Power Breakfast

So here's a quick shot of the power breakfast I just mentioned in the last post.... I added clover sprouts to it this morning, and edible violet flowers for aesthetics :-)



I also love to have a couple brown rice snaps with almond butter on them to top things off with the protein ;-)

Candida Diet: Week 12 and Onward!

Well then!! Guess it's been a little while, but I'm still plugging away and feeling GREAT and learning more and more and trying newer and newer things with foods!

I've been practicing yoga every morning when I wake up, and walking/jogging afterward! Couple nights I didn't get to sleep til later, and it was a little harder to rouse myself the next morning.... but it feels much too good to not start the day off with a little movement! Even if I don't have much time, I still at least do some yoga... and a quick jog wakes me up like nothing else!

A typical day-et (my diet through the day) starts off with a power breakfast, after the yoga and/or jogging. This usually consists of the following!:

-1 cup cooked quinoa (protein party!)
-curry seasonings, focusing on that turmeric! (strong anti-cancer)
-1-2 fresh whole garlic cloves crushed and mixed in (SO good for you in many ways)
-1 cup fresh steamed kale (calcium, lutein/vit. A (EYES) )
**Sweet page on Kale**
-1/2 to 3/4 cup steamed broccoli OR asparagus (CALCIUM, alkalizing to the blood)
**Broccoli Page** **Asparagus Page**
-kelp seasoning for iodine (THYROID REGULATOR!)
and
-3-5 tablespoons shelled hempseeds (protein party #2! +amino acids, calcium, and more)
-2-3 tablespoons nutritional yeast (B VITAMIN + AMINO ACID CENTRAL!!!)
-as much avocado as I'm craving! (protein AND lutein for the eyes)

And depending on how I'm feeling, I'll often throw a hard-boiled egg in the mix. That provides lots of essential things, including lutein again.

I've also been tossing in fresh weeds from my yard! Day-lily root/leaves (sweet & crunchy!), purple deadnettle, chickweed, or speedwell! And though not from my yard, sometimes I use fresh shredded ginger....

Purple Deadnettle:

Chickweed:

I love experimenting with new breakfast ideas for this mix! I'll take a picture of it sometime too, it's really a beautiful meal! :-P It's tonnns of protein (comPLETE protein, that is), but enough other nutrients that help process the protein, and lots of fiber... The broccoli AND the kale are very high in calcium. For those of you reading this who know me, this next statement is a bold, bold statement! I actually find after eating this that I can go well into the afternoon before eating again or just being hungry. And that's after a full morning of gardening and landscaping! I don't usually eat the meal until after my yoga and morning jog are done, so it helps recharge me after the initial morning energy burn, and I like to think that the nice protein party helps keep things smooth for my muscles after a long walk/jog combo. It's also helpful to not eat before doing yoga OR jogging, just way easier on the stomach.

One more fine recipe I've been concocting is a very gluten-free Tabbouleh recipe! It's so easy it almost hurts!

-1 cup cooked quinoa
-1/2 cucumber
-1/4 - 1/3 tomato
-as much parsley as you can take!
-as many hemp seeds as will mix in!
-any seasonings you'd like! Black pepper goes good, maybe a touch of real sea salt.. maybe even a pinch of minced green onion would be good! OH and some fresh MINT!!! Lots of room to create!

Chop up the cuke and the tomato, break up the parsley, and mix it all together in a bowl and enjoy! No further heating involved! I make 1-2 huge batches of quinoa per week these days, so a recipe like this is further made easy... saves a step to cook the quinoa beforehand. It is SUCH a good cold summer 'salad,' and gives you another protein boost mid-day if you need it!

This recipe holds nicely for at least a few days in the fridge! And it's suuuuper carry-along-able! I'm gonna take some pics of these things soon (the power breakfast and the tabbouleh!) They both look like art!!

But as for the diet, I'd like to share that it will be the 3 month mark soon (started Jan. 4, and by April 4, I'll be rolling into the fourth month!) and I've successfully not had a single piece of chocolate (or cheese!!!!) I've had a minimal amount of rice noodles, and 4 slices of bread when I decided to use up the last bit of Sami's bread that I had in my freezer. I've had no fruits or fruit juices, but lots of veggies and veggie juices!

