Diet and Life.

I got the results of my follow-up test: my TSH is 2 something.  Right in the middle of normal range.
I honestly can't say if I did that with the diet restrictions I imposed upon myself or if I just had postpartum thyroiditis and it was going to resolve on its own.  Either way, I feel better now that I've been avoiding gluten and sugar.  I solved problems I didn't realize were there like the fogginess that sometimes smogged up my thought.  I'm much better at interacting with people now because there's less lag between what they say to me and my response.

You can tell when I'm hungry because my conversation skills decrease pretty steadily in relation to exactly how hungry I am.  The hungrier I get the younger my brain gets, although even that is getting better without the gluten.

I've been doing a lot of research about this stuff lately because I'm the kind of stubborn ass that spends a lot of time trying to do things the way I want.  It's really interesting stuff, and I encourage everyone to look into it, regardless of skepticism.

I sort of joke that this is karma for me: I used to make fun of a youth leader of my old church for ordering burgers without a bun and I would frequently make it known that I thought celiac disease was a sham.  I still don't believe that all the people out there claiming to have it actually suffer from the disease, but it is real.  Gluten intolerance is also very real.

I will continue to be gluten free with an emphasis on wheat.  I'll eat spelt or kamut occasionally but wheat is totally out of picture - every time I eat wheat I pay for it, and the rides are not worth the price of admission.

The only things I can concretely tell you about thyroid health and diet from my own experience is that a glass of lemon water a day really helps and coconut oil is like the thyroid God.  If you do nothing else, take at least a tablespoon a day and see what happens.

Sugarless Chocolate Milk?

Sorry I sort of fell off of the blogosphere (can I say that?  I think my blog might be too small...), we had two conventions in a row.  Granted I only attended one, but I did show my art in the other.  Maybe I'll write about them later, but I have a specific topic I've been itching to type out on my mind.

Today I want to write about thyroid health.  Specifically hypothyroidism - what I have - but I think that most of what I have to say could be applied to hyperthyroidism as well.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, I am only sharing my experience.

In the beginning of August I went for a physical, just to make sure everything was in working order.  I guess they do blood work now as a matter of course; maybe they've been doing blood work as a matter of course for a long time, but I'm not one to go to the doctor unless something is wrong and I can't seem to fix it so I'm a bit out of the loop.  At any rate my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) came back at 10.45 or something, over 10 is the main point.  That's pretty high.  In fact, the doctor at the practice I visit has set 10 as the medicating cut off meaning that anything 10 or over gets a prescription.
I found this out when I received my labs in the mail a few days after I had my blood drawn.  At the top of the results was a curt note to me saying, "Jennifer, you are hypothyroid and need to take supplements.  One a day. Dr. _____"
Of course I rebelled, after having a good cry over it and calling hubby.

When I find out there's something wrong with me I generally take to the interwebs.  What I found was a general consensus that TSH alone isn't an accurate test if you're looking to find the root cause.  It works perfectly if you're looking for an allopathic solution (is that an oxymoron?) but I am not, so I decided to try and treat with diet.  A month later my TSH was down to about 6 and I was told to come back in two months to test again to make sure I was actually helping it and the decrease wasn't some sort of fluke.

You should know that a couple of things influenced my decision to attempt treating with diet.  First, I recently had a baby and there is a thing called postpartum thyroiditis.  Mostly it manifests as hyperthyroidism first followed by a month or two of hypothyroidism.  The majority of women are euthyroid within three months of being hypothyroid, some women need lifelong medication.  Second, I can be a stubborn little shit and I am pretty well like an ox about not putting chemicals into my body anymore.  It gets ridiculous sometimes, but that's another story.

So what am I doing?
I am essentially being paleo.  I am avoiding gluten, soy and white sugar like the plague and there is a list of veggies and fruits that are goitrogenic (meaning they promote thyroid inflammation/suppress normal thyroid function).  The list is as follows:

• cruciferous veggies which include broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussles sprouts, etc.
• peaches
• pears
• strawberries
• peanuts

I'm sure there are more, but those are the specific ones I'm avoiding.
I'm also steering clear of caffeine and alcohol.

