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Category: Food allergies

Does one (or all!) of your children have food allergies? Sadly this is no longer a rare thing. More and more kids struggle with food allergies now than ever before.

I’ve been there too. Skin testing, blood work, epi-pens…the works. It can be challenging or down right scary.

But you don’t have to live in fear. And you don’t have to just accept food allergies as a life sentence. There is help!

My son went from over twenty food allergies and an epi-pen to being able to eat just about anything. Even nuts!

There are ways to heal the gut and nourish the body so your child can get back to a normal life. Food allergies have so many underlying causes. Once you figure out the root problem and treat it the body will begin to heal.

Don’t let food allergies define your life. I’m here to help you and your child heal.

Meal Plans Week of 3-31-13

Christ is Risen! The Lord is Risen Indeed!! Happy Easter everyone!

gluten free sugar cone with homemade mint chip ice cream – pure joy 🙂

Finally a not quite so busy week. It’s spring break, so we get a break from our usual activities and will be doing some family stuff. Probably the children’s museum and the zoo. Hopefully the weather is ok. The last few days have finally felt like spring, and we’ve been enjoying lots of time outside. Hopefully that continues.

Last week I was very busy in the kitchen. So I’ll take a few days of break this week. Maybe later in the week I’ll start some gluten free bread experimenting. And I need to work on cake and pizza dough. I still haven’t decided if we’ll do all gluten free for Rebecca’s birthday party or not. But if we do I want to be able to make it half way taste good 😛

Rebecca had a UTI last week, so she had to take antibiotics. I’m trying to give her lots of healing, nourishing, easy on the gut foods now.

This week is also Justin’s birthday. He requested a chocolate coffee cake. I’ll have to modify it a bit to make it healthier. Maybe I’ll even try making it gluten free 🙂

My other to-do is finalize some birthday party plans. I have a general idea about most of it. But it’s time to talk details.

On the health front it’s been another rough week. I think there was some die off again since I started new probiotics. But on top of that is a big inflammatory reaction to something. I have this periodically. I’ll be doing well, my weight is steady, my skin is clear and then all of sudden it’s like a puff up like a balloon. And it’s hard to figure out what causes it. Is it from pure stress (we have been busy, and I have been stressed about some things)? Is it lack of sleep (which is the same as stress to the body, and I didn’t get quite as much sleep last week with all of my early mornings of baking)? Is it diet related (I haven’t been 100% strict about rotating every component of my diet…I do well with proteins, grains and veggies, but not so much with fats and sweeteners. And I hope I haven’t developed a new food sensitivity that I’m not aware of)? It’s hard to say. All I know is it’s back to bloated/puffy/fluid retention/weight gain (it’s not “real” weight…just fluid and inflammation…and it feels awful…I put on about 3 lbs. in one week), digestive problems, bad acne/painful cysts, red eyes, bad headaches, pain in my legs from swelling, moody. It’s like all of my insides are inflamed and swollen from head to toe…and I can feel it and it shows on the outside (strechy pants, anyone? :P).

This is when I’m not quite sure what to do. Do I need to adjust my diet? Do I need to sleep more? Do I need to take a step back from all the stuff I’m doing? YES ;P

I’ve been trying to get a little extra sleep the past couple days. I’ve also been doing some detox baths and foot soaks to get some junk out and absorb more magnesium. Unfortunately it takes quite a while for things to calm down. I need to be more strict with my rotational eating. And I need lots of healthy fat, soft vegetables and healing foods like broth and gelatin. Hopefully a week without our usual to-do list will help too. I want to get my body back to calm…and figure out how to keep it that way! After listening to Matt Stone’s talk last week I was reminded of just how important sleep can be. He suggests 10 hours a night when healing. He obviously doesn’t have little kids to take care of 😛  But I’ll work on it. I’d be happy to just get 8.

I really enjoyed listening to some presentations from the Healthy Life Summit last week. There will be a replay of the top five presentations tomorrow. And there are still a few more days to get the discounted price for the whole summit. Only $79 (60% off).

On to the menu. Trying to keep it simple so we can just relax this week.
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S (church) D2
  B – granola w/ milk, berry yogurt (Justin), beets, snap peas, white rice scone (Mary), yogurt w/ blueberries (R/A)
  L – egg salad sandwich, hot dog, broccoli, chips w/ salsa, snap peas
  D – ham and cheese (plain and sandwich), yogurt, broccoli, beans, chips, fruit, snap peas

M (children’s museum) D3
  B – yogurt, muffins, orange (Justin), pumpkin salmon cake, pumpkin (Mary), yogurt, gf bar (R/A)
  L – chicken cheese sandwich, chips, peaches, beans (family); goat milk yogurt w/ blueberries, amaranth bar (Mary)
  D – TBD

