Tasting Life Abundant

Now that things are settling down somewhat, after a busy  6 weeks of vacations, visiting family, birthday & anniversary celebrations, I have some time to write an update.  I am feeling pretty good over all.  With supplements, sleep is better.  The low lectin diet (Plant Paradox diet) has helped cut down on the digestive discomfort and episodes of stabbing pain in my abdomen. That being said, I think this diet is probably the biggest source of self care stress for me right now. I was encouraged to try to give a a 30 day, 100% compliant trial, which I plan to do as soon as possible. The hardest part really is that I have other people to cook for and this diet, if you are 100% compliant is costly,  so it requires me making twice as many meals since we can't all eat the same thing all the time. Which then makes me conflicted/guilty....but I digress. It does help and I will continue to try to stick to it.  My skin is much clearer, consistently, which is believe is due to

  We went on a family camping trip the last week of June.  We stayed near the ocean and we had a wonderful time. Alot of these meals are from that trip. I really enjoy campfire cooking. I already use my cast iron pans at home and love them, and they are great for cooking over am open flame too. I especially love cooking breakfasts like the one above: sweet potatoes, eggs, spinac and bacon. Yum! I did my best to stick to my low lectin diet. I did eat a few treats but for meals I tried to eat alot of veggies to help balance it out. Butter lettuce with HM dressing, roasted carrots, broccoli, grilled onion, green onion, and a little chicken on this plate. I like making one big, thick pancake in my Dutch oven and then slicing like a pie- saves me time and effort. This pancake was GF, of course, and made from a combination of a Paleo pancake mix and oat flour, so not grain free which means not compliant. But I skipped the syrup and ate boiled eggs, ham and avocado along with it.  

"Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yes, our God is merciful. The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low and He saved me. Return to your rest, O my soul, for the LORD has dealt bountifully with you."  (Psalm 116:3-7)  We don't usually plan on being sick. Maybe we know the flu is going around and there's a good chance we'll get it, but it's a short term thing. Long term health issues are not something we plan to deal with in our life, especially when we are young and healthy. When we think about where we want to be in 5 years, map out goals, or plan ways to fulfill our hopes and dreams, illness doesn't come into the picture.   And so when life happens and you find yourself in the middle of a health crisis, it very much feels like somewhere along the way you made a wrong turn or got rerouted and you are no longer heading the right direction towards happiness and fulfillment.  You find yourself taking a step back and looking at your