Day 8 of my Gluten/Dairy Free Journey

Today I created  a great little breakfast meal.  I thought I would share it.

Red Pepper Boats & Bacon Sailors

Ingredients:

Boat:
2 eggs
1 diced green onion
1 tsp adobo sauce
diced onion (I use about 3 tbsp diced)
a few dashes of salt
a few dashes of pepper
1 red bell pepper
4 cherry tomatoes sliced in half
cooking spray
cheese (if desired)

Bacon Sailor
3 stalks asparagus
1 tbsp coconut oil
3 slices turkey bacon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cut bell pepper in half and clean out the insides; place on a baking sheet
3. Drizzle ( or coat) asparagus with coconut oil and wrap with bacon; place on baking sheet
4. Spray a small skillet with cooking spray and put on medium heat
5. In a small bowl mix the first six ingredients until well blended and add to skillet
6. Using a spatula, keep mixing the egg mixture (scrambling it) until the eggs are no longer runny
7. Place the egg mixture in the bell pepper
8. Sprinkle the diced green onions onto the pepper boats and top with the cherry tomatoes
9. Add cheese if desired
10. Place in the oven and bake until the bacon & asparagus are done and the bell pepper is starting to "wrinke" and slightly darken on the sides (about 10 to 15 minutes)

Day 7 Gluten/Dairy Free

After a long weekend of cleaning, the last thing I wanted to do today was slave over a hot stove.  Last night I had a crazy idea of making steak in the crockpot.  I have been doing a really good job of cooking in the crockpot lately and since it will do all the work for me I thought "WHY NOT?"!  So after looking at several recipes online I found two that were pretty simple. The first was the steak dinner and the second was a GLUTEN FREE marinade.  Cha-Ching!  I did make a few modifications, but that is the joy of cooking!  I will include the original recipes in a link below.

By the way, this was so good!  The quantity varies depending on how many people you are going to serve.  In my case the recipe below was for three of us.  Thankfully I have a big crockpot! :)


Ingredients:

• Steak (2 New York Strip Steaks and 1 Porterhouse Steak) 
• Potatoes (one for each person)
• Corn on the Cobb (one for each person, or more if desired)
• 2 tbsp. oil for searing the steaks- I used Canola Oil
• salt
• pepper
• butter or vegan butter spread

Marinade Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1/2 cup French's Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 glove garlic minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:

1. Place 2 tbsp. oil in a frying pan on medium high heat
2. Once oil is hot add your steaks one at a time and sear for two minutes on each side. Then sear around the edges of the steak to seal in the juices.
3. Place steaks in the bottom of the crockpot.
4. Combine all ingredients for the marinade in a glass jar.  Close tightly and shake to combine.  Pour over steak.
5. Cover with a sheet of aluminum foil (this will separate the meat from the vegetables).
6. Slice your potatoes almost all the way through and pull back the sections so that you can sprinkle the inside of the potato with salt and pepper and stuff with butter.
7. Individually wrap the potatoes in aluminum foil and place in the crockpot.
8. Tear off sections of aluminum foil that will be big enough to wrap each ear of corn individually.  Spread butter over the sheets of aluminum foil and lightly sprinkle with salt (this will butter the corn on the cobb all the way around).
9. Individually wrap each ear of corn and place in the crockpot.
10. Close the lid and put the crockpot on high for 5 1/2 hours.
11. Reduce head to Low or Warm and cook an additional 2 hours.

When dinner is done I like to pour some of the left over juices on my steak. Yumm!  However, be careful when taking the steak out of the crockpot.  The meat will literally fall off the bone.  I had to use a really big spatula to keep the steak in tact (for presentation purposes only of course).

I hope you enjoy this dinner as much as I did!  I would love for you to leave any feedback good, bad, or modified suggestions..

I wanted to also give credit to the authors who posted these two wonderful recipes. Please check out their links below:

Original Marinade Recipe (here)
Original Steak Dinner Recipe (here)

Days 3, 4 & 5 Gluten/Dairy Free

I know my ramblings may not be very interesting to some.  I just picture myself leaving a journal which all can read.  If one person gets inspired it was worth sharing.

I am so proud of myself for officially finishing Day 5 of the "no gluten, no dairy" journey that I am on.  Days 1 and 2 were the toughest.  I had such insane sugar cravings and so many temptations.  However, I hung in there.  I knew I was going through withdrawals and that it would only be a matter of days before the cravings subsided.

My meal plan has been very redundant (to some degree).  I ate the same breakfast regularly.  I had my own version of a chicken soup (will post the recipe soon) for all of my lunches.  My snacks consisted of one of the following: apple, orange, pistachios, strawberries, corn tortilla chips with homemade salsa, and as of today Tofitti Cuties (soy ice cream).  The only thing that really changed was dinner.

I have come to realize that the only thing that really takes away my sugar cravings are sweet potatoes.  I made some (as French fries) yesterday.  I cut them up, drizzled them in olive oil, sprinkled cumin and cilantro on them, and baked them. YUM!  I thought if I ate something sweet (like my Cuties) that it would kill the sugar craving, but it intensifies the cravings (and makes me crave salty/crunchy too).  This is the beast I really need to work on. Dang sugar!  But, sweet potatoes come to my rescue like a knight in shining armor.

When I started this journey I had several health issues.  Two main ones were sharp pains in my head and bloating.  The swelling in my arms and legs have gone away.  I haven't had a sharp shooting pain in my head at all this week.  However, there still are a few things that bug me.

