I have been trying very hard to find a paleo bread recipe to make a damn sandwich and I keep failing. I have thrown out half a dozen recipes already, straight from the oven directly to the garbage. They all taste so salty! And the coconut flour sometimes has an odd flavour. The almond flour often burns. Sometimes the dough isn't binding. Ugh, such a hassle! I just want a recipe to come out right for a change!
I have one recipe that always works for me, but it's a banana bread recipe, so it's on the sweeter, softer side and not conducive to sandwich making. I've always sucked at making normal bread and now I suck at making paleo bread too. The difference is that the ingredients are now more expensive and it's that much more infuriating when they get wasted. At least back in the day I was able to make biscuits or a simple quick bread with wheat flour.
I've even tried to adapt a normal recipe into a paleo recipe, but both times that was a disaster too. Very discouraging. I'm so close to going out and buying some gluten-free bread just to get over this odd obsession with making a sandwich. I don't even like sandwiches. I've never liked them. I don't know what's with me. I mean, certain sandwiches are okay, but I've never craved one before like I have been recently. It's so weird. It won't go away! It must be satisfied!!
There are SO many paleo "bread" recipes. Sifting through them is horrible. I've looked through at least 100 recipes. It's overwhelming. There are too many recipes in my bookmark menu and in multiple windows on multiple tabs. I'm trying to compare recipes and comments and I don't have all the ingredients I need or I lose the damn recipe by closing the tab by accident then I don't know where to find it because I've looked at too many recipes already. It's just a blur.
Maybe I'll go to Chapters and pick up a paleo recipe book or two. You know, recipes written by real chefs and bakers who actually know about paleo baking, and not some know-it-all internet person who only exists on the internet and keeps a food blog. You know, the kind of food blog where you just want to get to the damn recipe but you have to scroll through all this anecdotal crap and a slew of artistic pictures of them carefully and artfully mixing each ingredient and then of course several final products shots that all look the same. (I don't care about your journey! Get to the damn recipe)
And the 200 comments below all say the exact same thing: "Sounds yummy! Can't wait to try it!" No constructive feedback whatsoever. No opinions from people who actually made the bread and ate it.
Yes, I'm bitter and this is gone on too long, but I needed to rant.
Showing posts with label Paleo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paleo. Show all posts
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Friday, December 27, 2013
The Proof is In The (Christmas) Pudding
I had hunch that my hormonal acne was caused by the wheat and corn in my diet because it went away when I started eating primal/paleo. While I do try to watch what I eat, I did have some purposeful slip-ups over the month. I knew that I was going to be going off my primal diet over Christmas and I wanted to test my tolerance level.
It started off with a Pop-tart in the evening a couple weeks ago. It gave me diarrhea. The next night I had another Pop-tart and nothing happened. I was totally fine. So from there I progressed. I made homemade macaroni and cheese (with a real cream sauce) and penne with Alfredo sauce. Oh, so delicious! I really love pasta. There were no negative side effects right away.
As Christmas approached, I ate more popcorn, more baking, and just more junk food in general, along with more anti-primal food. And what do you know, my face completely broke out! I had three Christmas dinners to attend in a row and I did not hold back! Perogies, gravy, dainties, french toast, Pillsbury rolls, vegetable casserole with breadcrumbs baked on top, homemade nuts and bolts mix, and Christmas pudding! Oh, how I love Christmas pudding!
Also, I could really see the difference between how full eating primal makes me feel. When eating wheat, my stomach was this bottomless pit where it took so much more to fill me up.
Now my face is really irritated! I hope it doesn't take long to go back to normal. My sister got me some detox tea for Christmas, so I'm going on a raw fruit + veggie + tea fast today and for the weekend to try to help bring my body back into balance. Then it's back to good primal eating.
Because wheat and corn doesn't make me feel sick or make me have to go to the bathroom, the effect it has on my body is more subtle and lasts over time. In the past, I would have never connected eating wheat and corn with my complexion, but there is a very clear connection now. This is all the proof I need to stay far, far away from wheat and corn.
Plus, Tesla needs to detox too. For 3 days all she's eaten is starchy carbs, meat, and refined sugar. It's time for everyone to get back on track.
