Paleo

{spinach, red bell pepper, parmesan, egg scramble}

Where has April gone?

I have made some changes this month that have occupied my mind and my hands.

I went to the doctor hoping to have some allergy and food sensitivity testing done.
What she suggested I do is a elimination diet similar to Paleo, call the Specific Carbohydrate Diet or SCD for short. After 2 months I will have the testing, and hopefully have a better picture of the foods that are causing me issues.
I am starting week 2.
I am feeling good, but there are some powerful cravings that nearly overtake me in the afternoons. I am hoping that these go away. A little snack of dates dipped in chunky natural peanut butter definitely helps.
I am used to eating whole grains of some sort throughout the day. Now there are none.
Instead of oatmeal for breakfast, I am enjoying 2 fresh eggs scrambled in a yummy assortment of vegi's. One day I had red bell pepper and spinach, the next salsa and avocado. Today I will saute up a bunch of mushrooms in butter. Yummy. I am really liking the breakfast changes.
I am so happy to still have my homemade yogurt. This is a staple in my diet. It can be used as is with a little stevia and berries, or to make dressings for my daily salad.
Lunch and dinner are protein-centric now. I was semi-vegetarian before, and I fear that trying the SCD diet with only plant proteins would put me over the edge of sanity and leave me feeling pretty weak.
SO.
I have stocked up on chicken, scd safe bacon & sausage, grass-fed beef, and I may indulge in some salmon this week. Albacore tuna is also wonderful to add to my daily salad.
I am lucky to have an SCD support group that meets monthly near my home. Folks get together and swap recipes and talk about their journey. For some this is a way of life. I feel fortunate that most of this will be only for a little while. I can imagine adopting these eating practices permanently if I knew that once in a while a girl could have a donut or a piece of pie.
There are so many pages on Pinterest with wonderful recipes to help. I started a Paleo board for myself and can't wait to try all the recipes.
Oh, and my beloved coffee. I am working on it. Right now I have it whittled down to one very weak black cup of it in the morning, and perhaps a decaf later in the day. I know coffee gives me a tummy ache. So it will go soon. I do love green tea. That will be a good replacement.

Well. I am off to tackle a very long day of laundry and cleaning, and try and squueze in a little reading.

Happy Monday.
God Bless, Tami

March.

{Rafe ringing the dinner bell at camp}

{back from a fun and very rainy weekend}

{Snow in March}

{These funny ladies love a good dust bath}

Well, March flew right by, didn't it!
We had a little snow last week. Weather here is so weird.
I took 3 of my kiddos on a little weekend retreat. It was fun, but so rainy.
We are now knee deep in baseball and softball. The garden is just about ready for planting, and the chickens are laying in full force again.
We have a new driver in the house. Ugh, wasn't he just 5 years old? That's all I can say about that.......
We had a beautiful Easter celebration yesterday. The weather was perfect, a sunny 70 degree day. The first really nice day of the Spring for us here in the PNW.

Have a wonderful April 1st.
God Bless.
Tami

the short winter.

{rhubarb coming up}

 

...as opposed to a long one.
Which some parts of our fine country have. A long winter that is.

As February ends and March rolls in, the chances of snow pretty much disappear her in the PNW. We had 5 minutes of snowfall this winter. It melted the moment it hit the ground.
Heck, we really didn't have a winter at all.

No major storms, no cold snaps, no power outages. Strange, but nice I suppose.
I prefer to experience the seasons a little more fully though.

Last Sunday, Eric turned the soil in our raised beds. Is it really that time already?
Early Spring is upon us for sure. I can see my rhubarb bursting out of the ground. My fruit trees and berries are budding. There are flower bulbs emerging everywhere. My chickens are amping up their production. There are days when a nice wooly sweater do nicely instead of my parka.

I really should not complain. I know there are areas that are buried under snowfall for months.
We never have that here.

I am sure that an early Spring means rain. Always the rain.

Have a blessed day, Tami

(another) simple feast.

Isn't homemade chicken noodle soup the best ?

I made a roasted chicken a few nights before, cooked the carcass down, and out came the most beautiful rich chicken stock.

I added a bit of onion and carrot, the leftover chunks of chicken, whole wheat rotini, a little garlic, salt and pepper. Delicious.

A loaf of bread on the side.
A simple feast.

Have a blessed day, Tami

weekend work.

 

 

Early Saturday, the fun task of ripping out a ton of English ivy that was threatening fences and trees.
I always have 2 very willing participants.......the same every time.
(Gage was so willing, he came out in his jammie pants, God bless him.)
The other two children ?
Tucked away somewhere Minecraft(ing), reading, listening, thinking.

Gage and Anya (and Daddy of course) you did a great job!

Have a blessed day, Tami

weekend.

 

A certain 11 year old in my house has taken to cooking. His current love is making pancakes. He is doing a great job, and it pleases me that one of my children will know how to feed themselves. ~Smile~

With organic maple syrup being so expensive, I have been buying bulk organic agave nectar and mixing it with the maple syrup to stretch it a bit. We like it.

 

Have a blessed weekend, Tami

love.

{a favorite in our heart rock collection}

Have a beautiful day with those you love.

Blessings, Tami