I drink a glass of lemon water every day.  I'm not sure of the science behind this, but it seems to help.
I eat a spoonful of organic coconut oil (extra virgin) every couple of hours.  I think I'm taking close to 1/4 cup a day because I also put it into my hot drinks and cook with it.  I can't tell you how much this is helping.  If I start to feel icky, I'll take a spoonful and 20 minutes or so later I'm feeling normal again.
I eat a lot of yoghurt (Icelandic cream-Skyr which I make myself because otherwise I would break bank eating as much as I do) and cottage cheese with berries and ground flax seed.
I'm taking a women's multi (one-a-day) and an occasional cod liver oil depending on how much fish I consume that week.  I was taking a thyroid strength, but my body decided against that after a week or two.  I'm going to try an adrenal support supplement and see how that goes, I'll let you know.

To sum it up, these are the most important things I've found to do:

1. Do not eat gluten.  I felt it needed to be bold because holy crap gluten is so mean to your thyroid.
2. No refined sugar.  Again, sugar is evil.  I sneak in some maple syrup once in a while (the real stuff) and I seem to do fine, but granulated sugar is a no-no.
3. Try to avoid fluoridated water.  Seriously.
4. Try to avoid goitrogens when possible.  I read that the food loses some of it's goitrogenic properties on being cooked, but I've still been moderating my consumption.
5. Eat lots of good fats, like coconut oil.  Lots of coconut oil.  I mean it.
6. Probiotics are your friend (p.s. Goodbelly, you suck for adding gluten to your drinks)
7. Try supplements or, barring vitamins, add salt to your food.  Just in case of iodine deficiency.
8. Omega-3 is awesome, eat it somehow (flax, eggs, fish, supplements)
9. Brown rice wins over white rice.  Always

Things I've learned while being stubborn about dietary restrictions:

1. Food tastes awesome without sugar.  I've made a totally paleo cobbler a couple times now and it's amazing.
2. Coconut butter is a thing and you should try it.
3. I feel the difference when I eat gluten.  Not just wheat, I can't eat oatmeal unless it's specifically gluten free now...

A lot of people would say that my diet is crazy, that I'm depriving myself somehow.  I don't feel deprived.  I love dessert and I still eat it regularly, just sans sugar and most grains which does not make it any less tasty or satisfying.  In fact, dessert without processed sugars is more satisfying.  I'll share some recipes in a few days.


I'm going to leave off with a recipe I just discovered for sugarless chocolate milk.  I drink this before bed sometimes and it's amazing!

6 oz whole milk (I use organic, non-homogenized)
1 spoon coconut oil
2 spoons cocoa powder

pour ingredients into a blender and blend for 15-30 seconds.  Pour and enjoy.
This creates an interesting froth on top which is also delicious.  This is for a pretty dark chocolate milk, the measurements aren't exact, just make it how you like!

Breast is Better than Doing Science to it...

So...this happened, and at least one person came to the wrong conclusion from the information given.

The above two links are for information on the correlation of toxins in breastmilk and autism rates and a blog post citing said information as a good reason to not breastfeed your children (that is not the entire point of the post, but it is mentioned).

I understand how the conclusion is reached.  The problem is that by the same logic we should also reach the conclusion that babies should be grown in test tubes rather than in their mother's womb.  How do I make the connection?  What's in your breastmilk is also in your blood, so saying that a woman shouldn't breastfeed her baby because of chemicals is also saying that a woman shouldn't grow her baby because of chemicals.

The proper conclusion to come to from the above information (in my humble opinion) is that we need to stop using so many damned chemicals.  Haven't we proved the saying 'better living through science' wrong yet?
Sure, science does wonderful things, but science is not so wonderful that we can just replace everything natural with it.  I get trial and error, and on more than one occasion I've said - quite enthusiastically - "LET'S DO SCIENCE TO IT!" but isn't it time we dropped all the chemical nonsense.