T (zoo) D4
  B – yogurt, granola bar, strawberries (family); coconut flour squash scone, squash (Mary)
  L –  crackers w/ turkey and cheese, beans, popcorn, applesauce (family); cucumbers, tuna sour cream salad (Mary)
  D – TBD

W (make kefir) D1
  B – yogurt, muffins, banana (Justin), garbanzo flour scone, broccoli, cauliflower (Mary), yogurt, gf bar, banana (R/A)
  L – pb/honey sandwich, olives, popcorn, applesauce (family); snap peas, chicken (Mary)
  D – scrambled eggs, toast, sauteed veggies

Th (make gf bread, Dr. M., Dr. S., make ice cream, bake cake, strain kefir, make smoothies) D2
  B – scrambled eggs, muffins, fruit (Justin), salad, scone (Mary), scone, fruit (R/A)
  L – grilled cheese, fresh pea soup
  D – baked pork chops, seasoned rice, beans

F (bake cake, library, Justin’s birthday) D3
  B – smoothie, granola bar (Justin), gm yogurt w/ fruit, amaranth bar (Mary), smoothie (R/A)
  L – chicken and cheese paninis, broccoli (R/A), pumpkin soup, amaranth bar (Mary)
  D – gf salmon cakes, corn, homemade french fries

S (make gf pizza dough, make scones) D4
  B – yogurt, granola, fruit (Justin), coconut flour scone, squash (Mary), yogurt (R/A)
  L – homemade pizza (family), sour cream w/ raisins, cucumber (Mary)
  D – grilled steak, baked potato, peas

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D1: chicken, dry beans, garbanzo flour, lentils; broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower

D2: white fish, pork; white rice, teff; green bean, lettuce, peas, beets; pear, cranberry; coconut milk

D3: turkey, salmon; amaranth, tapioca; asparagus, pumpkin; coconut water, goat’s milk yogurt, blueberry, raspberry

D4: tuna, beef, cream, sour cream; coconut flour; cucumber, squash, zucchini; grapes; raw milk

Gluten Free Nut Free Peanut Butter Cookies and Blossoms

When I was little you didn’t hear much about food allergies or restrictions. You didn’t have to worry about bringing treats to school or having nut free rooms. Almost every year for my birthday treat I had my mom make peanut butter blossoms. My favorite!

Fast forward to now…you can’t bring anything into a school with nuts. And sadly I can’t even eat any nuts. I’m sure it’s partially just awareness. But I think allergies are also on the rise. It’s an indicator of the state of our health.

That being said, I miss my favorite cookie. But now I can have a safe version of this treat. It’s gluten free, nut free and egg free! These are delicious. My whole family approves.

Do you have a nut allergy or sensitivity? Do you miss peanut butter as much as I do? Try these nut free peanut butter cookies!

Gluten Free Nut Free Peanut Butter Cookies and Blossoms

1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. maple syrup
6 Tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. water

dairy free, nut free chocolate chunks (affiliate link)

DIRECTIONS

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, sugar, syrup, soda, salt, butter and vanilla. Slowly add water until the dough will hold together when squeezed with your hands.
Take a small scoop of dough (about a Tbsp.), roll into a ball, place on baking sheet and press down slightly. Repeat until the dough is gone. For the traditional peanut butter cookie look press on cookie with a fork in both directions. For blossoms you can skip this step.

Bake for about 15 – 20 minutes, until golden.

For blossoms immediately push 1 or 2 chocolate chunks into the cookie.

Let cool.

Gluten Free Pretzel Sticks (gluten free, egg free, dairy free, nut free, corn free)

My daughter loves salt, as do I 🙂  So she enjoys munching on pretzels. But if you’ve ever looked at a package of gluten free pretzels you’ll know that they are made with quite a few odd and unhealthy ingredients. I’d rather not have her eating them.

As usual, my solution is to make my own 🙂  I can’t say these are a perfect replica of pretzel sticks. They are a little harder/crunchier than any you’d buy. But they still taste great! If my daughter will eat them, I figure they are pretty good. And she had some as soon as she got up this morning 🙂

One more snack that travels well and I’m ok with my kids eating.

What is your favorite snack? Do you like salty or sweet?

Gluten Free Pretzel Sticks

1/2 cup flour (2/3 white rice, 1/3 amaranth)
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. organic cane sugar
3 Tbsp. water

1 Tbsp. water + 1 tsp. honey

Heat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Mix the flour, salt, sugar and water.

Take a small piece of dough and form into a ball (about the size of a small bouncy ball). Roll into a stick on the parchment paper. Repeat process until all of the dough is used, lining up the pretzels on the baking sheet.

Mix the water and honey. Use your finger to rub it over the pretzels, rolling them around to coat completely.

Sprinkle sea salt over top of pretzels.

