in the soup! 

Directions:
Put everything in a big pot.  Pour enough water in to cover.  Simmer for 1 hour over medium  heat.  Cool, strain, then cut the chicken off the bone into bite-sized chucks.  Remove bay leaf.

It's nice to have this soup on hand for a quick meal or snack when you need it. 

A Yummy, No-Grain Supper

When you're on a gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free (and lately grain-free) diet, people always ask:  "What's left to eat?"  Well, here is one meal idea for supper.

• Grass-fed Ribeye steak (I use my friend Dot's recipe on her blog.  It's so delicious, I only cook steak this way these days!)
• sauteed mushrooms
• green salad with homemade dressing (olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, fresh herbs, and salt)
• Mockarita  (scroll down to bottom of page)

Leave off the mushrooms, and you've got a yeast-connection-diet-friendly meal too.
Happy eating!

Breakfast fit for a queen

I love a good weekend breakfast!  Unfortunately, I can't have things like pancakes, waffles, bacon, etc.  so I have to improvise.  Here is something I put together yesterday morning (Saturday) and it was truly delicious and seemed decadent. 

Bacon Alternative:  I cannot eat bacon and other processed meats because the nitrates they use to preserve them give me serious migraines.  (My uncle was the one who told me about this because he gets these too.  Does anyone else have this problem?)  I have found nitrate-free bacon, but there is always sugar in it!  I guess the sugar takes the place of the nitrates to preserve it?  Anyway, it's a rock and a hard place situation.  Until now!

Did you know you can fry up prosciutto and it gets crisp just like bacon?  Okay, so it's not quite as tasty, but it's a close second!  They don't put the preservatives in prosciutto like they do with bacon.  (Not sure why.  Anyone?)  The ingredients listed were just "pork, salt, and spices".

Fried eggs:  I use real eggs from grass-fed, truly free-range, organic, chickens.  This makes all the difference!  Yum.

Butternut squash hash:  I took some leftover roasted butternut squash, cut it up, topped in with chopped pecans and a bit more cinnamon and butter, and baked it for about 10 minutes or so.  This made a perfect, sweet companion to my eggs and "bacon".

Chai with coconut milk:  Need I say more?

There you have it.  A great breakfast that royalty would envy! 

Who knew butternut squash was so delicious?

Oh, butternut squash, where have you been all my life?  I happened upon this recipe in the Candida Control Cookbook and it happens to fit into the Specific Carbohydrate Diet too.  It is sweet enough to be dessert!  The taste reminds me of a cross between pumpkin and sweet potatoes.  I suppose you could substitute butternut squash for the sweet potatoes when making casserole for a low-carb version.  Also, I've made "pumpkin pie" with butternut squash instead of pumpkin and it tastes almost identical!

Treat yourself to this yummy, healthy dessert!

Roasted Butternut Squash
Ingredients:
1 Butternut Squash
cinnamon to taste
butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  Wash, dry, and cut squash length-wise.  Dot with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon.  Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes.

SO easy and you won't believe how delicious it is!  (...and I usually don't even like squash!)