Kale Chips

Did you know kale is a source of indole-3-carbinol,
a chemical which boosts DNA repair in cells and
appears to block the growth of cancer cells?

We have never had kale but after reading about how nutritious it is, I knew we had to start eating it. This last weekend we went to a holistic organic food store and bought a bunch of kale. I was looking for recipes on kale and our wonderful cousin Mandy highly recommended this recipe for Kale Chips. It looked easy and I had all the ingredients on hand. Yay! So what can I say about kale and this recipe???? It was so yummy! We loved them!

I modified the recipe to be organic gluten free and here it is...

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of organic kale
3 tablespoons of Mario 100% Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tablespoons of Organic Ohgave! Amber (The gold standard blue agave)
1 tablespoon of Organic Tamari Gluten Free Soy Sauce
1 1/2 teaspoon of Simply Organic Garlic Powder
Organic Fine Pacific Sea Salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Whisk all ingredients except kale and salt in small bowl. Place kale in a large bowl and toss with dressing to coat. Spread kale onto a large stainless steel baking sheet in a single layer. (Can do in batches) Sprinkle sea salt to taste. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes and enjoy!!

Recipe courtesy of http://www.thedoctorstv.com/files/Image/3118/Kale%20Chips.pdf
Picture courtesy of http://sp.life123.com/bm.pix/kale.s600x600.jpg

Saying Goodbye to Gluten

Saying goodbye to pizza, bagels, pasta, cookies 4 years ago may sound like torture but it was nothing short of a miracle to me. Within days I was already feeling better...No more tummy aches, canker sores, and I had so much energy. I knew I was going to live this lifestyle 100%. I was not going to go back to living my life half way. I loved that I was feeling better and could not wait for the next day just knowing it was going to get better and better.

I ate a lot of meat and potatoes the first couple of weeks while researching what I could have and not have. I went through my kitchen, refrigerator, freezer and boxed up all the food with gluten in it and gave it to my neighbors. It was so much food that I remember being astounded of how much gluten I actually ate and how many things had gluten in them. Things like shredded cheese and spices. Food you would think that wouldn't have gluten in it. It wasn't natural.

I also realized I was going to learn how to cook. I was never really a "cooking from scratch" type of person. I was more of a "open a box" kinda of girl. I got a couple of gluten free cookbooks to start with but became overwhelmed with all the different kinds of flours the recipes needed to make one thing. I decided I needed easier recipes to start with. I found all purpose flour from Bob's Redmill. Yay! Only one flour now. After making a couple of baked things that didn't not turn out I realized I need Xantham Gum....What an adventure cooking had become for me. I loved it though. I remember the first time my banana bread came out delicious and soft, exactly the way it was supposed to be, I was so excited I shared a piece with everyone. haha

I order a lot of my stuff from Amazon.com. Buying in bulk makes the items so much cheaper than buying them in a grocery store. Here are some things I loved before becoming Organic Gluten Free:

Gluten Free Pantry Favorite Sandwich Bread Mix: Very easy to make....Awesome bread!
Pamela's Baking and Pancake Mix: Great pancakes!!
Betty Crocker Gluten free Mixes: We loved them all!
Chex Cereal: Cinnamon was our favorite!

If you want more of my favorite gluten free items let me know!

(picture from http://beta.brusroom.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/gluten-free-symbol.jpg)

The Weightloss Protocol

I know this post seems very weird to start with but I am starting my weight loss protocol today and I wanted to share my experience with you while doing it. I will be going on the hCG diet and doing it BY the book. What book you ask???? The book "The Weight Loss Cure" by Kevin Trudeau. I didn't just read a book though, I read everything I could about the diet, all pros and cons and thousands of success stories. I talked to my doctor and got her opinion. I also talked to my friends who have done it and they said they have lost so much weight and feel better than they ever have before.

Kevin did not invent this diet. Dr. Simeons did. He wrote the manuscript Pounds and Inches. In Kevin's book he explains about Dr. Simeons and how he wrote the manuscript. It is a fascinating story and the speculation concerning his death.

