Got Sick, Stayed Sick, Am Still Sick…

I got sick on Friday, March 12th. It began with a sore throat. I thought, “Oh, I’ve just been pushing myself too hard and I’ve got a sore throat.” Well, it developed into sore throat, cough, heavy congestion, achy muscles (all of them) and mild fever. I tried to push through all of this for about 4 days before a friend of mine said, “Really?!” and I woke up. Which is a darn good thing because my throat today is still sore, 19 days later!

During week two of this sickness, as I was coughing, another friend of mine looked at me with a knowing look. She told me my symptoms remind her of her daughter who would get very sick and stay sick for long periods of time. She was recently diagnosed with an auto-immune issue and went on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, which has helped her daughter IMMENSELY. My friend advised me to take a look at it and follow it, if possible. (In fact she invited me to come over to her house and cook with her so I can see how some of the basic recipes are made, which would be SO HELPFUL and I’m totally going to take her up on that when classes are over!)

Interestingly, I had already had a book about the diet and had read the whole thing months ago. I was starting to suspect that it would help me and this only confirms my suspicions.

During one of the weeks of being sick, I was eating a lot of grilled cheese sandwiches. I used gluten & dairy free bread and soy-cheeses. They were delicious! Grilled cheese is a comfort food for me, so I craved them and enjoyed them immensely!

HOWEVER, I experienced severe bloating and pain in my gut.

What?!

I was eating a lot of fruit salads (strawberries, spinach & other lettuces with no dressing) other than these grilled cheese sandwiches, so I knew that the culprit was more than likely the sandwiches.

So, more eliminations. No soy. No grains. Right…?

At this point, doubly sick and doubly frustrated, I got out my “Specific Carbohydrate Diet” book and my “Eat Right For Your Type” book and made an excel spreadsheet of my safe foods.

In doing so, I have discovered that there are a number of trouble foods that I have been eating all along, detox or no detox. Cucumbers being one of them.

While I am skeptical of these new limitations, I am also hopeful. And I am willing to try almost anything at this point in order to re-gain some semblance of health! I have been sick 4 times this winter! 4 times! That is way more than I usually get sick. Usually, I get sick once a year, maybe twice. But 4 times? Something is wrong with my body. I feel as though I am attempting life, school, family, work, etc, with one hand tied behind my back, a limp in my leg and only one functioning eye.

Needless to say, I am tired of treading water just so I can get by, and barely get by at that. I need energy and health and I am going to find it!

Please send me good vibes, warm fuzzies, or prayers. They’re much needed. I have one more month of classes, then I head to Brazil for 10 days! Exciting, yes! Stressful, yes! 😀

Here’s a pic of me two Sundays ago, sick and home on the couch.

Food Experiment Gone GREAT!

A friend of mine recently asked me exactly how one might go vegetarian or vegan. And I totally understood what he was asking for! I mean, it sounds nice to stop eating meat, but there is something about the pleasure seeking part of my brain that really gets a kick out of certain foods–many of which are meat based, or in my case problem food based.

So, step one of my journey towards a more vegetable based diet was in experimenting with food. I googled blogs, recipe websites and bought cook books galore! (There are a lot of good ones on Kindle that are pretty cheap!)

It’s all very overwhelming, though and I seemed to be loosing track of some recipes that I tried and enjoyed. I would stick the print out or the website address somewhere and when I went to make it again, I couldn’t find it! So, I’ve started a binder and am putting all my favorite recipes in it! There’s even a section for partner-approved dishes and fancy dinner party dishes/menus.

Basically, though, the key to switching to plant based over animal based foods was to replace my favorite foods with problem free indulgences, like the Mexican dip I posted about last time. (Check it out here!) It is SO GOOD, especially with Garden of Eatin’s Blue Corn Chips! Something about the crunch of those chips REALLY hits the spot in my brain’s pleasure center! Mmm!

At any rate, one of my favorite foods was grilled cheese! I actually made a really fantastic version of grilled cheese with italian bread (the hardish, dryish white kind) with spicy white cheese, a thin layer of raspberry jelly (homemade by my Mom who goes easy on the sugar) and a thick layer of fresh spinach! I know it might sound weird, but the sweet and savory combination was just perfect!

Well, I recently discovered an amazing gluten-free, dairy-free, low sugar (at least low enough not to give me gut issues) frozen waffles!

I’ve been enjoying them with a big pile of fresh berries!

But then I grabbed some dairy-free sliced and individually packaged cheese that was on sale at Kroger. I’ve been wanting to try it and since it was on sale I thought, now’s the time! So I got home and ate a piece plain. WOW. If I didn’t know that it wasn’t milk based I would not have known! It was a light colored cheese with a spicy jalapeno flavor. It reminded me of the grilled cheese I used to make and then I had an idea!

I made the waffles, melted the cheese on them, added a layer of raspberry jelly and topped it off with fresh spinach (it needed more, I’ll add more next time).

It was exactly like I used to make only better! The waffles have much more flavor to them that the italian bread did! And more omega-3 fatty acid! Oh man, I will be making these again!!!

