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!

...and in the mornin' I'm makin' WAFFLES!

 Today is post 100!  Woot!

Today I want to share a recipe I discovered recently for super delicious waffles.  I might play around with the flour combinations a bit - I've been playing with pancake combos like wheat, buckwheat, and corn flour (which turned out awesomely).  I'll share some pancakes with you next week.

Lately I've been really into soaking things.  I even tried soaking popcorn.  I've also been really into pairing things with fruits high in vitamin C, especially for breakfast.  So here is an awesome waffle recipe I came up with:

Soaked Strawberry Almond Waffles

1 cup unbleached flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbs baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 Tbs whey
1 3/4 cups filtered water
1/2 cup cooking oil
chopped, soaked (not dried) almonds
diced strawberries

Combine the flour, whey, and water in a bowl.  Cover and let sit overnight.  In the morning, whisk mixture until smooth, add eggs, baking powder, salt and cooking oil, mixing until combined.  Fold in chopped almonds and diced strawberries to taste.
I used almonds that were soaked but not dried and I found that the waffle maker cooks them just right so you have crunchy nut bits in your waffles.  I've used dried soaked almonds as well, and that's good too, but I like the texture the wet ones give to the waffles much better.

To soak the almonds:

4 cups almonds
1 Tbs salt
filtered water

Combine, cover, and let sit overnight.  Drain and rinse in the morning.

With the remaining almonds (because there's no way you can fit 4 cups of almonds in your waffle batter) you can make almond milk, or you can dry them in a warm oven for 12-24 hours for snacking awesomeness or to make almond butter.  Or you can do both!

To make almond milk:

1 cup soaked almonds (not dried)
4 cups filtered water
cheesecloth, nut-milk bag, or thin material for straining

Put the almonds and 2 cups of water into a blender (or all 4 if your blender is huge) and blend until smooth (I gave it 5 minutes just for good measure).  Pour the almond mixture and extra water into a bowl lined with a straining cloth.  Squeeze as much liquid out of the pulp as you possibly can.  Enjoy.

Supposedly you can use the pulp for baking after you dry it thoroughly, and I'll be giving that a shot because I'm weird about throwing edible things away.  I'll let you know how that turns out - I'm going to try to make flour-less brownies with it.

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.

WAPF Pie

With the holidays here I wanted to bake pie.  I had ten mason jars full of puree (from two pumpkins!) so I thought I'd make pumpkin pie.
I've never made pumpkin pie before, so I consulted my Nourishing Traditions book.  I love the crust recipe; the filling was...interesting...so I modified it so that it would have more of the traditional pumpkin pie flavor I like so much.

The first time I made the filling I just used my mixer.  This produced slightly lumpy pie, almost like I put apple pieces in it.  Not only that, but the recipe calls for grated lemon rind, so the pie tasted something like a lemon creme pie with pumpkin.  Maybe I used a lemon that was too large, but the next time around I skipped the lemon.

The second time I made the filling I ran it through my blender after mixing it together.  This pie came out much smoother and overall more pleasant to eat.  In addition to omitting the lemon I tweaked the spices which produced a better flavor.

The third time I made the pie I ran the liquid through my blender before adding the pumpkin and then ran the blender a bit more.  I also tweaked the spices further.  The result was pretty awesome I think.  I didn't have an actual slice of this pie because I took it to my friend who just had a baby boy (yay!) but I baked some of the filling in a ramekin to make sure it tasted okay.

So here's the crust recipe.  The only modifications are the partial substitution of whole wheat flour for the white and the removal of Stevia powder:

1 cup unbleached white flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
pinch of salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) frozen butter
2 egg yolks
3 rounded tablespoons cold water

Stir flour and salt into a food processor.  Cut the butter into about 16 pieces and distribute over flour.  Pulse the processor until the butter is broken into pea-sized pieces and is well distributed.  Beat the egg yolks briefly with a fork and dribble over the flour mixture.  Pulse once or twice (maybe three times for good measure).  Turn on the processor and pour water in, stop the processor "at once."  The butter should still be visible in pea-sized pieces.  Turn the crust onto wax paper, wrap up and squeeze (not hard, wax paper tends to split open), forming a ball.  Refrigerate for several hours.
Roll on a floured sheet of wax paper.

