•8:19 PM
•7:16 PM
Onto the good stuff...
Ingredients
- Tortilla chips (your choice of flavor/brand but I used a spicy bean variety)
- Vegetarian refried beans (I personally don't think this added much but if it "ain't broke don't fix it" and since the recipe was amazing,I will use it next time)
- Chopped sweet onion (I used about 1/3 of the onion)
- 1 tbsp EVOO
- Fire roasted red bell pepper
- Vegan chick'n strips
- Vegan cheese (I use Daiya and really like it)
- Salsa
Preheat the oven to 350. In small pan, sautée onions in EVOO. After they have carmelized, take them out and put a few of the Chick'n strips in the pan and let them heat thoroughly (I used 3). This will only take a few minutes. Place the tortilla chips on a baking pan and spread each one with refried beans (no magic amount...whatever looks good to your taste buds). I layered the rest in this order: onion, Chick'n, bell pepper, cheese, and salsa (lots and lots of salsa). Put it in the oven until the cheese is melted. The chips under all the yumminess will be soft but I think it makes it better that way. And when you're finished devouring it, feel free to lick the plate. No one will judge you (unless they see you).
•8:19 AM
•12:58 PM
So here we are at day...ummm...I lost count but 5 or 6 weeks out from the elim diet start. So much has happened since I started that I do not know where to start. Long story short my naturopath gave a good bit of misinformation that cost me a flare and (almost) $400. I ended up telling the clinic that I thought it was best I go somewhere else. Since then (2 weeks ago) I have read The Makers Diet, Self-healing Colitis and Crohns, and also the Hallelujah Diet. I have read numerous blogs and articles and have basically decided vegan is going to be my best option. I slowly started by only eating a small bit of chicken at night and now I'm on no meat whatsoever. I can't say if we go out to eat I won't have some but for now I think my gut needs a rest. the high protein is hard to digest and exacerbates my issues. I have also been juicing/blending a lot. I juice lettuce and spinach 2x a day and add to puréed apples and a handful of grapes to it. Then I let it chill in the freezer an hour or so. It is so so so good!
In school news, Little Bit is finished with science and math and only has 2 weeks of reading left. Crazy! She has learned so much! We ended math after an intro to multiplication! I know technically she's in kindergarten but it is first grade material. She needed that though. She was so far beyond learning numbers and letters. If I had set her to school, I would be happy with whatever but being home with me and "learning" letters would have frustrated us both.
Little Monster is almost finished with preschool. His birthday is in a few weeks and he is super excited that he will be having a Mario birthday party! I kind of am too :) I enjoy planning their parties. We invited the whole preschool class plus others so there will be about 20 kids. God bless us!
More later. I want to start writing in my "tried and true" recipes. I don't want to be a "paid" blogger but if I even help one person, it's worth it!
•2:51 PM
So I made it. 3 weeks officially ends tomorrow. And phase 2 officially begins tomorrow. I start adding foods back in. I think dairy is a trigger so we are starting with that since my body will be most sensitive. The last few days have been iffy anyway so to be honest, I'm not sure I should start tomorrow. I think I am intolerant to pistachios and possibly white wine vinegar (or maybe regular vinegar). Hard to tell, though, bc I am also in the middle of my cycle and that screws me up anyway. I definitely have a hard time processing lettuce (or when I eat 2-3x a day I do).
In the past week I feel like I have finally figured our stuff I can eat and be happy. Like, olives on a bison "burger". I used brown rice flower, water, and flax to make a flat bread bun, threw a bison patty on it, covered it in olives and devoured. Brown rice pasta salad is also good but I'm thinking the dressing I am using is causing issues. Or maybe it was just the lettuce and the dressing is getting a bad wrap.
We are also wrapping up homeschooling ALREADY! It's crazy to me that we have come this far so fast. We started multiplaction today. I am sure that we are going to do it again next year. I just wish I had someone to set up crafts/activities for me for major holidays each month. I know there are some "craft in a box" mail order places but they are all so expensive! One I was looking at the other day talked about going online and downloading something. Well, I don't need to pay $40 per month to download. I can search and download myself.
Little Monster is winding down in preschool. This is the first year I haven't like school at all for him but it feels like we are putting more time and energy into it than we are getting out of it. His birthday party is in about 4 weeks and I'm SUPER pumped about it! Since they are about 6 months apart, I don't get too frustrated or burnt out on parties.
•8:46 PM
In 10 days in. In 8 days I lost 8.5lbs. Crazy!! I tasted more new foods in 8 days than I did in 29 years...for example: buckwheat pancakes, cashew butter, cauliflower, quinoa, sweet potatoes, papaya...I'm sure I'm missing some. I have definitely expanded what I eat but it still isn't easy.
It seems like I am fine one day and the next I'm falling apart. The worst part is I can't keep up w/ the rest of my life b/c I'm too busy cooking and cleaning the kitchen. The laundry falls behind, school for Little Bit, my rest. I'm getting tired of that.
I am also having a hard time being around food. Little Monsters' Easter egg hunt was yesterday and it bothered me to be around the choc chip cookies, popcorn, m and ms...but I was ok today w/ the kids having pizza. Hmmm...wonder where my weakness is.
And it isn't helping that I'm coming off of my effexor. I think that has multiplied my issues by a million. I took my last dose last night. I hope the last little bit of withdrawals go by fast.