It started off with a Pop-tart in the evening a couple weeks ago. It gave me diarrhea. The next night I had another Pop-tart and nothing happened. I was totally fine. So from there I progressed. I made homemade macaroni and cheese (with a real cream sauce) and penne with Alfredo sauce. Oh, so delicious! I really love pasta. There were no negative side effects right away.
As Christmas approached, I ate more popcorn, more baking, and just more junk food in general, along with more anti-primal food. And what do you know, my face completely broke out! I had three Christmas dinners to attend in a row and I did not hold back! Perogies, gravy, dainties, french toast, Pillsbury rolls, vegetable casserole with breadcrumbs baked on top, homemade nuts and bolts mix, and Christmas pudding! Oh, how I love Christmas pudding!
Also, I could really see the difference between how full eating primal makes me feel. When eating wheat, my stomach was this bottomless pit where it took so much more to fill me up.
Now my face is really irritated! I hope it doesn't take long to go back to normal. My sister got me some detox tea for Christmas, so I'm going on a raw fruit + veggie + tea fast today and for the weekend to try to help bring my body back into balance. Then it's back to good primal eating.
Because wheat and corn doesn't make me feel sick or make me have to go to the bathroom, the effect it has on my body is more subtle and lasts over time. In the past, I would have never connected eating wheat and corn with my complexion, but there is a very clear connection now. This is all the proof I need to stay far, far away from wheat and corn.
Plus, Tesla needs to detox too. For 3 days all she's eaten is starchy carbs, meat, and refined sugar. It's time for everyone to get back on track.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Milk vs Juice
I drink water. A cool glassful on it's own, or often I'll add a frozen lemon wedge or a squirt of lemon juice. It's so refreshing! It's the perfect drink to rehydrate or accompany any meal. I rarely drink anything else. (Except my guilty pleasure of chocolate milk.) So, naturally I want Tesla to drink water too. And she does! But I think that she needs some liquid calories too.
My pediatrician recommended she drink no more than 16 oz of milk a day, (or 2 cups if you understand metric better.) He made no mention of what she should drink at other times and we never talked about juice.
I was doing some research online and from multiple sites I read that children should drink unlimited amounts of milk and water, but only 4-6 oz of 100% juice. They claim that juice has too much sugar and too many calories compared to milk and that drinking sugary drinks all the time can fill their little bellies leaving not enough room for real food. Also, the more sugary drinks a child has per day, the more likely the child will be obese.
For the past month, Tesla has been drinking:
10 oz of 3% milk a day
5 oz of Bolthouse Farms 100% fruit juice smoothie (assorted varieties) and
5 oz of Bolthouse Farms 100% Carrot juice daily.
She eats 4 meals a day, so at each meal I offer a cup of milk or juice to drink and the rest of the time she has water. I see milk and juice as a supplement to the meal. She's been drinking her food for her whole life, so I see milk and juice as an extension of that. She can quickly and easily get some of the calories and nutrition she needs without having to spend all that extra time in her high chair.
But I still can't wrap my head around why milk is "healthier" than juice. Why should I cut out one of her juices and replace it with milk? Honestly, I don't believe one is necessarily better than the other. They both have their place. Yes, the juice has twice as much sugar, but it's natural sugar she would have eaten anyway had I fed her all the ingredients in the juice raw.
I think the reason why whole milk is pushed over juice is because A) Dairy is a made up food group that we don't need to consume, but it happens to employ a lot of people and many people make a profit off dairy farming, and B) there is fat in milk and infants and toddlers require a high fat diet for proper growth and development, but so many children exist on carbohydrates, their milk is the only thing they consume that has fat in it.
Tesla eats a high fat diet just like her parents do. The only foods we have trouble getting her to eat are non-starchy vegetables. (She tries a bite or two, but usually just spits it out.) She'll eat them if they're mixed into her omelet, or blended into a drink or smoothie though. It just makes sense for me to give her 100% fruit and vegetable juice. She doesn't need more milk.
