A Good Snack to Have on Hand

In her book The Gut Flush Plan, author Ann Louise Gittleman includes several recipes.  I made this Tangy Tapenade yesterday and find that it is a delicious, nutritious snack!  It's great to have this in the fridge, along with some cut veggies, to help when you have the munchies. 

Ann Louise's Tangy Tapenade
Serve this delicious and flavorful blend on grilled poultry, fish, or a burger, and, of course, with raw or steamed veggies.

2 T pitted black olives
2 T green olives with pimentos
2 T drained capers
1/4 cup walnuts
1/2 cup fresh basil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 cup flaxseed oil
3 T fresh lemon juice
salt and cayenne pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or electric blender, and pulse lightly to blend.  Do not puree.  Transfer to a container with lid and refrigerate until serving time.  Store leftover tapenade in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Makes 1 cup or 4 1/4 cup servings.

I cut up some celery, carrots, zucchini, daikon radish, and bell peppers to dip in the tapenade.  Yum!  I have it all in the fridge, ready to grab when I get hungry.  Also, I made a salad dressing by mixing a spoonful of the tapenade in some olive oil, and adding more lemon juice.  It came out great!

Detoxing

After a month of traveling (during which I totally strayed from my diet), I felt the need to get back to healthy eating.  I just feel better when I stick to my diet.  Detoxing can give you a kick-start in the right direction and rid your system of all the bad things you've ingested.  They say that if the digestive system is polluted, then it will pollute your bloodstream, and indirectly, your whole body.  Cleansing your digestive system if one of the best things you can do for your health.

     To this end, I have found the book The Gut Flush Plan by Ann Louis Gittleman very helpful.  (It's not quite what it sounds like.  This is the same author as The Fat Flush Plan.)  This book suggests many of the same things I'm already doing.  (giving up wheat and dairy, taking fish oil and probiotics, etc.)  It kind of validated everything in my mind.  She outlines a 3-week cleansing diet, which I have been following.  (more or less)  I'm in week two, but I did cheat and have cheese fries with a friend one day.  :-(  Oh well....more to cleanse, right?
Week 1 = fortifying - before the detox part, it helps your body if you fortify first.  This will make it less jarring to your system.  Dr. Gittleman suggests eating probiotic foods, healthy oils, drinking teas like honeybush and dandelion root, etc.
Week 2 = flush - clearing out all the bad things in your gut.
Week 3 = feed - feeding the good bacteria in your gut and starving all the bad bacteria will ensure good health in the future. 

If you suffer from the following, this book can help you:  bloating, gas, irregularity, recurring diarrhea, IBS, food allergies, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, depression, Hypoglycemia, constant headaches

I especially liked chapter 14 - "Gut Flush at Home" because she tells you how to cleanse your home so that it can support your health.  She tells you how to get rid of mold, bacteria, parasites, and other dangerous things that could be lurking in your home.  Good to know!

Green Cleaning

I have been thinking about green cleaning products lately.  There are several that I use now, but I don't really know what I'm doing and I haven't been using them consistently.  They say that regular cleaning products can make the air in your house more toxic to breathe than outside air!  I know I feel sick when I use certain products.  Anyway, I was excited to find this post about how to create your own green cleaners and how to use them.  I want to pass this info on!  If you are like me, this will help shed some light on the situation:

http://www.greenamericatoday.org/pubs/realgreen/articles/greencleaners.cfm   

This post tells you how to make your own cleaning solutions out of natural things like vinegar, borax, club soda, corn meal, lemon juice, baking soda, etc.  Not only are these things healthier for you and your environment, they are cheaper than the cleaners you have been buying.  It's win-win!

I especially like their advice on how to clean carpets:
       "Carpet cleaner: To clean and disinfect your carpet, the CHEC recommends blending 1/2 cup baking soda, 1 cup borax, and 1 cup cornmeal. Sprinkle mixture over rug and rub with a cloth. Let rest for several hours or overnight, then vacuum. To remove stains from your carpet, Logan advises mixing 1/4 cup liquid castile soap and 1/3 cup water in a blender until foamy. Spread the mixture on the carpet and let sit for a few minutes, then scrub the stain with a brush or clean rag. Also, club soda will remove many acidic stains, like coffee, wine, or juice. To deal with big carpet spills, pour cornmeal on the spill, wait 15 minutes, then vacuum."

I'm going to try this today and I'll let you know how it works.  Has anyone out there had experience with  natural cleaning solutions and methods?  I'd love to hear about any other good tips out there. 

Tips for Traveling with Comfort and Good Health

There's nothing worse than feeling sick when you're traveling overseas.  I've traveled to and from Europe once a year (and sometimes twice) for the last decade.  SO - I've picked up some tips that help me feel good when I fly on those long-haul flights, and I'm passing them to you!  I hope you find them helpful.

Tip #1:  Wear comfortable yet nice clothing.

There are two ways of thinking on this.  Some people prefer to dress as comfortably as possible when flying and wear sweats or jeans and flip-flops.  Some people say it's better to dress nicely so that the airport personnel take you seriously if you have to dispute anything.  I like to combine both!  I wear super comfy clothes that also look halfway decent.  You don't want to go to the service desk in nasty 'ol sweats and flips flops.  They will NOT take you seriously.  (Also, think of the passport control at the other side.)  I usually wear some black, loose-fitting, cotton slacks with a button up knit shirt.  The best travel shoes ever?  Lands End All-Weather Mocasins (I wear black).  Love them!  They slip off and on easily and they are water proof.  These make going through security (where you have to take your shoes off) a breeze!  Also, they feel like sneakers, but look like nice black shoes.

Tip #2:  Avoid airline food like the plague! 

 I can't tell you how many times I have felt intense headache pain and nausea on flights! Luckily, I found a way to avoid this.  The last few times I traveled, I brought along some Larabars to snack on.  I like them because they are all natural and are basically made of dried fruit and nuts.  Then, when I get to the lay-over airport (this time, Houston) I go to Panda Express and get fried rice, steamed vegetables, and chicken.  Even though the fried dishes look awesome, I avoid them.   I tell myself I'll get something nice when I get to where I'm going.  Sometimes, I'll also get a green tea from Starbucks  (these two are usually  beside each other in a lot of airports).   Why Panda Express?  They are one of the few options that have no MSG in their food!  I fill up on rice, meat, and veg and then I do not eat anything on the plane.  Also, I only drink water when the drink cart comes by.  It sounds like a drag but it's SO worth it to not feel like crap and to have the energy to do fun things when you get to your destination.

Tip #3:  Pack light!

When packing, if in doubt, leave it out.  If you have your passport, ticket, money, all other stuff can be replaced easily if need be.  It's a drag to lug around endless luggage.  Also, they are making it harder and harder to bring excess baggage on planes. I love my small rolly carry-on bag.  I learned last trip that it's worth it to bring a pair of undies, a big T-shirt, a small pouch of detergent (to wash the clothes you're wearing), and a toothbrush and small toothpaste in your carry-on.  Our suitcases got lost and it's really nice to have these things if/when it does.

New Find for this trip:
The Total Pillow!  I  found this at Walgreen's in the "as seen on TV" section.  It's very versatile and I have to say it makes the best neck pillow I've ever tried.  I could sleep easily on the plane (and bus!) without my head rolling all around and me getting a crick in my neck.

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!)