Arden Eats

Spinach Tomato Beef Chili Recipe & How-To Video

2011-03-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef

1 bag frozen spinach

1 quart tomato soup

2 medium onions

6 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons ground cumin

1 tablespoon each dried oregano and paprika,

1 teaspoon gray coarse Celtic sea salt

1/2 teaspoon each cayenne and chili pepper flakes

Utensils:
2 large cast iron skillets

Large glass pot
2 Spatulas
Knife

Cutting board

Small glass bowl

Measuring spoons

Fork

Directions:

* Melt butter in iron skillets over medium low heat, one for the ground beef and the other for the onions.

* Chop onions and start sautéing adding butter as needed.

* Start browning your ground beef.

* Mix your spices making sure they are well blended with your fork before adding to beef.

* Fold in the spices as you brown the beef.

* As your onions start to turn translucent, add in your tomato soup and frozen spinach and stir.

* Once beef is cooked combine with tomato, onion, and spinach in a large glass pot and simmer for at least 15 minutes to allow flavors to combine.

Tip: This dish gets better with marinating, is great to freeze, and once you graduate to advanced foods you can add in nay beans to hearten it up some more! Top with a dollop of French cream and extra salt, or shredded cheese, or guacamole…

Constructive Criticisms of BTVC

2011-03-12T08:08:00.000-08:00

Constructive Criticisms of BTVC

Now that you know how grateful I am to Elaine Gottschall and her work, I would like to share some constructive criticisms of her book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle. These criticisms do nothing at all to undermine her work, they are just indicators that she was a real human being and none of us are perfect.

There are a few things that somehow she writes as permissive items to ingest even though they all go against the diet and the diet premises. Here are items that she says it’s ok to consume that I completely disagree with:

1) “Artificial sweeteners other than saccharin should be avoided… Low calorie diet foods often contain sorbitol or xylitol as sweeteners. Occasionally low calorie diet chewing gum or candy containing these sweeteners may be used. However, excessive use of these products can cause diarrhea and bloating. Pg 44

My counter is NO ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS INCLUDING SACCHARIN. Saccharin isn’t good for you. Get over your mental need for hyper sweetening everything and your taste buds will follow, I promise. It’s amazing how sweet a piece of fruit is after you haven’t been consuming sugar and artificial sweeteners. And, honey is wonderfully sweet while containing all the enzymes you need to digest it properly without getting a blood sugar spike. Just make sure you are buying minimally processed honey or raw.

Also, my counter includes a furthermore of NO GUM OF ANY KIND OR DIET CANDY. Gum is on the “illegal” list for SCDiet, so don’t chew it because it will hold back your healing if not prevent it. We’ve already been through the fact that all artificial sweeteners are bad for you, and that includes diet candy. Low calorie candy is still candy and worse for you than regular candies in many instances. Candy is a processed food, and the more its ingredients are manufactured the worse it is for you. Foods that cause you diarrhea and bloating should be avoided, not occasionally tolerated.

2) “Processed meats… ordinary smoked bacon may be eaten once a week if it is fried very crisply.” Pg 53

My counter is NO PROCESSED MEATS OF ANY KIND AT ALL EVER. Not only is processing generally bad, even if you are avoiding sugars and fake smoke flavor you must also avoid cancer causing nitrites. Processed meats come with additional health hazards on top of SCDiet legalities. Just don’t buy processed meats at all. And please do not fry anything. Look back to my “Fats in Your Foods” entry for why. As long as you are looking for someone else to do all of the work for you in preparing a food, you will have many opportunities to fail. If you follow the diet fanatically, your chances of succeeding increase. As long as you feed a few microbes, you will stay sick. It’s your choice, but I don’t think a piece of bacon is worth your health and well-being.

3) “Diet soft drinks are permitted occasionally. Those sweetened with aspartame or Nutri-Sweet may sometimes contain lactose and should be avoided, if possible. However, if this is the only type available, one per week is permitted. Diet soft drinks sweetened with saccharin need not be limited to only on a week: 2-3 weekly would be permissible.” Pg 57

My counter is NO DIET SOFT DRINKS OF ANY KIND AT ALL EVER. There is no reason to consume artificial sweeteners of any kind, as stated above. There is also no reason to consume cancer causing caramel coloring or artificial flavoring. All artificial food is fake food and it is bad for you. Ingesting this kind of poison is not a good choice, and especially not as a routine. There are no health benefits to soda pop and this is another prime way to stay sick with permission to ingest fake foods.

These exceptions to the no exceptions rule really bother me. Not only are they bad for your health, they counter the diet, they counter premises the diet is based on, and they give permission to cheat, to not adhere to the diet fanatically, and to fail. These three very explicit permissions to cheat should be disregarded entirely. You should not set yourself to cheat at all, let alone routinely until your symptoms return or get worse. That’s not healing. Cheating on this diet undermines the diet. Doing any one of these things is the same as saying, “I’m not a smoker. I only smoke when I go out to the bar with my friends once or twice a week.” You are not on SCDiet if you consume illegal foods. After years of watching folks on list serves talk about the same things, the same issues, and the same desires, I think Elaine did a great disservice in introducing how to cheat on SCD with her nod of approval. These exceptions are nowhere in Dr. Haas’ work.

This leads me into my next critique. I noticed this in 2006 while reading BTVC again (my first time was 1999 when I first went on SCDiet) and reading Management of Celiac Disease by Dr. Sydney Valentine Haas. Here is the paragraph from BTVC on page 50, “The strictness of this diet cannot be overemphasized nor should the difficulty of adhering to it be minimized. Faithful observance requires intelligence and vigilance on the part of those taking care of the individual or on the part of the person who cooks for himself or herself. It is surprising how many times a child will manage, despite the best supervision, to get hold of forbidden food. It is equally surprising how many parents will decide, despite all warnings, that ‘just a taste’ of ice cream, cookie, or candy will do no harm. Such infringements will seriously delay recovery and it is unwise to undertake this regimen unless you are willing to follow it with fanatical adherence.” This is a politically correct version of what Dr. Haas wrote. This paragraph isn’t credited to him, and that bothers me as a form of plagiarism.

Here is his version on page 131, “The strictness of this diet cannot be overemphasized, nor should the difficulty of adhering to it be minimized. Faithful observance requires intelligence and vigilance on the part of the mother or the person taking care of the child with celiac disease. It is surprising how many times a child will, despite the best parental supervision, manage to get hold of forbidden food. It is equally surprising how many parents of apparent intelligence will, despite all warnings, decide that "just a taste" of ice cream, cookie, or candy will do no harm. Nevertheless, treatment is best carried out in the home, with frequent visits to the doctor's office. Of the cases reported here, only two were hospitalized.”

So, my critique is not only about her giving proper credit where credit is due to Dr. Haas, but also about the content of the copied words. Elaine obviously needed to hear that message again herself as she was giving permission for just a taste of gum, low calorie candy, diet soda, and bacon. I really hope that you don’t cheat on the SCDiet with these or any other illegal foods. If so, you are cheating yourself. On top of that, please do not say that you are following SCDiet if you are not following it fanatically. The dilution and distortion of the original tenants of the diet undermine the diet and its efficacy.

Elaine Gottschall on TV

2011-01-20T07:29:00.000-08:00

SCDiet saved my life. I wouldn't be on the face of this planet without Elaine's work, and I am forever indebted to her and Dr. Haas. It is always nice to see her views coming directly from her. Thank you, scddiet 23 for sharing this!

Fats, Good and Bad

2010-11-26T15:42:00.000-08:00

Fat is a topic that most Americans misunderstand completely, and for good reason. The misinformation about fat is abundant. The bulk of the information readily available to the masses is misleading and incorrect. It is hardly any wonder why we have so much obesity and other fat related diseases, let alone a national health crisis. Americans think that they are following current medical standards for healthy eating to avoid diseases like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease, by eating margarine instead of butter. That’s “common knowledge” in our society, marketed to you as truth all day long, and it’s also completely wrong.

