Fever, go away!

Fever won’t let up, body aches, total and extreme exhaustion.  This is one of the worst flares I can remember.

Also, my blood work came back with less than stellar reports.  5 of my blood irregularities worsened.  My WBC count is too low. And other oddities.  I am sure this is normal when you go off your meds.  I am just ready for some of these natural remedies to work.  I don’t pretend to enjoy kale for breakfast!

And yes, my doctor is monitoring me.  I have a call in to him right now and am guessing I am going to need a small amount of prednisone to get this one to quit.  I am also considering a juice fast since it did the trick last time.

These days are long and hard.  And I am so grateful to sweet friends who check on me and help me out. 

I asked God for strength to homeschool today.  And He not only gave it to me, but allowed both of the kids’ workloads to be light enough that we can actually do it all without having to let the teachers know that I am not well.  I HATE playing the “I am sick” card.  Sometimes I have to.  Not today 🙂

Had a bit of a stressful week.   Sure enough, it send me in a flare.  I am hoping it will go away soon.  On Friday, I started getting a fever and stayed in bed almost all day.  Followed that up by today and tomorrow in bed with fever. 

Still eating vegan.  Still exercising.  Still losing weight. Slowly, but surely! Hair falling out and face breaking out (always happens on flares). 

But tomorrow is a new day!  Hopefully I will wake up ready to take on a new week.  Until then, yaaaaaawn.  🙂

How I am feeling.

For those of you who would like to know how this new diet is affecting me, I can tell you the following:

-I am NO worse than I was ON the meds. Yay!  I am hoping it will only go up from here.

-I do have more symptoms like sores in my nose and hair loss and fever, BUT I have NO tummy pain!  This has been a life of tummy pain that I am out of for the first time EVER.

-I think it may be working!  I have moments of normalcy now and then.  And it feels fabulous!  I still nap for hours at a time (I am not a natural napper) and my body aches regularly.  BUT there are actually times where I feel totally normal!!!!

This is great news!  By the way, have you watched Forks Over Knives?  If not, do so.  You will have a greater understanding of the “why” behind the madness!  Don’t worry, it won’t show bloody cows or disgusting chicken fat!  Just a great documentary I think everyone should see.

Thanks for checking in and caring!

Healthy and Fabulous Tacos! (Shhhh, they are vegan!)

Today, dinner was a huge success!  I was really skeptical that I could pull this one off.  My kids know that every dish I put in front of them these days is somehow a vegetable….either in disguise or straight up.  One cares, the other doesn’t.  My picky one takes a microscope out, it seems!  And she is the one who first said the meat was great!  Yes, she thought it was taco MEAT!  And the best part, this was an inexpensive, easy meal that I made in under 30 minutes.

I took 2 recipes and put them together for these fabulous tacos.  Thank you Gretchen and Kate!  You are both fabulous cooks and I love using your great ideas!  You can even make these for carnivores!  They are full of good protein between the quinoa and black beans and there is nothing from a packet in sight.  SO good!�

Black Bean and Quinoa Tacos

 ½ cup finely chopped onion

2 cloves of garlic, minced through press

2 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup of quinoa, cooked

1 T chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

2 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

8 oz can tomato sauce

Taco shells or Romaine lettuce to make wraps

Taco garnishes of your choice

 

 

Bring quinoa and water to a boil in 2 cups of water.  Simmer for 10 – 15 minutes, or until all of the water is absorbed.  Meanwhile….

Sautee onion and garlic in a pan.  You can add a little water for moisture of use a little oil.  I did mine dry and they were fine.  Cook over medium heat.  Once the onions are translucent, add in the drained and rinsed beans.  Add all of the spices and the tomato sauce.  Stir and cook while the quinoa cooks.  Lower the heat when the mixtures has lost most of it’s moisture.  (I used a non stick pan. I usually steer clear of non stick b/c…I just do…, but thought it would be helpful tonight while avoiding oil)

Once your quinoa is cooked, add a cup or two to your beans.  Continue cooking until the entire pan is heated through. 

 

Stir and taste for seasoning…. taco meat!!!  (as always, this is where your skills come in!  don’t serve until the seasonings taste right!)

Here is my harder to please eater eating her LAST bite of the taco!

And here is the eats-almost-anything one.  After he finished his taco, he asked for a bowl of just meat.  For realz.  (he likes being cozy… can you tell by the fact that he is ALWAYS in his undershirt.  I promise we make him wear clothes in public!)

