Cabin Weekend Photo Recap

We had such an absolutely amazing time away at the cabin this weekend. It was a sunny, relaxing, laugh-until-your-cheeks-hurt, 100% laid-back good time. 🙂 The family members at the cabin were my aunt and uncle Chip and Patti, two of their kids Aaron and Ali, my aunt and uncle David and Doreen, their two boys Matthew and Nathan (their cabin is next door to Chip and Patti’s), my mom and dad, and Dana and me.

This post doesn’t need many words, so how about a photo cabin recap instead? Here it goes…

I didn’t want to leave on Sunday; I had such a blast. This is definitely what the doctor had ordered. Thank you to my gracious aunt and uncle/Godfather for having us out to your lake place. I hope we can make this happen more often!

In case anyone was wondering, I did manage to stick to the SCD all weekend. It wasn’t easy, but I did it. I really want to reach my hands into the popcorn bag and the peanut M & M’s, but I resisted and snacked on some cantaloupe instead.

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend as well! I have a healthy and delicious nacho recipe coming your way tomorrow. You’re probably going to want to check back. 😉

Have a great day!

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She’s a Maniac in the Kitchen

I was a machine in the kitchen yesterday. I mentioned that we were going to be heading to my uncle’s cabin this weekend, and since we are following the SCD, we decided it would be easiest for everyone if we just brought our own food for the day. That means I had to get busy.

Friday Recap

Friday morning started out with a purple smoothie. I decided not to bore you with yet another nearly identical smoothie photo. It looked like this and was extremely tasty. While I slurped my smoothie, I attempted to blog, but our internet was moving at snail speed and I was getting extremely a little impatient. I decided I would hit the gym and run my errands in the meantime while the computer took an hour to upload one photo (exaggerating only slightly).

At the gym, I started off with a two-mile run while listening to Pandora. I am a little disappointed in the television show selections at the gym these days. They used to always have one TV that played Bravo/E! shows like The Real Housewives, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, you know, all of those thought-provoking shows. 😉 I would always make sure to plunk myself in front of that TV. Lately, I’ve had to settle with Fox News. Anyway, the run felt pretty good, the entertainment not so much. Then, I hit the weights for some bicep and back work. Once I was done with the weights, I hopped back on the treadmill to finish off one more mile. I was sweatin’ big time by the end of this workout!

After the gym, I had to make a few stops to pick up some last food items for the weekend. Back at home, I attempted blogging again. This time around the internet was working much  more efficiently, thanks to the hubs. I ate a completely random lunch before getting busy on food prep. If I recall, I ate cooked carrots, pulled chicken, half of a banana, a couple bites of peanut butter.

Then it was food prep time. I started by making our dinner meal which was turkey and vegetable lasagna. I used zucchini as the noodles. To prepare the zucchini for the lasagna, I cut the zucchini on a diagonal to give long 1/4 inch thick or less strips. I threw them into a strainer, sprinkled them with salt, and let them sit in the sink for about 20 minutes to help remove excess liquid. After 20 minutes, I blotted each strip with a paper towel then got to layering my lasagna. I didn’t measure exact proportions but I can give you some idea of what I did.

Layers from bottom to top:

  • marinara sauce (homemade SCD)
  • zucchini
  • ground turkey, browned
  • a sprinkle of oregano and basil
  • spinach leaves
  • sauce
  • repeat
  • top with cheddar and parmesan cheese
I baked this in a bread loaf pan since I was only making the lasagna for Dana and myself. I baked it at 357° for about 55-60 minutes. I finished by turning the oven to low broil to lightly crisp up the top.

I placed it into the fridge to let it cool. Once it was cooled I cut out to large pieces and packed them up for the weekend.

Then I got to making a loaf of almond bread but am using a different recipe now than the one I posted here. The new recipe comes from livinglavidamama and I like it better than the other one because it doesn’t have butter. The taste is nearly identical to the other recipe.

Recycled reused photo:

While the bread was baking, I cut up a perfectly ripe cantaloupe. Cantaloupe isn’t usually my first choice of melon, I prefer watermelon and honeydew over it, but being the loving wife that I am and knowing the hubby likes it, I went with the cantaloupe this time. I munched on a few pieces while I cut it up and enjoyed it. It’s not that I don’t like it, I just don’t prefer it. It will be a perfect snack for us today.

Okay, so lasagna done, bread done, cantaloupe done (I learned how to spell cantaloupe today btw, yet another perk of blogging), next on to lunch.

In the morning I started up two chicken breast in the crock pot. At around 2:00, I removed them and cut about 1 1/4 of the two chicken breasts into chicken salad size bites. I added one peeled and chopped apple spritzed with lemon juice, mustard, celery seed, and pepper and mixed it all together. I then prepped a handful of lettuce cups. For lunch: chicken salad lettuce cups. Easy! Lunch, done.

So what was left? A veggie with dinner perhaps and breakfast.

After I cleaned out the crock pot, I thought I would do a little experiment. We have a bag of sugar snap peas that had been in the fridge for quite some time. They weren’t bad yet, but since I’m not able to eat them raw at this point, I wanted to try to use them up before they went bad. I wanted to try to “steam” them in the crock pot. I added the bag of snap peas to the pot, added a cup or two of water, a squeeze of honey, covered them, and set them on low. I let them go low and slow for 2-3 hours. The result was a sort of smoky snap pea. They definitely taste different, but I kind of like them and so does Dana. I added a little salt, packaged them up, and voila.

