Zucchini Grillini

I am slightly obsessed with Jason's Deli Zucchini Grillini sandwich. I order it without the cheese and on GF bread and it is d.i.v.i.n.e.

I decided to make it at home tonight for my dinner. I grilled zucchini strips and red pepper strips on our George Forman Grill with just a touch of olive oil to help it cook/brown. I probably used a 1/2 tsp. so not much. I cut up cucumbers, red onions, tomatoes and put down a good layer of spinach and then layered all the ingredients on red pepper hummus on the toasted gluten free bread. A little salt and pepper, and voila! Deliciousness. I LOVE a good sandwich!!

Chocolate Fudge #Vegan #Gluten Free

Full disclosure...this is not a picture of the fudge I made. It looks super similar, though. I made the fudge late one night and with the help of my family it did not last long.

1 Can Coconut Condensed Milk - link here.
3 4oz Bars Bakers Semi-Sweet Chocolate
1 tsp Vanilla
Smidge of salt
Nuts (optional)

Break up all of the Bakers chocolate in a microwavable bowl. Pour the coconut condensed milk over the top. Add Salt. Microwave the mixture for 1 minute, then stir. Microwave in 10-15 second increments. I don't like for the microwave to completely melt the chocolate...it is best to stir the mixture to finish the melting. Once completely melted add vanilla and nuts. Stir and pour into a parchment lined 8x8 dish. Refrigerate. Cut into small pieces to serve. Store in fridge.


================
This fudge was delicious. There was no coconut flavor that I could detect. I based this recipe on my Mom's fudge recipe. She loved to mix a bag of chocolate chips and a can of Eagle Brand to make easy fudge during the holidays.

This doesn't make a huge batch, but could be doubled if you wanted it thicker.

I bought the 6 pack of the coconut condensed milk above. I am so grateful that this product is available. I will have plenty of cans on hand for the holidays....and for the best Vegan hot chocolate....EVER! Recipe to come soon.

Molasses Cardamom Cookies #Vegan #Gluten Free

The holidays are right around the corner. I am not loving the fact that everyone around me will be eating lots of food that if I joined in would leave me with a full tummy, but also lots of pain and swelling in my joints. As I get closer to the family meals I am thinking through whether I want to indulge for the day and pay the consequences or hold out and eat some delicious options, just not what everyone else is eating.

One thing I know for sure, even if I do eat some Thanksgiving food, one thing I can't do is surround the days around it with other off-limit foods. For me it is easier to stick with this food plan without cheating here and there. Where does the cheating start and stop then? However, it's the gatherings of food and family that leave me feeling a bit lonesome in the midst of it all. When food is the center of the gathering,  and you can't have that food, there is a bit of an outsider-ish feel. Maybe it wont always be this way, but in this first year that is where I am at.

Knowing that there would be gatherings this season I would be bringing dishes to, and also wanting to have at least one thing I could eat as far as treats go has gotten me into the mindset of planning ahead.

The first real success I had was making fudge. I made a great recipe. Once I post it I will link it here.

But today's success is all about some holiday spice in a cookie with a bit of a crunchy sugary glaze on the outside. They turned out so delicious. I will make these over and over.

This recipe was my inspiration.

Here is my adaptation -

Gluten Free/Vegan Molasses Cardamom Glazed Cookies
2 1/4 c. gluten free flour - this one is my favorite.
1/2 c. salad oil (next time I make this I will substitute canned pumpkin)
1/4 c. sugar
1/4 c. molasses
1/4 c. maple or maple-flavor syrup
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. (or more) ground cardamom (I doubled this)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon (I doubled this)
1/4 tsp. ground ginger (I used fresh ginger in a tube, 1 1/2tsp)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Vegan egg substitute - I use this one.

Into large bowl measure all ingredients. With mixer at low speed, beat until well-blended, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Refrigerate dough for a few hours to make it easier to roll into balls.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape dough by level teaspoonfuls into ball; place balls 2-inches apart on un-greased cookie sheets. Bake 10 minutes. With spatula remove cookies to wire racks to cool.

