This Week's Meal Plan

My dear friend Ashley commented yesterday on a post in which I said I would post some meal plans while I am on this elimination diet for my migraines so you all can see what I'm eating.

I'd forgotten about that, so I thought I'd remedy it. Here is my sample meal plan for this week. I go Tuesday to Monday cause my hubby gets paid on Mondays and I grocery shop after that.

 Some general notes:
For breakfast, I always have oatmeal, bacon or eggs in some shape or form...so I don't include those in the meal plans. Makes for boring repetitive writing. I make a list of snacks each week and pick from the list every day for snacks. I also only make a "dessert" once per week or when I'm craving something dessert-y. On days that I work I usually don't have a real dinner. I have a combo of snacks and leftovers!

My recipes are some from my hubby, some from online, some from cookbooks and some from my head. If I have a link to a recipe, I'll throw it in!

Oh, one last thing. My hubby is on a diet and works at a restaurant during the day and so only eats dinners with me. He also doesn't eat leftovers....so I don't need to always cook a ton of food. Mostly just cooking for me. I also buy snacks for him that I can't eat so he has his own "go-to" foods when he needs a quick snack. 

Tuesday:
Lunch: Stuffed sweet potato squash with ground lamb/goat cheese
Dinner: Seared Tuna Stead with sauteed green beans and quinoa

Wednesday (work): 
L: Thanksgiving leftovers from the freezer
D: Stuffed squash leftovers

Thursday:
L: Chicken salad on rice crackers
D: Oven roasted chicken with mashed cauliflower/parsnips with leeks and roasted brussel sprouts

Friday:
L: Veggie Latke's with left over oven roasted chicken
D: Gluten free chicken and dumpling soup (Using this dumpling recipe)

Saturday (work):
L: Soup leftovers
D: Leftover mishmash or snacks

Sunday (work): 
L: Soup leftovers
D: Roasted beef shank in crockpot with mashed parsnips

Monday:
L: Beef shank leftovers
D: Stir-fry with whatever meat I feel like that day and veggie mix from the freezer with brown rice

Snacks for the Week:
Raw almonds
Sheep/goat milk yogurt
Goat cheese with rice crackers and smoked salmon
Plain hummus with veggies
Celery with natural peanut butter
Brown rice cakes with artichoke dip on top
Apple with natural peanut butter

Desserts for the week!
Coconut Milk Custard (will blend that recipe with this one and only use liquid stevia as the sweetner)

Stayed Up Too Late

I had an awesome blog planned that would tell you how much freezer cooking and such I did over the last two days. So awesome. And yummy. I even had pictures. Well, I still have them.

Buuuuuut. I stayed up too late looking at thing in my Google Reader and Pinterest.
Whooops!

Maybe another day. Work tomorrow.
Shower and sleep now.

Night!

P.S. -NO MIGRAINE TODAY!!!! YAY! Days like today make me feel like everything I am changing and modifying makes a difference. Yes. Days like today get me through days like the last 5, all of which had migraines in them. You win some, you lose some. Today, I won. Hallelujah! Psalm 21.

Sugar is Evil

You all knew this. I was living in denial.

I have "cheated" a few times while on this crazy little diet of mine and both times it's been with sugar.

{Let me clarify here. Sugar = refined white sugar}

Both times have ended with migraines started as soon as five hours after eating the offending item and lasting as long as thirty hours.

Poo.

Bad news. Sugar gives me migraines.
Sad day. I love sugar.
Good news. There are lots of alternatives to sugar.

Honey.
Pure Maple Syrup.
Pure Cane Sugar Crystals (in limited quantities).
EAT SALT.

That last one is my little experiment. When I have a sugar craving, I try to eat something yummy and salty instead. Like all natural peanut butter or all natural corn chips that I can eat. It's going ok. Eating less sugar, so  something must be working!

There are more. I just don't use them as of yet.

I <3 honey and pure maple syrup.

(Lazy) Two-Week Meal Plan

This is a lazy meal plan.....or perhaps I will just call it a flexible meal plan. Since I've been eating real food that I actually have to cook and because I hate food-type stores, I now realize the need to meal plan. So, I list out a bunch of meals that I will cook with some sides and then a few desserts, go shopping all at once, cook in large batches, freeze some, eat some and then we are done! Whew. Oh, I list breakfast items, too.

Breakfast items get their own category, because I love breakfast. Favorite meal of the day. YUM.