Advertising says if you want to lose weight, eat low fat food, or avoid fat altogether. Fat is touted as one of the biggest evils in food, especially saturated fat from animals. The hook is that most of those “low-fat” foods have been stripped of healthy fats, processed into less nutritious but prettily packaged fake food with a fancy label, and they actually make you want to eat more because you have just malnourished yourself with hollow (nutritionless) calories. It doesn’t matter how much they fortify the food because that “nutrition” isn’t readily absorbable. Do you know what happens when the body is deprived of fat? Dysfunction, disease, and ultimately death will be your rewards for avoiding fat. Fat-free diets are an absolute, sure route to failure of health.

Let’s say you followed the “advice” out there about only consuming lean meats and avoiding fats in general. Want to know what the outcome is? As demonstrated by early Arctic explorers, you die. It’s known as the “rabbit starvation” diet. Because fats are a critical part of digestion and peristalsis (along with every other function in your body,) your system shuts down because it doesn’t have the proper fuel to run on. Without fat you will still starve to death from malnutrition. But don’t worry- you will go crazy with mental illness before you die because your brain is comprised of about 60% fat. Everything else in your diet could be great, but without the proper fats, it’s meaningless to your body and your brain. Every cell in your body is literally dependent on and composed of fat. You must eat good fat for life.

Unfortunately, we Americans have devised ways to destroy perfectly good fats and still market them as healthy. We like to uphold fake foods as our brilliant human achievement over nature, but we are also very proud of extending shelf life by destroying the nutrition in food. As if it’s better to have disease causing foods that you can consume with just as many non-health benefits tomorrow as today than to have healthy food that perishes!

Trans fats are bad for you in any quantity, whereas you must over-consume saturated fats before they are a problem. Trans fats are man made through heavy processing and do not exist without our manufacture. They interfere with our bodies’ ability to use the good fats, getting in the way without providing the services our bodies need from the good fats. They are useless calories that actually detract from nutrition, health and well-being. Trans fats weaken our cell walls, which are made of fat, and allow all kinds of things in that don’t belong in healthy cells. We are then left with guaranteed disease. Trans fats are a form of health indebtedness, and a good way to wound your self if not outright commit suicide. There is no medical doubt that what they do is inflict harm upon the body. Every time you choose to eat trans fats, you are choosing ill health. Trans fats block normal biochemistry, disrupt electrical circuitry, and inhibit enzyme function for the body’s normal synthesis of fatty acids and cholesterol. (Cholesterol is another substance largely misunderstood by Americans at large, and another nutritional component that you will die without.) Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils, shortenings and margarines are all trans fats.

You have to be a conscientious consumer through and through. It’s not just the real, raw food that contains naturally good fats, but also how that food is “minimally” processed that affects the quality of the fats. Extracting oils from plants using heat creates lower quality fats with negative health reactions. For instance, refined corn, sunflower and safflower oils all contribute to cancer because they lower HDL. Generally, you want to find organic, unrefined, cold pressed oils for the best health results. Oils go rancid quickly because they are a perishable food. Once oil is rancid it is also poisonous. Rancid oils add to free radical cell damage, interrupt normal metabolism, and contribute to mental cloudiness. Store all your oils in the fridge to help prevent rancidity and replace them after a couple of months. Look for expiration dates and shorten them on your own, or better yet, purchase oils directly from the farms where the food was grown for the most nutritious freshness.

After purchase, then comes home operator handling. Cooking is also heating. Heating your oils not only destroys all the nutritional benefits (the wonderful Vitamin E in Grape seed oil, for example, gets lost through cooking) but also creates the exact kinds of fats that will harm you. Heat causes oxidization of oil fats, quickly turning them into bad for you fats. If your oil wasn’t rancid out of age or refinement, you will make it rancid by incorrectly cooking it. Olive oil is great for you, but ONLY if you treat it correctly. Not only is it the most well advertised fat as good for you, it is the easiest to destroy with heat. Always cook over the lowest heat possible. Never cook anything higher than medium heat, and make your preference low or medium low heat. The lower the heat, the longer the cook time. If your fats are smoking, you are creating toxins through oxidization, and your heat is too high. Don’t deep fry- ever. Don’t brown, especially not to a crisp! Frying foods in vegetable oils such as corn or soy or safflower creates HNE, a toxic compound linked to atherosclerosis, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, stroke, and liver disease. Oxidized fats cause stunted growth, hair loss, skin lesions, emaciation, anorexia, diarrhea, and intestinal hemorrhaging. It is best to add oils to your foods after cooking, removing foods from the heat source first, or just consume them “cold.” Use only a tablespoon or less of oil to cook with. Preferably, cook with coconut, then sesame, and then olive oil. Mix oils for cooking with half butter.

Butter not only has good for you fats, it also has nutritional values like Vitamins A and D along with cancer fighting butyric acid. (If casein is a problem, use ghee, which is clarified butter.) Butter is always safer to cook with than any oil. When in doubt, just cook with lard. Lard is the most stable fat for cooking with the most health benefits for your body. Saturated fats are good for you in the right amounts. It is better to cook with animal fats than oils because animal fats do not transform into bad fats from oxidation as easily or quickly as those from vegetables.

A word of caution about choosing your animal fats for consumption- IF the animal has had a toxic life, then that toxicity will be passed onto you. Toxins are stored in fat, including hormones, antibiotics, and other chemicals forced onto the animals by industrial farming techniques. You must look for organic sources. And please, if you’re going to eat butter with salt added, make sure there is no flow agent used because that is also a toxin. In other words, it’s only the things that man does to the animal that make the animal fats bad for you, whereas healthy animals have fats that are good for you.

This kind of accurate health information shouldn’t be so hard to find. Every American should have access to health knowledge readily, without having to become a specialist in the field. I really wish that our national health would be more important than the profits of large companies that are “too big to fail.” Profits made by selling you products with false claims and deleterious health effects. You pay once for the product with money, then again for the choice with your illnesses from consumption- illnesses that in turn create lots of financial problems for the individual, his/her family, and our entire nation. Personally, I can’t believe it’s still legal to sell margarine, let alone advertise it as healthy. But hey, let’s keep making fake food, tainting our real food with poisons and nurturing our national health crisis through massive mis-education while blaming animal fat as the problem. I’m so glad we have our national priorities in order.

Apple Pineapple Pumpkin Bake

2010-11-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:

1 medium sugar pie pumpkin

2 Granny Smith apples

1 cup of pineapple

½ cup raisins

¼ cup walnuts

¼ cup honey

½ stick butter

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 tablespoon fresh ginger minced

1 teaspoon Celtic sea salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Utensils:

Large glass baking dish or bowl

Cutting board, large knife and paring knife

Scrub brush

Apple peeler

Dry measuring cups and spoons

Butter knife

Dinner fork

Spoon

Strainer

Citrus reamer and 2 small glass bowls

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

*Wash pumpkin with brush, cut off top and set aside, deseed. Place pumpkin in a large glass baking bowl or dish for cooking, just in case in ruptures.

*Peel and cut apples and pineapple into cubes. Cut butter into slices. Mince ginger and mix with spices and salt.

*Fill pumpkin three quarters of the way to the top with fruit, nuts, raisins, sliced butter, spices, lemon juice and honey.

*Replace top on pumpkin and bake for an hour to three, or until you can pierce the top with a fork and spoon out the flesh, or it caves in! It will be a toasty brown on the outside. Cooking time varies depending on the cavity size and wall thickness of your pumpkin.

*Serve in the pumpkin (do not try to transfer from your baking dish) as a table centerpiece. Scoop out pumpkin flesh and fruit filling into bowls.

Tips: Choosing a redder colored pumpkin is best, and sugar pie pumpkins are smaller than the ones you get for carving. Wash and dry your pumpkin seeds overnight to bake tomorrow.

Liminal Land Love, Endurance, and Transience

2010-10-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

While I am not quite “well” yet, I am most certainly no longer deathly ill. This is quite the transition. It’s a miraculous milestone to realize- to occupy this new space with awareness of my experience. I’m kind of amazed at what ground I have traversed, and the things that I have accomplished through sheer discipline and devotion. My hyper-vigilance has waned significantly as it is no longer necessary. What was once unknown and difficult is now habit and as familiar as the back of my hand. I am actually looking forward, with excitement instead of anxiety!