Last prep was breakfast. I made us both banana egg pancakes like the one I had on Thursday. This time I added cinnamon, a touch of nutmeg and allspice to the batter before pouring it on to the sauté pan. Once they were cooked, I packed them up and also packed about 2 tablespoons of peanut butter (1 Tbsp each) for us to add to the top of our cakes.

Are you ready for the entire day’s worth of meals in one photo?! Get ready…..

Ta da!

Lunch: Chicken Salad Lettuce Wraps with Cantaloupe.

Dinner: Turkey and Vegetable Lasagna and Slow-Cooked Sugar Snap Peas.

Breakfast: Banana Pancakes with Peanut Butter.

She’s a maniac, maniac…in the kitchen! I am pretty proud of my work. That is how you do camping SCD style.

Oh what was that? I still need to make dinner? Darn it! I decided to go real easy and made myself an omelete with one egg and one egg white, and topped it with leftover veggies from the other night, a sprinkle or parmesan cheese, and served it with a big dollop of homemade ketchup. MMmm ketchup!

It came together in less than 5 minutes which was just what I needed. I spent the rest of the night relaxing, packing, and painting my toe nails. Today is going to be a GREAT day. I am super duper excited. Can’t wait to fill you all in. Have an amazing day friends!

Continue Reading She’s a Maniac in the Kitchen

Veggie Nut Pizza

It’s Friday!

I will be spending my day running errands, getting a workout in, cleaning, and planning and preparing food for this weekend. We are going to be cabin bound tomorrow and I am so ecstatic for a mini getaway. We will be heading to my aunt and uncle’s cabin (actually two of my uncle’s cabins) and my mom and dad are going too. There will be loads of relaxing, laughs, and hopefully lots of sun involved. It will be the cure for my ailments. 🙂 I am in a much more positive mood today compared to the other day and it feels good. I still have some decisions to make regarding my diet, but I am not stressing about it anymore.

Let’s back the train up a bit and talk about Thursday shall we? I had a real good day of eats yesterday.

Starting with breakfast…


A two ingredient pancake. In my mini blender, I blended one ripe banana with one egg.

I should have added a dash of cinnamon to the blender, but since I forgot, I sprinkled it on after I poured the pancake batter into a lightly oiled pan on the stove top.

I cooked the pancake over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, or until the bottom was beginning to lightly brown and then flipped to the other side. It was a challenge flipping this guy over and I broke it into a few pieces in the process. I cooked the other side for another 3-4 minutes. It finished cooking right in time before I had to head out the door to work. I tossed the warm pancake into a Tupperware container, topped it with a teaspoon of peanut butter, and off I went.

Lunch

I was feeling pretty hungry yesterday and my tummy was really talking to me around 11:00 am, but I had to wait until noon to eat lunch. I ran home at break (not literally) and threw together a bowl of cooked carrots and butternut squash sprinkled with cinnamon and almond butter. So far it was a nut butter and cinnamon-y kind of day!

I had another bite of almond butter and some watermelon to finish off lunch before having to head back to work. BTW if you think the almond butter looks a little dry, it’s because it is. 🙂 I used a little sunflower oil in the mixing process to try and smooth it out but apparently it wasn’t enough. I still really enjoy it though.

Gym and Dinner

After work I headed to the gym but really wasn’t in the mood for a workout. I was feeling a little bloated and was completely wiped from my day. I decided to make it an easy one and nestled myself onto an elliptical with a copy of Rachael Ray’s magazine. I finished off 30 minutes and called it a day.

Now, dinner is something I am excited to talk about. I got pretty creative in the kitchen last night and concocted a stinkin’ awesome recipe, and it follows the SCD too! I made what I like to call Veggie Nut Pizza, and I blew myself out of the water with this one if I do say so myself.

Get that oven going to 350°.

The first step is to grate zucchini and carrots into a large mixing bowl. I had frozen grated zucchini leftover from last fall so i thought I would use that up finally. I used about 1/2 cup zucchini with the water squeezed out. I grated about 3 carrots to make 1 cup of shreds. Next, I added 1 cup of almond flour, 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese, 1 egg, 1 egg white, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, 1/4 teaspoon dried basil, and cracked black pepper. I mixed it all up.

On a baking sheet, I used a paper towel to lightly coat the pan with olive oil. I placed the pizza dough on to baking sheet and spread it out evenly. I used a 9 x 13 baking sheet and the dough didn’t cover the whole thing. The crust was about 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 35 minutes. The top of the pizza should have a light golden color once it’s done baking.

Next, top the pizza with marinara sauce (I made homemade SCD marinara last weekend and froze it), cheddar cheese, a sprinkle of parmesan, and whatever toppings you have on hand. I had mushrooms and olives so I threw some of those on. I went light on the cheese on top of the pizza because there’s some in the crust already. Bake the pizza for 12-15 minutes.

While the pizza baked, I snacked on some cooked carrots.

Once the cheese had melted on top, I switched the oven to low broil, to finish off the top and set the cheese just how I like it. You probably wouldn’t have to go through this step, but both Dana and I are kind of particular about how we like our cheese melted on our pizzas.

Remove from oven, slice up, and seriously enjoy.

I am telling you, this pizza will rock your socks. It is gluten-free and fits right into the SCD. Sure it takes a little prep, but this one is completely 100% worth it. Dana and I finished the pizza off with no problem. Yum.

