Feeling better than ever!!!

I thought this time, I would give an update as to how my family and I are doing applying my own advice.  4 months ago, I was deeply depressed, achy from my fibromyalgia, not sleeping, and felt no energy to get through the day.  My moods were from highs to lows and every thing in between goruchy to #$%^!!!  and tummy trouble to boot, (you know the bloated baby look every time you ate.  with me it was any time I ingested any thing.)  AND... a fat squeezing 16.  Not acceptable.
My 12 year old daughter, was not doing well in school.   Cranky, not sleeping and having tummy issues too.  Not eating well either.
My husband, he was just.. well,  gaining weight,  till we found out he was creating a blockage in his heart.  NOT good.
so, 4 mos later,  My husband has lost 2 sizes and feels and sleeps better.  He has the energy of a 30 yr old..
My daughter is making better grades, focused, sleeping and eating better and no tummy issues.
ME!!!  I just went and bought some very comfortable 14s and I am sure, soon I will be handing those down and buying 12's!!!   no more fibromyalgia, I am sleeping great and I do not dred eating.  My emotions are steady and I feel great. I  fly through my day doing many active duties. 
It is amazing how our body responds when we FEED IT THE RIGHT STUFF.!!!!!

My critters ate their fritters!!!

I sent off the bar code of 4 of the bags of Namaste mixes I bought and received a free gluten free cookbook from the co.   It had a recipe for apple fritters.  Now those are my fav and as of late i have been "thinking" about getting one.  well I have not gone and transgressed to the white flour side.  I made my own.  I got raves that they were the best my family have ever tasted.  They were very simple to make.
I did not have the muffin mix nor the applesauce that it recommended,  so I substituted the pancake,waffle  mix and put apple butter in it.  I used coconut oil to fry them in.  oh my people, these could slap yo grandmas under the back porch.!!!  These were everything I knew an apple fritter could be.  They had just enough sweet to them.  Lots of crunch.  and cakey but not too cakey.  The fresh apples were soft  and the whole morning went peachy oh wait I used apples.  any way try them, you won't be sorry you did.  
no eggs for those not able to eat them.  yeahhhhhhhhh
Namaste apple fritters. ( can't take the credit for these)

1 pkg Namaste Muffin Mix
1/4 cup oil (I used coconut oil)
1/2 cup no sugar applesauce  (I used apple butter)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg  ( who measures?)
1 fresh chopped apple  (I peeled mine)
and oil for frying.  (Be sure to watch for when your oil starts to burn.  the fritters will start to turn dark brown)

Directions.
heat oil in pan or deep fryer.
combine all ingredients.
drop heaping spoon full of batter in pan.  (now i did that and they came out looking like little meatloaf looking things.  so i just spread the dough out into the pan while it was in the oil.  so drop the batter into the pan then with a spoon or butter knife spread  out the dough as it cooks.  it will actually form a fritter type cake.)
flip it when underside is golden.
drain and  (i sprinkled just a bit with my fingers) some xylitol.  Or serve with some coconut vanilla yogurt yum yum.

Now you could make your own fritter.  you could again, make it  savory.  Be sure  not to put heavy chunks into the batter. If you do, then you can experiment with making the batter a bit thicker.   Or use any other type of firm fruit or berries.  Nuts too!!   oh the delicious possiblities.
tell us your creations.

Grains grains grains everywhere and none fit to eat!!

Well, we have successfully moved and settled in.  we love the new house!.  very cozy and inviting, so all our friends have said.  So lets settle down and have some fun cooking, learning and applying.  Have you ever thought about all the things grains go through BEFORE you eat them?  Way back when, when people actually harvested the grain, they kept the good stuff and the chaff was "blown into the wind".  Well today they take all the good stuff out and then put synthetic (chemicals) in.  and then they bleach it.  so we are eating bleach as well.  After that, they put it all in graineries or silos or holding tanks and it sits...and sits... and sits... grows mold, fungus... and one cannot say, that it is rodent or bug free!  Not to mention that is it GMO grown and tons of poisions from the roundup gene that has been engineered into it.( and that is another subject). Then it gets put on trains, ect., to the milling or processing factories. It eventually goes to the stores, or maybe warehouses, and sits. and sits and sits... till it is sent to a store, where you buy it and consume it. 
With all that in mind, the CDC's statistics on the rise of allergies and asthma and digestive issues, not to mention the rise of sales for digestive products  is alarming!!!.  That is why there is a HUGE  move to ditching grains and enjoying the nutrient, satisfying, scrumptious delights of almond and coconut flour based foods.  Dr. Mercola is a wonderful, trusting site to find out more info about gmo's, grains, and health issues.  http://www.mercola.com/   You can also sign up for his free news letter.
Now here is a wonderful easy cookbook from Bruce Fife.  cooking with coconut flour.  A delicious low-carb, gluten-free alternative to wheat.  you can go to http://www.half.com/ or http://www.abesbooks.com/ and get it for next to nothing.  these two sites are my favorite for buying books.  and believe me i get books all the time.  who else is a book junky?  would you share?  I just read a book called Prey that i found on a blog site called http://www.lostincodex.com/ .  check it out .. this site reviews books .
well as one of the goals of this site is to incite you to cook better for your families here is a great recipe from the coconut flour ckbk. enjoy

