Sunday Week in Review - I've Turned a Corner

Well folks, I think I am turning a corner. My energy levels are coming back. I think. I hope. The funny thing with health is that it can be fleeting so I hate to even say it. But since Tuesday I have been feeling like I'm getting back to normal. No more naps, no mood swings, significantly reduced cravings and hunger. 

After my bout of low iron a month or two back I haven't felt 100% energy wise and my moods were all over the place. But after about 2 weeks of my Candida diet (no sugar, yeast, vinegar, dairy, fruit, coffee, pork, processed foods, etc) things seem to be settling down. And it feels good!

Unfortunately for my husband my increased energy almost always ends up in a new project around the house. So since Tuesday "we" have decided to re-landscape the front of our house. It was supposed to just be a re-do of our sidewalk. It means lots of fun designing for me and lots of hard grunt work for him. Sorry buddy - I love you! 

The Candida diet can be a bit challenging (understatement), even for someone who professed to be a clean eater to start with but it is doable. You just have to do some cooking, shopping and plan for when you are leaving the house. Don't leave the house without an emergency snack - take nuts, smoothies, protein bars - something to help you out if you get hungry so you don't have to buy something when you are out. Because almost nothing store bought is Candida diet friendly.

And we weren't actually deprived of good food. We had lots of awesome meals this week. So don't be discouraged if you are trying to eat Paleo, Gluten-free, Candida-diet friendly or just clean. You can still eat great food. 

I've actually been incorporating some non-glutenous whole grains back into my diet - I limit it to 1/4 to 1/2 cup at a time and my blood sugar seems to be handling it okay. I am now trying to maintain and/or gain a bit of weight as my white blood count is really low which means more doctors and tests. Sigh. Something to potentially feed my anxiety - but I'm trying not to let it because I'm sure it all relates to breastfeeding/absorption issues/sleep deprivation/crappy adrenals. In the meantime I will keep eating clean, make sure I'm getting lots of calories and eat lots of good food...................hope this gives you some ideas for a week so you can keep it clean as well. 

Hubby roasted a turkey for Mother's Day. A HUGE turkey. A really HUGE turkey. We ate it in every variation and combination I could think of as leftovers. It is supposed to be good for low white blood counts so it was perfect timing. Here we had it with gluten-free gravy, fried zucchini, peas and a couple of cabbage rolls. 

Chicken, avocado, sun-dried tomato and cilantro salad. Yum.

A batch of Vega One, avocado, nut and ground Chia protein bars. I can no longer have dates (boo hoo) but these are pretty good for a Candida diet friendly food. These are must haves in the freezer to help me out with snacks and keep me going.

This is how I used one of my left-over Chocolate Vega One Protein containers. I covered it with scrapbook paper and then used it for my girls headbands and hair supplies that we have a hard time keeping organized. It was the perfect size. 

A view from the top. My leftover Vega One container - up-cycled to a hair accessories organizer.  

Turkey Chipolte soup with avocado - this was GOOD soup. Yum!

I roasted cauliflower in the oven and then "smashed" it with a potato masher to make the base for my Candida friendly UN-lasagna. See below. 

Candida diet friendly - UN-lasagna. I made a roasted cauliflower base. Then I made a middle layer of leftover turkey with peppers, onions, garlic, coconut milk and spices. I topped with a layer of mashed roasted sweet potato. I topped that with a wee bit of mozza and paprika. Baked for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. It was so good. My 10 month old - LOVED it. Good thing hubby and I loved it because a 9 x 13 pan goes a long way - lots of meals out of this.

Another banana loaf for the kids. This one for the freezer.

I made some "lemon bombs" - recipe to come this week. I make these healthy fat bombs to keep me going and get some calories. Don't think I will need these when I finish nursing and start gaining weight but for now my body is telling me it needs calories.

Cabbage and jicama coleslaw - I used coconut vinegar for the dressing. Its the only vinegar I'm allowed. 

A snack for the kids. If I put fruit on the skewer they eat it.  Put anything on a skewer and they might eat it.

Another turkey lunch. This one with coleslaw.

Yummy basted eggs with spinach and sun-dried tomato's for breaky. This is good and easy.........and good.

Candida lemon cake. Sweetened with Stevia. It wasn't very sweet. The cake texture was  good so I should make it again but I think I lost my notes. Not sure if I'll be able to re-create it. Dumb.

Raw zucchini salad. One of hubby's favorites. 

Raw Paleo oriental salad. Had this twice this week. Made with broccoli slaw (pre-cut and washed) its easy to whip up and totally clean.  So delicious.

In my attempt to start eating some whole grains I made some Gluten and sugar-free oatmeal and coconut flour pancakes. They were really good and I had no negative blood sugar impact. Yay. And they kept me really full until lunch. So recipe to come this week. Sure would have loved some maple syrup but I'm not allowed sugar so I concocted a nut butter, cinnamon spread that was delicious if not sweet. 

Baked cod with onions, peppers  and sun-dried tomatoes for lunch. Not my favorite thing but a good source of protein and hubby loves fish so I choke it down once in a while.

Sugar free organic grass fed meat-sauce with fried zucchini and broccoli slaw and 1/4 cup of brown rice noodles. A kid friendly and quick dinner. 

This was a butter rum smoothie. I had Vega One Chocolate smoothies once every day but this was a little change for a dessert. Good and clean.
 I always forget to take some pictures so we had a few other variations of turkey not shown and another pot of cabbage soup. And some Chia puddings. And some other stuff. But that's most of our week. No chocolate, no coffee. I can't believe I'm doing it, but I am. You can too!

I missed my brother's wedding social  last night- I felt really guilty but I NEED to get healthy which means resting, getting to bed early and not lugging 3 kids across the province to sleep in someone's else's bed. So sorry for not being there but I was thinking of you. Hope it was awesome. You will probably need some clean food to help you recover this week.