Bake 40 – 45 minutes, until golden and crunchy. Rotate pretzels on the pan a few times during baking. Let cool completely.

Soaked Gluten Free Muffins/Cupcakes (dairy free, nut free)

As we continue to experiment with a gluten free diet I want to be sure my daughter doesn’t feel like everything is being taken away. She is very sensitive about that. So I’m trying to make plenty of homemade treats that are safe and I feel good about feeding her.

Yesterday I decided to try making muffins. They ended up being a cross between muffins and cupcakes. I made some with blueberries and some without. I also added a raspberry frosting to some of them.

Each variety was a hit with everyone! Even my one-year old that will hardly eat sweets scarfed down three of these!

You can increase the sweetener a little to make them more like traditional cupcakes. You can decrease the sweetener a little to make them more like muffins. Or follow the recipe as is and call them what you want 🙂  It just depends on your taste buds/how much sweetness you are used to.

Part way through eating her cupcake my daughter asked if her birthday cake would be gluten free. I said I didn’t know, but asked she thought it should be. Her response: “Yes!!!” I think she can even tell that she feels better eating this way. My wise beyond her years four-year old 🙂

One last benefit of these…they are soaked!! So they are even easier on your tummy. A perfect breakfast, brunch or birthday treat.

Gluten Free Soaked Muffins/Cupcakes

makes 12 muffins

1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1 cup soaking liquid (water + 2 Tbsp. lemon juice OR buttermilk OR kefir OR any combination to equal 1 cup total)
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
2 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 egg
1 1/2 Tbsp. melted better or coconut oil

optional mix-ins: blueberries, raspberries, cinnamon and raisins, chopped nuts and chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Combine the flour and soaking liquid. Cover and let sit 7-24 hours.

Heat oven to 325.

Add remaining ingredients to the flour mixture. Add nuts, raisins, chocolate chips or spices if desired. If using fruit do not add it to the batter.

Fill paper lined muffin cups 3/4 full. Add fresh or frozen fruit to the top of batter if desired.

Bake for 45 minutes.

Raspberry Frosting

1/2 cup organic palm shortening
1/2 cup tapioca flour or white rice flour
2-4 Tbsp. organic raspberry jam
1 Tbsp. maple syrup

Mix all ingredients together. Adjust the jam and syrup to taste. Spread on cooled cupcakes.

I just had to add the photos of my kids devouring these. They didn’t actually eat the wrappers…but almost 🙂  They didn’t want to miss a crumb.

Gluten Free Nutter Butters (egg free, dairy free)

I love to recreate conventional foods and turn them into healthy, real food treats. And lately I’ve been making gluten free creations. My most recent experiment is Nutter Butters.

I loved Nutter Butters when I was younger. But I haven’t had one in many, many years. A crunchy cookie with a peanut buttery filling. That can’t be too hard to create, right? Right.

These turned out very well. Two thumbs up from the family. And they can be harsh critics sometimes 😛

To my surprise I made the cookie part without peanut butter! You can add some if you like a stronger peanut flavor. But they are great without it.

This is a simple recipe that results in a delicious treat! These cookies are gluten and egg free. You can substitute coconut oil for the butter to make them dairy free as well. But you might need to add peanut butter to the cookie then. I haven’t quite figured out how to make the filling taste like peanut butter without nuts. I’ll have to work on that 🙂

Gluten Free Nutter Butters

Cookie:

1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup organic cane sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. maple syrup
6 Tbsp. melted butter (optional – replace some of the butter with peanut butter or replace the butter with a combination of coconut oil and peanut butter)
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. water

Filling:

1/4 cup organic palm shortening
1 Tbsp. natural peanut butter
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/4 cup tapioca or white rice flour

DIRECTIONS

Cookie:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the flour, sugar, syrup, soda, salt, butter and vanilla. Slowly add water until the dough will hold together when squeezed with your hands.

Roll half of the dough between two pieces of parchment paper until about 1/8″ thick. Cut into desired shape. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat until all of the dough is used.

Bake for about 15 minutes, until golden. Let cool completely.

Filling:

In a small bowl mix the shortening, peanut butter, syrup and flour. Adjust peanut butter and syrup to taste. Add extra flour if the filling is too thin.

Assembly:

Place a small amount of filling on a cookie. Place another cookie on top and press down just until the filling reaches the edge. Repeat for all cookies. Refrigerate to allow the filling to get firm.

Store in a container in the refrigerator or freezer.

Gluten Free Crackers (dairy free, nut free, egg free)

I’ve been on a quest lately to come up with some good tasting gluten free snacks. I like to have easy things to much on. But more than that I want to have healthy options for my kids. So over the last few days I’ve made several attempts at gluten free crackers.

After the third try I finally created a version my daughter really likes.

