Over the summer, we were quite busy, and enjoyed cooking or having meals especially from the BBQ, but that meant I was consuming quite a bit of meats. I have had quite a bit of cheeses as well and other unhealthy foods. My health has been going downwards, I have started to get endo pain here and there, thanks to the meats and cheeses I have been eating, but also I am more prone to getting ovarian cysts, thanks to endometriosis, and when I get pain from that, it's not fun. My stomach bloats, and the entire stomach cramps up and hurts so much! Usually brings me to tears, and although my doctor got me to try a new progesterone pill, it hasn't been helping fully yet.
I'm not a big fan of taking medication, I rather try to treat things more naturally. Medication always comes with side effects which isn't good. There's a few more health issues that I'm struggling with, and I got to a point where I'm fed up, and I need to do something about it. I reached out to a naturopath. In talking to my friend, she said my old naturopath is still there in Orleans but only works part time. Considering it's far for me to get there, I rather find someone closer, which I did. Only minutes away, however our first appointment was virtual, and I was ok with that. She's very nice, and I learnt a few things, and she had good points, and a few days later, she sent me a plan for me to start with and see how I do with it. I bought the vitamins and supplements she recommended and it seems to be helping me quite a bit so far, and I'm only 6 days in. Last weekend I went to buy what she recommended, and on Monday I got started on this healthier plan. My work week was full of delicious and filling foods. Breakfast on Monday was my "pancake" made with 1 egg and half a banana, and Tuesday to Thursday was smoothies with a banana, frozen strawberries and some spinach. I added the psyllium husk, some flax seeds and a vegan protein powder with soy milk (normally I use almond milk but she recommended soy as it has more protein). Friday I had a gluten free bread with natural peanut butter, some coconut yogurt so I can mix in the psyllium husk with a touch of maple syrup, and a green tea. Yesterday I had 2 scrambled eggs with a gluten free bread, toasted, and topped with mashed avocado and sprinkled on some everything bagel seasoning on it. This morning I had my "pancake" again, but this time half a banana with 2 eggs for more protein, and added in my psyllium husk. I made a London fog from Joyous Health, recipe right here.
I also added on my "pancake" this morning a chia jam that I made yesterday. I bought fresh raspberries, and it didn't quite make the 2 cups I needed so I added frozen blueberries, and used the chia jam from Epicure. All I had to do was add the berries and chia mix to a pot and let it heat up, and mash up the raspberries and then once all well combined and warm, I added it to a mason jar and once it wasn't so hot, about 20 minutes later, I put it in the fridge
It's very good! I will be enjoying this more this week, I plan to do a breakfast Sunday. So I'll grab half a banana and cut it length wise, and grab my coconut yogurt and mix in my psyllium husk, protein powder and a touch of maple syrup, and put a good dollop of that on the banana, and then add a tablespoon of the jam, and sprinkle with sliced almonds and some ground flax seed. Hoping it turns out as good as that sounds. If the protein powder and psyllium husk make the yogurt way to thick, I'll add some soy milk to thin it out more.
The weekend before I also made some Banana caramel sticky buns, I have made these before and they are so yummy! This weekend I decided on the Chocolate chip cake from Joyous Health, you will find the recipe listed 2 posts ago. It tastes like a chocolate chip cookie and it's so good!
On that same post, I also posted about these chickpea burgers, also from Joyous Health, and I needed more so I made more yesterday.
I love these, and it's nice to have them in my freezer, they are easy to take out when I need a vegetarian protein option.
A few weeks ago I pickled my own carrots
Also this past week, I have made bowls for my lunches, with a bit of brown rice, chickpea patty, lots of greens/veggies, and a healthy dressing. Which is why I had to make more patties. For suppers, we had a shrimp stir fry, salmon with garlic mashed potatoes, and a salad. Cubed up tofu mixed with corn starch, Jamaican jerk rub, pan fried to crisp them up, chicken for him, and I don't remember what else we had with that. Had some shrimp with aioli, roasted asparagus and mushroom brown rice with some soy sauce and sesame oil. Last night I cooked up some roasted potatoes and onions on the BBQ, cooked up some chicken skewers for him, and for me it was salmon cooked on a wood slab, with this really good salad and it was a delicious supper! The salad was mixed greens, cucumber, red onions, chopped up roasted maple almonds and some sliced strawberries. The dressing was red wine vinegar, maple syrup, extra virgin Olive oil, some Dijon mustard, salt and pepper and a bit of the Oh Canada seasoning from Epicure. Tonight I'm making this coconut milk (solid part of a can only) with tomato sauce, and lots of veggies, fresh basil, and some brown rice pasta. For him, he wants something meaty, so I have a sauce already in my freezer that needs to be eaten, so took that out, and it will make it easy for me to warm that up for him.
So you can probably get an idea on what I can, and can't have, but I am meat free, but I can have seafood and eggs. Another option in protein, other then the chickpea patties, is tofu. I can have tempeh but I'm not a huge fan of it. I should try it again to be sure. I have a few recipes on Pinterest that add a lot of good flavor so at some point I'll try it again. No dairy for me either, not even goat cheese or anything. The only "cheese" I am having is cashew cheese. No sugar, only natural sugars from fruit, honey and maple syrup. I can also have stevia, but I have never done anything with that so would have to look for a recipe or how much to add to try it out. I'm keeping gluten to a minimum, and no alcohol as well. I want to last as long as I can, to give my body a break from those inflammatory foods/drinks. I plan to stick mostly to this way of eating, so I can feel healthier, and have less pain, or better yet no more pain. Every issue I have has to do with a body that's too inflamed, so this will help me a lot! I will have the occasional treat, and when I start not feeling well again, or get pain, I know I need to take a break again from any inflammatory foods for a few weeks again.
So far, this plan has made me feel less tired and more energetic, the psyllium husk really helps me feel fuller longer and I don't have cravings for things I can't have. We have chocolate in our house that I can't eat right now and even chai latte (lots of sugar) and wine but I'm ok with not having any. I can have dark chocolate which is what I added to the chocolate chip cake that I made yesterday.
This week I have tuna steaks, more tofu, that I'll cook up in some way, not sure how yet. We have some haddock and more salmon and shrimp as well, but not sure exactly what I'll come up with. I do have chicken for him that I'll cook up at some point for a supper or two. We of course have lots of veggies, potatoes and sweet potatoes, quinoa and of course brown rice. See how the week goes, and what I'm in the mood to make. I am looking forward to some pasta tonight though. Normally I have a glass of wine with pasta, but I won't tonight, and that's ok, cause my body needs a break from it right now.
Today is going to be a more relaxing day for me. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!
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