Veggie Nut Pizza

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup zucchini, grated and drained
  • 1 cup carrot, grated
  • 1 cup almond flour or meal
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg white
  • 1/4 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/4 tsp dried basil
  • cracked black pepper (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°
  2. Mix all ingredients together
  3. Flatten pizza onto lightly oiled 9 x 13 inch baking sheet
  4. Bake for 35 minutes or until lightly golden*
  5. Remove crust and add sauce, cheese, and toppings
  6. Bake for an additional 12-15 minutes*
  7. Remove, cut into slices, and enjoy

*Baking times will vary; keep an eye on your pizza!

It really was a good day of eats! I am off to get some work done. I hope you all are having a wonderful Friday. I will catch up with you all soon.

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Feeling Overwhelmed

Happy Thursday to all!

Let’s talk about this Specific Carbohydrate Diet for a second. I’d be lying if I said the SCD has been easy. It hasn’t quite been two weeks yet but I can honestly say I am exhausted from it already. The biggest issue I’m having is simply finding enough time to do all of the food prep, not to mention clean up afterwards, especially since I am still going in to work. This diet looks into every last ingredient in a food item, which means I have to make all of my dressings and sauces from scratch and then there’s the meals of course, snacks, bread, crackers, etc. This is obviously pretty time consuming, and not the most practical in my life. I may be speaking out of sheer exhaustion right now, but I am thinking I may convert to a more modified version of the SCD. I have some thinking to do.

First things first. A recap from yesterday.

In the morning I wasn’t feeling the best, but I still wanted to attempt a run. I went into the run telling myself it was okay to walk if need be. I started off in a slow jog and continued that pace for a couple of miles. I kept my route real close to home in case I needed to make it home quickly, and towards the end of the 2nd mile, I really wasn’t feeling too well, so I made my way home. I still managed to work up a nice sweat in that short period of time. Although it was only two miles, like I say, two miles is better than no miles at all.

I wasn’t hungry for breakfast which rarely happens. I think it can be attributed to my cookie monster fiasco the night before. I knew I had to eat something before work and it needed to be substantial enough to hold me over for four hours until lunch. I made cinnamon honey peanut butter alongside a banana. That did the trick.

For lunch, I still wasn’t very hungry (again, cookie monster), but I made myself a plate of cooked carrots, pulled chicken, and topped it with homemade honey mustard.

I had to work late again last night so once I got home, I was finally hungry. It was just a matter of making dinner that sounded like the biggest task in the world. Not only could I not decide what sounded good, I also didn’t want to be spending the next 45 minutes in the kitchen, so I needed to choose wisely. We still had lettuce cups leftover from the Thai lettuce cups, so I started off with that idea in mind. Then, I began sautéing carrots, zucchini, spinach, and mushrooms which I spiced up with basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Once they were thoroughly cooked, I placed a heaping spoonful of veggies on top of three lettuce cups and topped them with pulled chicken.

I thought I would leave it at that, but the meal was tasting pretty bland to me (I feel like this has been a common theme lately), so I topped the remaining two lettuce cups with a small dollop of peanut butter.

I am starting to think I could add peanut butter to anything and I would enjoy it: a sock, a shoe….anything. 😉  This minor addition to the meal improved the dish a little, but this still wasn’t my most favorite ever. But, it wasn’t so bad either. I am just really missing my sauces, especially soy sauce in this case. I am a saucy gal. Dinner tasted very  fresh and healthy, I just don’t think it was really what I was in the mood for.

For dessert, I controlled myself and had only two of the cinnamon cookies. I also made up a batch of honey almond butter and had a few samples of that, you know, to make sure it tasted okay.

Today is my Friday of work because I have tomorrow off. I am really looking forward to it. I feel like after vacation, the week back is always so exhausting and really wears you out.

Back to the SCD.  I will be updating you soon on my decision to possibly deviate slightly from the plan. It is important to remember that each person and each case is different, and each individual heals differently and at varying rates. I know this may not seem like a good idea to those of you reading this who have been following the diet for quite some time, but it may be what I need to do in order to maintain my sanity, control my stress level, and enjoy my summer fully. If anything I would continue to eat grain-free, but I may look into buying some store-bought dressings and sauces. I would scan the ingredient labels carefully and try to stick to ones that were the closest to “legal.” I am trying to remain as stress-free as possible, but this diet is really starting to exhaust me, and I think these minor changes would help me to not feel so overwhelmed, and would help me to heal.

I don’t want to discourage anyone out there who is following this diet exactly as it is supposed to be followed. I strongly admire those of you who have been following this for years or even months. Your dedication is truly something that should be recognized. I will continue the SCD and continue to support all of you who are following the SCD.

I am off for the day! I’m keeping my head up, and I hope you all are too. The sun is shining, and I just finished my morning cup o’ Jo. Have a great day.

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A Cinnamon Cookie or Two or Three…

Happy Wednesday everybody…

Workout & Breakfast

Yesterday morning I grabbed a half a banana with peanut butter as a pre-workout snack before heading to the gym.

At the gym, I hit the elliptical for 30 minutes, then to the treadmill for a fast mile run, and I finished off with leg weights. I felt pretty darn good after that one.

When I got home I made myself breakfast: a smoothie packed with yogurt, blueberries, strawberries, banana, mango, spinach, and a splash of Welch’s 100% grape juice.