In fact, I have moved from the space of “I could die at any moment. Please don’t let this heart palpitation episode turn into the heart attack that kills me. Please don’t let me get so delirious and dehydrated that I can’t get out of bed to the bathroom. Please let the food stay down, without my body shutting down. Please let this food be the stuff that actually feeds me. Please don’t let me lose yet another pound. Please give me the courage to keep at the regime, no matter how I feel. Please let me be pleasant enough to the outside world that I can handle some topic of conversation that doesn’t involve me staying alive, my disease and disability. Please…” to a space of “Oh yeah, I used to double over in agonizing pain after eating, while my body temperature plummeted, my headache doubled, my heart raced, I felt like vomiting or passing out and hoping not to do both at the same time. Oh yeah, I used to feel fatigued all the time. Oh yeah, I used to feel run over by a Mack truck everyday, all the time. Oh yeah, my naked body was so disgustingly gaunt that it made others gasp and draw back in horror. Oh yeah, I used to think only about my grief and loss from not experiencing what other people take for granted. Oh yeah, I spent years focused on sleeping, eating, and eliminating without much hope for any other kind of existence. Oh yeah, headaches are now infrequent and foreign experiences instead of constant and layered. Oh yeah…” and it is AWESOME!!! Alleluia!!!

I have not arrived. But, I am not so sick anymore! While I am no longer certain that I cannot do anything I wish at all, I am still not so certain about what I can do. This is a wonderfully odd place to be. There is possibility, potential, where once there was little to none. I am beginning to really believe that I might have the chance to realize health and well being in my very near future. I am beginning to taste what is on my horizon: social interaction, community contributions, and most of all, moments without any fear about food.

The quantity of my present life is less in question now, and I can think about the quality of my future. This is huge! If you’ve never spent a significant amount of time on the verge of death, with extended experiences of extreme conditions and modified behavior mandates, then you are clueless to this trauma. The relief from the fear of immanent death fortunately receded a couple of years ago, but it has taken me another two years to gain the perspective of “I am living, not just surviving.”

Four years of fanaticism to my personal, limited version of SCDiet has been very rewarding! The pay off for my adherence to the ultimate scientific experiment of my life is having a life, one that I might soon again use to do something that I want. I might soon be able to choose some things that are significant directors of life experience. Let me rephrase that; I might soon be able to choose from something more than evil and lesser evil. I might soon be able to actualize my desired career instead of thinking it is a dream that I have no right to think about, let alone do. I might soon…

In Vivo Gastronome will always be my identity, no matter what other experiences I ever get to undertake, because it is the only way for me to have a good life. That identity is no longer liminal, and I no longer desire it to be temporary. It serves me too well to abandon. It is the only responsible choice, and it is a choice. I used to think that I would leave it by the wayside as soon as I had the option. Now, I don’t think I could ever be that irreverent, disrespectful, apathetic, indifferent, or neglectful of my self and well-being ever again. It is sometimes surprising what ends up being the thing you take with you and what you choose to lose for the better along the way. I love this identity now, because it’s the one that nourished me back to life, the one that saved me. How could I hate it now???

Choosing the best starter for your yogurt/crème bulgare

2010-09-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

Not all yogurts are created with equal microbial benefits. This is why it is so important to make your own at home, where you can be in total control of the desired culture. Only you can make superior yogurt!

I am totally against using any kind of commercial yogurt as starter for SCDiet yogurt or crème bulgare. Why?

Foremost, because it is impossible to know what strains of microbes they have growing in there. Not only are the desired strains more than likely lacking altogether, it is too probable that it contains undesirable microbes for this food regimen. Introducing undesirable strains will only complicate and delay healing, if not result in serious setbacks. Lots of strains will cause fermentation, but it takes living L. bulgaricus and S. thermophilus to provide proven benefits for human health. Without those two microbes, it may be fermented milk, but it isn’t technically yogurt at all. Talk about misleading labeling!!!

As there is no regulation on yogurt production, they can do just about anything to the “food,” along with labeling it yogurt when in fact that is biologically inaccurate. Many producers repasteurize the yogurt after fermentation, which destroys the culture, “good” and “bad.” Some makers use manipulated microbes to reduce production time, which gives the impression of good yogurt in flavor and consistency but has none of the beneficial microbial properties. Many use the wrong temperatures for cultivating the desired microbes, so even if they started with the right culture they killed it by overheating. They are mostly selling fake yogurt because it is cheaper to produce and more profitable for their company. Buyers beware!

I choose to inoculate my half and half (I prefer crème bulgare or French cream over yogurt, which uses milk) with Lactobacillus acidophilus, Streptococcus thermophilus, and Lactobacillus bulgaricus because I have observed they have the most notable positive effects on my health. I am not alone!

I have found a product that I find reliable, readily available, and microbial specific made by Lyo-San Inc. It is their “Yogourmet freeze-dried yogurt starter & crème bulgare starter.” It contains only and all three desired microbes. You can buy it from amazon.com, Lucy’s Kitchen Shop, and Whole Foods. Make sure not to confuse it with their other starter products, which contain strains not desired for SCDiet.

Please store the starter in your refrigerator.

I have a post on how to make your own yogurt/crème bulgare including a recipe and video. Search my blog under resources for quick links to the yogurt maker and dimmer switch for temperature modification from amazon.com.

What, exactly, do I eat?

2010-09-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

It would be so much easier if I could just list foods for what I can eat. But, my reality is that WHAT I can eat must also be qualified by HOW that food is raised and prepared. When I first started SCDiet, everything needed to be well cooked, skinned, and deseeded. Slowly, I was able to leave the skins on, tolerate smaller seeds, and move from well cooked to steamed to raw for fruits and vegetables. My list was limited to beef, chicken, and a few veggies and fruits to begin with and it slowly grew. You will see that many foods legal on SCDiet and GAPS are not on my list of yes foods. That is because I do not tolerate all foods allowed on these diets. I have needed to modify the legal lists to meet my personal needs. Sometimes as needed, my list gets shorter as I eliminate peanut butter, cheeses, fruit, and honey. As time goes by, my list has grown longer overall and will continue to do so as I heal.

MEAT:
Meats are critical to my diet. I try to always buy organic meats from sustainable farms because it is the best for my health. I generally still cook most of my meats to well done as a precaution against unwanted microbes. While I couldn’t tolerate much animal fat to begin with, I am now digesting it well so I eat more of it. I prefer to broil or bake my meats, but I will sometimes use a cast iron pan. I only consume fresh or frozen meats, with the exception being fish. I will sometimes use fish that has been canned in oil or water.

beef

bison

chicken & eggs

fish

lamb

turkey

pork

COOKING FATS & OILS:
I mostly just use butter to cook with because it is my favorite flavor. It is best to cook all foods with medium heat or less. Your oils and fats should never smoke. If they do, you are burning them and destroying the good fatty acid chain and its beneficial properties. Don’t deep fry foods, ever. Don’t brown, especially not to a crisp! Use only a tablespoon or less of oil to cook with. Mix oils for cooking with half butter. I prefer to add oils to foods after they have been cooked and removed from the heat source to maximize their benefits and taste. Oils go rancid quickly. They are a perishable food. Once oil is rancid it is also poisonous. Rancid oils add to free radical cell damage, interrupt normal metabolism, and contribute to mental cloudiness. I keep my oils in the fridge to prevent early rancidity. I buy virgin, organic and cold pressed oils. They are listed here in order of heat sensitivity, olive oil as most sensitive.

lard

coconut oil

butter (if salted then without flow agent)

sesame oil

olive oil

DAIRY:
The dairy that I do best with is the dairy that I culture myself. I make my own French cream, which I can then use to make cream cheese, ice cream, and smoothies. I eat my French cream routinely, and do best when I have it daily. I have a blog post and video about how to make my French cream.

cream cheese

French cream

ice cream

yogurt

Theses are the cheeses that I tolerate best, but I only eat them infrequently and in small amounts. Every cheese has a microbial culture. I couldn’t tolerate cheddar to begin with, but now it suits me quite well. I eat cheese as a treat, not a staple of my diet.