HONEY MUFFINS
3 EGGS
2 TBsp melted butter
2 TBsp coconut milk
3 TBsp local honey  (no not your spouse)  haha
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 c sifted coconut flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
DIRECTIONS:
blend together eggs, butter, coconut milk, honey, salt and vanilla.
combine coconut flour w/ baking powder and mix into wet batter till no lumps.  Pour batter into muffin cups or coconut greased muffin pan.  Bake @400 for 15 min  Makes 6 cupcakes.
now this is just a basis for any kind of muffins your little imagination can come up with.  From sweet fruits and nuts -- savory rosemary and meat muffins.  So have fun and chow down.  Let me know what YOU invent.

In the box outta the box

I am in the midst of packing and moving yet again.  Hopefully this will be the last for a great while. I will be back into the swing of things next week.  till then here is a little something i created.  It was so delish that my family sat around the breakfast table oooing and awwwwing and moaning in taste bud delight.

take what ever kind of meat you like. cube it, saute it with onion, bell pepper
cube up a few yams or (sweet potato) which ever you like to call it.
and cook all that up with the meat
then put about  6 eggs in  a bowl and whisk up with a teaspoon of baking powder
and some 1/2 and 1/2  whisk it all together with some salt and pepper to taste
then pour eggs mixture into meat mixture
cover and set temp to low or put in oven at 350 till egg is done.
cut up some soft buttery avocado and tomatoes and layer them one after another around your pan sprinkly with the choice of your cheese and consume.
we like goat cheese.
of course all of this needs to be organic..
happy chow

WE all LOVE pancakes!!!

These pancakes are so deliciously versatile.  I make big batches of them.  Put them in baggies and then when we want them i put them in the toaster.  The corn meal makes them ideal when we girls need a CRUNCH between our teeth.  smear them with any kind of nut butter to enhance your protien and GOOD fats.  they are a filler too.  slather some applebutter or any other fresh fruit with some coconut yogurt and an egg and ...whalla awesome breakfast or snack.  easy and fast.

1 cup almond or coconut milk
2 large grass fed range free organic eggs
4 tbsp organic valley butter  or raw butter if you have it
1 tsp vanilla ( make sure it has not wheat in it)
1 cup plus 2 tblsp coconut flour or (Namaste pancake walffle mix) tell you more about that in a minute
1/3 cup red mill organic corn meal
one dropper of liquid stevia
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
and your choice of fresh berries or fruit.
and crushed walnuts ( another good source of good fats for the brain)  sorta looks like the brain huh?

mix milk, eggs, butter, vanilla and stevia in a small bowl
mix flour, cornmeal  bking powder and salt.
add wet mix with dry till smooth.
put on griddle till golden
slather your nut butters, coconut or almond yogurts and fruit
These can also makes wonderful substitutes for a meat wrap.  Let your imagination go wild!!!  cant let any thing else go wild now...
Let me know how you enjoy them and what your imagination comes up with.  then share
about Namaste  you can get it at any gluten free section in your grocery store or whole foods.

Why This Blog...

For several years I have been on a quest to improve my health as well as the health of my family.  If you are on this quest yourself, then it can be very daunting and over whelming to figure out where to start and what to start with.  One thing is for sure.  If you just change one thing at a time in your diet, you will start to see a big difference in your heatlh.  My family has been gluten, sugar, grain, corn and gmo free for 2 months now! and totally organic.. And we love it.  I am excited and it has been a wonderful change for us.  I love a challenge and i love to cook.  I thought at first that to change my whole diet and way of cooking and eating was going to be a big deal.  It really is not.  So not only will i post new recipes i have created but those that i have found and love.  I am NOT a dr nor a natural dr, nor do i have ANY medical or nutritional nor homeopathic schooling.  The things i share with you i will post the books from where i read them.  and i will post what i have found to be helpful to me and my family and friends.  I HIGHLY recommend that you do your OWN research into the things i post.  No one ever changes any thing until they are convinced from thier own research and knowledge what is true or not.  Do not EVER take what i post as utmost gospel.  ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS EDUCATE YOUR SELF... I will post things about health, diet, eating, recipes and information to keep healthy.  I am also getting ready to start growing container gardens and herbs. And when it is time to harvest i will post those things too.   So lets have fun, be creative  and become health junkies together.