The original recipe did not call for an icing glaze, but with the thoughts of a great southern spice cake in mind, I fashioned a similar glaze to top the cookies with.

Glaze
1 C Powdered Sugar
Nut Milk or water, I used cashew milk to thin. Probably around a tablespoon? Till it's the right consistency.
1/2 t Vanilla
1/4 t Allspice
Smidge of salt

Mix icing ingredients together. I put the bowl of mixed ingredients into the microwave for about 10 seconds to warm. I wanted the salt and sugar to no longer have a gritty consistency. Mix well again. If you want to dip the cookies for a light coating as pictured it needs to be the consistency of a syrup.

Dip the top of cooled cookies into the glaze, turn over and set the unglazed side on parchment or wax paper. Let cool. Enjoy.

Store in tightly covered container.

Vegan Bell Enchiladas

It has been a great week for my RA. I hadn't been able to wear my wedding ring for several months. My ring finger would swell off and on so I would take my ring off here and there. One time I took my ring off in my house and forgot where I laid it down. Thankfully I found it pretty quickly, but decided at that point I was going to put it in a safe place until my finger was back to normal. It has been a week that my ring finger has been able to bend easily again and the inflammation is gone. That is how my recovery has gone, and from the other info I have read it is common. The swelling/pain moves around here and there, but as long as I stay on my Vegan eating and keep the fats in my diet to a bare minimum the pain eventually dissipates. I go in for my next blood draw on Oct. 10th and I am hopeful that my previous RA marker (25) will have lowered even more. This plan works. I am so grateful!

My sister sent me a great recipe today. I adapted it to make it Vegan. Here is the recipe:
2 Bell Peppers, cut in half with ribs and seeds removed.
1 can Black Beans
1 c Corn
1 c Rice or Quinoa
1 tsp Garlic powder
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Chili Powder
Salt
Pepper
1 c Vegan Cheese
1 1/2 C Hatch Red Enchilada Sauce (or any Vegan option)

Preheat oven to 375 deg. Place a thin layer of red enchilada sauce in the pan, lay bell pepper halves down open side up. In a mixing bowl combine beans, corn, rice or quinoa, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper, cheese (saving a bit to sprinkle on top). Fill the bell peppers with the filling. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top of the bell peppers, sprinkle with cheese. Cover pan loosely with foil. Bake for 40 minutes.

We all loved this dish. Super yummy!

Vegan Eating and the Great Commission

Before I was diagnosed with RA I signed up to be a part of a mission trip to Haiti. I knew I was in severe pain, and truthfully I just turned my pain over to God. I would be in pain either in my living room or in Haiti. Once I was diagnosed with RA and then moved into the Vegan eating plan food options were a bit of a concern for me traveling to a third world country, however on the bright side the severe pain was gone once I moved into a Vegan eating plan, so that concern was gone. Yay!

It took some extra planning and serious thinking ahead to bring food I would need to get me through the week. We would provide lunch for ourselves, but breakfast and dinner would be prepared by the staff. I was able to find out the standard menu and discovered 4 nights would be rice and beans which is right on plan. The other two nights were spaghetti with meat sauce which would not work for me. Breakfast was lots of fresh fruit and avocado's along with eggs and homemade bread of which the last two wouldn't work for me.

So I made a plan.

My breakfast each day consisted of a rice cake or two that I brought with me, peanut butter - which I brought with me in individual serving packets and then the delicious fruit and avocado's provided. There was peanut butter provided also, but once someone dips a knife into the peanut butter, slathers their bread and then puts the knife back into the peanut butter then the peanut butter is no longer gluten free.

For dinner I brought some pre-made packaged rice which I bought at our Natural grocers. It was already cooked so I just dumped it on my plate and mixed in some slaw that was a part of the meal each night. There was no microwave or way for me to heat it up, but cold rice was fine.

