Mom's Food Plan: Better Than French Fries

At the end of week 3 and these are far better than any French fries I have ever tasted. You can really taste the sweetness of the red-skinned new potatoes.

(Do yourself a favor and line your cookie sheet with parchment first. I ran out this weekend and now I have two cookie sheets to wash with stubborn roasted food stuck to them. ;) )

Potatoes
Coconut oil
Celtic gray sea salt
Garlic powder

Cut potatoes into wedges and toss with coconut oil and seasonings on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. (The heat from your gloved hands will warm the coconut oil so you don't need to use another pan to melt it.) Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes or until browned and tender. Freeze leftovers to reheat in toaster oven.

Beautiful Meal Combo

Chicken Sausage

Baked Butternut Squash

Baking them whole is a lot easier than cutting them first. Preheat oven to 350, wash butternut squash, place on cookie sheet, poke a bunch of holes in the skin with a knife, and bake for about an hour or until soft.

Mom's Food Plan: Lunch Combos

Lunch Combo #1: Rice Bowl with Turkey, Artichoke Hearts, Broccoli, Soaked Pumpkin Seeds, Homemade Vinagrette

Mom's Food Plan: Breakfast Combos

This morning was more proof that I am not on this journey just for me. The phlebotomist who came to my house to draw blood for some specialized tests this morning has a nephew who is autistic and lives in the area. I gave her my number and lots of info and encouraged her to have hope and give me a call. God is in charge and in the details. ❤️

Breakfast Combo #1:

Bottom Round Crock Pot Roast

I ordered this grass-fed grass-finished roast from uswellnessmeats.com and will make it today for a meal that the whole family can enjoy together. I will not be using bay leaves, cloves, fish sauce, or corn starch and will add carrots to the crock pot.

http://blog.grasslandbeef.com/recipes/grass-fed-beef/bottom-round-crock-pot-roast

Mom's Food Plan: Soaked Pumpkin Seeds

I'm supposed to soak seeds and nuts before eating to make them easier to digest. I can add some Celtic gray sea salt to them. Here are instructions I found online, and I dried them in my dehydrator.

https://www.leaf.tv/articles/how-long-should-you-soak-pumpkin-seeds-in-water/

Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Frosting for School Halloween Cookie-Decorating Party

(Sam's frosting is just the carrots puréed with coconut oil and his cookies will be ripe bananas mashed with flax seed and baked.)

Frosting:

1 cup carrot purée (boiled carrots puréed with a tablespoon of coconut oil and a little water)

1 cup organic sugar

1 1/2 cups Pamela's

Decorations:

Organic raisins

Organic shredded coconut

Plantain chips broken into "monster teeth"

Cookies:

My chocolate chip cookie recipe without the vanilla or chocolate chips, and using all white sugar instead of white or brown.

Note to self: Two batches of these cookies fit PERFECTLY in a Juice Plus gummies box! I used sandwich bags with two cookies in each bag and carefully laid them in the box. The box fits perfectly in the bottom of a paper grocery bag, and I usually make the cookies a few days ahead of time and have them put them in the freezer at school to keep them fresh.

Christmas Variation

Fruit and Veggie Bath

Yippee! After two weeks on a very specific diet I can eat lots of other foods! Yesterday I ate my first apple in 14 days and it was heavenly. I am grateful for having the very specific diet to start with so I had a clear and easy-to-follow plan at first. I'm also grateful for doc's recipes.

I'm allowed to eat the skin on my fruit and veggies now so I thought I'd try this vinegar and essential oil bath that my friends like. They like to wash everything as soon as they get it home and they say things keep longer.

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
6 drops extremely high quality lemon essential oil*
6 drops extremely high quality protective blend essential oil*

* I can help you get it for wholesale price.


Add to a sink full of water and produce; soak, then rinse and dry. If anything retains taste of protective blend, use less.

Vegetable Beef Soup my Daughter Loved

This isn't in my diet but I made it for family and my daughter wanted the recipe.

Cut up some potatoes with the skin on, and carrots. Purée a can of tomatoes in the blender. Put that in crock pot on high with some water, boullion, seasonings for about two hours (it gives the vegs a head start). While that's in crock pot, brown a pound of hamburger with an onion and add it to the soup after it's been cooking for two hours. Then turn to low and let cook for several more hours. If you don't have a lot of time, just do this in a pot on the stove. I used chicken flavor "better than boullion". I think cooking it for hours mellows out the tomatoey taste.

Mom's Food Plan: Turkey Potato Patties!

