On My Way

I am starting to think that even though it is going to be a huge undertaking and I will have many set back (trying to use words that make less of a negative impact) and also times that I do good, I am ready to make some major changes to my diet.  I think it is time to start eliminating certain foods to see if they are things that I have a reaction to.  I know that I can't tell if I have a reaction unless I actually eliminate them, but I am ready.  My husband needs to follow a similar diet that I want to follow, only he doesn't need to be gluten/yeast free.  We will be pretty much be a vegan family.  He needs to cut out meat and I want to.  I need to cut out dairy and so does he.  The kids don't eat dairy. 
For dinner tonight, I made this recipe: http://www.food.com/recipe/chickpea-quinoa-pilaf-vegan-295639 and substituted amaranth for the quinoa.  It turned out pretty good.  It will certainly be in my dinner rotation and fits the diet that I want to be eating.  I really need to get my cookbooks/diet education books together so that I can prepare my meal plan based on the foods I should be eating.  I love my iPad.  I look up recipes, most often from blogs, and use the iPad as my own little cookbook.  I love it, but I also still love having actual books, not just the internet.  I may even start to put together binders so that I can keep hard copies of recipes from the internet, like the one above, so that if the recipe goes, I still have a copy.

Any vegan/gluten free/ yeast free websites, recipes, blogs are very much welcome.  I have a few favorite blogs that I visit and try recipes from, but would love any and all suggestions!  I will be certain to post what recipes I am trying and where they come from.  I am loving trying out new healthy recipes, I just need to maintain my health and my resolve!

Amy

New Recipes and New Thoughts

I have been wanting the book "Clean Start" as well as "Crazy Sexy Diet" for some time now and yesterday, I sucked it up and bought them.  I was thinking about trying a new recipe from "Clean Start", but I didn't have enough ingredients in the house.  So I went to the web and found a blog:(http://www.nomeatathlete.com/clean-food/ ) with a recipe for millet and black bean burgers only to find out that the recipe was from "Clean Food" another cookbook by Terry Walters, the same author as "Clean Start" which I already own.  I bit the bullet and tried a new recipe for my family which the kids hated but me and my husband loved.  The amazing thing is that in the past, I haven't been all the impressed with millet recipes.  The last two recipes I've made have been from this "Clean Food" cookbook and I have loved both of them.  I am psyched because millet is really cheap, and I can enjoy some healthy food.  I only wish that my kids would be better eaters.  I am really looking forward to trying out more recipes in my new books and

My newest thoughts have some from a few comments that people have left regarding different posts that I have done.  One of my postive qualities, yet one of my worst qualities is that when I get a thought in my head I totally dive right in full force and expect that everything is going to go just the way I want it to because I am so resolved about some idea.  Well, it is one of my worst qualities because when things don't go as planned, for whatever reason, I tend to back off.  A lot of time I want to make one huge change instead of multiple changes with the end result being the big change that I ultimately want.  I hae decided to go slow and make all the changes that I want to make on more of a smaller scale or at least over a period of time so that I can maintain the really important changes that I want to make.  I also think that I need to give myself permission to fail, but not give up.  Again, I don't like failure, but like I said, I also tend to dive in head first instead of just dipping my toe in and going slow so that I will be less likely to fail!

It's funny, I sometimes think that blogging is really not all that I thought it would be.  I don't have all the followers that some blogs have.  Granted, I tend not to be able to be as active with other blogs as I would like, and that may be the reason for my lack of followers.  My lack of followers may also be because what I am writing about is on little to no interest to others, but I am slowly realizing that those that follow and comment have really helped me with some of the issues I am having.  So, thank you to all who read, and I really thank those that comment since the things that you write have really helped me.

Amy

Newest Gift Ideas

I really need to go through my polymer clay books.  I was going to do a scrapbook of the kids for my mom for Christmas and I still may, but I am thinking that I also want to do a polymer clay transfer project also.  I guess I really just want to do all sorts of projects and the more that I can give away, the better.  I am planning reading some of my project books and trying some projects and figure out what to do with them.