For my lunch each day I brought a Macrobar, some nuts and fruit strips.

I write this post because there are great things out there we can all be a part of, but when you have food allergies sometimes the idea of traveling can be very scary. I am here to say it can be done. Don't miss out on adventures because of food issues. Bring your own. Some people on the eating plan I am on will bring a rice cooker with them to a hotel room if they are unsure they can get the food they need. You can cook rice, quinoa, buckwheat, steam vegetables all from your counter top.
As the foodie I am, it is hard for me to not want to try all the food around me. But the indulgence of 30 seconds is not worth the chronic pain in my joints that follow.
I met some awesome people, had awesome experiences and participated in the great commission. God is good.  www.livebeyond.org

The Starch Solution - Dr. McDougall

I am close to 3 months in on eating by the Vegan eating plan by John McDougall. I just can't believe how much a difference food has made in my body healing itself. 3 months ago my body was in chronic pain. I could not open a water bottle any more, my hands hurt so badly and were so stiff just holding onto something without dropping it was a rarity. I value both traditional and holistic medicine, however, from research I knew that traditional medicine offered me no cure, only harsh medication to slow the process and that would cause more problems at the same time. So I went to a holistic doctor in the Dallas area that I had gone to before. I had just finished the Whole 30 which is a protein based diet, much like paleo. No grains, no sugar,... All of this pain had happened to me over the previous 12 months, with the last 6 months the progression happening at a startling rate. During the Whole 30 my pain and stiffness became substantially worse. When I went to my holistic doctor he kept me on a similar plan as to the Whole 30 with some minor alterations. Something inside of me, (Thank you, Jesus) prompted me to research for myself about diets that help RA. Within a couple of days I found the Paddison Program and John McDougall's website. The first 12 days I followed the Paddison Program (a strict elimination diet, Vegan) and then on day 13 moved over to the McDougall plan which is also Vegan. After the first 3 days I had full use of my hands again. My RA score went from a 39 (high) to a 23.3 (still high but much lower) in 6 weeks. This plan works for general health, auto immune diseases including RA, issues with cholesterol, everything....

It is important to not think Vegan eating is purely veggies and fruit, this plan includes starches as the basis of each meal, then veggies and fruit. I am never hungry after I eat, I stay full till it's time for my next meal, my brain functions well (no brain fog).

I still have a way to go to have a score of normal when it comes to inflammation, but I know as long as I feed my body what it needs it will get there. God made our bodies to heal themselves, like a cut heals on our arm or leg, but we have to give it the nutrients it needs to make that happen.

I followed John McDougall's website for the first 10 weeks with just info on line which is free, but recently bought his book. It is filled with lots of great information, all the how and why it works and what led him to start testing his theory of a Vegan based eating plan as compared to traditional meat based diet.

Let's Get A Little Bit Rowdy...R.O.W.D.Y. with Kim Chi

This week I tried for the first time a Gluten Free, Vegan tortilla that actually holds up to rolling food inside. Here is the link, it's an Almond Flour tortilla. I had seen it advertised a couple of months ago and someone posted on FB that they were in town so I made a point to go by Natural Grocers to buy a pack. I made a huge mistake assuming that the Cassava and Coconut tortilla's by the same company were also Vegan. They are not...as pictured by the nice pink cow on the front of the package...rushing while buying Vegan food is never a good idea. Must. Read. All. Labels. The Almond Flour tortilla was super yummy. I made a pot of pinto beans in my crock pot, then piled on a bit of brown rice, and then because I was feeling crazy...doppled some Kim Chi on top of that. We like sauerkraut in our house, I have NEVER tried Kim Chi (that's how this brand is spelled) before but it looked super spicy and yummy so I gave it a try. This particular brand includes kale in the mix. I really liked it. The pickly spice went well with the rice and beans. We have enjoyed eating on the pinto beans for a couple of days. Today I sautéed some red, yellow and green bell peppers and some onions, then mixed it with the beans and rice and made a couple of tacos with the almond flour tortilla's. Super yummy. Vegan eating is super inexpensive...as long as you don't buy too many of these delicious tortillas...you might have to sell an arm to pay for them. In all seriousness, Vegan eating is very inexpensive if you cook at home. Veggies are a bargain, even organic veggies are a bargain as compared to meat and cheese.