blue

brie

cheddar

dry curd cottage

gorgonzola

gouda

havarti

muenster

parmesan

port du salut

swiss

DRINKS:
Really, I should only drink water or stock soup. In reality, I drink coffee, despite how bad caffeine is as a drug for everyone. I have found that espresso drinks and French press coffee are the things I tolerate best. Evidently, processing coffee through a paper filter takes out the natural digestive enzymes, which causes everyone to get “gut rot” from drinking too much. Americano is my favorite espresso drink because it has robust flavor and is diluted with water. It is the one food item I consume out at the preparation of another person’s hand.

water, distilled

chicken or bone marrow stock

French cream smoothies (I tend to think of them more as food than beverage)

coffee, French press or espresso

ODDITIES:
These just don’t fit nicely into other categories, but are also things I use routinely.

baking soda

honey (raw, local, wildflower)

unflavored gelatin

Celtic sea salt

VEGETABLES:
Fresh is always best, then frozen organic vegetables. I like to buy heirloom varieties whenever I can. I needed to cook veggies to the point of being soft at first, skinned and deseeded. Then I was able to leave the skins on and tolerate veggies still cooked but somewhat hard, such as steaming. I eventually progressed to tolerating them raw, and I try to choose younger vegetables that have smaller seeds so that I can eat them.

asparagus

beets

broccoli

brussel sprouts

cabbage

carrots

cauliflower

celery

cucumbers

eggplant

greens

green beans (really a legume, but treat as veggie)

kale

lettuces

onion

peas

peppers (red, green, yellow)

spinach

squash (summer and winter)

LEGUMES:
I buy dried legumes which I then rinse in water before I soak them in new water for 12 hours. I then drain and rinse them again before cooking in fresh water. This is to remove the bulk of the starches.

lentils

lima beans (also frozen)

split peas

white(navy) beans

Peanuts are not really a nut, despite their misleading name. They are a legume. I do not tolerate nuts, but I do tolerate peanut butter and use it frequently.

peanuts- roasted in shell

peanut butter-only salt added

FRUIT:
I buy organic fruit fresh, frozen, or dried without additives or preservatives. Sometimes I need to avoid just fruits high in citric acid, which I always must eat in small amounts. Other times, I avoid fruits altogether. I eat my fruits with some kind of fats if at all possible. I do not eat fruit by itself, and I never drink juice. I eat the whole fruit for maximum nutrition. As soon as I started tolerating skins, I left them on because the most dense concentration of nutrients are just beneath the skin.

apples

apricots

avocados

bananas (wait until well ripened with spots and no green left)

berries

cherries

dates (loose California)

grapefruit

grapes

kiwi

lemon

lime

mangoes

melons

nectarines

oranges

papayas

peaches

pears

pineapple (not raw)

plums

prunes

raisins (dark)

rhubarb

tangerines

tomatoes

HERBS & SPICES:
I buy only single ingredient herbs and spices to season my food, either fresh or dried. I make my own mixed seasonings which I store in small glass jars, clearly labled and dated. If they clump, I just give them a tap while the lid is still on.

basil

bay leaves

cayenne

chili pepper

chives

cilantro

cloves

cinnamon (only small amounts and infrequently)

cardomum

corriandor

cumin

dill

ginger

lemon thyme

lemongrass

nutmeg

oregano

paprika

parsley

rosemary

sage

tarragon

thyme

Tips for Traveling on Special Food Diets

2010-07-23T17:39:00.000-07:00

1) Use the list serves to connect with people on SCDiet who live in the area you will be visiting.

2) Google for familiar food resources close to where you will be staying.

3) Stay in a place with at least a fridge and microwave so that you can keep and heat your own meals.

4) If you stay at a bed and breakfast, call in advance to ask if you can keep some food items in their fridge and if the chef will observe cross contamination rules in the kitchen.

5) Plan out all of your meals in advance, precook and freeze them. Take all of your food with you, or ship it to your destination.

6) If you are flying, investigate whether shipping will be cheaper than checking frozen food sealed in Styrofoam.

7) If you are flying, call the airline and ask about all protocol for bringing food with you, especially if you will need to eat in flight. In most cases, you will need a doctor’s letter and you will need to allow for extra time through security.

8) If you have medication or supplements that need to be kept cool, make sure that you have the right items to ensure their stability in transit. Dry ice, special freezer packs, and insulated containers may all be used.

9) If you need to eat out, do so at more expensive restaurants where you can speak with the chef, produce is fresh and not out of cans, and many menu items will be from local farmers.

10) If you stay in a hotel or bed and breakfast, and need to ship food, make sure to inform them that you will be expecting a package.

11) If you stay at a bed and breakfast, call in advance to ask if you might have access to the kitchen to do some minor cooking yourself.

12) Make sure that you plan for snacks as well as meals.

13) Always make sure to bring an extra full day’s worth of food, just in case, especially if where you will be staying is remote to resources.

14) Many hotels have suites with kitchens if you need to cook.

15) If you will have access to a kitchen and can cook at your destination, but you will not have access to food resources, you can bring or ship raw frozen foods to be prepared instead of precooking everything.

Meatballs with Tomato Sauce Recipe and How-To Video

2010-04-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Meatballs with Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef

2 eggs

3 large white onions

head of garlic

fresh parsley

2 tablespoons oregano

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons each thyme, basil, marjoram

1 tablespoon course Celtic sea salt

1 tablespoon fine ground Celtic sea salt

ground black pepper

2 tablespoons fresh parsley

tomato soup (homemade by AD recipe)

4 tablespoons butter

red and green bell peppers, and hot peppers deseeded: cayenne, jalapeño, hot banana suggested for color

Muenster and or Parmesan cheese

Utensils:

Large cast iron pans

2 spatulas

set of 3 mixing bowls

2 small bowls for spices

large and small knife

tablespoon

teaspoon

large and small cutting boards

large covered baking dish
fork

Directions:

* Mix spices for meatballs: 1 teaspoon oregano, 1 tablespoon each ground cumin, fresh parsley, hot peppers, diced garlic and fine ground Celtic sea salt, 1 teaspoon each thyme, basil, marjoram, ground black pepper, oregano. Stir with fork.

* Mix spices for tomato sauce: 1+ tablespoon oregano, 1 tablespoon each fresh parsley, hot peppers, and course Celtic sea salt, 1 teaspoon each thyme, basil, marjoram, ground black pepper. Stir with fork.

* Chop hot peppers after deseeding.
* Dice head of garlic.
* Preheat cast iron pan for sauce with 3 tablespoons of butter over medium low heat.
* Chop onion.
* Sautee onion and garlic until translucent. Remember to stir occasionally.
* Chop red and green bell pepper. Add a handful to beef in large mixing bowl and place the rest in medium mixing bowl for sauce.
* Preheat cast iron pan with one tablespoon of butter for meatballs.
* Add 3 large eggs to meatball mixture after whisking with spices in small mixing bowl.
* Mix meatballs with both hands until well blended and roll into palm sized balls.
* Place meatballs into hot pan covering only half so that you have room to roll them around as they cook.
* Brown the meatballs on all sides before transferring them into the baking pot.
* Add premade tomato soup to onions and garlic. Stir and add in spices, stirring again.
* Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
* Once all the meatballs are browned, add bell peppers into sauce and stir.
* After the sauce mixture comes to a boil again with peppers, ladle sauce into baking pot.
* Bake for 30-45 minutes. Allow to cool for five minutes before serving.

Tip:
* Serve over spaghetti squash with shredded cheese on top.

Make Your Own Resources and Keep Them Handy:

2010-02-15T15:27:00.000-08:00

1) Premix your own herbs and spices. Keep your favorite concoctions in small glass jars, either recycled from single spices or purchased just for this use.

2) Always keep chicken stock in your freezer in single serving amounts, as well as small amounts for recipes by using ice cube trays. You can store the cubes in a bag after they are frozen. The times when you really need chicken stock are usually the times when you will least feel like cooking.

3) Keep organic, frozen, bagged vegetables in your freezer at all times. This can be a real time saver when you have none to spare, and frozen veggies have more nutrition than other forms, such as canned. They are the best option next to fresh.

4) Every time you cook a meal, make at least one extra serving to freeze so that when you don’t feel like cooking, you don’t have to!

5) Grate your cheeses and keep them in bags in the fridge. Mix and match different blends for more robust tastes.

