Life Update

Look who's back: my smoothie! Since my last flare up, I've been working on balancing hormones and reducing stress, or more specifically how I react to stress. I came across this quiz online- FLO Living's Hormone quiz - and after taking it, I realized I needed to get back to eating more greens and veggies and fruit.
(You may or may not know, I do not eat fruit. I do not like it. But I can tolerate it in smoothie form. And my body loves it.)
I also attended a class last week about Immune Health and the instructor mentioned the Blood Type Diet, which I had heard of before but never followed, and how people with my blood type (A+) make great vegetarians.
So between those two pushes and what I know has worked in the past, I was really motivated to change up my diet again. I've been eating a variety of greens and fish, and the fruit in my smoothie, for the majority of my meals.

This was a stock up grocery trip to ensure I would have everything I needed in the house to start incorporating more veggies and my smoothie again. If you don't have it in the house, you can't eat it. And if you don't bring it into your house, it won't be calling to you from the cupboard. So choose wisely. Advance decisions are a huge part of a healthy lifestyle.

Fish is the main beneficial source of protein for A+ blood types. I've batch cooked Wild Alaskan salmon and cod so I can grab it when I need it. I modified my Homemade Honey Mustard Dressing a little:
Olive oil, (beneficial for A+, plus it came up during a visit to my NAET practitioner Alicia recently that I needed to incorporate more of it into my diet ), Apple Cider Vinegar, Dijon or Brown mustard, Poppy seeds (they have good health benefits as well, even though they're so tiny!), Raw honey, and some water.
The ACV helps aid digestion, and the fats help you to absorb more nutrients from the raw greens. Mustard has selenium; an important nutrient, and also helps block absorption of mercury in fish. Raw honey has many health benefits. Homemade salad dressing is easy and SO much healthier, and cheaper, than store bought.

Lovely Saturday morning family breakfast. Paleo waffles, fruit, eggs, ham, greens, tea, Kombucha; does it get any better?!
I skipped the ham, since its an avoid for A+ persons. Protein is harder for my blood type to digest due to lower levels of hydrochloric stomach acid and enzymes (which makes total sense, I've run into issues with both of those multiple times), so for the most part I am avoiding beef, pork and chicken, and trying to stick with turkey and fish for meat. Eggs are ok it seems but in limited amounts.

Beans and rice are actually recommended for A+ diet, which means this bowl from Chipotle, my go-to "fast food" is a good choice. Nightshades are an avoid, so this is not a totally "compliant" dish, but I'm not gonna stress about it. :) Life is messy and I'm just going to do my best.

Kinda blurry pic from the steam, but this is a turkey veggie noodle soup I've been making non stop since the weather changed. Brian LOVES it, and the kids love it and I love it. Its healthy, and inexpensive. AND soup is very flexible; you add whatever you want and whatever works for your dietary needs.

This was my breakfast today- Cauliflower puree, sautéed arugula, and salmon. Lifestyle change tip: get used to eating healthy food for breakfast, not dessert. Starting your day with sugar, a ton of carbs and caffeine is not good for you. It's not worth the health consequences down the road.

Pad Thai stir fry for dinner. I make the Pad Thai peanut sauce separately, since Brian can't stand it. Something about the peanut butter...But he will eat Pad Thai at restaurants with me.

We got home late from the kid's gym class and I had to make dinner fast. Broiled asparagus for everyone, along with leftover sweet potato wedges and bacon for Brian and Sophie and Nathaniel. Fried some eggs for them as well. I warmed up cauli puree and salmon for myself. Leftovers for the win!

Ok, there's more to my life than food (really!). We recently drove out to Idaho to move my sister and her family to their new home. The views were breathtaking...God's beautiful creation. It was so open and made us feel so small...the world is so big. So often our troubles shrink everything down and we feel that nothing is right or good, but there is so much more happening than just our own story.

I love clouds. I guess it makes sense that I love both the sky and the ocean....they're both this vast expanse of water in various forms. And the way things move and the colors and contrasts leaves me in awe and I could just stare all day.

Working on updating our bedroom. Hopefully going to get a paint sample on the wall today! So exciting! We've also been looking at flooring...leaning towards vinyl laminate...but haven't decided yet for sure.

Perfect way to de-stress on a cold evening after a hectic day- hot bubble bath with essential oil infused Epsom salt (I love Clary Sage oil) and a Manuka Honey face mask, with my beeswax candle burning in my Himalayan salt candle holder, with relaxing music and nature sounds playing on my phone (YouTube has tons of options).

I've made these Paleo Pumpkin brownies three times in the last week. Don't judge, Lol. They're delicious and healthy and I gave one batch away. Here's the link to the recipe (not mine): One Bowl Fudgy Pumpkin Brownies
Make them. You're welcome for all the taste testing I did :) Lol