BEGIN AGAIN

I know that I am behind on the times but I have somehow been able to avoid Pinterest until today. I was looking for a recipe link and finally found it on Pinterest only to realize that I couldn't open it without an account. So I signed up, then couldn't find the recipe again Go Figure! Oh but the good news is, I already have followers. The bad news is, there's nothing to follow because I'm clueless! I'll have to take a Pinterest tutorial.

Sunday is the day that we start fresh! We weigh then assess the previous weeks triumphs or short comings. We ( mostly I ) then  make a plan for the upcoming week. This week my husband lost just over a pound and I gained just under a pound. No cookies next week! 

I have Psoriasis and it has been really flared up along my hair line. I've read that intolerance to eggs can cause and/or aggravate psoriasis and eczema and they tend to create inflammation. The plan is to test this theory and find out if eggs are my problem. I have mixed feelings about this because it's harder to bake without eggs and they are very nutritious. But, if excluding them from my diet will clear up the psoriasis, exclude them I will. It takes 3 weeks to clean something out of your system so I will give you reports over the next 3 weeks. If an egg intolerance is my problem then inflammation could very well be the culprit in my weight gain. Time will tell! 

We started yesterday on our egg free journey and I found a recipe for vegan pancakes. During the week we mostly have protein shakes for breakfast, so I like to make something special on the weekend. We really like the flavor of these pancakes but I cooked them on a griddle when the directions said to use a skillet and this is what happened

I hope it was my cooking method and not the recipe because they really had good flavor! I will try again!

I tried again. even made them smaller this time. There was coconut oil in the pan pictured above. So this recipe is officially a flop. It's just as well that I couldn't find the link! Today"s lesson: just because a recipe is posted on line and has a pretty picture, it isn't always a good recipe!

It only gets better from here! I'm frying deer steak in coconut oil and gluten free breading tonight. This I know will be good! I'll bake sweet potatoes and serve something green with it. It's fool proof. I don't think my ego can handle another failure today! My lunch was a flop too! Homemade cream of tomato soup. (not good with vanilla flavored coconut milk. I have the regular, just wasn't thinking)

DISCLAIMER: Although I love JJ Virgin's book "The Virgin Diet", I have never purchased or used any of the products sold by her and/or at www.TheVirginDiet.com

Now deep breath! Think happy thoughts! My happy place!

2 Corinthians 10:5 (NIV)   We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

The little things!

OUT WITH THE OLD

This morning as I was FINALLY folding yesterday's load of towels and thinking ( I have such an awesome husband! After being out doing his "Super Hero" duty and saving the greater areas of Clarke and Washington Counties from rodent and insect infestation and I was NOT folding and putting away the towels, he never said a word. Just sat beside them on the couch. I love this man! )

Anyway, I noticed what lousy condition my dish towels are in.

So what did I do? I just hauled myself to Walmart and picked up a few new ones.

It's the little things right?

If only it were so easy with our diet!

So what is food intolerance really? Unlike food allergies, it's not quick and obvious. The last time that I ate peanut butter my lips and face began to swell, my hands itched and I began throwing up. It was VERY SCARY AND VERY OBVIOUS that peanut butter is not my friend! "Obvious Allergy"

Food intolerance is sneaky and builds up over years of eating foods that our bodies just weren't created to handle. We attribute it to getting older. I used to say all too often "Getting old sucks"! The body aches and joint pain, the slower metabolism and tiredness, extra gas and tummy issues, and the so called "middle aged bulge" are all blamed on getting older. I had to start taking off my rings before I went to bed because I'd wake up with swollen hands. When I stay away from the foods that my body can't handle, I don't have these symptoms.

What my body can't tolerate may be different than what your body can't tolerate. The 7 foods most likely to cause food intolerance are gluten, soy, dairy, eggs, corn, peanuts, sugar and artificial sweeteners. For information from an expert visit www.TheVirginDiet.com

One of our favorite treats is a banana sandwiched around almond butter, frozen then dipped in chocolate. I either buy my almond butter at Fresh Market or make it myself. It's time consuming and loud but makes great in my food processor. The almond butter that you buy off of the shelf has undesirable ingredients added. Invest in the pure stuff, you won't regret it.
Here is the link to the recipe http://www.primallyinspired.com/cinnamon-vanilla-almond-butter-banana-pops/
I like to make my own chocolate to dip them in. We really like extreme dark chocolate. The chocolate that I use:

Homemade Dark Chocolate (Paleo)

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 cup of melted coconut oil

1/3 cup of raw honey

a few dashes of salt

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl. Pour the chocolate batter onto a parchment lined baking sheet and spread it around evenly. Place the baking sheet with chocolate into the freezer and freeze for about 30 minutes or until it is set. Keep refrigerated or in the freezer. To dip the bananas pour the batter into a cup instead of spreading it onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet  ( I use my 2 cup glass measuring cup ) 

I wasn't thinking about sharing when I found this chocolate recipe so I do not know who to credit for it but it is not my creation! Sorry!

Speaking of creation, enjoy a few pictures of the bounty God has blessed my little container garden with! It's not much but it excites me! The little things remember!

Psalm 143:8  (NIV) 

Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. 

                               

HOW DO I BEGIN?

Starting this blog has been a learning experience! I'm loading the pictures from my phone and tablet into "the cloud" in order to access them from any device. Well, I did not clean them out and I do let the grandchildren play with my camera! I sure hope that "the cloud" isn't public access! There are some pretty ugly pics out there of me now and nobody wants to see that! As the movie preview says " nobody understands the cloud" least of all me!

My goal is to share the recipes that we love, along with links to some of my favorite bloggers, and maybe even some helpful hints along the way that have made it easier for us to stick with eating healthy for just over a year now. I will also share our bad choices ( not going to call it cheating because we are adults and we choose to eat healthy or not ) and how we get back on track when we make bad choices.

I hope to inspire you, make you smile, even laugh a little and promise to try my best not to bore you in the process. This is all very new for me and I will appreciate any input, all words of encouragement and even a small amount  of corrective criticism!

Tonight we will dine on left over, store bought rotisserie chicken because I have been setting up a blog all afternoon and neglected to prepare! Oops!  Haven''t folded the towels yet either! Oh my!

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. 2 Corinthians 4:16-17 (NKJV)