Happy Friday!

I hope your week is going well so far!

Looking forward to a weekend with not a lot of structured plans other than our usual church involvement, working on chipping away at a number of things at home with Alec, and getting outside for some walks. I certainly don’t mind a less structured weekend — those are generally my favorite kind!

What are you up to this weekend??

Recent meals & snacks, January edition:

We don’t really buy store-bought bars very often, since they can be decently pricey, and we love the ones I make at home anyway. However, whenever we are traveling and out of town we make sure to load up on our favorite store-bought versions! Due to our recent food changes, we needed to find a new option. Jonesbar is new to us, and we are now definite fans. I especially like the PB&J! I like that they taste more homemade and don’t have that store-bought-protein-bar taste.

And, fun fact that the founder is originally from Ann Arbor!

Other travel snacks included these tasty smash bites, fruit jerky, pistachios, lots of dark chocolate, homemade muffins, and fruit/veggie pouches. So much tastier (and cheaper!) than buying things at the airport!

Lots of eggs lately! Frittata with broccoli + red bell pepper + kale + onion + oregano. Served with roasted potatoes and our usual side salads w/ apple cider vinaigrette.

Eggs this time scrambled with kale + carrot + onion + oregano. Roasted potatoes, sliced and seasoned with olive oil and plenty of salt + Italian seasoning.

One lovely feature of our *temporary* food restrictions (caused by leaky gut) is that I can’t consume avocado or black pepper, and Alec can’t consume anything with olive. SO, that means any veggies / meats / dressings involving oil must be prepared separately, unless it’s something I can use coconut oil with! (Veggies / meats / potatoes / dressings in olive oil for me, and avocado oil (+black pepper) for Alec). Trying to keep things simple has been my mode of operating in the kitchen lately!

I recently started sipping on these coconut waters from Costco in the mornings while I’m getting my breakfast together. A good source of potassium and other electrolytes!

I absolutely loved this chicken chowder from the Roasted Root cookbook… I used the recipe as a loose base (as I often do with soups), adjusting the quantities and ingredients a bit. Delish with extra salt + lots of paprika!

We had limited our animal protein for a while with how crazy prices were getting with inflation, and are now trying to refocus on being intentional to include more meat and fish. I truly believe high-quality animal protein is one of the healthiest, most nutrient-dense foods one can consume!

Reigniting my love and appreciation for chicken thighs lately. These were especially flavorful, seasoned with salt, (pepper for Alec!), garlic powder, and paprika.

I mainly used them on top of salads for lunches, with steamed broccoli, chopped veggies, peanuts, and this Thai peanut dressing by Ambitious Kitchen. I thought the flavor was a little underwhelming at first, but liked it a lot when I added more ginger!

Focusing on eating wild-caught salmon each week, shown here on lunch salads w/ arugula + apple + pecans + dried cherries. I try to be efficient in prepping our lunches + snacks + other food throughout the week, and always wish we had space for another fridge so I could prep all our salads for the week (or whatever else I’m prepping on a given day) all at once!

Favorite beef + lentil stew w/ cassava flour dinner rolls… such a good, hearty winter meal!

To replace my overnight oats, I have gotten into doing a nut + seed + coconut breakfast bowl that is super delish… even BETTER than my overnight oats! I prep a bunch of it and keep it in this jar in our pantry. Then I take out a few scoops and blend it in our Vitamix. The actual bowl is then ~1/4 cup of the nut/seed mix, 1 tbsp chia seeds, and a little over 1/3 cup of coconut milk, to create a chia pudding/overnight oats type texture.

All the creamy goodness, topped with extra full-fat coconut milk, nut butter, agave, and some frozen (thawed in fridge) berries.

AND ALAS, as we’ve moved along in our health protocols, I have some additional significant *temporary* food changes I need to make. *Sigh.* I don’t think I will have to make any more major changes outside of this (due to oxalate toxicity — oxalates are found in a lot of plant-based foods, many of which I consume all the time!).

