What becomes of the broken hearted...

There's nothing in the world like receiving major medical news about yourself. I don't care if it's good or bad, its always life changing.

On March 1st, I was given some life changing news - I need open heart surgery.

Now as you are well aware, I am 25 YEARS OLD! I can't say that I have been in perfect health all of my life, but I can count on one hand the amount of times I've had the flu (make that two fingers). I've never ever broken a bone. Life has been fairly uneventful up to this point. On top of that, I have begun a pursuit to even better health through food and other holistic avenues. So for someone to tell me a month ago that I have a life-threatening birth defect of my heart, I was shocked.

To be honest, I knew there was something going on. Back in 2010 my gynecologist noticed a heart murmur during my first visit. She urged me to visit a cardiologist and I conceded. The cardiologist basically said I had a mild leaky valve and something else that he wasn't sure about, but that the decision was mine to pursue checking it out further. Well I'm NOT a doctor, and I certainly wasn't going to volunteer to be poked, prodded, and tested for an unknown conclusion, so I went about my merry little way. The Hubs and I got married in April of 2011 and there went the fastest year of my life (that, by the way, is another blog post for another day).

It needs to be mentioned that my gynecologist is quite...how should I put this...intimidating. She's probably only 5 feet tall, but this little Puerto-Rican woman will put me in my place without missing a beat! (For instance, I saw her after completing my Whole30 experience and victoriously losing over 10 lbs, and she goes on to say, "You've gained some weight since the last time I saw you...?". Brutal.) Since I didn't want to face her during my visit this year and tell her I hadn't seen my cardiologist, I chose to be proactive...or cover my tail...and schedule a follow-up.

The old cardiologist was gone and a new one had replaced him. This doctor was wonderful, and took my issues more seriously. After a slew of tests and seeing doctors over the the course of a month and a half, the diagnosis had finally been made.

On April 1st at 7:30AM, the surgery took place to repair my mitral valve and to close a hole between my heart's upper chambers. That day was a whirlwind of emotions and a peace that I cannot describe. I woke up to the loving faces of family and nurses, all there cheering me on. The surgery went well, but my journey to recovery was just beginning.

Recipe: Primal Dirty Rice

Allow me to re-introduce myself...

I'm sure you've noticed I've been away for a while. I've been traveling a bit with the Hubby, seeing family and friends. I've also been accumulating some life experiences. I still don't feel comfortable sharing, but let's just say that I'll have plenty of time to blog in a couple of weeks while I get back to being myself.

Wow, that was cryptic.

Anyhoo, here's a recipe I made up TONIGHT! Here is what happens when I start to cook a meal without a specific recipe... I started with the idea of chicken livers and cauliflower rice with gravy. This weekend we went to Hubby' MawMaw's house to celebrate her 85th birthday, and she made the BEST milk gravy I have probably ever had...ever.  I wanted to replicate her deliciousness, but I didn't want to taint it's goodness with coconut milk. I know, I know, I love coconut milk too.  But I made the mistake of getting the sweetened variety, and sweetened coconut milk should not be used for gravy making in my book. So now I had to improvise (actually, I was already improvising, haha!). All of a sudden, after I threw my chopped onions in the sautéing cauli-rice, I realized that I was on my way to making dirty rice!

Primal Dirty Rice...how sexy does that sound?!?


Primal Dirty Rice

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken livers (preferably pastured organic)
1 1/2 cups of coconut milk (optional)
6 tbsp of coconut flour
4 tbsp of corn meal (opional. I had some non-GMO organic on hand)
2 tbsp of cajun seasoning, divided
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp of salt
1 cup of olive oil, divided
2 tbsp butter
1 large head of cauliflower, processed or chopped to resemble rice
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup of frozen peppers


