Stuffed Peppers

Today my mom drove in for a visit from Texas. This is about an 8 hour drive. So you're thinking, I need to have a nice dinner planned, right? That would be right if my mom left her house at a normal time, but since she's not one to do things normally, she left at 5:00 in the morning and arrived just in time for lunch.

I need to give a shout out to my friend, Lindsey (Hey Lindsey!) for giving me the recipe to these stuffed bell peppers. They were amazing! Real comfort food on a cloudy day. I paired the peppers with some carrot "fries" that I roasted with olive oil and rosemary. Even pre-schoolers gobbled them up!

After lunch, my 4 year-old helped me out with a little project. You may have seen last week that I dehydrated some fruits and veggies. Those, by the way, turned out great. My favorite thing out of that whole random batch was the green apples that I sprinkled with cinnamon. I decided to do an entire bag of apples this time. Thanks to my grandmother, I had a handy dandy apple peeler, corer, slicer doohickey that got all the apples cranked out in about 10 minutes (with the help on my daughter). In no time, those slices were layed out on all 8 trays and sprinkled with cinnamon. I can't wait!

Italian Chili?

It was one of those, "what am I going to do for dinner?" moments at around 4:30 p.m. (2 nights ago). Uh, dunno. So I grabbed some meat and thawed it, looked in the pantry and saw some cans of tomatoes. Okay, I'll make spaghetti. Although, that sucks for me as I can't have spaghetti noodles. Oh well, the family needed to be fed. I do actually make the best meat sauce ever. Ah, familiar food. I put the sauce together in no time and put on some water to boil. During that time, I racked my brain trying to come up with something I could have under my sauce. Brilliant"!", I use almond flour for everything else, why not make my own noodles with it?! I was so quick and efficient, I had my own almond spaghetti ready by the time the family's noodles were done cooking!Impressive, huh? Although, I actually DON'T recommend this. Once I dropped it in the water, it broke apart in a million tiny pieces and only tasted like mushy almonds. Gross. No wonder I haven't been able to find any recipes for noodles. Dang it. Then I started thinking. Some people put chili on spaghetti noodles so why not do it backwards. I'll have spaghetti sauce like a regular bowl of chili. Basically, I gave up...but it was still sooo satisfying!

Quick & Easy Taco

I haved a couple comments lately asking how I the time to do all this cooking and baking. The truth is, I don't. At least most days anyhow. Today, for instance, was no different.

The family went to the movies late this afternoon and by the time we got home, it was past 6:00. I had no clue what was for dinner and had no real ambition to make a serious dinner. Besides, the kids had to be fed, bathed and in bed by 8:00. Lucky me, I remembered I had made up a dozen of those yummy tortillas the other day (the day I had time). So, with that in mind, I grabbed the eggs, bacon, guacamole, fresh tomatoes and cilantro. Dinner was made within 15 minutes and everyone gobbled it up! If only I had time the other day to have made some more homemade salsa. Maybe next time.

breakfast taco

Tortillas y Enchiladas!!

So, like I said, busy day. I tried out a new tortilla recipe that consists of flax, almond and buckwheat flour. Super easy to put the batter together but tedious to make...unless you have my handy dandy 3-in-1 waffle maker! The grill plates flip over for a nice, flat surface. All I had to do was brush some oil on the plates, drop a ball of dough in the middle, press and 30 seconds later, there it was. Hot delicious tortilla!

This will really open up some doors to meal options. Like tonight's dinner, for instance, ENCHILADAS! I have to admit, every time I have ever made enchiladas, I have used a can of enchilada sauce. Unfortunately, for this diet, I have yet to find sauce that is approved for this Phase 1 diet, so I was on my own. The result was nothing short of the greatest enchiladas I have ever made! Granted, some cheesy mess in it would have been nice but these babies held their own, even without the cheese.

I used the fresh stock from the chicken breasts that I had just boiled, to make the sauce. The sauce was easily thickened with some arrowroot powder. I seasoned the shredded chicken breasts with onion, cumin, garlic, fresh cilantro and a few green chilies, then tossed it in some sour cream. I added a small can of green chilies and some fresh tomatoes to the sauce and topped the enchiladas with it. After 15 minutes in the oven, the tortillas crisped up and were ready to give thanks!

Busy, Busy, Busy

I had some free time this afternoon so I turned my kitchen into my science lab. I was on a mission. I made plans for dehydration and tortilla pressing. I washed, sliced and placed all my fruits and veggies on the trays of my dehydrator. Yes, that is a Ronco. My dad bought it many years ago due to his gadget addiction. Like father, like daughter. I'm a gadget freak! I guess we'll see in a couple days who it all went.

Pizza Night! Finally.

It kinda took all day, though. Instead of picking up the phone and waiting 30 minutes for a pizza to be delivered, I started with a bag on yellow onions. Yup, the base of the dough is onions and sunflower seeds. Weird, huh? I hauled my onions to a friend's house last night to use her food processor. I figured my blender wouldn't quite do the trick. I pureed the onions and seeds with some olive oil and salt, then put it in a bowl and went home.

Today, all I had to do was spread some "dough" out onto parchment paper, then bake. Only, it bakes in a low oven for 2 hours! And I did 2 crusts. Yup, about 4 1/2 hours later, there was my crust.

Not done yet! At dinner time, I had to add the toppings and bake another 15 minutes. I think it was worth it. Tonight, the toppings were roasted red pepper, purple bell peppers, spinach, tomatoes, fresh basil, and a sprinkle of feta cheese (I was told I could in SMALL amounts).