Zoodles, Rice and Pasta

One of the easiest meals I love to make is a zoodle (zucchini noodle) based pasta sauce dish. However, on this starch based vegan eating plan that I follow there's only one thing missing when it is just the zucchini and the pasta sauce..the starch. This night I decided to add rice to the zucchini and sauce. It was pretty good. I keep some sort of rice, lentil, quinoa or brown rice pasta on hand, white potatoes are great also. Dr. McDougall, whose plan I follow spouts the benefits of the humble white potato all the time. Starches (should be 70%) of your meal, along with the veggies and a bit of fruit are what heals your body. The starches are super important in giving our bodies what it needs to heal itself from disease, and in my case the auto-immune disease of Rheumatoid Arthritis. This goes completely against many current thoughts on food, but I am living proof of feeling better, my body healing itself of RA, crazy good energy and losing weight.  I watched a Vegan food show on You-Tube this week and the woman who was doing the cooking shared that the cost of her main ingredient...dried chickpeas which she cooked then used as the base of her family's meals for 2 days cost $2. Amazing. I love my Vegan eating plan.

I Scream, You Scream, We all scream for Ice Cream (sort of)

It's a good world to live in when even though you can't have the real "cream" in ice cream, there are great alternatives to be found. 

If someone is choosing to follow a Vegan diet to heal from an auto-immune disease the amount of fat taken in must be at a minimum for maximum benefit. I will buy these ice "creams" knowing that I will only have a spoonful or two every couple of days. 

These are my two favorites. 

Of the nut cream alternatives...Almond, Coconut and Cashew milk ice creams, by FAR my favorite is the Cashew Milk, and while I haven't tried them all because Abilene's selections are a bit lacking my most favorite flavor is the Salted Caramel Cluster that I bought in Tucson at Sprouts. The Cashew Milk is super creamy and is the closest to real ice cream. All that to say - the only flavors I have seen in Abilene are a Chocolate flavor and Snicker-doodle, which Natural Grocers carries. I have requested Market Street carry the Salted Caramel Cluster, it's a brand they already carry but they haven't stocked this flavor yet. If they don't stock it soon I am going to ask again. I have requested lots from Natural Grocers lately, I don't want to wear out my welcome!

Then there is this.  Sorbetto....think sorbet (no dairy) along with gelato. Natural Grocers carries this and I have to say, it is by far my favorite chocolate ice cream whether it is vegan or not. I just closed my eyes when I tried it for the first time today. Rob even gave it a big thumbs up, I shared...one bite.

Summer Tomatoes

There is not much more flavorful than a fresh grown, vine ripened, farmers market bought summer tomato. This was a meal I threw together wanting to make the most out of the fresh tomatoes on my counter. 

1 Tomato cut in half

A couples thin slices of onion

Salt and Pepper

Cheese - I used the cheese pictured below, it is made from coconut and is non-dairy (Natural Grocers).

Vegan Parmesan 

Assemble all but the Vegan parmesan. I baked this in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Then added the Vegan parm and turned the oven to broil...I watched it till the cheese and parm started to brown and voila it was done!!

RA Update and Spicy Lentil Hummus Snack

I am about 3 months in to my Vegan eating plan. I love it and am I am finding it a bit easier to manage each day. I am working on finding a balance between easy-to-make meals vs. pre-made vs. time heavy prep meals. I went back to work full time shortly after I made the switch to Vegan and have spent many afternoons on Sunday preparing food for the week. I would like a bit more time just to rest. So easy prep simple vegan meals is my current go-to. Green juicing in the morning, rice and beans, soup, baked potato (sweet or white) for lunch and then more of the same for dinner. To find the eating plan I follow click here.