Directions:
1. Rinse and trim your chicken livers (trim away anything that looks sinewy or tough), then put your livers in a dish with coconut milk and let soak for about 1 hour. This will take away some of the bitter taste of the livers.
2. Pour half of your oil in a deep skillet set on medium high. Mix up the coconut flour, corn meal, 1/2 of the cajun seasoning, paprika, and salt in a bowl to dredge livers. When oil is hot (i.e. shimmering), begin dredging your livers and dropping them into the pan to fry. Make sure both sides of the livers are deep brown. About half way through your frying process, you may need to change out the oil. Dump the old oil in a glass or metal cup or can, then pour the other half of your new oil in the pan and continue frying until all the livers are cooked. Set to the side on a paper towel to drain.
3. In a fresh pan (or a freshly wiped out pan), melt your butter over medium heat. Toss in your cauliflower, onion, and peppers along with the other half of your cajun seasoning and some more salt to taste. Let veggies sauté until the texture of the cauli-rice suits your taste. Then toss in the cooked livers and chop them up in the rice with your spoon or spatula.
4. Eat and enjoy!

For more great recipes from around the Blogosphere, visit: Pennywise Thursday, Simple Lives Thursday, and Party Wave Wednesday!

Food in the News #1

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The last few weeks have been pretty crazy. I will go into it more later, but lets just say that I have not been too motivated to do much blogging. I have, however, been coming across some really interesting articles pertaining to food in the news lately. I think I want to start sharing what I'm reading on a weekly basis. So, here is the very first installment of Food in the News:

1. Philadelphia School Lunches: Goodbye Fries, Hello Fennel

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I'm a sucker for anything concerning kids, and this story is a total heart warmer! Local celebrity chef, Marc Vetri, has developed a school lunch program called "Eatiquette". According to Vetri, this program has been designed to teach students how to eat healthy and, "interact with each other."  The picture shows a student at People for People Charter School (one of 4 schools currently participating the program) serving dessert to his fellow students. This student is acting as the Table Captain, who's duties are to set the round lunch table with a tablecloth and place settings for his peers. Then he sets out their first-course salads and glasses of water before they arrive. The Table Captain serves his peers throughout lunch, bringing the other courses to them and serving them. The meals are healthy, family-style dishes that include fresh, seasonal ingredients. All canned, processed, and frozen items have been removed from the cafeteria kitchen. There are some accompanying articles on the program that question whether or not the Philadelphia school system can afford the program as plans move forward to implement Eatiquette in several other schools in the city. You obviously know what my opinion is - they can't afford NOT to! For many of these children (80% of whom at the school pictured above) are on a free meal program and never get the opportunity to have meals like this. The personal and social skills these children are learning through this program with stay with them for their entire lives.

2. Mediterranean Diet Shown to Ward off Heart Attack and Stroke

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The most comprehensive study on a given diet has published some really great results (and is probably causing a lot of Paleo and Nourishing Foods believers to say "I told you so!"). After completing a 5 year study on 7500 participants between the ages of 55 and 80, researchers have concluded that eating a Mediterranean diet (a diet consisting of good fats and proteins from olives, nuts, avocados, and fish, and low in carbohydrates and sugars derived from bread and sweets) can lower symptoms pointing to heart attack and stroke in high risk people by 30%. There are a few things about this study that excites me. One is that there the other diet studied was a typical low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet with lots of calorie counting and, frankly, little success. Many of the participants could not stick to the low-fat diet (which was a part of the study). The Mediterranean Diet, however, consisted of roughly 200 more calories per day, but had no calorie counting involved whatsoever. They only lost 7% of their Mediterranean Diet participants over 2 years.  The other point that makes me smile is that the Mediterranean diet is naturally low in wheat, sugar, and processes foods. Yay!!!! Now we know FOR A FACT that eating whole foods is ACTUALLY good for you! Thank God for scientists, aka the true captains of the obvious :)

So that's all I have for today! Tune in next week for more Food in the News!

