Make your own spices

Get some of your favorite herbs from the grocery store (I get approximately 2 cups worth).

Pre heat oven to 250

Place spices on backing sheet and put in oven for 4 hours

Bask in the deliscious aroma of chosen herbs : )

Remove dried herbs and put in  high powered blender, pulse until desired consistency.

Enjoy your homemade spices!

I store my spices in a small tupperware on my counter

Homemade larabars

If you like a sweet treat without the guilt, than these are for you!  I love larabars and still buy them from time to time, but they can be a little expensive.  So when I found the recipe by blogger the herbivoress to make my own and save money, I ran to Whole Foods to get my supplies.  These bars are raw, vegan, gluten free and SCD legal!  I made the coconut cream bars and will make the gingersnap bars when these run out. You can really dress these puppies up too, add different nuts and dried fruits to create your own masterpiece. They are so good, even my husband will eat them and he refuses to eat dates (the main ingredient in these babies).

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE

Cashew Cream

As I mentioned in my last post I have a new love/addiction to cashew cream and lucky for me there are many SCD friendly recipes online and on Pinterest!

The photo above is my own of strawberries smothered in fresh cashew cream, it tastes like a desert which is something I miss since I cannot tolerate a lot of sweets.  

Recipe for cashew cream:

2 cups raw whole cashews soaked overnight in water cover and keep in refrigerator

drain cashews and place in blender (high powered blenders tend to work best for a smooth consistency)

add enough filtered water to cover cashews approximately 1 inch

BLEND!!! Until smooth or desired consistency. You can add less or more water depending on desired thickness.

DONE

You can add maple syrup, honey, or stevia, and vanilla extract to sweeten/ flavor.  I added vanilla extract to mine to keep it SCD legal.

Pour over fresh fruit, top a waffle, add to fruit smoothies...the options are endless :)

Now for something even more AMAZING!!!

Key lime cashew cream pie with almond meal crust and whipped coconut milk

The photo above is my version of a "nailed it"

Can you guess which pie is my creation? LOL!  Can't tell? I don't blame you they look pretty much identical :)  The BEAUTIFUL photo on the left is from Baker Bettie who I was lucky enough to stumble upon her inspiring food blog through Pinterest, the photo on the right is my less glamorous, but none the less very delicious attempt.

This recipe is so easy and the finished product is refreshing and light.  I will be making another pie the second we finish this first one.  I made this SCD friendly by using honey as my sweetener of choice.

For the recipe click here.

And for more inspiring recipes visit:

www.bakerbettie.com

Specific Carbohydrate Diet

One of my awesome Aunts sent me this book when I got my Crohns diagnosis.  For those who don't know the Specific Carbohydrate Diet or SCD is a very restrictive diet that through cutting out certain starches, grains, processed foods, dairy, and many other items is supposed to help heal many intestinal ailments.  You can find a list of "legal" and "illegal" foods on their website www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info

I have slowly been cutting out gluten and dairy.  Trips to Trader Joe's and Whole Foods to stock up on legal food items have become a 2-3x a week occurrence.  I recently discovered cashew cream, and have developed a full fledge addiction.  I love it on strawberries and found the most incredible recipe for key lime cashew cream pie with whipped coconut milk.  I'll post pictures of my finished product with a link to the recipe on Saturday this week.

My Crohns symptoms have been improving recently and I cannot wait to start tapering off this prednisone.  I have only gained 3-5 pounds depending on the day, but my clothing is tight from all the swelling :(  I'm hoping if its just water weight I'll be able to lose the bloat quickly as I finish my prednisone in a couple of weeks. 

I haven't worked out in almost a month and have put as a goal for next week to go to the gym at least 2x for 30 minutes.  I hope that with the iron infusions I'll be getting weekly for the next 8 weeks my energy level will increase and I can get back to my workout DVDs and maybe even some spinning classes.

Hope you're having a great week!

Crohn's Diagnosis

Yesterday was my follow up appointment with GI to go over test results and discuss treatment options.  I was advised I do have Crohn's disease and that since my symptoms are not improving with prednisone I should also start Imuran and continue prednisone at 40MG instead of starting to taper down.  As hard as it was to hear I have  chronic illness it was a relief to finally know what has been making me sick on and off for years.  I am looking into alternative treatments and hope to figure out a diet that helps to prevent flair ups in the future.  Something that has been mentioned to me by numerous friends and online is the Specific Carbohydrate Diet or SCD.  It was created by a woman who has a daughter with Ulcerative Colitis another form of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).  Anyone ever tried it?  I would love to know your experiences with it good or bad.