I haven't had blood work done since my last Dr.'s visit. I need to try and get that done ASAP. Blood work is SO important to have a good measurement on what is happening with RA. The aches and pains might be less but they are still there and they are still finding new places to show up. For the last couple of weeks my ring finger on my left hand has had a lot of trouble. I am trying to keep stretching it for full range of motion, but left a lone it wants to just curl up and not have full range of movement any more. I am bound and determined to not let that happen. So I am constantly stretching it out. My right wrist is also hurting when it never has before. I take solace in the fact that the Paddington Program tells me that this will happen. Aches and pains move around, they have good days and worse days, but as long as I stick to the program of Vegan eating my body is healing and eventually will not have RA anymore.  On a positive note, everything else continues to feel so much better. But I just want to be sure and share that in my experience it has not been without ups and downs. The key is to stay the course.

I am not a big snacker in between meals. If I eat a snack then more than likely it becomes my meal. This is my favorite..snack becomes a meal right now. I love spicy. I buy this Yellow Lentil Hummus at Market Street and Mary's jalapeño crackers at Natural Grocer's. 

I eat gluten free as well as Vegan but am preparing for a mission trip to Haiti in a couple of weeks. 2 of the meals would be something that has gluten (the other 4 are rice and beans which is right up my alley!!), I will have protein bars...these are my favorite but it would be nice to eat what has been prepared, so I tried eating food with gluten in it last night to see how I would tolerate it. I have done great, so Haitian spaghetti...here I come!! (see below for an update)

Thanks for following along in my journey. I would welcome any recipes you would have to share, and your stories, too. Thankful we don't have to walk the journey alone.

---------------

Added 24 hours of trying gluten: I had my most painful RA joint pain to date starting late yesterday afternoon. By last night I couldn't move my wrist and it felt like a white hot poker was in my wrist joint. While I have been off of Ibuprofen for months I broke down and took two last night and went to bed. I woke up this morning with my wrist still swollen but the harsh pain was gone. Whether this was an affect of gluten or if it was a flare up of RA not having to do with gluten I don't know. I will have to wait for a later time and try again. I decided to go back into my original 12 day Paddington Program starting today as a cleanse to see if that will help the pain and swelling move through quickly. RA is super scary and super painful and last night was both of those.

Road Trip!

Several weeks ago my family headed west to Arizona to visit family. Fast food options for Vegan eating are rare, so I packed my own food. I chose some options that were easy to throw in a lunch box and kept it close to me in the car.  

We stopped several times on the road for the family to eat, I just made sure to eat before we stopped. I didn't want to be hungry when we were in the middle of fast foodness. I wouldn't have gone off plan, it was too important for me to feel well on our trip, and just for life in general,...but it's nice to not be looking at the burger next to you with a hungry stomach.

For the road trip I packed:

Toasted GF Vegan bread,...my favorite brand, Little Northern Bakehouse.
Sliced tomatoes
Lettuce leaves
Vegan mayo

Vegan/Gluten Free bars

Tea bags, I could buy a hot water at the quick mart and brew my own yummy tea.

Water

Dried soups, Dr. McDougall's soups are my go to several times a week for lunch and worked perfectly for a travel road trip. I could add hot water to these along the way and then have a meal ready in no time.

I had a blast with my family, and the benefit to going to a larger city is there were so many Vegan options with restaurants and grocery stores stocked with vegan options. I had some separation anxiety when leaving Sprouts ; ).

The Boy Scout motto is the key when traveling with food allergies...be prepared.

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza

I love pizza.

It has been a bit over 2 years since I have had a non-gluten pizza crust. I have tried multiple times to make a gluten free pizza. Today I made a pizza crust that is my favorite so far. It is not exactly like a "regular" gluten pizza crust, but it sure was good.