Now, we all know I can’t have corn and must have cruciferous veggies at every meal.  So here is my version.  I made a slaw with no oil or sugar and it was a perfect accompaniment.  If you have not been here: http://www.nutritiouseats.com/ you should.  I got my slaw recipe that I adapted, along with many other recipes.  My favorite blog out there for recipes!

Someday I will have a fancy camera!  Until then, enjoy the dark pictures 🙂

Try a vegan meal today!  You will be amazed at how good food can taste!

And like I say…if I am attempting to reverse a disease this this diet, could you be preventing one???  Food for thought!

(note, the family had cheese on theirs….just mine was totally vegan)

The shake blues.

So sometimes I am all gung ho on those shakes of mine!  I have now managed to get to the 3:1 ratio of veg to fruit, on the recommendation of Elisa at http://www.eaturveggies.com.  Yay, me! 

And then today, I woke up and wanted NOTHING to do with those dang shakes!  I am tired of kale and collard greens for breakfast!  One kidlet was having cereal with bananas in it and the other was having buttered gluten free toast with a banana on the side.  Their food smelled FABULOUS!  And, I wanted COFFEE!  I made it through, drank my shake and had my water like a good girl :).

It is now lunch time.  And I don’t want to go downstairs and face it.  I want something tasty.  And it is all because I have eaten out more this week.  (thank you, Elisa, again, for teaching me!)  My taste buds are starting to want more oil, more salt, more FOOD!  They don’t like being tempted by what is out there.

But I am gonna pull up my big girl pants and see the next meal and the next and the next after that as my medicine.  And I am not going to complain any more.  I am blessed to have beautiful food to eat!

So broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, etc…bring it ON!

(ps…I have neither craved nor had chocolate in MONTHS. Can you believe THAT one?!?!?)

My doc ROCKS!

For real.  People constantly say things about doctors not being on board with natural remedies.  Well, mine is defying the odds!

I went in today, the first time seeing him since going off of my meds, fully expecting him to make some sort of medical recommendation.  He didn’t!  He was happy with where I am.  He wanted me to keep at it.  He asked specifically what foods I was avoiding and was happy to see that corn was on the list of no’s for me.  (this was before he knew I was allergic to corn)  He likes that I am completely off of gluten.  And we had a great discussion about what animals eat (CORN!) and why that can be so bad for us and, specifically, me.

He recommended I start taking Tumeric (not just plain ‘ole, but a specialized form which is basically wrapped in a fat molecule so it is delivered directly to where it needs to be absorbed).  He also wants me on algea oil.  Gave me the number of Omega 3’s he wants and explained the science behind it and that was that.

He said he would be happy for more of his patients to be like this but that the majority are just not interested.  And he said that he expects to see good results.  I think his main reasoning was that patients who actively seek alternatives and take steps to improve their condition, do!

He doesn’t like that I had fever for a week and a half and that my hair is falling out like CRAZY again.  These are things that have not happened since my disease was extremely active.  So he wants to see if these supplements knock some of that out.  And he took blood to see what is happening inside of me.  If my body is showing that some of my markers are getting worse, we will stay the course for the next few months and then reevaluate.  He wants to give this time to really work.

On a side note, I got stung under my arm by a bee in the Costco parking lot!  We were loading the car and I felt it and asked Lucky what on EARTH was dangling from my arm (it was right on the inside of my arm near my triceps).  He pulled the stinger out.  It hurt, but whatever.  Just pain.  HOWEVER, over the last few days it has been SO bothersome!  My arm is still so swollen and red (2 1/2 days later).  I held my arm up to my doc today and said, “So, I guess it is normal when you have an autoimmune disease to have a reaction like this to a bee sting?”  He said, “No!  THAT is an allergic reaction to a bee sting!  Do you have an epi pen?”  I don’t and should since I have had anaphylactic shock before.  So by tomorrow I will have one.  They have never tested for bees b/c I have never been stung.  For some reason, you can’t test for them until you have.  And you just never know when you will get a bad enough sting for a bad reaction.

I have had a few good days, mixed in with some hard ones.  But that flare has ended and I am trying to nap a lot and avoid stress (ha!!!) as much as possible.  And my dietitian, Elisa Rodriguez at http://www.eaturveggies.com, has been absolutely invaluable!  Please go visit her if you are considering this lifestyle change.  She has me doing things I never thought I could!

Glad to give a positive report! I am now off to bed to get that good stuff called SLEEP!

$10 for $20 to Spend at Whole Foods Market

$10 for $20 to Spend at Whole Foods Market

Pie!