I don’t have food photos from lunch or dinner because I ate at work and being we were in meetings, it would have been kind of awkward if I started snapping photos of my food. 🙂 I can tell you though I spent time in the kitchen yesterday morning prepping my healthy SCD friendly meals.

For lunch, I made Thai lettuce cups much like these ones but the only veggie I included yesterday was the carrots. For dinner, I made a chicken and veggie sauté. I sautéed carrots, zucchini, and mushrooms until thoroughly cooked and soft, then added the chicken. For sauce, I whisked together honey, fresh orange juice, and a dash of ginger. I poured the sauce over the cooked veggies, sprinkled with salt and pepper, gave it a stir, let it cool, and packed it in my Pyrex to go. I had two super delicious and healthy meals yesterday. It was worth the extra effort for sure.

Amidst the work meetings yesterday, there were chocolates and candies being passed around. I can’t tell you how bad I wanted to reach into that bag of chocolates and savor every last chocolately bite. I think chocolate is what I miss most while on this diet. Of course I didn’t eat any of the chocolates, but I was feeling a little “deprived” at the end of the day, and had a hankering for something sweet. Lately when I want something sweet, I have been eating a bite of peanut butter with honey, but last night, I really wanted something else. So, although I worked late and wasn’t home until late, I decided I was going to make myself a batch of SCD cookies.

I found a recipe from this site, tweaked it the slightest bit, and got to baking. Here’s the recipe:

SCD Cinnamon Cookies

Ingredients

  • 3 cups almond flour
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup yogurt (SCD homemade)
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp ginger
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 saccharin “sugar” packets**
**The saccharin helps to cut the tartness out of the yogurt. The original recipe calls for applesauce but I didn’t have any on hand so I substituted yogurt instead. If using applesauce, you probably would not need the saccharin.
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 300°
  2. Mix all ingredients together
  3. Spoon walnut-size cookies onto a no-slip mat or parchment paper covered baking sheet about 2 inches apart
  4. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until cookies begin to turn golden brown
Notes: The dough is a little tricky to work with as it is pretty sticky. I used a spoon to scoop the dough and used my finger to slide it off onto the mat. You want to bake these long enough for them to begin to crisp up just a bit, if not, they turn out very crumbly and bread like. Also, I would probably add even more cinnamon next time around. It would be nummy to add in butternut squash puree instead of the yogurt too. I may have to try that in the future.

So, how did they turn out? Well, they aren’t even close to being in the same ballpark of deliciousness as a Nestle chocolate chip cookie, but they did a pretty good job of relieving me of my sweet hankering. They have a hint of cinnamon and their texture was sort of like an airy but slightly crispy pancake or muffin top (kind of hard to explain). They were a tiny bit bland, so I ended up making myself an even more special treat by lightly spreading peanut butter and a touch of honey to the cookie.  They were pretty good when eaten plain though too, just not what I am used to when it comes to cookies. If it’s a choice of cookie or no cookie, I would take this cookie. I have to confess….I ate WAY too many of these last night. I think I was really missing my treats and just went overboard. Yes, the Dietitian just admitted that she over-did it on cookies; pretty embarrassing. My body is not very happy with me today. I am a little down because I worry that I set myself back on my healing progress. I have been feeling SO good lately, and the last thing I want to do is back track. I’m trying to stay positive. Today’s a new day. I know I will be okay!

How about this for positive, it’s Wednesday! Half-way through the work week. I hope you all have a great day. I will catch up with you later.

Continue Reading A Cinnamon Cookie or Two or Three…

Kabobs and Family Time

Well, we survived Monday! I always feel a sense of accomplishment from making it through my least favorite day. 🙂

Breakfast

For breakfast I made a bowl of yogurt with honey and bananas and drank a cup of weak coffee (that’s allowed!).

Lunch

Pulled chicken with honey mustard dressing and cooked carrots with a touch of honey and salt.

And a half a ‘naner with peanut butter, plus 2 more bites of peanut butter with some homemade SCD crackers.

Dinner

After work, I headed to mom and dad’s to enjoy our last evening with Jeff before he headed back to Colombia.

Kevi and I were wearing the same shirt last night so of course my nerdy self had to snap a photo. Wooo Warriors! Thanks for humoring me so often, Kev. You’re such a good sport.

For dinner mom and dad were busy making and grilling shrimp and chicken kabobs. The copious amount of food looks like they were feeding an army, but in reality, I would say all but one of those bad boys got eaten. There were a lot of men at our house! We had Dad, Grandpa, Jeff, Kevin, and Dana all there, and they were hungry. Mom and I didn’t do so bad ourselves either. This is basically what our food quantities looked like growing up with three teenage boys and my dad around the house. Mom would always joke that her paycheck went right to the groceries.

I asked mom and dad to keep mine and Dana’s separate because we have to be careful with our sauces and seasonings with the SCD. I found a “jerk seasoning” in their cupboard that had all legal ingredients, so I sprinkled our kabobs with that prior to grilling. The seasoning definitely had a kick but it wasn’t too spicy that I couldn’t handle it.

On the kabobs: bell pepper, mushroom, shrimp, zucchini (no skin thanks to mom), chicken, and onion.