6) Wash your herbs and store in the fridge wrapped in a moist paper towel at the base. Ready to use on a moments notice for your favorite flavors.

7) Blanch and freeze vegetables when they are in season. They will have the most nutrients and will feel luxurious out of season. They can also be staples of your diet that you cannot find already frozen.

8) Make lists of your favorite dishes along with recipes you’ve always wanted to try. When you are too tired to think, go with a favorite from the list that you can make with your eyes closed. When you get bored and have the energy to explore, pick a new recipe!

From Tennessee to Texas in Search of Support

2010-01-29T10:23:00.000-08:00

Well, Nashville turned out to be a truncated experience living in Tennessee. While the weather was indeed warmer than Minnesota, with a beautiful environment and nice people, it was just not the right place for me culturally. So, on to Texas! I have moved to Austin. Climate AND culture allured me to this place.

Actually, this is the place where I have wanted to live since 2006 and I am very pleased to have finally arrived- for real this time. I was here for all of three weeks in ‘06 before having to return to Minnesota to work on my health with the only doctor I trusted. The road has been long, and at times very depressing and unpleasant. I can’t count how many times I have looked around and thought, “What am I doing here?” Sometimes that question can only be answered in hindsight after moving on ahead a ways.

This city has the kind of support and resources that I need: arts, music, film, health, and international culture. I am finding many people here who are cooperative in personality with a firm belief in paying it forward. Austinites are well educated, liberal, and progressive. I have already found several groups to be a part of, including SCDiet support.

I cannot overstate the importance of support, especially when a person is struggling for any reason. We all need support, and it is positively correlated with success. What does that mean? The more support a person has, the more likely they are to succeed. The support of one person can make a difference, especially if it comes with real understanding, the kind that comes with personal experience. It is good to share similarities and to respectfully tease out differences.

I don’t know about you, but support is not usually forthcoming from most people when it comes to my diet. More often than not, the response I get is, “that’s too hard! I could never do that!” When so many people put my eating lifestyle “down,” it is easy to start thinking like they do under the peer pressure. “Maybe it won’t be so bad if I just have a taste, and it would make my life so much easier…” WRONG!!! It hurts me like no one else gets unless they have experienced my level of disease. Now I know, without any doubt through repetitive testing, just say NO! Disease is challenging, special diets are challenging, and it doesn’t help to have individuals constantly challenging what helps me to heal on top of it all. I let those comments roll off now because I know it’s not too hard. I’m doing it, and it gets more rewarding every day. It’s more important to find other people who are doing it, too, and to find out how they are making it happen for themselves.

What works for me may not work for you. In fact, it probably won’t. It is estimated that each person has around 500 or so microbes as part of their very own cultural make-up, and we’re all slightly different due to our different contacts and occupation of space. We share some strains that are the most common in humans, but like snowflakes no two of us is exactly alike. Unfortunately, we all suffer from being alone in a sea of people because each of us is unique, just like everybody else. Yes, as individuals we feel the pang of separation from the group, which gives us a collective experience. Esoteric? Yeah. I wish it could be easier to find one’s way in life, but golly-gosh almighty! My way sure has proven to be a doozy several times over. I keep having to readjust my culture, inside and out, constantly re-culturing myself in search of the perfect balance for me. And yeah, not everybody can move to Austin, or would want to, and I am seeking employment so that I can stay here…

Remember, it is only a small space to make nowhere now here. Sometimes, life happens in a rather round-a-bout way. However, I am nothing if not perseverant, persistent, determined, tenacious, or otherwise stubborn. If at first you do not succeed, tend to the wounds with loving care and then try again, a little different!

Trying new things, and old things in different ways, can bring what is desired into reality. One of the things that my doctor told me when I was having so many challenges was, “The better we get your health, the better decisions you will make.” I just kind of looked at him, with my head cocked to one side and eyebrow raised like a curious dog, attempting to comprehend this notion. He was ever so right on, and I’m beyond glad that I trusted him and believed what he was saying. Just trying SCDiet not only improved the quality of my life, it saved my life. I have no doubt that I would be dead if not for the diet, and for my doctor. But, I had to be the one willing to try and forge ahead into the unknown, even if that meant backtracking to MN for a few years of drudgery. Fall down 7 and get up 8, according to Confucius. All that matters is that I keep getting up, I keep trying, and one day I will get it “right.” Almost four years later, here I am, now here in Austin!

Relocating and Reculturing Myself

2009-12-24T14:03:00.000-08:00

I have been in the process of relocating my life for the past few months. Living in Minnesota for the past 22 years with its winters was very hard on me physically, and therefore psychologically. I have been looking for somewhere else to be for years. This hasn’t been an easy task, but the primary focus has been to get somewhere significantly warmer with more sunshine so that I can gain another level of health. My aim is always to increase my capabilities and quality of life, to overcome my disabilities by addressing what causes or exacerbates my diseases.

Ironically enough, I had to get well enough to leave MN before I could get to a place that would increase my health and well-being. For the longest time, it seemed like I would never be able to leave MN because I was in a feedback loop; I was not well enough to relocate, but not ever going to get well enough to relocate due to the current location’s deleterious effects of my health. For years, I felt like I was on a mouse wheel, going around and around but getting nowhere different. In hindsight, I guess I was developing some “muscle strength” to run on something other than a wheel! At least I was perseverant in my efforts to get well despite the feelings and outward appearances of no progress for long periods of time.

Almost unbelievably, I am finally out of MN and living in Tennessee, where it gets hot and humid in the summer. This is a marked accomplishment for me. And, it is a testament to how well I am actually doing in the present due to my prior hard work. My determination has been rewarded! The winter is not white with temperatures constantly below freezing. Below freezing temperatures are infrequent here. As I watch the blizzards hit Minnesota one after another this year, comparing their negative degree temperatures with some days getting up to 60 here, I feel relieved that I am no longer living in the land of ice and snow.

It’s much easier to move around without constant frozen precipitation. I don’t have to wear as many layers of clothing. I don’t have to worry if part of my body will be exposed long enough to get frostbite in a matter of seconds. I don’t feel frigidly cold all the time. It doesn’t take as long to drive on roads that have exposed concrete and asphalt, without the help of salt and sand. No more slip and slide everywhere I go. No more fear of potentially falling down with every step. (At least once a winter in MN I fell. There were maybe a handful in the last few years when I managed to avoid it, but it is a common experience.) Life is less threatening in TN for the winter because there are fewer climate hazards to deal with here.

Since I grew up in the South, it isn’t a total culture shock for me to be in Tennessee, even after a couple of decades as a Northerner. And, America is America despite regional differences. It’s not as though I moved to a place in the world where wheat and starch products aren’t the major staple of “everyone’s” diet. My basic food challenges will still have to be met. I am hunting for a new meat farmer to call my own! I miss my Farmer Bob, and many other things about MN. After all, if it hadn’t been for the winter and it’s lengthy duration, I would not have chosen to leave that cultural milieu. But, the winters were enough of a burden for me to carry that I felt an absolute need to get out as soon as possible, despite the risks involved in relocating. My need for better health and well-being trumped all else.

It is hard to make “sacrifices” for my health- even though facing the fear of the unknown has become routine for me. I am constantly giving up things that I know for new things that I don’t know so intimately, if at all, as I create my new life. It is hard to give up known cons for the potential of worse unknown cons that come with taking any new risk for the potential pros involved. Sometimes, risk pans out and success is achieved. Sometimes, risk results in a failure, or a learning experience, otherwise known as an opportunity disguised as a challenge.

It is hard to embrace change, again and again- especially when I think that I have just “landed” somewhere “secure.” Sometimes, I just want to rest for a while instead of always being on guard. It would be nice and easy to live in a world of stable and consistent “facts” instead of change and ambiguity, which requires constant attention, effort, and learning. When I exchanged wheat flour for almond flour, I thought that I had found something permanent and safe to live by. As it turns out, I was incorrect. It was only temporary. Something even more different was waiting around the corner for me to discover and to embrace- a new way of being in the world, my very own special subculture within a subculture.