Needing a new breakfast option for the next 6-12 months, I recently crafted this egg + rutabaga + kale scramble below! I had never even had rutabaga before (ha!), but am finding that I thankfully really do enjoy this dish and will probably keep it as a breakfast rotation alternative in addition to the above breakfast bowls!

Given the full results of my labs and short-term food changes that I need to make, my eating really is looking quite boring and similar day-to-day right now. I’m finding this tough since I love to be creative in the kitchen, coming up with and enjoying flavorful dishes, along with trying new recipes!

At the same time, I’m finding it to be a good “dietitian and culinary challenge” to have to come up with new options that fit what I am able to eat right now. It’s been an interesting experiment in realizing how habitual food patterns are / can be. For example, I never would have branched out from my nut/seed/coconut breakfast bowl, and when I needed to as of the past week, I now realize that I also love this egg scramble dish!

Other interesting *forced food experiments* (LOL) from my health protocols / healing journey include…

• Going off caffeine // I thought this wouldn’t be hard for me, but MAN have I had a terrible headache the past few days. TBD on whether I go back to caffeine or not after I am feeling a lot better. I’m on day 3 of no caffeine and feel super tired and groggy. (And I only drank about a cup of coffee a day!)
• Eating more animal protein // as described above, really being intentional to focus on eating meat or fish multiple times a day. Doing a lot of chicken breasts + thighs + sausage, salmon, and ground beef. I’m planning to venture over to Pure Pastures probably on Monday to see about getting other grass-fed meat options.
• Eating even more fat // I’ve always eaten a diet high in healthy dietary fats, but am focusing on this even more. (SO. GOOD. FOR. YOU.) Lots and lots of olive oil and coconut oil. I joke to Alec that I am going to turn into a coconut with the amount of coconut I am consuming (in the form of coconut water, milk, cream, flour, oil and flakes).
• Drinking coconut milk instead of almond milk // I never would have tried this shift if I didn’t have to, and am finding I actually love to drink coconut milk! There is an organic coconut milk that I love and have been buying at Whole Foods (not the canned kind, which I still use for other things).
• Eating different veggies than I typically do // lots of radishes, mushrooms, peas, and our new friend, the rutabaga!

I whole-heartedly look forward to when I can incorporate more of my usual foods again (aside from the permanent restrictions mentioned in Wednesday’s post). That being said, I know there are things I will continue to incorporate from these *begrudging but eager because I am getting my health back in gear* shifts!

Everyday Enjoyment: 

A *small amount* of increased sun in Michigan lately // 

After what seemed like THE cloudiest November / December / start to January, we have had a touch more sun lately which has been making all the difference to me. I feel like we have hardly had any winter sunrises and sunsets this year (which I find the prettiest!), so it’s been nice to have seen a little color in the sky lately. That and the fact that it isn’t so brutally cold anymore!

Feeling better mentally lately //

Removing my permanent food issues, detoxing my liver, and in general focusing on good physical + mental health routines has made all the difference in how my brain feels and in my mental health lately. While life is quite full right now, I’m also working to prioritize rest and rejuvenating activities as much as I can! One shift we’ve made with the new year is using Saturday mornings to head out for a hike or to go to a coffee ship if the weather is terrible. This has been an energizing shift to how our weekends feel, prioritizing fun + adventure ahead of all the tasks and to-dos that never end anyway!

Morning ginger tea // 

I’ve been making this tea for a while (before all the other food changes), sipping on it first thing when I wake up. Once a week I boil a big pot of water along with a cinnamon stick or two, some fresh ginger, and some whole cloves + cardamom pods. A total non-recipe recipe! I bring it to a boil then let it simmer for an hour or so… again, not a recipe at all. Just “something I like that I make”! In the morning I heat a cup up with a bit of coconut milk and enjoy it while I pray / read my Bible.

TBD on what I end up doing at the end of February, but with all my short-term food changes I might switch gears and do more of a general end-of-month recap, with less of a food focus, and potentially continue this shift for the next several months. We’ll see how things go!

Wishing you a restful weekend!