I had at least one and a half of these plus a whole lot of watermelon. We had so much fun together last night. We sat around for a couple of hours and chatted away, and amidst our conversation I came to the conclusion that if I were stuck on a deserted island and could only have one food item, mine would totally be peanut butter. If I had two food items, it would be peanut butter and banana. Dad’s would be hot dogs. That still cracks me up! Grandpa’s would be roast beef, Dana’s would be a club sandwich on sourdough but everyone decided that was too complex and that’s cheating, mom would want lobster, and Kevin and Jeff both were being too difficult to give me a straight answer. Jeff said Whole Foods Market and Kevin said a sandwich full of steak and chicken and meatballs,and veggies, etc.

After our imaginative conversations, it was time for us to hit the home-front .We said our good-bye’s and Jeff gave us a gift he brought from Colombia: Colombian coffee. Oh yes. I am excited to break into that! It’s always hard saying good-bye, but this one was a little easier knowing I was going to be seeing him in the Fall, and being that time has been absolutely FLYING by, I know it won’t seem like long. We sure love having him home though!

It was such a great night with the family, we were just missing our Scotty. Jeffrey, can’t wait to see you in the Fall but feel free to come home before that if you want though. 😉 I love my family so much I can’t even begin to explain. I feel so lucky.

Have a terrific Tuesday. I’ll catch up with you later. Oh and btw, not too happy with the Bachelorette outcome last night…

Question of the day: What one food item would you choose if you were stuck on a deserted island?

Continue Reading Kabobs and Family Time

Even Better Thai Lettuce Cups

Happy Friday to all!

With all of the commotion with the SCD happening these days, I realize I have been slacking a bit on the workout front. During day 1 and 2 of the introductory diet, my energy level was fairly low. Considering I really am not a meat fan, and eggs I can only handle every once and a while, I was getting most of my calories from carrot broth and juice gelatin.

That’s the honest truth. Since my food intake wasn’t where it should be, my energy level took a brief dive. I still made it to the gym on the second day but it was only for an easy elliptical workout. Nothing too hardcore.

I have been trying to get to the gym (especially since it has been so hot lately), but this last week since the Warrior Dash, I have been slacking a little more than usual. Now that my energy level is up a little bit again, I am trying to get back on that train. The train I really  need to jump on is the strength training choo-choo. This happens to me all of the time, where I am so good about it for a month, and then all of a sudden it’s been two weeks and I haven’t lifted a single dumbbell. This time around, it was because I was feeling a little too weak. I will be working on catching that train, we’ll see when I jump on it. 🙂

Anyway, now that I am following the SCD, I feel like I have SO many great food ideas and recipes to share with you that I seriously can’t keep up with them all. How awesome is that, right? This comes with the fact that I am spending an incredible amount of time in the kitchen. I am fully aware that this will get better as time progresses. I am still only in the first week. Once I get some of the basic condiments made and have those stored away, that will help cut my time a bit. So far, I have only made ketchup (aka my favorite condiment). I am a sauce and condiment queen, so I need to make some more.

Thursday Gym & Breakfast

Yesterday I actually did get to the gym. I had hopes to run outside in the morning but my hopes were slaughtered when it was already 80-some-degrees out at 8 am and the air as thick as molasses. Yea, not for me, no thanks. At the gym I hopped on the treadmill and pounded out 2 sweaty miles. I then made my way to the elliptical to finish up some with 10 more minutes of cardio. Lastly, I hit the carpet and worked on some core. K, I really only did core for probably 4 minutes but I still managed 2 planks on the Bosu ball. I always say, it’s better than nothing!

For breakfast I whipped myself up a refreshing smoothie. In the mix this time around was: banana, peach, strawberry, blueberry, spinach, a splash of pineapple juice, SCD homemade yogurt, and a pinch of sweetener (SCD allows saccharin or honey for sweeteners). I went a little heavy on the spinach this time around. Usually I can’t taste the spinach but this time I could. That doesn’t bother me too much but it’s also not the first thing I want to taste when I take a sip.

I still really enjoyed it though!

Lunch & Dinner

I didn’t snap a photo of my lunch but those of you who are curious, I ate a cashew butter sandwich on SCD bread (both ingredients homemade). I also noshed on buckets of watermelon. I am in LOVE with the watermelon right now. It is so juicy and sweet and summery and perfect.

I had big plans for dinner. Around 10:30 am I set two boneless skinless chicken breasts in the crock pot with a big squeeze of lime juice, 1/2 cup of water, 1 smashed garlic glove, 1/8 cup of onion, and a sprinkle of cumin, salt, and pepper. I set the crock to low and left it alone while I tackled my day.

In the afternoon, Dana and I made a sweaty trip to Menard’s to pick up mulch for a landscaping project in our front yard. This is something we wanted to do last summer but with the wedding and all of the costs and time associated, we decided it had to wait. I am super stoked about it. What’s even better is it’s free because we still had some last gift card money from our wedding! Thanks, friends! While we were out we rented the movie, “The Descendants” from RedBox. More on that in a sec.

At about 5:30, I turned the crockpot off, and transferred the chicken into a small bowl. I grabbed two forks and shredded it easily.

On the stove top, I sautéed diced carrots, zucchini (no skin), and mushroom in a touch of olive oil. I wanted to give the carrots enough time to cook and soften up so I added them to the pan first. I seasoned the veggies with salt, pepper, and cumin. Sauté until softened.

In the meantime, I placed unsalted, unroasted peanuts into the food processor and began processing them to make peanut sauce. While they processed, I added a big squeeze of lime juice, some warm water, 1 chopped garlic clove, salt, and pepper. I kept it whirling until it was a saucy consistency. I transferred the peanut sauce into a small dish and microwaved for 30 seconds just prior to serving.

