28 November 2012

Still at it

Okay, I'm still at the no dairy thing.  I'm adjusting to it.  I don't have raging cravings for cheese like I thought I would, though there have been a few days that I REALLY wanted a gluten free pizza, but take the cheese away and it's just not worth it.

It has been 23 days since my last sinus adjustment, which was seemingly easier than ever before (I had been dairy free for about 3 weeks prior to that adjustment).  I don't think I'll be able to make it up for another adjustment for at least 2 more weeks though (going to Gunny's 90th (yes, I typed 90th) birthday party.

I hadn't really been using my netti pot with much regularity since I started getting my sinus adjustments (for the sake of science) just to make sure that the effects I was feeling were truly related to the adjustment.  I've used it here and there in the last 6 months (typically after working on a particularly dusty project) and noticed that the drainage was still slow even when I wasn't cruddy.

Well, I accidentally killed my Kombucha Mother (it caught the mold - first time ever in almost 10 years of brewing) so I was without my Kombucha for more than a week and caught whatever nastiness is going around the elementary schools right now.  I've been sickly for a little over a week (super congested, headache, cough, etc), which blew the plans for Thanksgiving crabbing.

Due to the amount of crud building up in my face, I decided to bust out the old netti pot.  Prior to sinus adjustments and dietary changes, it could take 10 minutes just to get the water moving through my sinuses (I know, it's gross) and even then, it was barely a trickle.  And no, that was NOT when I had a cold.  That was just daily, run of the mill netti usage.  Even after I started adjustments, it was still a bit slow going, like everything was swollen.

I have to tell you, even with all the crud built up, the water is flowing freely.  It's moving the crud quickly and easily, which has never been the case before.

As much as I had to admit it, I think my nasal swelling was largely related to dairy.  I still have a bit more "science" to do though.  Raw dairy has different effects on people than pasteurized, homogenized dairy from what I have read.  My next step will be to test to see if there is a difference between the two that I notice.


13 November 2012

Pumpkin Custard? Finally!

I had the day off yesterday and even though I had a boat load of homework to do (it feels like ALL I ever do), I decided to finally start experimenting with a pumpkin custard as I have been saying I was going to do for weeks now.

I spent some time looking for a recipe to try (again it had to be gluten free and dairy free) and stumbled upon  this one.  I of course made a few changes to it though.  Here's what I did:

3/4 can of pureed pumpkin (unseasoned)
1/2 c. coconut milk (full fat)
1/2 c. grade b maple syrup
2 large eggs
2 tsp tapioca starch
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp celtic sea salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all ingredients until completely combined. Pour into glass or ceramic baking dishes (I REALLY had wanted to bake individual servings, but alas we have no ramekins).  Place the baking dishes of choice in a water bath (larger baking dish filled with water to about 1/2 way up the sides of the baking dish.  Bake 50-55 minutes.

This was pretty simple to make.  When it was baking, the house smelled like pumpkin pies and it was awesome.  So awesome it was hard to wait for Justin to come home from work to try it out.  We actually waited until after dinner (building the hype up even more!).  When we finally tasted it, it was fabulous. It had a smooth texture and had just enough spice (we all know how I feel about pumpkin goods being properly spiced!) I increased the amount of spice just slightly and swapped out the hemp milk for coconut milk from the original recipe. That being said, I think if I were to make this again, I may decrease the maple syrup from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup.  It was just a hint too sweet for me, but for others, I think the sweetness would hit the spot.

Today I saw a recipe for a paleo pumpkin cheesecake.  I'm pretty sure that will be next on my list.

10 November 2012

Eat FAT?

I wanted to write about a realization I had the other day that was pretty awesome.

I've struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember.  I've tried every diet on the planet (low fat, low calorie, vegetarian, high fiber, Weight Watchers, etc).  I spent most of my life being stressed out about what I ate, when I ate it, if I was working out enough, counting this and counting that.  Let's just say that wasn't the most wonderful way to live.  Freaking out about food and whether or not I was spending enough time at the gym is surprisingly stressful.

I've made a lot of changes to my diet in the last couple of years and I realized the other day that I am not constantly thinking about food or beating myself up about not going to the gym or working out any more.

I went on my first diet when I was 11 years old.  I remember eating nothing more than lettuce and yogurt for months on end.  I also started exercising obsessively around then as well (at least 2 hours a day).  I lost a bunch of weight, but ended up getting seriously sick with pneumonia and gaining it all back.

When I was 16, I lost about 40 pounds, but was spending 2 or more hours a day exercising and became a vegetarian around that time.  I never felt awesome, but I thought I looked great.

I became a firefighter when I was 18, which only fueled my gym addiction.  In addition to the grueling work of fighting fires, I was working out at least 2 hours a day during season and spending 3 or more hours a day at the gym during off season.  I was also eating the brilliant diet of Diet Pepsi and some sort of carb-y goodness (a sugar cookie or bagel) and drinking copious amounts of coffee to kill my appetite.

I was thin, but didn't seem to be very toned.

The years progressed and my diet changed (I brought back limited amounts of animal protein to my diet but was still strictly eating low fat and high fiber/grains), but my body never really changed.  Even at my thinnest, I still looked soft.  I made an attempt at a low carb diet once under the advice of a personal trainer.  I have to say about 6 hours into it, I wanted to kill someone for a muffin.  I stuck with it for a few months (but it was still low fat) and was able to get pretty toned even on only an hour a day at the gym.

