Moving Strongly Forward

Chocolate Chip Cookie that is GAPSish

Many thanks to my friend, Melissa, who bails me out when I get stuck on the food thing. Here is a fantastic recipe for a Chocolate Chip Cookie. The only non-GAPS parts are the baking soda (I don’t care about that) and the chocolate chips. The chocolate chips can be replaced with a reduced amount of bakers chocolate. If adrenal fatigue is a problem, GAPS recommends avoiding chocolate because it is a stimulant.

Melissa also gave me a boost the other day when I wrote about my family’s Freakout. To read more about Melissa’s fantastic journey check out Natural Family on a Budget. She recently posted several days worth of meals for inspiration too, and there are a lot of great recipes on there that I will be enjoying in the coming days.

Now for the cookie recipe: Grain-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups almond flour
1/2 cup softened butter
1/3 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cups chopped pecans or walnuts (I skip these sometimes)
3/4 cups good quality dark chocolate chips (or ¼ cup good quality bakers chocolate chopped up in the food processor)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, mix together the almond flour, cinnamon, and baking soda.  Mix in the softened butter.  In a small bowl, mix together the egg, honey, and vanilla.  Add the egg mixture to the almond flour and butter mixture.  Make sure everything is well combined.  If the dough seems too soft (it should be similar to cookie dough), add a little more almond flour.  Fold in the nuts and chocolate chips.

Drop by the tablespoon full on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until lightly browned.

Freaking Out

Yesterday was a freak out day when it came to food. After a less than optimal GAPS-friendly Shepherd’s Pie the night before, we seemed to hit the wall. The thought of leftovers was abysmal. The thought of the mundane lunches of meat and veggies was horrific. It is amazing how two slices of bread changes everything!

We were at the wall. We were done doing the GAPS/Primal/Paleo thing! Ryan and I had tuna sandwiches for lunch (gasp!) and Colson had a turkey wrap. I was considering reintroducing rice. Jettison the Diet, and the possibilities seemed endless, with less time in the kitchen and fewer dishes to clean! Oh the temptation!!

Then I got a grip. I rescued the mediocre Shepherd’s Pie and turned it into a soup with turkey broth, tomato sauce and cayenne pepper added. It became pretty darn good. We are all having it for lunch today and the mini-crisis seems over.

I am amazed that we had this melt down less than a week after Colson was sickened by eating too much wheat: A Bit More on Colson, Grains and Constipation. Colson did not have any obvious problems from the turkey wrap, probably because the wrap is so minimal compared to an entire pizza crust.

I had better get some new meal ideas together so that we don’t freak out again for awhile. Once a year is enough!

A Bit More on Colson, Grains and Constipation

You know, I guess I am ready to admit we will never learn. If you read this post and others on my blog, grains are a repeated problem for my little family: Aches, Pains, Stuffy Nose…and Back to GAPS.

So, what is a little pizza? (which spurred yesterday’s post: Grains – Confirmed AGAIN that they are BAD!) A tough day for Colson, that’s what. In addition to what I reported yesterday, Colson fought off a headache all day, probably at least partially due to lack of sleep, and weakness and an aching stomach. It wasn’t a stomach bug, it was constipation, which I also experienced. In addition, once we got out in the sun you could clearly see the new dark circles under his eyes and his face was swollen from his eyes to his cheeks. GEEZ!

By the end of the day, Colson’s stomach hurt so bad that he had to skip basketball practice, which he loves. Poor guy, he suited up, we drove there, we were walking in, and he was just too cramped up and his head hurt.

The experts always tell us that grains are good for constipation. Yesterday I had to Google grains and constipation, and everything I read told me that they do just the opposite – cause constipation – particularly grains with gluten. So, my poor kid who poops easily every  day is cramped up and in pain, stuffy, and weak. I guess that when we are toxic and polluted our bodies can’t speak to us loudly and we can’t hear them through all the toxic noise. When we are clean, they smack us when we mess up, and we definitely know it.

Here’s to the next pizza somewhere down the road.

Grains – Confirmed AGAIN that they are BAD!

I have written periodically about grain and how it causes us problems. With the exception of one piece of pita bread (better known as Syrian bread in my world) and some rice for a Cajun dish, we have skipped the grains pretty much since the beginning of the year. Cabbage is our big replacer, and we eat more cabbage than anyone I know.

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. My little family doesn’t do much if anything for Valentine’s Day. One organic dark chocolate bar for Colson and me and a milk one for Ryan and that was about it. Colson also decided he wanted pizza, so I bought some dough from Whole Foods and made pizza. It is always tasty, and we don’t get sick to our stomachs the way we do when we eat it from our super yummy organic pizza restaurant. The physical cost? My non-snoring kid is snoring away at 5:00 this morning.

I am always up this early and earlier, and since we began GAPS again at the beginning of 2011, he hasn’t been snoring. Even through our one cold of the season he slept quietly. Today, one pizza and 11 hours later, he is sawing away in his sleep. And now he is sneezing. And now his is up at 5:30 a.m. DAMN GRAIN!

We will probably eat grains now and then, as that seems out pattern, but they WILL NOT be a part of our lives on a regular basis.

Awesome Breast Cancer Information

A friend of mine died from her second round of breast cancer at age 34 last year. A family member died from the brain cancer that spread from her breast cancer in her mid-40s. Breast cancer is such a maddening disease, and one which we can do so much to prevent.  