Two Week Meal Plan - May 27 to June 9th

Main Dishes

Lemon Garlic Drumsticks
Eggplant Torta (sorta like lasagna I think!)
Cucumber Soup
Apple Bacon Tomato Soup
Tortilla Wraps
Chicken & Fruit Salad
Marinated Chicken dish
Ahi Tuni Steaks with Coconut Lime Cous Cous

Sides

Squash/Onion/Zucchini sauteed up in EVOO
Side Salads
Hummus - 3 different kinds cause I'm making a lot!

Breakfast

Eggs - any new way I can think of!
Hot Wheat Cereal
Gluten Free Apple Pancakes (although I'm sorta sick of these)
Bean/Deer/Tomato Quiche
Bean Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Overnight Oatmeal (maybe....can't decide if its important to stay away from oats)

Desserts

Yogurt with Fruit (If my new yogurt starter ever comes)
Baked Custard
Flourless Cocoa Cake
Organic Strawberry Smoothies

So there you have it! Some of the recipes I am altering to make them more nutritious, or just plain ok for me to eat right now. For all the main dishes, I just make the recipe and it's usually enough to feed me and Justin for one meal plus have one to two leftover dishes to pack up for work or lunches. Some recipes I am striving to make two of so I can have a freezer meal when I don't feel like cooking. Like today when I made Cucumber Soup, I made a triple batch because cukes were on sale when I went shopping so I got 6, instead of the two the recipe called for!

I'm getting used to cooking smarter, not more. AND cleaning smarter, not more or harder. Right now, I have three types of beans soaking on my counter. Tomorrow I shall cook three pots of beans for a long time, use some beans right away in recipes and freeze the rest to have instant "canned" beans when I need them. Using dry beans is MUCH cheaper than buying in the can. Plus safer.

Ok, longest post ever. Sorry! Bye!

Going Crazy

I am going slightly crazy tonight.

I want a hot fudge sundae. With oreos. I don't care if it's an all-natural raw milk ice cream with dark chocolate made with coconut oil fudge or even homemade soaked chocolate cookies-- I WANT SOME.

Sigh.

I am experiencing food fatigue, I think.

It's not because I'm on a "healthy" diet or even a "no-MSG-diet". It's because I'm on this really strict diet for a while here.

I have found healthy options to make chocolate, chocolate fudge, ice cream, peanut butter. All my comfort foods. You name it! There are healthy options out there for splurge items as long as you eat in moderation. Right now I am in a stage where I have total denial of homey, comfort foods that I like.

I just feel tired tonight. Tired of this stupid diet. Tired of these stupid headaches.

I made pumpkin bread. It tastes like sorgham flour and rice flour and it  made me want to barf. I can smell it in my house and I want to barf.

I'm eating my third bowl of rice today because nothing else sounds appetizing. Cereal would be nice. Oatmeal would be nice. Cheese on things again without worrying about color additives. Chocolate. Cookies. Cake. Tea. Coffee.

Sigh.
Two more weeks left, right??

Cheater Cheater Pumpkin Eater

I like the title of this post. I don't know why, but I do. I've had this saying floating around in my head for the last few days. I am not even sure that this is the correct form of the saying. Knowing me, it probably isn't. (I tend to make up words to things and then really think that my made up words are correct. My hubby thinks it's hilarious to listen to me sing along to the radio in the car.)

Anyway. I cheated on my diet. I went to a wedding shower for two friends and I cheated. It had been a really rough day for me. Not sure why, but I had a mini melt down for a half hour right before we went. Tears and all. Thank goodness for a forgiving, understanding husband. I apologized later, not that the apology excuses things.

Anyway. Again. I drank two cups of the punch (sprite/7UP, sherbert, canned juice, etc). You know, the really yummy kind. Probably all in all 32 oz. of punch. And I had strawberries. With melted chocolate on top. They  had a miraculous chocolate fountain. Love those things. OH, also ate some fried chicken.

Hubby looked at me during my eating of this and was like, "Are you allowed to eat that stuff?" My answer? "No." And I kept eating.

That night, my belly was so bloated, it looked like I was AT LEAST 4 months pregnant. My belly gained about 3 inches around. It even felt firm when I palpated it. Yuck. I had headaches and nausea for the next two days. Wonderful!

Lesson learned.
Don't cheat.

Migraine

I woke up with a migraine today. I wanted to share it, because I haven't had one in five days, but also because I don't just want to share the good stuff, but the bad stuff, too.