About a year after that, I got into a car accident that curbed my gym habit hard!  After finally getting things back in order from that, I started to have debilitating pain that prevented me even at times from walking.  Needless to say, I started gaining weight (even while on Weight Watchers during this time) and I swear doing Weight Watchers made me feel even more hungry!  All I could do was think about food.  Plan out my meals. Allocate my points. Calculate how much of ANY activity I could do to earn more points.... It was terrible!

In 2010, I stumbled upon


ant it changed my relationship with food forever.  I had been reading about coconut oil and all the wonderful things it can do for you, including boost your metabolism.  I have to say that changing to a high fat, moderate protein and lower carb diet was quite a transition for me.  The idea of actively seeking out fat and ADDING it to my diet had me nervous.  I was worried I was going to blow up even more than I already had.

I bought my first jar of coconut oil and forced myself to start eating it (even though it went against everything I thought was the right way to eat).  Well, it's been 2 years and I haven't gained any weight from adding fat and in fact, my weight is down.  It's not a rapid weight loss miracle, but slowly and steadily, I was keeping weight off, not losing and gaining repeatedly.

I've got more to share about this subject, but I had a moment of extreme gratitude when I realized that I haven't told myself "you better go hit the treadmill" or "you need to exercise for x amount of time" to make up for some item that I have just consumed.  In fact, it was awesome to realize that I allow myself to have dessert now without worrying about how much weight I'm going to gain.  In fact, I can't remember the last time I tried to mentally calculate the calories or fat grams I'm eating.  I'm looking and feeling better than I have in a LONG time. And I think for the first time ever, I can really say I'm comfortable being me.

05 November 2012

Cheesy Bacon Goodness

Well, I tested the dairy theory last night.  My mom made some most excellent grilled cheese sandwiches using Tillamook Habanero Jack cheese.

I couldn't pass up spicy cheesy goodness with BACON!  Granted  blowing my nose repeatedly and having it run like a faucet while being so inflamed I can barely move air through my sinus passages sucks, it's not enough to pass something that delicious up.  

Testing the dairy theory is much less awful than testing the gluten theory.  I learned the hard way last week not to eat anything that has been touched by gluten containing products.  We had a Halloween party at work, I was ravenous and decided to try to eat a mummy dog sans mummy wrap (pigs in a blanket with a cute name).  I peeled off that outer layer and ate half a hot dog that had been touched by crescent roll.  Well, with the amount of pain I was in for the next 4 days, I should have just eaten the damn crescent roll too!

I had an appointment with my chiropractor at Gold Country Chiropractic this morning for a sinus adjustment (the first one in 3 weeks!) and it was so much easier and less uncomfortable than any of my treatments before (even when i was going weekly and not letting much time go by between adjustments).  While I can't be entirely certain as yet, I think  that dairy was contributing the swelling of my nasal passages, which made the adjustments very resistant and very painful!  I did eat some dairy last night, so the swelling may have returned slightly, but it did not seem to be nearly as inflamed as usual. 

While my ooey gooey grilled cheese was delicious, I am going to go back to no dairy for another month and see how my next adjustment goes.  I managed to last 3 weeks this time between adjustments, so I'm aiming for 4 weeks for the next one.  

Considering I am often lamenting the lack of readily available treats for me, I tried something new today.  I bought a loaf of Glutino White Sandwich Bread so I could have some grilled cheese (so far the best of the gluten free breads I have tried).  Tonight I wanted something treat like, so I decided upon cinnamon toast.  In place of butter, I used Nutiva Organic Coconut Oil Extra-Virgin 29 oz. 218566 (Google Affiliate Ad), which gave it a slightly coconut-y flavor.  In all, it was a quick and easy treat.  I don't normally have any bread on hand (I mostly gave it up since going gluten free), but it hit the spot tonight.

I plan to test at least one pumpkin custard this week.  I'll share the results.  

01 November 2012

The search is on!

For a pumpkin custard recipe that is dairy free AND doesn't suck.

When I was younger, I couldn't stand pumpkin pie.  It was soggy and gross.  I worked in a bakery and people LOVED our pumpkin pies.  I never understood it.

The years have passed and my feelings for pumpkin have changed.  I love everything about pumpkin now.  I love the spice and aroma of most things pumpkin. There is nothing better than a cool, crisp autumn day and something spicy, be it pumpkin bread, pumpkin latte, pumpkin pancakes.  You get the picture, I love pumpkin.

Sad to say it seems as though most things pumpkin spice these days are lacking in the spice department.  Take away my gluten and my dairy and it leaves me with spices to make me happy. I've tried a few pumpkin recipes so far this fall with the new lifestyle changes and all I can say is I have been UNDERWHELMED.

Perhaps it is assumed that when you find out you have food sensitivities or allergies, that your desire for good food is gone.  Maybe the people creating these recipes have diminished taste buds, I don't know.  Pretty much any recipe for anything pumpkin (and gluten free) is bland.

I made a GF pumpkin bread a couple of weeks ago.  Bland. (Though it made for some pretty delicious french toast the next day when I added more spices).

Before I started my no dairy experiment, I had a pumpkin spice latte (from two major chains).  Both tasted like overly sweet, slightly spiced milk.  The Bean Barn in Placerville has much better pumpkin spice lattes, but that is neither here nor there.

So I am setting out to perfect a dairy free pumpkin spice custard (since I haven't perfected a GF pie crust and nothing will ever compare to my mom's pie crusts).

It needs to have a smooth texture, have a balanced sweetness and a spiciness that reflects wonderful fall flavors.  I can't tell if all of a sudden I have intensified the memories of fall spices (last time I had a spiced cider, it too just seemed cloyingly sweet), or if people have just equated saturated in sugar with fall flavors now.