I made a “rye” version. The teff and olive oil give them a stronger flavor. I really like these. My kids don’t like them as well. That just means more for me 🙂

I made a basic butter cracker. You can use a few flours or just the rice or tapioca flour.

I made a version of Wheat Thins. This was a big hit.

I also made a cheese cracker. This was my daughter’s favorite.

What is your favorite kind of cracker? Give these a try and see what flavor combination you like best. I mostly just used salt for flavor. You can easily add any kind of spices and herbs to add extra flavor.

Gluten Free “Rye” Crackers

1 cup gluten free flour (I used equal amounts of amaranth, tapioca, teff, white rice – the teff gives it the “rye” flavor)
3 Tbsp. water
2 Tbps. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 – 1 tsp. salt (to taste)
garlic powder or other herbs/seasoning to taste (optional)

Heat oven to 350.

Mix the flour, evoo, salt and seasoning. Add water 1 Tbsp. at a time until a dough forms that will hold together when gathered into a ball. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Place half of the dough on a piece of parchment paper. Cover it with another piece of parchment paper. Roll the dough until about 1/8″ thick. Cut into squares with a knife or pizza cutter or use a cookie cutter to cut shapes. Transfer parchment paper with crackers to a baking sheet. Repeat with second half of dough. Sprinkle extra sea salt over top if desired.

Bake about 12 minutes, until starting to turn golden. Turn off oven. Leave crackers in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Gluten Free Butter Crackers

1/2 cup white rice flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup amaranth or tapioca flour (or another 1/4 cup tapioca flour)
2 Tbsp. butter, melted (you can substitute coconut oil…it will give them a slightly different flavor)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
3 Tbsp. water

Heat oven to 350.

Mix the flour, butter and salt. Add water 1 Tbsp. at a time until a dough forms that will hold together when gathered into a ball.

Place half of the dough on a piece of parchment paper. Cover it with another piece of parchment paper. Roll the dough until about 1/8″ thick. Cut into squares with a knife or pizza cutter or use a cookie cutter to cut shapes. Transfer parchment paper with crackers to a baking sheet. Repeat with second half of dough. Sprinkle extra sea salt over top if desired.

Bake about 12 minutes, until starting to turn golden. Turn off oven. Leave crackers in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Gluten Free Wheat Thins

1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
2 Tbsp. butter, melted (you can substitute coconut oil…it will give them a slightly different flavor)
3/4 tsp. sea salt
4 tsp. cane sugar
3 Tbsp. water

Heat oven to 350.

Mix the flour, butter, salt and sugar. Add water 1 Tbsp. at a time until a dough forms that will hold together when gathered into a ball.

Place half of the dough on a piece of parchment paper. Cover it with another piece of parchment paper. Roll the dough until about 1/8″ thick. Cut into squares with a knife or pizza cutter or use a cookie cutter to cut shapes. Transfer parchment paper with crackers to a baking sheet. Repeat with second half of dough. Sprinkle extra sea salt over top if desired.

Bake about 12 minutes, until starting to turn golden. Turn off oven. Leave crackers in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Gluten Free Cheese Crackers

1/2 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
3/4 tsp. sea salt
2 tsp. cane sugar
3 Tbsp. water
1/3 cup finely grated cheese

Heat oven to 350.

Mix the flour, butter, salt, sugar and cheese. Add water 1 Tbsp. at a time until a dough forms that will hold together when gathered into a ball.

Place half of the dough on a piece of parchment paper. Cover it with another piece of parchment paper. Roll the dough until about 1/8″ thick. Cut into squares with a knife or pizza cutter or use a cookie cutter to cut shapes. Transfer parchment paper with crackers to a baking sheet. Repeat with second half of dough. Sprinkle extra sea salt and cheese over top if desired.

Bake about 12 minutes, until starting to turn golden. Turn off oven. Leave crackers in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Meal Plans Week of 3-24-13

It is officially spring! And outside it looks like the middle of winter 😛  At least we’ve had a little bit of sun and much of the snow has melted. But it doesn’t look like we’re headed for a big warm up any time soon.

Last was a busy week in the kitchen. I did a lot of gluten free experimenting. I have 5 or 6 recipes that I’m working on, including nutter butters, vanilla wafers, sugar cookies and vanilla creme cookies. I will post them when I have them just the way I want them. So this week I’ll keep working on them. I already make a 2nd batch of crackers this morning. We’ll see what Rebecca thinks this time 🙂

Last week was a completely gluten free week for Rebecca. I didn’t expect some profound effect in one week. But I do think we had more good times than usual. So I’m going to stick with it this week again and see how it goes.

Thankfully this week isn’t quite as busy as some in terms of running here and there. Aside from the usual activities Rebecca and I have dentist appointments. I will likely try to make a trip to the health food store too.

