One step forward... ten steps back!

Well the best laid plans (of mice and men).... one step forward (two steps backwards).... all of these sayings are running through my head at the moment, because while we thought we were on one path, God and life in general has steered us onto a completely different one!!

A week ago while on a school excursion to the local library I hit some uneven ground, rolled my ankle and fell over. Yep - that simple! Yet, it's not just a roll, it's a fracture. A chunk of bone came off my ankle as I pulled the tendons. Oh wait, but not just that. I pulled the tendons (and ligaments) on the inside of my ankle, the outside of my ankle and the big and important one that sits between the foot and the leg bones. I did a REALLY GOOD JOB of it! Oh yes, I also hurt my left arm, back, neck and shoulders in the process as I literally went straight down (tiiimmm-berrrrrr!).

I'm in a world of pain, but worse than that... I'm frustrated!!! I've been working so hard this year on extra curricular activities - a learning management system (LIFE) that I've become Key Teacher for at my school; school camp (happening next week), the school Multicultural Festival (happening in September); wonderful, detailed and exciting units of work.... all completely out the window as I am completely out of action for the rest of the term.

As I'm sure you can image, with a 2.5yo running around the house and a wife laid up in bed and only just able to move from bed to bathroom to couch thanks to a moon boot and crutches, my husband is looking for easy and simple... so our plan to do the Elimination Diet is out the window until we're back on our feet - literally!

Help is at hand!!

Today I made an appointment for Monday to see Sharon Wilford, the naturopath who I saw when my allergies were at their worst a few years ago.

I am looking forward to having her explain a bit more of this to Chris and help the two of us journey with Fletcher towards wellness and understanding!

Sharon Wilford

Back to the Allergist

Fletcher stopped taking his medicated formula in about May as the prescription we had didn't specify vanilla and the new chemist took that to the letter of the law and wouldn't give us vanilla. Despite the allergist, paediatrician and GP all stating it was okay.. he refused. And so Fletcher refused to drink the plain old Elecare LCP - and to be honest, I don't blame him... it's awful!!

So... being 6mths over due for his 2 year check up at Allergy Medical I booked him in to see the Professor. 

Wow - what a whirlwind and amazing visit. The Professor diagnosed Fletcher and I almost on site,but proceeded to complete the skin prick testing to confirm.

Drumroll....

We both have a severe chemical sensitivity.

Now this is upsetting but not at all surprising. What's a severe chemical sensitivity you ask? Well, it's what causes those dark and/or red  circles under your eyes... the blotchiness on fair skin, the tickle in your ears, nose and throat at night (particularly around 8pm). It's having to blow your nose in the morning so that you can speak without sounding like Fran Drescher. It's those strange red marks you get around your mouth after eating pineapple, strawberries and other acidic fruits. It's the reason people do the Elimination Diet and, it's what my Mum was diagnosed with years ago.

What does this mean?

Foods vary greatly in natural chemical composition. The substances most likely to upset sensitive people are salicylates (family of plant chemicals - think bright in colour high in salicylates), amines (proteins found within foods that increase as foods age, mature or ripen) and glutamate (an amino acid building block of all proteins - it enhances the flavour of foods). There's of course also food additives to keep in mind! As severely chemically sensitive people, Fletcher and I need to be careful with our foods and complete the Elimination Diet (either moderate or severe) to work out exactly what chemicals we react to. It might be food or environment based, it might be salycilates, amines, glutamates or all three! Who know, until you get your body back to base line and introduce things slowly and see what you react to.

So this is where we are at in our journey.

I was seeing a wonderful naturopath, Sharon Wilford a few years ago and I am looking forward to asking her advice on how we proceed with this.

I will keep you posted!

Sweet Potato Slice

Fletcher liked this one, but me not so much... if you give it a try, let me know what you think. It may be nice with a good lashing of butter and honey... but that defeats the purpose!!