I will be doing the injections of hCG not the drops. Everything I have studied and read say that the injectable hCG is 100 times better. It is real hCG. It will only make you lose the stubborn fat not your good fat. It will restart your metabolism and your hypothalamus. Now don't think this is an easy or quick fix diet. It takes a lot of hard work and you will have to change your eating habits to keep the weight off. There are phases of this diet. You will also want to start taking supplements and exercising the right way.

The reasons I want to do this diet is not only for weight loss. I do want to lose 15 pounds. I do want to be a size 4-6 again but more important I want to restart my body. I want my body to rid itself of the toxins that are in the stored stubborn fat. I want a chance for my body to start over and erase all the years of bad food choices.

If you are interested in knowing more, I highly recommend reading Kevin's book and Dr. Simeons manuscript. Here is the manuscript: http://www.hcgdietinfo.com/Dr-ATW-Simeons-Pounds-and-Inches.htm

Come learn with me!

So now that you know some of the background as to why we are organic gluten free lets get into the changes. I want to tell you what exactly we have changed...what products we use....and why we use them or not use them. I want to share recipes...exactly what I use to make the recipe.

I would love to know your feelings on these things....what you use and why. I'm always looking to improve things or learn new things. So please feel free to comment!!!

Organic

We have been organic for 3 months now. Here is the back story on how Organic came into our lives. Around November I watched Food Inc. I was horrified. I could not believe how mean the animals that provide their lives for us were treated. From there I watched Food Matters and the Cove. These 3 documentaries made a huge impact on me. Right after that my neighbor gave me the book Natural Cures by Kevin Trudeau. This book was so eye opening. What I really liked about the book is he gave references to that you could research as to where he came up with his information. It wasn't just him saying this is that....he could back it up. I spent hours, days, weeks, looking things up...researching...reading everything I could find.

Around Christmas, as a family we decided we will be Organic. We did not want eat GMO food or Toxins. We knew we wanted to eat meat but we wanted the animals to be treated with respect and live the way they were supposed to....roaming the fields...being outside in the sun...eating what they were supposed to. We wanted fruit and veggies that were the size, the color they were meant to be and the season that they are meant to be in.

January 1st...New Years Day. We decided our New Years Resolutions were going to be different this year. Instead of quit stuff, we "added" stuff. We were going to be Healthy!!

Becoming Gluten Free

I want to welcome you to my organic gluten free life. I haven't always been organic gluten free. Let me give you some background. I have been gluten free for 4 years this month. I was sick for at least 12 years or more before finding out gluten was causing my symptoms. I went to Dr after Dr looking for a cure to my tummy aches, my chronic fatigue, and my mood. They would run test after test but come up with nothing. It got to the point where the Dr asked me if I needed counseling since my symptoms seemed to be made up in my head.

From there I figured I would always live like this. That is when I started getting canker sores. Not just one or two but about thirty at a time. It was horrible and I would cry looking for a cure. My husband then joined the Military. I had a 3 year old and a 1 month old. I remember eating a bowl of cereal and getting sick and crying. I remember thinking how am I going to take care of 2 kids with my husband in the Military being sick everyday. That same night, my dad watched a medical mystery show and the lady was allergic to gluten and had some of the same symptoms. He called me the next day and told me all about it. That day I stopped eating gluten and by lunch I knew this was the cause. Within 24 hours I felt better than I had ever before.

I was gluten free for 3 weeks then ate gluten for 1 week so I could get tested for Celiac disease. That week was horrible. I vowed never to eat gluten again even if I didn't have Celiac disease. The test came back...I have Celiac disease and thyroid disease. I was so excited to finally have an answer!! I stopped eating gluten and never looked back. Being gluten free has changed my life!

The best book I read to get a better understanding of this disease and lifestyle was Living Gluten-Free for Dummies by Danna Korn. This was an amazing book....it broke everything down in a simple way. If you are going to start being gluten free or are gluten free and want more information I highly recommend it.