For your viewing pleasure:

 This really does work, by the way.  And I found that it was amazingly entertaining to do.  Now I just have to keep a plastic bottle around.

Pumpkin Pie Filling (my modified recipe)

15 ounces pumpkin
3 eggs
90 ml dark brown sugar (1/4 and 1/8 cups)
1 1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup piima cream or creme fraiche
2 tablespoons brandy

Oven: 350°

Line a pie pan with the crust above.  Cream eggs and sugar, gradually adding everything except the pumpkin.  Blend.  Add pumpkin and blend a bit more.  Pour into the pie shell and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

If you want a sweeter pie, go ahead and just use 3/4 cup of dark brown sugar (or Rapadura is what the original recipe calls for).  I always halve the amount of sugar a baking recipe calls for.

Also, cream fraiche is like french sour cream.  I like it better than sour cream, myself.  You can find it at Sprouts, or a health food store in your area.

~~~

Okay, so this is me coming up with grandiose plans that most likely will not happen but I'm going to give it my best shot.  I'm going to try and make one recipe from the Nourishing Traditions book a day - or at least one a week.  This is a massive project, but I'm really trying to commit to eating better and I think this might be a good way to start.

Anyway, I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving filled with good cheer and merriment and such!

"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!

Counting Blessings.

It's so hot today, so I came home and opened our last milk stout.
Holy cheezits I'm a light-weight.  I've taken maybe ten sips since opening it an hour ago and I can feel it.
Nevertheless, it's delicious, and nice on a hot day like this.

Anyhow.

Today, as I was taking the trash out at work, I was thinking about how grateful I am for the life I have.  Not everyone has a husband/partner who is as supportive as hubby.  He's been a wonderful help to me as I struggle through the changes happening to my body during pregnancy.  I'm extremely grateful for all of the enduring of not-so-nice me he has done, all the excitement he has for the baby, and - not the least of all - the help he's given me with my own body image issues.  He has truly helped me embrace pregnancy for what it is: a beautiful, life-changing journey.

I'd really like to convey this to everyone:
Pregnancy is beautiful.
Yeah, it sucks...sometimes a lot.  There were nights in my first trimester that I felt like death.  But nothing as profound as creating a new life should be viewed with such fear and scorn as some of society would view it.

Which brings me to my next point.
I think our medical system is fucked.  Sorry for the language, but that's the best word I have for it.
That's not to say that I'm not grateful for the option of going to the hospital when I need to.  Having doctors I can call to ask questions is pretty awesome too.  The system largely needs reform, but I don't think that gives me a right to not consider the good things it does.

I can say that I'm unhappy about a lot of things in this country.  But I can also say that I am grateful to live in a place where information is readily available to me (all I need to do is look).  A place where I have options, even if my choices are met with skepticism and downright belligerence by others.  It's pretty nice here, to be honest, even with the bad; if I were to live somewhere else, I'm sure I'd have complaints there too.

The point of all this is I've decided to try and see something good in everything.  I'm going to try and be better about optimism and actually taking the time to be appreciative of little things like running hot water for a shower, or cats who don't misbehave.

And now, because my attention span is failing me pretty effectively, have a recipe for Chicken Alfredo:

1/2 cup bone broth (chicken)
1/4 cup butter
2-3 small leaves fresh basil, ripped or chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
2 tbs. flour
3 mushrooms
1 cup shredded chicken
1/2 cup half and half (or to taste)
1/2 tsp. granulated onion
pepper and salt to taste.

In a medium saucepan combine broth and butter.  Cook until butter is melted on medium heat.  Once butter is melted, whisk in flour.  Add basil and garlic.  Let cook for a bit then add mushrooms and chicken and let this cook a bit more.  Add half and half, onion, pepper, and salt.  Cook until bubbly.  Pour over noodles or rice and enjoy.

I hope I remembered that right.  This is something I threw together without consulting an actual recipe first and it turned out pretty delicious so I thought I'd share.

I also thought that a few sips of beer would calm this baby down, but I guess I was wrong.  I'm growing a brute!

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!