I’ve been doing a little better. It was nice to have a somewhat normal week last week and to let my body relax a bit. That being said I’m still working on getting back to my norm. A week of major stress and some poor food choices (avocado, a few peanuts and a few bites of oats) led to a return of pain and digestive difficulties. So this week I’m starting out with a lot of soft and pureed foods.

I also finally took my first detox bath yesterday. It felt a little weird…kind of tingly. But relaxing. I’m  hoping to do it at least a couple more times this week and try to get some of the junk out of my body.

I want to do more baking this week. On my list is nutter butters, crackers, amaranth tapioca bars, rice scones, cheese crackers and yogurt. I haven’t been able to make yogurt for a while because we just don’t have enough milk. So I bought some extra milk yesterday. It’ll be nice to have healthier and much cheaper yogurt in the house again. Some real food is quite expensive. But if you want to save money making your own yogurt is a HUGE money saver. I bought a gallon of good milk for $4.09. I can make 4 quarts of yogurt from that. At the store 1 quart of decent yogurt is anywhere from $4 – $6. Homemade is about $1 per quart.

I better wrap this up. I’m having a hard time focusing because I’m already listening to the Healthy Life Summit 🙂  You can still sign up for FREE and start listening now.

Here’s the menu for the week. Enjoy your Palm Sunday 🙂
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S (make yogurt, prep lunch, make gf crackers, church,  make cheese crackers, make amaranth bars, make smoothies, make caramel corn) D3
  B – toast w/ pb, fruit (Justin), goat milk yogurt w/ gf graham crackers, pea soup (Mary), gf granola bar (Rebecca)
  L – cp turkey meatballs, mashed potatoes, broccoli
  D – crackers w/ cheese, egg salad, caramel corn, apples w/ caramel, leftover veggies; pea soup (Mary)

M (make nutter butters, SP, PS, make muesli) D4
  B – smoothie, breakfast cookie (Justin), ice cream, squash (Mary), smoothie (Rebecca)
  L – squash, cheese, squash scone
  D – hot taco rice, peas

T (skim cream, make sc, bake muffins, prep breakfast, KM, dentist) D1
  B – yogurt, muesli (Justin), broccoli/cauliflower puree, muffin (Mary), gf muffin (Rebecca)
  L – broccoli, cauliflower, chicken
  D – (prep ahead) – egg cups, broccoli, gf muffins 

W (make rice scones, make pretzels, Meijer, PS, Justin out to eat) D2
  B – smoothie, TBD (Justin), rice scone, snap peas (Mary), yogurt (Rebecca)
  L – salad with peas,beets, cranberries, pork
  D – (Justin out to eat) – baked white fish, seasoned rice, peas

Th (make hot fudge, make granola, boil eggs, HH) D3
  B – HB egg, toast (Justin), amaranth bar, zucchini (Mary), egg yolk, gf muffin (Rebecca)
  L – pumpkin with broth and turkey, gm yogurt w/ amaranth bar (Mary), turkey veg soup, gf grilled cheese (Rebecca)
  D – baked salmon, cheesy rice, beans

F (soak flour for scones, make yogurt, chop veggies, clean) D4
  B – yogurt, banana bread (Justin), raw sc w/ coconut flour scone, squash (Mary), yogurt (Rebecca)
  L – squash, tuna
  D – ham, cheesy potatoes, broccoli

S (make garbanzo flour carob scones, bake muffins or bread?, milk pick up) D1
  B – tbd (Justin), GB flour scones, veg puree (Mary, Rebecca)
  L – tbd
  D – hot dogs, fries, peas

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D1: chicken, dry beans, garbanzo flour, lentils; broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower

D2: white fish, pork; white rice, teff; green bean, lettuce, peas, beets; pear, cranberry; coconut milk

D3: turkey, salmon; amaranth, tapioca; asparagus, pumpkin; coconut water, goat’s milk yogurt, blueberry, raspberry

D4: tuna, beef, cream, sour cream; coconut flour; cucumber, squash, zucchini; grapes; raw milk

Would You Be Mine, Could You Be Mine, Won’t You Be My Sister?

A week ago I had the privilege of attending the Among Friends conference at Trinity Church in Lansing, MI. It was a wonderful experience that I got to share with some of the women in my family.

Karen Hossink and Kathy Troccoli singing the closing song…way to go Karen!! 🙂

I have never been to a conference of any kind. I hear about them and then forget about them. But I have a friend that attends Trinity Church that helped organize this event. She asked me if I was interested…and then reminded me…and probably reminded me again 😛  God was using her to give me a little nudge.

Finally I decided to just go. I invited the women in my family to make it a girls’ weekend. My husband even encouraged me to spend the night and have a little time to myself. Plans set. Let’s do it. I was excited.