300 grams sweet potato mash

1/2 cup coconut flour

3 eggs

3 tablespoons of coconut milk

1 teaspoon bicarb soda / baking soda

Juice of half a lemon

pinch of salt

1. Preheat your oven to 180 
2. Grease and line a slice tin with baking paper hanging oven the sides for easy removal. 
3. Put the ingredients into your food processor or blender and pulse until well combined. 
4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, smooth over the top with a spoon. 
5. Bake for 40 minutes. Cover the loaf with foil and bake for a further 20 minutes. 
6. Remove from the oven and allow to cool before slicing.

Rice Salad

2 cups cooked brown rice
1 medium can of corn kernels
1/2 cup cranberries
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/3 bunch fresh Italian parsley, roughly chopped
1 cup roasted pumpkin
1 tbs olive oil
salt and pepper to season
curry powder

Run the rice under cold water in a colander.

Leaving the rice in the colander pour the entire can of corn (liquid and all) over the rice. Mix.

Add the rest of the ingredients and still well.

Season with oil, salt, pepper and curry powder. Toss well.

Refrigerate. Lasts approximately 5 days in the fridge.

Apricot Balls

1 cup dried apricots
2 cups shredded coconut
1 tbs coconut milk

Place ingredients in food processor and process until wet and sticky. Approximately 10min, sometimes longer.

Roll into balls and roll through additional shredded coconut.
Keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container. Will last approximately 2wks.

Stuck at home means lots of baking!!

So, Fletcher has hand, foot and mouth disease... and as it's now day 8 and he's still got blisters, I'd say he has it pretty badly.

This means two things; 1 - we're stuck at home as we cannot socialise or be near other children and 2 - we've had time to bake!!!

Experimenting with paleo is harder than I thought, and the taste is strange and unusual! As someone who's dealt with GF flour for five years now, using coconut flour and almond meal CONSTANTLY is just strange.

For those who haven't tried paleo before, things just don't taste the same. You know how if you get a good GF recipe people cannot tell that what they're eating is gluten free? I once fooled my entire family and friends when I baked Christmas dinner gluten free!! Well, paleo is not like that. It DOES taste different, a LOT different. More earthy, more nutty and if I'm honest so much less interesting!! But, I know it's good for me, so I persevere!

Today's baking menu:

- Apricot Balls
- Sweet Potato Bread
- Banana Muffins
- Rice Salad.

I'll post them all separately for ease of finding them.

And I hope I haven't scared you off, they're not baaaaad, in fact most are lovely but some (Sweet Potato Bread!) are an acquired taste, and I haven't acquired it yet!!

Intro to Paleo

I knew I had a lot to learn, but it's incredible the science involved in the theory behind Paleo.

For those of you who haven't heard of it, or think of it as some new "fad", please do yourself a favour and read some of the articles online about it (see below).

If you ever wake up feeling more tired than when you went to bed (and you slept well!), or find yourself moody and jumpy (when it's not that time of the month), read the articles and see if what they say makes sense to you.

Don't worry, I'm not about to get all preachy at you, everyone is on their own journey and it can take awhile to get on the right path (hello, it's taken me 27 years!), all I'm saying is that reading some interesting articles cannot hurt because we all know that McDonald's is not a food group!

There's a terrific article here that explains exactly why some things are not paleo and the effect they have on our bodies: http://paleo.com.au/start-here-2/

Here's a great start, with a meal plan for a day of paleo eating available at: http://thepaleodiet.com/what-to-eat-on-the-paleo-diet/

And I love that Paleo Australia suggests which books to read to get you started.... http://paleoaustralia.com/paleo-books/

But the best resource I think, particularly for those who aren't sure what all the fuss is about is Are you Suffering From Adrenal Fatigue: http://paleo.com.au/2013/10/are-you-suffering-from-adrenal-fatigue/

A Wake-up Call

I first created Friendly Foods for Fletcher to experiment with making recipes fun and exciting for my beautiful boy. I wanted him to be healthy and happy. He was my priority and my sole focus.