Whole30: My Post-Whole30 Life...so far

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It's been 4 weeks since my Hubby and I completed the Whole30 Program. Hubby has lost 20 pounds so far, and I've lost about 12! We are more energetic, less "puffy", and we both sleep way better! Life has been pretty awesome, I can't even lie :)

We have reintroduced dairy into our regular diet (mostly just cheese and butter). We have also added chocolate and Paleo-Approved sweets. On occasion, we eat non-paleo foods, but we have learned a lot about what our bodies can and cannot handle on those occasions.

For starters, my body does NOT like wheat. Wheat does really awful things to my tummy, and it wrecks my sleep. It also gives be the loathed sugar high and crash. I am, however, tolerant of the occasional rice dish! That makes me happy because I love rice. I won't be eating it all the time because I'm still on a weight loss journey, but I'm glad it won't make me feel sick!  I don't crave sweets the same way I used to. I still like to have a piece of chocolate after a meal, but that usually does the trick!

~ Side Note: I bought Enjoy Life's Soft Baked Double Chocolate Cookies at Whole Foods last night (they are on sale!) and they are DELICIOUS! And be proud of me, I only ate one :) ~

The biggest challenge I have experienced so far is being prepared. I need to make sure I have protein-packed choices ready for lunches and snacks at work, and my dinners when Hubby works nights. Protein is expensive, so I'm learning how to keep good meal and snack solutions around without breaking the bank. My CSA had stewing chickens for sale last week, so I prepared one over the weekend and shred the meat for different meal applications. I also tried my hand at baking last weekend with some Coconut Flour Muffins, which turned out really well! That weekend I also made Apple Butter, which is amazing! (I honestly want to eat it straight of the jar with a spoon...but I won't...) Both of these recipes are inexpensive, simple, and very satisfying for breakfast or a snack.

My other challenge is saying "No". Saying "No" to the lady at the food court Chinese food stand asking if I want rice with my meal.  I didn't, but I said "Yes" anyway.  Saying "No" to people offering me candy, or treats.  I don't want to be rude, but in all honesty I'm not!  I can refuse junk food and still be considered polite. Saying "No" is something I've been working on for a while now, but I can say that I'm better than I used to be.

What surprised me most about the last month is how forgiving the body is. Even with all my cheats and adjusting, I still kept losing weight! Those off-days certainly slowed my weight-loss down, but I was expecting it to stop all together. I guess cutting wheat, legumes, (most) grains and refined sugars have really changed the way my body burns fat, just like the research said it would!

(I should mention, too, that I have only exercised ONCE in the last 2 months. I'm not proud of this, but the fact that I have still lost weight shows how effective cutting grains, legumes, and refined sugars can be to in a weight loss journey.)

So the goal for next month is to BE PREPARED! I want to have meats and veggies on standby at all times for lunches, snacks, and dinners when Hubby is at work.  I want to pack lunches the night before because Lord knows I hate getting out of bed earlier than I absolutely have to.  I want to batch cook on the weekends in preparation for the week. I'm so excited to check in again next month with my goals completed!

My (Current) Kitchen Wishlist

I love kitchen gadgets! I could probably spend an entire day in William Sonoma or Bed Bath & Beyond, for real.  I'm also a newlywed, so I don't have the most equipped kitchen. I finally bought my first muffin pan LAST WEEK!

Yeah, it's like that.

So, as I am trying to live a more natural and holistic lifestyle, my kitchen needs are changing. Here's a list of 5...ish items that I feel could make my life much productive and efficient in the kitchen:

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1. A(nother) slow cooker.

Yep, I need more than one slow cooker. Why, you ask? For broth, of course! I need a slow cooker than can practically run all the time for the sole purpose of preparing broth and keeping warn broth available for drinking anytime. This may sound weird to some, but broth is super healthy (Jewish penicillin, hello!). Plus I've been threatened by my CSA coordinator that if I don't drink broth every day, then....well...I'm crazy!  Finally, when I'm not making broth. I could always use this to batch cook on the weekends for the coming week! Since slow cookers are so inexpensive, I'm sure I'll be adding another one to my arsenal pretty soon.