Raising a primal baby is so much harder than raising a SAD baby. When she's bugging me for a pre-dinner snack, I can't just throw some goldfish crackers or a cheerios into a bowl to distract her. Any of the acceptable foods to give her are either messy or a choking hazard, except for a stick of cheese, but sometimes she's already had cheese, so there's a fine line between how many ounces of cheese I want her to eat in a day. Filling up a sippy cup with 100% Orange-Carrot juice... vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, potassium... that's pretty quick and easy for an appetizer and damn nutritious too.
As she gets older the juice will be less necessary because she'll be eating more well rounded. I don't think I'm making her at risk for being obese by feeding her twice the daily recommended limit for juice. She's tall and her weight is average, plus we brush her teeth every day. She eats a hell of a lot better than most other kids I've met, and she eats more variety too.
Only time will tell if I'm making a good, healthy choice for my daughter.
My pediatrician recommended she drink no more than 16 oz of milk a day, (or 2 cups if you understand metric better.) He made no mention of what she should drink at other times and we never talked about juice.
I was doing some research online and from multiple sites I read that children should drink unlimited amounts of milk and water, but only 4-6 oz of 100% juice. They claim that juice has too much sugar and too many calories compared to milk and that drinking sugary drinks all the time can fill their little bellies leaving not enough room for real food. Also, the more sugary drinks a child has per day, the more likely the child will be obese.
For the past month, Tesla has been drinking:
10 oz of 3% milk a day
5 oz of Bolthouse Farms 100% fruit juice smoothie (assorted varieties) and
5 oz of Bolthouse Farms 100% Carrot juice daily.
She eats 4 meals a day, so at each meal I offer a cup of milk or juice to drink and the rest of the time she has water. I see milk and juice as a supplement to the meal. She's been drinking her food for her whole life, so I see milk and juice as an extension of that. She can quickly and easily get some of the calories and nutrition she needs without having to spend all that extra time in her high chair.
But I still can't wrap my head around why milk is "healthier" than juice. Why should I cut out one of her juices and replace it with milk? Honestly, I don't believe one is necessarily better than the other. They both have their place. Yes, the juice has twice as much sugar, but it's natural sugar she would have eaten anyway had I fed her all the ingredients in the juice raw.
I think the reason why whole milk is pushed over juice is because A) Dairy is a made up food group that we don't need to consume, but it happens to employ a lot of people and many people make a profit off dairy farming, and B) there is fat in milk and infants and toddlers require a high fat diet for proper growth and development, but so many children exist on carbohydrates, their milk is the only thing they consume that has fat in it.
Tesla eats a high fat diet just like her parents do. The only foods we have trouble getting her to eat are non-starchy vegetables. (She tries a bite or two, but usually just spits it out.) She'll eat them if they're mixed into her omelet, or blended into a drink or smoothie though. It just makes sense for me to give her 100% fruit and vegetable juice. She doesn't need more milk.
Raising a primal baby is so much harder than raising a SAD baby. When she's bugging me for a pre-dinner snack, I can't just throw some goldfish crackers or a cheerios into a bowl to distract her. Any of the acceptable foods to give her are either messy or a choking hazard, except for a stick of cheese, but sometimes she's already had cheese, so there's a fine line between how many ounces of cheese I want her to eat in a day. Filling up a sippy cup with 100% Orange-Carrot juice... vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, potassium... that's pretty quick and easy for an appetizer and damn nutritious too.
As she gets older the juice will be less necessary because she'll be eating more well rounded. I don't think I'm making her at risk for being obese by feeding her twice the daily recommended limit for juice. She's tall and her weight is average, plus we brush her teeth every day. She eats a hell of a lot better than most other kids I've met, and she eats more variety too.
Only time will tell if I'm making a good, healthy choice for my daughter.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Progress
Yesterday I ate a few Reece cups. I used to really like them and they were in my top 10 favourite chocolate bars. However, there was one problem; It tasted disgusting. It tasted like sugary, cheap, artificial dollarama candy. Reece used to taste like the perfect blend of peanut butter and chocolate, but now it tastes fake. I just couldn't believe it!
Well, I guess I can believe it. The main ingredient is processed sugar. It's more sugar than chocolate and peanuts and I guess I'm not used to eating that anymore. I still eat processed white and brown sugar, just not as much. I use honey, maple syrup, and organic cane sugar too.