Dr. Joseph Mercola has written a fantastic overview of breast cancer and how to prevent it here: Breast Cancer Breakthrough - Cut Your Risk of Death in Half. The only part of the article that I disagree with is this recommendation:

“Drink a quart of organic green vegetable juice daily. Please review my juicing instructions for more detailed information.” While this type of juicing will detoxify the body, if done too long it can begin to waste the body. Further, juicing cruciferous veggies, such as the kale and collard greens that Dr. Mercola recommends, can exacerbate problems for people with thyroid problems.

If you are interested in Thermography, as discussed by Dr. Mercola, here is my experience: Thermography - Free and Clear.

I don’t know of a good way to end this post, other than you should expect vibrant health. If you don’t have it, change what you are eating and drinking and find a great healing practitioner: How to Choose and Alternative or Complementary Medicine Practitioner.

If you or someone you know if fighting to beat this disease, check out Suzanne Somers’ Knockout. She really nails it. I met Dr. Nick Gonzalez, one of the doctors she prominently features, this past November and he is amazing. Here is my experience: WAP Conference – Nick Gonzalez, MD and Cancer. Be sure to read the comments on this post, as one of his patients shares her experience.

Wishing much success on your journey!

The Unconquerable Dave

I think I picked this blog post up from my friend Melissa: The Unconquerable Dave.  It is a great one! I will be running my hills harder than ever and Ryan and I will have our Paleo gym up in the backyard by the end of the week!

Reason 5,289 to Take the Healing Journey – The Best One

I have written about the Five First Steps To Better Health; I have lectured about the Five First Steps; and I have coached people through the Five First Steps. A surgeon referred patients to me, telling them to eat like I eat so that they can heal and avoid surgery. That seems like a pretty good motivation to change. Yet very few people actually take the Healing Journey. For the last three years I have asked myself countless times “Why?”

To me the Healing Journey is the journey of a lifetime. I have recovered myself from dangerous physical ailments, helped my husband heal from ADD and helped my son overcome debilitating seasonal allergies. Our lives are pretty darn fantastic. But this article is not about me. It is about how to get other people to buy into the journey and learn to expect and enjoy vibrant lives.

I have read and written a lot about why people need to take the journey. If you are curious to see what “a lot” is, check out the rest of my blog, Moving Strongly Forward. Over two years of reading and reflections are there. I am not going to regurgitate all of that here. No more scary science around how the health of people in modern societies continues to deteriorate. No more motivating stories of amazing recoveries by people who have taken the journey. I am taking a new approach, bringing the message in a completely different way.

Reason 5,289

Curious yet?

I have been reading You Are Here by Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist teacher. You Are Here and other writings by Thay (Thich Nhat Hanh's nickname, meaning Teacher) have helped me to learn to Live in the Present, if only for a few moments a day. Being present in your moment is the foundation for EVERYTHING you do.

Thay discusses health and mindfulness, or living in the present. This approach to health is new to me (you can substitute any food, drink or action for whiskey):

“When you drink whiskey, learn to drink it with mindfulness. ‘Drinking whiskey, I know that it is whiskey I am drinking.’ I am not telling you to absolutely stop drinking. I propose that you drink your whiskey mindfully, and I am sure that if you drink this way for a few weeks, you will stop drinking alcohol. Drinking your whiskey mindfully, you will recognize what is taking place in you – in your body, in your liver, in your relationships, in the world and so on. When your mindfulness becomes strong, you will just stop” (p. 69).

I learned to listen to my body in a different way. Faced with health challenges I cleaned my body up because these health challenges conflicted seriously with my self image. With a clean body, my body speaks powerfully to me and I can’t ignore it. Thay’s approach is much, much more powerful. Be mindful, really listen to your body and your Healing Journey will begin organically and easily. When you learn to be present and listen, taking the Five First Steps will become much easier, you will want to take more, and your life will become more amazing than you thought possible.

Final Thoughts and Old Fashioned Motivation

Here are a couple of fantastic things to think about. I asked my Dr. of Oriental Medicine two years ago how long he thought I could tell people that “The older I get, the younger I feel?” He said, “I will give you an even more exciting thought: If you are not feeling better every year of your life you are doing something wrong.” Then he told me that if I thought I felt good then (at age 42), just wait to see what the next year brings. Wow.

You Are Here is only $8.40 on Amazon.

More Fitness Inspiration – Jack LaLanne

I follow Tim Huntley’s blog Soil to Sustenance

Tim has written a great post regarding Jack LaLanne: Fitness, Inspiration and Humility. Definitely a fun and enlightening read.

Now to find a track and time myself as Tim challenges us to do.

Thanks, Tim!

Homeopathy – Great Explanation at Last!

I was very excited to read this article: Nobel Prize Winning Dr. Takes Homeopathy Seriously. I know that homeopathy uses the vibrational essence of substances to spur the body to heal, but that was about it. Dr. Luc Montagnier, the Nobel Prize winning doctor who discovered the AIDS virus, explains homeopathy in a more meaningful way. Dr. Montagnier and other Nobel Prize winners also explain why homeopathy unfortunately does not have traction in one did in America.

Take a moment to read the article. It could change your life.