In Week 2 of the food plan I'm starting to get creative instead of just having a plate with measured portions of each prescribed food. The psychological aspect is so important because instead of taking my food like the "medicine" I'm currently using it for, I was actually really excited about experimenting with this new idea and tasting it. And this idea came to me as I experienced a new challenge: A weekend at home with my out-of-state kids visiting. I baked and cooked yummy things for them, as did my husband, and I didn't taste a single thing! This is also getting easier because I'm stocking my freezer with baggies of pre-portioned foods that are easy to grab and heat up, so I don't need to cook from scratch every time. Yesterday I went way past my snack time which is kind of a big deal because when eating these small meals I really do get hungry, but I was having so much fun watching my daughter model the maternity clothes I had bought her, I didn't want to stop. There were pumpkin chocolate chip muffins on the counter and corn chips on the table and in the past I would have grabbed them. Instead I heated up my sweet potato fries in the toaster oven and grabbed a couple of ounces of chicken that I had been shredding, chewed them slowly, and I was completely satisfied! I would not have felt my hunger so sated if I had grabbed a muffin.

The other benefit is that except for the potatoes, Sam can eat everything I'm eating so it's less work to feed him, not more. My husband is being supportive by cooking his own food for now, but he's also cooking from scratch more and we feel close and unified.

It was such a blessing to have this idea come to me during this weekend of enticing treats! These turkey potato patties were delicious!

16 oz. organic free-range ground turkey
1.5 cups mashed organic potatoes
1 onion
Fresh black pepper
Garlic powder
Celtic gray sea salt
Coconut oil

Finely dice the onion and fry in coconut oil until soft and browned; transfer to a plate to cool. With gloved hands, mix the ground turkey, mashed potatoes, and seasonings until well combined. Scoop out portions with a 1/4 cup (2 ounce) ice cream scoop, flatten them into patties with your gloved hands, and lay them out on a sheet of parchment paper. (When I did this it made 13 patties.) Fry in a little coconut oil until done.

These didn't hold together super well but were delicious. When I am allowed to eat eggs I might add an egg as a binder.

Two patties have 2.5 ounces of turkey which fits into one meal allotment, and some carbs which are required at every meal.

Mom's Food Plan: Yummy Ground Turkey with Onions

This is great over rice. I eat 1/2 cup of this mixture over 1/2 cup white rice.

1 lb. Heidi's Hens ground turkey

1 organic onion, diced

organic coconut oil

organic garlic powder

organic black pepper

Celtic gray sea salt

To give the onions a head start, saute them in some coconut oil for a few minutes, then add the turkey and seasonings and cook turkey until done. If the onions aren't soft by the time the turkey is cooked, turn the heat down and put a lid on the pan for a few minutes to get them totally soft.

I didn't used to think I liked ground turkey but this was absolutely delicious.

Mom's Food Plan: Doc's Chicken Bone Broth Carrot Soup

I got this recipe from my doctor and adapted it to the time I had to make it. She has you cook the chicken and carrots in the slow cooker for several hours; I only had a few hours so I did it on the stove top.

1 whole organic bone-in chicken or bone-in chicken parts
Celtic gray sea salt
2 organic onions
7 organic carrots

Peel and chop the onions and carrots and put them a big pot with the chicken and water. Season with salt. Simmer for however much time you have until chicken is done and falls easily off the bone. Remove everything from the pot and puree the carrots in a blender while the chicken cools. Shred some of the chicken and add it back to the soup along with the pureed carrots. Freeze the rest of the chicken in baggies. Doc's recipe has you cook the soup in the slow cooker for a few more hours to really break down the food for digestion but it's edible now. I had never made homemade chicken soup without adding packaged bouillon before and this was DELICIOUS and didn't taste overly carrot-y. It needed no other seasoning.

When soup is on the menu you always have to have a starch so you can add your rice or potato and green vegetable right to the soup and it's pretty and delicious.

Mom's Food Plan: Slow-Cooker Turkey Breast

I bought a Heidi's Hens 3.67 pound turkey breast at uswellnessmeats.com. I found instructions online for cooking a frozen turkey breast in the slow cooker so that's what I'm going by.

organic free-range frozen turkey breast
1 organic onion
a few organic carrots
1 stalk of organic celery
Celtic gray sea salt
organic black pepper

Wash/peel/chop vegetables and put them in the bottom of the slow cooker. Put turkey on top and sprinkle with seasonings. Cook on high for 2 hours and on low for several more hours until done. When cool, cut/shred and freeze in 2-4 ounce portions. Puree the pan juices and cooked vegetables to make a gravy.

Mom's Food Plan: Boundaries

This phenomenal short class for only $10 by my dear friend and energy worker has been so helpful. It is so great to look at a situation and say to myself, "That's not my responsibility." 

http://sheridanripley.com/classes/spiritual-strength/boost-your-boundaries/

Mom's Food Plan: Healthy Habits

This new lifestyle is helping me to create other healthy routines. I had already been brushing and flossing after every meal or snack which made it easier to not snack as much. Other good habits:

--In addition to reading the Book of Mormon and Bible on my iPad while eating breakfast I've added the habit of watching one General Conference talk as well. Since I am spending more time chewing this is a wonderful way to nourish my spirit at the same time. https://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng

--Do dishes and "put house to bed" earlier in the day so I can get to bed by 10. I used to do dishes late at night and go to bed at midnight or later.