The problem is how entrenched we are in big-ag *coughmonsantocough* and subsidising shoot-yourself-in-the-foot farming methods.  And for everyone out there who says farming organically is unsustainable in practice, I read a fantastic point about that on a paleo blog saying that our current reliability on oil-based products is not sustainable either.

Do I have the answers?  No, and I don't pretend to know them either.  What I can do is turn my front yard into a garden rather than an ornament.  I can choose to clean my home with things like white vinegar, enzyme cleaner and vodka.  I can make my own chemical free laundry soap and dish detergent, and my own chemical free shampoo.  I can live as cleanly as I have the means to live (which turns out to be more about my personal energy levels than financial means, because clean living is actually cheaper).

I can't ask anyone else to do it, but I can try to lead by example.  Not everyone is a fan of the way I like to live or the way I'd like to live in the future.  A lot of people (and I mean a lot) think I'm pretty well off my rocker for doing things like avoiding soy (and now gluten thanks to some post-partum thyroid shenanigans).  But that's okay.  I'm happy this way, and I think a good number of people could be happy this way as well.

If only we could stop falling into the trap that is Man vs. God.  We're not God, we're meant to be keepers of the life around us.  We should start actually keeping it.

A Guide to Soaking Nuts.

I started with soaking almonds.  I looked up how to soak them in my Nourishing Traditions book and followed the recipe.  Then I got pecans, and it's a good thing I checked the book first, because I totally assumed that soaking almonds and pecans would work the exact same way.  But it doesn't, oddly enough.

So here is a guide to soaking different nuts!
It should be noted that all of these are for soaking raw nuts.

Pecans
4 cups pecan halves
2 teaspoons sea salt
filtered water

Combine, cover, and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours or overnight.
Dry in a warm oven for 12-24 hours.

Walnuts
4 cups walnut halves/pieces
2 teaspoons sea salt
filtered water

Combine, cover, and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours or overnight.
Dry in a warm oven for 12-24 hours.
Store in your refrigerator.

Peanuts/Pine Nuts/Hazelnuts
4 cups peanuts, pine nuts, or skinless hazelnuts
1 tablespoon sea salt
filtered water

To peel hazelnuts, place on a cookie sheet and bake at 300 degrees until skins turn dark and begin to crack.  Place in a kitchen towel, wrap tightly andrub and squeeze the bundle in your hands.
Combine, cover, and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours or overnight.
Dry in a warm oven for 12-24 hours.

 Almonds
4 cups almonds, preferably skinless
1 tablespoon sea salt
filtered water

Combine, cover, and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours or overnight.
Dry in a warm oven for 12-24 hours.

Cashews
4 cups cashews
1 tablespoon sea salt
filtered water

Combine, cover, and leave in a warm place for no longer than 6 hours.
Dry in a 200-250 degree oven for 12-24 hours.

Cashews have such a short soaking time because they contain a toxic oil called cardol between the inner and outer shell.  Before the nuts hit the shelves of your market they are cracked and roasted at 350 degrees twice.  After they have been roasted twice they are marketed as "raw."  Because they are not truly raw, soaking them longer than 6 hours produces a slimy nut with a rather disagreeable taste according to Nourishing Traditions.

