Goodbye!

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Well I had high hopes for this site! Alas I just couldn’t find the motivation to keep it going. Ah well, why push yourself to work on something that you’re simply not passionate about?

However I am very passionate about my primary blog, inawesternplace.com. I welcome you to join me over there as I participate in this month’s (April) NaBloPloMo. This month’s topic is “Fresh” and I be writing (daily) about creating a fresh start in my life by updating my current Life List. Perhaps I can inspire you to do the same?

I look forward to seeing you over there!

Cheddar cauliflower and broccoli soup (a work in progress).

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Have you ever tried cheddar cauliflower? It’s dreamy. Not only is it beautiful in color, but it actually has a sharp cheddar-like taste to it. At least I think so.

chopping cheddar orange cauliflower

Using a similar recipe from my new favorite cookbook Practical Paleo: A Customized Approach to Health and a Whole-Foods Lifestyle as starting point, I whipped up the following:

1 head of cheddar cauliflower, chopped
1 cup fresh broccoli (or 1/2 cup frozen) chopped
2 1/2 cups chicken stock (I use this brand: )
6 cloves roasted garlic (optional)
sea salt to taste
A few strips of cooked bacon (optional)

Steam the cheddar cauliflower and broccoli. Pour 1/2 of the steamed cauliflower into a blender (I use a Vitamix) along with 1 cup chicken stock and the 6 cloves of roasted garlic. Blend until fully pureed. Add the remaining steamed cauliflower and the remaining chicken stock. Continue blending until liquid-like. Add the chopped broccoli and stir in some sea salt to taste. Blend only until the chopped broccoli is mixed in (about 2-3 seconds on a Vitamix, low setting). Reheat on stove if necessary. Top with coarsely chopped bacon.

dairy free paleo cheddar cauliflower broccoli soup

I’d like to consider my recipe a work-in-progress. It’s pretty darn good, but I think it’s still missing a little something. A spice, perhaps? Curry? Curcumin? Something warming. Comforting.

paleo soup and salad lunch

I enjoyed a piping hot bowl of this soup earlier this afternoon along with a side salad made with leftover poached wild Sockeye Salmon from last evening, finely chopped romaine lettuce, and sliced oranges with a touch of olive oil. As I was eating, my toddler girl looked up from her lunch and said, “soup Mommy peas.” I gave her a spoonful . “Mmmm,” she responded. “Mo soup Mommy peas?” And that spoonful turned into a bowl for her. I think it’s safe to say that she liked it, too.

Pre-roasted garlic and sweet potatoes.

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The weather is gloomy today, which is pretty typical here in the Bay Area this time of year. A self-proclaimed perfect day to bring warmth into the house by roasting some of my favorite staples in the stove: sweet potatoes and garlic.

a gloomy bay area morning

I used to cook sweet potatoes on an as-needed basis. Now I cook a batch all at once so I can have precooked sweet potatoes at my disposal (what a time saver!) Soups, casseroles, or as-is with a little coconut oil and sea salt, sweet potatoes make an awesomely delicious accompaniment to any meal.

easy to roast and bake sweet potatoes

To roast, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lay 3 lbs (1 bag) of sweet potatoes down on a cooking sheet with the skins on. Use organic, if you can, otherwise wash well and allow to air dry completely. Put sheet with sweet potatoes into the oven. Cooking time is dependent on the size of the potatoes; the ones I roasted this morning were small so cooking time was about 40 minutes. A knife should easily pierce the skin when done. Allow to cool and remove the skins (completely optional) which should rub off like a wet brown paper towel. Will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

And bonus, most kids love sweet potatoes. Pictured below is my 20-month old daughter enjoying a dollop of mashed sweet potatoes with her pesto gluten-free rice pasta (at lunch). Pureed with a little water, breast milk or formula, and mashed sweet potatoes also make a magical meal for a baby.

toddler girl eating mashed sweet potatoes

I enjoyed my roasted sweet potato at lunch with some leftover chicken from last night’s dinner.

While the sweet potatoes were roasting, I put a handful of peeled garlic in the middle of a sheet of foil. I sprinkled a little sea salt and olive oil on top, folded the foil closed, then put it on the top rack of the oven for about 30 minutes. I plan on adding this garlic to a soup that I will be preparing tomorrow. Yay! More time saved!

Might I conclude that my house smells WONDERFUL?

So, this is how I am going to eat (from now on).

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I’ve been gluten-free for ten years now. During that time I’ve tried and tested many delicious processed gluten-free food products. Being gluten-free has become so mainstream. Despite it’s popularity, I’m often referred to newbies seeking advice. And while I do like to share my favorite gluten-free brands, there’s one suggestion that I always made that even I had a hard time putting into practice: step away from from the gluten-free section! Focus on consuming mostly naturally gluten-free unprocessed real foods, like fish, meat, veggies, fruit and nuts.

Processed food is processed food. Gluten-free or not.

In the past year, after my Rheumatoid Arthritis (or, Rheumatoid Autoimmune Disease) flared to the point of incapacitation after the birth of my daughter in Spring of 2011. Since then, I’ve worked even harder to cook more nutritious well-rounded whole real foods for me AND my family (even though I am the only one with an autoimmune disease). And while the RA drug I am now on (Methotrexate) has served me very well, there was still some residue swelling and joint tenderness that had left me feeling not quite there yet. I began to notice slight flares of joint pain and tenderness after I ate certain foods, other than those that contained gluten. So I am starting this blog to document my process (and life) on a completely grain-free, legume-free, dairy-free, and nightshade-free diet. Call it Paleo, call it primal, I’d prefer to just say what it is: lots of good healthy stuff that makes my body feel good and stops all this joint damage nonsense.

In the past week I’ve already eliminated corn, soy, legumes, nightshades, dairy in addition to gluten I’m already feeling so much better. Eliminating rice, eggs and nuts has been hard.

I mentioned my new diet to a friend the other night and naturally her reaction was exactly as I expected, “well, what CAN you eat?” (The very same question folks would ask years ago after I said I was gluten intolerant.) This blog answers that very question with: here’s what I, a work-from-home Mom of a toddler girl with an aggressive form of Rheumatoid Arthritis eats and this is how I live well.

What I ate for breakfast this morning.

For breakfast this morning I had two eggs, scrambled in coconut oil, accompanied by a few slices of orange, a kale-apple green smoothie and a cup of black coffee.