All You Need for a Dairy Free Thai Iced Tea

Tea (I used a cold brew)
Coconut milk, stirred
Coco Lopez, stirred
Ice

Really you can make this in any combo you wish. I put about 1T Coco Lopez in a cup and topped it with tea. Taste test for sweetness, stir in some coconut milk and pour into your pretty ice-filled glass. Top with a little more coconut milk and garnish with lime, pineapple, toasted coconut, mint- what ever suits your fancy!

Crazy Kids Favorite Smoothie

2 ripe bananas
Coconut milk about 1 cup
Raw cashews about 1/4 cup
Raw cacao powder about 1-3t
1T. Chia seed

Plunk everything in your blender and whiz it up. Serve and watch it disappear.

Chelation Therapy: Day 5

  Most of my friends and family know that I've gone through quite the little journey for a while now. Starting with discovering food allergies and vitamin and mineral deficits. Come to find out very recently that it's lead and mercury poisoning- the reason why I have the vitamin and mineral deficits. It's been a big deal to wake up every day with upset stomach, low energy, headaches, migraines, body aches, you name it. That general heavy feeling of "I really don't feel well, I don't know why, and this is just never going to end, is it?" has been exhausting to say the least. I could function even if only doing the bare minimum on a daily basis. I did still have a sense of humor most days. A few weeks ago I was in bed a lot. I could get up and get lunches, get the kids off to school. But everything took so much effort and energy. Even just THINKING about leaving the house would be enough to make me feel like I needed a nap. By lunch time I actually did need a nap. No fun at all.

  So here we are, 5 days after starting chelation. Basically chelation is the process by which you ingest a supplement- either DMSA (there are others I can't even name) or in my case a blend of herbs, vitamins, and minerals that help to flush out the heavy metals. When I say flush out, I mean it. There's lots of fiber consumption, lots of water consumption- 64 ounces MINIMUM. Lots of making sure I've got the right combinations of things to facilitate this whole process. Make sure I take my vitamin D with my fish oil and my iron supplement with citrus- make sure I get in that 4-6 tablespoons of chia seeds every day. Sounds easy? It's not. Those little things swell in your stomach and you get very full very quickly. Your orange juice will turn to pudding, your smoothies to porridge. You can also do saunas and colonics to speed up the process. I'm all for the sauna. Someone else can have the colonics. 

  I'm happy to report that so far so good- mornings are no longer the awful dreaded event that they were a week ago. It's no longer instantly too bright, too loud, and feeling like I'd just been beaten with a bat upon waking. In a few days I up my dose of supplements. I'm hoping to take a sauna or two very soon. I'm fortunate to have two friends that have them at their homes and I've been invited to enjoy. Maybe I'll bring a jar of jam or two as trade. Drawbacks? Well, there's all the stuff I have to take- around 13 capsules a day. There's the chia and finding new things to do with it. I get bored very quickly you see. And there's the smell. I don't know if other people can smell it, but I can. It's like dirty gym socks have been shoved up my nose- sweaty locker room smell- especially first thing in the morning. Better than smelling like rotten eggs like with the DMSA. But nothing terrible as far as side effects (yet).  We shall soldier on and hopefully continue to see positive results!

 

 

   

  

Super Quick Lunch: Indian Dal

Today was one of those days- school was delayed 2 hours due to snow that I certainly didn't expect! So after getting our son on the school bus I turn around to assess the damage from the massive toy bomb that went off in our living room. Oh good grief. Baby's a little fussy, big sister is finally over the tummy bug that went around and is about back to normal- hungry every 5 minutes. So after making the girls their early lunch, I whipped up one of my own!

Left over rice- maybe 1/2-1 cup
Left over veggies (I had peas) 1/2 cup or more
1 can Amy's Indian Dal: Golden Lentil Soup

Layer rice, 1/2 can soup, veggies. Warm in the microwave and lunch is served.

I was really surprised at how good this soup is. I'll probably have it again tomorrow!

My Favorite Asparagus

I have this pet peeve (I'm so very sorry to say) when people overcook their veg. Veggies are wonderful, alive, bright and vibrant sources of nutrition! Not meant to be reduced to some grey state of flavorless mush...

Anyhow. I have loved asparagus for as long as I can remember. It was always a treat- something we never grew ourselves. I really don't remember how my mom prepared it, it may have been this very way:

1-2 bunches thin asparagus
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

On a tin foil lined tray or cookie sheet, toss your rinsed and snapped asparagus (the veg will naturally 'snap' when bent at the cut stem. So rinse and then bend the stem towards the cut end and the harder woodier end will break off. Discard this and save the rest of the spear for ultimate nommage.) in the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Place your tray o' deliciousness in a 400 degree oven for 7-10 minutes depending on desired done ness.

Crockpot Chicken Noodle Soup

It is a nasty, cold, sideways rain, blowing wind, trying to snow day. We've had the sniffles and upset tummies, and a serious deficit in the energy department. Perfect day to break out ye olde crockpot. I stole this recipe from my Mother-in-Law who typically has really good ideas for feeding a lot of people with simple ingredients. I think she got the recipe from 101 Things to do With a Slow Cooker. This is just one of those plain and simple down home recipes. Very comforting.

5c. Hot water
2T. Instant chicken bouillon (I use an organic paste bouillon that we get from Costco)
1/2t. Minced garlic
1 large can (46 oz) chicken broth (I use an organic carton of chicken broth or you can use home made if you have some stashed in your freezer)
2c. Cooked chicken, shredded
1t. Salt
15 baby carrots cut in 1/3
3c. Egg noodles (or No Yolks or rice noodles) uncooked

Combine all but the noodles in a greased slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4-6 hours. 30 minutes before serving, add your noodles and stir well.

My husband likes when I add extra veggies to the soup, but here is the basic recipe. We add celery and peas, onion, you could add some parsley and tomatoes- whatever you feel like that day.

Will You Be My Salmontine?

 

   Sorry for the weird picture, but I pretty much annihilated this dish before I thought to take a picture of it. Maybe I was starving, but maybe it was just REALLY GOOD. I love salmon. I craved it when I was pregnant and I would beg my mom to make it for me- always the same flavor combo: fresh salmon, lemon, sometimes onion, and dill. Mom would wrap a giant length of salmon up in tin foil, stuffed full of the aromatic goodies and bake it in the oven. Mmmmm.

   I didn't have time for all that today- plus it was just one filet that I was cooking.

 
1 Salmon filet, skinned
1 fairly thick lemon slice, halved
Sea salt
Pepper
Dill (I used dried)
1 t. Olive oil

   In a non stick skillet, add the olive oil. Season each side of the salmon with salt, pepper, and dill. When warm, add the salmon filet and lemon halves to the hot pan. Cook till edges of the filet are opaque, flip, and cook to desired doneness.

   I served mine on some roasted asparagus spears and some sautéed mushrooms that I had left over from yesterday, with the cooked lemon on top. The lemon just kind of seeped its lovely juices all over the fish... delish!