Macadamia Nuts
4 cups macadamia nuts

1 tablespoon sea salt
filtered water

Combine, cover, and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours or overnight.
Dry in a warm oven for 12-24 hours.

~~~

The reason walnuts are the only nuts that need to be stored in the refrigerator is because almonds, pecans, cashews, macadamia nuts, and peanuts have a high content of stable oleic acid.  This means that they do not go rancid easily, and once prepared (soaking/dehydrating) they can be stored for a number of months at room temperature in an airtight container.  Walnuts, unlike the other nuts, contain large amounts of triple unsaturated linolenic acid and will go rancid much easier.

So there you have it.  That is a list of all of the nuts included in the Nourishing Traditions book.

Happy soaking!

Almonds Everywhere!

Sprouts recently had a bulk almond sale for $3.99 a pound of raw nuts.  I jumped on it, before I learned that you should buy refrigerated nuts because the natural oils can go rancid quite fast and who knows how long anything has been sitting out in the bulk section of your grocery store.  I'm not sure yet if the cheap side of me will win this one; I may continue to buy bulk nuts that are on sale in favor of refrigerated nuts simply because of the price difference.

At any rate, the almond sale means I've been making a lot of things using almonds.

I made almond milk last week that was delicious.  I turned it into an awesome tapioca pudding (I love tapioca pudding!).  I also ate some cereal with it, because sometimes convenience wins - I should just stop buying cereal altogether at this point.

I made almond meal/flour with the ground nuts leftover from the milk making process.  To do that, all you need is an oven or dehydrator to dry out the nut meal.  Once it's dry, if you want a finer texture toss it into a blender or food processor for a minute or so, depending on how fine a texture you're looking for.
I mentioned in my last post that I was going to try making flour-less brownies with it, but what I ended up making was a batch of thumbprint cookies.  They turned out deliciously, I'll definitely be making them again.

I also made a batch of almond butter with the extra 3 cups of nuts leftover from soaking for the milk.  All you need to make almond butter is a food processor and some patience.  I might play around with adding things like cacao powder for a chocolate butter, or honey or something, but you really don't need to add anything.  The only thing you should be sure of is that your nuts are properly dried after soaking.

After making my own almond butter I've decided that I'm never buying nut butter from the store again.  It's so easy to just make your own, and it tastes a ton better.

Actually, all this writing about almond butter is making me crave it.  I'm gonna go have some.

Dark Chocolate Mounds.

I made a delicious cheesecake for Easter.  I didn't have any graham cracker crumbs, or graham crackers so I decided to use shredded coconut, specifically the shredded coconut from the last time I made coconut milk.  The cake turned out so good that I'm making another when we head to Grand Junction to visit my parents at the end of this month.

So I'm making coconut milk again.

I was sort of dreading it because of how difficult it was last time, but this time it was pretty easy.  I dunno if I got better at selecting a decent coconut or if I just had bad luck last time.  Whatever the case, I was pleasantly surprised.

So here's the recipe for the tapioca I made with my last batch of coconut milk:

1/3 c. small pearl tapioca
3/4 c. water
2 1/4 c. coconut milk
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs, separated
2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Soak the small pearl tapioca in water for 30 minutes in a 1 and 1/2 quart saucepan.  Do not drain tapioca after soaking.  Add milk, salt, and lightly beaten egg yolks to tapioca and stir over medium heat until boiling.  Simmer uncovered over very low heat for 10-15 minutes.  Stir often.  Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. 1-2 minutes before folding in egg whites add 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder mixed with 2 Tbsp sugar to the tapioca.  Fold about 3/4 cup of hot tapioca into the egg whites, then gently fold mixture back into saucepan.  Stir over low heat for about 3 minutes.  Cool 15 minutes then add vanilla.  Makes 3 and 1/2 cups.

The recipe says nothing about letting the pudding set.  If you want a richer consistency I recommend making this a day or so ahead and letting it chill in the fridge until you're ready to serve it.

This pudding is not very sweet by normal standards.  It's perfect for me, but my sugar tolerance is pretty low, so if you normally like sweet things I would suggest adding about 1/4 cup of sugar to it when you add the milk, salt, and egg yolks.