Sweet nectar of the gods!

Homemade almond milk for the win! Yesterday I made my first batch of almond milk and I feel this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship!  It was pretty easy and cost less than the all natural organic almond milk I was buying at the store.

What you need:

1 cup raw organic almonds

Filtered water ( I used our britta pitcher)

Cheese cloth or a nut milk bag

Blender

Metal mesh strainer

Jar to put finished almond milk in

Optional: vanilla extract, cinnamon, salt

Instructions:

Soak almonds in filtered water for 10-48 hours in filtered water

Drain almonds from soaking water and rinse ( do NOT use water almonds were soaking in to make almond milk you will get sick)

Place almonds and 3 cups filtered water in blender and blend until frothy and almond pieces are hard to see

Place cheese cloth or nut milk bag over wire strainer and place strainer in bowl 

Slowly pour almond milk mixture through cheese cloth covered strainer, you may need spatula to move the almond meal around so liquid can drain through

Once all the liquid has strained through squeeze almond meal in cheese cloth to get leftover liquid ( there will be a lot)

Now you can add spices or vanilla extract if you like and pour almond milk into container with lid. It should keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days ( if you're like me you'll drink it all in 2 days anyway!!!)

Hope you enjoy!

WHERE THE HELL HAVE I BEEN????

     In order to keep this post less than 50 pages I will attempt to sum up where the H-E- double hockey sticks I have been since my last post in November.  The end of November 2013 my husband and I made the move from Burlington VT to Raleigh NC.  Many reasons led to this move including, better job opportunities for hubby, lower cost of living, less hours for me to work, less snow, something new and fun!

   Even before our move I was feeling run down and exhausted.  I worked long hours in the operating room and worked most of my 80-100 hours of call.  I love my job (operating room nurse) but I felt it was wearing me out and I wanted more time to concentrate on my health and fitness.  Anyway I'm starting to ramble....we made it to Raleigh NC in 2 days of driving.  Moved into our new apartment and I started my new job a week later.  I was working 8 hour shifts instead of 10s and had not started the tiny amount of call I would be taking.  However, I was feeling worse and worse.  My shorter work days were taking all the energy I had and I would come home and crash out on the couch I couldn't even stand long enough to make dinner.  This went on for a few weeks.  My skin got paler, my lips were a lovely bluish purple tint, I started to get short of breath with normal activities (like showering or getting dressed).  With the pressure from my family to get checked out, I finally made an appointment to be seen by my new primary care doctor.

    I went in for my appointment and my doctor took one look at me and stated I should go to the emergency room because I would likely need a blood transfusion.  Long story short I have a long history of iron deficiency anemia, but this was something in addition to this problem.  I was loosing blood from somewhere in my body and my blood levels had dropped dangerously low.  Hemoglobin 6.5 for any of my medical professionals out there.  They admitted me to the hospital and transfused two units of blood my first night.  The next day I had to do a bowel prep for an endoscopy and colonoscopy.  I will never be able to look at or smell lemon lime gatorade again!!!!  After my "oscopies" the doctor came in and told me I had severe inflammation and ulceration of my stomach and intestines.  She said they took biopsies and sent them out, but it appeared I have Crohn's disease.  Crohns is a form of inflammatory bowel disease that is often grouped with ulcerative colitis.  For more information on either of these diseases I urge you to look at www.ccfa.org.  I am still awaiting final diagnosis from my GI doctor and I have an appointment this Monday for further follow up.  Before I left the hospital they gave me an iron transfusion because my iron level was 4 and should be 56!  I have been home for almost 2 weeks now, I'm on a large dose of daily prednisone that I will taper down over 8 weeks.  I feel the best I have felt in a couple years.  My diagnosis wether it is ulcerative colitis or Crohns is hard to hear but I am ready to face it!  I will not let it slow me down, I will push forward and keep focused on my health and fitness goals.  So if you have stumbled across my blog, please stay tuned!  Expect some more paleo, gluten free, whole food posts as I try to find what foods I can and cannot have on this adventure.  Thanks for stopping by!

One of my units of blood :)