I realize it sounds strict, but I really do feel that my body is happy for the break in carbs and sweets, and it could use the better part of a year to cleanse itself of a diet that I've had for 25 years. Not that my diet has been poor for 25 years, but it's been a lot of the same stuff.... If I wasn't feeling so good or losing drastic amounts of weight or my skin was turning pale or I had any negative symptoms, I'd gladly reintroduce some of these avoided foods... but a scale I just recently looked at was reading 120 last time I saw it, and my face is still embarrassingly pink much of the time! :-P I also wake up with so much energy... I breathe deep and 'wake up' for about 5-10 minutes... dream processing, mapping my morning out... maybe check my planner.... but then once I've settled on a morning gameplan, I explode into the day (WHAM!!) Hahah feelin' great. Haven't had any of these allergies people keep talking about here in the Appalachias... or any other ailments for that matter!

So that's the scoop through to week 12 and a little beyond! Hope this is still posing as a helpful resource for people, and I still encourage any questions or comments! Check back soon for recipe pictures!

Thanks as always for reading!
~D.L.

Dalai Quote

I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.
..................................... Dalai Lama

Rainy Day Black Beans 12 & 35

Had to throw a little Dylan play on words with the title there :-X

But get this... I just made a black bean soup so fast and so easy that I've already eaten my share of it and am left wondering what I might've done incorrectly. That was WAY too easy. I'm missing my Mad Mex fixes from the 'burgh, but this recipe brings things home for me in a real big way. It's super rainy, so I wanted a nice hot creamy soup, and I didn't want to leave the apartment again if I can help it.... so using 4-5 things that I already had, I whipped this dish up in 10 minutes flat, if even that.

-1 can organic black beans
-1/2 packet Bearitos "Mexican Rice Seasoning" (I've been WONDERING what to do with this stuff, for like a year or more hahah)
-several pinches of cumin
-several pinches of cayenne pepper
-several twists of the ol' black pepper mill
-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
-1 green onion 'stalk' (optional!)
-1,2,3,4 dollops of thick Greek yogurt to top the dish off!

I just opened the can of beans.... poured the entire can into a pot without draining them. I'm stranded without a blender or food processor...not even a potato masher... so maybe that was a blessing; I just used the bottom of a glass, and I smashed down some of the black beans, giving it a creamier, beanier consistency. Spellcheck don't tell me beanier isn't a word!!! I'm not listening! So the cup is actually much easier to clean up than the whole blender/food processor operation.

From here, I added about 1/4 or 1/3 of the Bearitos Rice Seasoning packet... tasted the results, and it already tasted creamy and good... but I tossed in some cumin, cayenne, and black pepper, and WHAM, it zipped up a notch!

Then I chopped up one green onion stalk, which took all of 45 seconds.... and tossed that into the brew!

Just for kicks (and/or B vitamins & amino acids!) I chucked in 2 TBS of nutritional yeast! It doesn't affect the flavor, for worse OR for better! It just gives you a bit of more nutrients... iron, B vits, amino acids, minerals, etc.....

So the soup was perfect at this point... so I served it up in a cozy little bowl. And Mad Mex always plops a dollop of sour cream on top of theirs when they serve it.... but a slightly healthier variation I decided to try was a dollop of Fage Greek yogurt!! WOWWWW..... not sure how to describe it.... but I think I'm going to go get some more!

Yum, just finished my second bowl.... truly delicious.... easier than easy.... here's some lil pics for reference!

I highly suggest you give it a whirl! Personalize it! Add a jar of salsa instead of seasoning mix if that's what you have!! I didn't have any salsa... and the Muir Glen plain tomato sauces and tomato pastes I have, have citric acid in them..... supposedly not recommended for Une Candida Diet.... I was a little nervous not having the tomato element in the mix, but it turned out PERFECT regardless! WooHoo!!

~D.L.

New Robin Pecknold Solo Songs

Beautiful and haunting, the main singer of the Fleet Foxes shares three songs that he had nothing else to do with but to share!

He performs with Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear, on a tune called "I'm Losing Myself," covers a Chris Thompson song entitled, "Where is My Wild Rose," and a solo tune named "Derwentwater Stones."

Have a listen, pretty please

02 Derwentwater Stones by TwentyFourBit.com

01 I'm Losing Myself (Feat. Ed Droste) by TwentyFourBit.com

03 Where Is My Wild Rose by geraldinewaters

And you can download them for yourself, if you like! Just click here!

Candida Diet, Rolling Into Week 10 Like a Freight Train!

Tomorrow marks Week #10 that I've upheld my extremist ways :-P

I'm back again to share this amazingly simple + delicious recipe I just whipped up on a whim today! My recipes keep coming to me that way, just 'aha' moments where either things in my pantry come together in a new way, or I'm in the store and run amok grabbing a few new choices.