I used this recipe here for the crust, then this recipe for the toppings.  I added artichoke, pineapple and olives to this mix. I was super sad I got out of the grocery store without jalapeños, shopping off my memory isn't always the most efficient. I bought pre-cut yellow, red and green bell peppers and onions, all packaged together. Cooking a yummy meal can take up most of my night once I get home from work, so this helps prep go a bit more quickly.

This pizza was delicious. The cheese you see on top, isn't really dairy cheese. Here is the recipe for the parmesan sprinkles and I used mozzarella shreds.

My RA has hurt me this week. Part of the protocol I follow states pretty clearly that oil will slow the healing and cause pain and inflammation. I have used olive oil a couple of times this week and I can feel it in my hands. My left hand is the worst and I am having to take off my wedding ring here and there - I don't want to have it cut off like I did several months ago before I started my vegan eating.

This pizza has a little bit of oil in the crust. Instead of using 1 tablespoon, I used 1 tsp. I probably could have left it out entirely, but never making this crust before I thought it might have needed a bit of fat to keep it together. I don't think it was necessary. When I roasted the veggies I used a bit of olive oil, about a teaspoon.

I probably need to keep my distance from the oil for a bit to help my hands feel better. Healing from RA is not an overnight process. There's a lot of give and take and trial and error. My RA recovery while so much better, has it's ups and downs, and will take months to years for all of my inflammation numbers to read normal.

Whatever I have to do to be well is worth the journey!!

Zucchini Parmesan

I made a most delicious dinner tonight! 

It started with an amazing Zucchini fresh out of the Little Acorn Farm garden sautéed in a tablespoon of water for a couple of minutes after sprinkling a little bit of basil, garlic, salt and pepper on top. (I use the freeze dried basil in the vegetable section in the grocery store), 

then I cooked a Hilary's Veggie Burger till it was a little crispy, chopped it up and placed it on top. I topped it with Mom's Marina Pasta Sauce. This meal was amazing. Super fresh, but the vegetable burger made this meal reminiscent of an eggplant parmesan. 

Super yummy!

Ingredients:
Zucchini and seasonings of choice to sprinkle on top.
Vegetable Burger
Marinara Sauce

Enjoy!

Vegan Burrito

This burrito was a throw together of what I had in my fridge and cupboard and it was delicious!

Ingredients:
Canned Black Beans
Frozen potatoes, cooked in a bit of coconut oil or olive oil
Cilantro
El Pinto Red Chile Sauce
Brown Rice Tortilla

Zucchini or squash would have been awesome in this, too.

#glutenfree #vegan

Oats and Blueberries

I love a good breakfast. I love blueberries. I love oats. For the first month of my vegan diet I ate oats and blueberries each morning. I buy gluten free oats, real oats...not the quick cook. They are super filling and healthy.

I took a break from oats because my fingers were swelling a bit and I didn't know if I had a sensitivity to them. I have heard that some people who can't eat gluten might have a bit of a sensitivity to oats...even gluten free. I am going to give oats a try again soon. As Ross says...we were on a break. Maybe we can reunite over the breakfast table again soon.

Vegan Raisin Bread

One of my favorite vegan breakfasts is a piece or two of Little Northern Bakehouse Raisin Bread and my fresh juiced greens. The bread is great toasted.

I love toast and was so glad to find a great gluten free vegan bread.
----------------
I bought this particular bread at Sprouts in Arizona. I requested for our local Natural Grocer's to carry it. I have 3 pieces left so I am hoping they do!

Portabella Grill Out

While we were gone on our vacation my awesome brother and sister in law cooked us steaks upon arrival. There is such a learning curve with Vegan food, but they came up with the idea of grilling me a Portabella Mushroom in place of a steak. I toasted up a piece of my favorite bread, slathered that and the sweet corn on the cob with coconut oil, that along with the roasted red pepper salad dressing I brought, (Amy's salad dressing) made the perfect meal.

To cook the portabella mushroom my brother put a little bit of olive oil on it, then salt and pepper and that was it. It was perfect.