I made a new meal tonight.  It was out of my one of my vegetarian cookbooks.  It was supossed to be a croquette, but I just made it into a regular grain and bean dish.  Basically, it consisted of red lentil, brown rice, red quinoa, sweet potato, celery, and onion, with a little garam masala and curry powder (my 2 favorite spices).  I stupidly didn't plan my time and didn't bring any to work, but I did taste it before I left and I thought it was good.  I plan to eat a bowl once I get home.  My sister, who was babysitting, said that Thomas and Eva Rose ate 2 bowls and Michael wanted nothing to do with it.  We'll see what my husband thinks of it! 

I know I have another blog for my food issues, but very qiuckly, I am having a really hard time fully eating the way I should even though I don't feel good after I eat.  You would think that I wouldn't want to feel sick and that it would be enough to make me want to eat healthy, but it's not.  I just need to be better at doign what I am supossed to be doing.  You can read more details on this at http://trialsandtribulationsofhealthyeating.blogspot.com/.

Amy

Eating

So, as you all know, after reading my multiple posts about my potential allergies, I have been trying to eat better.  I have some good days and some not so good days.  I am doing really good at cooking my own food vs eating out all the time, I just now have to start eating a little healthier.  As I've written, I've been wanting to go vegetarian/vegan, but I know that will never truly happen.  I have totally resigned myself to the fact that I will always be what I've heard referred to as a flexitarian.  I will eat meat, as healthy the meat as possible, but my focus will be on beans and veggies from this point on. 

I have been trying to eat more beans lately.  Partly because I want to for health and partly because one of my husbands doctors has recommended that he eat more beans.  My husband is seeing a dietician soon (something I was supposed to so, but I chose to see an allergist) and she will be guiding my meal planning from that point on.  I have been trying to do better at meal planning.  I have gotten better, but I still have a long way to go.

I had a playdate with another twin family today and I got a ton of new recipes.  My friend made recipe cards from a scrapbooking software program, and now I want that program.  I can have fun with scrapbooking, but not take all the time and energy of getting out all the stuff to do traditional scrapbooking.  I can also now have fun with recipes too!  One more porject to add to my list of things to make is a recipe box.  I saw the one my friend had, and now I want to paint one to put all these lovely recipe cards in, especially since she said she will make me copies when she puts together more recipes.

My goal for the week is to use what food I have in teh house til payday on Thursday.  No more eating out for me.  I am also going to go through the fridge and clean out all the old stuff.  I will be doing soem meal planning for all 3 meals, not just dinner and also snacks (even some thing as simple as dry cereal will be planned).  My friend used dry cereal for snack today and said she does it often.  Why I feel like I need to have real snack food is beyond me.  The kids loved the cereal and even did great sharing!

My final goal is to really stop the wheat and the dairy from my diet.  I have noticed that I am having more gi issues, now that I am paying attention to how much of that stuff I am eating.  I don't know if it because I am more focused on it, or if I am just eating too much of it.  Either way, I now can see why I need to eliminate it and hopefully I'll feel better.  I am seeing an allergist in 3 weeks or so.  I will be having the skin allergy test to see if it correlated to the blood test that I had done.  If so, I will definitely be eliminating these foods forever.  I just hope that I don't eliminate them before the appointment only to find out that I need to be eating them prior to having the allergy test.

This post is a little all over the place, but I guess that's where I am, a little scattered.  One more subject to throw out there is that I am planning on starting to hand piece some quilt squares so that I can have some quilting projects on the go.  Hopefully this will be fun and not tedious!

Amy

Ice Cream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!

In my last post, I commented that there were a bunch of recipes that I wanted to try.  I had already tried a berry rice milk ice cream made in my Vita-mix blender, but I wanted to try something in an actual ice cream maker.  I got the book "Vegan Scoop" and had been dying to try a recipe.  The problem was I wanted to have it some out really good and since all the recipes were made with soy milk and soy cream, I needed to find alternative so that my husband could also partake in these new ventures of mine.  "Vegan Scoop" says that you can use other milks as well as soy, but it also called for soy creamer which, I believe is a little thicker than soy milk.  The creamer was my problem.  After researching dairy free ice creams, I came across a recipe using coconut milk.  I figured it would taste good, be thick and creamy, and best of all soy and dairy free.  I attempted to make mint chocolate chip ice cream between last night and this morning.  All in all, I think it was good.  I do think that i probably used too much mint extract and will definitely cut back next time.  I also used agave nectar instead of granulated sugar and will use it again.  My husband liked it as well as my 3 kids (29 months and 18 month twins).  I will defintely make this again and maybe next time I'll try it without the coconut milk to see how it comes out with just rice milk.  You do use arrowroot powder as a thinkening agent so that may be all that is needed.  It will certainly be interesting and maybe even fun to try all sorts of different combinations!