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2. A Food Processor

Doesn't this make EVERY home cook's life easier? Something that will do all that redundant slicing and dicing for you?  Well, I honestly don't mind the slicing and dicing because I'm trying to develop Iron Chef knife skills (watch out, Marimoto!). But there are a couple things I would be constantly using this awesome thing for. One would be seed and nut butters! It would also be super useful when I'm whipping up some Paleo-Friendly cookies by Kelly Bjelly. Then there's pesto, salsa, cauliflower "rice", SO many things I could do with this thing! Hopefully it won't be too long before I have one of these.

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3. A new set of knives.

So, back to the Iron Chef knife skills...I want them. And not Iron Chef America skills. I want the skills of the O.G.s from Iron Chef Japan! I want to julienne a carrot perfectly in seconds. I want to be able to butcher an entire pig beautifully.  I don't want to go to chef school anymore, but I would LOVE to take some knife skills classes. I mean, there's no getting around using knives when being a home cook, so why not have some serious skills...and a super sharp set of knives! Yes, I'm talking about cuts-through-paper-with-one-fail-swoop sharp! Did you know that working with sharp knives is actually SAFER than working with dull ones? Yep, it allows you to make precise cuts with minimal effort, instead of hacking away at something with your poor fingers trying to stay out of the way! Yes, new knives would be a wonderful thing.

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4. A Vitamix!!

OMG, I WANT ONE OF THESE SO BAD!!!  The Vitamix is the ultimate blender, used by the worlds best chefs and home cooks. From the speed controlling dial, to the tamper that allows you to push down food while blending, and the insanely powerful motor that will actually heat up pureed soups while blending!  This masterpiece is the perfect blend of art and science - a sleek design that stands the test of time. I have so many plans for this thing. Not only can I make nut butters, purees, soups, smoothies, coconut milk, coconut flour, etc, but I can also work on my skin and hair care line with this thing! And I'd me more than comfortable using it for both because they are a breeze to clean! Just put warm, soapy water in the container and blend! VOILA! With the price tag of over $500, purchasing one of these will take a while, but I'm willing to wait in order to get the best.

                    

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5. A cast iron dutch oven and skillet

Okay, I know this is cheating a little bit, but I want them both for the same reasons - they are both oven safe! I want to make beautiful frittatas and seared steaks in the skillet, while making delicious braised meat dishes in the dutch oven. I love my new cooking ware (especially the fact that it was all less than $50!), but none if it is oven safe. Cast iron is the ultimate in cooking ware. It last forever. It is easy to clean. It's a beautiful presentation all in its own. They don't leak yucky chemicals into your food, and the skillet would even ADD iron to my dishes! It's the gift that keeps on giving!  The dutch oven could essentially be yet ANOTHER slow cooker when I'm home and can watch the oven. So many uses for both of these amazing products - I can't wait to have one or two in my kitchen!

This list is not necessarily complete, but I feel they are definitely the essentials. In the blogs I read, these items come up regularly in recipes and posts.  Please do not misunderstand - I am extremely thankful for what I have. My tiny apartment has a great gas stove that I don't know what I would do without. My current slow cooker doubles as a pressure cooker, which makes amazing stews! My hubby and I bought a Nutribullet not to long ago, and it works well for making smoothies, nut butters (with a little extra texture), and blending batters.  My life will go on if I never own any of these things, but it's good for me to have a wishlist. This process has allowed me to really compare the gadgets I desire to the list of tasks I'd actually perform with them and weed out the fluff. These 5...er...6 items would be used on a very regular basis, and that's why they made the wishlist.

What kitchen items are currently on your wishlist?