I find that I'm somewhere in between my new way of eating and my old way. Most of the paleo dessert recipes I've tried are not sweet enough and I find myself adding sugar, yet all my old dessert recipes are too sweet and don't taste good like they used to!
Bob's taste-buds haven't adjusted the way mine have yet. Not only did I have a head start on him, but he also still drinks Pepsi, and lately, vodka coolers. Though he has been trying some natural sodas and spritzers and says he enjoys them. Some of them are a tad pricey, but we have a soda stream so one of my goals is to make natural cherry cola for Bob before the year is through.
I'm impressed with the progress my whole family's made. We're trying totally new foods, (squash varieties, plantains, cassava, pumpkin seed butter, dried fruits, coconut products...) we're eating more meat and eggs, eating healthier starches, and more fruits and veggies. I can see a difference in my skin and hair. I can see a reduction in the dark circles under my eyes. My adult acne always flares up at that time of the month and this month my acne was greatly reduced and lasted half as long.
Keeping this family on track is a lot of work. I do an incredible amount of list making, research, and prep work. Cooking primal/paleo meals isn't necessarily difficult, but it's sort of like relearning how to cook and bake. I never used to use recipes because I never needed to. I looked at the ingredients I had and knew just what to do with them. Now I'm working with some unfamiliar ingredients a lot of the time and their cooking properties are totally different from what I'm used to working with. I have to do my research.
Tesla's doctor's appointment is this week and I'm really excited to show off how big and strong my grain-free baby is. I don't know how her doctor's going to react when I tell him she doesn't eat bread or crackers or cereal since that's what most children live off of, but I guess we'll see how the examination goes.
Well, I guess I can believe it. The main ingredient is processed sugar. It's more sugar than chocolate and peanuts and I guess I'm not used to eating that anymore. I still eat processed white and brown sugar, just not as much. I use honey, maple syrup, and organic cane sugar too.
I find that I'm somewhere in between my new way of eating and my old way. Most of the paleo dessert recipes I've tried are not sweet enough and I find myself adding sugar, yet all my old dessert recipes are too sweet and don't taste good like they used to!
Bob's taste-buds haven't adjusted the way mine have yet. Not only did I have a head start on him, but he also still drinks Pepsi, and lately, vodka coolers. Though he has been trying some natural sodas and spritzers and says he enjoys them. Some of them are a tad pricey, but we have a soda stream so one of my goals is to make natural cherry cola for Bob before the year is through.
I'm impressed with the progress my whole family's made. We're trying totally new foods, (squash varieties, plantains, cassava, pumpkin seed butter, dried fruits, coconut products...) we're eating more meat and eggs, eating healthier starches, and more fruits and veggies. I can see a difference in my skin and hair. I can see a reduction in the dark circles under my eyes. My adult acne always flares up at that time of the month and this month my acne was greatly reduced and lasted half as long.
Keeping this family on track is a lot of work. I do an incredible amount of list making, research, and prep work. Cooking primal/paleo meals isn't necessarily difficult, but it's sort of like relearning how to cook and bake. I never used to use recipes because I never needed to. I looked at the ingredients I had and knew just what to do with them. Now I'm working with some unfamiliar ingredients a lot of the time and their cooking properties are totally different from what I'm used to working with. I have to do my research.
Tesla's doctor's appointment is this week and I'm really excited to show off how big and strong my grain-free baby is. I don't know how her doctor's going to react when I tell him she doesn't eat bread or crackers or cereal since that's what most children live off of, but I guess we'll see how the examination goes.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Eating Paleo This Week
On the weekend I decided I was going to do a full week of paleo only meals just to see what it felt like and if it was something I could adapt to at this point in my life. Changing your lifestyle overnight is hard, but I've been working toward this for nearly a month now, so I am ready to give it a test drive.
Our Sunday grocery shopping didn't cost any more than it normally does, so that was a relief. (Also sort of telling in a way. Those who base their meals around discounted boxes of processed foods are the only who get the sticker shock of what real food costs I think.) We did buy more meat than usual though and more fresh veggies, but a lot less dairy items. I also had to buy some staple items that were expensive to get all at once now, but will last a while. Things like coconut oil, milk, and flakes, as well as almond flour.