So there you have it.
I'll post the cheesecake recipe later.

Adventures in Soaking Breakfast Cereals

When I say breakfast cereals I mean hot cereals; I've gotten to the point that I forget about cold cereal as an option.  I wish I could say the reason for this is because I know that cold cereals are bad for me, but the actual reason is that I can't have milk on account of the little one's tummy disagreeing with it.

Why soak grains?
I could explain it to you, but Dyno-mom has a wonderful, detailed post about it that says it better than I think I could say it.  Also, I'm feeling lazy today.

The above linked post also explains how to soak your grains properly.

How I soak my breakfast cereals:
I like love hot cereal.  During the last trimester of pregnancy, all I wanted to eat was malt-o-meal.  I knew it probably wasn't the best, but I couldn't get enough of the deliciously creamy, comforting goodness.  I was eating double servings sometimes twice a day (midnight snacks, if I felt inclined).  After having the little one, my cravings for it dropped, but didn't discontinue altogether.  The difference was that now I was somehow more conscious of buying a higher quality version of malt-o-meal which I perceived to be low quality because it's produced by a ginormo corporation.
I decided that Bob's Red Mill (BRM) was a better company for me to support.  Mainly because some of their cereals are USDA organic, and for some reason I trust this company to not be using GMOs.
Anyway, thus began my search for a BRM equivalent to malt-o-meal.  What I found is called wheat farina, or creamy wheat.  Not exactly the same, but delicious nonetheless.  Then I tried oat bran (which I originally purchased with the dumb idea that oatnut bread required it - before I actually looked for a recipe) and that was delicious.  Then came rice farina, or creamy rice, in an attempt to lower my gluten intake.
I never soaked the oat bran.

The wheat farina soaks nicely with whey, but I found I had to tinker with the amount of water I used.
The rice farina is super delicious soaked with whey, but again, I had to tinker with the water.
The proper way to prepare these cereals is by boiling the water and then slowly adding the cereal to the boiling water.  Somehow they turn out a lot thicker that way than if you soak them in warm water overnight, bring to a boil and then simmer.
The wheat farina needed considerably less water while the rice farina only needed about 1/4 cup less.  I never got around to fine-tuning the wheat farina because hubby and I are trying to cut down our grain consumption and I ran out of wheat farina after soaking it once.  Maybe some other day.

A double portion (what I eat) calls for a 1/2 cup of rice farina to 1 and 1/2 cup water.  So, that means I put the 1/2 cup of cereal into the bowl, mix with 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of whey (or acid of some other kind, like lemon juice) and then pour in 1 and 1/4 cup warm water.  I generally do this around 7 p.m. the day before, so the cereal soaks roughly 12 hours.

I've been soaking my oats for some time now.  I usually use lemon juice for them, but whey works very nicely also.
 If you soak with lemon juice, be prepared to use a lot of honey or some other sweetener or spice.  Unless you like the bitter flavor the lemon gives to whatever it is you're soaking.
I tried soaking with apple cider vinegar once, but once was enough for me to decide that vinegar was not a good match for my taste-buds.

What is whey?
I didn't know what whey was for a long time, which is why I soaked my oats with lemon juice.  I got this idea that I would walk into Vitamin Cottage and ask, because they're a health store, they should know, right?  Well, the guy I asked looked confused and said, "you mean whey protein isolate?"  To which I said, "no, I mean whey..."  So he didn't know either.  Consulting the mighty google wasn't terribly helpful as the results I got all had to do with the protein powder as well.
Finally I discovered from my mother-in-law exactly what whey is, and how to get it.  I'm not sure why I didn't ask my sister-in-law or Dyno-mom.
Whey is the clear liquid that collects on the top of things like yoghurt and sour cream.  Also, had I actually searched the right combination of words, I would have found this page.

"No Fun" Cake.

We hosted a friend of ours for the weekend.  His birthday landed on his last day here - in fact he came to stay with us for his birthday - so I wanted to bake him a birthday cake.  The catch is that he's gluten and dairy intolerant on top of diabetic.  So, how to bake a sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free cake and still have it taste good?

Well, some hours of Bing searches later I came up with something that's actually pretty good cake.

For the cake itself I found this recipe and modified it as seen below:

2 cups white rice flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1/4 cup tapioca flour (aka tapioca starch)
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tbs baking powder
3/4 tsp kosher salt
8 tbs coconut oil (melted)
1 cup agave nectar
4 large eggs
some vanilla
3/4 cup french press coffee

Oven: 350°

To grease the pans I brushed on coconut oil using a pastry brush - this actually worked a lot better than I thought it might; it's more effective than my previous method of taking a cold stick of butter and running it across the pan.

Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

Combine the agave and oil, mixing on low with a paddle attachment (if you have one).  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well between each egg and scraping the bowl occasionally.  Add the vanilla.
Once all of that is mixed well, add half of the dry ingredients and mix until incorporated.  Add coffee, mix, add the rest of the dry ingredients.
Spatula the batter into the pans so each is even and then bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top springs back when pushed lightly (they're kinda spongy) and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Run a dinner knife around the edges of the pans and allow to cool for 30 minutes.  Flip them onto a cooling rack and proceed to make the frosting.

Now here was the tricky part.  How in the world do you make frosting without sugar or dairy?
Welp, I had to get over my weirdness concerning stevia; to make a sugar free powdered sugar I used the following:

4 cups stevia in the raw
4 tsp tapioca flour (aka tapioca starch)

This will yield about 2 cups (16oz) of powdered sweetener once you've either run it through a blender or a food processor.  It took me about a minute to get the right consistency.  I made a small bit extra also, to dust the cake once it had been frosted.

Once you've got the sweetener to be the texture you want, the frosting recipe requires these things:

1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup coconut oil (melted)
1/4 cup coconut milk
some vanilla

Whisk together the sweetener and the cocoa powder, then add the wet ingredients in whatever order.  Mix well with a hand mixer until fluffy-ish.  I didn't get it to come out to exactly frosting fluffiness, but it got close.
This made enough to barely cover the whole cake (including a small layer of filling).

Refrigerate for about 30 minutes before serving.
It's even better if you can make this a day ahead: the frosting acquires a fudge-like quality on day two of coldness that's pretty awesome.


So there you have it.  You can now make what our friend calls a "No Fun" cake for those special people in your life who happen to have food allergies.

To be quite honest, I was surprised it turned out to be as delicious as it was!

Tea Cookies

I was looking for a recipe for coconut flour cookies so I could bake something gluten free.  Hubby and I visit a friend of ours in Fort Collins semi-regularly and his children can't have wheat or dairy.
I wanted to bring them cookies this time so I found a recipe after discovering that coconut flour does not behave like grain flour (something I should have figured out before trying to make stuff with it).
I modified it a little because I didn't have any coconut milk, and I have some weird hangup concerning stevia.
Here is the recipe:

Dry Ingredients

• 3/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

Mix well, set aside.
Wet Ingredients

• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 cup Tetley tea (or black tea)
• 6 eggs, preferably free range and organic
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• Chocolate chips to taste

Turn on oven to 350 degrees.
In a mixer, whip the 6 eggs thoroughly. Add tea and mix well. Add butter.  Add dry ingredients and mix on lower speed until smooth.  If dough is too liquid-y, add more flour one tablespoon at a time, you should only need two - the dough will not be as thick as regular cookie dough.  Fold in chocolate chips with spatula.

When I make these, they do not spread.  They keep the lovely shape of the dropper I've got, making fun little dome cookies.
I also make a half recipe because I don't want to use all 6 eggs at once.
3/4 of a cup is 180ml give or take, so you'll only need 90ml of flour.  I have a measuring cup set we got for a wedding gift that has weird sizes to it and I use the first two which I think are 1/8 and 1/4 cup measurements to get the 90ml.
As for the vanilla, I just pour a bit in the batter (I usually don't measure my vanilla extract when I'm baking).
The dough (before adding the chocolate chips and after the extra tablespoon of flour) is kind of spongy.  I can't really think of how to explain it.

Next time I bake these I'm going to try using coffee instead of tea.  It should be interesting.

I hope you all are having a great Memorial Day!