So, step one of going veggie? Get creative in the kitchen! Use ingredients that are similar to the other ingredients and experiment! If you’re not into experimenting, google some recipes! There are TONS out there!

And remember, don’t tell yourself that you can’t have something, like bread or meat or whatever you’re trying to replace. Of course you can have it! The question is, do you really want it? Now that I know what bread, dairy products and meat products do to me, the environment, etc, I don’t want it. I want sliced strawberries on a bed of leafy greens! And I want to have grown those greens or picked those strawberries from a local farmer!

I am happy to report that my greens have been coming from my church’s greenhouse for the past couple of weeks! (They’re in the picture, actually!) The greenhouse is growing rampant amounts of leafy greens! Spinach, kale, bak choy, and mustard greens! I didn’t think I liked the last three of those until I tasted them fresh and ripe! Mmm-mm!

What food would you miss the most if you were to switch to all plant based foods?

Juice Detox – Results Summary

So, the juice detox was pretty darn interesting! We made it 7 days rather than the full 10, but I really think it still did us a WHOLE LOT of good and helped us become more familiar with plant based eating and the joy of simple recipes!

The first five days we had one juice a day, sometimes two, but we also at really big, tasty salads, smoothies and delightful cooked recipes like veggie soup and sweet potato & carrot “fries”.

The juicing, which started on day 6 (which was Easter & boy was that hard!), was the really difficult part. The eating lots of delicious fruits and veggies part was easy during the first five days. Once day 6 hit, I started rebelling. Day 6 and 7 consisted of only juice and coconut water. A whole lot of it in order to get plenty of calories and not starve one’s self, but still, just liquids hit a sore spot for me emotionally.

I caved at the end of day 7 by having cucumbers with humus. I picked that because I’d been craving humus since the start of the detox! All those fresh veggies and no humus? Seemed insane to me! HA!

I think my partner was as relived as I was to be off the detox, though he didn’t show it. 🙂 He’s a lot stronger than I am when it comes to food. I’m not convinced that he has the pleasure-seeking attachment to it that I do.

One really awesome thing came from this detox, though! It was super easy, once it was over, to stay away from meat and other animal products! I am now an ovo vegetarian! I eat plant-based except for eggs, which I am keeping in my diet, at least for now. I have yet to determine if it is a problem food for me or not. I am hoping not because I’m not convinced I can give up deviled eggs forever!

After the detox, my body has been craving different foods, though my emotions/pleasure seeking brain is craving the same foods! This is the recipe I’ve been turning to when I want something that will make my tummy happy, my skin happy AND my brain happy!

Multi-Layer Mexican Dip

1/2 can refried black beans, seasoned to taste

1/4 container Tofutti (or Firm or Silken tofu, blended in blender with 2 Tbsp Sriracha sauce (red pepper would probably work, too, but use less!) & 2 Tbsp raw honey — You might also need some red wine vinegar or white rice vinegar)

1/4 container salsa of choice (I used Firestone Peace & Mango Salsa that Kroger carries. It’s got a sweetness to it, so if you’re not into sweet salsas, use something else!)

1 green onion/scallion, chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

First, I open the can of beans and I warm them up in the microwave or stove. I season them to taste with sea salt, pepper, red pepper and other spices. You could also use a pre-packaged Taco Seasoning blend from the store, but be sure to put in part of the package and taste as you go! Otherwise it will be over-seasoned!

If you were unable to find Tofutti at your local grocery store, hopefully you could find some tofu! Break the tofu into pieces and plop it in your blender. Add 1-2 Tbsp Sriracha sauce (Red Pepper would probably work, too. Start with 2 tsp and taste as you go!) and 2 Tbsp raw honey. I used raw, but if you have regular, that’s just fine! If it’s not blending well, you can add 1-2 Tbsp red wine vinegar or white rice vinegar. I started by adding small amounts of these flavorings and tasting as I went until the tofu went from tasting like chalk to tasting spicy-sweet! Oh, and, again, if you don’t like sweet, just use the vinegar and sriracha/red pepper.

Get a big, flat-ish plate or serving dish and spread the beans out in a 1/2 inch or so layer. (Thinner if you prefer, thicker if you prefer!)Then, spread on the Tofutti or homemade Tofu spread. The next layer is the salsa, although sometimes I put it on top, depends on how I’m feeling. Spread the salsa on as thick as you’d like it, though I do just enough to cover the tofu layer. Then, sprinkle the chopped ingredients on top. Ta-da!

I eat these with blue corn chips, which seem to be free of bad reactions for me, yay! But you can eat them with whatever chips you like! I serve this when I have friends coming over last minute or as a dinner appetizer. It is usually DEVOURED before anyone asks what’s in it! 🙂

This mulit-layer dip is HIGHLY customizable! Sometimes instead of salsa, I go more raw with chopped tomatoes and sweet peppers! One time I did red and yellow tomatoes and it was beautiful and delicious!

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! If you do a different variation, please comment and share what you did differently!

Happy eating!