Well, of course the week leading up to the conference turned into one of the craziest weeks I’ve had in a long time. Errands, doctor appointments, sick kids, kid’s activities, mom’s group, church events, etc. I was in the middle of a bad round of die off and feeling worse than I have in a long time, on top of the usual anxiety related to travel. The weather was bad too…freezing rain and snow. And I had my first non-family member cake order (to be picked up about the time I was leaving for the conference). Not to mention the “joy” of turning another year older 😛

I could have just said forget it. I don’t feel good enough. I’m too busy. I’m too anxious. I’m too stressed. It’s too much. But I didn’t. God didn’t. Nothing is too much for God. He wanted me there. He wanted me to hear the message. He wanted me to spend time with my mom and my SIL. He wanted to show me that He is bigger than all of my anxieties and physical pain.

As I was preparing to leave I was wondering what God was trying to teach me in all of this. Why it had to be so tough to do something so simple. Why it was so hard for me when I was trying to do something good.

But by the end of the weekend I had a different thought. When things get tough it’s not always because God is trying to teach us a lesson. Sometimes it’s because Satan knows us too…he knows our weaknesses, our struggles, our fears. He wants to exploit them and use them to keep us from God.

So while God may not have been trying to teach me anything through the struggles, He was with me through the struggles. He did want me at that conference. He was showing me that He is bigger than all of it. He is taking care of me. Satan can try as he may but he will not take me away from God or from hearing God’s message or from fulfilling the purpose God has for me. And that is an awesome thing.

So, on to the conference. I did make it. And although I felt awful I also enjoyed every minute of it 🙂  That’s possible, right? I had a lot of fun talking with my mom and my SIL. It’s so important to spend time worshiping with the people you love.

There were three speakers: Kathy Troccoli, Jennifer Rothschild and Dr. Jeane Porter-King. Kathy is the main presenter and singer and organizer of the event. All three women had amazing stories and messages to share. There was a lot of heartfelt praise and worship.

I would like to share a few notes from each presentation. I just jotted down notes while I was there. So these will be more like bulletin points. But hopefully you can take something from it.

Jennifer Rothschild:

  • We have to elevate our faith higher than our fear. It may not be well with our circumstances, but it can be well with our souls (ummm…was she talking right to me? :P)
  • You could be missing out on a lot by clinging to fear.
  • Let faith lead you to the treasures in the dark. The treasures are much more satisfying than fear.
  • You have to trust God more than your feelings. Feeling is a gift from God. Let it lead you to truth.
  • Faith is a choice. Fear is a feeling.. Don’t let fear be the fact that governs you.
  • I can do all things through him who gives me strength (ten words…count them out on your fingers in front of you…God is always right there in front of you…use this as a reminder).
  • Your mind is like a closet…a thought closet. Beware of what’s in your thought closet. It’s what you wardrobe your life with.
  • We have expectations in our thought closet…you have to be aware of what they are…otherwise the enemy will be aware of them/use them against you. And we can lose out on what we want most – healing.
  • Our thoughts need to line up with God’s thoughts. We have to be in God’s Word.
  • Let others draw near to you and do the same for others (friendships, sisters). We need a community of truthfulness that is real and encouraging.
  • Be a voice of encouragement. Ask your friends three questions:
    • What do you see in my life that encourages you?
    • What do you see in my life that you would like to caution me about?
    • What else would you like to tell me?
  • We have to be completely honest and confidential and thorough. You can be honest without being vulnerable. But what you long for most won’t come without humility. There is freedom and peace in humility.
  • I need Jesus far more than He needs me.

Dr. Jeane Porter-King:

  • God does great things when there are struggles.
  • Resist the rivalries (Martha type vs. Mary type) – we all have gifts. We can’t use them against each other.
  • Retire the rigid roles – we are too complex. Who we are in Christ determines the roles we play.
  • Run to Jesus – turn confrontation into confession.
  • Remember your sisters – we are in it together.
  • Represent Christ to one another even through the pain, through any struggles in your life.
  • Don’t let people keep you in the past (the person you used to be). Move to Jesus in whatever way you can.
  • God reveals things to us when we worship him.
  • We must open our hearts to what God wants us to do – “let our hair down.”
  • Be free to be who God called us to be.
  • Don’t get stuck in one role.

There were a few things that God laid on my heart through this conference. First, I have to choose each day to serve and follow Christ. I have to trust in Him and let my faith guide me instead of my fears.

