The Primal Effect

Wow... yep it has been a long time since I have been on here.  Mainly because I have been so tired lately.  I am not sure I mentioned this before, but thyroid disorders are extremely temperamental and very hard to keep in balance because (especially with Hashimotos) your body gets used to the new adjustments and then it has to be increased over and again.  I personally feel as if I have been a lot less energetic after going off of the Cytomel and on the Armour.

A couple of weeks ago, I was beginning to feel quite awful again.  Because allergy season has been particularly painful and my thyroid has also had problems I chalked it up to the two of those and we increased my thyroid.  Last week, though, I began feeling very queasy and more tired, so I went to the doctor and I was diagnosed with a parasite.

Introducing Baby H...

I have been seeing the best OB I could imagine since 2003, but unfortunately he stopped delivering at the beginning of the year; so I will be seeing another associate of his that specializes in high risk (Thank God!).  He told me that this is the kind of surprise you can expect after going primal... fertility will really increase.

At my average length for carrying a baby, I would expect a baby near Christmas :)

What things have I noticed different this time?  Well since I am now primal, I cannot turn to my trusty saltines :(  I am super nauseated.... which is a sign of a healthy baby.  Ginger Ale helped the first day I tried... and since then I have just been drinking water, sleeping, and hoping it will get better soon.  I have only really been able to eat grapes and drink water and OJ.  This morning I considered a small glass of diet coke and reconsidered as soon as I tasted it.  Apparently, after going primal, I HATE Coke.

I would love to hear any suggestions about primal morning sickness cures!

Rizetti

I did not feel like going shopping last week, so  I am down to the bare minimums on food this week.  Results?  CREATIVITY.  Today at lunch I scoured through the pantry and fridge and found, well not much of anything :-(
I pulled out the last two chicken breasts and some rice.

I warmed a pan to melt the last bit of coconut oil that was scraped from the jar (by the way they have some at a really great price at Walmart).  I cut the chicken into small chunks added in a little bit of garlic and onion powder and a pinch of cayenne.  Next, I added a tiny amount of sea salt and tossed in the chunked chicken.   I put a pot of water to boil and made two servings of rice.  After the chicken was getting crisp I scooped it out and put in on a platter.  I added about two tablespoons of potato flakes (I knew I needed something to flavor the rice a bit, but still hadn't figured out what to do).  I stirred it around for a minute and remembered we had a can of Dad's Italian Juice, so I added that.  I wanted it thick enough to keep it from becoming soup so I found some of Dad's Squash powder and added about 1 cup of that (it is always a great option because it seems to really fill up the kids and keep them full!).  It turned out great we served it kind of like spaghetti, even topped it with a pinch of mozzarella!

INGREDIENTS:

• Two chicken breasts
• Coconut oil
• Sea salt
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• 1 Quart Dad's Italian Juice
• 1 cup Dad's Squash Powder
• 2 servings of rice
• Cayenne
• Tbsp of potato flakes

Heat about 2 tablespoons of coconut oil, sea salt, garlic powder, and onion powder and fry chicken breasts in it, cubed.  Meanwhile, cook two servings of rice.  Remove the chicken chunks and add 2 tablespoons of potato flakes.  Add 1 quart of Dad's Italian Juice and 1 cup of Dad's Squash Powder.  Warm until it is the consistency you like and good and warm. 

Serve layered rice, sauce, and chicken and maybe even top with a pinch of mozzarella. 

I love happy accidents!

Primal Sausage and Gravy

I feel so great being gluten-free and primal, but how I miss sausage gravy.  My father-in-law used to make this delicious sausage gravy and serve it with pancakes and it was so delicious and I missed that so much; so I set out on a mission to come up with a recipe we could use that was similar. 

INGREDIENTS:

• About 1 pound of pork sausage
• About 3 Tbsp of flax seed (milled)
• About 2 cups of almond milk
• Rice flour
• 1/4Potato flakes
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Cayenne
• Black pepper
• Sage
• Add seasalt as needed

First, brown the sausage.  Then, put in flax seed and a few pinches of right flour (this is how my grandma always did it, not really sure why, LOL but it sticks just the same).  Let it sizzle for a few seconds and then add in almond milk, garlic, onion, cayenne, black pepper, and sage (to taste).  Then, add about 1/4 cup of potato flakes and a little rice flour at a time until as thick as you like. 

The potato flakes help hide the grittiness of the rice flour :) 

Schooling My Primal Children

It's amazing to me that with the number of celiac sufferers there has not been any effort to adjust the school systems regulations of food.

Luckily for me I began homeschooling about six months before I became aware of our allergy to gluten and embarked on this primal journey.  I managed to avoid the necessary decision to remove my children from public schools based on their failure to adhere to diet restrictions.  However, in the recent months with our contemplating moving there has been a consideration of placing our children back in public schools.  It was called to attention by a friend of mine that her child is allergic to milk and the school her child attends was notified and failed to comply.  This is a real concern for many parents aware of gluten intolerance.