To celebrate the completion of my first successful juice fast, Luck and I made a pie.  Gretchen had shared the website and recipe that she found online.  It seemed like just the right thing to make.
I was veeeeery skeptical what the kids would think.  A pie with no added sugar?  No flour?  No butter or oil?
The only thing that bothers me about this pie is the canned mandarin oranges.  Sure, I got the ones in pear juice, not sugar.  But still, canned fruit doesn’t count as fruit in my book.  But I went ahead and used them.
Even though my photography skills are lacking, it was a beautiful pie!

Here is the recipe:

Fruit Pie With Date-Nut Crust {vegan, gluten-free, raw}

 Adapted from: http://amy-newnostalgia.blogspot.com/

Ingredients for Crust:
1 cup dates (I prob used more)

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup cashews

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Cinnamon

Ingredients for Filling:
2-3 bananas, sliced lengthwise

4 ounces strawberries, sliced

6 or 7 frozen whole strawberries, blended into a puree

4 ounces raspberries

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

Blend the crust ingredients together in a food processor to acheive a sticky consistency.  Press the blended crust ingredients into a pie pan. Lay the bananas on top of the crust and press along the sides. Place the strawberry slices on top of the bananas.  Pour the strawberry puree over the strawberries and bananas, and press into the gaps.  Place the raspberries and mandarin oranges on top of the pie.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour or longer before serving.

It was over the top good!  We all LOVED it!  Kids begged for seconds.  It could not have gone over better.  The only thing I wish is that I had more!!!
Happy, healthy eating!

Liquids!

Liquids, liquids, and more liquids!

I am SO ready to chew something!  It is not that I am all that hungry.  I just want to chew!!

Each day has looked like this:

Breakfast: Juice, that I juice myself…of any of the following: apple, beets, pear, orange, cucumber, carrots, etc… (prob a cup and a half of juice)

Lunch: Blended Kale or bok choy with carrots and tomatoes or fruits.

Snack: Another juice.

Dinner: An avocado blended with either pineapple or mango or banana

Snack: banana pureed

The smell of food has satisfied me when I feel hungry.  All of the foods have been raw. And by blending or juicing I am predigesting, in a way, everything. Giving my body the instant nutrients and allowing it to focus it’s energy on healing.

I took a 2 1/2 hour nap today.  That is what happens when your body is healing and doesn’t have a lot of extra calories, I guess.

The good news: I have not had fever since the juice fast began.  First time in a few weeks to not have fever.  So even though lots of doctors advise against fasts…I can tell you that this one did good!  And it is not even a water fast or a complete juice fast!  My other symptoms are still here.

I worry about eating again tomorrow and what it will do to my symptoms.  But I am really excited about food!!  My sweet friend, Kate, made tomato soup for her family (vegan with low salt and oil) and brought me some.  I am SO excited because I will definitely be having that for breakfast (with some kale in it, of course….gotta have crucifers!).

Right now I am trying to meal plan for the week. It is challenging knowing what to feed the family in the midst of this.  Lucky actually wants to eat like me.  He is not wanting to be a vegan, but he feels like he gets plenty of meat outside of our dinner time. When we go out to eat or when he packs his lunches, meat is involved. Same with the kids.  They get plenty.  So dinner time is a way for me to introduce foods that nourish ALL of our bodies and make us all healthier.  Don’t get me wrong, I made meatloaf for the family last week. But I also made a vegan black bean soup one night.  Just trying to wade my through this new world….

Juice fast begins!

I am still having fever, achy body, exhaustion.  My hair is falling out like MAD. My sores on my scalp are not going anywhere.  I need some relief.

So the next step in this process of natural healing is doing a juice fast.  Ideally, a water fast would happen right now, but I am back on Lexapro.  And it may be too hard on my organs.  My dietitian is recommending that I stick with juices that I juice myself and even some all veg and fruit smoothies.  I am about to head to Whole Paycheck to stock up on organic fruits and veggies.  My fast is today, tomorrow, and Saturday.

I am ready for a breakthrough.  At least for symptoms to quit getting worse.  I WANT to do this naturally.  The meds made me so sick and increase my risk of cancer by a crazy amount and caused all of that crazy light sensitivity.

I am 4 hours in!  I have a feeling I will be doing a lot of praying for the starving people in the world over the next few days.  Nothing brings appreciate for what you have like deprivation.

Nourish your body today.  You never know when you will be the one who needs to combat a disease.