*TIP*

The pizza sauce I used is Muir Glen Organic Pizza Sauce. It is all Phase 1 ingredients, nothing I can't have. It comes in a can but for the size pizzas I made, it didn't use half the can. I'm not one to waste so I froze the rest of the sauce in an ice cube tray. Next time I want to make an individual size pizza, all I have to do is pop out 1 or 2 cubes and thaw. This works great for pestos too!

BFF's

I have a new best friend! We have been acquaintances for quite some time. We'll see each other once or twice every couple of weeks or so, but lately, we have really bonded. I'm talking about my french press. I love her! I usually have my cup of tea about 3 times a day...not anymore. I tried to drink it on this diet but it's just not the same without my milk and sugar. So, I decided coffee was the way to go. The french press is perfect for me while I'm at home and hubby's at work. It's so easy to use and it makes the best coffee you will ever have! I can even pour a little bit of heavy cream in it unlike hot tea...that would just be nasty! Diet or not, everyone should have this in their kitchen!

I did it!

I made it through a full 2 weeks and I have to admit, I'm starting to feel really good! It was funny this morning my husband commented that I've been sweet all weekend, and very smiley. ???? Am I usually a raging you-know-what? I guess I'll take that as a compliment. He was actually really sweet to me this morning too. He woke me up with a cup of coffee and after church, he offered to take me to eat wherever I wanted to go. And I think to his surprise, I just really was in the mood to go home and grill some chicken. This is so not like us. Usually, I want to go eat somewhere and he's just dying to get home to start his poker tournaments, so then we're both in bad moods.

We had a great lunch. I seasoned some chicken with Caribbean jerk seasonings, made a grilled zucchini salad, and made an extra side of frozen mixed veggies for the rest of the family. I can't eat that since it's got peas and green beans in it. I did pick out of few pieces of carrot, though. Tonight, I will attempt my 2nd batch (different recipe) of pancakes.

*UPDATE*

I soooo loved these pancakes! Even my 4-year old approved. The first time I attempted pancakes was last week using coconut flour and they did not get eaten. Then she told me she wants "my regular ingredients." This time, I used almond flour. They are also dairy-free. simmering in some grapeseed oil

topped with Mixed Berry Compote

On a side note, here's evidence that my 4 year-old will one day be a great chef...she's already plating her food for presentation!

Saturday Morning Heaven

Yesterday started off perfectly with unusually cool temperatures and the smell of bacon filling the air. Ah, a normal food I can actually eat. My hubby made scrambled eggs and bacon for the whole family, forgoing the toast so he wouldn't tempt me. That is the sweetest gesture of all. When I finally rolled out of bed, I added a few fresh tomatoes from the garden to the bacon-greased skillet and added a touch of salt. Then, noticing there was no bread and butter for him and the kids, I assured him that it would not bother me one bit and thanked him for his selflessness. I then pulled out a couple slices of my simple bread from the freezer and toasted it under the broiler. Let's not forget the slather of salted butter on top for indulgence purposes. My grandfather used to tell my mom, "If you can't see your teeth marks in it, then you didn't put enough on". The final touch to the meal was to top the eggs with the huge helping of pico that I had made the day before. The pico was made fresh from tomatillos, red bell pepper, jalapeno, onion and garlic that I had roasted under the broiler and then pulsed in my food chopper with salt and fresh cilantro.

veggies right out of the oven

the finished masterpiece

A Little TMI...

So what is wrong with me, you ask? Well, I took some before pictures, but that won't be displayed until I can take the afters. I'm not the type to air my dirty laundry until it's clean. ;) Oh alright, here is the laundry list of my ailments...
-PCOS that includes symptoms of mood swings, irregular periods, uncontrollable weight gain, unwanted hair growth, and IBS. There are others, but these are the most troublesome.
-Recently, I had a thyroid ultrasound done due to some levels that were "off " in a blood test. The technician said there were tons of small cysts all over my thyroid. The doctors wanted to wait to put me on any type of medication and redo the ultrasound in a few months. This is so frustrating as I'm desperate to fix all that is going on with me. Not to mention the fact that that scan already cost me $400 and they want me to do another one?

In order to treat my PCOS, I take birth control pills and Metformin (which is actually a diabetic medication). Most reviews that I read online about Metformin raved about how each patient lost 10+ pounds the first month they were on it. Not me! The only thing I can credit to it after being on the highest dosage is that it stopped me from gaining any additional weight. You see, my experience is that for the past 10 years of my life, my weight has fluctuated back and forth with absolutely control. After having two c-sections in the last 4 years, the pounds just kept coming on. I tried everything from good old-fashioned diet and excercise (counting calories and cardio and weights 5 days a week) to desperation diets like Medi-fast. No matter what I do, I cannot shed a single pound. Now I'm not saying I'm fat, but with my height and frame, I'm a good 15 pounds overweight...and all of it seems to be on my stomache. It's hard finding clothes to wear since my legs, butt and top is all one size but my midsection is one size larger.

I can praise God daily on the blessing my children are to me. I am very thankful that we were able to conceive as easily as we did considering other women I know with PCOS have terrible difficulty conceiving.

Only the Beginning

Let me see...where to begin. I am at the end of week two of my Phase 1 Anti-fungal Diet. It's been love-hate all the way! I love all the fresh ingredients but am longing for a hot slice a pizza! I am currently searching for a good pizza crust recipe that can curb this craving. Until then, here's what I've had thus far...


The picture shows all the pills that I pop daily. They are all natural anti-fungals. Apparently, everything wrong with me is all because of a fungus. If I can get that under control, then everything else will fall into place. They can be found at this website for the best price. There is also a probiotic that is specifically recommended by my consultant. There are so many kinds out there but this is the one to get...so I'm told.