My stomach still has bloating and it seems to have extra "gas" these days.  This is really annoying.  I did some research last night, and I think it is because I changed my diet too drastically too quickly.  Plus, the extra fruits and veggies can lead to it.  I am confident though that once my stomach readjusts itself that all will go away.

The other issue is that I have been getting charley horses or tightening up of my leg muscles (all the way to my butt) which feels like the onset of a charley horse.  I think this may be due to a pinched nerve in my back.  I consistently have pain around my hips and spine.  If I can get back on my workout routine and strengthen my back muscles I am sure that this too will go away.

Well folks, it is midnight here in beautiful North Carolina.  It is time for me to gather my beauty sleep.  But, I wanted to drop a few lines for those that may be thinking of joining this journey.  Hopefully, I can give you some insight along with food ideas.

Chow!

Day 2 of Gluten/Dairy Free: 07.02.13

Today was much better!  This morning I opted to leave out the egg and add cucumber to my breakfast mixture.  I found research that said cucumber is good for the gallbladder.  Well, guess what?  I did not have an attach today.

I had the same hunger attacks today as I did yesterday.  I was craving SUGAR!  I swear I now know what an alcoholic feels like.  The more you deny your craving the more you want it.

To make matters worse, I had to go to a meeting at work today.  Guess what they had in little bowls all around the conference room? Candy!  I saw bowls and bowls of Reeses minis, mini Hershey bars, Smarties, and so on...  I really, really wanted that Reeses cup!

Thankfully, I packed something with me.  I reached in my purse and pulling out a baggie of cucumbers and strawberries.  I have to admit that I was only satisfied for about 5 minutes before the chocolate was calling my name again.  It seemed like that 3 1/2 hour meeting lasted for hours!

The cravings got the best of me... when the meeting let out (and no I didn't eat any candy!) I was on the search for something to snack on.  I decided to stop by Trader Joe's.  I remembered a friend of mine buying these corn tortilla chips that had flax seeds on them.  I was so excited because they were gluten free!  I found my way over to the snack section and grabbed them up.  They would go perfect with my homemade salsa (recipe is located on my blog- I omitted the sugar this time though).

I will sadly admit that I was still craving sweets.  So I was on the hunt... I got out three things... 1) Stevia 2) Almond milk 3) Unsweetened Pure Cocoa powder.  I thought if I mixed the three together I would have a nice, sweet treat.  FAIL!  The cocoa powder was very clumpy and it didn't taste as good as regular chocolate milk.

On a good note, once I ate dinner (left overs from last night, brussels sprouts, and a sweet potato) my cravings went away.  Hallelujah!

Day 1 of Gluten/Dairy Free 7.1.13

I woke up this morning fully charged. I had my breakfast and lunch packed. So my expectation that today was going to be a good day was really high.

For breakfast, I had a hard boiled egg, 2 meatballs (Find the recipe on my blog under the recipe section.  I got this off of weightandwellness.com.  However, I like them much better cold than warm), fruit, and green beans.  I ate this around 7:30.  By 10:30 I was having a gallbladder attack (and it was in the middle of a business appointment!).  I had severe shooting pains on my right side and it felt like some invisible person was stabbing me.  This lasted about 10 minutes off and on.  When I felt my side it actually felt like a small round ball on my (near my rib).  While doing a little research I thought the attack could have resulted from the hard boiled egg.

I snacked on pistachios, a banana, and carrots until dinner.  Then, I had my chicken and vegetables.  No attacks here.

Sadly, I have to admit that I was hungry for most of the day and craving sugar really bad.  However, I held strong telling myself that I have to find out what is causing all of my issues.  If I gave in now I would never know.

A bonus from the day was that I got a 1/2 hour walk in... I was even greeted by a copperhead that decided he wanted to hang out on the same trail I was on.  EEWWW!

I hope that my blogs/stories help to inspire others who are facing health issues.  Feel free to add me on facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/brandy.randall.90

I would love to hear about your journey!

Chow!

Going Gluten & Dairy Free For a Month

I have made a firm decision to go Gluten and Dairy free for the entire month of July.  This is not a fad diet.  This is not an attempt for extreme weight-loss.  This IS a frustrated individual who desperately wants to find out what is going on with her body.

Sadly, I got off of the "weight-loss" train last December.  I had my bottom two wisdom teeth taken out, and I have been unable to successfully get back on track.

I have been noticing several signs that I am unhealthy yet again.  Here are just a few of my symptoms:

• Bloated
• Constipated
• Hungry all the time
• Acne
• Sharp pains in my head (right side)
• Pain behind my right breast
• Stomach aches
• Breathing issues (stop breathing when I sleep)
• Muscle cramps (including Charlie Horses)
• Spells of feeling sick to my stomach
• Swelling in the legs
• Aching joints
• Floaters and lights in my right eye

I could go on.  When I started my healthy kick start last August all of these symptoms went away.  ALL of THEM!  Yet, here I am right where I started almost a year ago.

The one thing I did not do last year was find out if I had a dairy or wheat allergy.  Either of these things could be causing the symptoms above (maybe not all of them but a majority).  So this is why I am doing this for 30 days.  I will test how I feel and then slowly add these foods back into my diet to see if I have any negative reactions.

To get started, I have already planned out my dinners for the first week.  I will post the recipes as I go along.  I will be having a very simple breakfast of Wild Rice Meatballs, Boiled Egg, Cucumber, and Fruit.  My lunch will either consist of left overs or a homemade soup/chili (I find these keep me full).  I have bought a few snacks which include nuts, fruit and vegetables.

Please keep checking in  I will keep you updated on my progress.