I had increased tension when I went to bed last night, so I got up and took an Imitrex. I woke up six hours later in awful nine out of ten pain. (Sorry, I'm a nurse, I describe all pain on a pain scale, lol.) I got up, took more Imitrex and Aleve and went back to bed, even though it was eight or so already.

As I laid there, waiting to fall back asleep, I just thought, "I can't do this anymore."

I'm at that point. The point where you just can't keep doing what you are doing because it's hurting you. It was time for change and every headache I get now will remind me of why I am doing all of this. I just can't live in pain like that anymore. I can't and I won't.

I'm not surprised that this migraine cropped up. I really don't think this one had anything to do with food. I think it was more a hormonal issue as my friend came today. Migraine and my friend coming on the same day? Yup, for the last two years, that has been the pattern. I will be looking into a possible hormonal imbalance in the future, but for now, it's enough to know that this is not the diet failing me.

Good reassurance.

Cravings

I worked today and I think 50 BILLION people offered me a cupcake.

Ok.

Only one! But it was SO hard to turn it down. I was proud that I didn't have a moments hesitation. I immediately said, "Oh, no thank you. But thank you!" That's something, right?? But it did make my mouth water, just a tiny bit. Or a tiny lot. A lot.

Then one of the girls at work was eating this gorgeously large chocolate chip cookie, and some of my kids got yummy things on their tray, and I talked about pancakes with a four year old when he woke up for the day at 3pm.

(Yes, 3pm. We mess up kid's sleep schedules in the hospital...some families come to us like that, though. Anyway, back to food.)

Right now I am home from work, just ate an amazing salad and I still want sugar. I think I'll have a gluten-free apple muffin with soft butter instead....but I'm wishing for jelly inside.

Really, I think abstaining from a lot of sugar is good. I ate too much of it, really. I was and am an emotional eater. I eat just to eat and to feel thing in my mouth and belly. A full stomach is comforting to me.It's like I used chocolate like anti-depressants. Don't feel good? Get some chocolate. Hard day? Have some chocolate. I lean on food and depend on sugary food more than I would care to admit.

So, this is good for me, but it's hard.

These things I know:
- it won't always be like this
- that there WILL be an adjustment time
- anything worth doing is hard
- if this is going to help my headaches and clear the way for the Lord's will to be done in my life, much will be coming up against me. (I'm expecting it and relying fully on Jesus at this point. He protects me and sustains me, always.)

Pray for me when you think of me, please.
Pray that God would heal my headaches completely and that He would give me strength and wisdom to sustain this new diet-life-style. Amen!

First real-food-msg-free-meal!

Well friends. What you have above is my first meal of my new diet, the MSG-free diet, which just happens to also be gluten-free, low sugar and mostly organic. :) That night, I had sweet potato fries lightly coated in olive oil and kosher salt, a hard boiled egg, freshly steamed broccoli and a few slices of Colby cheese, made from whole milk. It may look odd, but I've been craving those sweet potato fries for a few days! Made me excited to start this diet! There is no meat, because I forgot to defrost that morning. Uh, I'll work on that.

For breakfast, I've been doing omelettes with cheese, spinach and red bell peppers or tomatoes. YUM! Kept me full for like 5 hours! I am working on making an apple-honey brown rice with milk breakfast porridge for tomorrow. I'll let you know how that goes!

Lunch has been a hodge podge. Yesterday I made spinach-cheese-tomato-radish sandwiches with the spinach acting as the bread. Pretty good! Then, for dinner I made brown rice with sautee veggies- red bell peppers, yellow squash, onions and garlic with salt and pepper. Amazingly good. Odd, but REALLY yummy. I ate that for lunch today and will again for lunch tomorrow.

I'm not the best cook and most of what I make is really simple, but I am loving this food. Craving some gluten at times, but not bad. Also craving a bit of sugar, but again, not bad. My husband is eating Easter ham right now, and that sounds pretty good, too. BUT, I am more excited to taste the soaked brown rice coming off the stove soon! I soaked brown rice for 24 hours and then cooked it. I'm excited to see if it tastes any different. It's supposed to be good for you, so we'll see!

OH! Haven't had a migraine or a headache since I ate the last bit of pizza on Thursday. :)

The New Diet!

So, a friend recommended the site www.msgmyth.com to me. I went on there and read all about MSG and how it messes with your brain/hormones/etc. I thought it might be part of my headaches. They have this "test diet" that anyone can easily do and not eat MSG. It's limited because MSG has so many names/forms that it comes in that it is overwhelming and difficult for someone to totally avoid it without some guidelines. You can find the test diet by scrolling down the sidebar on the front page and clicking on "Test Yourself".