Then, I began to realize we really could not place our children back in public school.  At that I began to question what people whose children are gluten intolerant generally do to accommodate these issues.  Aside from packing lunches that are acceptable what can we do to make sure that our children are not eating foods that will make them sick? 

Honestly, at this point I am not sure there is much other than homeschooling a child that anyone can do to protect against this.  Of course, parents should inform children and school of the allergens; but as long as government provides foods at the cheapest possible rate regardless of quality (Where did Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution go to anyway?) there will always be high concentrations of gluten in schools.  There is no way that the teachers can monitor each child's food consumption throughout the entire lunch, and children could easily be tempted with those foods sitting right next to them.

There are definitely other benefits to homeschooling my children and I think this is a great opportunity to stay home with them and teach them about health and core subjects together, but it really brought it home to me when I was thinking about it today that until high school I would probably be homeschooling all of my children :-) 

I have a few ideas on how to make this a little easier on everyone:

• Make sure the teacher understands that your child may need to go to the bathroom more frequent or abrupt, and have an established code between the child and teacher to make it less of a distraction or discomfort.
• Be sure to educate your child about why swapping food is not a good idea.  Make sure to let them know about how you balance their diet to help them stay full too.
• Get a list of birthdays and other class events so you can have a special treat ready for those.
• Leave the teacher with some gluten-free snacks and treats that your child can have as a backup plan.

**Remember, a lot of people are not really sure of what gluten intolerence is.  Be sure to share with those who need to know (teachers, nutritionists, and principals) exactly what this is and how it affects your child.  If they are not aware they may not take it very seriously.  Also, make sure to be open and friendly regarding any questions you may receive about it; your child learns from how you respond.

Tell me primal parents what are you doing to address this? 

Here are some pics from our primal park day this week, it was a wonderful social day in the park.  Check out that gorgeous blue sky!  When do you get to see that in Missouri winter?  LOVE IT!  Hope you enjoy!

Chicken and Rice Casserole

Sometimes you really just need a change.  Do you ever find yourself just randomly tossing things together to make something?  I definitely do.  It has been a long time since I had chicken and brocoli caserole like my mom used to make, and unfortunately the ingredients kept me from doing that.  Here's what I found in the kitchen.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 chicken breasts
• 2 carrots
• 1 bag of brocoli
• 1-1/2 cups of rice
• 2 tbsp of flax seed (to thicken)
• 2 cups of almond milk
• 1-1/2 cups of water

• cheddar cheese
• onion powder
• ginger
• garlic powder

I love casserole!  I preheated the oven to 425.  I just put everything in the top list in a casserole dish added a liberal amount of garlic and onion powder in (we really like it and both have a tendency to lower your blood pressure!).  I added some ginger.  (Generally with spices we do a lot of smelling to see if it smells strong enough, LOL).  I baked it for about 45 minutes and then topped with a very small amount of cheese. 

This dish turned out great, everyone loved it, and it was enough to feed our family of 6 dinner and lunch the next day!  Adults added cayenne and aneheim/jalepino pepper.

Polar Plunge

Hey I am supporting the Special Olympics and will be participating in the Polar Plunge.  My goal is to raise $250!  I love making a difference, please help improve the lives of many children!


Want more information, check out my page!

There are many great ways to participate, and for anyone local I will give an added bonus!  If you donate to the cause under me, I will send you a coupon for photography.  Check out the promotion Here!  Also, if you would like to see a sample of my portfolio, you can view that here!

Chicken and broccoli

Thank goodness for having an AMAZING husband!  Although I have really been wiped out for the last few weeks, our food has not suffered because my husband has stepped in and really created some more delicious and new meals.  Yesterday, after beginning a new and increased thyroid regimen, I managed to plug through the day but around 6 p.m. I was out.  He woke me up to a wonderful and different chicken dinner, and the preparation was pretty easy. 

Here's your shopping list:

• White onion
• Rice Vinegar
• Garlic powder
• Poultry seasoning
• Sherry
• Carrot
• Celery
• Sea salt
• 3 chicken breasts
• White rice (1 serving per person)
• Butter
• Broccoli steamer bag

First finely chop about a fourth of an onion and 1 stick of celery.  Warm (on low-medium heat) 2 Tbsp of butter in skillet with 1/2 teaspoon of rice vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1/2 tsp of poultry seasoning, 2 Tbsp of sherry, a pinch of sea salt, carrot, and celery; once warmed add in chicken.   Steam broccoli.  Prepare rice.  When the chicken is fully cooked add in the broccoli and rice.  Stir until even and serve.

This was a great meal, but it ended up being too much food for our family of six (by about 4 servings).

I am giving this meal an 8/10 for prep time, nutrition, and taste. 

Make it hotter with cayenne.  My husband added a tiny amount of A1 for a tangier taste.  The kids loved it as it was :)  If you want to use less sodium, add it after cooking (cooking brings the flavor of salt down).