Amy

Inspiration

I have been reading many blogs lately and am totally getting inspired.  Currently, the blog that I am most enjoying is blog.healthy-green-lifestyle.com.  There are so many recipes I want to try.  I just need to make the time to start cooking healthier for my family.  I am starting to get better, but I have a very long way to go.  One of my newest goals is to start making homemade yogurt and granola.  We have started to eat yogurt almost every day as well as granola.  I have been buying stoneyfield yogurt which I love, but I would rather make my own.  I have a friend who makes her own yogurt and I plan to ask her for some advice.  I did get a granola recipe from a neighbor and can't wait to try it out.  blog.healthy-green-lifestyle.com also has a protein bar recipe that I am dying to try as well as pumpkin ice cream that has no milk or cream in it.  I can't wait!  There are so many recipes I want to try.

Like I said in my previous post, my husband was diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.  This really means that as the primary meal planner for the house, it is my responsibilty to plan meals that will help him hopefully resolve his metabolic syndrome or at least make it so that it is not a major issue in his life.  Along with that, we will hopefully both be losing weight, my blood pressure will go down and my kids will have a better start to eating healthy given that they are so young.

Unfortunately, the plan for dinner tonight is not all that healthy.  I had bought a calzone the other day and I don't want to waste it.  I plan to have a better start tomorrow.  Tonight after work, I plan to go home and make some ice cream.  I want to try the pumpkin one first, but I think I have all the ingredients for the other one at home, so that will be my first try.  I plan to research more healthy eating, going in the direction of weight loss, lowing blood pressure, and helping with metabolic syndrome.

Check back for more info once I actually get the chance to make some of these delicious recipes!

Amy

Cookbooks/Recipes

So, I have a gift certificate to Barnes and Noble for a book that I returned without a receipt.  I am trying to find a book that I want to use the gift certificate on that will be well used and worth me having in my collection of books.  I am thinking that a cookbook is a great thing to get since I am trying to get healthy and cook more of my own foods.  The problem is, I can't seem to find a cookbook that is worth my buying.  I am willing to spend money above what the gift certificate is worth but, I want to be able to enjoy cooking good food and also enjoy eating it.  I am also continuously looking for new websites for good recipes!

I am trying to continue on my path of getting healthy overall!  I have been continuing to walk with some running.  I am trying to make sure that we cook more at home and eat healthier alternatives to the bad stuff without depriving us of good tasting even sometimes healthier forms of those unhealthy foods.  I wish I new how to out certain things together.  I would love to find books on how to put certain spices, ingredients together.  I would love to learn how to take not so healthy traditional recipes and make them healthy!  I would love more vegetarian style recipes that are actually tasty.  I have a few vegetarian cookbooks, but they just don't seem to be all that healthy.  I am also interested in making more foods that are lower in the amount of meat used, but still have meat in them, just not a primary ingredient.  I am also looking to buy less processed foods and even start buying more of the ingredients in recipes and make things myself.  I have a few friends that are really good at doing their grocery shopping at Whole Foods and buying more whole ingredients vs packaged foods!  I am hoping to be like that some day!

Amy

Recipe review

This recipe was awesome and oh so easy and cheap!  http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Sauteed-Greens-with-Cannellini-Beans-and-Garlic-241906 
My husband loved it and was disappointed that there wasn't more for him to eat.  He had to decide if he wanted to have lunch for today or have more last night!  It's always nice when you try a new recipe and it goes over so well!  Tonight we are having the old standby Indian lentils, another of my husband's favorite.


When the twin wake up and the kids have lunch, I plan to go outside and transplant some of my seedlings and hope that they continue to grow and get stronger for when it is time to plant them outside!


Amy