Recipe: Mushroom and Snap Peas Stir-Fry with Glass Noodles

Hey, bloggy friends!! I'm sorry I've been MIA lately... It's been one of those low energy weeks.  But I'm back with a DELICIOUS stir-fry recipe inspired by The Parsley Thief's version from a couple years back. I made a few tweaks (as I always do) to match my tastes and the ingredients I had on hand. I also want to share an awesome noodle that has become my saving grace on the Paleo Diet so far:

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Korean Glass Noodles, or Japchae, are made from sweet potato starch, making them a great way to satisfy a persistant noodle craving such as mine.  It's definitely not an every day thing - they are very high in carbohydrates - but it's an awesome treat! These noodles about the same thickness as spaghetti, but are much longer and are traditionally cut up a bit before serving. Also, they have a very slippery, springy texture, making them lots of fun to slurp! Finally, you must cook your glass noodles thoroughly. Al Dente will mean very chewy pasta. You can find these noodles at any Asian market, or at an extremely well stocked (and perhaps high-end) supermarket.

Mushroom and Snap Peas Stir Fry with Glass Noodles

Ingredients:

2 tbsp coconut oil, separated

1 tsp of sesame oil

1 lb ground beef

1/2 lb chicken livers (optional, I just like to sneak them in wherever I can)

Sesame seeds

1 onion, diced

1 16oz pkg of mushrooms, quartered

1 12oz pkg of snap peas, sliced

1 bunch of green onions, sliced and separated

2 tbsp of tamari sauce

1 tbsp of Sriracha sauce

1 tsp honey

1 tsp rice vinegar

1/2 lb of korean glass noodles

Water for boiling noodles

Directions

1. Fill pot with water and a couple tablespoons of salt and set on stove to boil.
2. Add one tablespoon of coconut oil to a deep skillet or wok on medium high heat. When oil is hot, drop in ground beef and livers and cook until browned. Make sure livers are chopped up well and mixed in with beef if you have any leery eaters. Remove meat from pan and set aside.
3. When water is boiling, add noodles. Will cook for about 10 minutes, but taste noodles often to check texture and doneness.
4. Add 2nd tablespoon of coconut oil in your hot pan, along with the sesame oil, and add your onions and mushrooms. Cook until onions are translucent and mushrooms have shrunken. Next add in your snap peas and 1/2 of your green onions. Cook for a couple minutes more.
5. When noodles are done, drain and set colander over empty pot. With kitchen shears, cut noodles roughly until they are easier to manage.
6. Add meat back in your pan, along with the remaining ingredients. Cook for a couple more minutes, until all seasonings are mixed well.
7. To serve, place noodles down first, then stir-fry. Top stir fry with green onions, sesame seeds, and more sriracha, if preferred.

Slow Cooker Butternut Squash Chili

(This recipe is a contribution to Nourishing Gourmet's Pennywise Thursday Link-Up. Please click the link to find more great inexpensive whole food recipes and other homesteading tips)

This Butternut Squash Chili recipe is probably one of the easiest and most satisfying recipes I came up with while on the Whole30 program. There are many variations on this dish you can find on the Internet, but this combo best suited my budget and time restrictions. I can prepare this chili before I go to work in the morning, and its ready to eat by the time I get home. I recently added chicken livers to this recipe because it stretches the meal a bit, and it also adds nutritional value. Feel free to adjust this recipe to your own palate by changing spices, meats, or vegetables.

Ingredients:
1 lbs ground beef (I prefer 80/20)
1/2 lbs chicken livers
1 16oz bag of frozen butternut squash
1 10oz bag of frozen onion and pepper blend
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes
2 tbsp chili sauce
2 tbsp hot sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cheese, Avocados, Chopped Onions, or whatever else you like to dress your chili with

Directions:

1. Brown ground beef and livers with salt and pepper in slow cooker (if you have a "brown" setting), or in a skillet over medium-high heat
2. If browned in a skillet, return meat to slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients to slow cooker and cook for 8 hours on low setting.
3. Taste chili and adjust seasoning as desired. Serve with preferred toppings and eat up!