Learning different and new ways of doing things in the world, ways of being, ways of interacting with others around me, this all has to happen regularly for me to get well. My world view has to be ever evolving. I have to bend (and bend- this way, then that way, then yet another direction, blowing in the wind) or I will break. I have to choose to change my culture in order to live. It is not only the culture in which other people surround me socially as part of a location, but also the culture within my body that I am changing.

Relocating is part of reculturing myself. I am reordering my microbial balance, my intestinal flora and fauna, in the same way that I am changing my external surroundings. I am promoting what I want and neglecting to develop that which I don’t want in my environments. And, I went to the extreme of changing my larger environment to promote my own development. Support is positively correlated with success, so it makes sense to get as much of it as possible in all ways. I happen to need a lot of warmth and sunshine! (I often like to think of myself as a tropical shade plant. That kind of thing really can’t grow naturally in MN.)

I am reculturing myself daily with intention, even when it seems as though I am getting nowhere. It is only a space that translates nowhere into now here. I have a new opportunity to be in a more supportive environment for my health and well-being in Tennessee. I will not be spending so much energy fighting what hurts me, the cold of Minnesota. I can get on with more joyful experiences! I am beginning to relax from some of the tension that I have been carrying with me from always being on high alert.

The only thing constant is change, so the saying goes. What’s next, then? Now what?

Pause in my blog activity

2009-12-15T08:08:00.000-08:00

I am in transition from Minnesota to Tennessee for my health. I will post again soon, including my last cooking video from MN on meatballs and sauce...

Ode to Farmer Bob Otis

2009-11-01T10:51:00.000-08:00

Three years ago I found Farmer Bob and his exquisite meats. It didn't take me long to figure out his meats were not only better in taste but also in quality. I had been consuming organic, free roaming and ranging meats from Whole Foods. Little did I understand back then about the differences!

I have since learned that certified organic meat isn't necessarily what I am looking for in my quest for health. What matters more is how the animal has lived, what it has eaten, all the medications it is given, and so on. In short, everything matters, not just the qualifications for organic certification from the FDA.

Most industrial meats are finished with corn. This also includes most industrial organic meats such as those from Whole Foods. Cows and steers are not meant to eat corn. It is not a natural part of their diet. When they are fed corn, it causes them massive indigestion and gas. The gas build up is so great that they would suffocate to death if they weren't given medicine to reduce the bloat. The corn fattens them up so that they weigh more for slaughter bringing in more money. It is a capitalistic approach that completely disregards the natural order. It is a condition forced on the animals in the name of profit.

Unfortunately for us humans, as well as the poor cows and steers, this is terrible for our health. All pollutants that the animal comes into contact with are stored in its fats. So, any and all toxins are passed on to you and I as the eaters. Antibiotics, hormones, pesticides, fertilizers, and all sorts of chemical residues from industrial farming still reside in the fat. If the animal has been fed grasses, or grains that it shouldn't be eating to begin with, that have been treated industrially then all of those chemicals are effecting the animal. That means they are all effecting the health of consumers.

A sustainable farm, such as the Otis Family Farm, grows the grasses that the cows eat. It doesn't contain the animals with an "option" for them to go outside in the name of free roaming and ranging. The animals really do live outside wandering around. Farmer Bob actually has to catch the turkeys for Thanksgiving!

I like to order a quarter of a steer at a time from Farmer Bob. That way I can talk to him about how I want the meat processed. I have the option to have parts like the tongue and liver put into the ground beef or as whole parts. The animal is slaughtered just for me and the cuts of meat come labeled with my name. I can either pick it up at the St. Paul Farmer's Market or arrange for him to drop it off at my house for a small gas fee. I keep a small freezer in my basement to house all of the meat.

Along with beef, Otis Family Farms also raises chicken, lamb, turkey, and pork. They even have their own bees to pollinate the plants grown for the animals. You can also buy processed meats such as sausages and flavored chicken, but they are made using typical preservatives that I cannot consume. His eggs are so yummy, and the yolks trend orange instead of yellow.

I would strongly urge you to try real free roaming and ranging, organic (even if not certified) meats from a local farmer. I can't even begin to tell you how satisfying it is to develop a relationship with the person who raises your food. For me, it has meant all the difference in my health. I feel as though Farmer Bob has given me life, and a much higher quality of life, by taking such good care of his farm and animals. I have depended on him for pure food on my table at every meal. He has been one of the most important people in my recovery process. I owe him a lot!

Knowing the person that raises my food really connects me to my community. I love hearing the updates about what has been happening on the farm each week when I visit Farmer Bob at the market. He will tell me about the antics the animals have been up to. I am not detached from how my food made it to my table. I am very grateful for this fine food, and for Farmer Bob Otis.

Otis Family Farms

Year round at the St. Paul Farmer's Market

290 E. 5th St.

Lowertown St. Paul, MN 55101

Corner of Wall and 5th Streets

or give Farmer Bob a call at 715-338-0237

Some Mistakes I've Made with SCDiet

2009-10-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

1) Only paying attention to WHAT food is allowed and not including the WHEN, HOW, WHY. Yes, it is important to know what is "legal" and "illegal" to eat, but that is not the only consideration. There is a reason for the introductory part of the diet- it soothes the gut on top of eliminating foods that cannot be digested properly. Chicken soup, made from the whole chicken, skin and bones, has healing properties. Gelatin works wonders for upset tummies. Food has now become medicine for me, so I decide what to eat based on how I am feeling and performing. Whenever my stomach revolts, it is time to have chicken stock.

2) Eating too much product made from nuts- especially almond flour. Eating the same thing all the time because it is "legal" on SCDiet is a good way to attain a new food intolerance issue. Because I was trying to eat American and replace bread products with similar substances made out of almond flour, I now cannot tolerate any almond flour or almond products. Nuts are hard for any person to digest, and many people on SCDiet cannot tolerate them. I finally had to give up on trying to make replacement foods for the SAD (Standard American Diet) foods that are considered ever so important in our culture. Why on earth was I trying to mimic the diet that got me and so many other Americans sick? Duh, that's not a good idea.

3) Cheating every now and again because I "needed a treat" for being so "good" the rest of the time. Cheating is just a form of cruelty. It isn't being nice at all, not even for just a moment. That moment will produce many more moments of hurt. Limits and discipline can actually set a person free. When I feel good, there's less need for something to soothe me; so, keeping the machine in good working order with routine maintenance is better than fixing it after it breaks from neglect. Cheating just means more mess to clean up, and it departs from pursuing the goal of wellness. The times when I think that I want to cheat the most are the times when it would be the worst to do so. Those are weak moments in need of more support, not justification for self-abuse.

4) Going off the diet too early because I was "better." I started adding in "illegal" food as soon as I thought I could handle it. Because I had been so sick for so long, it didn't take a ton of improvement for me to call it success. If only I had comprehended just how far I had yet to go, and how much set back this behavior caused me, then I would not have strayed. If an injured player is put back on the field before the injury is healed, then the likelihood of that player incurring further injury that could end his/her playing career forever is high. Why risk it for one game or one season when I have my WHOLE LIFE ahead of me? Is it more important to live and live well, or to eat a particular food for 30 seconds in my mouth?

These are not the only mistakes I have made.

10 Practices for Best Nutrition

2009-10-06T16:30:00.000-07:00

1) Eat the widest variety of foods you can tolerate. Every food has different nutritional content, so eating the widest variety of food that you can tolerate means you will get the most nutrients. Some sources of nutrients are easier to access in some foods than in others, and some require a combination in order to maximize nutritional value.

2) Eat food in a variety of formats from raw to well done and every point in between. Food releases different nutrients based on how it is prepared. Some nutrients can only be gleaned from eating a food raw, while others are only accessible through cooking. You will get the most every food has to offer if you can eat it prepared in many different ways. This helps to keep food interesting, too!

3) Eat as many colors in the rainbow as you can daily. Every color of food has different nutrients. Mixing and matching food colors means you get the widest array of nutrients on top of having something visually enticing to eat.

4) Eat whole foods as often as possible. Whole foods are much more nutritious for the body than partial foods. For instance, eating a whole apple will not spike your blood sugar level while drinking apple juice will. Nature put everything in there for a reason. (Seeds and stems don't count.)