Planning out my menu was easy and I've been in the habit of doing this for months now. It makes shopping and cooking so much easier and really takes the guesswork out of eating. I even tried to get Bob in on the action by packing a Paleo Pack for him for lunch. (It's a trail-mix made up of jerky, nuts, and dried fruit.) He said it was good and filling and it was only 500 calories. Definitely better for him than the bologna sandwich and Fibre 1 bar he's been taking, cringe. In the future, I think I'll make some more Paleo Pack variations. It's very portable and easy for either a meal or a snack on the go.
For breakfast this morning, I was originally going to make some quiche. I like crust, so I was going to make a paleo crust, but I was feeling tired and lazy this morning. Bob made my bacon for me, so I just needed to make something else. I decided to make an omelette. Avocado, spinach, and cheese! It was fantastic! I fried up a bit of frozen shredded hash-browns in bacon grease and my meal was complete. It was absolutely to die for delicious! I am making it again next week for sure!
I'm making a stirfry sans rice or noodles for lunch and roasted chicken with broccoli and sweet potato for dinner. For Tesla's birthday coming up, I think I'd like to tackle making some sort of paleo dessert. I'm not a cake person and paleo cakes are so dense and heavy anyway. For my birthday I always have a birthday trifle, so not serving birthday cake for my little girl's first birthday is not a crime, I promise. Perhaps there's some sort of paleo parfait I can make for our guests.
If I can be full on paleo by the time Tesla turns 1 in 3 weeks, that would be amazing. I very much would like to raise a paleo baby, but that's another post for another time. Until then, I urge any and all who read this to try one meal a day without grains just to see how you like it for a week. It's filling, it's satisfying, and that's what I did before deciding to eliminate them altogether. Happy eating!
Our Sunday grocery shopping didn't cost any more than it normally does, so that was a relief. (Also sort of telling in a way. Those who base their meals around discounted boxes of processed foods are the only who get the sticker shock of what real food costs I think.) We did buy more meat than usual though and more fresh veggies, but a lot less dairy items. I also had to buy some staple items that were expensive to get all at once now, but will last a while. Things like coconut oil, milk, and flakes, as well as almond flour.
Planning out my menu was easy and I've been in the habit of doing this for months now. It makes shopping and cooking so much easier and really takes the guesswork out of eating. I even tried to get Bob in on the action by packing a Paleo Pack for him for lunch. (It's a trail-mix made up of jerky, nuts, and dried fruit.) He said it was good and filling and it was only 500 calories. Definitely better for him than the bologna sandwich and Fibre 1 bar he's been taking, cringe. In the future, I think I'll make some more Paleo Pack variations. It's very portable and easy for either a meal or a snack on the go.
For breakfast this morning, I was originally going to make some quiche. I like crust, so I was going to make a paleo crust, but I was feeling tired and lazy this morning. Bob made my bacon for me, so I just needed to make something else. I decided to make an omelette. Avocado, spinach, and cheese! It was fantastic! I fried up a bit of frozen shredded hash-browns in bacon grease and my meal was complete. It was absolutely to die for delicious! I am making it again next week for sure!
I'm making a stirfry sans rice or noodles for lunch and roasted chicken with broccoli and sweet potato for dinner. For Tesla's birthday coming up, I think I'd like to tackle making some sort of paleo dessert. I'm not a cake person and paleo cakes are so dense and heavy anyway. For my birthday I always have a birthday trifle, so not serving birthday cake for my little girl's first birthday is not a crime, I promise. Perhaps there's some sort of paleo parfait I can make for our guests.
If I can be full on paleo by the time Tesla turns 1 in 3 weeks, that would be amazing. I very much would like to raise a paleo baby, but that's another post for another time. Until then, I urge any and all who read this to try one meal a day without grains just to see how you like it for a week. It's filling, it's satisfying, and that's what I did before deciding to eliminate them altogether. Happy eating!