To dish it up this all up….start with your butter lettuce cups, layer on the sautéed veggies, then shredded chicken, peanut sauce, cilantro, and finish with a splash of lime juice.

My mouth is watering as I write about these this morning. They were unbelievably awesome and completely SCD legal! I am loving this so much. Is it challenging to come up with recipes for SCD? I would say no, I really enjoy it. The challenging part is basically making everything from scratch. Typically, I would’ve just used store-bought peanut butter and mixed it with soy sauce, lime juice, and other spices to make the peanut sauce, but instead, I had to make my own peanut butter from actual peanuts. A little more labor intensive, but so totally worth it. I am loving this clean living. I feel great!

I strongly urge you to make these lettuce wraps. If you don’t feel like going all SCD homemade, go ahead and use some store-bought natural peanut butter to make the sauce. Just go make them, please. I have made Thai style lettuce wraps before, but these ones from last night take the cake.

After dinner and clean up, I made a batch of these:

Recipe to come later! 😉

Then I plunked myself on the couch next to the hubby to watch our movie. We aren’t much of movie watching people, I think it’s because neither of us can sit still very long, but every once and a while we will rent one and enjoy it. Since it was so hot last night, we thought it would be the perfect way to spend our evening. Being that we don’t watch movies often, I have no clue what’s out for rental, much less know what the movies are actually about. Dana had heard about the movie, “The Descendants” with George Clooney, so we decided to give it a go. I didn’t bother to read about the story line when I got it from the RedBox. I actually thought it was going to be some sort of action movie, and I was anticipating sitting on the edge of the couch biting on my cuticles. I was utterly mistaken. I am not going to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t seen it, but the movie was definitely not action, it was drama. It was sad and I wasn’t expecting a sad movie. I enjoyed it but I just wasn’t prepared for it. So, if you choose to rent this one, just be aware of the story line before you watch it. I think most people ARE aware of the movie they are about to see, I am just a special one who chooses to go in blindfolded.

Anyway….I am off on tangents this morning. Why not continue with the tangents with an update on my UC symptoms? I have been on the SCD for less than one week and I am already feeling insanely better. I am in awe at how well I am feeling. Since I began, I haven’t been bloated one single time. That was my probably  my most uncomfortable symptom from the UC prior to the diet, and now that I have eliminated the complex carbs, no bloat, and very very little gas. Are you serious? Is this for real? I am so pleasantly surprised. It’s hard not to be skeptical but I am experiencing first hand the benefits of this scientifically proven diet. As for my other symptoms, I am visiting the restroom less, I don’t feel as fatigued, my skin is clearing up, and my hair has gotten blonder (kidding that’s from the sun). 🙂 That was a Dana and dad kind of joke.

If anyone out there is thinking about starting this diet, please mention it to your physician asap, so you can start to feel better too! I am continuing with my meds as prescribed but am really hoping that eventually I will be able to go off them and just maintain with diet and healthy living alone. I know this is not what the doctor would want to hear, but it is my hope.

I am so inspired and can’t wait to beat this disease. I will continue to update you all with my symptoms, and share my recipes and insights along the way. Thank you to all of you for being so supportive, and for offering such great advice and kind words! You are all so wonderful.

I am off for the day. I am hoping to get some laundry done possibly (it’s really piling up) and speaking of workouts, hopefully get a workout in too. First things first, I need to eat some breakfast…

Have a happy day everyone! Catch up with you soon.

Continue Reading Even Better Thai Lettuce Cups

Nutty ‘Naner Bread: WILD HARVEST Recipe Contest

Happy Independence Day everyone!

As mentioned a little while ago, I received a wonderful package of WILD HARVEST Organic products courtesy of WILD HARVEST and SUPERVALU INC. in conjunction with the Healthy Living Summit 2012.  SUPERVALU INC. provided these products to me for free and asked that I come up with a fun and healthy breakfast recipe which included three or more of their products provided.

As soon as I received my box of goodies, my brain started rolling at a mile a minute. I absolutely LOVE recipe creation and was super pumped to get started.

The WILD HARVEST ingredients I chose to include in my breakfast recipe are: WILD HARVEST Original Applesauce, Creamy Peanut Butter, and Cherry Vanilla Granola.

Here is what I came up with. I hope you like it!

Nutty ‘Naner Bread

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°F. Use cooking spray to lightly coat one 9 x 5 inch bread loaf pan. Set aside.

Step 2. In mini food processor, process 3/4 cup WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola into a course sand texture.

Step 3: In a small bowl, combine processed granola with 3/4 cup almond meal, 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Mix to combine; set aside.

Step 4: In a large mixing bowl, beat together 1/4 cup granulated sugar with 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST applesauce.

Step 5: Add two eggs and 1 teaspoon of vanilla; beat well.

Step 6: Add 3 over-ripe mashed bananas; beat until smooth.

Step 7: In a small liquid measuring cup, measure 1/3 cup almond milk. Add 2 teaspoons of white vinegar to milk and mix.

Step 8: Alternate adding dry ingredients, then milk mixture to the batter, until both are incorporated into the batter; beat until well combined.

Step 9: Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 5-10 minutes. Baking time will vary so check bread at 1 hr and 5 minutes and test if it’s done by poking a toothpick through the center of the loaf. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. Remove from oven. Let cool slightly.