Second, I talked about being a “doer of the Word” in a recent post. And that has stuck with me. But I wasn’t sure how to do that. Well, you have to read God’s Word of course 😛  You can’t do it unless you know it. It’s like trying to build something without reading the instructions. You might put some pieces together, but you won’t get very far very fast. You’d think I could figure that out without someone telling me. Anyway, the way Kathy talked about God’s Word. How real and alive it is. How powerful it is.  It made me hungry for God’s Word. Since I’ve been home I have been so excited to dive in and see what God wants to teach me each day. I’m trying to start each day reading the Bible before I do anything else and let the busyness of life get in the way.

Finally I was reminded that I can’t do this alone. I have to share my struggles with others. I have to be open, honest, vulnerable and real. But how do you do that when your struggles prevent you from building relationships? My anxiety, my OCD, my dietary restrictions, my introverted nature, my daily job as a full time stay at home mom to young kids, my…you get the picture. Talking to people is hard. Making friends is harder. Truly letting my guard down and letting people into my life and see the real me…next to impossible. I think only my husband and my kids see that…mostly.

When I was in jr. high/high school I had a friend. A best, best, best friend. We did everything together. We had different upbringings, different lifestyles, different personalities. But that didn’t matter. We were inseparable. We shared a passion for Christ. Together we dreamed about who we would marry, having kids, etc. When I went away to college we didn’t see each other as often. But we kept in touch through emails and periodic visits. She was one of my bridesmaids when I got married. But then some trials in her life took her away from me, from everyone that loved her and eventually from her home on earth. I still miss her and think back on those days we had together with fond memories. I have never had that kind of friendship since then. I have never had anything even close to that kind of friendship since then. It’s a void in my life that I have yet to fill. Sometimes with all of my problems it seems like making any deep connections and friendships is next to impossible.

But nothing is impossible with God. So I’ll keep trying. I will continue to nourish my spirit with God’s Word. I will seek to do what God asks of me. And I will not get discouraged when Satan tries to deter me. And I will try to share my journey with others. I can’t do it alone. Nobody can do it alone. We should all be among friends. So, would you be my sister?

Healthy Life Summit 2013

Village Green Network is hosting a Healthy Life Summit running March 23 – March 30. You don’t want to miss this!!!

This summit covers all aspects of health, wellness, nutrition and real food. The lineup is amazing, including speakers like Joel Salatin, Sally Fallon Morell (Nourishing Traditions), Julia Ross (The Mood Cure), Kelly The Kitchen Kop, Carolyn Dean (The Magnesium Miracle), Matt Stone (Eat for Heat, Diet Recovery) and many more.

You can listen live all week for FREE March 23 – March 30. But if you want to have lifetime access to the presentations and this wealth of information you can pre-oder the summit package until March 22 for only $49. That’s a 75% discount from the regular price.

Don’t miss out on the summit or this great deal. There will be so much great information shared next week. I think my kids might be listening with me all day 🙂

Meal Plans Week of 3-17-13

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! There, my celebration is over ;P  That’s about the extent of SPD celebrating we do here. Although it is a good reminder get some greens in your diet today.

30th Birthday cake  (not for me :P…I’m not that young)

I made it. I really did. Last week was seven degrees of crazy. But I made it. I can’t say my body is too happy about it. Ok, not happy in the least bit. By yesterday afternoon as I was attempting to bake another batch of cupcakes (I had lots of frosting to use up) between getting home from the conference and trying to get things ready before the baby-sitter got here so we could go out, my hands were literally shaking because my body had been under so much stress. I had to pause for a moment, have a little snack and just breathe. But I made it. I got the cake/cupcakes done (I hope the people that ordered them enjoyed them! :). I managed all of the running around. I had a wonderful time with my SIL and my mom at an Among Friends conference (if you have the opportunity to go I HIGHLY recommend it…I’ll be doing a post on it soon). And I got to spend time out with my husband and other couples just having fun.

This week is hopefully back to a bit of normalcy. And hopefully allowing my body to relax  So far I don’t think it realizes it can 😛  Rebecca and I are getting hair cuts tomorrow. Hmmm…what to do with my hair? We might go out for dinner afterwards since we didn’t get to go out or really do much to celebrate my birthday last week (no time for celebrating last week :P). We have Rebecca’s parent teacher conferences. We’re excited to hear how she’s doing. She already passed her kindergarten assessment last week with flying colors. And she got a great progress report. Later this week I will be meeting with some people from church to try to help improve the childrens’ snack situation…make things healthier and more allergy friendly. I also have to get my thyroid levels checked this week. I’ve been on my new medication for about 6 weeks now. So I’m anxious to hear how things are going.