Well, things have changed.

Yesterday I had my third colonoscopy in 5 years, and for the 3rd time had pre-malignent polyps removed. The surgeon tells me "don't worry, it's very rare they're the kind that become cancerous." He then reads my notes and says "oh, but that's what you've got". He says, "you look quite young, how old are you?" I tell him I'm 28 in December, he pats my leg and says "so young". At this point I'm almost feeling sorry for him, if it wasn't for the fact I was already crying I probably would have tried to make him feel better, but to be honest, I was scared. Seriously scared.

I've battled with my weight and my food choices for years. My naturopath (who started me on this journey for FJ) has been telling me I needed to act like an adult, stop trying to blame someone else, stop making others accountable, start living MY life the way I KNOW is right, for me.

My mother yesterday when I called to tell her I was okay but that they'd found another polyp gave me a bit of a serve which at the time I felt was a bit harsh. But she made some very valid points; my food and lifestyle choices don't just hurt me, they hurt others. I have a wonderful husband, mother and father all of whom love me very much. I have a gorgeous son who adores me. I have a class of 15 students who I know care about me. And I'm sure my friendship group feel the same. So, while I'm worrying about what the results of my latest biopsy might be, all of the above mentioned people (who know what I'm going through) will be worrying too.

I didn't like what Mum was saying. She made me cry and I wanted to ignore it.

But this morning it all sunk in. I have let so many people down;

Friends who've tried to support and encourage me over the past few years have heard every excuse under the sun for why I cannot go walking today, or why I had to have a coffee... I frustrate myself so much of the time, I can only imagine how those who are only trying to help feel when I constantly make up weak excuses.

My parents who've heard me complain about my weight, my breathing difficulties, my lack of energy, offer solutions and then watch me eat a piece of chocolate cake because "I'm already feeling sick"....

My husband who I regularly make the bad guy when I ask him questions about my food choices, or when he questions my choices and I get angry with him.

My son, who wants nothing more than to have Mummy chase him around or sit on the floor and play "beep, beeps" with him. My son who I'm sure wants his Mummy to be around long enough to watch him get married and have children of his own.

And then, there's me. When I went through this last year I had an agonizing wait until the results of the 11 biopsys came back and in that time I swore to myself that I had 12mths to make a difference. Well, I did lose 20kg during that time but it was really only the last 8 weeks that made the difference.

After being admitted to hospital after a severe asthma attack I went back to basics; vegetables, fruit and white meat. No dairy, no grains, no red meat. And I was healthy! I lost weight, I had energy and I was happy and healthy!! It was drastic, it was hard, but it worked. (I then undid most of my hard work with a week of eating the exact opposite in preparation for the colonoscopy.)

My naturopath has said paleo would work for me and it makes sense as it agrees with

• what the allergist told my mother when I was a baby
• what my allergist said to me back in 2009
• what the Blood Group Diet says I should eat
• what naturopath's and doctors around the world say about good colon health and preventing colon polyps and
• what makes me feel healthy.

So how can I ignore all of these signs?

I can't. And honestly, if I do this time I deserve to be excommunicated by my family and friends because I'm food and an early grave and it's not fair to expect my friends and family to sit by and watch that.

So there's going to be a few changes around the Friendly Foods page... lots more NEW (paleo) recipes and hopefully some thermomix ones soon too!! 

And a lot more blogging! Because there's something about typing out my feelings, getting my inner thoughts down on paper that I find therapeutic. And even if no one else reads it, or if 100 people read it.... the message is out there. By putting it in writing I'm accountable to others and most importantly to myself.

xx K

Sunday morning baking

Want to know what 3hrs of baking on a Sunday morning can get you...
Coconut cookies, corn bread, cupcakes, banana oat cake, poppy seed cookies and mediterranian pasta salad!