Friday, August 9, 2013
Paleo for BP
I've been counting calories for nearly 3 weeks now. I'm having a moderate amount of success, having lost 5 and a half pounds thus far. It should be higher, but I mostly maintained my weight this week and didn't lose anything.
One thing I'm trying to do is keep my carbohydrate intake to 150g or less a day. I guess it's sort of like a Zone thing I'm doing, 40% of calories from carbs, 30% from protein, and 30% from fat. Eventually I want to be able to only have 30% of my calories from carbs and then 20%, but I'll get there in my own time.
I quickly realized that if I cut out grains, I will meet my carbohydrate goal. I love rice and pasta and chips and crackers! I still have extremely small amounts of these foods, but I hope to one day completely remove them from my diet. I want to follow a paleo diet.
For those not in the loop, a paleo diet focuses on eating vegetables, meat, fruit, seeds and nuts in that order. No grains allowed! Any breads or desserts would be made with nut flour. Dairy is permitted in small quantities, though the purists stay away from it, as well as peanuts, beans, and rice. The whole point is to eat like our ancestors did prior to agriculture existing.
In my quest to find more information about the paleo diet, I came across something very interesting and relevant. There is a link between eating a modified ketogenic diet and having a reduction in mood swings in bipolar patients. There has yet to be a single scientific study of ketogenic diets in bipolar disorder patients, but in the article I was reading, the doctor said he had patients who followed an Atkins, paleo, or other low carbohydrate diet and reported a significant improvement in their symptoms.
How incredible would it be for me to change my diet, lose the weight, and stop taking lithium?
Studies have shown there's a whole bunch of medical conditions that patients have seen improvements in when switching to a low carb diet, (we're talking 10-20 grams a day,) like:
I want to be off medication so bad. I know it may take a few years and I need to be comfortable with the transition, but losing weight isn't nearly as big of a motivator as this! I will gladly never step into an Olive Garden, order in a pizza, or eat deep fried food again if it means controlling my bipolar naturally. There's no proof it will work for my body specifically, but there's no harm in trying, and I was going to try it anyway, so this new piece of information is a nice bonus!
One thing I'm trying to do is keep my carbohydrate intake to 150g or less a day. I guess it's sort of like a Zone thing I'm doing, 40% of calories from carbs, 30% from protein, and 30% from fat. Eventually I want to be able to only have 30% of my calories from carbs and then 20%, but I'll get there in my own time.
I quickly realized that if I cut out grains, I will meet my carbohydrate goal. I love rice and pasta and chips and crackers! I still have extremely small amounts of these foods, but I hope to one day completely remove them from my diet. I want to follow a paleo diet.
For those not in the loop, a paleo diet focuses on eating vegetables, meat, fruit, seeds and nuts in that order. No grains allowed! Any breads or desserts would be made with nut flour. Dairy is permitted in small quantities, though the purists stay away from it, as well as peanuts, beans, and rice. The whole point is to eat like our ancestors did prior to agriculture existing.
In my quest to find more information about the paleo diet, I came across something very interesting and relevant. There is a link between eating a modified ketogenic diet and having a reduction in mood swings in bipolar patients. There has yet to be a single scientific study of ketogenic diets in bipolar disorder patients, but in the article I was reading, the doctor said he had patients who followed an Atkins, paleo, or other low carbohydrate diet and reported a significant improvement in their symptoms.
How incredible would it be for me to change my diet, lose the weight, and stop taking lithium?
Studies have shown there's a whole bunch of medical conditions that patients have seen improvements in when switching to a low carb diet, (we're talking 10-20 grams a day,) like:
- Autism
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Alzheimer’s Disease
- Parkinson’s Disease
- Brain Cancer
- Diabetes
- Prostate Cancer
- Obesity
- Chronic Pain/Inflammation
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Insomnia/Circadian Rhythm disorders
I want to be off medication so bad. I know it may take a few years and I need to be comfortable with the transition, but losing weight isn't nearly as big of a motivator as this! I will gladly never step into an Olive Garden, order in a pizza, or eat deep fried food again if it means controlling my bipolar naturally. There's no proof it will work for my body specifically, but there's no harm in trying, and I was going to try it anyway, so this new piece of information is a nice bonus!
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