Step 10: Once bread has cooled, melt 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST creamy peanut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Drizzle over bread. Scrape the bowl clean to get every last drop of the wonderful peanut butter onto that bread!

Step 11: Sprinkle the top with 1/3 cup WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola.

Serve slightly warm or cooled to room temperature. Enjoy this nutritious and delicious Nutty ‘Naner Bread for breakfast with a side of fresh berries and a glass of low-fat milk or your favorite morning beverage.

Nutty ‘Naner Bread (Makes 1 loaf)

Prep time: 20 minutes; Bake time: 1 hour and 5-10 minutes

Ingredients

Bread:

  • 3/4 cup WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola, coarsely ground
  • 3/4 cup almond meal (almond flour would work fine too)
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST applesauce
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 3 over-ripe bananas, mashed
  • 1/3 cup almond milk
  • 2 tsp white vinegar
Topping:
  • 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola (for topping)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Use cooking spray to lightly coat one 9 x 5 inch bread loaf pan. Set aside.
  2. In mini food processor, process WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola into a course sand texture.
  3. In a small bowl, combine processed granola the flours, baking soda, and salt. Mix to combine; set aside.
  4. In a large mixing bowl, beat together sugar with WILD HARVEST applesauce.
  5. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.
  6. Add bananas; beat until smooth.
  7. In a small liquid measuring cup, measure almond milk; add white vinegar to milk and mix.
  8. Alternate adding dry ingredients, then milk mixture to the batter, until both are incorporated into the batter; beat well until well combined.
  9. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan; bake for 1 hour and 5-10 minutes. (Baking time will vary so check bread at 1 hr and 5 min. and test by poking a toothpick through the center of the loaf. If it comes out clean, the bread is done. Bread should be lightly golden brown). Remove from oven. Let cool slightly.
  10. Once bread has cooled, melt WILD HARVEST creamy peanut butter in the microwave for 30 seconds. Drizzle over bread.
  11. Sprinkle the top with WILD HARVEST Cherry Vanilla Granola.

Serve slightly warm or cooled to room temperature. Enjoy this nutritious and delicious Nutty ‘Naner Bread for breakfast with a side of fresh berries and a glass of low-fat milk or your favorite morning beverage.

Thank you to SUPERVALU INC., WILD HARVEST, and Healthy Living Summit for providing me with the opportunity to be a part of this recipe contest. I had such a great time in the creation process! I hope to do it again.

To all of my readers, the contest is being judged on nutrition, taste, and creativity. I am anxious to see what everyone else came up with!

Again, Happy 4th of July to all! I hope you enjoy your day. Catch up with you soon!

Continue Reading Nutty ‘Naner Bread: WILD HARVEST Recipe Contest

Not Quite a Warrior, More Like a Pansy

Hello there! Happy Sunday to all. I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend. Mine has been busy, but a lot of fun.

Saturday Morning: Warrior Dash

It was Warrior Dash morning which meant I was going to have my typical pre-race meal: perfectly ripe banana with a light smear of Smart Balance peanut butter.

I gathered the first set of troops for a “I-just-got-out-of-bed-but-let’s-do-this” pre-race photo.

We made our way to Afton Alps and picked up some of our friends on the way. Parking cost $20 so we figured we would pack everyone in to one vehicle to cut the cost, and hey, we were going green too. The parking scene was an obstacle in itself–driving through farms, weaving around cones, riding over some seriously bumpy terrain; it was actually hysterical. Once we parked, we took a shuttle bus over to the race.

Here is my brother Kevi, and our friends Matt and Steph.

Dana and I, and behind us are our friends Adam and Stacy. Peace.

We arrived super early, which I love. We went and picked up our bib numbers, timing chips, t-shirts, and warrior headgear. We then had plenty of time to relax, pin our numbers on, use the facilities a couple of times, and snap some clean pre-race photos with our group.

Being that I have not been feeling my best lately, I was slightly nervous that this race wasn’t going to be a good idea. I become fatigued very easily, I feel weak, and my stamina isn’t where it could be, and mostly, I was afraid to be far from the restrooms. That’s the ugly truth. Not only that, I felt very sick the night before. I woke up Saturday morning feeling pretty good though, and mornings are usually better for me than night-time when there isn’t a whole lot of food being digested yet, so I decided to give it a go.

Off to the race we went. The first obstacle was a bunch of car tires tied up in a bunch, and you had to run through them kind of like you were playing football and knocking through everyone. I liked that one but that’s probably because I was the first one to run through and didn’t get knocked in the face by any of the swinging tires. 🙂

Let’s see the rest of the obstacles from what I remember:

  • Balance beam that slanted up down up down.
  • Climbing wall with uneven foot holdings and a slanted top which made it challenging to climb over.
  • Cargo net wall
  • Snow blowers set with water that basically blind you as you run through
  • Crawl under barbed wire on rocky grounds
  • Slightly slanted wall with rope to pull yourself up and over
  • Grassy steep hill and rope to pull yourself up
  • Hurdles and barbed wire so you had to go over a hurdle and then under a barbed wire, over a hurdle, under barbed wire, etc.
  • Water slide!
  • Jumping over fire twice
  • Mud pit
But the most challenging part of the race wasn’t the obstacles, it was BY FAR the insane amount of hills. In between the obstacles was 3 miles of “running” through the grassy, truly beautiful views of Afton Alps, but I would say (and I don’t think I’m exaggerating) that 60% of the running part was uphill. And I don’t mean little bunny hills, I mean crazy steep hills that even the most incredibly in-shape person would struggle to run up. My team walked most of the hills and even walking them was hard for me! I kept losing my breath and had one scary moment where I couldn’t catch my breath at all and felt like I was beginning to hyperventilate. This happened to me during the half marathon as well. I think what happens is when I begin to feel so short of breath, I begin to panic and the panic only makes the breathing more difficult. It is such a scary feeling though, not being able to catch your breath. The group I was with was so supportive and everyone kept cheering each other the entire way.
The race ends with the mud pit where you have to crawl on your elbows in 1-2 feet of wet mud under a barbed wire. This year they sprayed us with a hose while we crawled, which made it even more messy (but so fun!). Dana and I were very cliché thanks to me, and held muddy hands through the finish line.
We all finished in one piece. Kevin completely tore it up and finished probably 25 minutes before we did. Next year I tell ya, he is taking the prize. Seriously. (BTW the guy on the left in this photo is Stu, and he is Matt and Adam’s uncle and a friend of ours as well. He wasn’t in the previous photos).

After all the muddy shots, we headed to the rinse area where they had a snow-making machine shooting out a thick mist of water. It was very cold but felt good to get all the muck and dirt off! We then donated our shoes, dried off in the sun, and headed home.

I don’t know if I’m a true warrior. I’m more of a pansy, but I still finished the race. 🙂 Intestinally speaking, I was fine during the race, but I could tell my stamina wasn’t where it used to be. My body is fighting hard right now and I understand that, so just completing the race at all was a big accomplishment for me.

Wedding Reception

Dana, Kev, and I had a wedding reception to get to. We showered up, making sure to clean out the mud in the ears, and headed to my cousin Mike and Jess’ wedding reception. They got married in Mexico in March and are having their reception back home to celebrate with everyone. It was set up in a large outdoor shelter near a public lake. It was so nice to be outside; it was a little hot, but I kind of liked it. They had the reception catered with the great classic barbecue foods: burgers, brats, chicken, beans, watermelon, pasta salads, and lettuce salad. I didn’t snap a photo of my lunch but I had a few bites of chicken, a half a burger, and a huge lettuce salad with mustard.  Mike and Jess did a wonderful job planning for the reception. Thanks for a great time!

At this point in time, I was completely beat, but Dana and I had a few errands we needed to run. It started with what was going to be a quick trip to our nearby natural food store, but we ended up having to make a trip to Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s in search of almond flour among other very particular items. If you’re looking for almond meal/flour, Trader Joe’s has the BEST deal. The other stores had the almond flour as well but it was about double the cost.

For dinner, I ate 1 1/2 leftover turkey burgers from Friday night with a side salad.

I think the burgers tasted even better the second time around!

The rest of the evening was spent with some food preparation.  Tomorrow’s post is going to be a big one. I am beginning a new way of eating, I don’t like the word diet so I am going to try and not call it that. It is going to heal my colitis, I know it is. I have already begun to feel better and I have only just started the process. I can’t wait to break it down for you, so check back tomorrow! I don’t mean to leave you high and dry, but there is a lot that goes into it, and I want to make sure I have adequate time to tell you everything I need to tell you. I have tomorrow off of work so it will be the perfect opportunity.

Alright, off to hopefully cut some awesome coupons. Have a great Sunday!

Continue Reading Not Quite a Warrior, More Like a Pansy

Sweet and Savory Burgers

Warriors, unite. It’s time for the Warrior Dash!

I am going to be tearing up hills, climbing over walls, crawling through mud, and running through the grassy course at Afton Alps today. I cannot wait to fill you in and hopefully share some good pictures with you.

Friday Breakfast

A classic of mine: banana and PB2.

Lunch 

I was at a conference for work, and they served an impressive taco bar. I didn’t take a photo unfortunately but I can tell ya it looked and tasted great. I loaded my plate with chicken, lettuce, cilantro, tomato, corn, black beans, onions, and salsa. For dessert I ate a small serving of sweet compote with blackberries, strawberries, and blueberries.

In the afternoon we ran a few errands and I munched on sugar snap peas and almonds. I am really anxious to tell you about the “Breaking the Vicious Cycle” book I mentioned to you yesterday. Melanie is going to be cleaning her gut, in a very healthy way. More to come so soon!

Dinner

Sweet and Savory Turkey Burgers (I didn’t measure exactly)—recipe idea from this site.

  • lean ground turkey*
  • 1 small apple peeled, cored and grated
  • 1/4 cup or less onion, grated
  • celery seed
  • dried sage
  • chives
  • black pepper
*You can substitute lean ground beef or ground chicken

I crunched on some watermelon before dinner. Note my fashionista outfit I’m sporting. You can usually find me in something of these sorts while I am home. I am all about the comfies.

I assembled the burgers, and Dana cooked them to perfection on the grill.

Such a great team. I plated my burger up with a small salad with olives and honey mustard, and two slices of cheddar cheese. Look, it’s a Christmas tree!

The rest of the night was spent getting ready for the Warrior Dash, painting my toe nails, and playing with the pooch.

We have a busy day ahead of us. Can’t wait to tell you about it! Have an AWESOME Saturday. 🙂

Continue Reading Sweet and Savory Burgers
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