Years ago when my sister's family was coming to visit I had my first experience of being hospitable to people with food allergies. My sister's family has several who suffer with celiacs, along with a couple more food allergies. I would have jumped through hoops to make my family comfortable, and my sister brought lots of staples with her, so through collaboration I feel like we did a great job of keeping every one fed and feeling good.

Food allergies are becoming prevalent within families. It might seem daunting, but when we all work together and we are blessed with hospitable hosts the dinner table can be a great place for all of us to enjoy a meal and fellowship.

My Daily Greens

A staple for me in my diet is juiced greens. Each day I pull out some organic celery and cucumbers from my refrigerator, wash them off and throw them in my juicer to start my day off with lots of nutrients. When I hear Vegan or Vegetarian I automatically think of someone who eats a salad twice a day, which has very little appeal to me. I do like vegetables, but I am not someone who just loves to nosh on a salad. However, of all the vegetables we eat the greens have such an important place. So to get my greens in, I drink them. The celery and cucumber are substantial veggies, they have lots of bulk so they do a good job of filling up a glass. I have tried to juice more leafy greens but I don't think much juices out of spinach or kale. So if I want to use spinach or kale then I juice my celery and cucumber, then put that mixture in my Bullet Blender as the liquid and then fill it with the spinach and kale and blend. All of these greens are super alkalizing to your body. Alkalizing = Good. Acid =Bad. Healing takes place best in an alkaline environment. There are other things I do to try and keep my body in an alkaline state. It's easy to google different options. I choose alkalized water, add lemon when I can, drink Alka Salts that my doctor sells, eat lots of fresh veggies. All these alkalize.  

A couple of weeks ago we went on a family vacation. I loaded up the juicer along with all of our suitcases and it travelled to Arizona and back with us. I believe the nutrients in these greens are part of the reason I felt so much better so quickly, and I didn't want to miss a day.

We had a busy week this last week and I didn't get out to buy my celery and cucumbers so twice I went by Big Country Coffee and bought the Turtle Power Smoothie. It is filled with Spinach, Kale, a half of a frozen peach and a quarter of a lemon (rind and all). I really love this smoothie. 

What's up with the green drinks in the stores? Depending on the sugar content they could be maybe more nutritious than a soda pop. When I was in school I would often buy a brand named green drink from the drink cooler. I would notice that I felt sugar jittery after I drank it but it was a while before I actually looked at the sugar content. It had 50 grams of sugar in it. When we were on our trip in Arizona I had one day I didn't get to juice so I stopped by a Sprouts to buy a fresh made juice, but the Sprouts we were at didn't have the juicing bar...sad. I begrudgingly went to the cooler and searched high and low for a green juice that didn't have a lot of sugar. Out of about 15 brands I found one with only 5 grams. The nutrients in the greens become less potent over time, it's best to drink your juice within 30 minutes of juicing. So store bought and packaged isn't ideal, but sometimes it's all that's available.

As a side note...I learned a huge lesson about reading labels. I spend so much time reading labels in stores I feel like I have read a novel as I finally walk out the door. Well, for whatever reason I missed reading the label of a "veggie burger". My daughter (a vegetarian) and I cooked ours up and enjoyed it for the 4th of July when everyone else was enjoying burgers. I had severe stiffness in my hand for many days following. It turns out the veggie burger I had bought had wheat in it. Live and Learn. 

#vegan #glutenfree #fightingRAwithnutrition

Rice Bowl

I am packing my lunches each day to take to work. Rice and beans are a favorite easy lunch for me. At the beginning of the week I make a big batch of either rice, quinoa or buckwheat and keep it in my fridge. Then each day I add something to the "starch of the week" and pack it for my lunch. Todays lunch was rice, beans, chopped tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice and some salsa on top.

I bought the Koa Lavender Olakino at Market Street this week. Normally I race by sampling stations because the food options aren't vegan/gluten free, but last weekend the sampling station had Kale Chips and flavored water. It was like Disneyland ; )  This water was super yummy and such a treat.