--To reduce my stress level I've been spending much less time on Facebook, avoiding checking it in the morning, and avoiding following the news feed. I focus on my business posts and supporting certain people from church and autism groups.

--Having a lot of fun making jewelry with beads which is my treat to replace chocolate and baked goods. I'm really pampering myself in this area.

--Greatly limiting my contact with unhappy people and people in general. It's interesting that when I do this, my life becomes chock full to overflowing with happy, uplifting people.

--I get very overwhelmed with the idea of people and all of their needs when I go to a public place. Being an incredibly compassionate person, I am deliberately avoiding eye contact when I go out and try to pretend I am invisible. Having adrenal fatigue is giving me an excuse to do this. Again, awesome people who might need help but who also won't deplete me always find me.

Mom's Food Plan: Carrot Purée

Cooked carrots had been one of my least favorite foods and wouldn't you know that they were a huge part of the initial food plan for me. They are pretty good roasted in the oven with coconut oil and salt but I just got so tired of tasting them and chewing them. This carrot purée is so good and almost feels like a dessert! It was fluffy and rich and did not taste overly carrot-y.

Peeled & chopped organic carrots
Coconut oil
Organic garlic powder
Celtic gray sea salt

Combine and steam until soft, then purée in a vitamix with a little water. Freeze in 1/4 cup scoops (I used a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop in lined muffin tins, then transferred to a large ziploc bag when frozen).

Mom's Food Plan: Ginger Tea

I can have three cups of this a day to aid digestion. It is surprisingly comforting and delicious when you are not eating sugar or other comfort foods. Put one slice of fresh ginger in some water and heat it on the stove.

Mom's Food Plan: Rinsed White Rice

I don't know if I will have to do this forever but for now Doc wants me to rinse my rice before cooking, cook it in extra water (like you cook pasta), and rinse it after cooking. This has not been that difficult and the rice is very delicious. The reason for rinsing is to remove as much excess starch as possible.

Lundberg Organic white long grain rice
Water

Decide how many cups of rice you want to cook and rinse it. Then cook it like you normally cook rice but use 3 times as much water as rice. When it's done, pour it into a colander in the sink and rinse it with fresh water until the water runs clear.

Measure 1/2 cup portions into baggies and store in the freezer.

Mom's Food Plan: Getting Started

Sam is doing so much better that I decided to put more focus on my own health. I'm seeing an integrative MD who is running some tests and in the meantime has me starting on a healing food plan. For two weeks I was asked to follow a very specific plan that was very similar to Sam's diet, and the first few days were hard but I lost three pounds in the first week and I feel great. The key is to be prepared. Shop for all the ingredients and cook and freeze in portion sizes. Reheat food in steamer, on stove, or in toaster oven. (No microwave.) Doc also says the greatest healing goes on between 10pm and 2am so make sure I am sleeping at that time. That has been a huge stretch for me but it is absolutely incredible how much better I feel with eight hours of sleep a night! She also wants me to eat my biggest meal at noon or "when the sun is highest in the sky", then take a five minute walk, then a 15-20 minute nap. I am resisting the nap the most but have done it a few times.

I need to peel all my vegetables and cook them until they are extremely soft, even puree them. I need to chew my meat and all foods VERY well "until they are a liquid--this is an important part of the digestion process") before swallowing. I can only take small sips of water while eating and all my water should be room temperature. Preferably (so digestive juices are not diluted) I should not drink water for an hour before eating and two hours after eating. This has proved to be very difficult for me and still eat my meals so for now I'm just doing the best I can and trying not to drink much water during a meal.

For now I can't have any fruit except berries, and no strawberries, and I shouldn't eat them with the main meal. I need to eat them 30 minutes after the meal. I've been eating organic frozen blueberries (defrosted--my food plan is a "warming" one so cold foods are to be avoided) and organic frozen blackberries from my garden.

In addition to chewing my food (especially my meat) especially thoroughly, I need to take three deep breaths before I start eating.

NOTE THAT THIS IS A VERY SPECIFIC PLAN THAT WAS GIVEN TO ME BY A DOCTOR FOR MY SPECIFIC ISSUES. DO NOT TAKE THIS AS MEDICAL ADVICE.

Tools:
baking parchment paper
disposable gloves (costco)
zipper snack/sandwich bags
steamer (I have a second rice cooker as a steamer)
1/4 cup ice cream scoop

Staple Foods:
Celtic gray sea salt (amazon)
Lundberg organic white rice (amazon) (Doc wants me on only white rice first 2 weeks)

Meats/Poultry/Fish:

(Turkey is an important part of the plan for me and it is a seasonal item in our local health food stores so I was glad to find it online)

Organic Grass-fed and FINISHED ground beef (US Wellness Meats)
Organic free-range ground turkey (US Wellness Meats, Jimbo's, and Whole Foods have it frozen, Heidi's Hens brand. US Wellness meats has exactly the same thing.)
Organic free-range turkey breast (only US Wellness meats has this out of season)