Springtime Preparations

My nearly 5 year old and I planted peas all over the place on Monday. I decided to let the herb garden recuperate this year and just do a bunch of peas in there to help enrich the soil, maybe a few flowers, and put chicken manure over it all.

Yesterday(Tuesday), the weather was bordering on warm/cool and I decided to start cleaning the chicken coop before it got too warm(who wants to clean the coop in hot muggy weather? not me!). I put a wheelbarrow full plus a 5 gallon bucket's worth on the herb garden. I still have a few places that could use more.

Now that I think of it, I think I will put some onion sets out there in the herb garden with the peas...

O Candida! Drat.

I have been having various oral reactions to foods, and wrote them down to keep record of them.  I brought in the food list and a bag of things to test and they ALL came out ok....well, with the exception of my beloved Reduced-Fat Cheezits--the one highly processed junk food that I still gravitate towards(tsk-tsk). (I'm working on finding an acceptable substitute for myself...)

I won't bore you with all the details of what I brought in. The doc and I sat there looking at my food journal and she suggested it might be Candida.

I tell ya, I am in denial.  I don't WANT to have Candida! No! I thought I treated this before(lots of times)!

So, I finally let her test me.  Sure enough, the arm went halfway to the floor. Total bummer. I guess this might be why the backs of my legs itch lately? 

I decided to go ahead and get treated for it today.  And to revamp our diet a bit, maybe do a detox as well for myself.  I know my daughter craves sweets like crazy...totally wouldn't be surprised if she has the Yeasty Beast as well in a bad way...

So, I need to avoid anything fermented(including cheese,  my kefir and tea--did you know that tea is fermented? and vinegar), sugars, starches(read: grains, potatoes, that sort of thing), all fruits, and uncooked veggies.

I can eat: meat, eggs and well-cooked veggies. And I will be drinking lots of water.

Ugh. 


And no, I didn't get treated for the Cheez-its. Maybe another day.  Or maybe I should give up on them altogether and try out those recipes I spied awhile back for homemade ones.

Neutral Treatment in BioAllergenix/BioVeda

Last week I had an appointment during which I planned on getting tested/treated for the molds in my house. I made prior arrangements to spend the remaining part of the day after the appointment and that night at my sister-in-law's house, since I would have to avoid our home until the next day after treatment.

2 days(48 hours+) prior to my appointment, I set out bowls of distilled water and cotton balls in various suspect rooms of my house. I brought these (Pyrex Storage 14-Piece Round Set, Clear with Blue Lids-how handy they are with the well-fitting lids!) and was muscle-tested while holding the cotton balls from each of the various bowls.

The kitchen and our bedroom were fine, but the basement, bathroom, and north living room were the ones that were my problem-causers.

I also brought in some baby powder that I suspected to be causing me trouble(ingredients: talc, fragrance) and tested weak to that as well.

For my treatment, I took one cotton ball from each of the problem rooms and held them in my hand, being sure to touch them with my fingertips. For kicks, I also sprinkled some of the baby powder on the cotton balls.

I held the cotton balls in my left  hand, extended my right hand as if I were having the testing done with the BioAllergenix system, and then was treated with the Bax3000 as usual.
I thoroughly washed my hands immediately after treatment.
I then avoided going home until the next day.


Results: I no longer experience the throat/eye itchiness when in those rooms as I did before. I also no longer smell the baby powder in the morning when it is used downstairs(while I am still upstairs) as I used to be able to do before.

I really think that when I am hypersensitive to the smells that no one else seems to notice, it really is a sign that my body is reacting to it. Crazy.


UPDATE: I had left my mold cultures at the office to be retested for them later. I went in a week after my first appointment and did not have a weak response to any of them, even though there was actually visible mold growing in the basement one(ick!).

My Favorite Oatmeal Cookie Recipe

It's yet another rainy and cool spring day. Who wants to go out in that, right? I'm waiting for a sunny, or at least a NOT windy day to go out and plant my spinach and peas and onion sets...


Until that day, I decided to make a batch of my favorite oatmeal cookies. It's adapted from the recipe on the box of Meijer Naturals Old Fashioned Oats.

My Favorite Oatmeal Cookies:

1 cup Nutiva Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil, 54-Ounce Jar
1 cup sugar(I often skimp on the sugar--about 3/4 cup)
1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs(from our own chickens in this case!)
1 teaspoon Vanilla ExtractSimply Organic Vanilla Extract - 4 oz,(Frontier)

1 1/2 cups KING ARTHUR WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt

3 cups Old Fashioned Oats(I use Meijer Naturals store brand)

1 cup chopped walnuts, optional(this time I used raw pumpkin seeds)
1 cup raisins, optional (I substituted Ocean Spray Craisins Sweetened Dried Cranberries - 48 oz (3 Pounds))
I also had a handful or two of Enjoy Life Foods Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips 10 Oz (love these because they are very simple and contain no soy or milk)

Preheat oven to 350*. Grease or spray cookie sheets.
Beat coconut oil and sugars until creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla, mixing well.

Combine flour, baking soda and salt and add to sugar mixture; mix well.  Stir in oats, nuts, and whatever other extras you want to add.

Roll into balls or use a melon baller and place about 2" apart on greased cookie sheet. Press down a bit with a fork and bake 10 minutes.  That's my youngest there, helping. :)

Let cool a bit on the pan(but not completely) before removing from pan to rack to cool. 

Makes 4-5 dozen, depending on size of cookies.

Mmmmmm!
I love to have these with a hot cup of tea with honey.

How to find Allergen-Free Recipes for Your Own Needs

The last few weeks have been fairly stressful for our family, but all is now under control. Thanks be to the Lord for His guidance and care!

My hubby is undergoing some dietary changes, and I am once again changing the family's diet. Where once it was me avoiding the nightshades, now my husband needs to be avoiding them. Unfortunately, he is not real into eating like I was back when I was avoiding them(lots of squash, sweet potatoes, that sort of thing). So, I am back to looking for recipes and ideas. He is also avoiding other acidic foods such as coffee and chocolate, as well as peppermint.

I was getting frustrated with the general recipe sites because it seemed like most recipes had something essential that I now shouldn't be using. It was about impossible to exclude everything(like with the "spicy" spices my hubby is supposed to avoid).

This morning I remembered the site Cooking Allergy Free. On this site, once you sign up(it's free!) you can go to Edit My Allergies and click on the foods you/your family are avoiding. Once you have your allergies selected, then you can go about looking up recipes and more easily find ones that will work for you. When you do a search, it prioritizes the recipes from ones most likely to fit your needs, down to ones with foods you need to avoid, and it lets you know when a recipe contains a questionable ingredient.

So, if you are tired of the same ol' menu or just looking for some new ideas, go check it out! There is also a discussion board and other helpful information on the site.

I am using Cooking Allergy Free to find recipes to accommodate my husband's needs, as well as the needs of 2 of my kids that are avoiding Dairy.

It's making it a lot easier to figure out what's for dinner in the next week or two.

Thanks for reading!