Birthday presents and hugs

Last week I did not have time to do any extra baking for myself. I just barely scraped by with the small stock I had in the freezer of safe foods. But now I’m totally out. So it’s back to baking for me. I already made a batch of coconut flour scones this morning. I have a long list of baking projects that I want to try. I know I won’t get to all of them this week. But I’m excited to get started. Maybe God gives me new dietary restrictions periodically so I don’t get bored with/run out of baking projects 🙂

Rebecca is finally over the virus she had. It wasn’t fun to deal with. But in a way I’m thankful. It kind of cleared things up for me a bit. I won’t go into details but I think Rebecca is in need of some gut healing like I am. So I am going to try a gluten free week for her. I’m not going to tell her about it. Just do it with foods she enjoys that are naturally gf. Just to see if there is even a small change. I will also be starting her on probiotics and trying to give her more broth. I have to be diligent about her vitamins and cod liver oil as well.

My own health could use some serious improvement as well. I’m not sure if it’s still die off or just the anxiety and stress from last week, but things have been BAD. I’m trying to be patient with my body. But it’s hard. I had been doing so well for a while (up and down days but overall well)…then bam! Day after day of major struggles. I’m hoping a relaxing day today with no major stresses coming up this week will help. And getting back on track with eating. Not that I ate poorly last week. I just made bad choices here and there because I was stressed and away from home sometimes.

In all the chaos of last week and then being gone/without being able to get on the computer I didn’t have much time for meal planning. So I still have some gaps to fill in as the week goes on. I’m trying to plan a little better for meals for Rebecca so I can make this gf week go smoothly.

Some breakfast options for Rebecca are: yogurt, smoothie/shake, eggs, nuts, fruit, veggies, broth gluten/coconut free baked goods
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S (prep lunch, make scones, church (am/pm)) D4
  B – banana bread, fruit (Justin), coconut flour squash scone, squash (Mary), yogurt (Rebecca)
  L – cp hobo dinners (w/ beef, potatoes, carrots, leeks and broccoli)
  D – (separate) – cucumber w/ sc dip, squash scone (Mary), scrambled eggs, toast, sauteed cabbage, milkshake (Justin), turkey broth, hb egg yolk, avocado, sour cream, sauteed cabbage, strawberry milkshake (Rebecca)

M (roast beets, prep breakfast, soak nuts, chop veggies, milk, ps, hair cut, make kefir) D1
  B – banana bread, hb egg, orange slices (Justin) sauteed broccoli/cauliflower/lentils (Mary), probiotic milkshake, rice pudding (Rebecca)
  L – sauteed brussels sprouts, lentils (Mary), chicken, veggie and rice soup (Rebecca)
  D – baked chicken and potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts and cauliflower

T (dry nuts, skim cream, prep breakfast, gf baking, soak flour for scones, KM, make ice cream, strain kefir, make smoothies) D2
  B – yogurt, soaked apple bar (Justin), teff and coconut milk porridge, snap peas (Mary), yogurt (Rebecca)
  L – salad w/ peas, beets, cranberries, cheese (Mary), crispy nuts, veggies, dried fruit, rice (Rebecca)
  D – baked white fish w/ tartar sauce, roasted potatoes, peas

W (make scones, make gf crackers, make gf bread, bloodwork, HF?, make muesli, PTC, co-op, WT) D3
  B – smoothie, breakfast cookie (Justin), salmon pumpkin amaranth scone, pumpkin (Mary), gf toast w/ pb (Rebecca)
  L – goat milk yogurt w/ raspberries (Mary), broth w/ veggies, gf crackers w/ cheese (Rebecca)
  D – (prep ahead/separate) – salmon salad sandwiches, broccoli, chips (family); salmon pumpkin amaranth scone (Mary)

Th (soak flour, make gf ic cones, roast squash, church mtg) D4
  B – yogurt, muesli, fruit (Justin), squash, ic cone (Mary), ice cream in a cone (Rebecca)
  L – tuna sour cream salad on cucumber (Mary), tuna salad, veggies, gf crackers or gf bread or rice (Rebecca)
  D – cheeseburgers on gf buns, french fries, squash

F (gf baking, make garbanzo pancakes, children’s museum?, BS) D1
  B – smoothie, TBD (Justin), pancake, broccoli (Mary), yogurt, pancake (Rebecca)
  L – (Mary), gf crackers w/ cheese, veggies (Rebecca)
  D – baked chicken breasts, roasted cauliflower and brussels sprouts, seasoned rice

S (gf baking, pork sale?, swimming) D2
  B – (Justin), rice/teff bar, snap peas (Mary), rice/teff bar (Rebecca)
  L –
  D – pork w/ dried fruit over rice, beans

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D1: chicken, dry beans, garbanzo flour, lentils; broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower

D2: white fish, pork; white rice, teff; green bean, lettuce, peas, beets; pear, cranberry; coconut milk

D3: turkey, salmon; amaranth, tapioca; asparagus, pumpkin; coconut water, goat’s milk yogurt, blueberry, raspberry

D4: tuna, beef, cream, sour cream; coconut flour; cucumber, squash, zucchini; grapes; raw milk