5) Eat organically as often as possible. Organic foods tend to have more nutritional value than industrial foods, on top of NOT having the pesticides and other nasty chemicals grown into their skin. NOT getting poisoned on top of more nutrition is good.

6) Eat seasonal food from local, sustainable farms. Food that is picked ripe and has traveled little is way more nutritious than food that has been picked unripe and travelled half way around the world. You actually create a kind of carbon footprint, or ecological debt, when you buy food from around the world because of what it really costs to ship it. Sustainable farming means that the farm will not be void of nutrients in the soil within a few years. It means that the land and animals are cared for in a way that promotes ongoing life instead of sacrificing tomorrow in the name of today. You are helping to save the planet on top of yourself with this practice!

7) Eat fat, protein, and carbohydrates at every meal. Fat, protein, and carbohydrates are all critical for body functions. Depriving your body of what it needs routinely will result in nutritional deficiency, bodily breakdowns, and disease. Find the balance that is right for you.

8) Chew thoroughly before swallowing. Digestion starts with the eyes and nose, but the mouth is very important. Chewing thoroughly means that your tummy and gut have an easier time breaking the food down further. All of the digestive juices get flowing with a good chew.

9) Eat foods in rotation. Eating a food for 24 hours then not for 96 hours keeps you in good variety and reduces any likelihood of developing an intolerance or allergy to any particular food. When you can't just eat anything that other people can and your grocery list is limited, this also becomes important for maintaining interest in the foods you can eat.

10) Eat foods that promote the health desired. Eating foods that contain the nutrients needed to address illness is the best way to support the body towards health and well-being. I continue to be amazed at the power of food, the fuel of our very lives. You are what you eat!

Tomato Soup Recipe & How-To Video

2009-09-21T19:54:00.000-07:00

Tomato Soup by Arden Durham

Ingredients:

12 medium/large ripe tomatoes (my favorite are beefsteak)

1 tablespoon course Celtic sea salt

Season with basil, oregano, thyme, hot peppers, you choose!

Utensils:
Large glass pot

Medium glass pot

Masher

Heat resistant spatula

Spoon rest

Electric hand held immersion blender

Mesh strainer

Ladle

Soupspoon

Serrated knife

Cutting board

Directions:

* Wash tomatoes and core out where the stem was connected.
* Cut tomatoes in the large glass pot so as not to lose any juices and give them a good squeeze.
* Add course Celtic sea salt.
* Heat on high until they come to a boil, stirring frequently to avoid scorching.
* Reduce heat to a simmer, mash then stir making sure nothing is stuck to the bottom.
* Repeat mashing and stirring every few minutes until you feel there is no longer any resistance left in the tomatoes, about 8-10 minutes.

* Use the electric immersion hand blender to liquefy the remaining pulp.
* Ladle into the mesh strainer in the medium pot.
* Push everything you can through, at first by stirring then by using the back of the spoon- you should only have a spoonful of waste (seeds and skin) left to discard.
* Scrape the outside of the strainer between rounds of ladling to make it easier and keep the soup thick.
* Season to taste.
* You can use this as a base for vegetable soup, the beginnings of ketchup, or reduce it for paste, etc.

Tip: Let the heat do most of the work for you, and if you cover as often as possible this will help.

The Insensitive Ignorant

2009-09-13T18:16:00.001-07:00

Whenever it comes up that I cannot eat wheat products, someone will inevitably exclaim something like, "Oh, I just couldn't live without bread!"

I have two well rehearsed responses to this kind of declaration.

One is more polite and diplomatic and it goes like this,

"It's amazing what you can live without if it means you will live."

Another is not so polite and confronts the premise directly and goes like this,

"Then if you were me, you would be dead."

Over a decade of this same scenario has played out. I'm using the second phrase more frequently. Meeting me may be the first time someone has ever been confronted with such a notion, but I have had to deal with hundreds of such ignorant interactions. Forgive me if my patience is wearing thin when I did not ask to be this kind of educator. I try to be kind, but I would like some of that compassion directed back my way!

This is not just because the person is insensitive due to ignorance. I mean, not many people feel free to walk up to a person in a wheel chair and say, "Oh, I just couldn't live without walking." Most people have become sensitive to certain kinds of differently abled people being in their midst and appreciate what they can do. But, people do not see my disease and disabilities in the same way- mostly because they are not visible in the same ways and I became a master of covering what has been visible. Most folks simply don't understand that food can be deadly, especially if they eat it and are "fine."

I also say these things to remind myself. It is challenging to deal with constant peer pressure, put downs, disbelief, dismissal, and all sorts of other negative emotional influences people throw out there. "You can't possibly be right!" "That doesn't make any sense!" "One taste can't be that big of a deal." "I would be so depressed if I had to live the way you do." Those are exactly the thoughts and premises that will get me into trouble, and they illuminate how American culture embraces justifications, rationalizations, and excuses. It's really not too hard to be in control over what goes in my mouth. Just a taste will hurt. I really don't need people encouraging me to hurt myself for a 30 second experience in my mouth. That's not very nice. I wish folks would stop doing that- and then my life would be less depressing!

I am breaking the food addiction of American culture.

Where there is a will, there is a way.

Part 2: Childhood Food Clues

2009-09-07T11:25:00.000-07:00

Fortunately for me, my mother did cook daily when I was a child, and she did it well. She used real, whole foods and it was rare that anything came out of a can. Mostly, we ate beef roasts and two vegetables for dinner. Rarely did a dinner include wheat as an intricate ingredient, but sometimes slices of white bread were available on a plate. This is one of the blessings of my childhood that probably kept my symptoms from being even worse. I was having one meal a day that was relatively gluten, starch, and sugar free.

My mother cooked as long as my father was home for dinner. When he was not, we ate microwaveable meals, pizza or fast food as a treat. Unfortunately for me, my father lived separately from me and my mother for the first time when I was 13 and my mother ceased to cook. My sister was already long gone out of the household as she has almost a decade on me. I was content to eat Lean Cuisine and Stouffer’s microwavable meals. If my mother wanted to be liberated from the kitchen, then I wanted her to be free. After all, food is food, no matter what it is or where it comes from- or so I thought.

My lunches were the same as they had always been in school, a sandwich (white bread, processed deli meat, pre-sliced processed cheese) with corn chips and juice. They started to include Little Debbie snacks, too. I had discontinued breakfast as any kind of routine in junior high because it caused me to feel ill. I settled for a glass of orange juice. In elementary school breakfast was usually milk and cereal and it never really sat well. I would often feel nauseous if I smelled cooking fat smoke in the morning. I would snack on corn chips or cake snacks after school. I had a real sweet tooth, otherwise known as an addiction to sugar, as well. I consumed candy whenever I could. So, once my mother quit cooking, I was eating almost all processed, industrial food. My symptoms gradually got worse the more of these foods I ate, but I did not make the association. Food as the source of illness wasn’t even close to a thought in my mind.

My mother and I lived with my father again for my freshman year of high school, and most of the time she cooked again. He left again at the beginning of my sophomore year and I expanded my range of microwavable foods. Every year I was missing more school because I was ill with one thing or another, acutely and chronically, labeled and treated or not. I occasionally tried my own hand at cooking, a lot of times vegetarian, but I wasn’t very good at it and the lack of reward meant I could count on both hands how often this happened. I also began to eat out with friends once I had my driver’s license. I would get a home cooked meal every now and again at my friend’s house. Late in high school, I was tested for allergies, received shots for a year or so, but never followed the direction not to eat citric acid. This was the first food clue. I ignored it completely. I mean, citric acid seemed to be in everything, and it couldn’t be making that much of a difference- so I persisted in denial of even trying to eliminate a source of conflict for my body. I chose to stay ignorant to feeling good.

yogourmet multi

2009-08-30T12:36:00.000-07:00

I use the yogourmet multi electric yogurt maker.

I also have an additional insert so that I can start making more yogurt or french cream before I've finished my last batch.

I use only one kind of their starters.

I have altered my yogourmet multi with a dimmer switch in order to control the temperature.