To summarize the diet for you if you don't feel like clicking over, I will be eating ONLY these things:

1. Raw milk or low-pasturized, non-homozynized organic whole milk
2. Organic, pastured eggs
3. Whole milk Colby cheese or whole milk mozarella cheese
4. Vegetables minus carrots, potatoes and beets (as much organic as possible and washed)
5. Fresh fruit minus bananas, grapefruit, grapes and berries
6. Organic, non processed, additive and preservative free chicken, turkey and deer
7. Short grain brown rice
8. Pure cane sugar if I must use sugar
9. Pure olive oil, fresh or dried whole herbs, canning/kosher salt and I added in raw honey

They recommend following this diet for 1 week to two months to see if it helps your symptoms improve. I am going to stay on it for one month strictly. It at that point it is working, I will stay on it another month and quickly wean off the imipramine over 3-4 weeks. If it really works, I'll be mostly headache free without meds on the diet. THEN, I can add things in one by one and see how my head reacts.

Call me crazy, but I think it's worth a shot. Doesn't take much, didn't cost me much more than our usual food budget and is WAY healthier for me in the long run, so I'm not doing any harm! So far I've discovered that veggies taste amazing fresh, short grain brown rice is SO yummy and I've discovered how to make decent gluten-free apple muffins, since normal flour wasn't on the list, but brown rice is, and you can make flour with brown rice. AMAZING!

(that's my muffin up there! Looks yummy, huh? I used a recipe from The Nourishing Home on FB. She is awesome and has tons of healthy recipes in her Notes section!)

I find that I am not physically craving food, but mentally craving food. I find myself with a want to eat, but not being hungry. I think I just like putting things in my mouth. It's an emotional crutch for me. It'll be interesting to try and break through that in the next few weeks.

Tossing the Prozac

I dumped my little juice concoction of Prozac last night.

I just don't think I'm that desperate yet. I think there are other options that I can try right now that will enable me to get off the imipramine completely without having to get on Prozac and then get off. I'm not worried about an accidental pregnancy, so I shouldn't be worried about getting off the imipramine.

It'll come. In its own time.

And until then, I'm reading and researching like a crazy person. I think I stumbled upon a whole natural foods MSG-free diet that I am going to try to test the theory that chemicals and processed foods with MSG is making me sick. We'll see. Still praying and reading.   

The Food Plan

The last week or so, I've been trying to avoid foods that contain these items:

- refined sugar

- MSG

- high fructose corn syrup

- partially hydrogenated anything

So, most of everything we have in our house contains these items. Even my butter and applesauce. Stinks. BUT, I've been doing well, sticking to whole foods, natural sugars, proteins, etc. I've been cooking everyday and realizing the need for more recipes for whole foods. I know how to cook with processed, packaged foods, but I am not as good when it comes to whole, raw foods. 

I will learn. 

lol.

And probably have lots of funny failures in the meantime.

(I'll post them here, don't worry.)

The one thing I've noticed is that except for one or two little twinges every now and then, I am not really craving sugary sweet stuff like I used to. I actually want to eat veggies and "real" food. More than I ever have before. Perhaps not eating sugar makes you not crave sugar? 

I did cave once and eat six little mini cookies. Interestingly, I noticed that I had a nice sized headache about two hours after consuming them after an entire day free of headache. Hmmm....makes you wonder. Headache wise, it's been rocky since the cookies. Nothing HUGE, but one or two sudden headaches with bouts of almost instant nausea. Yuck. 

Anyway, the long term plan in my head is to use up what we have and when we buy replacements, to buy things that I can eat, so I have more options! We'll see what happens!  

Honesty

I had a sort of frustrating last 36 hours.

I woke up today with a headache. Had one last night. Praying about the ND with my husband, who I neglected to make part of the deciding process in the first place. (Still learning how to be a good wife...another post on this later.) I get frustrated when it seems that I'm doing everything I know how to prevent my head from hurting and it still hurts. I am pretty much taking Imitrex every day. I have a pretty good supply stocked up, but at this rate, it won't last me long enough for long term. And I hate taking it.

And I hate getting on Prozac. I hate being on meds, period.

Sigh. Ok. Done.
Just needed to get that out of my head.

Clinging to the Lord's promise of healing to me.
I believe.