Let me tell you......

THIS little baby packs a remarkable flavorful punch!! It will only be as 'hot' as you make it (ie. adding a teaspoon or adding a tablespoon, etc) And add this coconut milk or a coconut milk of your choice..... heat the two together in a skillet...... pour over steamed vegetables. DINE ON A GOURMET THAI MEAL. THE END!!!

That's literally all that I did tonight. The curry paste lists a nice little recipe on the back, calling for brown sugar and anchovy paste, etc, etc...... sure that might be great! But I say, plain was absolutely outstanding. I didn't even use any rice along with it... more veggies to fill up on!! And I actually used a tiny 4 ounce can of coconut milk for my meal tonight, and I was slightly nervous about how much curry paste to add. So I started off with maybe a half teaspoon or so? ....well, I wound up using at least a tablespoon. It actually tasted JUST LIKE THE GREEN CURRIED VEGETABLES I GOT AT ANGKOR LAST WEEK!!! That's a delicious Thai place in Pittsburgh, fyi. If you're in Pitt, GO THERE!!!

But yes, I now have a new toy.... I also bought their "red curry paste." :-X You'll have to drag me out of the kitchen.

I've also started my gardening work today--- I've prepped a 5 gallon bucket with 20 or so holes in the bottom and sides for my composting needs..... And I've bought lots of organic seeds and a starter tray. And organic soil of course... extremely stoked to get this started up!

The seeds I bought were: THYME (of course!), chives (common), Pepper (sweet Yolo Wonder, green/red), Green onion (White Lisbon), swiss chard (Five Color Silverbeet... a rainbow of chard!!), fennel, tomato (Roma, bush variety), KALE (dwarf blue curled), oregano (greek), basil (Italian Genovese and Thai Siam Queen), bush green beans..... and catnip for the neighbor's kitteh :-P Oops I done forgot lettuce hahah oh well, all the health stores have seeds now, I'm sure I'll get some this week... got my hands full already! I'm counting on the massive amount of farmers' markets down here for other foods too!

Well I better start getting ready for bed here and finish my tea! Thanks as usual for readin'

~D.L.

Candida Diet, Week 9

Well then! My routine has been slightly changed up as I relocate my life hundreds of miles from home..... But! I've stayed strong making big healthy, hearty breakfasts! About a cup or so of cooked quinoa, mixed with some type of curry powder (turmeric being exCEPTIONALLY healthy, anti-cancer, detoxing, etc.... I try to get some in everyday.) In the curried quinoa, I toss in some steamed kale and steamed broccoli, sometimes steamed dandelion greens..... and as much hemp seed as I can fit in the bowl! I usually top it all off with a hard-boiled egg and a little ground black pepper! And kelp powder sprinkled throughout when I think of it! And for "breakfast dessert," I have usually a half cup or so of greek yogurt to boot! Talk about protein!

I've also maintained my daily morning glass of Just Barley juice :-)

The past few days, since I've moved, I've been out through the afternoon, so I've missed my usual raw salads, but the food choices around here are so healthy that I've since temporarily replaced the salads with miso soup with seaweed salad, one afternoon was mostly raw sunflower & pumpkin seeds with cashews, and another afternoon I mostly gorged on the seed snacks I mentioned in a previous post... "Sticks and Twigs" with a really good tomato basil hummus I found! So... maybe not as beneficial as a sweet raw salad, but at least I haven't binged on carby foods or any other of the gamut of scrumptious options that would set me back on the candida diet.

It's tough cause even good friends don't quite understand the extent of the strictness, but they just go along with it, and I've gotten quite good at finding my way around a menu!!! At Mad Mex just last week, I ordered their veggie burrito without the tortilla around it.... essentially just a plate of cooked, awesomely-seasoned veggies, and pico de gallo to top it off! It was friggin better than the regular burrito!! It was so good the manager came over to the table my brother and I had and commented that it looked so good in the kitchen that he made the exact thing for himself!!!! That was super awesome! I can still picture it, and it makes me drool!

I've also re-started the Renew Life CandiGone cleanse, just to go the extra mile again.... and I take probiotics everyday.

I'm coveting my Brad's Raw chips and considering ordering them online as the days go by.... but I'm trying not to use credit too much while job-searching! Finally landing a job this week, no ifs, ands, or buts! So that shall help!!

I think that's about all for now, but I'll add more if I've forgotten to mention anything!

~Dancing