My Favorite Fast Food

One of the challenges of following a vegan diet if you are used to grabbing food and going is finding healthy replacements for fast food. My favorite fast food these days is vegetable sushi with brown rice. Our Market Street carries it and it makes me happy. I LOVE sushi and I have for almost 30 years. Vegetable sushi is a great substitute. My diet is also gluten free so I substitute an alternative for the soy sauce, I use either Tamari or Bragg's Liquid Aminos. Healthy vegan fast food!

You're a What?

Rheumatoid Arthritis and Vegan eating...there is hope.  Read below for my on-going journey with RA and how a Vegan diet changed everything.

You're a what? I prefer to say that I eat a vegan diet,...not necessarily wanting to make vegan my identity. Lots of political swirlings can run through your mind when you hear someone's a vegan. I am a Texas girl, I have bought and cooked meat more days than not in my adult years. In fact, I still buy meat and cook it for my family. If you want a steak and you are coming to my house to eat dinner, then I will be thrilled to grill it for you. I love to grill.

But...

I wont be eating it with you. I will be enjoying an amazing starch based meal with lots of fragrant seasonings and vegetables giving a colorful edge to the plate. 

Just over a year ago I began to hurt. Each joint from my toes to my shoulders hurt, minimally at first and then about 6 months ago the pain began to affect my day to day activities. Opening a water bottle was excruciating, climbing stairs took deep breathing and determination, my fingers started to malform, I didn't know what was happening to me. I had severe fatigue. After research I figured out that my symptoms fit the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis. After a blood draw my doctor confirmed my suspicions. To make a long story short, I searched and searched on the internet for an answer to how to heal my body naturally, and what I found was that a vegan diet would bring healing.

The first helpful link I found was here. The Paddington Program. A RA survivor who is totally healed from the disease shared how he did it. He uses several doctor's programs and combined them to make his plan. His main sources come from Dr. John McDougall's research, practice and eating plan. The Paddington program had a minimal cost, McDougall's info is free. If I had to go back and do it all again I wouldn't change anything. I would start the first 12 days with Paddington's elimination diet and then on day 13 move over to McDougall's vegan eating options. On the 3rd day of Paddington's plan my pain was down 80%. I had my life back. There are dozens of video's by each of these guys on you tube that are available to watch. I spent hours and hours watching their lectures to understand why the vegan diet would help me. The first 12 days was hard but my pain was so much lower that it wasn't hard to stay on the plan. Then day 13 as I started to add foods back in it seemed like the vegan option was a treat compared to the elimination diet. I believe this is what made the transition easier for me. I believe the results would in the end have been the same, but this combination worked for me.

I am about 8 weeks into vegan eating. I love how I feel. I obviously love that my pain is much lower than it was before, in fact 8 weeks ago it would have hurt to type this on the computer, but even besides the subsiding pain I feel so good I don't believe I will ever go back to eating animal protein. The hardest our body has to work is when it is digesting food. Because I am feeding my body foods that are easier to digest I have more energy than I can remember ever having, I feel healthy. When my blood tests were run for RA at diagnosis my markers were at 39 (high) 6 weeks later my markers had gone down to 23.3. In 6 weeks I was able to make a huge difference not only in pain and function, but it showed up in the levels measured in my blood.

Am I getting enough protein? YES! The meat industry has done it's job well. It has engrained in us that meat is the be all and end all of protein. That's just not true. I am getting more protein now through my grains and veggies than I ever had before.

Am I getting enough calcium? YES! There is so much absorbable calcium in our vegetables, especially greens. I am not a huge fan of green salads so I juice greens every day. 

This blog will be mainly a recipe blog. My food really does make a difference. Until this year I haven't fully embraced that, but given the choice between debilitating pain or eating what my body needs I will choose to eat well for me. Food has often had the stronger hand in our relationship, I am now choosing to rise strong and be the boss of what goes in my body and not let it be the boss of me any more.