French Cream (thick yogurt or Creme Bulgare) Recipe & How-To Video

2009-08-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

French Cream (Thick Yogurt)by Arden Durham

Ingredients:
2 quarts 1/2 & 1/2
4 packets yogourmet Freeze-dried yogurt starter & Crème Bulgare starter

Utensils:
2 small glass-measuring cups
2 soupspoons
yogourmet multi yogurt maker and insert
Glass pot large enough to hold 1/2 gallon of liquid
Heat safe spatula
Scissors
thermometer
Plastic wrap (optional if your pot has a lid, preferably seal tight)

Directions:
* Repasturize the 1/2 & 1/2 by slowly bringing it up to a simmer (180 degrees Fahrenheit) over medium low heat, stir frequently to prevent scorching. This will take about 35 minutes Do not boil (182 degrees.)
* Remove from heat, cover and let cool to room temperature (80 degrees F or less, you can use the fridge to accelerate the process to about 4-5 hours.)
* Skim the film that has congealed on the surface off with a spoon. Otherwise, your end result will be lumpy.
* Introduce the desired microbes by emptying the 4 packets of starter into the yogourmet insert and add 2 spoonfuls of 1/2 & 1/2.
* Mix slowly and gently into a paste using the spatula, then you may add more liquid liberally using a glass-measuring cup.
* Cover the insert and place in the yogourmet multi with water up to the second or top line on the inside.
* Ferment for 24-30 hours at 100-110 degrees F.
* Refrigerate until well chilled, about 6-8 hours.

Tip: You will need to alter the yogourmet multi to achieve the correct temperature for fermentation. I attached a dimmer switch to mine and ran test batch after test batch until I secured 100-110 degrees F over a long time. This does mean that you need to plan on at least your first batch being inedible. It is worth it to make sure that every batch from there on is perfect!

Good Books

2009-08-20T17:40:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my favorite reads that have helped me to heal.

Breaking the Vicious Cycle by Elaine Gottschall is a bit chewy. Bless this woman for doing what she did, but I do have criticisms. One of which is that she plagiarized Dr. Haas. Another is that her writing is poorly organized. A third is that she gave permission to cheat, which is counterproductive to the diet. However, if she hadn't continued in the footsteps of Haas, who knows if any of us would have a clue about carbohydrate specific diets and their healing benefits.

Hunger: An Unnatural History by Sharman Apt Russell is absolutely fascinating, but digestive disorders are left out. Still fascinating, informative and helpful. This book turned me on to Ancel Keys in general through his human starvation tests. Keys was highly influential on our current American diet, for better and for worse.

real food: what to eat and why by Nina Planck is the book I would like to give every person I know who eats the Standard American Diet, aka, SAD. Fat is good for you.

Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A. Price should be given to every health care practitioner. Admittedly, I am still reading this one. The Weston A. Price foundation is a wonderful resource that I think everyone with digestive disorders would benefit from checking out, and support them if you can.

The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan at least starts to get some of my food values into the mainstream, and it is a delightful read. It really is too bad that we are destroying our environment, our economy, and our bodies in the name and game of industrialized food.

Gut and Psychology Syndrome by Natasha Campbell-McBride is much easier to comprehend than BTVC. The brain and body are not separate.

Management of Celiac Disease by Sidney Valentine Haas is one that I checked out from the biomedical library at my local university. If you don't have the disposition towards medical texts, probably best to leave this alone. If you do have the scientific mind, don't pass this one up. If you don't have the money, go on an expedition once you have the energy to undertake such an adventure! He is the one who figured this whole mess out, and there are secrets inside that seem to have been forgotten along the way. Bless this man for all his observations, but don't forget he worked with children and that adults have different nutritional needs and do not heal as quickly.

Probiotics: Nature’s Internal Healers by Natasha Trenev is the best way to understand internal culture.

Digestive Wellness by Elizabeth Lipski is a good overview with lots of options for treatments.

Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st Century Stress Syndrome by James L. Wilson helped me to convert many aspects of my lifestyle.

The Yeast Connection by William G. Crook is where it all began for me back in 1991.

Part One: Love and Hate

2009-08-17T17:35:00.000-07:00

Cooking is almost a dirty word in my world. Yeah, ouch! But, it’s honest. I have to cook in order to live, which also makes it sacred. There is no other way around my situation under my present circumstances with my current resources. However, my disregard for, fear from ignorance, and distaste (pun intended) of cooking has been under constant revision as I have struggled to embrace it as the way of my life. My journey has not been pretty or easy. I’ve experienced a lot of resistance to my truths from other people. I don’t fit in anywhere and have bungled in making my own path. At times I have given in to peer and societal pressures to be like them, to be “normal,” and this has always led to my further demise, doom, and gloom. I am far from finished; I have not arrived, and will surely discover more of my erroneous notions in the future. Perhaps one day I will adore cooking, and I do have faith that that is possible. For now, I see myself as the court jester, the clown, the trickster, and the canary of American culture.

Many of my inculcated values have served me ill. It’s not feminist for me to be a “slave to the kitchen.” It’s un-American not to eat as much premade, packaged, processed, prepared at the hands of others food. It’s anti-capitalist to “waste time” in real cooking. That “time should be spent” pursuing more meaningful engagements that stretch the fabric of my intellect. How “uncivilized” it is to cook; cooking is such “primitive” behavior. These are just a few, but aren’t they enough to keep an industrious gal out of the kitchen? Cooking does look awful bad under these labels that carry so much cultural weight over who I’m supposed to be as a modern, American woman. Certainly I should not be expected to carry the preposterous burden of cooking every meal from scratch with sourced out ingredients here in this day and age. And, most people I encounter like to remind me of this “fact.”

My mother was never really fond of cooking in her own right as a person. If she didn’t perceive that she had to, she didn’t. I think she was trying to save my older sister and me from the duties of cooking because she wanted to be liberated from them herself. Neither of us grew up in the kitchen. Making stained glass candy for Christmas presents was a rare exception of fun together in the kitchen. Both my sister and I learned to cook from reading cookbooks, asking friends, etc. as adults. My mother would never deny that.

Peanut Butter Brownies Recipe & How-To Video

2009-08-08T16:18:00.000-07:00

Watch my how-to cook this recipe video:

Peanut Butter Brownies by Arden Durham

Ingredients:

2 cups peanut butter with only salt added

1/2 cup honey (you can add more or less to taste)

2 eggs

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup of dried fruit (with no additives or preservatives)

1/2 tablespoon butter with only salt added (no flow agent)

Utensils:
24x8” baking pan (I prefer glass)
Set of 3 mixing bowls (small, medium, and large)
Spatula
Knife
Fork
Dry measuring cup
Dry measuring half cup
Teaspoon

Directions:

* Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

* Grease baking dish with butter.

* In a large mixing bowl, empty contents of peanut butter jar and stir in the oils, as they are most likely separated and riding on top of the jar.

* Add honey and stir until mixed.

* In a small bowl, beat eggs until the whites have mixed with the yokes.

* Add eggs to peanut butter and honey and stir well.

* Add baking soda and stir until no white clumps are visible, the batter should be sticking to itself now and turning glossy.

* Add in dried fruit stirring minimally as too much mixing now will result in dry brownies.

* Dump batter into baking dish and gently push it into corners, do not slide it around or you will disturb the butter and they will stick.

* Place in the middle of oven on the rack second from the bottom for about 18 minutes- the edges should be browned slightly and the center should not wiggle.

* Cool for about half and hour, cover to keep moist.

Tip: Use the medium size bowl as your tabletop trash bin.

Kopplin's Coffee

2009-08-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

I am sitting outside of Kopplin's Coffee in St. Paul, sipping a most delicious Americano. This is my favorite coffee house in the Twin Cities. The coffee always rules in taste, the atmosphere is open and inviting, and the people are nice and intriguing.

Kopplin's uses a Clover machine to make their coffee by the cup, so there is no paper filter to take the digestive enzymes out of the coffee. No gut rot, no upset tummy!!! Andrew, the owner, is serious, and I mean serious, about coffee. There is no messing around here as even the shape of the coffee mugs are chosen for flavor- no square corners for the fine particles to get stuck in.

I appreciate that it isn't just about the coffee, but also how it is treated along the way, how it is made at the end of the line, and how it is presented. I highly recommend giving the place a visit. This is the only place I haunt, the only place I feel safe consuming any kind of food product that I have not made personally or supervised the preparation. How much more endorsement could I give the place?